Bahamas
Bahamas - part two... I was served the most amazing tea, "Harney & Sons."
12/30/2007 15:15
O.K. safe to say I'll get carried away and ramble due to my on-going love affair with The Bahamas so let me apologize in advance but I hope you'll have as much fun reading my stories as I've had living and writing about them. I'll try not to ramble off hither and yon.
If you really want to elevate your little 3-day jaunts to Atlantis, Paradise Island purchase the Gourmet meal plan and I'll walk you through why. Atlantis has something like 30+ food establishments, I'm not going to be quite so generous and call them all restaurants because they're not. Anyway, with choices like Dune, NOBU, MESA just to name three and breakfast too. We go off resort for our lunches and that way we get to have a non-resort, local experience because we go bonkers for the fresh Conch and the Grouper too. Back to the resort buy the meal plan and then select where you want to eat each night and make your dinner reservations while you're still at home, and make them well in advance. That really is the only way to eat where you want, when you want and on a 3-day whirlwind it's worth it because dinner is more enjoyable that way and special because the choices at Atlantis are so fantastic the only trouble you'll have will be selecting just one! For our latest trip we dined at Bobby Flay's MESA in the new all-suites, The Cove, Atlantis. We also dined at Dune which is up the beach at The One & Only Ocean Club and NOBU.
As I mentioned breakfast is in the meal plan and The Cove has this interesting dining concept called Mosaic which consists of cooking stations where your food is cooked to order. Everything is incredibly, beautiful, well presented and fresh everything from caviar to fresh figs interspersed in and around the cooking stations. All of this beautiful food is being served in a beautiful, elemental space which is about its wood, glass, natural light & stunning water features. The glass walls play a Zen trick of bringing the outdoor garden into the dining spaces so it's this beautiful, organic experience.
Table side the waiter has left for me the most wonderful tea box and in it are teas from Harney & Sons. Well, neither my friend nor I had ever heard of this tea company but the selection and the packaging were just wonderful so I selected the "Paris" blend. Well, when I opened the package which was foil lined I might add it unleashed these aromas one of which was pomegranate all coming from a silk sachet, triangular in shape. Aroma of the tea brewing in my cup along with the beautiful space and food transports you. But then that is part of why we love going to the Atlantis resort, they handle the details and we love Mosaic we ate breakfast there each day. On our third night we were going to have dinner there but tropical storm Noel caused them to close The Cove and move everyone into the Royal Towers so we're lucky that we popped into NOBU earlier in the evening and had sushi in the relaxing lounge at NOBU which is right off the casino floor so from the lounge you can see the flash of the casino through the glass entryway but you're in another world sound-wise. NOBU is another experience which transports you to a very special place where everything that hits your senses seems to open them wider.
Back to the amazing tea; I stopped drinking coffee over a year ago. I'm one of these people who had to have surgery and ever since I've had no interest in drinking coffee, apparently this happens to some people after surgery. I don't miss it in fact, I'm really enjoying drinking hot and cold tea. The selection at Harney & Sons is simply wonderful so much so that we've ordered three times and given one gift of their teas since we've returned the first week of November.
Here's a great clip about The Cove, Atlantis that I found on YouTube:
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Giant Fun at Atlantis, Bahamas - and we won too...
10/05/2007 11:51
October 2006 my friend and I took a mini-holiday and
went to
Atlantis, The Bahamas
and we had a blast. We scored a great deal on a hotel
and airfare package which put us in the
Royal Towers
with a water view. We discovered that if you go after
the summer rush but before things pick up for the
holidays and the new year the
resort
isn't at all crowded so you get the benefit of a lot
less people and you save money. It’s called a
no-brainer. So, we’ve been planing on returning at
the same time this year. We were spoiled last year so
we knew it was possible if we were patient &
smart about it.
So, let me share our story, and some of my resources so you can have even more fun when you go to The Bahamas. Each day will be posted separately such as, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 & Day 4 and then I will summarize complete with resources. Its my feeling that you can have the kind of holiday you want, whatever that is, even if its a 3 night mini-holiday. With a little pre-planning you can maximize what you’re able to do while still having plenty of time to relax so you'll end your holiday feeling rejuvenated, rested and ready to plan your return to this beautiful, magical island paradise that is The Bahamas.
Day 1 --
We arrived at the Nassau International Airport in the afternoon between 3-4PM. Breezed through customs, we were directed right to our transportation effortlessly. It was your typical, large airport/hotel transfer bus. You know the routine a handful of stops at the various hotels and resorts. We were in luck as our driver gave an interesting and informative tour as he delivered everyone to their hotel. Atlantis is on Paradise Island so our hotel was the last stop.
We were delivered to the Atlantis, Royal Towers - the entrance reminded us of Las Vegas very over the top fountain in the circular driveway complete with a portico [remember tropical rain]. It doesn’t matter how much video you watch or how many photographs you look at until you see Atlantis with your own eyes you just don’t comprehend the detail, and scale of the architecture. Greeted by the friendly bell staff we turn over our luggage and wander into the most amazing lobby. We were checked in by a very professional and friendly woman who gave us a great room with a water view. We purchased the Gourmet Meal Plan when we booked our travel package so that covered our breakfasts and dinners for our entire trip. Atlantis offers restaurants from some of the best chefs in the world. For example, we HAD to dine at NOBU and Cafe Martinique both of which were available to us via the gourmet meal plan. FYI, you can dine in any of the restaurants without the meal plans we just found it be make everything a little bit easier for our mini-holiday. I cannot emphasize enough that making your dinner reservations early while you're still at home ensures that you'll probably get a table when you want in the restaurants of your choice. So, book those dinner reservations as soon as you can and if you have a meal plan be sure to let the person know when you make the reservation, this eliminates any snafus when you arrive for dinner.
