Michelle's Travel Adventures

Saturday, March 9

We’re heading to Bahamas baby! We’re continuing on with the whole “year of the birthday trips” theme for Stephen. And this trip is with Makena since her spring break break is in March this year. Stephen and Makena both wanted a sun destination trip to relax and recharge. And fingers crossed that no one (ahem Stephen) gets sick like our February Quebec trip.

We left home just after lunch and drove into Halifax to pick up Makena. I finally got to see her and Ethan’s “new” apartment! I’m using the quotations because they’ve been living there since September and I’m just finally getting over to Halifax now to see it, which made me a very happy Mom.

We went out for a quick dinner at Besharam Bar and Grill on Spring Garden Road. It is undoubtedly the best Indian food I’ve ever had. We started with a gin gimlet cocktail, which was delicious and rimmed with pop rocks candy (FUN!). Then for starters we shared the Salmon Tikka (a tandoori salmon) which was amazing. The Dahi Puri, which is like a small crispy ball/shell stuffed with masala chickpeas, a mint sauce and sweet yogurt. It was super unique to me and I’m so glad we tried it. And the onion pakora, which was good. For our mains we split the butter chicken which was perfection, and T he chicken tika masala, which was very good but a tad too spicy for my delicate taste buds. And of course some garlic butter naan which was the best darn naan I ever had! If you’re in Halifax and craving Indian food you should definitely check out Besharam!

It seemed so odd to then head to the airport after dinner and not to be heading back to a hotel room for bed. After we got checked in to our flight we had time to hang out in the Maple Leaf Lounge. Our flight departed at 10pm and we got into Toronto just before midnight. BUT!!! The time changed at midnight and we lost an hour so we had literally just a few hours to check into our hotel get a few hours of sleep and get up at 5am to get back to the airport for our 2nd flight to Nassau.

Sunday March 10

Lines at Pearson security were pretty good this morning except for a new line before you can even reach security because they are stopping every single person to check the size of their carry on and if they doesn’t fit regulation size you are told to check it. So word to the wise, double check you carry on items beforehand, the airports are cracking down on oversized carry ons!

We landed in Nassau around 11 am. And it was a beautiful sunny 29 degree day. We had arranged for a driver to take us to our condo rental. He gave us lots of local tips, including where to get the best Sky Juice (Drifters, Ohandras) and the best places to order from at the local fish fry (Goldies) and to try McKenzie’s by the bridge for the best conch.

Our condo is called Thirty Six, and we were in one of the penthouse apartments. It really was a beautiful space. Two bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms. A balcony and a huge upper deck with a BBQ, lounge chairs and seating area.

Once we got settled in to the condo we went for a walk to Paradise Shopping Plaza. We found theToast Wine and Spirits Liquor store and got some provisions for the night. The staff was so friendly and helpful. We got a locally made coconut rum, a case of Bacardi mojitos, and Kalick Guava Radlers. They had a bunch of radler flavours and the guy said guava was the best. He then asked if we wanted them now, he said “you can drink and walk here!” So we were like sure! So he popped the tops and they were just as good as he’d promised! Only 2% alcohol and lightly carbonated. Delicious and definitely refreshing after the hot walk.

We then headed to the Straw Market and sat outside and finished our beer.

It was just after 2 and realized we hadn’t eaten since 6 am and decided to go to Margaritaville for some margs and lunch. Makena and I had the blackened Mahi sandwich and Stephen got the chicken fajitas, which he really enjoyed. Our sandwiches were decent. Makena had a mango margarita which was delicious. I got “the perfect margarita “ which turned out to be not my perfect margarita because it was wayyyyy too much tequila for me.

On our way back to the condo we stopped at the Village Grocery to pick up breakfast items for the morning. It’s got the essentials but definitely pricey. $20 for a package of bacon!!! And then quickly made our way back so we could cool off in the pool and chill for the evening

For dinner we decided to order in from Anthony’s Seafood and Ribs. We could place our order online and then Stephen walked over to pick it up. We ordered coconut shrimp (10/10) ribs (8/10) and bbq chicken and pineapple pizza 8.5/10)

Monday March 11

After breakfast Makena and I headed down to the pool while Stephen worked for the morning.

At noon we took a taxi (about $35 US from Paradise Island) to the Fish Fry and decided to go to Goldie’s for lunch. Stephen and Makena really wanted to try the conch fritters. I’m really not a conch lover, but as far as conch fritters go, I’d have to say they were pretty good. We also had buffalo wings but they were so flipping spicy hot that we couldn’t eat them. Stephen and I both got the “shrimp snack” which was really good fried shrimp and very undercooked and under salted French fries. Makena ordered jerk chicken, which was delicious. She definitely won lunch.

After lunch we found a taxi who drove us to the grocery store (Fresh Market) and waited while we shopped and then brought us back to the condo. He was quite a character who had a lot to say, especially about the issue of Haitian immigrants arriving in Bahamas. Groceries are crazy expensive here. Like $9 US for a cucumber!!! Ugh!!! Later we found out that the prices are way cheaper at the Super Value grocery market and that’s where n=most of the locals go. Live and learn.

