Trip Report

[JJ]

I will do the trip report soon. Just got back tonight and have uploaded the photos. Here is one of my favorite - my three daughters and a sunset at Pineapples, GTC.

[chestnc]

Great photo JJ and what beautiful daughters you have. The sunset is beautiful in the background and the picture is so clear. Please post more. Thanks

[island daze]

JJ cool picture my house is right before Pineapples so its nice to see the sunset, by the way you must have had a time keeping the island boys in check

[BahamaAngie]

What pretty girls!

[JJ]

Island Daze,

We are friends with Dale and Mandy Roberts and their two boys, so there were definitely boys around. We met some new people but most of the boys were sort of shy (which made Dad very happy).

What a beautiful place you have if you have that sunset view every day! Are you a full time resident or a visitor?

[JJ]

Daily highlights of our trip.

Day 1 (June 15): We caught a 7:45 a.m. flight out of Daytona Beach on Vintage Props and Jets. It was murder getting the family organized and out the door to catch that early flight, but it was worth it to arrive in Treasure Cay just after 9:00 am. It started raining right after we landed, but we were lucky to get into our rooms at the Treasure Cay Resort and Marina early (we just stayed there one night before heading to Green Turtle). I thought we were in two hotel style rooms but one of the rooms was actually a suite, so we were more comfortable than I expected. We went to Flo’s for cinnamon rolls and they lived up to their reputation. We watched movies and napped until the rain subsided around noon and headed out for the beautiful beach. We took a walk down to the point at low tide and it was beautiful, but before I could get any really good pictures I was stung by a jellyfish and we had to hike all the way back to get it attended to. It looked nasty for a few hours, but cleared up after applying some ammonia. We were there for the last day of a big billfishing tournament so the Spinnaker restaurant was closed for a special party, but they served a very nice dinner out at the Coco Beach Bar. We wanted to go to the Tipsy Seagull after, but we were so bushed from our early departure that we called it a day.

Pictures below are – 1) the girls on Vintage Props and Jet flight (the 13 year old is gonna hate that Tinky Winky is in the photo but I couldn’t photoshop him out!) 2) arrival on Treasure Cay beach (dark clouds looming). 3) two of my girls on the beach later in the day at the sandbar (before I got my jellyfish sting).

[DEUCE MAN]

Water Looks Great Leaving The 1st Of August With My Girl Friend To Visit Here Family I Just Can't Wait!

[JJ]

Day 2 (Friday June 16): Our original plan was to hang out at Treasure Cay Beach then catch the 3:30 ferry over to Green Turtle since our rental house (Bennett House) would not be available until 4:00. But we woke up to a stormy day at Treasure Cay and decided there would be more to do in the rain on Green Turtle than Treasure, so we called Island Property Management and they said we could stow our luggage in the house and get our carts early, so we were able to make it over on the 11:30 am ferry. After dropping everything off at Bennett House, we ran into town for lunch at The Wrecking Tree and then to Sids for groceries. About right as we arrived at the Wrecking Tree, the rain moved into Green Turtle, but what a nice place to be stuck in the rain. We had conch burgers and Kaliks and watched the rain come down over the creek. The Gully Roosters were to be playing at the Green Turtle Club on the beach at 9:00 pm and I was dying to go, but it was raining pretty steady still that night, so we stayed in. Found out later that they still played inside the Club that night, so if you are on Green Turtle Cay and can’t get enough of the Gully Roosters, be sure to catch them up there now on Sat. and Wed. nights (I think the thing on Sat. is called Sandy Toes or something like that and they also serve dinner on the beach that night).



Pictures:



1) Patiently waiting to take the ferry over to Green Turtle Cay.

2) My daughter and her friend in “their” golf cart (this was her first trip when she was old enough to drive a cart there and they were thrilled to have their own cart!).

3) Sunny day view of Bennett House

4) Sunny day view of Bight O’Bay from Bennett House

[Knockdown]

I remember your crew from Treasure! Stood out, ya know. :)
Glad you had a great time. Very nice pics!

My family has spent alot of time in the water out at the point and never been stung...You saw the jellyfish?

