Bahamas Cruise Day 2

So far the cruise has been fun, although I didn't realize how much the ship can rock. I get motion sick easily so with all of the rocking I decided I definitely needed to start taking the motion sickness pills. They worked wonders!! Whoever thought of them was a genius and my vacation saver. We got to get off the ship today after sailing all day and night yesterday. We got off the ship at Nassau, Bahamas and had a scheduled amount of time that we could explore on the island. It was definitely not long enough. We had to hurry to see the sights that we wanted to so we could get back to the ship on time.

We were able to go to the Atlantis resort and see the huge fish tank that they have there. The walk was long to get there but it was so worth it. We got to see rays, and a variety of fish in the tanks. Inside the resort there was a huge waterfall with shells at the bottom. It was beautiful!

We walked through the resort and ate lunch. There were some really cool lights throughout the inside of the resort. They looked like they were made of colored glass. My favorite one looks like the sun with solar flares all over. I wish we could have stayed longer but we were on a very tight schedule. We had a few more places we wanted to see while on the island and the walk took a lot of time.

After Atlantis, we found a bus cab that was willing to take all 11 of us to our next destination. It cost us a bit but we were able to see everything we wanted to. The bus was crammed but we were all able to stay together.

The next place we went to was the Queen's Staircase. One of the locals was nice enough and told us the history behind the construction of it. He told us that the trench and stairs were cut out of the limestone by slaves, who used picks and other sharp tools. Many of the slaves died as a result of the hard labor. 65 stairs were cut into the limestone. The trench was constructed to help protect Fort Fincastle from enemies. The foliage surrounding the trench was beautiful. There were so many different plant species. The roots of plants covered the walls and trees covered the top of trench, creating a sort of canopy. There were little shops along the walls with items that the locals were trying to sell, jewelry, wooden toys, bags and other trinkets. The local people are very talented at using the resources around them to make beautiful souvenirs.

The local people were all bundled up in coats, hats and gloves due to the 60 degree weather. We thought it was nice weather but they were used to a lot warmer weather and this was almost winter weather to them. I was surprised to see the big coats and gloves but understood once we talked to a couple of the shop owners.

We climbed the staircase to Fort Fincastle, where we were able to get on top and look our at the island. It was such a beautiful sight. We could see all of the foliage and the little towns around the island. We were able to see the cannons they used to protect the island. We also got to see jail cells where they would hold prisoners. The sight was awe inspiring. I was glad we were able to make it to this site. It was all very worth it!! All in all, today was a beautiful day with a lot of sites to see. I can't wait for tomorrow to see what other adventures are in store for us.