We quickly unloaded the groceries to head out in our rental golf cart to pick up wine for the night. Then we did a quick trip to the beach and turtle sanctuary

For dinner we stayed in and made grilled steaks, hasselback potatoes and grilled zucchini.

Tuesday March 12

This morning was pretty chill. Makena and I read by the pool while Stephen worked up in the room until noon.

We had lunch in the condo and then walked to Cabbage Beach (the Riu side) for the afternoon. Public access to the beach by the Riu is a bit nuts. Lots of locals standing around trying to sell you everything from beach chairs, jewelry and drinks. But if you walk along the beach away from the Riu it gets quieter. The waves were crazy big today. Stephen and Makena went for a swim but it was too wild for my liking. They came in completely covered in sand lol. Stephen was literally dumping sand out of his swim shorts.

We walked back to the condo around 4 to met Brett for drinks down at the pool at 4:30. It was nice to catch up and he had a lot of great tips and advice on where to go and what to see while we’re here. He also loaned us a golf cart for us to get around the island which is fantastic!

For dinner we went to Viola’s. It was a super laid back Bahama vibe. A calypso drummer played all night and our server was hilarious. Cocktails were tasty and food was tasty and cheap. Some of the best fish and shrimp tacos ever

Wednesday March 13

This morning was same drill as yesterday. Stephen worked in the morning. Makena read by the pool, I worked out at the gym. By mid morning we decided to head to Atlantis and walk around and check out the boats in the marina.

Stephen had a lunch meeting so Makena and I had lunch back at the condo. After lunch, Stephen came back and we took the golf cart to the beach for the afternoon. A pretty laid back/chill afternoon.

We made our own dinner back at the condo and had an early night

Thursday March 14

Stephen actually took most of the morning off today so we did a full beach day. We took a long beach walk and explored near the golf course. (I have to admit I was a bit nervous about getting hit by stray golf balls!).

We had lunch at the Cabbage Beach Bistro. We ordered fish tacos (big shock!) Honestly we pretty much always ordered the fish or shrimp tacos and or chicken wings everywhere we went. You can pretty much guarantee that they tasty and also the cheapest thing on the menu. And believe me, Bahamas (Paradise Island in particular) is EXPENSIVE!!!

After spending the entire day as beach bums, we decided we needed a little ice cream treat so we headed to the Ben & Jerry’s at Atlantis for some sundaes

We rolled back to our condo in the golf cart, showered up, got creative with the leftovers in the fridge for dinner. And hit the hay early again.

Friday March 15

We started the day with our new usual routine. Coffee and breakfast on our balcony. Then Stephen works from the upper deck. Makena reads at the pool and I go to the gym.

At noon we headed out to the Hurricane Hole Marina where we were meeting up with Brent who was taking us out on his boat for the afternoon!!! It was a perfect sunny day and we headed straight for Rose Island. There is a fun beach bar and restaurant called Footprints. They have delicious tropical cocktails, great music and the food is decent too!

For lunch Makena and I both got chicken sandwiches and fries. Stephen got the pulled pork sandwich which he said was really good. We stayed at Rose Island all afternoon, swimming and playing beach volleyball.

And then we headed to Green Cay or also nicknamed “Turtle Island” where there are lots of sea turtles and we could hop off the boat and go swim with the turtles!!!

We got back to our condo around 6pm and showered up for dinner at Nobu tonight. We were so excited to go, but after a full day out on the water we were fading quickly and our reservation was at 8:45 pm. It’s a miracle we were able to stay awake for it (makena was practically a zombie though lol)

I’ll be honest. Nobu is definitely hyped up. The place was packed. It was very fun to people watch and check out all the fashion (and lack there of lol). Our server was fantastic and very attentive. But most importantly let’s talk about the food and the prices. At Nobu Atlantis you place your order and whenever a dish is ready it will be brought to your table. We ordered the 2 crispy rice and spicy tuna, 1 roasted cauliflower with jalapeños , 1 tuna and scallion roll, 1 salmon and avocado roll, 1 shrimp tempura roll, 2 salmon nigiri and 1 tuna and jalapeño roll. For drinks Stephen had a Bombay gin and tonic and the cheapest glass of red wine. I had one glass of the cheapest white wine on the menu. And 2 bottles of still water. Our bill was over $440 CDN. Do I think it was worth that much money? Not a bit. It was good don’t get me wrong. But it’s soooo expensive for what you get. I’m not even sure if I can say it was the best sushi I’ve ever had. I don’t think it was. But all in all I’m glad we got the opportunity to go and enjoy the experience.

Saturday March 16

It’s time to leave paradise! We packed up this morning and headed to the airport at 11:30. Our flight leaves at 2pm for Montreal. Stephen ended up getting upgraded to business class and gave his seat to Makena. We land in Montreal at 5pm and have to overnight and fly to Halifax in the morning. We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard Airport hotel and had a really good dinner at the restaurant. We said our goodbyes to Makena at the airport and hopped into our car that was parked in the Park N Fly and headed home to see our good boy Jordie!