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HEADING FOR SPANISH WELLS Woody, the pilot, arrives right on time, 9:30 AM. We take Knotty Dog out of the dock from Valentine’s and rendezvous with Woody just a few 100 yards out. He ties his boat to our stern and comes aboard. It’s all old hat today as we gladly turn over the captain’s chair to Woody. He takes command and heads Knotty Dog off through some of the most treacherous waters in the Bahamas. It’s a good thing I didn’t read about the Devil’s Backbone before we first came through them with Woody. It was nerve wracking enough without knowing what I read last night about Devil’s Backbone…….
MISHAPS IN DEVIL’S BACKBONE The first documented shipwreck on this ragged shallow reef was in 1649 by the first colonists, the Eleutheran Adventurers; a group of several dozen religious dissidents from British controlled Bermuda. Their adventure came to a sudden stop when they shipwrecked on the reef and were stranded on the island. They viewed it rather than an impossible tragedy, but as a sign from God, and decided that this barren rugged patch of land was where they were meant to settle and over three hundred years later their descendents are still here. Over two hundred years later, on February 5, 1895, The Cienfuegos, a 292 foot American steamship went aground. Thanks to the “skill and bravery of the native Eleutherans”, not one passenger or crew member lost their lives but The Cienfuegos was gone forever. The Potato & Onion Wreck, named so by the cargo it carried, was another tragedy. The ship’s name was Vanaheim, an eighty-six foot coastal freighter. It unintentionally rammed itself into Devil’s Backbone in February, 1969. Its final resting place is practically on top of Cienfuegos. Another mishap, what they refer to as The Train Wreck, this barge found its final resting place in 1865 on the Devil’s Backbone, not more than 100 yards west of The Cienfuegos. It was transporting a Civil War era train that was captured by the Confederacy and then sold to a Cuban sugar plantation owner. Unfortunately it never made its planned destination. And yet another, a 186 foot freighter, the Welsh, went down just 100 yards east of The Cienfuegos in 1916. These wrecks now are popular spots for adventurous recreational divers. Today we ride merrily over them, safely, with the expertise of Little Woody who barely even looks where he’s going as he knows these waters like the back of his hand. He says many boats not as notable or large as these, but equally disastrous and sad, have met their final voyage lodged on this treacherous patch of reef.
BRILAND Woody loves to chit chat as we ride over the invisible graves of these ships, hidden by the most innocent looking beautiful colored waters. He asks us what we’ve been doing on Harbor Island and how did we enjoy “Briland” (a local shortened version of the name Harbor Island). He wanted to know if we went to some of the places he recommended. I think we made a big mistake by not going to Wade’s because he went on and on about how good the food is. Oh well, have to always leave something to come back for. We told him we didn’t like “the cheeseburger from Paradise” and he laughed and said he didn’t either. He said everyone wants to go there because of Jimmy Buffet. Woody’s so entertaining and we love to talk with him. He’s got lots of stories and some I won’t repeat because I think he shared them feeling comfortable that we would not repeat them. He told us some funny things about boats that he has piloted in and out of the Devil’s Backbone. He’s very professional and respects people’s privacy, so he will only tell you so much. He said he’s brought Jimmy Buffet’s boats in several times over the years. He said the first time he brought him in to Briland he had a 62 Nordhavn, which he said steered “very squirrely”, but he said he now has a Choy Lee. He says he comes here to Harbor Island all the time. I wonder if Jimmy Buffet still goes to Ma Ruby’s for a burger?
CAPTAIN ON A “MOTHA SHIP” We talked to Woody about his days as a lobster fisherman. He was a captain on what he calls one of the “motha ships”. He showed us on the chart where the fishing grounds are. Larry asked if he’d ever been to Cuba since they are very close. He said he had and that he thought it was a very nice but felt very sorry for the people because they were so poor. He said you “just want to help them and give them money but you can’t because it would stir up so much trouble.” CUBAN REFUGEES STRANDED ON CAY LOBOS He said one day when they were out fishing they found some Cuban refugees on Cay Lobos, just off the northern coast of Cuba. They had escaped by small boat but ship wrecked on the deserted cay. He said the refugees had been stranded there ten days. They were starving and some had no clothes at all. They decided to take them to Nassau but were afraid to bring them aboard because they were so dirty. “They could’ve had lice or who knows what?” So before he would let them come aboard, he gave them some soap and hosed them off with the fire hose. He said that they couldn’t speak each others language but managed with sign language. He said they understood and didn’t seem to mind being hosed off and before you know it he said they were all laughing. The crew gave them some clothes to wear as some had none and others were very ragged. They were so hungry that they cooked them some “big steaks and gave them chocolate bars”. He said they were so happy and grateful that they cried and hugged him. Woody dropped them off to authorities in Nassau and a few months later he bumped into one of them who already had a job waiting tables at a resort.
