I really felt the need for a little relaxation and had heard some really good things about a long weekend in the Bahamas. The price for round-trip airline travel from our home to the Bahamas, coupled with the hotel and tour costs once we go there, turned out to be just a little too much strain on our family budget. I thought I’d have to settle for a weekend at a beach motel, until I found out that cruises to the Bahamas were available out of Charleston, South Carolina. I had never before taken a cruise, and were a bit apprehensive. As it turned out, the cost of the cruise was cheaper than the round trip airline flight to the Bahamas and the hotel accommodations.

I got to Charleston, and the boat, sorry ship, was my home for the trip, and all the food I could eat was included in the cost of the cruise. It turned out to be one of the best vacations I had. After only one full day and night on the cruise ship, a separate but delightful story, we arrived refreshed to experience our Bahamian adventure.

Freeport, our first stop, is a paradise for golfers with one of the most truly impressive golf courses in the world. Freeport is a pit of temptation for shoppers interested in electronics and fine jewelry. Fortunately, our ship’s departure warning whistle saved us from spending too much before we resumed our cruise to Nassau.

Nassau became my home base for two days of strolling, shopping, eating, and touring. I took a horse drawn carriage tour of the city and its suburbs, visited an old Spanish fortress. A stopover on the highest hill on the island offered a spectacular view of the integration of lush beauty of the land and its white sandy beaches with the crystal blue water that embraced it. During the second day of my visit we toured the adjacent waters in a glass bottomed boat to enjoy watching the colorful and exotic sea life.

Despite the abundance of food available on the ship, I managed to spend considerable time enjoying my hobby of sampling new foods. It was only the short duration of our trip that saved me from a lifetime of obesity. The cruise back to Charleston was an enjoyable mirror of the trip to the Bahamas, but flavored with the sadness or returning instead of the anticipated joy of arrival. In memory, the cruise and visit to the Bahamas was a delight which we hope to someday repeat.