[BahamaAngie]

We also have spent a lot of time at the point but winter months so I don't think the jelly fish are out. I think someone once said something about a full moon, did you have one the night before? Oh, it rained. oh well. Well next time by the Safe Sea it is suppose to have a jellyfish repellent in it. I bought 2 and can NOT find them! But I have heard great things about the Safe Sea. Your pictures are wonderful and you are really capturing the color of the water which is usually very hard to do.

[JJ]

Yep, I saw the jellyfish, but there was only one that I could see and leave it to me to manage to run into it. It was very small (the top umbrella part about the size of a 50 cent piece). It had a piece of seaweed in its tentacles so that when I first felt the burning on my leg I thought it was somehow the piece of seaweed and I raked the whole mess down my leg. Afterwards, we saw it undulating in the water with the seaweed still attached. We never saw another one the whole trip.

[BahamaAngie]

Wow! It would be your luck. Thank God, it wasn't that bad. I think there is a certain time for jellyfish there but I am not sure. We were there once in June and once in July and never saw them or we were dumb to know.

[Beach Place]

Your first photo is "picture perfect" ,,,,,,

I can see why you love it.

[JJ]

Beach Place - Thanks. It was one of those times that the picture turned out well despite the ignorance of the photographer (me) with their new camera. We may make that one our Christmas card this year.

JJ

[JJ]

Day 3 (Sunday June 17): Father’s Day! Next year I want Mother’s Day in the Abacos! Dad got his requested bonefish trip with Ronnie Sawyer, but it is scheduled for later in the week. This was a pretty laid back day. We hung out on Gillam Bay and Bita Bay. The highlight was probably going to Pineapples for the sunset and supper. We enjoyed our fill of Pineapple Smashes. They ran out of cracked conch and peas ‘n rice, which several of us ordered, but the grouper was good. Here are a couple of more pictures from Pineapples.

[BahamaAngie]

How beautiful!

[sjohnson4382]

What beautiful pictures. Pineapple's is probably mine and my wife's favorite place on GTc besides sitting in the bar with miss Debbie at GT Club. Hope ya'll had a great time. How old are your girls?

[Abacowilly]

Thanks for sharing that one. It looks like Abaco is a "hit" for the girls!

AW :)

[momshell]

No better place to re-connect than the Abacos. No distractions- just good times. Love the photos!!

[macaw]

Wonderful pictures... what kind of camera are you using... the color is fantastic..of course your subjects are Beautiful too...

[JJ]

We have gone to the Abacos 5 times in the last 8 years with the kids and it is really a hit with them. If we try to do something else one year, they start complaining about not going to the Abacos, including the year we took them to England! I think they are all probably hooked for life.

My camera is a 7.2 megapixel Sony Cybershot. I think I got lucky. My older camera broke just before the trip and I really didn't want to spend a bundle, so I set my criteria of getting one for under $200 (it was $199), at least 7 megapixels, slim style so it can fit in a pocket, and a view finder/eyepiece in addition to the screen (I can hardly see the screens in certain lights so like the option of looking through the eyepiece -- believe it or not, most of the slim digital cameras no longer have this eyepiece). It has a nice "idiot" dial that allows automatic settings for different conditions -- bright sunny beach pictures, snow, dim light with flash, dim light no flash, close up portraits, distant landscapes, etc. I wasn't very good about resetting or checking the dial and accidentally took a few pictures on the "snow" setting! I am very pleased with the purchase after this trip. There are a lot of pictures that didn't turn out so well that I won't be sharing (like one of our days at Gillam Bay where my visor hat brim appears in the top half of nearly all the photos!).

[JJ]

Days 4, 5 and 6: Boat rental days. We rented the 20’ Angler from Reef Rentals. Very nice boat for our group of 6. We used the boat to explore the nearby cays, fish for yellow tail, and snorkel. It was pretty bumpy for the days we had the boat (the risk you take when you reserve a boat ahead of time) but the weather stayed good. We had to run from some storms on our last day but never got caught in them. Snorkeling from the boat was a bit of a disappointment. Some of the mooring buoys we are used to hooking up to on either side of Manjack were gone. I have heard that locals are cutting them (this really has me perplexed) and also that they haven’t been replaced since the last hurricane – not sure which is the case, maybe a little of both. There were still some buoys around little Pelican Cay and No Name Cay, but the seas were choppy there making it not as enjoyable. I took a disposable underwater camera but haven’t had the film developed yet, but if anything comes out will post. Below are various pictures from the boating adventures.



