Showing our faces in the U.S.

Apparently, the information that we had about the length of time that we were allowed to stay in the Bahamas was incorrect. After a trip to immigration last Thursday, to extend our stay, we were told that we needed to leave the country by no later than Sunday, as we were already over our visa. In return, the immigration officer wouldn't do anything to jeopardize our future status. This was kind. Although you are allowed to stay up to 8 months at a time on a US Passport, you can only stay for the length of time that the man in customs writes on the visa stamp. 

There wasn't much time to get out of Dodge. Fortunately, like a Boy Scout, I'm always prepared...well, at least almost prepared. I've often scoped out Ft. Lauderdale, in case of sudden need to flee, and so I knew where to look. A few minutes later, I found two return tickets on Silver Airways leaving Saturday afternoon and returning Sunday midday that were $268 each. Next, we booked a car with Sunshine Car Rentals $28, and a room at the Sunrise Inn for $55. Our daughter would stay the night with a close friend of ours and we promised to take her to Sky Beach, to go swimming as soon as we got back. We took our largest suitcase and managed to pack another large suitcase plus a large duffle bag and a large carryon inside of it. My large carryon was loosely loaded with, a couple of toothbrushes, soap, toothpaste, swimsuits and a couple of boxes of Ziploc bags. When my bag was searched, the customs officer cocked his head and held his breath,  looking as if were going to ask a question, then thought better of it, shook his head and waved me onwards.

We had decided to cheerfully make this into our "mini-honeymoon", as we were staying in a real hotel and everything. In the three  years that we've been together, I don't think that I'd ever stayed in a hotel with my husband to be. 

Ft. Lauderdale

It turns out that the rental car agency was not located at the airport, nor indeed very close to the airport. In fact, to get a car at all, we had to find a bus to take us to the car rental terminal, then make a call for our car company to come and pick us up across the street and take us to their facility. All in all, it took about 1.5 hours to get a car and be on our way. 

"Turn right, then stay right." The journey to our storage facility seemed to have an odd number of right turns. More than once, after a few minutes of silence, our little Tom Tom would pipe up again with, "Stay right. Ahead, turn right." Jon would turn right at the next light, while I said, "No, no! I don't know why she said that. The next right turn is in five miles!" As soon as we were back on the road, she'd chime in, "Keep right." We drove all over Ft. Lauderdale, making only three left turns. This was made even more confusing because every strip mall there looks the same. It was like "driving" on a movie set where they didn't have the budget to have more than a few minutes of background shots before they began looping it. Walmart, Petsmart, Ross, Publix, little shops, strip club, gas station and loop!

A few hours in the storage facility and we'd packed our cases full. The Ziplocs were filled with staple goods and dried spices. We ditched our Bell Jars, in which food and such had been stored, having no desire to pay shipping on them later. Today is the day in which I'll test out my sewing machine, which I sincerely hope, survived the journey. When packing the sewing machine, I was inspired by memories of Charmin commercials. Nothing is softer and more shock absorbent, right?

We made it out by 8.30pm, and twenty Tom Tom prompted right turns later, arrived at our hotel to check in around 9pm. A quick shower and we were off to find sushi! Only...well, Tom Tom didn't understand the street I put in, so she sent us to another part of the street and swore that if we just turned right and kept right, our destination was right there!

It wasn't. 

We drove around for 15 minutes and then it was after 10pm, when they stop seating. The only option left to us was an Indian/Italian/bar food place with no alcohol. Jon gave up on his meal halfway through. I ate about half of my Jalfrezi and decided it would be best to stop. The people working there were lovely and kept asking, "How is it? How is it?" I wanted to smile and just respond, "You're very nice." I think I managed to say, "Mmm, yes, we're happy to have found food this late. It's fine, thank you." 

Next, we ran into a Walmart that was 30 minutes away from closing (we actually ran in through the exit door when someone left), to do our shopping for friends and a couple of things for us. We were half delirious from exhaustion. We managed about half of our shopping list, and stumbled to the car as they closed the doors behind us. 

I fantasized about a beer, but even in my fantasies, I would curl up to sleep around the bottle after a couple of sips. "Turn right, then stay right." Jon was feeling rebellious and got in the left hand lane. "Stay right! Stay right! Right turn ahead! Right turn ahead!" Tom Tom seemed to be getting more and more frantic. The next right turn was in 9 miles. 

The hotel was clean and friendly. I regret that the pool's opening hours did not coincide with the 7 hours that we were there before making a couple dozen more right turns to get back to the car rental agency. As we drove around in large, right turning circles, we were unable to find a single coffee shop. Tom Tom was sulking and her voice kept breaking as she choked, "Right, stay right!". In the end, we stopped at a Winn Dixie, where I had the worst sushi of my life for breakfast and was happy to have even that. We bought a few food treats that we can't get on island and made a few more right turns until we arrived at the rental car agency. 

The flight home was uneventful, and we had a lovely afternoon at Sky Beach, followed by the best food that we'd had all weekend. In retrospect, we've decided that that in no way resembled a mini-honeymoon. 

It's Wednesday, and I've nearly finished disassembling and reassembling our house in order to absorb all of the "new" things. This is what our kitchen looks like with 100 lbs of new spices, herbs, dried peppers, seaweed and organic staple goods. The shelving system on the left was made with two tables, some toy boxes and a newly built shelf, which we later plan to install on the wall. The play kitchen feels just a little more realistic, in there next to the microwave. 

Our visas are now set through February, and our quality of life and food has been raised significantly, with the addition of spices, loose leaf teas, a box fan, life jackets, a sewing machine and so much more. All's well that ends well. Now, if we can only get a bit closer to actually building our own place!