On Jan. 6, 2022, we returned to Emerald Bay, Exuma after a pleasant Christmas & New Year's holiday with family and friends. We luckily made it through the Bahamas travel gauntlet, which requires you to get a COVID test 3 days before your flight and upload your negative results to the Bahamian Travel government site for approval. The problem is that test results can take 2-3 days and government approval... well, who knows! Andrew's CVS PCR results came through and he had his approval the day before our flight, however, my CVS results had not come until after midnight that day. Fortunately, the government changed the recent rule disallowing Rapid tests the day before our flight so I was able to get another test with results and approval in time. Phew!!
We were happy to leave the cold weather and arrive in the balmy Exuma islands to see Billy Ruff'n in good shape. We had left her in the care of Shane from Emerald Bay, who sent us pictures of the lines, the battery volt meter, and refrigerator/freezer temperature gauges every day or so. The only issues were a few broken lines that had been sawed off due to the sharp edges on our chocks and the relentless surge in the marina. We broke two more (with chafe guards on) since we returned!
Our first day back, I took a taxi ride to the local convenience store to provision, which was better than expected but only supplies us with basic breakfast & lunch stores. We are repairing lines, cleaning up the boat and waiting out the weather before we head back to George Town for more provisioning. Consequently, we go to one of the two restaurants in walking distance for dinner almost every night. Naturally, our first (and only) visit to the more expensive of the two resulted in the best dinner we have had in the Bahamas to date!
The Grill House at 23 N is on the Sandals property at Grand Isle Resort in Emerald Bay. It is a clean and simply appointed, warm & comfortable space with white walls, dark wood trim, rod iron fixtures, white tablecloths and excellent service but the food is the real highlight. We shared the scallop & pork belly papaya salad prepared w/ cucumber, soy caramel, crispy shallots and cilantro for a starter.
Andrew had seared grouper with grilled corn for his main course and I had stoned crabs (Andrew says they're called stone crabs but I prefer my name for them) and coconut, carrot bisque with rock shrimp, curry crumble & mint topping. It was all as good as it sounds and looks (even though I had to fake the pictures)!!
On our 2nd day back, we took a cab ride to Cocoplum beach, just north of Emerald Bay off White Sound. It is a beautiful white sand beach that stretches on for miles of shallow coastline, perfect for the handful of kite surfers and sunbathers enjoying the venue.
We walked south to the sand bar, in hopes of finding sand dollars, and then 1 mile in the other direction to have lunch at the Shoreline Beach Resort Restaurant. The resort wasn't much (5 motel rooms on the beach) but the colorful restaurant with pleasant service was cheery and the fish tacos w/ french fries and mahi sandwich w/plantains for lunch (along with ribs w/peas & rice, to go for dinner), were excellent!
Today, in compliance with the latest government requirements, we took our 48 hour COVID test, but have no idea what to do with it! At least it's done and we have the results (negative), if anyone asks. We walked part of the Greg Norman golf course, with exquisite holes right on the beach here at Emerald Bay while hoping that our weather window to leave for George Town tomorrow holds up.
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