After 40 years, we made it back to an improved Nassau

By John Toth

The Bulletin

Forty years ago, a young couple decided to fly to Nassau in the Bahamas for four nights, the last vacation the two of them would take before their first child was born.

Sharon was six months pregnant - one last getaway before we started a family. It was interesting, relaxing and an eye opener.

We booked the trip package through Mason Evans Travel in Lake Jackson, and the hotel we stayed at was on a bay, with a bridge connecting its location to Paradise Island. While most of the vacation was fun, there were some surprises.

Rita Evans told us about her and Mason’s experiences in the Bahamas, but they had not stayed in this particular hotel. It turned out fine, although it was promoted as being beach-front, which it wasn’t - other than a tiny man-made sliver, but we had a good time on the trip.

One day we decided to take a cab to downtown Nassau to see what it was like and buy some souvenirs. We didn’t know that the cruise port was also downtown. When we arrived, there was a ship docked, and the port area was packed.

There were no gates that I saw to separate the port from the rest of downtown. A couple of teenagers wanted to sell me drugs, which I declined. They went on to the next tourist.

We did go to a casino to try our fortunes with a $20 bill and take some pictures of us playing the slots. I stuck the money in the machine and proceeded to quickly lose it in a few minutes. Before we left, I took a picture of Sharon sitting by the slot machine. As soon as the flash went off, three security guards surrounded us and demanded my camera.

When I refused, they said they just wanted the film. That was not going to happen, either, since I had vacation pictures on that roll. It was the middle of the day, and there were few people in the  casino. Maybe they were just bored.

Eventually, they let us leave with the camera and the film. That kind of left a bad taste in my mouth about Nassau, but I probably should not have taken that photo. Either way, we were out of the casino, never to go back again.

After we bought some drug-free souvenirs, we decided to walk over a bridge and back to the hotel. I wanted to get a cab, but Sharon insisted that the walking would be good exercise for her. While we walked over the bridge, a couple of cabs stopped to see if we needed rides. She declined. It wasn’t all that far, probably a mile and a quarter.

Forty years later, Sharon and I were on the Carnival Dream as it docked in Nassau. The place looked great. The port has been totally redone, and there was a giant 3D screen there I saw on YouTube that I wanted to video.

I didn’t recognize anything from 40 years ago. It was like they tore everything down and started all over again. Nobody tried to sell us drugs, just souvenirs, diamonds, gold, T-shirts, make-overs, hair braiding, food, drinks and all the other usual stuff that can be found at any port.

This time, we did not plan to visit any casinos for a photo op. We wanted to see the Queen’s Staircase and Fort Fincastle and explore the area outside the port. Both of these historical spots were within a 20-minute walk from the port.

We didn’t spend money on an excursion or guided tour. Google maps was our tour guide.

The Queen’s Staircase has 65 steps and was carved by slaves from limestone in 1793.

It is a must-see tourist spot, although we heard reports that it might be closed. It wasn’t. It also had a waterfall feature beside it. Queen Victoria, for whom the staircase was named, would later free slaves in 1837.

We climbed it easily. (We made a “no-elevator” promise to ourselves on the ship. Compared to the number of steps we climbed daily, this was nothing.)

Then we instructed Google Maps to guide us to Fort Fincastle nearby. The fort, which is shaped like a paddle steamer, was also built in 1793 by Lord Dunmore to protect Nassau from pirates. It was never needed for military purposes, and not a single shot was ever fired from the fort.

Unfortunately, it was closed, and we could only see the outside, which was not kept up too well.

When we go to a new vacation place, we want to see how and where the locals live. We didn’t have to walk too far from the port to find out.

Once again, I felt very lucky to be living in the USA and be able to return to the ship after our explorations. Let’s just leave it at that.

Look for a video of our experiences on our YouTube channel, Wandering with John and Sharon.