Postcards

Today we woke up at about 6:30am as Nambara had signed up for a round of golf at the resort's golf course.

We breakfasted at Willy Broadleaf, a cafe on the resort's property. They had a good international breakfast buffet. I'm awarding this cafe 3 points out of 4, high points because they served grits. And that was what I ate mostly for the next three mornings.

A point was lost because of this incident. As we only had 20 minutes to eat before our round of golf, I asked a server for 2 disposable cups to bring along some coffee. While waiting for her to return, I went to the cashier to get change to tip her for the cups.

She came back with 2 SMALL (about the size of one's palm) styrofoam cups with NO lids. What's the point of bringing a small cup of coffee which we'll finish in a gulp, or run the risk of spilling hot coffee on ourselves. She obviously did not notice our golfing attire and soft-spike shoes. That we needed lids for the cups as we were going to be on the move for the next four hours. Needless to say, for her thoughtlessness fueled on by her dour attitude, I retrieved the tips I had sitting for her from the table.

The rest of the staff were pleasant enough. The hostess and cashier greeted us with bright smiles; and by the 3rd morning, the cashier even remembered our names and room number. It says a lot to guests when hotel employees remember them. The incident of the thoughtless waitress aside, the rest of the staff pulled through for us, so I gave them high points.

The Lucayan Golf Course

This golf course was built in 1962, designed by Dick Wilson. Having golfed at several golf courses in resorts before, we were chagrined to see the simplistic condition of the club house/pro shop.

The saleslady at the pro shop was friendly. The golf caddies did their jobs of checking us in, loading our golf bags onto our designated carts. Overhearing another golfer that the green fee was $85 (this is typical green fees at golf resorts), I expected a certain decorum typical of other courses we've been to. Even though our round of golf was complimentary, courtesy of BEK, I felt shortchanged by the lack of sophistication and professionalism.

As I collected bag tags as a hobby, I asked the pro shop lady for one. She said she was out of tags at that location, but expected to get more from the head office... wherever that was She told me to check back later in the morning.

On our way out, I told a caddy that I would like a tag, and if he would hold one for me till the end of our golf round. He said he would. When we were done, I sought him out to get my tag. He gave a feeble reply - he said he didn't think I was going to come back for the tag. Huh???

It's this lack of consideration, giving runaround answers, and the unwillingness to pay attention to details on this island that gives one a bad taste in the mouth.

And they base their economy's income on tourism??? After dinner the night before and a few other minor run-ins with the locals' attitudes, I just can't help feeling that we're another batch of 'stupid' tourists who got suckered into coming to their island paradise. And like all others before us, we're being milked to the bones because we're already here and we have to make do with whatever they dole out.

But I digress...

Another fault with their golf course etiquette... I laugh as I recall the incident but it gave me quite a scare when it happened. One of Nambara's ball landed in the thick and as I was heading towards the rush, attmepting to retrieve his ball, I heard rustling among the trees. I approached apprehensively as I was afraid of creepy crawlies. I was expecting a snake or racoon when out came this Bahamian, dreadlocks and all, carrying a cooler of sort. He asked if I had lost a ball and if I wanted to buy some from him. He had plenty of "good" balls.

Apparently he was scavenging for 'lost' golf balls and reselling them. On our way back to the hotel, some players kept teasing me about buying ganja from him instead of golf balls.

Hmmmm... )

The front lawn of Our Lucaya resort was gaily decorated for our welcoming party. Of course the bar is always a good start. Nambara ordered a Kalik (Bahamian beer). It was refreshing and light, and that's THE beer we drank for the rest of our stay. I had the House Special, which tasted like a Long Island with gold rum.

We stayed and mingled a little. Jeremy Wade, Uptown Bistro, asked what we're doing the rest of the night. We told him our plans and invited him along.

Little did we know, by the time we left our group grew to about 10 people. This was fine by us, but everyone had their own taste and ideas. We wandered around the Lucaya Marketplace, trying to find common grounds for everyone. Finally, I suggested we go to the Stoned Crab, as I've heard good things about the restaurant. Besides, I love eating crabs.

We walked to a taxi stand; one of the girls in our group asked a taxi-driver for a good place to eat. We asked him about The Stoned Crab, but he kept promoting another restaurant called Ruby Swiss. In the midst of it all, we 'lost' Damien (chef from Wichita Country Club) and his friend, Lee.

Fifteen minutes later, with everyone all talking at the same time, we somehow ended up at Ruby Swiss - the opposite direction of my original plan (and direction too, no pun intended).

There were 8 of us in the minivan/taxi, the short 10-minute ride costs us $4 apiece, which was not bad at all. But for some in the group, they fussed over the fact that the short ride costs us $32 altogether. Since we didn't have change, the driver ended up with $45, the balance was left as tips. Feeling a little foolish, we made it a point not to ride with this cabbie again.

The place looked like something out of the 1970s. The diners there were in suits or evening wear. I felt out of place as I was in shorts and T-shirt; the rest of us were also in jeans or shorts. Somehow nobody minded, the hostess didn't even bat an eyelid as she sat us.

