Bahamas!

my closest cohort of college friends and I all turned 40 this year, which has prompted us to make the horribly jarring calculation about how long we have actually known each other -- we have now passed the threshold of being friends for more than half of our lives! we typically exchange group gifts for our birthdays, but this year we decided to plan a mini-vacation to celebrate! after much deliberation including literal PowerPoint presentations and polls, we finally narrowed down our itinerary: traveling to an all-inclusive resort in the Bahamas in mid-January over the long Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend. 

it was wonderful. 

we met bright and early at the airport, whisked through security without a hitch (thanks to recent upgrades at the Pittsburgh airport), and settled in for some much-needed friend time. I've enjoyed flying ever since I was a kid, and that continues as an adult. I was quite impressed with the legroom in JetBlue's economy section, plus we were able to coordinate a watch party on our seatback screens so we all could watch Clueless together. 

at 5'4", I never feel cramped in an airplane seat, but rarely do I have this much extra room!

unbelievably beautiful as we approached Nassau

after a brief snafu at the Nassau airport where we couldn't find our shuttle driver (made more difficult by the fact that I didn't have cell/data service and the name of the shuttle company provided was an umbrella company that actually hires out to third party transportation services), two friendly airport employees helped us finally get in contact with our actual driver. Barry was hilarious, keeping up a lively chatter about cultural points of interest during our 45 minute drive. Amelia asked him where we could get sky juice (a traditional Bahamian cocktail made with gin, coconut water and sweetened condensed milk) and he said he would take us to get some along the way. I thought he was kidding but nope! we pulled into the Fish Fry shopping/restaurant area, Barry led us to a drink stand, and our vacation was officially underway. 

Barry was an excellent driver but needs to work on his photography skills, ha! also please note that my cup has a pink seal indicating no alcohol to differentiate from the yellow-sealed cups that did, in fact, contain A LOT of alcohol

super fun to spot where the cruise ships dock as we crossed the bridge to Paradise Island, knowing that Greta and I would stopping here on our cruise in March!

we checked into our resort, the Warwick, and immediately headed down to the pool bar for some snacks and drinks. all-inclusive for the win! it was a bit cold and breezy but certainly an improvement from wintry Pittsburgh weather. 

conch fritters and jerk chicken. yes please.

the resort beach faced the marina side, which was a negative point on some of the reviews, but we thought it was fine! we got plenty of ocean-facing time over the course of the trip.

so happy

spotting fish off of Mermaid's Lookout

we confidently referred to this fish as a barracuda all weekend

the next day, after copious research comparing various tour operators, we booked a four-hour excursion with the Oasis Ocean 7 Beach Club. the boat took us speeding out of the harbour, past waterfront mansions and the famous Gilligan's Island, to a quiet spot for snorkeling. the fish were incredible! I was so focused on the larger fish swimming deep down in the water that I would have missed the tiny white iridescent fish swimming just below the surface if Amy hadn't pointed them out to me. 

Greta was appalled when I showed her my new hat but I was thrilled with the adjustable brim, ponytail slit, and wide brim. it stayed on the whole ride even when other people had to take their hats off and hold them tightly in their laps. THIS IS FORTY.

going fast! 

Gilligan's Island (and somebody's hair!)

super glamorous. they had us wear lifejackets backwards around our waist and that worked perfectly for letting us just float in the water!

Blair and Amy

our next stop was to Green Cay to spot sea turtles. they are protected, so you are not allowed to swim and snorkel in these waters, but it was still amazing just to watch them. 

saying hi to the granddaddy turtle

baby turtle!!!

and finally, we arrived at the private beach club on Rose Island. we had a few hours here to relax, eat lunch, and ... feed the pigs! I was not prepared for how large some of these pigs were. there was also far more poop than I ever imagined (they told us to yell "poop scoop!" whenever we spotted some and that happened to be about every 30 seconds or so). it was a unique experience and I'm glad I did it, but once was enough! 

approaching the beach club

pinch me now! (we spent a lot of time watching people trying unsuccessfully to clamber aboard these water trampolines which was highly entertaining)

I thought this resin monkey by the bar was real at first

never did a burger and chips taste so good!

we went into the "aviary" and met the rock pigeons

then they called us all back down to the beach to prepare to meet the pigs. we were each given a little cup of fruit and hot dogs (they assured us they were not pork but I'm not sure about that...) and instructed to hold the skewers out to the side of the pig's mouths so as not to poke them. we all lined up in the water, and then with a literal trumpet fanfare, the pigs careened down the hill to meet us. 

