Green Turtle Cay

 We are currently, March 2023, in Green Turtle Cay.  It is possibly the last populated island we'll visit before we make landfall in the US. New Plymouth is one of the oldest settlements in the Abacos with its own fascinating history. There may be a few spots with a few people still to visit but we're not sure what has survived Dorian.  Many of the smaller, hard hit places have pretty much been abandoned for the time being..  This place is also a working town and on it's way to recovery.  We wish all the Abaconian people well in their efforts to come back from the forces of Dorian.

We walked to this dock that came to an abrupt end.  It

used to be a marina.  You can see the surviving dock out in the

water.  There is no way to reach it by land.

Like many of the islands, there is a steep ridge running between

the ocean side and the Sea of Abaco side.

Thanks in many languages.

A sculpture garden of famous Abaconians.

The Pineapple club bathrooms.Those are pineapple

carvings in the top of the fence.

The old jail.  You can see the bars in the back of the cell.

New Plymouth from across the small harbour.

New Plymouth sign.

Another waterfront view.

The Albert Lowe museum.   It isn't open yet as they are still

in recovery stages.  The lady in charge of purchasing and

apparently head cheerleader gave us a tour of what

was completed.  We were impressed enough to make a

donation to their gofundme page.

A monument to the loyalist founders.

A New Plymouth street.

There was an amazing amount of undamaged wood on this 

house. It was built in 1866.

A street corner or I guess a street V.

The government complex.

This big freighter cut expertly through the middle of the 

anchorage. He was less than 100 yards from us.

The firehouse.

Some of these places were fully restored, others in some state of repair.

The tiny inner harbor.  Only small boats could make it

in due to shallows.

 Our Daily Bread Bakery.

More of the town.

Plants, Plants and More Plants

 I love plants.  I love lawn art and I love seeing the creative designs of others.  Enjoy.

This was such and unusual bit of lawn decoration.

Every yard needs a gator.

This was a profusion of colors along the path to this house.

These are normally trees but have been hedged up on both sides of the road.

The islands are populated by British loyalists and many of them

were plantation owners who tried to grow what they were used to, cotton.

You'll see these random cotton plants all over the island.s

I never tire of seeing all bouganvilla in all the

various colors and sizes.

These were two cute pieces.  Click to zoon and see the fish

in the background.

Lovely arbor.

Man O War Museum

 This was a real find.  Not only a great coffee shop and community gathering spot but a heritage museum.  We were even included in singing Happy Birthday to an embarrassed teenager.  

Some tools of the boat building trade were donated by

various craftsmen.

A mix of clothing from the island history.

A wooden bathtub.

A Bahamian flag from its days as a British protectorate.

2023 is their 50th anniversary of Independence.

An old advertisement for the sailing schooner.

Who knew such a treasure awaited us inside.

Man-O-War Cay

 From Marsh Harbour we moved back across the sea to the next little island on our itinerary, Man O  War.  All I can think is that someone was a big fan of the racehorse when they named it but actually that has been it's name for a long time.  This was a fascinating island with a long and active history of boat building and sail making.  We had a great time walking all over the island and meeting folks.

One of the older, locally made wooden boats.

A boat under construction.

The story of how Man O War was populated.

Two land road, sort of.  We kept expecting to hear

metal scraping but never did.

Most islands have a Queen's highway.

The shell house displaying some of its wares.

The local school

These buildings are the sail loft and canvas shops.

Nice and new public dinghy dock.

The public buildings.  On the right is the library.

An old schooner beyond its prime.

If you zoom in you can see the cute trim of palm trees.

Every house needs a cannon.

Docks that don't look like they'll ever be rebuilt.  The

businesses they went to are gone.

A very active boat production yard, Albury Brothers.

Usually murals are on public buildings but this was a 

private residence.

This is from a hill where a house was knocked flat by Dorian but what a view.

The Methodist church built in 1912.

A locally built schooner that has used as a tourist attraction 

offering rides.

Over the hill, the Atlantic.

This is the Orchid Cafe, once a mainstay of the island.  It

is now closed due to lack of labor.

Another view from the flattened house.  I'm surprised this

lot hasn't been rebuilt.

A cute gift shop that was never open when we went by despite

what the sign said about their hours of operation.

A work in progress.

This is worth zooming in on if only to see the satellite

picture of Dorian.

The boatworks office.  Nothing fancy just functional.

Ah, those gorgeous beaches.