Capitol week

De Anne and I spent 10 days at home before getting back on a plane. We felt the urge to cheer Tristan as he ran in the Marine Corps Marathon and so invited ourselves to stay with him in his 1 bedroom apartment on the Potomac River - Virginia side. With foresight and planning we had left a queen size airbed with him on a previous trip, so our sleep was assured. Once Mama was cooking his favorite meals the pain of parents on-site was greatly eased.

 De Anne accompanied Tristan to the start line in Arlington Cemetery while I positioned in front of his apartment building which was mile one of the marathon. He almost caught me not ready to snap a picture. The wheel chair racers left the start line first, then the "pro runners", then the pack appeared. Tristan was sprinting and moving towards the front of the pack.

 Tristan in red shirt and black shorts. The far left runner in the first picture and on right side of the second picture. The man in black in the second picture is the doorman in Tristan's building and ran out into the street to give him a high five.   (click to enlarge)

He maintained a fast pace for 20 miles, then had to slow down. He still managed to sprint the last quarter-mile to the finish line near the Iwo Jima memorial and finished in just over 4 hours.

 Tristan survived the day; however I was worn out trying to catch him along the route around the Washington monument. I thought I could catch him using the subway, but I (or maybe the subway) was not fast enough. 

After a couple days of recuperation I was ready to venture forth again. We visited the National Zoo. The entry fee is free - thanks all you taxpayers!

 Strange zoo sign.

Giant Panda relaxed and enjoying bamboo.

Giant Panda looking good against the fall foliage.

This concludes our trips for 2015..... maybe.

Bahamas wrapup

Our trip to the Bahamas is history and we both felt the month went by too quickly. Spanish Wells is now on our places to return list.

 A few extra pictures. Click to enlarge.

 I love Baby Bear's expression:

Along the docks:

One end of the beach:

The next trip is 10 days away. We will return to Washington DC to cheer Tristan in running the Marine Corps Marathon.

Last day

Our stay in Spanish Wells comes to an end tomorrow. The time has passed quickly. 

A couple days ago, De Anne was walking back from the grocery store when a golf cart, carrying two men, pulled to a stop and the driver said "get in". She did and told them she was going to 13th street. At 13th street they turned, drove up the street and deposited her at the front gate. It's a small island and after a month people are recognizing us and know where we are staying.

Another indicator of the island lifestyle is that half the golf carts are parked with the keys in the ignition. I have yet to see a bicycle locked up anywhere. We have gone for a few evening strolls and noticed all the homes with doors and windows open. 

This is the safest place we have ever been.

 

The two main streets in town converge. Our bikes in the foreground:

Kayak repair

Lucia had a kayak in the backyard. We asked about it and she told us that she and a friend had salvaged it on the beach. It was almost completely buried and took a couple hours to dig out. She had not used it because it was missing the front hatch and therefore susceptible to swamping.

Using my dubious shade tree mechanic skills I wired a piece of tarp across the opening and sent De Anne to sea following Captain's Ron's advice: "if it's gonna break, it'll break out there."

As you can see above, she returned safely. 

And then, not much

All the dire warnings came to naught. Days of wind and just a few showers were all we got. The hurricane did provide some grief to several islands including the southern coast of Eleuthera, but we are at the northern tip of this 100 mile long island and that made the difference.

We walked around yesterday morning and saw the last few small boats being pulled and 9 out of 10 homes were boarded up. 

At the point, the best restaurant on Spanish Wells, The Shipyard, was closed and boarded up.

So after that brief interruption, back to our decadent lifestyle of endless vacation.

Cat 3.... Maybe 4?

The original forecast a few days ago was a category 1 hurricane on Thursday. That was all fun and games. Now, however, with a forecast of a category 4 storm tomorrow, folks have gotten serious. Window boards are going up and supplies laid in. We got an extra 5 gallon jug of water and some more non-refrigerator food.

Starting at 6:00 am this morning we closed up the shutters in our apartment. I would love to show you a picture of De Anne hanging out of a second floor window to unhook the shutters, but that was not happening because I was busy holding on to her legs.

We moved all the porch furniture and the grill inside, then helped Lucia.

Covering the front window.

Before the grill came in, a lobster dinner.

The power company will be shutting down the power soon, so dear reader - see you on the backside of the storm, hopefully just a few days away.

 

Joaquin

What a stupid name for a hurricane. Jim, John, Jack - all good strong names for a hurricane, but this is a sissy name. Karma may get me for that observation.

This is our current view, and may change in the next 24 hours.

