Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dreamscapes.ca/i/776538
kiddies and pose for pictures. This facility is within a credit card's throw of Port Lucaya Marketplace, where shops and eateries entice cruisers and tourists. HARBOUR ISLAND A rustic and hilly spot off the coast of Eleuthera, Harbour Island is a 10-minute water taxi ride from North Eleuthera airport (a 20-minute flight from Nassau). Boasting an amiable blend of laid-back decadence in tony resorts and restaurants, pink-sand beaches, colourful British colonial architec- ture and charming Bahamian cottages, this spot is an ideal getaway for a day or a lifetime. My guide and I lunched at Sip Sip (Bahamian for "gossip"), where the crowd could have been sailors and cottagers from Nantucket and the New England coastline. Zooming around on our golf cart (the main mode of transportation), we rumbled past historical churches, homes and public buildings in Dunmore Town. And our tour of the luxury boutique Rock House Hotel, owned by Kingston, Ontario, native Don Purdy, sent pink sand-encrusted sugar plums dancing into my head. NASSAU Taking up most of New Providence Island, Nassau is the capital of the Bahamas and a popular cruise-ship port. A bustling, beau- tifully maintained city with exotic resorts, restaurants and history, Nassau has some- thing for everyone. Once dubbed the "Republic of Pirates," it had been comman- deered by pirates including Blackbeard, Calico Jack, Anne Bonny and Mary Read. In the heart of downtown Nassau is the legendary Graycliff estate, built in 1740 by the dreaded pirate John Howard Gray- smith. It comprises a hotel, five-star restaurant, cigar factory and chocolate fac- tory. The main mansion's extensive basement, where pirates once stored their plunder, now houses the world's third- largest collection of wine and spirits, valued between US$15 and US$20 million according to our guide. Modern riches in a modern commonwealth. DREAMSCAPES WINTER/SPRING 2017 56 TRAVEL PLANNER Direct flights to the Bahamas depart from eight Canadian gateways. A new program, "Expe- riences by Sunquest," offers packages to Abaco, Eleuthera, Harbour Island, Bimini and Exuma in addition to the existing program to Nassau/Paradise Island. For more information, contact your travel agent or visit: Bahamas Ministry of Tourism: bahamas.com Experiences by Sunquest: sunquest.ca/experiences Graycliff: graycliff.com Meliã Nassau Beach Resort: melia.com People-To-People Experience: bahamas.com/people-to-people Underwater Explorers Society (UNEXSO): unexso.com DS RIGHT: At waterfront fish fry events, seafood goes from ocean to grill to plate. E. Lisa Moses BELOW: Junkanoo, a national Bahamian festival of dancing and street parades, is famous for costumes made from crêpe paper. E. Lisa Moses CENTRE: Architectural reminders of the British colonial era dot the islands. Bahamas Ministry of Tourism BOTTOM: The Bahamas are noted for high-quality hand-crafted straw products. Bahamas Ministry of Tourism