After a long day of things, Sam and I finally made it to Rose’s. We all grabbed dinner, dessert, and headed to the airport. Have any of you ever flown out of Long Beach Airport? We hadn’t. And this whole indoor/outdoor airport was really tripping us out. We could not get over it. I would post pictures, but I didn’t take any because I called my Mom instead to immediately ask if she has ever been to LGB and explain my astonishment to her.
We got on the plane, took our seats (whole row to ourselves- whaaaat!) plane took off. It flew. We landed. The end.
Ft. Lauderdale, we were suppose to have a four hour layover. No big deal. Except the airport was FREEZING and we were going to die. Really. So cold. We plugged in devices, charged up, until some fly attendant told us we couldn’t (we plugged it back in after he left) and waited. Read. Waited. Four hours came. Four hours went. No plane. Five and a half hours later, we got on the tiniest plane I have ever been on in my entire life. Tiny. Like, two seats on one side and one seat on the other. Propeller-blades-aren’t-even-encased tiny.
Teddy, Rose- you would have hated it.
We get on this tiny plane only to find a woman sitting in our seat because her seat was broken. Yeah. Broken seat on our plane. Flight attendant didn’t know what to do with us yet. Tiny plane. We moved into seats, until those people showed up, then somewhere else until those people showed up. Jumping around, dodging other people, the flight attendant finally tells us our seats are now the very two at the front. So there we sat. As one blade spun for a majority of the time, making us confused. Plane takes off, and it’s so loud. It’s got the loud hum that reminds me of an electric toothbrush, but amplified. Short flight, 28 minutes later, we were in the Bahamas. Sam was the first off the plane! It felt like we had just landed and were getting off a plane in Cuba- very Casablanca-y. We got off, greeted kindly by workers, and went to baggage and customs. As we walk into customs (the first ones in) a band immediately begins to play. Live music. In the airport. What a welcome!
Sam and I had been debating how to say the name of our resort. It’s Taino Beach.
Tay-no
Tai-no
Ta-ino
We had no idea. As the customs person asked where we were staying and we fumbled with words, admitting we are unsure of its pronunciation, she kind of smiled and told us it’s tay-no. Although,
I would argue at this point I have heard people say it tee-no. We commuted to
tay-no and that’s where we are at.
We pass customs, see a bunch of signs welcoming us to Bahamas and set out to look for a taxi. A gentleman grabbed us a cab, we got in. Our cab driver was really nice and quickly Sam and I learned how religious of a people Bahamians are. Also, if you were wondering (because we were) it’s pronounced ba-hay-me-in. Baha, Bahay.
Our driver was kind, explained a lot about the island, what to do, where to go and included a few religious references. He got us to our resort and we checked in. The front desk woman explained all of the activities at the resort, that there was a grocery run later, and how everything worked. We went to our room to get settled and figure out what to do.
Our room is adorable. Really great for a couple. Probably more designed for a couple, than two friends, but hey! We made it work. One queen bed in the middle of the room, with a tub behind it..? Yeah, we don’t know either. A glass shower that is open at the top to the rest of the room and a tiny half kitchen. Super cute. Hilarious for us. But it works and we don’t mind.
We scope out the resort and the beach. It’s unbelievable. Sam keeps calling it heaven or paradise. White sand. Blue water. Beauuuutiful. We decide to go get towels, sign up for the grocery run at 4 and then we’ll just hang out in the sun until then. While at the front to get our towels, we inquired about the restaurant on site. We asked the front desk lady what type of food the restaurant has. She responded with, “What do you mean?” Sam and I looked at each other confused and like “I don’t…know.. how else to… ask this..” and elaborated with like “does it have pizza, burgers, pasta” and she laughs and says oh yeah, there’s no pizza, but it’s not Bahamian food. Question answered.
We switch to our suits, go to the beach and just lay out and swim. All afternoon. Forgetting we are farther south. Forgetting we are closer to the sun. Forgetting all the rules and totally accidentally getting fried. Both of us. So red.
We get back, meet for the grocery run and get a van that shuttles us there. The shopping center has a market, Italian shop, pizza place, and a liquor store. We hit the Italian shop first. Not really impressed, we went to the grocery store. Oh Lordy, how fast we learned how jacked up prices are on Islands that require an import of goods.
A box of Wheat Thins- $7
4oz of Aloe Vera- $14
Cheerios- $8
Insane! It was also clearly a local market, locals were also grocery shopping. We picked and chose the most cost effective items, paid and left. We headed to the liquor store. Also expensive, but more reasonable. Picked up some Bahamian beer, Kalik, Heineken, and a bottle of wine. We got back in our shuttle and headed back to the resort.
We saw the pizza place had delivery, so we took a picture before we left. Got back, ordered pizza and took our pizza and a beer each out to the beach to enjoy the night. It was a beautiful warm night and pizza and beer was exactly what was needed. We’re also pretty sure we found a solid spot for hammocks and slack line…
The Wandering Sandals 