Land! Terra Firma! Everybody off! Actually, today we are trying to take it slow. We want to go to Arawak Cay and Fish Fry so we can partake in the traditional Bahamian fish fry restaurants there. Last time in Nassau, we were way too early – and had no patience to wait until they opened. This trip we are trying to take it easier so we can get there for lunch. Ha! We have no patience!
Even though we lollygag (as much as possible for us) we are still off the ship around 9:30. It’s an almost 2 mile walk, so we are taking it slow, but the places still don’t open until 10 (supposedly) and we don’t really want fried fish at 10 in the morning. So….we stroll slowly through town, walk down the sea front and end up sitting on a bench on the waterfront (in the shade!!! It’s HOT) to waste some time.
We were the first ship in, and the NCL Breakaway and Escape are in port as well. As we are sitting watching the waves roll in, the Carnival Pride joins us. Ugh…town will be a zoo with all these 16,000 visitors pouring off the ships.
After biding our time, we head toward Arawak. On the way we stop and talk to a guy lounging on one of the benches who is selling conch shells for $3. It’s a steal, they are huge, but we can’t take them back – we don’t have enough luggage room now! He is a charming man – originally from Jamaica, has lived all over the world. Fell in love with a Swiss woman, moved to Germany, had a daughter with her who is now 28, couldn’t work there because of the permits, so he traveled all over Europe. He’s back here now, with another wife and lots more kids. He fishes by trade, and is going out next week for a month or so, but when he’s on land he sells the conch shells he collects – just as something to do. We traded stories for a bit, talking about life in general, get his recommendations on restaurants then head down to the Fish Fry.
Even though we’ve tried to take it slow, we’re still really early. The place our shell friend recommended isn’t open yet (at least there are no signs of life), so we saunter down the long row of restaurant store fronts. As we are nearing the end, a “hawker” approaches us and tells us his restaurant is open, we’ll get a free Bahama Mama (or something) if we order an entrée, and he has high speed wifi and private toilets (private toilets are a big deal in this area!) etc., etc. He’s engaging and nice, asks where we are from and then goes on to tell us he owns a restaurant in Atlanta called Asante. 5 star. Near Ruth Chris. Really? Well, what the heck, and head into Curly’s.
It’s a laid back little place, with a couple of other folks already there. Kitchen is slow, which is fine by us coz it’s barely 11am!
We have a couple beers – Sands, a local brew we’ve not had before – and then we order a combo appetizer (coz the beer is going to our heads by now). 
Wow – now that’s a sampler! Chicken wings, fried Conch and Grouper fingers. We were figuring on starting with this then ordering a main – but no way. We are stuffed. I’m so stuffed, I actually can’t even finish my half – so Ed gets the lion’s share. Too much food. I’m so done (I’ve been so stuffed I’ve been stealing Peanut Butter from the breakfast buffet and saving it for lunch to have with an apple – and that’s been it for my food during the day!).
After an enjoyable hour or so, we make our way out of Curly’s, and head back into town looking for more wifi. Turns out we should have stayed at Curly’s for wifi! I’m trying to download books on my Kindle, and the first place we go, Sharkeez (where we’ve been before) is so packed the wifi won’t even connect. We drink expensive small beers here (Curly’s was by far the better deal) and move on.
The ship recommended (and we NEVER do this…but you’ll see why….) Pirate Republic Brewing Company. As I said, we NEVER follow their recommendations, but it is a brewery – and you know we won’t pass that up. We are looking to go on their 2 pm tour. So, we pay for our tour ($10 each), get our “free” beer, and Ed heads to a table to wait while I wait for the bartender to ask her where to meet for the tour. She’s on the phone talking to someone and looking at me, hmmm….Finally she hangs up, and it turns out that there is no tour today, they’ve just installed new equipment and they don’t want to do tours until everything is up and running. So, she gives us our beers for free and apologizes. Hey, that works!
Unfortunately the Wifi doesn’t work much better here than at Sharkeez. We get connected after a while, but it is still brutally slow. So I’ll just wait on my books – it is only one day more and I’ve got tons of back up stuff to read.
Back to the ship we go, to get ready for our last 2 nights aboard our ride home.
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