An Early 30 year Anniversary Present

Paul surprised me with an amazing gift at Christmas. I opened my present and there were pictures of places in Nassau, Bahamas with the dates of when we would be going there. It took awhile for the reality of it to set in. But I was ready for some sunshine and he had us scheduled to leave the beginning of January. I considered this an early wedding anniversary trip since we hit 30 years in August. And a much needed rest after having just planned and gone through the rigors of April and Ryan's wedding.

Unfortunately, little did we know that Nassau was experiencing their coldest January in 60 years. Here is the view from our room at the first resort we stayed at. It would take 3 days for it finally get warm enough for us to brave going in the water and even then we froze.

We did enjoy just sitting on our deck and looking at the beautiful view for hours.

You could see this slide from the deck of our room. It looked like such fun. So that 3rd day we went down it three times, until the cold winds drove us back to wrap up in our big beach blankets.

One cloudy day we went exploring the city of Nassau. They were under British rule for years. They drive on the "wrong side of the road". Their store vendors were too pushy for us, so shopping wasn't very enjoyable.

The next couple days we stayed at a hotel near the huge Atlantis Resort. Our hotel cost was half what staying at Atlantis was, yet we got access to all their pools, beaches, water parks, and acquariums for free (which would normally cost you $120 per person each a day). Here is one of their cool water tunnels you could walk through to see the fish.

And they had some pretty big fish!

Here is the picture of the famous Atlantis resort. We see advertisements for it on TV all the time now. It's a huge resort.

This was our hottest day--a sunny 74 degrees. We hit the beach early before any of the crowds arrived. Unfortunately, their main beach got washed away and was closed while we were there.

Finally some sun and warmth! Did it feel good. The sand was very fine and soft to walk on.

Usually we had to take our own picture to get the two of us together. We are getting better at it! (Not as good as our kids though).

Paul was crazy and went down this vertical water slide called "Leap of Faith". It was practically straight down. He even did it twice! There is another ride on this side of the pyramid that we did on a double intertube. Starting at the top of the pyramid it weaves down dark tunnels until you come out at the bottom where the sharks are. Luckily you are in an enclosed glass case, but the sharks seem like they are swimming right next to you.

We had fun walking this rope bridge. Paul liked to get the bridge moving to make the walk across it more exciting.

They have a huge casino at this resort. We were amazed at the elaborate furnishings. I kept bugging Paul about getting my picture taken in this chair. It is called the "Million Dollar" chair, because that is how much it cost to make it. I figured I would never again get the chance to sit in anything so expensive for the rest of my life.

Some fascinating mythical sea creatures.

At times there are lines of people waiting to get their pictures taken in the chair and by these creatures.

Resting by a palm tree during one of our evening walks around the grounds of Atlantis. The main entertainment at night is the Casinos and the bars. We walked for our entertainment.

One evening we were walking in this little outdoor shopping area near the harbor when we heard these steel drums playing. I just had to go and watch. The guy was really talented. He let me try them out when he saw how fascinated I was with them.

I couldn't figure out how he got different notes hitting a drum. Once I looked inside the drum I could see that each indentation is a different note. He had me try to play the C major scale and the notes were not next to each other or even in the same drum. It would be a crazy instrument to learn to play.

It was fun to play around with it and so nice of the guy to let me do it.

He let me take his picture. Then he told us he wanted to dedicate a song to us and wanted us to dance right there next to him. The song was Elvis Presley's "I can't help falling in love with you". I loved it, Paul courageously endured it. It was one of my favorite evenings.

The day we were suppose to fly out to Atlanta, they got hit with an ice storm so our flight was cancelled. We were able to get on a computer and book a cheap room at the Sheraton Resort. This was the beautiful view looking off our deck. Doesn't it make you just want to jump in that water and walk underneath that waterfall? We wanted to do that so bad, but it was in the 60's and the wind was blowing and we just couldn't brave the cold water.

So my suggestion to any of you interested in the Bahamas is, don't go in January, just in case they are having their coldest weather in 60 years!