G had made some noises about doing the hike to the southern end of Eleuthera (honestly, he would do that EVERY time, just for the exercise. Do you see what I live with? ;-)) but I squashed that like a bug. I've been keeping a secret from you: the day after we climbed Mount Hooiberg on Aruba last cruise, someone stepped hard on my toes in an elevator (No, sometimes we can't fit in just two more people, even if they're tiny). In fact, one toe was stepped on and kind of jammed backwards. This was a toe that's had surgery, and it's been tenderly wrapped in Coban ever since it was smashed. It was completely black and blue at one point, but that's fading now, and kind of blends in nicely with my glitter polish. I'm walking quite comfortably in sandals, but didn't want to wear the sneakers I'd need for the hike to the lighthouse.
It's kind of like a doctor's note getting me out of gym class. (Between you and me, it was worth the pain).
So, after breakfast with Larry from the Philippines in the DaVinci Dining Room, we made certain we were on one of the first tenders today, to get G's favorite loungers in the shade.
Once situated, I immediately grabbed my snorkel and mask and made my way into the water. It is so much clearer first thing in the morning, and it's nice to snorkel when there's no one else around.
I need to find out what these tiny fish are called.
Needlefish travel in schools just beneath the water's surface.
In this close up of a needlefish, you can see how they got their name.
While the ubiquitous sergeant major fish move freely through every water depth, and the needlefish hover just below the water's surface, the yellowtails and blue tangs seem to hang out at the bottom. This is definitely a segregated society.
While I listened to an audiobook, G took a short walk north along the beach to the area just north of Princess Cays where there are hundreds of conch shells. This one had a hermit crab living quite happily in it until his house was relocated first to me, then to the beach at Princess Cays.
We spent our remaining time on the island, until about 2pm, enjoying the grilled chicken breasts from the BBQ (we're dipping them in balsamic vinaigrette. I swear, Princess makes the BEST balsamic vinaigrette) and feeding a hot dog bun to the sandpipers, crumb by crumb. The water was 79.5F degrees...in other words, not warm. But the air temp in the shade was the same, and so the water didn't feel too chilly in short bouts. And the sun shined brightly, and made the day feel very warm, just shy of hot because of the breeze.
Don't you love the shadow of the palm trees on the beach? We also enjoy the sandpipers pecking in the sand below.
We returned to the Emerald Princess about 2:15pm; G had a veterans get together at 3:30pm in the Wheelhouse Bar, and wanted to be cleaned up for that. We also had in mind to have another Barefoot Bubbly sailaway from Princess Cays, since we had so much fun with that two weeks ago. After I was showered, I went to the Promenade Deck with the champagne in a beer bucket (who says we aren't classy...$9 bubbly in a beer bucket says "uptown" to us!) to claim a chair and enjoy watching the tenders being retrieved from the water. In front of me was the same long stretch of white sand beach lining the western side of Eleuthera as far as the eye can see.
By 5pm, we were running out of Barefoot Bubbly to drink, and Bahamian slands to look at, and returned to the cabin to dress for Dinner with Darko. I really need to spend one cruise blogging about everything I eat, but still you wouldn't know from that that I'm really trying to change it up a bit. Tonight we both had the wonderful black bean soup (just like home) and I had the seafood pasta (not a bit like home). We had plenty of time, and so didn't need to rush through dinner tonight. We had already decided to skip comedy magician Christopher James's shows in the Princess Theater in favor of another round of Ye Olde Pub Night at 8pm. First, though, the Emerald Princess orchestra played pub music beginning at 7pm, and so we were well entertained while we waited for pub night to begin.
I skipped my usual Strongbow cider tonight; after Barefoot Bubbly followed by Franciscan Merlot at dinner, I really didn't need any more to drink tonight. Earlier today, I had caught G secretly rehearsing the hand gestures that accompany My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean, an audience participation activity during Pub Night, and he was proud to show them off tonight. I keep telling him it's funnier when we don't know what we're doing, and screw up royally, but the military in him can't relax. He MUST demonstrate mastery of every skill, no matter how trivial.
Finally, thankfully, it was time for bed. It's hard work having this much fun, and this old body needs its rest.