SPANISH WELLS Once you come out of Devil’s Backbone and around the point to make your entrance approach to Spanish Wells, you are amazed at the beauty of the little town. It’s a sight to see all the colorful houses and beautiful fishing boats painted crisp white and blue. There’s definitely serious shallows coming in here but you can see the waters pretty well and there are a few stakes in the water to help guide you along but we were glad Woody was piloting. We passed a sailboat that came in by on its own and it was grounded outside the well marked channel. They managed to get themselves free by the time we passed.
Spanish Wells, getting their name from the Spanish who used to stop here to get water from the wells. Now the water is shipped in from Eleuthers. It is situated on a narrow strip of land, less than 2 miles long and a ¼ mile wide. One side is lined with beach and the other side is the long harbor. The harbor is a busy commercial fishing center, all serious business. The commercial fishing docks are lined with beautiful lobster fishing boats, and the back drop is a hillside filled with crisp, colorful, and orderly cottages. The shipping dockside businesses are colorfully painted with wonderful murals depicting the business inside. It’s really quite a unique site for the Bahamas. We paid Woody, dropped him off and thanked him for everything. He said he’d come back to visit us during our stay.
YACHT HAVEN The docks are good, the power is good, and we didn’t need to use the water so can’t comment on that. The nice black dock master helped us get settled and we had a nice stay there. We weathered another Front during our stay but this marina and harbor are so protected that we barely noticed it except for the freezing weather, and rain it brought. It’s a safe place to weather out any kind of storm.
We were anxious to see this cute place, and decided our first venture would be to find some lunch. Woody had recommended a few places. We headed down the waterfront where all the fishing boats were. There was barely enough room to walk as the roads are narrow and they are busy with golf carts, cars and pick up trucks speeding back and forth. No one seems to walk in this town even though it’s almost a stone’s throw from one side to the other. Like drive a little wild and go pretty darn fast. We would feel the whip of the wind as they’d go by leaving just inches between you and their vehicle. We still had to get used to them driving on the opposite side of the street from what we are used to and we dodged them from one side of the road to the next depending on what small patch of earth we could find to escape to. There are no side walks to speak of, just low concrete walls and curbs and when two cars pass at the same time in opposite directions, there’s no room for a pedestrian.
CLEAN AS A WHISTLE We walked past the colorful waterfront and admired the beautiful fishing boats. They are immaculate and the town and streets are clean and neat, amazingly so. There is no trash on the streets or anywhere for that matter. There’s no excuse for dropping trash either as the town is filled with colorfully painted trash cans for all to use. Even the houses have painted their trash cans to match the bright color schemes of their houses.