On Monday night (day 4) we went to the Green Turtle Club for Bingo Night. This is a new thing. Kevin from Gully Roosters played before and after (and was joined by Brendal on guitar after Bingo). Kevin called the Bingo. Hubby won the first game and received the prize of a Tipsy Turtle that we both shared as it was served in a very large hurricane glass. (other prizes were bottles of wine and a free lunch at the Club).



On Tuesday, some friendly boaters we ran into at Manjack gave us some of their Wahoo catch which we ate that night. It was so delicious (I just marinated it in Cuban mojo and broiled in the oven, setting off the house fire alarm repeatedly).



Wed. night we fixed the fish we caught (mostly yellow tail) and went to Green Turtle Club to hear the Gully Roosters. It was a gorgeous night up at the club and a fun night of dancing and drinking.

The pictures are:

Boat at the cove at north end of Manjack (other side of cove from Lincolns beach picnic spot)
Carly (13) with a little yellow tail (thrown back)
Alexis (15) with a fish (yellow tail or porgy, not sure which in this shot)
Tessa (18) with a porgy

(we ate some of the porgy's but they weren't as good as yellow tail and had a lot of small bones -- will throw them all back next time)

[JJ]

A few more pics from boating days:

Beach Crab Cay
Beach on Fiddle Cay
Starfish off Manjack
Lincoln cove at north end of Manjack

[BahamaAngie]

Wonderful!

[TurtleDreams]

Really enjoying your report JJ! As someone already said beautiful photos of beautiful subjects.
Susan

[Myra]

JJ. Didn't know you were heading back. Stayed at Bennett House huh? How was it. We will be in Tranquility (your old hang out) next month. I heard there is a house being built that way. Did you notice?

[sjohnson4382]

Since you were talking about snorkeling I wasn't sure if you had ever tried the little reef of the beach on the north end of the island (atlantic side) almost directly opposite the island from coco bay. had never been out there until our last trip but its only about 20 yds off the beach and has some wonderful scenery and fish. Also if you walk up to the point on that beach at low tide you can walk and swim out about 50 yds and there is another reef that is even better. just a thought for the next trip. glad you had fun, it just makes me miss it even more.

[JJ]

sjohnson, that would be Day 7 of the trip report. We also tried it for the first time this trip and it was definitely the best spot we have seen.

Myra, we were originally booked for Tranquility but had to change our dates of travel and were worried about the construction, so we switched to Bennett House. They were doing the framing work on the house under construction when we are there and it right smack dab next to Tranquility. I will check my photos to see if it shows up in any. It sits on the Bennett House side of Tranquility (but not close to Bennett House at all) so if you go to the beach on the Bita Bay house side, you will be protected from the construction, I believe.

Susan (TurtleDreams), I really wanted to find your house but never got the chance. We did the snorkel trip up to the north end across from Coco Bay cottages and I figured you would be along the way up there, but didn't see it.

[Capemay]

So jealous....

We were on GTC in May and I am missing it so much! I'll bet my Miss Debbie made you that Tipsy Turtle!

Beautiful photos!

[JJ]

Capemay, yes Debbie made that Tipsy Turtle and many others for us :)

[JJ]

Day 7: We only had our boat for 3 days and of course the day after turning it in is the PERFECT boating day, at least on the Atlantic side. We took our carts up to the north end of GTC to snorkel off of the beach at Coco Bay cottages. We have never done this before. We were going to try it one previous trip, but the seas were too rough but this day is flat calm and perfect. I have to say, after this trip, I could really appreciate the paved roads on GTC, even those in need of extensive repair, after traveling the cart paths to the north end. The reef off of Coco Bay cottages was just gorgeous. As pretty as any I have seen around the Abacos. At first just Tim, Carly (the 13 yr. old) and I swam out, the older girls proclaiming the swim was too far (it is not – it was as close as the little island on Bita Bay which they were swimming to daily), but when we came back to shore with our report, they all joined us. I did have an underwater disposable camera with me, but I still need to get the pictures developed. I will share those later.



