Season's Greetings 2009

Another year has come and gone. But this has been good a year, capped off by a trip the the Bahamas, whence we returned last night.

The trip began last Friday, and it didn't start out very well. We arrived in Nassau at about 2:30 in the afternoon, but our luggage was still stateside. The next flight from Atlanta was coming in at 4, so we decided to wait for that flight, hoping that our luggage would be on it. We headed to the airport bar, where I enjoyed a few cold Kaliks, and Dorothy had a Pina Colada. Unfortunately, she was not feeling well, so she drank about half of her drink, then found the most comfortable accommodations she could and laid down while I stayed at the bar.

As 4 o'clock neared, I went back to the Delta Airlines counter, and the agent told me the flight was now delayed until almost 6 o'clock, and he could not guarantee that our bags would even be on that flight. So we hopped into a cab and headed to Paradise Island.

We stayed at the Riu Palace (next door to Atlantis), and this is the first all-inclusive trip I've taken. And when I say all-inclusive, that is exactly what I mean. All food and beverage was included in the price, including 24-hour room service. Considering Dorothy's status, and the fact that we couldn't clean up to go have dinner, we ordered room service, and we didn't have to wait long for a nice meal of salad, a club sandwich and chocolate cake. Our luggage arrived at 11:30 that night.

The rest of the trip was about the beach, and two trips to Nassau - one by taxi, one by ferry. The weather was not ideal - it was windy most of the time, and I don't think it even got to 70 on Monday. But there was much less wind in town than at the beach, and we did see some sunshine. We also saw the little drummer boy of song...appropriate for the Christmas season.










We took several walks along the beach, and it is one of the cleanest I've ever seen. It is also the softest - it's actually hard to walk the beach because you sink deep into the sand, regardless of whether it's wet or dry.










So, after 6 days of Paradise Island, we returned to Ohio, and as usual, my living room is decorated for Christmas. Dorothy's theme for the tree this year is, appropriately, Wyndanwood.



Wyndanwood is all about trees and nature and fish and other animals.












This Christmas will be special, because it will be Beatrice's first Christmas at Grandpa Sam's house. Her stocking makes a nice addition to the mantel!

To all who read this, Merry Christmas and all the best for the coming new year.