| | Awwww… the warm sun, the relaxing sounds of the waves crashing on the crisp white sand and the pure bliss of doing nothing… all in January when most places in the US are freezing cold. This was our vacation to Exuma, Bahamas. But I get ahead of myself. I had to attend a work event in Boca Raton, Florida and I thought to myself, why not take Jimmy and Josie with me and from Florida, hop over to one of the many Caribbean islands near by. Opportunities like this one doesn’t present itself often, and fully knowing, I grabbed it and took advantage. So we all went to Boca, and I have to admit as Josie gets older, she is doing much better on a plane. She could sit and just play with the pamphlets by the seat, or eat some snacks, or watch a dvd. When she gets tired, she leans on me, grabs her blanket and just drifts off to sleep. Piece of cake! We landed in Miami pretty late at night and luckily I hired a car service to help with our bags and take us on the 45 minute drive to our hotel, Boca Raton Resort and Club. The hotel is not only gigantic, but it was all very regal as we went through the gates and down the palm tree drive way. Once inside, the theme continued with cathedral ceilings, lush décor and good service. After further review of the hotel, we also found that there were so many luxurious amenities as well. There were interesting rooms to just hang out and enjoy the environment which allowed Josie to run freely as I attended my meetings. In addition, there were some very famous restaurants within the hotel. Three most notable ones were Morimoto (the iron chef) restaurant with very modern, cozy atmosphere, Serendipity (dessert restaurant, same as the movie and the one in New York) and Cielo which was a restaurant on top of a tower overlooking all of Boca and has celebrity chef, Chef Ramsey (from Hell’s Kitchen) as their executive chef. The hotel was definitely an experience, and we are happy to have been able to enjoy it as a family.   
 
After 3 days of Boca, we went back to Miami and took an hour and half flight to Georgetown, Exuma, (the outer Bahamas). The Exuma islands are part of the chain of 365 islands that form the Bahamas. This island is very small, so small that you can go from one end of the island to the other in about 30 minutes. In addition, since the Bahamas is British owned, all driving is done on the left as opposed to the right like the US. This was a bit odd at first, but we quickly got used to it. In Exuma, we pretty much just relaxed and did nothing. I had specifically rented a house right on the beach in order for us to easily be able to walk a few steps and enjoy the water without planning and lugging things to the beach. It was well worth it. However, when we first arrived, the weather was not on our side. It was super windy and cloudy and we cursed the heavens to make it better. Luckily by the 3rd day, God answered our prayers, the clouds parted and sun shined upon us. To go with the low key theme, we also brought a lot of food from home and at the near by market and made most of our food at home, which is nice when you have an exuberant 2 year old that hates sitting down at restaurants.          
On the last day of our stay in Exuma, we rented a boat for a day and explored the smaller islands around us. The rental people provided us with a map (which seem easy to read on paper, but when you are looking out what just looks like a bunch of land spread around everywhere we really couldn’t read the map) and a few directions and we were off. At first, the driving was a bit…. uhm, interesting… but within 10 minutes, Jimmy was an old pro and we were off. We ultimately landed on an island that had a restaurant where we had lunch and hung out.      
Ever since Jimmy and I went to Bora Bora for our honeymoon, I have been ruined and spoiled and won’t go in the water unless water is as clear as a swimming pool. Exuma does not disappoint. The water is so beautifully clear and blue that just looking at it hypnotizes me and lures me to jump into the water. The house being right on the water was such a treat, and I have to say, that Exuma is definitely a place I would love to come back to. |