THE GAP IS A BIG WIDE GAP FROM WHAT WE KNOW We decided we needed to rent a golf cart, at least for the first day, to get an overall picture of the cay and then we would spend the rest of our visit, riding our bikes or walking. We left Zig in the boat and took off in the golf cart to check out a café called the Generation Gap, or “The Gap” for lunch. No, it’s far removed from what we familiarly think of as The Gap in the states. This place is “the local dining joint” and it looked like nothing more than a rustic roadside café. We walked in the front door into a small room with just enough room for a counter and stools. There were several black workmen waiting for their “take out” food. It was uncomfortable and felt unfriendly and we didn’t see a place to sit nor did we really think we wanted to stay. We started to leave when the owner or someone that worked there said there was a dining room through a very nondescript door. He pointed to it. We went through the door and there was a room approximately 20 x 30, with linoleum floors, plastic tables and chairs and it was filled with families having lunch. There was plenty of extra space at some of the big tables but no one thought to make room for us by sitting closer together or even seemed interested in letting us join them at a big empty end of their table. There was no place to stand or sit while you waited for a table to open up either. We felt very uncomfortable and decided to wait in the other room. Meanwhile, in the other room, I asked to look at a menu and from what I could tell it had not much more than hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken Mc Nuggets, and stuff like that listed on it. We decided we didn’t want that kind of food. We decided to leave and give another place down on the wharf called Anchor Snack Shop a try. The décor at The Anchor Snack Shop was heads over in decoration compared to The Gap but even it was minimal. The menu was pretty much the same, so we gave in, an ordered a hamburger and fried shrimp with fries. Wow, I’m thinking they eat a lot of fast food type stuff here. We were also surprised to see they offered turtle on the menu. Isn’t that endangered? The food was fine but we quickly came to the conclusion that if we were going to eat anything healthy, it’d have to be on the boat. Just in case, I asked what the dinner menu was and the waitress said it was the same menu. Mmm.....hot dogs and chicken Mc Nuggets for dinner? It was puzzling to me. I kept thinking there must be some other places to eat here that offered better food.
BERNARD FOR LOBSTERS We asked Woody about buying some lobsters and he said to find Bernard. He said you can find him down by the bridge at the other end of the island about 3:30-4:00 everyday, because that’s when he gets back from fishing. “He’ll be cleaning his fish there and you can buy some from him.” We headed down that afternoon in the golf cart but couldn’t find Bernard anywhere, so we asked some fishermen, just down the way, and they told us where he lived.
A MIX OF OLD ENGLISH & BAHAMIAN The fisherman said: “Ga ep net stret nd yul sa a rid
truk, dat’s hes, hes gut daphens pentd en da hus”.
Translation: “Go up to the next street and you will see a red truck. That’s his. He’s got dolphins painted on his house.” That’s a rough example of how they talk here. It’s a bit of old English mixed with Bahamian and it’s hard to get used to. They are short and to the point on this island. There’s no extra small talk like we have with Woody. We found Bernard’s house and the dolphins painted on the front of the house, and the red truck. Larry knocked on the door. Bernard came out and Larry told him that Woody said we might be able to buy some lobster from him. He wasn’t surprised to see us or too friendly, but matter a factly, with as few words as necessary, took Larry to the back of his yard where his truck and a small shack were. The open bed of the truck was filled with bags of spiny lobsters with the head and antennas still on. Inside the shack he came out with a hand full of some nice big plump lobster tails. Larry bought three for $28. I noticed he had chicken pens behind the shack, and sheep beyond that. I guess they are pretty self sufficient around here. We brought those lobsters back to the boat and steamed them up in a large pot with garlic, wine and herbs and we didn’t realize how big those tails were until we started eating them. There was so much lobster that we could only eat one between us that night. They were delicious and so fresh. We ate the other two the next day for lunch and dinner. Yum.
SELF SUFFICIENT We have a lot of respect for these people. They are amazing in so many ways. They have been on this island for over 300 years and have stuck together as a very tight nit group, their original binding Puritan beliefs, still evident today. They came for their religious freedom and even to this day they are very protective of their lifestyle. They have scratched out a very profitable living for themselves having the reputation for being the wealthiest community of local residents in all of the Bahamas. You’d never know it as they don’t flaunt it. Their livelihood depends on fishing and primarily lobstering. We heard a rumor from more than one source, that the Spanish Wells fishermen have a binding contract to sell all their lobster to The Red Lobster chain of restaurants in the states and likewise Red Lobster Restaurants buy from no one else but the Spanish Wells fishermen.
These people and their lifestyle remind me in many ways of the people of Maine, their primary income also coming from the sale of lobster but they are different in the fact that they aren’t at all dependent on tourism or anything else except fishing. They also are similar in that they have lived on this land for generations passing their land on through generations. That in itself makes them very interesting to us and very independent.
LOBSTERING VERY PROFITABLE It is said that lobstering is so profitable for these people that most of the boys quit school at 14 or 15 to fish so none of the people have much education beyond that age. They soon marry and some very young. I read that they can make $20,000 each fishing trip. Many of the young men are millionaires before the age of 22. It’s hard to see the affluence when walking the island. Things are very simple. There’s nothing fancy or flashy except for a few pick up trucks and even those are ho hum except when you know the heavy duty they must pay, then you have more respect.
