Bahamas- Straw Market, Nobu Restaurant

Yesterday we kicked it at the pool and then took a taxi to the straw market in the afternoon.

While planning for this trip, I expected to have to drag D’s car seat with us whenever we wanted to take a cab. We ended up holding D on our laps for the 8 minute ride onto Nassau. The speed limit was 25 miles per hour, the roads only go one way, so the likelihood of a head on accident is much less and it was rush hour, so we ended up driving 5 mph. For those of you planning to come here with a toddler, holding your kid on your lap is an option.

I thought that the straw market was going to be a few women under a tarp selling handmade crafts. We arrived to find three hundred (or so) women under a large, open air building with a puzzeling diversity of fake designer handbags. I saw Gucci, Kate Spade, Juicy, Louis Vuitton, Furla, D&G… all of it.

2001 Alyssa would have had a coronary and bought one of each bag. 2008 Alyssa focused on the task at hand, looking and possibly buying "something straw”.

I looked the whole place over, B, as he does in markets like that, bolted without remorse. Dahlia actually became frightened because the rows of people and bags were long and high. The ladies were talking to her right up in her face, inside her comfort zone. I carried her until I found B, handed her off and dove back into the mayhem of “Hey Pretty Lady, whatchu lookin’ for today?” I bought an oversized straw bag that I’ll probably use to decorate our guest room which currently has aqua painted walls.

Last night, we put Dahlia down to bed and the same sitter came back for the night. B and I deliberated over which awesome lounge or bar we wanted to stop in to start off our evening. We decided to visit one that always seems busy (I found out why) and has good people-watching. The pre dinner hours at Atlantis are fun because people are still coming in from the beaches and pools, but some folks are already jazzed up for dinner. There are a lot of gorgeous, East Coast types who know how to dress and how to act. I have to remind myself that tacky is my birthright! Somebody has to be tacky and I do it so well… also, I can see what I should be wearing but half a reality check reminds me that I can’t afford any of it. Maybe later.

At the bar, I drank few sips of… omg, what was that drink? Uhh, pineapple, rum… coconut? Whatever. We were enjoying ourselves when we noticed that our reservations for Nobu were right then, so I drained the rest of my cocktail. A few minutes later, I was super relaxed and just let B order dinner for us. Nobu is Japanese and everything we had was extraordinary. There aren’t enough adjectives to describe the salmon, crab, tuna… wow WOW wow. Sashimi, sushi rolls, sauces; even their soy sauce was extra good, extra salty (?) We shared a small bottle on warm Sake too.

Atlantis is selling condos and timeshares and every time I have a bite of anything here, I think about moving to Nassau. We will have to come back when D gets bigger so she can enjoy the lazy river and kid stuff. We will be able to relax a little more then too, when she knows how to swim. And I can eat here again.

Today we played in the pools and I enjoyed an 80 minute massage while B took Dahlia up to nap. My massage was great, but the masseuse was pregnant, so I felt bad, like I should be massaging her. I decided that if she were in her 3rd trimester, I wouldn’t have gone along with it. I would not support cruelty to pregnant women.

We need to get D ready to go watch the dolphin show that the hotel offers for free.

Tomorrow, we are on our way back to the US, so we’re packing the fun in while we can.