It’s Thursday afternoon and Brenda has returned from her visit home and is with me on Pandora. I am so glad to have her back. It was great fun having Bill aboard but I missed Brenda terribly.
Brenda made all of her connections yesterday and arrived on the shuttle from Nassau around 5:00 in the evening. I have to admit that I was a bit overwhelmed as I saw her plane in the distance as it lined up to make it’s landing. And, what a thrill it was to see her step off of the plane. You’d have tought that she had been away for months. I was important that she be with her friend during this difficult time but it’s going to be while until she decompresses and settles into a routine aboard Pandora.
We like the Great Harbor Cay Marina so much that we have extended our visit for a full month. I doubt that we will actually stay here for all that time but I wanted to be sure that we had that option. Happily, Brenda has already declared “I have waited my whole life to visit this spot. It’s my new favorite place in the Bahamas. I am never leaving, ever.” I guess that makes me look pretty smart. Yes, I am goin’ with that.
On our way south, later in the month I expect, we will be visiting Over Yonder Cay, one of our “other most favorite places”. It’s a private island that we were invited to visit the last time that we were here in the Bahamas based on a blog post that I had written several years ago. The owner Ed, is a remarkable guy and has assembled an amazing mix of estates, vintage warbirds and yachts. The islands manager, Ethan, contacted me yesterday to let me know that he and his wife welcomed their first son back in December. When Brenda and I visited there two years ago, Ethan and Jaime were engaged to be married. I guess that a lot has happened since then. I wrote about our visit in this post.
I can assure you that Over Yonder Cay is a totally different kettle of fish and it ought to be given it’s rental price of $65,000 per day. Yes, per day. I’d say that Great Harbor Cay marina is more in our league and it’s really fun to be here. And I am just so thrilled to find out that Brenda agrees.
The history of this island is similar to many other islands in the Bahamas with the story of big development that has come and gone. Back in the 60s this island was a hopping place with a resort that was frequented by the likes of Brigitt Bardot and Cary Grant, just to name two that visited regularly. The resort is now in ruins. This is how it looked at it’s peak. 
In the left of the photo above, you can see a walkway over the road. Here’s what it looks like after all these years. 
I walked around in the “club house” today and took some photos. I could almost hear the laughter from the lobby bar. 
I expect that this kitchen prepared some magnificent meals.
There was once a wonderful 18 hole golf course. Today you can still play 9 of the holes although the “rough” is all that, and more. 
The grand entrance. No longer looking so grand but it doesn’t take much of an imagaination to “see” what it once was.
Nice archway opposite the “grand entrance” staircase.
The marina where Pandora will be for about two weeks is just lovely and was built to serve the resort. Happily it is just terrific. Hans, the manager who’s been here for many years has done a spectacular job of improving the place. It’s wonderful and a good value. If you are looking for a nice spot to visit in the Bahamas and want to take a break from being “on the hook”, this is the spot.
The view from Pandora’s bow.
There will be plenty more to say about this spot so stay tuned. I guess it’s time for me to do a bit of bottom scrubbing. I wonder if one of the resident manatees will pay me a visit while I am hard at work. Better that then a bull shark. Fingers crossed.