The moon was again shining brightly as dawn broke on Thursday, April 17, 2025

Sunrise

As you may have noticed in yesterday’s photos, golf carts were more common than cars on this island. After we finished our morning school and chores, we dinghied back into Spanish Wells to rent a golf cart. This time, we went east in the channel. The east side was a lot more industrial/commercial than the west side. On the west side, it was mostly pleasure crafts; on the east side, there were more industrial fishing boats. We later found out that Spanish Wells is the largest supplier of red lobster in the Caribbean.

There was also a couple of boat yards and a grocery store/fuel dock.

We found the golf cart rental place with no difficulty. However, we had a hard time finding the dinghy dock. It turned out to be at the gas station, but was hidden from view on the waterside by that boat at the end of the dock.

We got our cart and were ready to go! The driver’s side/steering wheel was on the right, but in the Bahamas, they drive on the left. The incorrect configuration made driving a little strange.

The wharf where we rented the golf cart was near the southwest tip of the island. The houses along the western tip appeared to be historic homes, possibly from the turn of the 20th century or maybe even earlier.

This side of the island was super narrow. This was the northwest tip of the island. We believe the island across the way was Eleuthera.

Looking south from where we’d just come from — those roofs are the houses in the above photos and the island is Charles Island.

Looking east

We turned onto the main road through town. Here was a view of the northwest side of the island from a few houses away from the tip.

We decided to go to Wrecker’s for lunch. As we drove down the main road, we passed the usual town things — an all-grades school, a pre-school, a government administrative building, several churches, a cemetery, a couple of small commercial shopping centers, a lumberyard… and there were many cute houses in between.

We went back down the cross street that Wrecker’s was on and took it to the waterfront. Wrecker’s had nachos and several Greek dishes on the menu, which was an exciting change of pace. Most of the restaurants we’ve been to in the Bahamas have similar menus: cracked conch, fresh fish (often served as fish tacos), and all-American food like burgers and sandwiches. Wrecker’s prices were comparable to the French Leave, but, like the French Leave, the portions were big.

After lunch. we took the waterfront road to the west end of Spanish Wells island. The land side of the road was mostly residential houses; the waterfront had lots of boats lining it and an assortment of businesses that were tied to the marine industry, such as a fresh fish market. We crossed the bridge to Russell Island.

To be continued…