George Town, Great Exuma Cay, Exuma, Bahamas
KORKZcrew is the blue dot on the map.
.When we visited with James and Cathy last night at KORKZcrew's floating cousin, C Marie, they encouraged us to check out the view from the top of the hill above Monument Beach, which is just a short dinghy ride from our current anchorage. The monument itself was actually a gas beacon used years ago for navigational purposes. The glass portion on top of the beacon is missing, but the concrete pillar is visible for miles.
Heading over to Monument Beach
James and Cathy told us that boaters over the years have taken the limestone found at the base of the hill, and shaped the rocks into the names of their sailboats and power boats.
One of my best buddies in Wilmington is Elsie, and I was pretty dang sure this was her way of sending me a long-distance greeting. What a happy surprise.
The point of these names on the limestone "beach" is so people can see them like a gigantic graphic when they climb up to the beacon. Such a cool idea, and I think there were probably 100 of them. (NOTE: I've never been good at guessing things like how many marbles in a jar, so keep that in mind when I start throwing numbers around.)
After walking around this limestone area for awhile, looking for and not finding a trailhead, we asked some folks nearby how to get to the top. Turns out we'd not only missed the starting point of the trail, but also beached the dinghy too soon because the trailhead has a dinghy dock, making it easy to park and easy to find where to begin your climb. Duh! That's ok; we just walked through some squishy vegetation for a little bit and found the spot where most normal humans begin their ascent.
I was pretty impressed that my Homie-Don't-Hike husband was being such a trooper. This might even be hike number THREE or possibly four on this trip, which has to be a world record for him. Homie really don't hike, so kudos to the captain!
Here's the view on the way to the top:
And here's the cherry on top . . . literally AT the top. The view is just gorgeous, and if you look closely, you can see the names on the beach!
And if you look EXTRA closely, you can see that evasive hates-to-have-her-picture-taken creature known as yours truly.
We ran into another foursome who'd also made the climb, and were smart enough to bring along a small cooler of beer. Ron told them how thoughtful it was of them to have brought beer for everyone 😂. Not sure they understood our humor, but they wouldn't be the first or the last who didn't.
It was well worth the climb, even without the beer, and we ended the day with this beautiful sky. The Bahamas provide non-stop eye candy. It's just a gorgeous and serene place, and it's really easy to get there from the east coast. Put it on your list if it isn't on there already!! And Skeet can help you figure out your flights! 😜
