Come on Pretty Mama

ooo...I wanna take you to...bermuda Bahama...

Flying to Nassau

So two weeks ago we were in the Bahamas. My hubby's work paid for the hotel and flight. We felt lucky to go this time, as this is the last year for Club. He also lucked out because nearly his whole team made it to Club too... it was fun hanging with all of them. Very rarely do you luck out - and get to work with people you like. This is one of those rare occasions. This is one of our blessings.

Rolling to Atlantis from the Nassau Airport

Really excited... can't you tell? Yes, I was chilly. I love humid, warm weather.

In The Reef lobby they had these awesome chairs I wanted to bring home with me.

We left the girls with our friends, who have two little ones of their own. To see what they did while we were gone - check out the family blog.

Maybe it was the season...but the resort was not crowded at all. It was fantastic.

This was the first time we left the girls longer than a weekend. And we'd only ever left them once for a weekend. So this, this was momentous. We used Webex to conference call with the girls. It worked well. (Buy Cisco Webex)

View from the corner of our... balcony? (in Hawaii it's called a Lanai)

Lily pond at The Cove (this area is the chi chi one...)

We stayed at The Reef at the Atlantis resort. The Reef is unique with it's in room kitchens. I loved the half-size dishwasher.

Our room at The Reef - they're equipped with kitchens... which is nice.

The giant Atlantis throne by their casino

The resort is grand. It's beautiful. We spent our time running around in the water slides, pools and beach. It was nice to only need a swimsuit. The resort boasts some great restaurants. The resort is also a place where everything is jacked up three times. I think it would be a fun place to go if your kids are older - and over the height limit. And... the resort charges for everything. They tell you not to even touch the mini-bar because sensors will charge you a kidney for everything. You know how most places you can use the fitness centers as a part of a hotel's amenity? Not here - it's 15 a day... but you get a bottle of water with it. All of us that were on this trip - wanted to use the fitness center... but were deterred by the scam artist prices. We no longer wondered why these beautiful fitness centers sat empty.

Seriously... I don't think I'll ever understand why guys choose to wear bikini bottoms. ;-)

The dock at The Marina... one of the yachts was named "Outta Touch". Um... yeah.

Oh yeah... Rum is big here. I tried a rum cake... rum bread pudding, ice cream - meh...

We heard that the giant suite, forming a bridge at the Royal towers is owned by Michael Jackson. You can rent the room for 25 grand a night - minimum four night stay. They say that everyone from Michael Jordon, Tiger Woods ...owns homes there. Trump owns a large percentage of the island too. We also passed the cemetery and hospital when all the hoopla around that Anna Nicole Smith character.



If you're into shopping - you can get all that chi chi, label stuff without paying taxes in the Bahamas. So if you're into that - I hear you can save a bundle.


We loved the lazy river ride with it's rapids. We also enjoyed the power tower. It's fun sitting in a tube and not having to do anything to ride up and down the water slides. I also liked all the aquariums.




The frustrating thing is that everyone tells you how great the beach and water is in the Bahamas - maybe it was the time of year - but often the flags telling us if we could go in the water or not were often red... or red/yellow. And then when we did go snorkeling the water was murky and there wasn't a whole lot of fish to see. We were also solicited to go on a snorkel cruise...

This seal performed before the dolphins at Dolphin Cay. We saw him twice being transported around the resort. I wanted to say "Hey seal. How you doin'? You like upstaging dolphins? Say hi to your mother for me."

I did enjoy a massage at the Mandara spa. I made sure to take advantage of the cold/hot plunge pools, saunas...and helped myself to their fruit and tea. I even took an apple and a bottled water back to my hunny. I felt like Robin Hood. (I am Asian like that)

Seriously empty...almost like being secluded...nice

It was actually funny to get caught in one of the rain storms. The rain starts to sprinkle and within seconds it turns into a downpour. We ended up drenched, as if we'd just gotten out of a pool. The weather was cloudy on most days - there were a few days where the sun came out... we didn't even use sun screen.

My honey snorkeling

One of our favorite experiences at Atlantis... the Deep Water Dolphin Adventure at Dolphin Cay. Our dolphin was named Makai. I would love to hug a dolphin every day.

I didn't understand why the instructor was mocking my hubby kissing the dolphin, until I saw this picture. hehehe

So in addition to playing with the dolphins, we were able to take these propeller things, a snorkel mask and swim in the water with the dolphins. No matter how skilled a swimmer you are (which I am not), these dolphins are just majestic.







We were in groups of 7. My hunny said that when each of us had a turn to kiss the dolphin - our dolphin flapped his tail only when it was my turn. And then it turns out that during the dolphin push - our dolphin pushed my left foot and pushed everyone's right foot. I knew it...Makai the dolphin loves me too . ;-) Yipee!!!



We found the best places to eat for lunch/breakfast was at Starbucks at The Reef. It has to be the most luxe Starbucks I've ever been in. Remind me to get some pumpkin spice in hot chocolate again. We also purchased some basics at their Sundries store for the week - bagels, ham, cheese, snacks and drinks. My hubby lost 8lbs on the trip. I didn't gain anything until the last few days. ;-)

Halloween at Atlantis - I didn't know that they were into poodle skirts in the Bahamas.

We did indulge in some of the food. We went to Mesa Grill - one of three that Bobby Flay owns. We'd already been to the Mesa Grill in Vegas. The one in the Bahamas at The Cove at Atlantis is head and shoulders above the Vegas one. I guess we just need to get to New York to try the other Mesa Grill.



We also went to their Mosaic Buffet (three times). It's the high-end buffet at the resort. It's about 66.00 a person... and compared to everything else on the island - it's a great deal.






We also went into the Marina Village to try Bimini Road. The company had a reception at Fathoms at the Atlantis resort and in Nassau at a Chicago style restaurant.

Plantain chips at Bimini Road

Another Asian trait... these masks were laying all over the tables at the reception... so they make great souvenirs for the girls...free.

The service at the resort was, interesting. Most of the men who worked there were really helpful and easy to get along with. The rest, and most of the women seemed put off whenever we'd ask for directions, or for a towel at the towel shack. It also seemed the resort was over-staffed. There would be 3-4 people hanging out doing a job of one person.

Some of my hunny's sales team and wives

At the Nassau airport, on our return flight - we felt scammed. After taking a taxi to the airport we saw two guys fight it out to get a cart to our taxi for the luggage. When we said we didn't need one the taxi driver told us we had to - so we had to tip that guy. Then after ticketing, there was another guy who took us to security... it was crazy. I couldn't wait to land on American soil...and not be scammed for tips.




All-in-all... it was nice to be just us. It was lovely spending most of our time in bathing suits... so it was a little jarring coming home to a cold rainstorm. We both experienced withdrawal from our girls. Both of us agreed that we prefer Hawaii over the Bahamas. Although if a trip is all (including food) on someone else's dime... I'll go anywhere... almost.

I wanted to take this table home too.

Good bye Reef lobby

So happy to be home... cuddling with our little cuties...

We did purchase two bags from a beach vendor for the girls... our souvenirs from the Bahamas. We figured our souvenirs ...the experience, and pictures...lot's of pictures.