Nassau

Welcome to Nassau! Located on New Providence Island, Nassau is the capital of the Bahamas.

Entering Nassau Harbor after a 25-mile sail from the Berries, the first thing you see are the huge cruise ships, then Nassau on the right and Paradise Island on the left of the busy harbor.

We found a good dock for two nights at Nassau Yacht Haven, the oldest and largest marina in the area. The upstairs is a restaurant called the Poop Deck which we heard had good meals, but we found dinner from local “Mama” King who sells food from the back of her car. Chicken, rice and beans, macaroni and cheese and cole slaw, enough for two for only $8 and delicious.

Nassau is a very busy city! We got out folding bikes out to see some of the town, little realizing how dangerous it would be. The narrow streets were packed with cars that didn’t slow down for bikers. You can ride on sidewalks, usually in need of repairs, but often there weren’t any sidewalks. Bike lanes? Ha! One scary experience. People were friendly though and a couple called out their windows to us asking if we were having a good time.

We eventually navigated our way to the Queen’s Stairway and Fort Fincastle.  The 66 steps of the Queen’s staircase take you up 102 feet and was built by approximately 600 slaves over a period of 16 years in the late 1700s. 

British-controlled Bahamas was at that time a target for European marauders and so several forts were built including the fort at the top of the stairs, Fort Fincastle. The small fort was built in 1793, and is shaped like the bow of a paddlewheel boat.  Located strategically on the highest point of the island it offered great views out to sea. The staircase was constructed as an escape route.  It was carved with pick axes and hand tools through solid limestone. Quite impressive! Decades later it was named the Queen’s Staircase in honor of Queen Victoria who abolished slavery in 1837. None of the forts ever saw any action and the cannons were never fired, but the staircase and fort are great tourist attractions now.

Sadly, my camera ran out of battery power so these pictures are all from an online site.

Fort Fincastle     

Next stop, John Watling’s Distillery. The distillery is located at Buena Vista Estate which was originally a 150-acre land-parcel granted to the Honourable John Brown, Esquire, in 1789. It was never the home of or even a place visited by John Watling.

Watling was a pirate in the 1600s who fought mainly against the Spanish. He landed on San Salvador and named that island after himself. Watling Island kept that name until 1925 when it was changed back to San Salvador. Watling died from a shot to the liver in 1681, and the tour guide said that the distillery was named after the pirate because if you drink too much rum your liver may deliver you the same fate as Watling!

We had a short tour of the distillery which is very small. These online pictures show exactly what we saw – very few workers. Both vodka and rum is distilled here, all by hand, and none of the product is exported. So if you want some, come to the Bahamas and bring plenty of cash! One of their fine bottles of rum was over $100.

We saw very few signs of Christmas decorations until we got to Pompey Square which had a big tree but otherwise lightly decorative. Biking our way slowly back to the marina we stopped at a grocery to stock up on fresh food. There are two groceries – Super Value and Fresh Market. Super Value was small, had the best prices and was packed with people doing their holiday shopping. Fresh Market is also a chain in the US, and was beautiful, less crowded and more expensive. You expect prices in the Bahamas to be about twice that of the US, so we weren’t too surprised, with a few exceptions. One can of refried beans was $5. Meat was very high-priced typically and I saw a 25-pound turkey for over $103! Produce was not as bad fortunately and we stocked up on lettuce and veggies.

Nassau is worth a visit once, but it was fine to be moving on after a couple days.

Wind and waves chased us around different anchorages, one of which was in Goodman’s Bay outside Nassau. The small island nearby obviously used to be a very nice resort, but is now a ghost town. Looking like doll houses from the boat, four tiny cottages remain.

Following a rock path toward the end of the jetty is a gazebo.

Off to the side of the gazebo was a rock lined pool with what looked like a canal system guiding the water to it.

Whoever did this went to a lot of work and it must have been a lovely get-away.

From here we went to Rose Island, a popular daytrip destination for Nassau residents. One of the draws is Sandy Toes. Sandy Toes has snorkeling on one side, a great beach (when the wind isn’t blowing you over) on the other side and in-between, a bar and outdoor restaurant that serves only lunch. We arrived too late for lunch but just in time for a good coconut rum and pineapple juice drink.

   

We did not get to spend enough time in this beautiful area and hope to return someday. But for now, the wind finally shifted and we headed to our next group of Bahamian islands, the Exumas.