The moment I stepped inside, I harbored this nagging feeling that this was not something I expected, and fine dining was certainly not the place in my mind for a casual group dinner.

In short, here's my take on the Ruby Swiss

• Decor = early 70s, with heavy velvet-y red drapes throughout the restaurant; white tablecloth; servers in bow-ties, tuxedo shirts and jackets;

• Ambience = quiet and relaxing; solo musician playing a wide repertoire of popular songs did a good mimic of Barry White, Louie Armstrong and Stevie Wonder, etc.

• Service = extremely slow. Whoaaa! I'm sure those of you reading this will roll your eyes at me - the workaholic, complaining about things being slow. But for a 2-course dinner to last over 3 hours (we spent only 35 minutes eating), this was painfully slow.

This was not a relaxing, take-your-time kinda dinner. It was a waiting-excruciatingly-long-while-the-server-took-your-order-and served-your-first-round-of-drinks-40-minutes-later kind. We ordered a bottle of wine, and it sat unopened on the next table with our glasses for close to an hour before it was served, even though we asked the server to go ahead and serve it straightaway.

Being restaurant-owners and operators ourselves, this is a loss of potential revenue for the restaurant. We could have been ordering our second or third bottle of wine by that time.

Service was also not attentive, again this was supposed to be a fine dining restaurant, right??? Refills on our waters and bread basket had to be asked several times before they were being done.

They brought out the bread basket with only 5 slices of bread in it. There were 8 of us, remember?!?

• Food = Okay. Menu = nothing exciting, nothing of the unexpected.

1) Conch fritters = tasty
2) Soup = okay
3) Pepper Steak = prepared the old fashioned way - tableside. The server left it on the stove to simmer and 'disappeared' twice for long intervals, leaving poor Keith agonising over the state of his steak.

He'd ordered medium rare, and 45 minutes later, he was so sure his steak had turned to rawhide. The waiter's little fire show with the cognac flaming the steak, did nothing to appease his already starving and grouchy disposition. But when it was finally ready, we were all relieved to know the steak was done just right - a little more cooked than what Keith would have liked it to be - but it was tasty and tender. [Restaurant people - we always have to have the last say, don't we?]

Ana (Two Brothers BBQ) ordered the same thing and she LOVED it. I tasted a piece from Keith and I liked it.

4) steak = described by Jamie Stephan (owner of Cafe Nouvelle, Uptown Bistro, Bellini and Eggs-cetra) and Jeremy as "bad". It didn't look appetizing to me, and it was overdone, according to Jeremy.

It wasn't a great first-night dinner. I'd give the restaurant 2 out of 4 stars.

I somehow ended up taking the heat for 'suggesting' this place... Oh well...

We headed back to the hotel after dinner. I didn't suggest going to the dance clubs like I had planned - as I was still smarting from some caustic remarks from the group about 'my' choice of restaurant. But it was a lesson well-learned, and a step to knowing certain people in our group a little better.

Nambara and I checked out the casino next to our resort, but couldn't get a seat at any of the blackjack tables as they were all full. Then Jeremy suggested we head over to the Prop Club, also on the resort's property. They had a deejay there that night, spinning dance music.

At the entrance, we could hear music pulsating away. My spirits lifted - there was no lines to stand in - the music and beat sounded great, just when I thought I could dance my blues away. We stepped inside to find the whole place deserted.

That's it - Nambara and I decided to call it a night. At least the Heavenly Beds at the Westin have not failed us yet. And a wonderful sleep we had that night.

Usually I do not procrastinate when it comes to putting my thoughts in writing..., but this first trip to the Bahamas gave me plenty to think about.

Nambara and I agreed it's not a place we would yearn to return to, but it fulfills our quest for travelling. At least we can now say we've been to the Bahamas. We've heard there are more attractions and activity on the other islands such as the capital island of Nassau. However, we're not discouraged. Next time we'll take a cruise and 'sample' several islands in the Carribean.

Overall comment
The organisers, Ben E Keith Foods, did a GREAT job to ensure our safety, comfort and enjoyment. Already, Nambara and I are looking forward to next year's trip with BEK (cross our fingers and hope we qualify again).

We left Wichita, Kansas, at 6:40am on American Airlines. Arrived at about 3:30 in the afternoon. It was a long flight, considering the proximity of the Bahamas - ah, but that's a problem many Wichitans share flying anywhere, out of our airport.

Still, we're HERE! In paradise with nothing to do for the next couple of days. Our weariness from the flight disappeared when the coach neared our hotel, Our Lucaya Beach & Golf Resort. Everyone around us 'ooh-ed' and 'ah-ed' at the sight of the gorgeous, turquoise ocean facing us as we stepped into the lobby.

Checking in, we all got a BIG surprise. Inside our welcome packet were our rooms keys and $100 per guest. What a GREAT start!

First things first - our travelling habit - explore the hotel/resort grounds to get our bearings. We had a welcome party to attend in an hour. Then we're going to go to the restaurant I've read so much about - the Stoned Crab; and checking out a couple of dance clubs after dinner. Or so that's what we thought we were going to do... cont'd in my next blog...