Bands, Lights, Friends, and Warships

It’s been a little while since we left Nassau and I should have typed this up as soon as I could.  Unfortunately, that didn’t happen…  However, what may be fortunate for you, Dear Reader, is that means I will only write about the events that stand out in my mind now that we have left – meaning that you only get the short version of the good stuff!

The first fun we had after a few days of lying low was seeing the Royal Bahamas Defense Force perform their annual marching show for the Governor General of the Bahamas.  As a former French horn player and marcher, I love seeing shows that display musical talent and the pageantry of marching.  Add to that the fact that we were able to see the Governor General and a show that happens only once a year while in the Bahamas and you’ve got a Happy Cory! 

Now, I won’t lie – this wasn’t like seeing the A&M or Grambling marching bands…  It wasn’t really even as good as going back to see my high school alma mater’s marching band.  But, they were hard working musicians who were willing to perform in the Caribbean sun in front of their nation’s capital, hundreds of people, and the representative of their Queen.  So, who am I to criticize?

It was so much fun to talk with people in the road who were seeing this performance for the first time also, though they live in Nassau and could have caught it each year of the past twenty or more.  There were happy, cheering, helpful people glad to help move me around to make sure I was able to see everything as well (or even better) as they could.  Again, I have to wonder at those people who are so afraid of the Big Bad Scary Nassau that they missed the beauty and friendliness of the Bahamian people in the largest city of the country.

Bikini me on internet... the Captain insisted

Our long walk

We took the advice of another couple we had met at the bar many boat cruisers frequent and went to Paradise Island - the small Island where Atlantis is - in order to check out the pristine beaches that are rated some of the best in the Bahamas.  We had an afternoon of reading on beach chairs with shiny white sand and turquoise water surrounding us without seeing one other person.  (I wish I had known it was really going to be that deserted and I would have gone topless… though I probably need to get over the self-consciousness of that whole “people being around” concept anyway.)  After we were done basking in the sun, we headed over to the lighthouse we passed coming into the harbor and walked up to the top. Stepping over broken glass, we saw the remnants of the old light and its power source sitting below the newer light and the solar panel that charges it.

In the lighthouse

At this point, we were still thinking that we would be able to sail out and be long gone before an old friend of mine from the Peace Corps came to town with her husband.  Thankfully, storms kept us anchored for a couple of days and, by that point, there was no way I could leave just days before Kristina and her husband, Dave, got to Nassau.  Krissy was the PC Volunteer who took over for me when I was finished with my two years and moved to Kingston to be a PCV Leader during my third year; I was so excited that the kids I worked with had a woman like her to help lead them.  So, how strange is it to have gone almost eight years without seeing her, then to see her again in another Caribbean country without ever having seen her in the States?!  It was so much fun to catch up on nearly a decade of life and talk about the near future - AND, to finally meet her sweet and fun husband, Dave, who I had heard about for almost the entire year we were in Jamaica together!

Good times with old friends and new husbands!

In our decision to wait for Krissy to get in, Rob and I found another wonderful reason for us to stay in Nassau just a while longer: the USS Gettysburg.  While I was in the Peace Corps, the Captain was hard at work in college; however, while I was in college, the Captain was getting the travel-by-boat bug implanted in him as he worked with the engines and cleaned the bilge of this huge Navy ship.  The day before Krissy got to town, we saw in between the cruise ships a U.S. Navy ship that looked so much like the one the Captain had been on that he wanted to take me in for a closer look to show me the kind of ship he lived aboard before Calypso’s Fire.

The warship's size as compared to cruise ships

As we got closer, Rob started asking what number was on the side of the hull – “that’s not a 64, is it?!” he asked excitedly.  When we got close enough to see the huge “64” painted on the front, I thought I was going to have to hold the Captain in the dinghy; he was so excited to see his virtual home of four years from over a decade ago, he was just bursting from the seams!  We made sure to find some sailors that night (“They’ll be at the bar right there next to the dock!”) and chatted until we found out that they were giving tours of the ship two days later.  Perfect timing as it was, that was the day after we had already arranged to meet up with Krissy and Dave; everything just fell into place for us both to get to spend hours with ladies from our pasts!

Keeping him in the dinghy was hard!

Two days later, we got our visitor badges (from an interesting dock master who stated how happy he was that we were married) and headed toward the large warship that housed my husband pre-marriage.  I think I was able to glimpse what he must have looked like as a teenaged young man going aboard for the first time: wide-eyed, grinning, and goofily excited!  We were given a special tour of the ship due to the Captain greasing the right wheels the night we met the sailors, so we were able to see the engine rooms, the berthing (the sleeping quarters), and the Central Control Station (the room where the magic happens!) along with the bridge (where the ship is steered from), the galley (kitchen), and the deck that everyone else had access to.  As great as it was to see Rob’s old life, it’s weird to be next to the portals that are capable of shooting 61 missiles in seconds knowing that your pacifist husband saw them shoot another country from the same spot you’re standing in just over a decade before.

Pure happiness to get to show me his old home

After leaving, we had some fresh conch fritters that were amazing and a cold beer, then headed to a bar for a couple of more drinks.  There, we had the privilege to talk with two 24-year-old Bahamian men about politics, male-female relationships, and life in general.  I have to admit: I like bar talks.  They are some of the most open, revealing, and insightful conversations and this was no exception!  The cool thing about it: my fears that I would no longer be able to get into these kinds of conversations once I was married have been completely dispelled by the wonderful man I am fortunate enough to share this experience – and my life – with. 

These blow people up...

Lucky for me, he knows a thing or two about engine repair, too – but that’s a story for another time…