REAL ESTATE PERKING THEIR INTEREST Woody says some are seeing dollar signs with the rise in property values around the cay after a few, were over come by temptation. He said they sold off a few pieces of land for ridiculously high prices compared to what he thinks the value is. Now it seems, everyone has caught the fever and has a “For Sale” sign out. I would hate to see these people overcome and tempted by that. It would certainly break up their lifestyle.
EACH GENERATION STAYS PUT I asked Woody how it is that this new generation growing up doesn’t desire to leave the island looking for a different life which is so common in the States. He says, “it’s simple, they just love fishing and family and that keeps them here.” There’s a population of over 700 people and as you can imagine, over 300 years, family ties are entangled with frequent encounters with the same names like Pinder, Albury, Higgs and Sweeting. Some of those names we’ve seen in Man-O-War and the Abacos and later on the sides of big freighters in Nassau. During the American Revolution, as many loyalists fled the states, these Eleutheran Adventurers that had already established themselves here on Spanish Wells, allowed many loyalists to settle and they mixed with them, but interestingly, none were allowed to stay that had any ties to slavery. They are a religious lot, which is not surprising as their origins began that way, and their values seem not to have wavered to this day. Their religion I think is mostly Methodist. As Woody came to visit a few afternoons, we found ourselves getting into very lively religious discussions. It was very interesting to hear his view of the world and current events and how they relate to his religious beliefs and surprisingly they aren’t that much different from ours.
WILL TV & THE INTERNET BE THEIR DEMISE? I asked Woody how long they have had TV on the cay and Woody said four years. I expressed my concern about the damaging effect TV may have on an innocent protected group of people like themselves, people that have been sheltered from the lifestyle that we have become so numb to. We have become accustomed to watching mind numbing trash and horrors beyond belief as we eat our nightly meal. I wondered what sort of effect this will eventually have on this upcoming generation. Will their traditions, which have been in place since the middle of the 1700’s, survive? He said they only have 30 cable channels and they are regulated so they don’t see that kind of stuff. But, he says, we cannot control the internet and that’s what worries him. We can’t protect our children from that. It’s amazing to me, on what looks like barren inhospitable islands, that these people in Spanish Wells were able to be so self sufficient. They have never relied on help from outsiders, except during their first two years after the ship wreck when they had to send for help from the early settlers at Plymouth and Jamestown. They grow and raise most of their own food, they fish and hunt and import very minimally. Their successful lobstering business has made this secluded and protected lifestyle amazingly possible in modern competitive times. It is evident as you walk around the town, how hard working, and meticulous they are. The yards are well groomed, actually immaculate, and most have well maintained vegetable gardens, fruit trees growing in their yards, chicken pens and other livestock corraled like sheep and goats as another means of subsistence. They take pride in their houses, boats, possessions and more importantly their unique lifestyle. Everything is painted, and neat and nothing in disrepair. We’ve never seen any place so consistently well kept.
NOT OUTWARDLY FRIENDLY, “JUST SIZING YOU UP” They maintain their independence from outsiders as they are not outwardly friendly to strangers coming to their island. Woody says “it’s because they are sizing you up, but once they get to know you or think you are OK, you will find that they are very nice and very genuine people”. They also don’t need or cater to tourists and are proud of that fact. They don’t make it easy for tourists or maybe they just don’t feel the need. For instance, there are very few signs to tell you where things are. The marina gave us a small Xeroxed map when we arrived. It made a rough attempt to guide you to the basics around the island like the grocery store but it was very hard to read and figure out. We spent two days there before we realized there were back rooms to the dining places and that stores, like the dive shop, could also sell things like eggs, hardware and some produce. Things like that make it a little difficult for visitors but it was fun when you began to discover things like that or figure out the regular routine. I hope what happened in Maine doesn’t happen here. By that, I mean, that I hope real estate escalation won’t tempt these people to sell out and lose all their history and tradition. They have lived here in their unique way for hundreds of years, passing on land from one generation to the next, land that they settled, cleared, made productive, and an environment that they created to fit to their philosophical and spiritual beliefs. It would be a loss for everyone.