We will make prudent preparations today. Bread, coke, and of course a rum run. 

Some readers may remember we encountered our last hurricane while in Canada last year. This seems a much more likely venue for a named storm.

Machetes... again

Thanks to our experiences abroad we did not flinch when we encountered our first Haitian walking down the street with a machete. We were quick to recognize him as a gardener. Long time blog followers might remember the trepidation we related with identical sidewalk passings in Panama.

A small contingent of Haitians lives on Russell Island in some very third-world style huts. They walk or bike over to Spanish Wells to work, some as gardeners. There do seem to be a few shared power mowers in circulation, as I will occasionally spot a Haitian on a bicycle or motor scooter pulling a lawn mower behind him; however, much of the work involves tree and shrub trimming and the machete is a fine tool for that.

They all seem polite and not a one has failed to offer a greeting in passing. I guess this island is an improvement over where they are originally from. De Anne, on her morning bike ride to Russell Island spots them congregating at a public spigot with their five gallon containers. Clean water might be considered a step up.

Just because you live in a plywood shack doesn't mean you can't have a great view.

The bridge from Russell Island. Sometimes you can hitch a ride.

(I know, poor picture quality, but you get the idea)

One picture

From the balcony tonight.

Stormy weather

Another plus in visiting a place for a month is that when there are a couple days of bad weather it doesn't ruin the experience like it would if we were trying to see everything in a week.

We have broken out a couple books and hunkered down. Of course, there is a bit of cabin fever. Lucia's dog, Baby Bear, was glad to get out in a brief dry spell and came upstairs to visit us.

De Anne knows all the right places to scratch.

Beach walk

Our beach walk yesterday was on an entirely deserted beach. Two and a half miles of clear water and pink (slightly) sand were all ours.

We start in town where beach houses are near the water and gazebos even closer:

After about a half mile signs of civilization begin to dwindle:

I can't think of a finer way to get some exercise!

More stuff

Thursday is a big day in Spanish Wells. The supply ships come in. De Anne can have her bananas again.

Every thing from soft drinks (seen on the left) to kitchen appliances (on the crane) down to personal orders (the jumble pile on right) is off loaded at high tide very quickly.

The second ship brings in the containers also off-loaded at high tide.

My naïveté was shattered when I saw two skids of frozen lobster tails unloaded. We had the most wonderful conch fritters Wednesday night. Did that conch come off the boat frozen 6 days earlier? I shall wrestle with this dilemma while floating in the crystal clear water.

 

Free fruit

The high cost of groceries in Spanish Wells is offset by free fruit. Every day we find fruit on our stairs, left by Lucia. She rides her bike every morning and picks fruit for herself and us. Yesterday morning was an avocado and some guavas. For those of you who have never had a fresh guava - think somewhat of a pear taste with small, hard seeds that you must be careful not to crack a tooth on. 

Our porch table with fruit of the day:

De Anne liked the Buddha holding a conch shell on the lower patio:

Keeping up

I followed De Anne over the one lane metal bridge connecting Spanish Wells to Russell Island. It was a hilly ride and I struggled to keep up with her; however, there were some gorgeous vistas.

Returning to our island De Anne waited semi-patiently for me to have a drink of water and catch my breath.

Once the bikes were put away she was ready for the paddle board. She has the hang of it now and looks good paddling across the bay. The scenery is not too bad either.

She also insisted on carrying it back alone to see if she could avoid relying on me to carry it to the beach.

Stay on the left

De Anne has made the grand tour of Spanish Wells and Russell Island by bike. I have joined her on a couple shorter tours of Spanish Wells. End to end only about 2 miles, so not particularly difficult. 

The important thing to remember is that, like the British, they drive on the left. Most traffic is golf carts, which are well suited for short distance and narrow streets; however, the occasional full size pickup  truck (driven at a speed commiserate with it's size)  can make you wobble. Stop signs are seen as an option - not a requirement.

At the local park looking across the channel at Russell Island.

One thing that would never happen in America - walking back from the grocery store yesterday, three drivers stopped on the street and offered me a lift. If a big brute like me gets 3 offers, De Anne may get a dozen. This morning a guy in a pickup offered us a ride when we were carrying back the paddle board from the beach. Alas, we had only 10 more yards of the 100 yard journey left to go.

Eleuthera, Bahamas

Braving Interstate 95 and the nutty drivers that make Florida highways a religious experience we arrived at the Fort Lauderdale airport safe and on time. The rest of the day was island time.

