Endless Runs, Inappropriate Tourists and Pirate Juice!

I am, and will never be, a distance runner. However, there is something about the beach here that just makes me never want to stop running. Each morning I have set out and an hour passes without even realizing it. The water is peaceful, the sun is already harsh and my agility work consists of dodging the rocky shoreline. Running here makes life seem easy.

Yesterday we spent the day relaxing in the sun. Astonishingly, I still did not get a sunburn! That obviously has nothing to do with the 4 tubes of sunscreen that I brought, the zinc oxide for my face and the stylish UVA baseball cap that I've been wearing...I am SO cool.

Monday is the Independence Day for the Bahamas. We decided to venture out to Port Lucaya to see some of the celebrations. This area is a touristy type area, but locals go here too. We went right next to a marina where there are a bunch of bars surrounding a central dance floor and stage that had a Bahamian band. It was made quite clear that these were the bars for the tourists. As we wondered around that area, we passed a bar that was clearly for the locals. The music changed from what we think of as Bahamian island music to loud rap music. Trying to really immerse ourselves in the culture, we of course stopped here and stood outside to observe a bit. This lasted a few minutes before we walked away from the people staring at these 4 white tourists in collared shirts, skinny jeans and sun dresses.

Heading back over to the band and dance area, we were attempting to steal a picture of a lady wearing a very fashionable fanny pack. In our effort to be subtle, two tourist men came up and asked if we wanted them to take our picture. What they really meant is that one of the drunk men wanted to get in a picture with us, stand next to me to steal a quick feel of my backside! I was certainly in need of my brothers to set him straight...However, apparently me not yelling at him gave him the confidence to invite us back to his 50+ foot yacht right there in the marina. We took the invitation as an exciting event of the night but needless to say, we passed up that offer.

We found the area to be less tourist filled than we had expected. Especially as we headed across the street to a series of hotels, casinos and "bars/clubs". A few of the hotels were closed because not enough people book rooms there. None of the bars or clubs were open and any people that we did see were in the casino. It was basically like a deserted town and we wondered aimlessly trying to figure it all out.

I would like to point out that the drinks we got were delicious and completely ridiculous. For $4.50, we got a a drink called "Pirate's Juice." This was concocted with 4 types of Bacardi Rum: Bacardi Razz, Bacardi Lemon, Bacardi Melon, and Bacardi O along with a splash of some types of juices. It was pure goodness.

Here is the view from the balcony where I write my blogs:

                                                        A nice way to end the night!