we had to get our traditional Kardashian laughing photo

after that we had another hour or so to explore the island. one of the crew members took us over the hill and down to the other side of the island which will eventually be accessible to everyone but was still under construction. when we came back up the hill, one of the other crew members was waving wildly to us and we had to do a walk of shame back onto the boat where everyone else was seated patiently waiting for us!! whoops. 

saying goodbye to the beach club once we were all safely onboard

we went right past our resort -- fun to see it from the water!

later that afternoon we took the resort shuttle to Cabbage Beach. I was under the impression that the resort offered complimentary food/beverage service and a private section of the beach for resort guests, but we couldn't find anything of that nature and later when I went back to look it up, there was nothing in the resort information to corroborate that. I must have gotten mixed up with information about other resorts we had researched. although it was beautiful, the beach was a bit of a bust with vendors coming past every few minutes trying to sell us things, and overpriced drink stands. we ended up walking back after a while. 

more turtles in this murky water under a bridge on our walk back. we also spotted an abandoned scooter in the water. 

back at the pool!

baby boy required multiple servings of conch fritters per day

although we ate at the delicious buffet for most meals, we made reservations for the specialty steak and seafood restaurant for Saturday night. it was good! not the best meal I've had in my life -- you can't expect that from an all-inclusive -- but still delicious. 

this seafood bisque was AMAZING

the lap pool after dark

karaoke night in the lounge. Amelia KILLED it

Sunday morning I went on a solo adventure to church, just over a five-minute taxi ride across the bridge to the mainland. I love going to mass in foreign countries -- so much of the service is familiar and always serves to remind me of the unity of the Church around the globe and across time. after mass, I decided to walk back and enjoyed the beautiful weather (wearing a short sleeve dress in January?! definitely not familiar). 

walked past this cemetery on my way back

Atlantis resort from the bridge. we looked into staying here, but the rooms were expensive and it's not an all-inclusive so our total cost would have been at least double or triple what we paid. 

the rest of the day we spent relaxing around the resort, reading by the pool, eating lunch al fresco, and lounging at the beach. it was precisely what we needed. 

my favourite Miami Vice (I had exactly one alcoholic beverage on this trip, and this was it!)

I woke up from a delicious nap on the beach lounger to find them all on this floating raft!

we had signed up for a sip-and-paint event that evening (free to register but with limited spots available, so we made it a priority after checking in!) and it was super fun. they had several different sketches available and so everyone was pretty much left to their own devices to paint. Amy and Amelia created much more realistic shading and color nuances while Blair and I produced grade school level paintings. I do enjoy the sensory process of painting even if I'm not very skilled at it! 

a rum tasting was set up outside the lounge

the almost-blank canvas (trust me, I was grateful for the outline)

Amy's masterpiece in early stages

nearing completion

the finished products!

then we played some pingpong. well, "play" is a strong word for what we actually did. we were lucky to get one or two volleys back and forth before the ball went careening off the table and across the floor

our last adventure of the trip was to go visit the aquarium at Atlantis. we had heard that The Dig, a portion of their aquarium, was free to enter after 6 PM (prior to that, it is only available to hotel guests or with a purchased day pass). we convinced some of our new resort friends to come along and hopped aboard the resort shuttle. we were not prepared for how sprawling the Atlantis complex is and how difficult it would be to actually find the entrance to the aquarium. after stopping many times to ask employees, we finally spotted it and ventured in. it was incredible! 

a Chihuly in the casino!

we finally found the aquarium! the tanks were arranged on either side of a network of tunnels with artifacts meant to evoke the lost city of Atlantis

caught Blair mid-blink but had to include this photo of Amelia looking exactly like a character in an Indiana Jones movie

these were in a tank mounted on the ceiling. no me gusta

the giant manta was my favourite

of course we had to do a photo shoot next to the Tiffany boxes

Monday was a travel day back home. our favourite driver Barry picked us up and took us on a different route to the airport so we could see another, scruffier side of the Bahamas. our flights went smoothly and we had a very frigid welcome back to Pittsburgh with temperatures in the 30s. I am so grateful for Nick and his mom keeping everything running smoothly at home without me ... and for these dear friends, who have been at my side for decades. realistically, it will be a while before we can take another international trip together, but I'm already looking forward to our next adventure!