Bahamas | Take 2 | December 20, 2022

Hope Town, Elbow Cay, Abaco Islands, Bahamas

KORKZcrew is the blue dot on the map

Up early for Fonda's exercise class, and I’m having to rethink my class-taking strategy. I usually have plenty of room on the bow to jump around like a fool, but in a marina it feels far too “exposed” aka embarrassing, as we are right in the middle of a busy and populated area. No thanks. Plan B has always been to do the one-hour workout in the pilot house, but Skeet is sleeping in there and this class starts at 7:00. No go. Plan C ended up being on the fly bridge, which was more protected from feeling like I was on stage, but also less protected as the winds were blowing steadily at 20+ knots. It’s actually been a bit chilly here but I’m not complaining, I swear. Just don’t want to give the impression that we’re in the tropics. I started class in a sweatshirt if that’s any indication. It’s also slippery on the flybridge so I modified the cardio portion of the class so I didn’t go . . . flying off the fly bridge. It was GREAT to get moving again, and to see all my buddies on the computer screen.

I wish it wasn’t blowing so hard so I could fly my drone and get a bird's-eye view of where we are, but I’m hoping to have that opportunity before we leave. I looked at Windy.com with Ron this morning and it looks like the high winds and sketchy weather are here to stay for several days. The conditions improve the day Greta leaves, so we are going to see if we can twist her arm to stay an extra day or two if we can work it out with her flights home.

Hung out on KORKZcrew all morning which was nice, and made a plan to go to Firefly for lunch and deliver two dozen KORKZ they’d ordered to sell in their gift shop. Exciting! We’re hoping the KORKZ will do well here. Seems like the perfect spot to sell some floating sunglasses holders, and they look great with Firefly's logo laser engraved on them. Jumped on the dinghy for the short ride across the harbor to our rented golf cart, and made our way down the two-lane Queen's Highway, which is the main road through town that eventually dead ends into Centre Line Road. Elbow Cay is extraordinarily easy to navigate by golf cart as it is very narrow and the choices to get from point A to point B are pretty straightforward. Along the main roads, you'll see a bunch of directional signs, pointing to places all over the world. We've had fun finding ones that say Raleigh, Asheville, Chapel Hill, and even Sydney Australia. Tempted to leave one of our own!

Firefly is such a cool spot. You can stay here as a guest, but don’t have to be a hotel guest to eat at the Firefly Bar & Grill, which is beautifully situated on a hill looking west over the White Sound toward Marsh Harbour.

Looking west over White Sound

As we made our way down the path to Firefly’s restaurant, the very first person we saw was Lou, who we had met yesterday at On Da Beach! We chatted a bit more, and I left her saying “see you tomorrow!”😜 She probably thinks we're stalking her, but it was very fun to see a familiar face after having only been here for two days. Soon after we sat down at our table, the restaurant manager came over to say hello to Ron. Ron had made Sabrina a custom KORKZ last week, and she asked him if he could do the same for her son and husband for Christmas gifts. I believe she’s also the one who helped him introduce KORKZ to their gift shop, which was so generous of her. She was super friendly and talked about how her son lives in Boone and goes to App State, and what a different experience it's been for him after growing up on Elbow Cay. He wants to be a commercial pilot just like Skeet, and plans to transfer to Elizabeth City State University in the spring. I made a mental note of that as I’ve heard that school mentioned before, and who knows — it might end up being a good fit for Skeet one day, too.

View of Firefly Bar and Grill from the water side

Firefly has a mascot of sorts: a bulldog named Milo, who is featured on some of their shop merchandise, is extremely low key, and seems to know right when the food is delivered to your table. He has a subtle way of begging without begging at all, and it’s clear he’s mastered this art form because he isn’t the least bit obnoxious, AND is irresistible. A lethal combination when you don’t want to part with your french fries but succumb to his charm nonetheless. I mean, tell me you wouldn't have done the same.

Bar seats overlooking White Sound

😜

Back to KORKZcrew for the afternoon, and we each did our own thing and enjoyed just hanging out. My exciting (!?!) goal for the afternoon was to go through everything in the upstairs and downstairs freezers and update the inventory I’d taken in early November, just so I’d know what was still here and what we still needed to fill in the gaps.

Yes you read that right . . . Lobster tails, lobster mac, and lobster dip!! Hello!! Ron scored all of the above from locals selling these delicacies before we arrived in town.

Ron and George and Paul clearly made their own meals as often as they realistically could so they didn’t just tear through the food on board, which was super considerate, but I of course expected them to eat what was here if it helped. There’s a lot of what I originally packed still in the freezers, so it makes future meal planning a whole lot easier. I’ll make a grocery list while we’re still on Elbow Cay so I can be sure the fridge etc is “topped off” before we venture south, where food markets might be more scarce.

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