Gadding About Town-Nassau

We have been to Nassau by boat before and had seen the usual touristy things so our goal was to see different things this time.  Boy, did we!  We have (notice the current tense, no joy on replacement) a leaking propane hose for our house stove.  Fortunately it is for our second tank so we can still have coffee without risking an explosion.  We thought it would be a simple thing to find.  Oh our naivete!  We went to a ship's store and were told to try this other place.  There we were told to try this place and on it went for many miles and hours.  No one seems to walk here so there were wild estimates of distances.  All told, we walked a lot and found nothing.  We did manage to remember that the number 19 bus goes by our marina so we jumped on and rode through town.  So, while we don't have a new hose, we did see a lot of New Providence so check that goal off.  The island is vastly different from one area to another.  None of it seems overly prosperous and none of it seems totally ghetto just a slow fade to old and older.  The government is broke (aren't the;y all) so there is no money for infrastructure but it doesn't look like there ever was so who knows if things are better or worse. Still nice people.  They all were sorry they couldn't help us and tried to direct us to someone who could.

Tourism and banking are the lifeblood of  the Bahamas.  Since banking crackdowns
to prevent dirty money getting to terrorists, that has not been a growth industry. That leaves
folks looking for whatever hook draws in the crowds.  James Bond seems to work.

Directly across the street is a shopping plaza with many US companies including
Starbucks and Fresh Market.  The prices are high but not unexpected.

We knew we'd have to have at least a pizza fix while here.

This is one of the majestic old pre-independence manors.  The Bahamas
have been an independent nation only since 1973 so there are a lot of
Royal this and Royal that and they still like the Queen Elizabeth.

This house is prettier up close since those columns of red are flowers.
I couldn't help but think of the work to mow the lawn!

This hedge is 4 colors of bougainvillea.  Gorgeous. 

The fishmongers have their catch and will clean it for us or sell as is.  We thought
about some lobster but it wasn't moving and hadn't been iced so we passed.

A short walk is the Nassau YC.  They have a proud racing past including
an Olympic gold medalist as a member.

The front of the club.  They let us in since we're members of a
club in the Florida Council of Yacht Clubs.  Could be they wanted to
sell a few drinks but it was still nice to get a tour.  You might notice how
many buildings are pink.  That is to reflect the queen conch's part in their culture.