NO POTCAKES, ROOSTERS, OR CATS RUNNING AROUND HERE Ziggy was the only other dog walking around town that we saw the whole visit to Spanish Wells. Woody says the people have lots of dogs but they keep them confined. He said, “They don’t like other people’s dogs on their property either,” so we were very careful not to let Ziggy do anything in their yards and made sure we picked up after him, no matter where he decided to go. Ziggy was kind of confused the whole time we were here. I think it was because there were no markings from other dogs. He seemed displaced and wanted to walk right down the middle of the street all the time instead of sniffing fence posts like a dog usually does. I also noticed he preferred concrete or well worn paths to grass as the island is riddled with stickers in the grass and weed areas. Those stickers would get painfully lodged in his paws and fur. I was amazed at how quickly he figured out that concrete was a lot more easy on the paws.
HOW DOES ALL THIS CHOTSKY MIX IN WITH THEIR SERIOUS PERSONALITIES? They love their chotsky. This town seems so serious, all work and no play, but as you wonder their little neighborhood streets you find the most whimsical and some really corny stuff in their yards. Things like little goofy concrete figures, such as elves, deer, and even a zebra and giraffe. There also were a million old faded sea floats painted all sorts of goofy characters like Tweedy and Mickey Mouse. They were everywhere, hanging on trees, fences and whatever. I’ve never seen so much goofy stuff and where do they buy this stuff we wondered?
The houses are painted the most outrageous colors too like
bright pinks, purples, and turquoise. Where did all this flamboyance come from
such a quiet and reclusive group of people? Even the trash cans are painted to
match the houses. Their concrete walls would be one color on one side of the
property and the other half, the neighbor’s color, on the other side. They
would paint everything right to within and inch of the property line. They
paint so precisely and exact too, not a dab or mistaken rough edge of paint can
be found. But yet, you will go in a restaurant and expect some kind of décor,
and there’s nothing. The restaurants are about the dullest places you’ve ever
been. Their graves are interesting too. Most of the graves are covered with artificial flowers, many shaped in heart wreaths but they may be because Valentine’s Day was coming up.
GIVING YOU THE FINGER Well, they do have a wave, but it’s a special wave. It’s the finger. It’s a one finger wave, well that is if you are so lucky to get a wave. They just raise the index finger straight up but don’t take their hand off the steering wheel and they don’t smile or even nod the head. That’s it. You quickly learn to return the same and all of a sudden you’re riding around town giving everyone the finger. It’s so funny to us. We felt like maybe they had sized us up and thought we were finally OK enough to give us the finger.
WILD BOAR HUNTING Occasionally we would see people heading out in their skiffs dressed in camouflage. We couldn’t figure out what they were doing or where they were going. They looked like they could be part of an army or mercenaries but Woody finally told us “its just people going hunting.” He said they like to go wild boar hunting on some of the nearby islands. He says that the boars are vicious and huge; some weighing in around 700 pounds. He told us to watch at the docks for them because if they catch one, they will bring it to the dock to gut and skin it. I would have loved to have seen that but no such luck during our visit. We would see whole families dressed in camouflage going out on their little skiffs for a day of hunting. Woody said they also dress that way to hunt birds on the nearby cays.
DOLLARS AND CRABS ON THE BEACH One day we walked the short block to the other side of the town and found the loveliest beach, again the same pink sand that is so famous on Harbor Island. We were told that the pink sand evolves from conch shells that have been broken down by the ocean’s waves.
The shallow clear waters of the beach extended out for what looked like a mile. There were no waves. It was gentle like a pond. We spent a couple days walking the beach and wading in the clear waters. The edge of the water line was filled with dollars, sand dollars. It was amazing. Ziggy was happy chaising lots of sand crabs and it was fun to see them snap their claws at his nose. Ziggy and the crabs would do a funny little dance as Ziggy would hop and jump trying to avoid the painful snap of their claws. He was very quick and smart to pick up on the smarter way to tease them and that was to approach and sneak up on them from behind.
