February 7, 2016 Super Bowl in Elbow Cay Bahamas

This morning, Kaye, Bev and I went to the Methodist church and the Catholic church.  Bev and Kaye introduced themselves when they ask if there were any first time visitors.  Then they asked if anyone was celebrating a birthday this week.  Bev stood and told everyone that my birthday was this week.  Then she added “mine is in August, but I won’t be here then.”  Everyone laughed and they sang Happy Birthday to us.  When it came to the part where you say the person’s name they said “Happy Birthday God Bless You”.  Again, the choir was fantastic.

Then we walked down the hill to the Catholic mass.  It is usually held outside, but it was very windy and threatening rain.  So it was held inside Hopetown’s small library.  They had a table with the alter set up and about 10 chairs in a half circle between the alter and the book shelves.  We visited with the few people that were there before the priest arrived by ferry from Marsh Harbor.  The man that I have seen there every Sunday that sets everything up for the priest was named Truman.  I found out he is Truman Major who rents mooring balls.  So it was nice to put his name and face together.  He was from the Bahamas, but lived in New Jersey at one time.  He has a strong NJ accent.  For example, when he read the scripture, he said oith instead of earth.  There was a lady there with a Spanish accent.  We found out she has lived in the Bahamas since 1965, but she was from Ecuador.  The lady next to me was from Boston but has been living in Memphis for 30+ years.  You could hear the Boston accent the strongest, but there was a little southern drawl in there, too.  The priest was from the Philippines with his own accent.  We all really enjoyed the diversity in accents.  We also saw and visited with Hermanette, the lady from the store who had an uncle living in Pierre, SD.   She had 3 beautiful children with her, 2 were hers and one a nephew.  Everyone really makes you feel welcome.

yummy salad with locally OM Grown Greens and conch salad

It was a really windy day, so Dave decided to stay with the boat and not come in to see the Super Bowl with us.  I sent Dave a text to see how the night went with gale force winds and asked “doing OK?”  He replied “Oh yeah.  When I came to, the puking had stopped.  I just wish I could have made it to the bathroom.  Then the anchor broke loose.  But I’m good.”  I immediately called him and said “Bullshit!”  He was happy to see how well our anchor held.  It was very windy, but we had been in stronger winds back in Georgia last year.  He still didn’t want to leave the boat.  It was supposed to continue all day and pick up again that night. 

We figured out that we could get the game on the TV in the cottage.  So we had our own party.  About 4:00, our guests started arriving.  Harold and Juli Doerr, from Rapid City, arrived in Hopetown today.  They flew in from Miami this morning, took the ferry over to Elbow Cay from Marsh Harbor, and checked into a cottage on the west side of the harbor.  After getting settled, they took the complimentary shuttle across the harbor to join us at our cottage.  As we were giving them a tour of the house, we stepped out on the second floor balcony and saw Sue and Kate, from MN at the front door.  We had given them a tour of the house yesterday and invited them over.  So we told them to come in and make themselves at home. 

Juli and Harold Doerr made it!

Sue and Kate brought the fixings for guacamole and chips and salsa.  So Kate started making the guacamole right away.  Harold and Juli brought cheese and crackers and humus.  Both parties brought their own beverages.  That’s how things work in the sailing world with Americans.  It’s BYOB and something to share.  The couple we met from the Netherlands found that out the hard way.  They assumed if you were invited as a guest, you didn’t have to bring anything.  Now they ask when they are invited to something. 

We brought out our chicken wings to bake and Harold stepped right in to season them and attend to them.   We like that kind of guest.  We had a nice Super Bowl spread for everyone to enjoy, but not overboard like most parties in the states. 

Harold cooking peppers and onions

showing off

The game started at 6:00 since we are on Eastern Standard Time.  We had nice wicker furniture in our living room/dining room with plenty of chairs for everyone.  My only regret was not getting some pictures.  Close to half time, we called Dave at the boat and had Harold fill him in on how the game was going.  Dave said he was getting a faint broadcast on the radio, but he would lose it and have to find it elsewhere and eventually gave up.  The only wifi source we have is on my phone, so he couldn’t even check the score occasionally.  We sent text updates throughout the rest of the game, which he appreciated. 

It was a good game.  Sometimes they are so one-sided that you loose interest.  We were all cheering for Denver.  It was a fun  mix of people with interesting stories to tell between plays and the fun commercials.   Crazy that 3 of us were dentists.  Harold is a periodontist in Rapid City.  And if you didn’t see the earlier blog about Sue, she went to the U of Minn dental school and graduated a year before me.  We talked about mutual dentists that we remembered.  A classmate of mine just removed Kate’s wisdom teeth. 

Kate and Sue Dullard

sunset from the cottage of Hopetown Harbor