Snuba Day!

Cameron and Tara arrived in the Bahamas Saturday night after a two-week trip to Spain.  They were exhausted and ready to sleep so we made a spaghetti dinner for everyone in our room.  After dinner, Cameron rallied and headed to the 18 and up nightclub with Corinne.  The next morning, we all got up and headed across the island in a bus for our snuba excursion.  Snuba is a combination of scuba and snorkel.  Basically, the tanks and air tubes are on a raft.  Each person has an air regulator that's connected to a long air tube.  It enables you to have the benefit of scuba (continuous air) without carrying an air tank on your back.  It's a great concept; it allows you to get up close to the fish and coral. It worked great and everyone enjoyed it.   

 

Our guides were super helpful and friendly--one woman and two men. 

Corinne and Ali.

Taylor, Ali and Corinne getting ready to dive down.

Cameron getting ready to go in.



Tara also getting ready.

Recognize Palm Tree Island?  It's been in many movies and we snuba'ed right next to it.  You may know this spot, in particular, from Pirates of the Caribbean.  Other films include several James Bond movies, Jaws the Revenge, Flipper, Into the Blue, and Day of the Dolphin. 

Resting after the snuba.

Snorkeling after the snuba.

Back at the beach at Atlantis.

Our taxi driver recommended this local restaurant in town famous for its conch and red snapper.  They were out of red snapper but it was still delicious. 

 

Last night, Brandon took a couple of pictures of the resort from our balcony.  This is how it looks at night.

Giant movie screen by the pool.

Last night, we had dinner at Bobby Flay's restaurant on the property...

 

Today, we are going on a parasailing excursion.  Catch up with you later. 

Onward to the Bahamas!

We arrived in the Bahamas on Thursday.  As we flew in from Miami, we were amazed at the clear blue/turquoise water greeting us down below.  Once we landed, we discovered a beautiful island with warm balmy weather, incredible white sand, and an amazing resort at the Atlantis.  It's absolutely huge with casinos, restaurants, wandering swimming pools, water slides and lots of activities.  We spent the first couple of days getting to know the place, relaxing, reading and enjoying the water slides and lazy river. 
 

The view of the Bahamas from our airplane.

Brandon on the beach in front of our resort.

View of the Atlantis Resort from our balcony.

Las tres amigas at one of the many restaurants on the property.

Entering the casino area.

 

It didn't take long to lose a few bucks.

End of gambling.  It was fun while it lasted.

The flora and fauna on the grounds is beautiful.  On our second day, we stopped here for a few pics on our way to the water slides...



 

We've all enjoyed the lazy river and the water slides, but Ali and Brandon are the only ones brave enough to go on the Tower of Power, the tallest slide that goes straight down (airborne) and lands in a shark tank.

 

 

 

 

 

We're also enjoying reading and tanning by the pools and beach and just hanging out.



Some of us are on our second book.

 

Cute picture the girls took on the beach.

Cameron and Tara arrived the next day.  Our next blog will include pictures of the snuba trip we all took off the resort on Sunday.  Today, we are going parasailing.  Sorry to be so behind on the blog.  We'll try to catch up later today.  Much to do!

Miami Beach

Hello Family!

We spent the first two days of our Bahamas trip in Miami, South Beach to be exact.  Joining us on this trip are two of Corinne's friends--Ali and Taylor.  We stayed in a quaint beach-front boutique hotel right on the south beach strip.  A few pics from our hotel balcony..

Gorgeous blue water and sunny day.

 

Taylor, Ali and Corinne

 

Janine and Brandon relaxed on the beach in front of our hotel while the girls went paddle-boarding.  They did not share pictures with us so here's what we have from the day.

 

 



That night, we went to dinner at Senor Frogs.  It is a fun and lively restaurant with a DJ, dancing waiters and fancy drinks.  The first Senor Frogs was in Cancun, Mexico. 

 

 

They also play tricks on the guests.  Below, you'll see how the girls (and Janine) were duped into getting water splashed into their faces! We thought we were playing a game where we were blowing/racing straws across a plate.  See what happens.

Listening to instructions on how to blow the straws on the plate.

Getting splashed!!!

Post splash.

Corinne's saying, "Now it's my dad's turn." 
Brandon did, in fact, get roped into a Tarzan yell competition.
  He won!!

Posing with Senor Frog.

 

Janine and Brandon spent the next day having breakfast on the Ocean Drive strip just a few doors down from several well-known spots: where Versace was gunned down on the front steps of his mansion; where the opening scene from Scarface was filmed; where the nightclub in the Birdcage was filmed; and where the restaurant scene from Something About Mary was filmed.  Then we toured South Beach and the bays on the Duck Boat followed by a Cuban tapas lunch.  A few scenes from the day.

 

 

See the little iron balcony in the upper right corner?  That's was used
for the opening scene in Scarface.  It's sandwiched in between two buildings.

This is the only picture we have from the girls' day.

 

 

 

Our final night in Miami we went to dinner at Joe's Stone Crab restaurant.  The crab was delicious!

Dressing up for dinner.

Yum!