Final Day at the Atlantis and Heading Home

Today was a very cloudy and windy day at the Atlantis. It was not particularly warm either. We had to spend the majority of our morning, sliding and swimming and then jumping in the hot tub. Wyatt did the plunge shark tank slide numerous times, but Graham and Owen stuck with the Kid Pool and the smaller slides. I tried the lazy river and could only make it half way around. Any part of the body exposed to the windy air was SO very chilly.

Chris and Kala decided to head to the straw market and have a little visit to Senor Frogs. I'm not sure WHAT they did, but they came back with pretty cool animal balloon hats for their heads that they wore home. THAT is a good straw market and the sign of a very good time.

We had to head in early today as the boys all started complaining about the chill in the air. We toured around the various aquatic sanctuaries and saw Hammerhead sharks and sawfish. Very neat.

Dinner this evening was Asian and was excellent. Chop Stix was by far our most favorite and delicious meal.We are all on our way home tomorrow and are not looking forward to the 30s temps that I saw on Weather.com. Not a very 'warm' welcome for us Bahama travellers! Currently the Franklin Gibsons are awaiting our flight in Fort Lauderdale. The Birmingham Gibsons are awaiting their flight in Freeport.

Sliding, Riding, and Soaking in Some Fun

We have filled our days at the Atlantis with tubing the not-so-lazy river where a wave machine creates tidal waves that wash your intertube down the river, riding down tube slides and body slides that take you through the shark tank, and swimming in the ocean. Not too shabby. I was worried about finding food the first day, because this crazy hotel is SO big and we did not have a map to find food. But since then, we have eaten exceptionally well. We have had nice breakfasts, lunch by the pool, and Italian and Caribbean fare for dinner. Asian is on the menu for tomorrow evening.

Although our room is as far away as possible from the water events, it is very excluded and quiet and we have had completely uninterrupted sleep. I had to wake both rooms of kids (college and elementary) up at 10am this morning. The sun is very exhausting apparently.

We have found the Bahamian workers (including lifeguards) to walk around with quite a swagger and generally have an attitude. They are relatively polite and helpful if approached. However, the lifeguards tend to pay more attention to each other and their own ladies, than to actually saving anyone from drowning.

This evening Chris, Kala, Wyatt, Graham, and Owen dressed up in white shirts and tan pants for the typical beach picture. I waited a little late, and the pics are a little dark, but some of them are still very sweet. People stared at us after we entered the building as we were all dressed in matching costumes. We were with a movie star (Don was mistaken for Colombian actor Victor Cabrera), so we enjoyed the attention.

Hotlantis here we come! Atlantis Hotel, Nassau

We arrived at the Atlantis hotel to beautiful blue, sunny skies and 90 degree temps. Much better than the cloudy, rainy, and chilly Tennessee weather that we left behind. We acquired a limousine ride from the airport to the hotel, so we arrived in style.

We have found the Atlantis to be quite large and overwhelming and without a map, it is practically impossible to navigate. No one offered us a map though. So I personally thought I was going to starve to death in a land of plenty because we did not know how to get to the nearest restaurant although we could smell it. The pools all close at 5:30p, so we just enjoyed the beach this afternoon and did not break our necks trying to get slide/pool-time. Our dinner at Marketplace was excellent, but extremely pricey. If we had not purchased the Casual Meal Plan, I might have had an attack.



Although I booked the Coral Towers, we are actually staying in two connecting 'villas' next to the turtle sanctuary and lazy river, between the Coral and Beach Towers. I find this transaction a bit confusing, but overall it has worked out ok.

We are thoroughly enjoying having our niece and nephew, Kala and Chris, from Alabama. It is sad for them that we go to bed at 9pm.