We went into town for Goombay Smashes from Miss Emily’s and dinner at Laura’s Kitchen. The Goombays and Laura’s cracked conch were as tasty as ever.



After dinner, our local friends organized a beach party. It was one of the highlights of our trip. We heard some funny Bahamian folk songs (“conch ain’t got on bone”) and just had a great time with old and new friends.



Pictures:

Happy snorkelers at beach off Coco Bay cottages
Dark water in background is the reef
Miss Violet serving up Goombays
Beach party

[BahamaAngie]

I can't believe how you captured the beauty of the water with the girls splashing. Great job!

[JJ]

That day was just fabulous all around. Great weather, calm seas, goombay smashes, Laura's Kitchen, beach party. Actually all the days in Abacos were pretty darn good, this one was just extra special.

[foundationmare]

That first pic of the girls in the apex of a jump should be submitted to some contest somewhere!!! What a terrific shot!

[BahamaAngie]

Yeah, I think JJ is quite the cameraman!

[JJ]

camerawoman, cameraperson. but thanks. I think I got really lucky with an inexpensive camera purchase. On the "idiot" setting for "beach" it says something like bringing out the blue in the water and when you have water that is already a gazillion shades of blue it seems to be doing a good job. My camera ham kids help, too.

[bestilly]

JJ--thanks for the great report and photos. We are looking forward to our 2nd trip to Abaco the first week of August...this report really makes it seem so close and the anticipation is very real. By the way, the photos are great and the girls are beautiful!

[BahamaAngie]

I was wondering why we did NOT see much of the other "half". You were the cameraperson all along??? Great job!

[JJ]

Here's a pic of the whole family (plus friend Monica standing next to my other half, hubby Tim). Hate to disappoint you guys but I don't look much like the daughters.

[TurtleDreams]

Susan (TurtleDreams), I really wanted to find your house but never got the chance. We did the snorkel trip up to the north end across from Coco Bay cottages and I figured you would be along the way up there, but didn't see it.Hi JJ, the road to our house is on the left about 100yds from where you turn up the North Road (the corner where the Dales big blue house is). We are about 200ft up on the left. We are on a little knoll there at the half way point (500ft either way) between the Atlantic on the east and Coco Bay on the west! Next time just ask Dale and Mandy; they know where we are.

Susan

[Teamstone]

Hello JJ,

You have the same great smile as your girls! 5 beautiful girls and women in that picture!

Tom

[JJ]

Day 8: This was our last full day on Green Turtle. Tim went on his half day bonefish trip with Ronnie Sawyer and caught some fish including a 7 pounder in the photo below, so he was happy with his Father’s Day gift. They fished along the eastern shore of big Abaco and also eastern side of Green Turtle based on wind direction that morning. We spent most of the day at Gillam Bay hunting sand dollars then went to Miss Emily’s for happy hour and Carly’s hair braiding appointment with Ms. Violet’s daughter phylicia (sp). After the hair braiding it was dinner at Harvey’s Grill, a walk around New Plymouth, ice cream for Carly at Three Sisters, then home for an early night. We had planned to go to Pineapples to hear Kevin play (along with Ricky Sawyer), but we were just too worn out and headed home.

Pictures:
1. Bonefish!
2. Gillam Bay
3. Hair braiding (Sam!)
4. Dinner at Harvey’s

[JJ]

A few more pics from the last night on GTC:

1. Skateboarding
2. Going to Harvey's Grill
3. Across from Harvey's
4. Hanging out

[sjohnson4382]

Is Harvey's any good? as many times as I've been to GTC never eaten at harvey's.

[JJ]

Yes, it was good and prices are good, too. I had the cracked conch (I think I ate that pretty much everywhere I went, either that or grouper). They had hamburgers, too, that the kids ate -- they were huge with two patties. Their entrees came with the standard mac and cheese and peas 'n rice. I think they are pretty new, at least since the last time we were on GTC (3 years ago). Violet is opening a restaurant behind the Blue Bee that was almost complete when we were there.

