Atlantis

Last week Jim and I spend the week on Paradise Island, Bahamas at a work conference.  I have always wanted to go there and am so glad we were able to go.  I doubt I will ever go back, but it was nice to get a work trip that was "free."  Free is in quotes because its was supposed to be free except for my flight but ended up being WAY more than we expected.  Here is a rambling assortment of thoughts I have regarding our trip:

No cell phone service.  Seriously I felt like I was going through withdraw.  There was no way to text Jim to see where to meet him, no checking on the kids easily, nothing.  It was so weird and I could see everyone else struggling with it too.  I love my iphone. 

The amount of bare butts I saw was astonishing.  There were more thongs on the property than in a Sisqo music video.

Same goes for bikinis.  Apparently they sell bikinis in all shapes and sizes.  Most of the women wearing bikinis shouldn't have been flaunting their goods.

And don't get me started on the speedo situation.  Atlantis is for people who are obviously very comfortable in their skin and/or don't own mirrors.

The complex is HUGE.  So big that the walk to meetings/meals was about 20-25 minutes depending on who you got stuck walking behind.  I chose to skip quite a few meals because of this, but never a meal with an open bar.  I would walk 4 miles in the rain for an open bar.

It was so expensive to eat there.  Our first day there we had sandwiches for lunch with water and it came to almost $50.  I had a hot roast beef and Jim had a turkey club, so insane.  I just don't think a $25 cheeseburger tastes any different than a $6 one.

We were so glad when we found a Dunkin Donuts right off property.  I ate enough pumpkin donuts to last 3 months, not that I am complaining.  I will gladly take an $8(DD) breakfast over a $35(on property) one any day.

And one more thing related to money.  There was an automatic 15% gratuity put on every thing you bought. So when I walked up the beach bar and got a can of coke they gave themselves a 15% tip.  Seriously??  You only bent over, grabbed a coke, and handed it to me.  No cup, no ice, you didn't even open it!?!  But that $4 can of coke was just what I needed that day.  I had skipped breakfast (because I slept in) and was trying to hold out for Jim to bring to bring the boxed lunch for that day.

One day I took a 3 hour nap and another day I slept until 11:15.  I love sleep.

The water rides were fantastic.  I am glad we were there in a slow time at the resort.  I was glad we didn't have to wait long to get on the rides at all.  And the not so lazy river was my favorite.  It had lots of rapids and waves to keep you moving.  I was really wishing I had a waterproof camera during the water rides.  Jim made me ride some scary on your back rides but after nearly losing my bathing suit twice and bruising my tailbone I gave those up.

The staff was beyond friendly.  I don't know how they do it.  I would want to scream "stop flaunting your wealth you snobs!!!!" I loved talking to our servers, taxi drivers, and of course the bartenders.

Turns out I suck at relaxing.  After about 3 days I was getting bored and after 6 days I longed for a drawer to be organized and couldn't wait to do a load of laundry.  I think 4-5 days of vacation is enough for me.  I read Gone Girl and Where We Belong and then stared into space.

I sat next to a girl on the flight home that was crazier and more fearful of flying than me.  It was not a good situation.  We shared our worst case scenarios and promptly scared the crap out of each other.  Meanwhile Jim was a few rows up passed out and enjoying the quiet.  But lucky for me the girl was so freaked out she wasn't able to focus on reading so I was able to read her US Weekly during the flight.

I missed my kids so much and getting to see them at the airport pickup was so awesome.  Brady has told me multiple times he didn't miss me while I was gone, thanks dude.  I am sure Harper missed me, or at least I hope.  Its hard to miss your parents when you are living it up in Disney.

And now for the pictures.  My pocket camera died about halfway through the trip so I had my cell phone (in airplane mode still) to take pictures.  I felt like I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I had hoped to but turns out I took plenty and some I don't even remember taking.

The kids went home with my inlaws on Saturday night after Harper's party. But on Sunday morning our flights were at similar times so we were able to walk to their gate to say goodbye.






What I looked like for about 75% of the trip.
















On Tuesday we were on our own for dinner and went with some friends from NH over the bridge out to dinner.  Not gonna lie, when the taxi pulled in I thought we were surely going to get mugged and buried in the place's backyard.  It looked like someone's driveway but the food ended up being ok and the company was great!!  I miss NH people!!






My favorite place, Cove beach.


Wednesday night was the final dinner.  It was a theme but honestly, I don't really know what the theme was.  Maybe a mixture of carribean/Mardi Gras/Bahamas/drum bands??  All I know is there was an open bar and I drank too much.


I don't remember taking this picture at all.  It was a great night.


At the top of one of the castle things was our favorite water tube ride.  It had the most amazing views so one afternoon we walked up with the camera to take pictures.  And then the camera died, booooo.




That's Cove beach from up high.




The start of the water slides.







And then came the cell phone pics.