We tried to go ashore to Green Turtle Cay before it got too hot today, but like usual we failed. We made it in around mid-morning and tied up at the dinghy dock. No one else had locked up their dinghies so we didn’t either.

We walked all around New Plymouth to get the lay of the land. We saw the old jail, which is only notable because we’ve seen this is other cruisers photos and now we’re here ourselves!

This is an actual road, but I’d be surprised if even a golf cart could fit!

We needed to pick up groceries, so after exploring the town we went to the grocery store. Prices are much higher on Green Turtle Cay, we wanted tortilla chips but all the chips and cheezits were $8.40 a bag/box. A quart of ice cream was $10 (there is not a chance we could get ice cream back to the boat without it melting though). So we were a little choosier than last time. When we got to the register, the cashier was very chatty, we asked her about some things including what’s in that bag? It’s coconut bread, locally made, very good for French toast. Sold! We’ll take one! She told us the credit card machine was down, so Kyle dug out all the cash he had but we didn’t have quite enough. As I was trying to figure out which item we had to put back, she told us she could just start a tab and we could stop in later and pay for our groceries. I was kind of floored.

When we got back to the boat I tried to correlate our receipt with what we’d purchased, but the receipt wasn’t itemized. I realized she’d double-charged us for both the romaine and the spinach, if she hadn’t done that we’d have had enough cash to pay for groceries. I’ll bring it up when we stop in later, she might not take them off the bill, all I can do is ask. Since the receipt wasn’t itemized, and we had the billing error, this photo isn’t perfectly accurate but it gives you a good idea of what prices were.

Kyle made amazingly delicious French toast with the coconut bread, it was so good! We need more French toast in our lives.

We couldn’t miss the famous Goombay Smash at Miss Emily’s Blue Bee Bar, and I wanted to treat myself to some ice cream, so we packed up to head ashore again. First stop was the grocery store to settle our debt. Not only did they take off the double charged items, the cashier apologized for it about 10 times. Really, it was not a big deal either way, but the whole experience was so unlike anything in the States!

We went to the Blue Bee Bar before it closed at 6pm. $8 apiece for cups of delicious pineapple, coconut, and a large amount of rum, probably the most famous drink in the Bahamas. We sat and enjoyed our drinks, but we were both feeling it by the end. We had to walk off our drinks before we could even talk about getting dinner somewhere.

By that time we’d walked every street in town at least three times. Every intersection in town had advertisements for every single restaurant, except a little takeout place down a side street – zero advertising, and it looked like the patrons were all locals. My kind of place! We took a look at their menu, but it was still pretty early for dinner and I was in the mood for ice cream, so we wandered back through town.

The ice cream stand was part of a restaurant, it was set to re-open at five, we were about ten minutes early. We sat by the beach and figured they were on island time anyway. Well, it was nearly 6 when we figured out they weren’t going to open due to a private party, so no ice cream (devastating!).

While we were waiting we watched this crazy cloud formation. If you aren’t familiar with hyper localized storms, check this out – the entire sky targeting on this one area in particular, and sunshine for everyone else! The cloud was enormous.

We wandered back to 2 Shorty’s and placed our order. Again, I figured we were on island time so I kept my expectations low, I was surprised to hear her call me twenty minutes later and say our food was ready! We took the food back to the boat.

Anniversary dinner! Deep fried, delicious! I got fish (it was grouper) and Kyle got a fishburger (the same grouper, but on a bun).

Okay, so even after our last experience, we still ordered conch fritters. These fritters were half the price and ten times better. There were exactly what I expected a conch fritter to be, too – cooked all the way through, little bits of mystery vegetables, and tiny bits of conch. So good!

It was so much food, but it was too delicious to let go to waste, so we powered through and enjoyed every last bite of grouper and fritters.

Finally, the coup d’grace: that bottle of wine we’d been saving for the Bahamas/Christmas. Obviously we didn’t make it in time for Christmas, so we saved it for Bahamas/Anniversary! My uncle and aunt brewed this elderberry wine and aged it in a bourbon barrel – absolutely amazing flavor!

Eventually we both passed out. It was a huge day, lots of time in the sun, and after that meal we should have been dead to the world.

We woke back up though, for some noise or boat wake, but when we went outside we were treated to the most beautiful bright Full Flower Moon. The anchorage was lit up like daylight, the type of clarity where you can see the light flickering on the sand beneath the boat, 10 feet down.

It was a very happy anniversary on Green Turtle Cay!