CHICKEN SOUSE AT TEEN PLANET We bumped into Woody and his brother one day at Teen Planet, another restaurant in town. He saw us walking by and came out to say “hello”. They were inside having two bowls of chicken souse. I had noticed it advertised on their changeable sign outside. It looks like a big bowl of chicken soup. I had first heard of it on Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos. You could only get it at the liquor store/café there and had to make reservations a week in advance for it. That certainly had me intrigued and I had wanted to try it ever since. Woody said “it’s very good and just a little spicy”. He said they can make souse with anything, mutton, fish, or tonque, whatever. It looked like regular soup to me but we decided we’d have to come back and try it for lunch, not as breakfast, as the locals do.
The restaurant looked like nothing more than a snack counter at a movie theatre or ice cream counter, but Woody said they have a big dining room upstairs and it’s “very nice”. He told me to walk upstairs and take a look. I was amazed as there was a big room set with tables and chairs, much like a big meeting room. I told him we were thinking of coming to one of the restaurants for a special Valentine’s dinner. He said we won’t be sorry. We came back to Teen Planet a few hours later and I ordered one bowl of chicken souse. I told the woman behind the counter that we were going to share it as we just wanted to try it. I said we’d like a bowl of grits too because that’s how Woody and his brother like their souse with a side of grits. She said, “no grits now, only “johnny cakes”. I said “Oh, OK.” She said “How many?” I said, “Two.” I told her we’d like to eat outside as we had the dog with us. No response. She rang the meal up and said that would be $13. I gulped thinking she must have misunderstood me and we were getting two chicken souse. Oh well, it is very difficult to understand their slang and what does it matter, we’ll eat two. I went outside. We managed to pull an old rustic bench up to a table that I don’t think anyone uses and waited. There are no outside dining places on the island. This was the only place that we could possibly rig something up to eat outside so Ziggy could come. We waited outside and I wasn’t quite sure whether she was going to bring it out or whether I needed to pick it up at the counter. I kept going in and checking but she would never sense that I was wondering. She just kept waiting on other people. Finally I just gave up and sat outside figuring she’ll either bring it out or come tell me to come get it when it’s ready. They don’t have the same manners or ways of doing things that we are used to. Finally she brought it out and I mean “it”. It was one (not two) bowl of soup and two Johnny Cakes. I asked for a couple of the spicy dried chilie peppers. (Woody said you sprinkle those on top. He warned “you have to be careful because these little peppers are very spicy”.) The souse had two small chunks of corn on the cob in it, a half of a potato, a couple strange cuts of chicken and a few sliced carrots in a clear broth. There was a slice of fresh lime on the side. You squeeze the lime into it and crush a couple fiery hot chili peppers (if you can stand them) over it and stir it all in. It was like a good tonic for what ails you but I can’t understand the cost of it. To us it was nothing more than plain old chicken soup. It had a different taste as far as the spices used but I don’t understand the big deal and why for breakfast and why so expensive? This was the most expensive bowl of chicken soup we’ve ever eaten.
VALENTINE’S ON SPANISH WELLS They do like to celebrate Valentine’s Day in Spanish Wells. The store front windows were all decorated. Even the gas station had paper hearts in the windows. The three restaurants on the cay had Valentine dinner specials listed out front on their portable changeable sign stands. These signs are much like old time movie theatre signs in that they have removable letters with a white plastic lit background. Each day a new “special” would be listed. Some days they would have things listed like “turtle” or “steamed mutton”. Frequently they were foods strange and unappetizing to us. On Valentine’s Day they all seemed to have the same specials listed; prime rib, chicken souse, grilled Cornish game hens, and steak. We decided we’d eaten on the boat long enough and needed to give it another try at one of the restaurants. So, we decided, our Valentine’s dinner tonight will be at the Teen Planet, mostly because of the dining room upstairs. Where they ever came up with a name like that, I don’t know. It certainly wasn’t a name we’d choose to attract customers. The other, The Generation Gap, was equally bizarre. So while we were chatting with Woody and his brother, I made reservations for dinner with the lady behind the snack counter. (You had to make a reservation because they book up according to Woody.) She marked down our dinner order on a clip board, “one steak and one order of prime rib”. Lying on the counter next to me were three big slabs of prime rib on big trays, already roasted. I guess they were for the dinner tonight.
