The first stop was to drop off Nova. This would be the first time he would stay with someone. And I found her through the Rover app which had been recommended to me since Nova clearly has a bit of separation anxiety. While we paid a bit more than a kennel, I felt better about having him in a home with people that loved dogs.
On our flight there was definitely no shortage of empty seats, and who knew that Ty's mask he had gotten a week earlier when he went to the doctor for swimmers ear would come in so handy.
By far the highlight of this first day was when Sage dove down and found this beautiful conch shell within an hour of us arriving. It is probably the prettiest shell we've ever found in all our travels. I wish I had taken a photo of all the golf balls we found too. The whole kayak was filled with balls that had made their way into the ocean from the resort golf course.
The plan for this trip was to replicate everything Jack and I had done on our anniversary trip, down to the resort we stayed at. We had had such a great time and knew everything we had done the kids would love. Being that the weather can be very unpredictable, I always like to do boat excursions at the beginning of the trip so in the case of a cancellation, you have time left to reschedule it. So we spent our first full day with Aquaquest. Once again, the trip did not disappoint! The first stop was Iguana Island, and as you can see Ty took a liking to the iguanas.
Next we were off to swim with pigs! While it may not have proven to be one of Connor's favorite things, Sage sure loved hanging with the pigs!
Ty found this tiny octopus!
After a great time with the pigs it was time to head out to the sand bars. If you didn't know better it would look as if we were just on a nice beach but really this sandy area is a huge sand bar in the middle of the ocean and as the tide comes in, the sandbar slowly disappears but even then the water is only a few inches deep over the sand. We got there as the tide was rising but it was still so beautiful seeing all the varying shades of blue water.
Next it was time to head over to where we swim with the sharks. I had to crack up watching Ty hesitantly enter the water. And I loved watching Connor pet the sharks as he got more and more comfortable with them.
During the trip Ty also got to play the piano and Sage had an angelic moment... It was definitely a great day!
The next day we jumped into our rental car to do some exploring and hit up some of the places Jack and I were excited to return to with the kids! We started at Haulover Bay which was actually one of the few places Jack and I hadn't seen before but I had read many great things about it. There was a cute cafe where we grabbed a drink before walking across the shallow waters to another uninhabited island. We didn't actually catch it at low tide but the water was shallow enough it wasn't too hard to cross the channel. Of course what do you do when you find an old fishing pole? Have a javelin throwing contest...
Next it was time for lunch at Santanna's and of course we had to make a stop at Mom's Bakery!
The next day we rented a boat to explore Elizabeth Harbor and Stocking Island, do some snorkeling, and search for sand dollars and starfish on Moriah Cay and Man of War at low tide! Shortly before we flew out I had been looking up the times for low tide each day so I could plan best when to hit the sand bars. Sadly I had learned that a few weeks a year the tide never gets as low as normal and one of the weeks happened to coincide with our trip. Literally every day we were in Exuma was showing only one low tide a day rather than two and each of them was in the middle of the night. One of the main reasons I love Exuma so much is for all the sand bars which you can only see at low tide. Thankfully when I arrived at the boat counter, I hesitantly asked for a low tide time. While she made a note of the time for me, I tried to manage everyones expectations by alerting them we may not have the same experience Jack and I had had on our trip. I can't tell you how happy I was when we pulled up to see the sand bar in the middle of the ocean. What a relief! Not only did we find some beautiful starfish, but Jack and the kids found some of the largest conch shells we've every found and of course we had to bring them home!
The next day we decided to start our day by heading up north towards Rolleville (Exuma Point). Jack and I had taken some beautiful sunset photos here last time so thought we'd plan to head that way at what was supposed to now be low tide, and work our way back towards our resort. There was definitely no shortage of sand bars...
Beautiful Coco Plum beach. Sage had been looking forward to this beach so she could get her photo taken on the ocean swings. We didn't realize how anxious she was until we got there and she started running from one end of the beach towards the other after we at first couldn't find the one we had seen last time. But thankfully when we walked down in the opposite direction we found another set.
Lunch at Big D's Conch Spot before heading to Hoopers Bay to give Sage a sneak peek at a place we knew she'd love...where the turtles greet you along the waters edge. We had already had a busy day but after confirming that the turtles still liked to hang out at this location we decided to return the next morning and spend a good amount of the day here.
Off we went to spend our morning with the turtles...and Jack insisted on bringing an extra treat for the turtles. And look where it came from? A sure sign it would work!
It started with one...then two...another one joined...and before long Sage had a whole family surrounding her!
Ty always looking for a way to get a kiss...and Connor becoming more comfortable feeding them! You did have to watch because they were known to snap at your finger tips! It's such a beautiful bay and the perfect place to relax on a floatie too!
On our last night we decided to head back up to the northern end to capture the sunset. It did not disappoint... And of course Grand Isle Resort never disappointed when it came to their food with the exception that they no longer offered my buffalo mozzarella salad which I had been looking so forward to since our last visit!
While the rest of the world was living in gloom and doom over this virus, we felt like we were living in another world. The beaches were quiet...not because of everyone being in lockdown but rather because that is how life in the Exumas is. The island is quiet, the people kind, and had my passport not been expiring two weeks after our return and if we didn't have a dog anxiously awaiting our return it would have been easy to stay even longer. It wasn't until this final night that we received a notice from the hotel that island had put a curfew into place and that while the hotel amenities would be available to us, we would find that most of the island would be closed. Since we were leaving the next day we weren't too concerned. In fact, shortly after arriving in Exuma the American Dept. of Transportation put out a statement asking for the immediate return of Americans back to America or they risked getting closed out. Flights in and out of the country from many countries had stopped. I did call Delta and they assured me not to worry and that at that time, Delta was making it a priority to get all their customers home. They could see that our return flight was still scheduled and was about half full. She said in no way would they just leave people stranded. So we just watched the news and felt grateful for being where we were while the rest of the world was in a panic.
We spent our last half day at our resort watching Sage enjoy the swings on the beach and Ty enjoy the adult only pool which he is legally now allowed to enjoy. While the tides had brought in some seaweed, the beach was still beautiful. Shortly before our flight we got a notification from Delta alerting us our flight had been delayed. At first I wondered if it would end up being cancelled and secretly I would have been ok with that but in the end we took off and had smooth sailing through Atlanta into Orlando. The international terminal in Atlanta was a ghost town and seeing all the Delta planes parked in the distance seemed a bit eerie. We had no idea what life would be like upon our return but how grateful we were to have escaped what would turn out to be one of the most crazy times in our lives, next to 9/11.
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