We caught the courtesy boat shuttle over to the other side of the harbor this morning and our first stop was the clinic. I’ve been fighting an ear issue for more than 2 weeks. I could hardly hear out of my right ear (which happens to be the better hearing one). Amanda made me go. As it turned out, I had an ear infection and it was full of fluid. Sweet nurse Glory, gave me some antibiotics and drops and told me to come back in 2 days. We had made previous arrangements to rent a golf cart for the week, so the company delivered it to us at the clinic. We drove down to the Abaco Inn, where Luke’s family will be staying for the week. We made sure all the details were in order and met Tom, who manages the inn. All was better than we could have asked. We explored more the area while we waited on their arrival. We saw many very nice homes that are still in disrepair. We don’t know if these homes are not being repaired for financial reasons or logistical. Whatever the case, many homes have been repaired and several are slowly being restored. Piles of trash from the inside of homes are everywhere. How the trash is disposed of I don’t know. Locals say it will probably be 5-8 years before things are back to normal. We all hope that hurricanes will miss this area for many years to come.
The ferry arrives bringing our kids and grands. Happy day!
Today marked the invasion, I mean, the arrival of Luke and fam.
Luke and Lauren and the kids arrived on the ferry about 4:30. The Abaco Inn had someone at the dock to take their luggage and they all jumped on our golf cart (6 seater). We cruised the island and ended up at the inn. We enjoyed dinner in the inn’s restaurant, with a view that had the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Sea of Abaco on the other.
Our week with the kids and grands was great. We spent our days exploring the island, going to Tahiti Beach, eating out, and eating on the boat. With them at the inn, we were able to get to bed early each night, and restore our energy for keeping up with Lane and Haynes. Easter Sunday, there was an Easter egg hunt at 10:30. With probably 75 kids, it took about 10 minutes for all the eggs to be gathered. At 11 am, we walked about 1 block to the Methodist church and enjoyed a very nice worship service. It’s been a long time since I sang the traditional, original version, of the great Easter hymns. It was a breath of fresh air. The message was spot on, and the music inspiring. The backdrop behind the platform was the Atlantic Ocean. How could one not be filled with awe? As the closing processional, the gifted organist played Vidor’s Toccata. This piece was played as Amanda and I walked out of the church on our wedding day, almost 43 years ago. It was pretty cool.
The early part of the week was unseasonably cool with lots of North wind blowing. By Tuesday, the winds began to calm, and each day got a little better. We spent one day at Man O War Cay. With Steve and Susie’s assistance, we were all able to cross the bay in the 2 dinghies. There we enjoyed a picnic lunch, ice cream, window shopping, grocery shopping, and even got a peak at a boat building facility, Albury Boats. These very nice boats are popular in the states. They are well built, last for generations, and are priced accordingly. The little plant was virtually wiped out by Hurricane Dorian, but they have rebuilt their buildings and are cranking out boats as fast as they can. Their frustration is the difficulty in getting materials and hardware for the boats. There is a bottleneck in the assimilation of materials into the country. Mr. Albury told me he never knows when he will get what he needs to finish a boat, sometimes a week, sometimes a month. He hopes things will get better, but he had no indication as to when that might be.
Thursday, our best weather day, and the kids’ last full day, we all loaded up on the Honey Queen and drove the boat about 10 miles to a place called Sandy Cay. This is one of the most popular snorkeling places in the Abacos. We anchored the Honey Queen, splashed the dink, and piled all 6 of us in. We puttered to the mooring and went snorkeling. It was a spectacular experience for us all. It was like swimming in a giant aquarium. Of course, I forgot my underwater camera, so no pictures at this time. Hopefully, more to come. But we all enjoyed the experience, including Lane and Haynes.
From there, we drove 5 miles further, and ate at Pete’s Pub. It’s a great outdoor restaurant and pub. We enjoyed tuna, mahi mahi, and wahoo. This little dive served the best food we have had since being in the Bahamas. This day was our best, and we were grateful to have good warm weather so we could enjoy God’s creation named the Bahamas.
Tahiti Beach 
On the beach at nearby Man O War Cay 
Honey checking out the dock 
Susie and Amanda on our day trip to Man O War 
Rebuilding…one day at a time. 
Many locals were grateful for Samaritan’s Purse helping rebuild after Dorian. 
Albury Boats are made here at Man O War. Nice $150,000 boats. 
Typical view of dockage–post Dorian 
Luke and the kids playing a little cornhole at the Fire Fly restaurant 
One of the local restaurants at Hope Town 
A typical home under repair. No dumpsters being picked up here. 
Lane and Honey trying to protect from the sun. 
Easter Sunday after church–Flying grands! 
Look who showed up in the middle of the Easter Egg Hunt. 
The grounds were cleared of all the candy eggs in about 15 minutes. 
Haynes focused on the mission. 
Poppy interrupting Haynes’ mission. 
Poppy, I’m a little busy right now. 
Eggs were everywhere. 
Kids were everywhere. 
Preparing to anchor so we could go snorkel. 
Near the snorkel hole at Sandy Cay. 
One of our beach days. 
Pete’s Pub at Little Harbor. Good food and beach. 
Luke on the bow as we were returning to the marina from our snorkel day. 
Our last day with the kids we were gifted with a beautiful sunset on the return to the marina. 
The owner of the Abaco Inn offered Luke and family a ride back to the airport. 
We said good bye to Luke and family today, as they hitched a ride with the inn owner, who was headed back to Nashville, their other home.
Friday morning, we caught back up with the kids, had a last lunch at the Abaco Inn, and then sent the kids on their way back to the airport. After some grocery shopping, we ate dinner at the marina restaurant one last time, and made ready for our exit, southbound tomorrow morning.