A New 2022

The new year began with a simple celebration in Katy in honor of Brady's 4th birthday.  Bob and I took him to play mini-golf, play at the park (with his new putter and balls), and then meet the family for pizza.

Later in January, Bob and I took a cruise to the Panama Canal.  It departed from Ft. Lauderdale on January 18, 2022, with stops scheduled at Princess Cays, Nassau (Bahamas), Cartagena (Columbia) Panama Canal;/Cristobal, Limon, (Costa Rica), and Montego Bay (Jamaica).  However, we were disappointed when we found out that due to Covid 19 requirements in Columbia, that port had to be cancelled. It was frustrating that Princess Cruise line stated that they required Covid 19 testing and proof of vaccinations - but then never even asked or required proof of anything from us.  Fortunately, we didn't encounter any illness or other problems aboard the cruise. The ship was like most others and when we tried to place a Book of Mormon somewhere, we found evidence of many LDS Saints having been onboard. One of our favorite acts in the theater was the comedian, Kevin Jordan.  We could relate to his clean, hilarious family centered comedy show.  Sharon also had fun taking second place (out of a whopping 6) in the ping-pong tournament - hee hee.  

Princess Cays was a cute, colorful little island owned by Princess which provided a warm relaxing day on the beach on Wednesday, January 19th. We didn't rent any play toys, but were able to see lots of fish and turtles from one of the piers. The sound of live Caribbean music filled the air as we stretched out on the beach to soak in some needed vitamin D.

We arrived in Nassau the following morning and wandered around the tourist areas near our port. I'm sure there are much more beautiful places to visit in the Bahamas, but it was fun to get a taste of the island lifestyle enjoyed by many who call the Bahamas home.  The pink government buildings were, perhaps, the one thing I anticipated seeing (besides the beaches, of course), as well as the famed Atlantis Paradise Island Resort. 

We walked over to Fort Fincastle and the Queen's staircase.  The staircase is a walkway of 66 steps carved out of limestone rock by 600 slaves between 1793 and 1794 to create an escape route from the fort, which is found above.

Although the Museum of Art was closed, the grounds were free to be explored, so we took a look around and discovered some fun creations.

While walking to the Junkaboo beach, we enjoyed seeing lots of colorful buildings and decorated streets. Junkaboo is the beach closest to the cruise port and near the straw market, so it is quite famous - although certainly not the prettiest beach in the Bahamas.

We continued to walk down to Arawak Cay to enjoy some Bahamian food at the local's favorite "Curly's Fish Fry".  We tried the recommended conch fritters with chicken and shrimp, which were good; but we didn't quite feel the excitement Guy Fieri created with his visit here.

On our way back to the ship, we tried to visit Fort Charlotte, a British-colonial era fort built constructed in the late 18th century after the end of the American Revolutionary war. The fort has never been used in battle. The fort was closed, and so we continued on, too hot and tired to peek in on the Pirates of Nassau Museum along our way.

Nassau was fun to see, but a return trip would find me on a different island than New Providence.