June 2000



Some friends of ours have a time share in Florida which they traded for a week at this beautiful resort on Paradise Island, Bahamas. We just got lucky enough to be invited along.



This is the World Famous Atlantis Hotel which was just up the beach from the placed we were staying. A paradise in it's own right, with everything from casinos and water slides, to wonderful aquariums and acres for relaxing. That's John, Nancy, and Kelli with the family on the bridge.

This is MY sunset! I swore I'd catch myself the perfect sunset, and here it is. I took this off of a pyramid shaped water slide at the Atlantis, not bad for a rookie photographer.



One day we spent touring the island. The picture above is of the Queen's Staircase, which the troops would use to escape in case of an attack. We also visited the Bacardi Rum Factory (where we got to taste test some of the products), the Mermaid Caves, and a few forts. Later that day we headed up the beach for some snorkeling.



Though dad didn't get really into it till the end of the trip, we spent many a day snorkeling along a reef with the colorful fish. It didn't take long for Eric to play the comedian, and pretend to be a tortoise ascending the beach.




Thursday we took a fairy over to the Blue Lagoon Island. It's sort of a day park, with a million things to do. One of my favorite things is how it was covered in hammocks.



Dad and Eric teamed up for a canoe ride while mom and I took out a paddle boat. What a workout! I'm sure I was doing all the work and mom was just enjoying the free ride.

Nancy and Kelli decided to do a swim with the dolphins while visiting Blue Lagoon, it was really neat to watch them interact. Supposedly this was the island where part of "Flipper" was filmed.




One day while snorkeling John found a box buried in the sea floor. So on our final day we all swam out, did a little diving, and brought the "burried treasure" ashore. Our "treasure" wasn't so far off. It turned out to be an old cash drawer which had been stolen from the Atlantis and dumped in the ocean. Too bad it was empty, but it was still a neat experience.



Unfortunately we couldn't stay forever, so we gathered for our fairwell family pictures, and returned home a little more tan, and a lot happier.


The End