Dinner the first night we ate at FATHOMS which is very unique as you’re looking into one of the huge aquariums that comprise the marine habitat at Atlantis. So, you’re dining while all different fish and Manta Ray all types of marine life are swimming by these floor to ceiling, wall-to-wall glass windows that look right into this massive aquarium. It was fun. The service was very attentive. We both enjoyed our food. We spoke to one of our wait staff and he gave us some recommendations as I told him where we were eating our lunches away from Atlantis. He told us to us to be sure and try the cracked Conch, which we did but more on that when I post about Day 2 later. We both crave cracked Conch to this day.
After dinner we wandered into the casino at Atlantis. It bills itself as the largest casino in the Caribbean, I don’t know about that but what I will say is this, it’s a beautiful, large casino and very popular and active at night. Plenty of slot machines, and table games. I’m also an art lover so the Dale Chihuly glass sculptures depicting the Fire and Moon theme of the casino are just spectacular. There’s another sculpture representing giant crystals at the casino entrance by the Crystal Court shops, Gucci anyone?
My friend and I we were having so much fun in the casino we stayed up all night without even realizing it. We discovered it when we returned to our room. We burst out laughing. We crashed for awhile since it was already Day 2 so we get sleep a bit and then dive into our day. Check out the next post to ready about Day 2.
I will give each day it's own post and then I'll summarize complete with some of my travel resources as well as some suggestions for planning your own Bahamian holiday. In the meantime, enjoy this video clip about the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, the first land and sea park in the eastern hemisphere, and its in the magnificent archipelago known as The Bahamas.
So, let me share our story, and some of my resources so you can have even more fun when you go to The Bahamas. Each day will be posted separately such as, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 & Day 4 and then I will summarize complete with resources. Its my feeling that you can have the kind of holiday you want, whatever that is, even if its a 3 night mini-holiday. With a little pre-planning you can maximize what you’re able to do while still having plenty of time to relax so you'll end your holiday feeling rejuvenated, rested and ready to plan your return to this beautiful, magical island paradise that is The Bahamas.
Day 1 --
We arrived at the Nassau International Airport in the afternoon between 3-4PM. Breezed through customs, we were directed right to our transportation effortlessly. It was your typical, large airport/hotel transfer bus. You know the routine a handful of stops at the various hotels and resorts. We were in luck as our driver gave an interesting and informative tour as he delivered everyone to their hotel. Atlantis is on Paradise Island so our hotel was the last stop.
We were delivered to the Atlantis, Royal Towers - the entrance reminded us of Las Vegas very over the top fountain in the circular driveway complete with a portico [remember tropical rain]. It doesn’t matter how much video you watch or how many photographs you look at until you see Atlantis with your own eyes you just don’t comprehend the detail, and scale of the architecture. Greeted by the friendly bell staff we turn over our luggage and wander into the most amazing lobby. We were checked in by a very professional and friendly woman who gave us a great room with a water view. We purchased the Gourmet Meal Plan when we booked our travel package so that covered our breakfasts and dinners for our entire trip. Atlantis offers restaurants from some of the best chefs in the world. For example, we HAD to dine at NOBU and Cafe Martinique both of which were available to us via the gourmet meal plan. FYI, you can dine in any of the restaurants without the meal plans we just found it be make everything a little bit easier for our mini-holiday. I cannot emphasize enough that making your dinner reservations early while you're still at home ensures that you'll probably get a table when you want in the restaurants of your choice. So, book those dinner reservations as soon as you can and if you have a meal plan be sure to let the person know when you make the reservation, this eliminates any snafus when you arrive for dinner.
Dinner the first night we ate at FATHOMS which is very unique as you’re looking into one of the huge aquariums that comprise the marine habitat at Atlantis. So, you’re dining while all different fish and Manta Ray all types of marine life are swimming by these floor to ceiling, wall-to-wall glass windows that look right into this massive aquarium. It was fun. The service was very attentive. We both enjoyed our food. We spoke to one of our wait staff and he gave us some recommendations as I told him where we were eating our lunches away from Atlantis. He told us to us to be sure and try the cracked Conch, which we did but more on that when I post about Day 2 later. We both crave cracked Conch to this day.
After dinner we wandered into the casino at Atlantis. It bills itself as the largest casino in the Caribbean, I don’t know about that but what I will say is this, it’s a beautiful, large casino and very popular and active at night. Plenty of slot machines, and table games. I’m also an art lover so the Dale Chihuly glass sculptures depicting the Fire and Moon theme of the casino are just spectacular. There’s another sculpture representing giant crystals at the casino entrance by the Crystal Court shops, Gucci anyone?
My friend and I we were having so much fun in the casino we stayed up all night without even realizing it. We discovered it when we returned to our room. We burst out laughing. We crashed for awhile since it was already Day 2 so we get sleep a bit and then dive into our day. Check out the next post to ready about Day 2.
I will give each day it's own post and then I'll summarize complete with some of my travel resources as well as some suggestions for planning your own Bahamian holiday. In the meantime, enjoy this video clip about the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, the first land and sea park in the eastern hemisphere, and its in the magnificent archipelago known as The Bahamas.
Fodor's
Bahamas - Your Only Guide to Paradise - Order It
Here
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Travel Resources:
AA.com
AA
Vacations
Cheap
Caribbean
Kayak
Priceline
Spirit
Air
Travelation
Travelocity
