Site of the famous hotel, The Compleat Angler, where Hemingway lived from 1935-1937 while he wrote To Have and Have Not. The hotel was destroyed by fire in 2006.
Resort homes under construction...from 1.5 million
The water was about 77 degrees...very inviting
Rock formations
Homes at the Bimini Bay Resort
Bimini Bay Marina
We lunched at Captain Bobs, named after Captain Bob Smith who ran a fishing charter off Bimini for 55 years. The walls are covered with photographs of the catches of the great Captain
Courtyards at the homes of Bimini Bay Resort
The negative edge pool gives the illusion of being connected to the Atlantic
The four motors on this boat total 1,200 horsepower. I bet this gives a quick ride across the 52 miles from Miami to Bimini
This was our limo for the day, with our host Owen. He was born on Nassau, raised on Exuma and has spent the past four years living and working on Bimini
Docks of days past
Water taxi from South Bimini to North Bimini.
This was the view from inside our 8 seater Cesna aircraft
View above Fort Lauderdale after takeoff
Our airport taxivan featured an Obama bobblehead on the dash
The Bimini aiport is a house.
The view over Bimini after takeoff
Our plane. The ride was surprisingly smooth, even with the windy conditions on this day.
According to our host, Owen, Bimini is actually one of the less attractive of the Bahamas islands. He says the waters of Exuma put Bimini to shame. I found the locals to be very polite and friendly. At the restaurant, everyone who entered from the street greeted us with a pleasant "Good Afternoon". Owen says the local custom is to greet anyone you come across. To not do so would be very rude.
The streets in town were lined with very impoverished homes. Outside the resort, the island is very third world looking. I'm told it is the same throughout many of the islands in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
There is a Christian school on the island for K-12. In the last year the church completed a beautiful gymnasium for the community. We stopped and shot some hoops with the kids.
The weather was perfect; about 80, with moderate winds. Owen says the winds are not normal for this time of year. I wouldn't want to be on the island during a hurricane. Owen says he normally evacuates by air to Nassau during major hurricanes.
We arrived back in Fort Lauderdale at about 5:30 PM. We stood around the empty customs area waiting to be called. With the ICE Officer staring at his computer for 30 minutes, we stood around doing nothing. There are signs prohibiting you from using any cell phones before clearing customs. Our pilot told us he has seen ICE take phones away from people who use them in this area.
We had a great trip and I look forward to seeing other islands of the Bahamas, hopefully someday via a boat that I piloted across the Atlantic.
To view video of us touring Bimini, click these links:
and
and the beaches
I wish we were there with you. Those are gorgeous beaches and pics. Good ol' Owen. I like the guy..mostly because of his name being the same as your soon to be second grandson. You guys have a really healthy, happy glow about you in these pics. It's great to see that you are having fun. Love you both.
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