We started with a changing of the guard ceremony at the Governor General's Manor. (I find it interesting that the Prime Minister doesn't have a mansion but the Governor General does.) This ceremony holds little significance except for another tourist attraction but it was interesting none-the-less. I'm told by the Conservatory kids that the band wasn't very good, and the guard was sloppy. I just saw a marching band play while some guys in uniform stood at attention. I find it odd that these traditions keep on even when they have no meaning anymore, but that's just me pontificating.
We went from there to the Cloisters Gardens on Paradise Island (Also known as the island Atlantis owns). We didn't spend much time here but the garden was truly beautiful. It was a grassy hill, which had broad steps carved into it, leading up to a stone parthenon type building. With the flowers in bloom and the blue skies above even I found myself thinking that destination weddings aren't such a bad idea if mine could be there. We didn't get much time here though, so I (fortunately perhaps) didn't have much time to entertain these thoughts.
We finished our official itinerary with a trip to Atlantis Resorts. (again, the biggest employer in the Bahamas second to the government). We ended up having a tour of the entire grounds, not a behind the scenes like I was expecting, which actually turned out to be a better deal. During our tour we visited the aquariums, which I LOVED, and the casino floor, which holds over 4 million dollars of glass sculpture and art. The entire building was opulent to the max. Things were gold plated, marbled, and generally tackied beyond belief. I think I'd go crazy trying to stay there from the omnipresent whimsical nautical theme. Seriously, it's everywhere, and it gets old. They also spend a lot of time trying to get you to buy into the Atlantis idea, much in the way Disney tries to convince you that you're in the future, or in india. I'd love to stay there, but I can't afford it. The rooms start at $500 a night, and nothing's really inclusive. I think they probably charge you $40 if you want to pee.
For Sarah, the art is huge glass sculptures weighting 20,000 lbs each at least. They are made with individually blown glass pieces from a prominent artist and each costs about 1 million.
We FINALLY got some sun time today (YAY!) We laid out on the beach for about an hour and a half until we decided it was waaayyy to cold and no amount of booze was going to make it better. We ended up watching Princess and the Frog in someone's hotel room until dinner. After which we passed the rest of our time in the hot-tub. Which is terrifying because I'm sure it's got more STDs than all of Radford University at the moment.
Closing thoughts on the Bahamas:
- I will definitely be back here. I want a real vacation to enjoy the colors, sights, and sounds that I only got to see in passing.
- If you offered me a job here, I will totally take it. No lie, I'd even drag Brent down here with me. In fact, we should all move here.
- The drivers sit on the right hand side of the cars/ trucks. That means that the stick shift is on the left hand of the drivers. Which means!... that I've answered the age-old question: Just because the stick is on the left hand side doesn't mean that the gears are also reversed. First-Five gears are exactly where they are in the states.
- That might have been the most important thing I've learned.
And that concludes my trip. It wasn't quite what we thought it would be but I sure did learn a lot. And I will be back, you can count on it.