Breaking Up a Journey into Distinct Legs = Sometimes a Good Thing.

We overnighted in the aptly named A Stone's Throw Away

Call me paranoid, but when I learned that the flight from Cat Island would arrive in Nassau just 90 minutes before our international flight back to DC (on a different airline and in an entirely different terminal), I had visions of missing the flight and rushing around to find a hotel, of learning that the next flight out was entirely booked, etc.  So I made a decision.  A decision I would recommend to anyone with a tight turnaround in a foreign airport with flights on different airlines: we flew in from Cat, overnighted in Nassau and then calmly flew home to Washington, DC the next day. 

Like many airports, the Nassau airport has an older terminal for all of its domestic flights and a completely separate space for its international flights.  Plus, the tiny hopper flight we took to Cat Island was operated by Sky Bahamas and we needed to get on a US Airways flight back to DC.  Ironically, we ended up getting into Nassau a full 30 minutes early and would have probalby had time to make the DCA flight on the same day, yet, we took the opportunity to explore Nassau by hopping on a local bus and going down to the center of the city where all the cruise ships arrived.  It's fantatically touristy, but we enjoyed the people watching and the 30-minute bus ride gave us a good, local view of Nassau.  We then spend the afternoon on the hotel's lovely deck admiring the ocean and sipping beers.  In the evening, we walked down the street for dinner on the beach.  Really, a lovely day and a nice way to cap our trip.  Our Hotel, A Stone's Throw Away, was literally a 3-minute drive to the airport and they offer a free ride so it was so simple.  Having a final day on vacation and to catch our breath sort of summed up the purpose of the trip.

This wasn't our first time breaking up legs of a journey.  On our way to Greece last year, I blogged about our stopover on both ends of our trip in London.  It would have been impossible to get from London out to Stansted, but we really wanted to limit our flights to two:one from DC to London and then one from London to Rhodes.  Stopping over in London made the trip calmer and offered a few days in an entirely different climate, too!

So, consider breaking up that journey and exploring a new place along the way. 

Just Back: Cat Island, Bahamas

Biking out to Alligator Point, Cat Island

The waving at first is a little unnerving.  Everyone waves to us or honks their horn.  Why? Do we have our brights on?  Are we not driving on the proper side of the road (it is the Bahamas where they do drive on the left hand side, after all)?  It's all very perplexing to a DC couple thinking every action has a secret agenda.  Um, maybe people are just this nice?  Maybe it's part of their culture to wave and greet everyone friend or stranger?

The friendly people is just one of the many discoveries you will find on Cat Island.  Strings of endless, sugary pink beaches, empty of people, is another. The island is 50 miles long and at times, 4 miles wide and is home to less than 2,000 people.  It's a peaceful place--full of old churches and nature surrounding you from all sides.  People do not lock their doors on Cat Island (our rental didn't even have a lock to lock!).  Some days, we saw more sea turtles and fish than actual people.  As I marveled at one point, I can't believe a place like this still exists on this crowded planet.  And it's so easy to reach: several flights from Nassau are offered every day and service two different airports on the island.  I'll write more in coming posts (and here are some photos of our trip to tide you over) about things to do and the wonder of visiting a Bahamian Out Island.  But let me leave you with a friendly wave, urging you to go discover the wonders of Cat Island.