Utilizing one of the biggest planes to frequent the North Eleuthera International Airport we spent just a few minutes checking in, went out to the runway to retrieve our checked luggage and passed customs in a breeze. 

Our host arraigned a cab/ferry for us. The driver dropped us on the dock and left to put his cab in a dockside garage. Following the advice of an airline pilot who shared the cab I made a quick run to the dockside liquor store for some cheap Bahamian dark rum. The cab driver (now ferry captain) was waiting when I got back to the boat. 

Spanish Wells is only accessible by boat.

Our host for the month, Lucia, met us at the dock, gave us a quick tour of town in her golf cart, then showed us home for the month.

We have a one bedroom apartment comprising the whole second floor and a great deck on the back.

Of course De Anne had to see the beach right away.

Georgia friends

We are using the beach this week properly - entertaining friends from Georgia. Sandy and Vonn are decades long friends of Lisa and De Linda (De Anne's sister) and we have vacationed with them several times before. This time we cut out the middlemen (Lisa & De Linda) and invited Sandy and Vonn down for some beach time.

 The ladies looking for shells:

Yes, it is a beautiful beach, and this afternoon we will take them to an even nicer beach about a mile away.

Evening update - There is nothing better for a man than having three women cooking him a ribeye steak dinner with all the fixings!

Atlanta detour

At the urging of De Anne's sister, De Linda, we took I-85 home instead of I-95. That allowed a detour visit to Atlanta and got us off the traffic hell that I-95 has become.

De Linda and Lisa had completely remodeled their kitchen last year and this year the major project was a new deck. We arrived as the finishing touches were being done.

New back deck:

From the front  yard:

We have rejoined the beach crowd and look forward to getting some of that white sugar sand between our toes tomorrow.

Homecoming

Tristan is home from his Afghanistan tour. We were amazed to meet his Commanding Officer from Washington DC at the International gates in the Baltimore airport. His first CO from his Afghan tour also appeared. The four of us compared notes on Tristan while waiting for the delayed flight. That two Navy  captains would travel to Baltimore to welcome Tristan home was very special.

De Anne, alarmed at his skinny condition, has been feeding him non-stop.

Three whirlwind days of unpacking, furniture buying, and (since it is IKEA furniture) a lot of assembly. He is now stationed in DC and his new assignment is getting a master's degree in International Relations.

DC 4th

One last beach walk before traveling north to greet Tristan returning from his tour of duty.

We are now in Arlington VA at Tristan's apartment next to the Potomac River. He was in this building last year and wanted back in again, so he rented it, sight unseen, over the Internet - from the other side of the world.

Tristan does not land in the US until Tuesday, but De Anne and I came early to set the place up, avoid Fourth of July traffic, and play tourist.

The bad weather yesterday scared us away from the Mall festivities; however, from the raised Freedom Walk we had a great view of the fireworks and dry weather for a while. Tristan's building is on the left of the picture and the Washington monument is to the left of the fireworks.

Back at the beach

We completed our summer vacation in Canada and arrived back at the beach to enjoy our somewhat obstructed, but never the less, beautiful sea view again.

A few thoughts on Canada. It is a difficult place to remember that you are in a foreign country. I had a harder time with language dialect moving from the Midwest to the deep South back in the 1970's. New construction was going on everywhere. We noted the noise, rudeness, and general chaos exhibited by so many American youth was missing in Canada. A safe, lovely country to visit.... in spring or summer.

 Our next trip, later this summer, is to Washington DC to welcome home our eldest son from his overseas assignment.

Tip of Canada

Since we are on a peninsula surrounded by Lake Erie, Lake st. Clair, and the Detroit river a car or bike ride usually ends up at waters edge.

We visited Amherstburg and toured the waterfront and the remains of a fort with a plaque containing a brief mention of the War of 1812 and the indignities suffered at the hands of the American fleet led by Admiral Perry. 

The waterfront with Bois Blanc island in the background. This side of the island is for northbound ships, and southbound ships use the other side.

 

We also visited the southern tip of Canada. Unlike the USA, this southern tip was devoid of strange people, open air bars, and free-range chickens.

We visited the marsh lands near the tip and it looked so much like the Everglades that we half expected to see an alligator. We also noted the lack of hand rails on the elevated walkway. A clear sign that Canadian liability laws have not reached the fine edge of US laws. 

To preserve the fragile ecosystem we were required to take a trolley the last two miles.

Finally, after a short walk through the woods we arrived at tip of Canada - a beach and the beautiful waters of Lake Erie. Kept beautiful by the constant filtering of water by billions of zebra mussels.