A Promise Kept - Back to Treasure Cay, Bahamas

I promised Abby we'd go back to the Bahamas as soon as her baby sister's passport arrived. I never dreamed I'd be able to make good on that promise so soon. After trading duty weekends with my boss we found ourselves looking for someplace to go for the Memorial Day weekend. It ended up being kind of last minute so we got on VRBO.com to see what was available in Treasure Cay. We found a condo available at the Bahama Beach Club and on Saturday morning we were on our way!

We took off just before 9:00 am and were cleared as filed with our now usual route down to Melbourne then to Freeport and on to Treasure Cay. I could see on the XM weather and visually that a thunderstorm was building down south of Melbourne and moving north so I asked for and received clearance to turn towards Freeport a little early. The new route took us right over the two shuttle launch pads and gave a real good view of the shuttle assembly building. The rest of the flight went great. Mary did really well and her ear muffs now fit her perfect. She did manage to grace us with a poopy diaper enroute. I'll have to remember a Ziploc next time. It's hard to get rid of stinky diaper in the middle of a flight! Abby was great as usual too and we were on the ground in the Bahamas after a 2 hr and 45 min flight. We secured the plane, cleared customs, got a taxi, and were in the condo by 12:30 pm.





We had a great time, but being this was our first vacation type trip with Mary, we had to obviously adjust our routines to her. For the most part she did really well and slept fine. The day would usually start with some Fruit Loops (a vacation treat) and then Abby and I would walk the beach in the mornings looking for shells and enjoying the peaceful serenity of it all. We would make sandwiches for lunch and then we'd all head to the pool together.




After we swam awhile, we'd go get dried off and would cruise around in the golf cart checking out the local homes. Some of the beachfront homes are awesome! These trips were usually pretty good for putting Mary to sleep! We ate at the club's pool grill a few times and usually got dinner to go since Mary would already be asleep. Their food is excellent. They also put on a BBQ buffet one night that was really tasty!



Abby's big accomplishment for this trip was learning to snorkel. It also helped her lose tooth number 6! And yes, the tooth fairy does come to the Bahamas and pays handsomely in Bahamian money! It was very special for me to snorkel with Abby and watch how well she did and how much fun she had. We did manage to get out to South Point and snorkel around some rocks together. We found a lot of pretty reef fish and Abby even saw fish like Dory in Nemo (a Tang).



It was a nice short visit and we left for home on Tuesday. Unfortunately Treasure Cay did not have Avgas this time so we had to make the 15 minute hop to Marsh Harbor to get fuel and clear customs before heading back to the States. This added about and hour to the travel time, but as always the folks were very nice to work with and the facilities were great. Abby took a few pictures on this hop.



The flight to Fort Pierce was uneventful. Had to deviate a few times for build-ups and one thunderstorm over Freeport, but the ride was smooth and comfortable. The CBP officer at Fort Pierce was nice to work with. Abby was excited to have her passport stamped again. After having some lunch at the Airport Tiki and getting some more fuel, we took off for home. More build-ups had us weaving our way home, but an hour and half later we were back in Jacksonville after a fun Memorial Day vacation.

Can someone get me another drink with an umbrella in it !?!?!?!?