[JJ]

ugh. I hate to wrap this up because it has been nice to remember our trip through the trip report. On Day 9 we checked out of Bennett House at 11:00, left our bags at our friend Mandy's then went into New Plymouth for last minute souvenier shopping. Below are pictures of saying goodbye to friends and saying good bye to Green Turtle. We caught the 1:30 ferry back to Treasure Cay and then checked back into the Treasure Cay Resort and Marina.

[JJ]

The rest of Day 9 was spent at TC Beach. It was a pretty day but we were depressed it was our last. On our last day, Day 10, our plane didn't leave until 4:00 p.m. and we had another day on the beautiful TC beach. We had to check out of our room at 11 but there is a nice waiting area and shower area for cleaning up. We flew out on Vintage. A little bit of a disappointment because of previous flawless trips with them -- our direct flight from TCB to Daytona was joined with a flight to Melbourne, so we flew from TCB to Marsh to Melbourne and then to Daytona, arriving over an hour late.

Below are pics from TC.

1. view of the marina from our room
2. pretty view of beach
3. another beach view with daughter hamming it up.

[BahamaAngie]

JJ, beautiful pictures of TC beach. It never ceases to amaze me of the beauty. Your daughter is gorgeous!

[Knockdown]

I too eat cracked conch almost every meal. :)
Where was your best conch?
I think mine was at Abaco Inn....if I'm remembering correctly.
I did enjoy the grilled in foil conch at Cracker P's this year too. (first time I've had it that way)

[JJ]

My cracked conch in the Abacos experience is limited to Green Turtle and I still like it best at Laura's Kitchen, although pretty good at Harvey's and the conch burger at the Wrecking Tree was also very tasty.

[JJ]

I have a terrible case of Abaco Withdrawal Syndrome. Here are some random pictures from our trip.


1. One of the left over props from the Heritage Festival
2. Floating (North end of Green Turtle)
3. Swimming in Gillam Bay
4. Posing on Gillam Bay

[Myra]

Your pictures are great. I am thinking of getting that Camera! Keep em coming because they are making me so excited about our upcoming trip.

[JJ]

I just got back prints from the underwater disposable cameras I took and of course they didn't come out that great. They actually worked well in the past, guess I was lucky then. Posting a few here:


1. Out by the island in Bita Bay looking back to shore (Villa Pasha and Bella Mare to the left, Bennett House just above daughter on the left's left ear, and house under construction and Tranquility to the far right)
2. Catching some rays on the island on Bita Bay
3. Reef with Parrot fish off north end of GTC
4. Baby crawfish in Gillam Bay

[Dreamin']

The best pictures I have seen in a long time! Almost like you are there...so clear! Thanks.

[TurtleDreams]

Hi JJ, beautiful as always, you can't miss with your chosen subject matter! I don't know what you had to work with for the disposable cameras, but my experience has been that they perform best when you are shallow and have good sunlight on the subjects. For Abaco these conditions are often relatively easy because of the clear water & shallow reefs, but I'm not sure the sun has been as cooperative of late!
Susan

[haziewaller]

Thanks for such a great trip report! The pix just couldn't be any better. (Tho it makes me sorta "homesick" for GTC.)

[mj67]

Can you give me a little information on the Bennett House. We stayed on GTC about 10 years ago and have since stayed in Elbow Cay and Treasure Cay. How big is the house, how much (if you don't mind me asking) and is there a web site. Thanks so much!!

[JJ]

You can find all the details on Bennett House at Island Property Management's website (they are listed under "lodging/places to stay" on the yellow sidebar. It is 3 bedrooms, 2 bath. There are two bedrooms upstairs -- one has a king bed the other a bunk bed with a double on the bottom, single on top, and a shared bath for those two rooms. There is one BR downstairs with a queen bed. The kitchen is large and well equipped and opens onto the family room and dining room. There is a screen porch. It has all the comforts of home with a TV, DVD player and surround sound music system.