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Rach’s poem of awesomeness:

Twas the week of the wedding, and all through the Bahamas
Friends and family all gathered, despite weather traumas
Swimsuits were worn as we soaked in the sun
Knowing the wedding was soon to come
On Monday guests gathered to meet and greet
At a local bar with decorations so neat!
Tuesday’s rehearsal dinner was super
Anson snuck in ketchup for his burger and grouper
Wednesday brought with it a weather surprise
We awoke to see trees bend before our eyes!
The staff at the resort were calm with assurance
That the wind would not be a wedding deterrent!
“Now Jane! Now Eric! Now All! Stay calm!
We shall move the ceremony to the resort’s side lawn!
Among the buildings, the wind will be the norm.
And a reception indoors will keep everyone warm.”
So, with hairspray and pins we made preparations
To share in all the wedding elations.
Out to the lawn, we all made our way
To watch Eric and Jane on their very special day.
Jane walked down the aisle with beauty and grace
While Eric had the most blissful look on his face.
They said their  “I Do”s, then we headed indoors
To watch the newlyweds on the dance floor
The entire evening was amazing, no doubt.
It reminded us all of what love is about.
So, the rest of the stay was spent with good friends
And it was so sad on Saturday when it all had to end
Back to the real world we flew on a plane
But as we left, if you listened, you could hear us exclaim
“Congrats Jane and Eric! You’re married! Woo! Woo!
We couldn’t be more happier or more ecstatic for you!”

Rach and I are now on the plane flying back from the Bahamas.  We had an amazing time; in fact, you can tell just how amazing a time we had because I’m writing this after about 17 hours of flying and layovers (with another 2 or so to go!).  The Bahamas were our first international destination vacation and actually our first time out of the country ever.  It was definitely a new experience to go through customs and to see how different life is in another part of the world – even a part as close to the US as the Bahamas.

Of course, the Bahamas are pretty straight forward with respect to international travel.  Getting through customs going into the country was a snap.  They asked us a single question, and were mostly interested in getting data on us for increasing their tourism (which is obviously their biggest industry).  The islands have their own currency, but it exchanges 1 for 1 against the US dollar.  That made it super easy to spend money, which we happily did   The only issue is that if you use credit you get charged an international exchange rate on purchases, though with First Tech that rate is only 1%.  Of course, an ‘exchange rate’ when the currency is 1 for 1 seems a little silly.

We landed in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, last Saturday and then took a small propeller plane to Marsh Harbour on Abaco.  We then had a van drive us over to Treasure Cay (pronounced “key”) where we spent the vast majority of our time.  We shared a beautiful condo with Dave, Sarah and Chris at the Bahama’s Beach Club.  The condo looked out over a pool and then directly onto the ocean.  We ended up getting a super great deal on it because of the time of year and economy, so it was only about $110/night.  Getting a condo was awesome; it had a full kitchen and a washer/dryer.  We actually made dinner most nights there.  It’s hard to describe how beautiful the area is; but it looked so incredible that it was like standing in a stock photo picture of ‘paradise.’  It was almost unreal:

The island itself is definitely one of the more out of the way places in the Bahamas.  It’s decidedly different than the places that Rach and I have vacationed in the past.  First off, there was only one real restaurant.  Luckily that restaurant had pretty excellent food; I had an amazing lobster tail there the Sat. we landed.  It had been forever since I had lobster, so I was unsure whether I was going to like it – but it was amazing.  I originally thought crime was going to be an issue in the area, but it was clear after a couple of days that at Treasure Cay it isn’t a concern at all.  It’s basically a small little retirement/resort town.  The grocery store was also in walking distance of our condo so we bought a lot of stuff from there over the week.  The prices for food, despite having no tax, were anywhere from 2x-7x as much as they are in the states.  It was pretty crazy.  Abaco is geared towards golfers and fisherman, but it’s a pretty perfect place if you want to lie back and relax as well.  We essentially had the resort to ourselves for the first half of the week which was great for reading, sunbathing, and relaxing.

Obviously the main reason for heading to the Bahamas was to celebrate with Eric and Jane.  The wedding was beautiful.  I had the occasional responsibility as best man, but mostly I just hung around and provided moral support for Eric (not that he really needed it, he was having a great time with virtually zero jitters).  The ceremony itself was on Wednesday and was held outside.  Unfortunately a freak wind storm blew in that required moving the location around a bit, but the resort folks and Jane pulled it off amazingly well.  The reception ended up being held inside a large condo which actually allowed everyone to be seated at essentially the same table.  The photographers must have taken several thousand pictures; I really can’t wait to see how they turn out!  Given the beauty of the location, the skill of the photographers, and the amount of joy at the ceremony and reception I think they are probably going to have one of the best wedding albums ever.  After the ceremony, we had some appetizers at the reception; there were enormous shrimp that were amazingly flavorful as well as a really great tasting mushroom stuffed with crab.  After mingling for a bit we sat down for dinner and then speeches.  I finally got to give the best man speech that I’ve been working on for a while and I think Eric and Jane liked it, so I’m pretty happy about it.  After the speeches Eric and Jane cut the wedding cake, which was 3 layers (coconut, chocolate, and red velvet).  Rach and I can attest to the fact that the chocolate and red velvet sections were very, very good.  Finally there was the dancing, which despite desperately trying to avoid, I ended up doing some of.  I’m generally not a huge fan, but for the few dances I went out for I had a great time.  All-in-all it was fantastically memorable, and hugely fun.

There were lots of things I really enjoyed about our vacation, but a few really stood out.  First, it was just great to be down there hanging out with friends.  We ended up playing a lot of a game called Zombie Fluxx which Dave and Sarah introduced us to – we’re big fans now!  Second, the place was laid back and relaxed.  It was easy to just doze off, read a lot, and generally unwind.  Third, the gym looked out over the beach and when I went in the mornings I would get a beautiful breeze off of the ocean.  Finally, renting a condo that had a kitchen and laundry meant we could pack light and eat reasonably healthy and cheaply while we were there.

After this trip we definitely want to try out Hawaii in the future.  The only really frustrating part about the trip was giving up two whole days for the flight.  It actually took us 24 hours from when we got to Seatac to get to the condo.  Rach and I are definitely not used to that much time spent in airports and planes, but it ended up being surprisingly bearable since a lot of us had the same flight so we could entertain each other during layovers.  Hawaii seems like it would be similar in some ways, and a lot closer.  We’ll have to see when we’ll the chance to try it!

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