DRESSED IN RED, AND GREASED TO THE MAX We came back that evening. We dressed up a bit for the evening wearing something beyond shorts and t-shirts, but it wasn’t necessary because you saw just about everything that night. Many had dressed in the traditional red for Valentines. In fact the table next to us all had red on. Some people were a little dressy and others very casual. The dining room was decorated like a private party with red, white and pink helium filled balloons suspended above the tables. The tables were covered in with red and pink table cloths, sprinkled with confetti, paper hearts, glitter and chocolates. As we entered the restaurant no one welcomed us. In fact they kind of acted like you’re not there. We had to ask where to go and where to sit. I think it’s mostly because they are shy. Imagine living in a town where you know everyone, have known everyone here your entire life, are practically, if not surely, related to everyone in the town and then in walk these strangers, intruding upon your space. They sent us upstairs to find a table but once upstairs; all the tables had numbers on them like they were reserved. We asked if it was OK to sit at a table we picked out and they looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders and then decided it was fine. We had a nice waitress that evening but she had way too many tables to take care and each course took way too long. Once you did get some food, she would check back to see if everything was OK but that was the only thing she did. As we sat and waited for dinner, we realized how the place got its name, Teen Planet. The wall we were sitting next to was painted black and covered with pieces of paper cut and glued to the wall representing stars, planets, and universes. Above mounted on the ceiling were black lights which illuminated all these planetary pieces of paper on the wall and anything else that was white, and in range, including my striped shirt. I felt like I was in a disco. The meal started with salad and then came the prime rib and steak. My prime rib came with macaroni and cheese and Larry’s steak came with peas and rice, both of which are a common Bahamian side dish. Everything was so greasy and heavy that we felt sick but even though we didn’t pass on dessert. We selected two desserts from the menu which were both terrible and huge and we should have passed on. We finally just wanted to get out as the meal was so bad. It took forever to get the bill and even longer to pay. When we finally got out of there we both wondered how these people can eat this heavy fatty stuff. That was enough eating out for us here. I don’t think that the quality of eating is high on their list.
GROCERY STORE A LOT LIKE SHOPPING IN COMMUNIST CHINA The grocery store is a bit like shopping in Communist China, sterile and limited. The selection of produce was pretty pitiful and sparse and at times on the verge of turning and the breads and bakery goods were terrible. We weren’t interested in purchasing anything else so can’t comment on that. We don’t know if we hit the store at the wrong day so we went back each day to see if a new shipment of produce came in, but none arrived. It was surprising too because we heard it was a great store. It was the largest grocery store we’d seen since we left Marsh Harbor in the Abacos. We did find a bakery across from the market, well actually, it was a house and the woman who lived there baked bread and sold it out of her kitchen. The bread was pretty good, but not nearly as good, as the Bahamian bread that Woody’s wife made. We were very surprised about the food situation on the island especially after savoring the delicious baked goods that Woody’s wife made. She made the best carrot cake, bread, johnny cakes, and even a delicious intoxicating rum cake. I just assumed after sampling those it would be a precursor to more delicious food to come but sorry to say “no it wasn’t”.
A UNIQUE STOP
Well, excepting for the bad food, we thoroughly enjoyed Spanish Wells. The people, though shy, and somewhat reclusive, and at times seemed to lack a sense of humor, though their gardens were filled with humor in the way of chotsky, have all my respect and admiration. I think they tolerated our intrusive presence much better than I would if I were in their position. I really have such admiration for this unique group of people that have such an amazing bond of religion, family and fishing and still remain so unpenitrated by the temptations and diversions of this day and age. I respect that so much and really cherish the visit we had here. We owe so much of that to Woody. He is a most gracious person and has such an interest in life and a deep devotion to religion. Thank you Woody for the time you spent with us. We will remember it always as something very special. The morning we were leaving, we were up early, the sun was just beginning to light the horizon when we saw Woody going by, in “Little Woody” his skiff, donning a big warm jacket, as an unusually severe Cold Front had passed through the day before and still the chill was lingering. He was headed out the channel early this morning to meet up with a freighter that he will lead safely through the Devil’s Triangle. We gave him a last wave and a lingering look as he went on yet another journey, meeting again new people, and probably spreading his joy to them as he did to us. What a special person. We will miss him. |
