July 6, 2004 - Beach, Food and Kalik

Digression ...

To find Tia's Place, we had to stop on Queens Road to get directions. We pulled into Sands' General Store to ask and the proprietor pointed to some guy to lead us there on his bike because it was "on his way." Probably he wanted a tip for his trouble, but we followed him anyway (and sorry, I don't remember if we ever gave him any money).

Back to the main story …

We drove down Bank Road (ocean bank, not money bank) - also called North Drive - to get to our bungalow. At first, the road was pretty smooth, but quickly got bumpier and more difficult to traverse as we pressed on. We took note of a sign along the way that said "Unique's Restaurant" as we passed. The road now got narrower and rockier along the way. If only we had 4WD instead of the old jalopy we were pushing ahead.

There were many interesting looking properties we saw on Bank Road, all of them with fanciful names. Eventually we figured we were off track since we never saw a sign that said "Bank Road." Leia suggested we go back and ask at the Unique's Restaurant. I waited in the car while she ran up to talk to someone. As it turned out, we were heading in the right direction, just not far enough. Eventually we came across our bungalow, the first of two pink houses (Pink is a popular color for buildings in the Caribbean, I later learned, especially for government buildings).

We struggled to open the lock to the house, but finally we were "home" - for the week, anyway.

Digression …

On our way from the airport, Lee was the first to say that she couldn't see us living there, an idea we flirted with. I told her I was glad SHE was the first to say it, because that's what I was thinking, too.

Back to the main story …

The bungalow was as hot as hell when we first got in and it was SO stale and musty smelling. THANK GOD for the air conditioning and ceiling fans! Slowly, the place started to cool down as did we.

We threw on our bathing suits and walked down to the beach, just across Bank Road. I took note of the large hammock, for me, the symbol of idyllic vacation living, as we descended the steps to the Atlantic.

The beach was totally deserted, fairly clean, with coral formations from the beach into the water. We waded slowly into the ocean … so calm, clear and tranquil … warm, but not like bath water, either. Even though this was just the Atlantic side of the island, it was just beautiful - I couldn't wait to see the Caribbean side!

Navigating the coral formations was a bit tricky when you walked on them as the they could rise up or drop without warning. They weren't sharp - or at least dangerously sharp - but still a bit tricky. There was a bit of an undertow, too, so you had to keep bobbing around to correct your position. Still, very relaxing (especially when compared with bobbing and weaving on the job!).

At Leia's suggestion, we left the water and took a walk down the beach for a while. We noted along the way the intricately built-up coral formations, all seemingly of different ages … some looked like rocks more than others, unless you looked at them close up and you could see it was coral at one time. There was also large collection of flotsam and jetsam strewn along the beach, mostly made by nature (seaweed, driftwood and the like). We also saw what seemed to be waste washed up on shore from fishing boats, too. All in all, though the beach was very pretty.

After our nice long walk, we turned around and headed back to the bungalow to get cleaned up for dinner.

We decided to go to the Unique's Restaurant to eat as it was close and we knew where it was. When we got there, the dining area was empty with only a couple of people sitting at the bar. Gus, our waiter, owner and barman gave us our choice of tables. I opted for the one by the ocean, but inside instead of on the patio.

Gus was a character, quite charming in his own way. We introduced ourselves and told him where we were from. He said he was from Eleuthera - about eighteen miles away from Palmetto Point - though clearly, he was Caucasian. I guess that wasn't too uncommon - not only blacks settled here from the shipwrecks of the old slave ships. Eleuthera was actually discovered in 1492 by Columbus and his crew - who knows, maybe some of the crew stayed behind and the rest, as they say, is history.

We ordered the conch fritters for an appetizer. I ordered the conch soup and then the conch for dinner (I forget how it was prepared). It was there that I ordered my first Kaik beer.

Kalik is the official beer of the Bahamas. They so jealously preserve it that they don't export it anywhere, so you have to bring it back with you if you want it. Now, I'm a beer connoisseur and let me tell you, this is a beer you MUST try, even if you don't like beer much. Sharp, clean and slightly sweet - like Corona, except with more body. I gave Leia a taste - who hates beer - and she really liked it (in fact, she took more than just one trial sip).

The conch fritters and soup came at the same time. I started on the soup. It looked like beef stew, which I was surprised to see - it had carrots, potatoes and conch pieces all in a brown gravy that wasn't thick like beef stew gravy is. And the taste was outstanding - sweet, yet not cloying, and so, so good!

The conch fritters were round balls of conch fried in some batter, served with a mustard-like sauce for dipping. Yum! There were very filling along with the soup and for a moment, I was concerned I wasn't going to be able to eat my entrée. Ha, likely chance! The conch entrée came in a light butter, fried and not greasy at all. It was accompanied by carrot slices and peas in soy sauce (or something). It was all SO GOOD. I got full pretty quickly … of course, all the additional Kaliks I was drinking helped. Definitely, a very satisfying meal.

Funny note … while eating, Gus came up to me to tell me I left the dome light on. He tried to turn it off, but couldn't. I ran downstairs, expecting to find a dead battery. I started her up and voila, she was running. I figured out how I messed up before, turned off the dome light, and ran back upstairs to finish dinner.

This wasn't the first adventure we would have with that old piece of junk.

Gus took little convincing to sell us a couple of Kaliks and cokes to take back with us. The total cost for dinner, including tip - $100. Driving down Bank Road in pitch black on roads that never saw asphalt - priceless.

When we got to the bungalow, I just crashed. Between the early morning, the long day of travel, the beach activity and the great dinner with those Kaiks, I was more than ready to go to sleep and surprisingly so was my late-night wife, Leia.