Tag Archives: Nassau

My first conch fritter

Before I get started on this blog about the Compass Point Beach Resort and Nassau, Bahamas, I want to give you a little background. I grew up in St.Paul, Minnesota. The Scandinavia of North America. We drank milk, ate meat, potatoes and maybe some vegetables (you know, the good ones — corn, green beans and peas). Catsup added just enough spiciness to anything. Nothing too weird. I've gotten brave in my old age and now, for example, enjoy all types of wine and beer, I eat spinach salad, squash parts (at least I think it was squash, hmm), asparagus and broccoli. I know, I know, ... [Read More]

Ringing in the new year Bahamian style

Adam and I  figured the Caribbean would be a grand place to celebrate our first New Years together and ring in 2011. So we left frigid Atlanta with two of Adam’s closest friends, Brian and Jim, in favor of the welcoming warmth of The Bahamas. In my head I envisioned sunbathing in the hot Caribbean sun, sipping pina coladas, and lazily watching the foamy blue waves of the ocean lapping the beach. Or perhaps romantic twilight strolls, hand-in-hand with my soon-to-be husband, along the pristine sandy shores, listening to the peaceful sounds of the sea. Perhaps I should have checked the weather forecast before fantasizing so gloriously about the trip. The Bahamas in ... [Read More]

The Pirates of the Caribbean

  The Bahamas first became known to Europeans in 1492 when Christopher Columbus hopped off his boat on Guananhani Island  in what history has come to record as the “discovery" of America.  The Spanish monarchy, and thus Spainsh explorers, were driven by a passion for gold and god. The newly discovered islands had no gold, so the Spanish had little interest in the Bahamas beyond inflicting their god on the native people, called the Lucayans, forcing most of their new Christians into slave labor, then more or less wiping the rest out. It took fewer than 20 years to decimate the population, with as many as ... [Read More]

Embracing bulimia

In ancient Rome they allegedly had vomitoriums that one could use to empty their stomach after nights of heavy eating and drinking. Three days of wolfing down scrumptious fried conch fritters has led me to believe it may be time to resurrect the idea of vomitoriums. Either that or I’ll have to learn to be a bulimic. I love the food in the Bahamas. In particular, I love conch fritters and fresh conch salad, which tastes very much like ceviche. I devoured plate after plate of conch fritters in 5 different restaurants the past few days: Twin Brothers II and Big 10 seafood in the Fish Fry ... [Read More]

Breezy in the Bahamas

Most of the northern hemisphere is suffering through record low temperatures and harsh weather conditions (Britain’s Daily Star reported this week that this may be the coldest winter in 1,000 years.) This has meant that places like London, Paris and New York have been buried by fierce blizzards, and my home city of Atlanta had its first white Christmas since 1882. In the Bahamas, it means no beach. This makes me grumpy. The weather is certainly better than back home – highs in the mid 70s – but the cool breeze blowing off the ocean is enough to keep most tourists out of the water. The funny part ... [Read More]

Thanksgiving on Paradise

Usually we have visitors come from "up North" to visit us in Atlanta over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. This year it was not the case. Pondering what to do this year, my wife Sue and I were watching Wheel of Fortune one evening and saw someone win a trip to the Bahamas. I looked at her, she at me, and said, "We should spend Thanksgiving there." After checking the Web we found a special offer to stay at Atlantis on Paradise Island.  After non-eventful airport security checkpoints and a short, hour-and-a-half flight, we arrived at the hotel on Thanksgiving day. Walking into the entry area of ... [Read More]