My Bahamian Vacation Part I...

This was my first vacation outside the USA in 12 years! It was last year, right in the middle of all the good and bad stuff that was happening in my life. I live in vacation-land here in South Florida and it was kind of difficult to go away on vacation when my girls were younger.
I took this vacation with one of my dearest friend and with a new friend from work. We never talked about it at work, because we made a pact to keep our private lives private since we worked with some really intrusive people!

I got the window seat and since this was my first time in a plane since 2000, I wanted to take as many photos of the sky as I could. I made a deal to be in the middle seat on my way back home and to forget about "my skies photos".

Mami Ofelia has arrived. I'm carrying my friends bags since I had the smallest carry-on bag.
My friend's family members work in the hospitality industry which made it possible for us to get into amazing hotels, got great tickets prices and feast at local places that offered fantastic and cheap meal deals!
I wore:
Bueno Bag
St. John's Bay (made in Vietnam) shirt
a.n.a. (made in Vietnam) skinny jeans
Thrifted necklaces; Indian bracelets and old sunglasses from my youngest daughter

I took over 500 photos; it was difficult to pick which ones to use for my post. This is my close friend cousin's boat. He is the captain and it is a product and produce carrier. Most of the daily items that the people of The Bahamas use are imported. I was told by my "new family" that it's because the people and the Bahamian government don't want their beautiful beaches to be destroyed by factory pollution.

After the boat ride we unloaded ourselves to the fish market right next to the boat dock; I was desperate to have a real Bahamian conch salad.
I have been to the Bahamas, once back in the spring of 1988, and I fell in love with the people and with the food.

This perfectly delicious and healthy lunch was only $5.00!
They prepared it right in front of you, with the ocean and the boats as our background.

Dinner was fried conch, small bread and french fries!

Refreshing (not as strong as I thought it was going to be) local beer.

It was our first night and we were not sleepy, so we wandered to the beach outside our hotel room to talk about silly things and get out feet in the cold ocean water.
I wore:
Old Target shirt
No name, Made in Indian thrifted skirt
Steinmart necklaces, bracelets and sandals

It was around 11 pm and even though it looks desolate, the entire area to the left of this was full of couples, families and drunken college kids!

The next morning (day two) and every morning for the next 4 days we walked down these steps to make it to the Pompei Market across the street for our daily daiquiris.
I wore:
Thrifted made in Indian yellow blouse
5 or 6 years old Martha B shorts
Thrifted necklaces mix with my real silver ones, thrifted small purse, old sunglasses from my oldest daughter

Here I'm enjoying our new morning routine: breakfast, a walk across, a bit of shopping and daiquiris.
The hard life of a woman on vacation!

My friends C. and G. shopped every day. Something small for her kids and significant others and something for themselves.
I only had a bit of spending cash; I bought very little but my friend C. brought me two amazing red bracelets. Again I'm the official "carrier" of their Bahamian shopping bag.

Coconut shell turtle. If you pull the top white string, the turtles walk.

I wanted to buy a few of these but they were out of my pocket reach, especially if I wanted to have money for food and drinks.

In my 1988 trip to The Bahamas, I purchased one of these bags and I had it for about 5 years before I donated it to the Salvation Army.

Just enjoying the ocean breeze.

Exactly what I needed to relax and to remember my childhood in the beaches of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic and the rest of my childhood until adulthood in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

As we lay down on our beach chairs, this was our view... we felt asleep for a while and then took off to visit Atlantis.

I got lucky with this shot.. The Bahamian flag and a local bird on one of Atlantis towers.

Atlantis is like a rich tourist dream castle.We were able to spend time at this castle because, as I said before, my friend's family members work in the hospitality industry.

I think that I found Neptune's and Aquaman's pets.

This must be a Dale Chihuli piece. It's right by the bathroom area and before you enter the casino.

We spend about an hour in the aquarium area but some of the photos came out horrible because I was not using the flash. Seeing these stingrays so close was a real treat for me.

One of the balconies that had a view to the man-made beach area.

My new cousin prepared us dinner at her home.

More to come, later on...
Carinos,