Pirates of the Caribbean: Nassau

Our second day of vacation was spent in Nassau and our first view of the island seemed like it was right off of a postcard...

Originally, Tim and I had planned to spend the day touring the Atlantis Resort and playing in their water park, but when we got to Miami with its 42 degree weather, we decided to try and sign up for just the tour.  Well, we waited too long and those were full before we got the chance.  So, instead we joined the rest of our party on the Pirates of Nassau tour.  (And from what I overheard from people who went to Atlantis for their beach day, we made the right choice.)

Our first stop was the highest point on the island, featuring Fort Fincastle, the watertower, and Queen's Staircase.  

 Tim loved this mural, which we passed walking to Queen's Staircase...

 The entrance...

 There are 66, very steep, steps in the Queen's Staircase.  It was built as an escape from Fort Fincastle to the water in the event of an attack.  Yeah, I don't think they were ever attacked.

 We made it to the bottom without falling! Yay!

 I managed to convince another passenger to let me sit in the front of our tour van...

 We passed the home of the American Ambassador and let me just say, these grounds were amazing.  Seriously.  I might take up a role in politics just so I can become the Ambassador to the Bahamas.

 Our next stop on the tour was Fort Charlotte...

 It was a good tour, but our final stop was the Pirate Museum, and that was way more exciting!

 Overall, we were really impressed with the historical accuracy of many of the pirate stories we had heard over the years.  The only legends they really disproved of were "the walking of the plank," and treasure maps.

 As usual, I got in trouble... :-)

Laurie and I had to pose with Jolly Roger...

 After our tour was over, Tim and I headed to the Hard Rock Cafe in town for lunch.  We were expecting it to be crowded, but found the exact opposite to be true.  It was the emptiest Hard Rock Cafe I have ever been in!

This was my favorite relic...

 A Britney Spears Costume!

After lunch, we wandered through the shops for a while and then headed back towards the ship for some pictures.  I needed one in front of the Atlantis Resort!  Do you see that little bridge between the two towers on the right?  That's a suite, which goes for $25,000/night with a 4 night minimum stay.  Um. Yeah.

 Tim is standing in front of our ship and actually, our room was the one directly above the "R" in Carnival!

 We asked another passenger to take a picture of us in this sign...

 And then it was time to get back on the ship, we were supposed to leave about 30 minutes after we took the above picture.  Instead, we waited over an hour for FOUR passengers to return.  Lame.  I spent that extra time snuggled in a blanket on our balcony reading...

Tim took this picture as we were pulling away from the port...

We had a great day and, as I told Tim, I look forward to going back and staying in that $25,000/night suite! 

Stay tuned for pictures from our day at Half Moon Cay!