Project Bahama Mama in Full Swing

Well all…. We are HERE! And when I say here I mean the Atlantis Hotel in Nassau in the Bahamas. Yeah baby. It has been a crazy road getting here but after just one exhausting afternoon I have to say it is totally worth it.

We spent the past few days seeing friends and then getting ready for this leg of the trip. We had to get snacks for the kids. Ingrid, Bob’s sister, and I went to Costco and got snacks for an army. We packed it all in the suitcases yesterday and the Leeks got up at 4 and started our day. Our west coast bodies are still not totally adjusted to the time change so it was between 1 am our time and sometime close to 4 am east coast time. Who knows? But we were up and out the door by 4:30. You can imagine what fun the kids were / have been.

When we got up on Thursday to go to Atlanta the kids were really excited about the adventure. When we got up today, ahhhh, they weren’t. ‘Nuff said. So we got them dressed and made the hour long trip to the airport. We returned the car. Alright we are making good time and we’re right on schedule.

We try to check-in curb side and are denied and are sent inside. We wait in line and finally get to the Delta counter to check in. A woman with a blank stare says, “You’re at the wrong counter. Go over there.” We go “over there.” We wait there. Now picture a really sour looking African American man about 55 years old. He’s done this for 100 years, puts up with no crap and doesn’t give a damn if we make our plane or not. This is the guy who is there to “help” us. First he tells me that the kid’s passports aren’t valid because they aren’t signed. “Do you want the kids to sign them?” He says I can sign them. In Mexico they didn’t care, in Atlanta they apparently do. I sign and now they are valid.

We have 5 bags to check through. One weighs 68 lbs, another weighs 45 lbs and the 3 remaining weigh about 25 lbs apiece. With out blinking he says, “That will be $150 to check it through to Nassau. WHAT? We obviously start moving things around. We get the big bag to 51 lbs. I say, “Is that good enough?” Annoyed he answers, “You’re a pound over.” We obviously fix it and proceed.

Security….ahhh security. Well first the boys have to go potty on the way to security, at separate times. We finally get in line and they say that the kids have to hold their own passports and tickets. How moronic is it that a 3 year old needs to hold his own documents? Actually I trust Kees more then Coulter but that’s a different blog. We get past that point and then wait (a loooong time) for our turn to strip and strut. Kees refuses to walk through the metal detector. He turns into a puddle on the floor. I know he’s tired and only 3 but seriously, dude, suck it up. They insist he go through on his own. I am loosing my cool. “KEES GET UP!” He won’t. What do they want us to do? Throw him? It would have been easier. Finally they say Bob can carry him. Wouldn’t it have been easier to do THAT first? We re-dress and walk toward our gate which was, I believe, Z-1,000,000. Bob had to carry Kees because he couldn’t function. We have a snack and board just on time.

It was an easy flight into Miami.

Miami International Airport SUCKS…. Take that Miami. The property values have plummeted because the airport is so bad. If all of Miami is run like the airport then I know what the basic crux of their problems are. We disembark at gate H32 and have to go to our connector at D35. The distance between H32 and D35 is about 2 miles. NO JOKE! And there is no train or bus or anything. AND we have to go back through security. You can imagine how excited I am about that after our last experience. SCORE!

We find a luggage cart. It is good for something. We run, really run. Sophia and Coulter are saying, “Mommy, can we stop running?” I say, “Not if you want to go to the Bahamas.” I am not going to miss another flight. That would suck more than this. We get to security and there is a long line. Really long, but it goes pretty fast. Again, strip, strut, throw Kees through, re-dress, and proceed. Our gate is down, around, and through the maze. We go into some sort of basement space where passengers are warehoused and find “our” line. I talk to a guy at the counter and tell him we have small kids and we’re all over the plane. He pokes a few buttons on the computer and looks at me and says, “I’ll let them deal with it on the plane.” Fine, we wait in the line. When we get to the front of the line the woman taking tickets stops everything and assigns us seats all together. She apparently has magical powers. I thank her profusely and we proceed.

We get on a bus that drives us all over the tarmac. It appears that Miami International knows they suck and are trying to improve. We’ll see. We arrive at our little propeller plane. The kids are all excited. I say, “Mommy hasn’t flown on something like this for a long time.” The flight is quick and easy.

We get into Nassau and our luggage is, wait for it, here it comes, it’s there! Hooray! We get through immigration easily. Once we get through we see the Bagwells, Bob’s sister’s family. We go outside and the guy from the Atlantis knows we’re coming and the car is on the way. Things are looking up.

The kids are so excited they can hardly stand it. They’re saying, “I hope it’s a big limo. That would be so cool.” I hate to squish them but I think it will probably be a van or something, there are 9 of us. I am wrong; it’s a big stretch limo. They are all freaking out (the kids). We barely fit in with all our luggage but we manage. The kids giggle all the way.

Upon arrival at the hotel we are greeted by the VIP manager who escorts us to the VIP check in. Great! He tells us that our luggage will meet us in our rooms. GREAT. Ah, yes, this is way more like it. We check in. The Bagwells are down the hall from us. They have a very nice room with a beautiful view. We leave them there. We go down the hall to our room. We have the same set up…..except…. WE have an awesome suite attached. Bob and I have an amazing King room with shower, toilet, bath all separate and a parlor twice the size of any of the rooms. We have a balcony with 2 tables and this all overlooks the pools and aquarium. We have a nice bottle of wine and 12, count ‘em, 12 chocolate covered strawberries. These aren’t just any chocolate covered strawberries. They have different kinds of chocolate, and then 6 different crunchy flavors that the chocolate is rolled in. I have never seen this before and I like it. As promised the luggage arrives.

We unpack and stroll about our apartment in the sky and then we go to the pool(s). The kids played for 4 hours and are so tired that playing is even getting too hard. They have a hot dog, get on PJ’s and then go to bed.

I am now sitting here with a scotch (thanks Bob) and writing. We’re waiting on the babysitters who should be here any moment. Tomorrow is going to be great. We have a fancy cabana, we’re going to the grocery store and we have lots of surprises in store. I can’t wait to share but if I told you everything now what would be the fun in that? I have to say that the trials and tribulations of getting here were totally worth it.