U S of A

Hello one and all and all in one! This is Erin speaking from the lovely coast of Florida! We are in the ICW (Inter-coastal Waterway) other wise know as "The Ditch"! We are back in the US of A. It feels good to be back though I miss the Bahamas immensely. It is good to get Internet though. I shall tell you about the rest of the Bahamas before moving on to what is happening here in the states. Before we went to Nassau, we were at Hope-town. Hope-town was a Paradise itself. All the houses were painted light green, pink and yellow making the town just lovely. They had little dirt roads that only golf carts drove on. The island was green and lush. I loved walking down the dirt road, smelling the fresh air that was warm and humid. The ocean side beach didn't have a lot of sea glass but more than I have seen the whole trip. Sea glass is a rare find. Then there was the light house. It was like one you would see in pictures with the red and white stripes and the light keeper's house. Usually the keeper house has a gift shop in it or something. Not this one. The light house was a kerosene light. It was NOT electrical like most are, so it had to have a keeper to go in the light house every night and light the lighthouse. The light could be seen for 13 miles.
That night we got to light the light house. First off we trudged the wooden steps that spiraled up the lighthouse. Going up the middle of the steps was a large concrete pipe. In the Pipe was a 1200 pound weight that was cranked up to the top of the light house and then it was released. The weight would descend slowly causing the Fresno lens to spin. The Fresno lens is the glass around the light.
There were few windows to let light in so we had to watch our step. The were pipes that ran up and down the lighthouse that would take the fuel up and down. Halfway up there was a wooden platform with a green metal tank that held the fuel. Finally, at the top we walked through an old looking wooden door. We were in a room with only a ladder at the very edge of it.We crawled up the ladder and then squished our way through the hole in the roof. We entered a little room where there was a cat door only big enough to let a human on hands and knees through. In the middle of the room there was a metal stand on top was the lens. It looked like an ordinary lamp only about 50 times bigger. The keeper said that the stand was a pool of mercury that the Fresno lens sat in that made it spin easier. At the bottom of the stand there were gears about three feet off the ground. There was a handle at the end of the gears.That is what was used to crank the weight up.
The room had vents about a foot off the ground all around the room. So when the sun came up and they did not need to have the light on in the lighthouse they could cool the room down by opening the vents. I crawled through the cat door which had lead me out onto a porch about 150 feet above the ground. It was a walk way on the tipsy top of the lighthouse. I walked around the light house on top then went back inside to find the keeper there ready to begin. To start we had to close the old door down on the floor below. Then the cat door had to be sealed shut. We had to walk around and make sure there was NO ventilation of any sort getting in. We closed all vents. Then about five feet above us there a grate platform with the Fresno lens in the middle. We climbed up to there where we had to take down white sheets. The sheets were to block the sun from coming in and damaging the lenses and to prevent a fire. The lenses could reflect the sun and start a fire during the day. It was sunset now so we had to get started in lighting the light house. The keeper poured alcohol in the light and then turned on the gas. He then took a match and then lit the alcohol which was used as a starter to get the fire going. It looked like a candle. It was not a big flame at all but it could be seen for 13 miles! It took awhile to get the alcohol burned off. So while we waited, we got to crank the 1200 pound weight up. It was like cranking up a two pound weight, it was not difficult at all. It takes two hours for the weight to fall down to the bottom of the light house, so the light keeper has to come up every two hours to crank it back up. Even during hurricanes he has to go up to the lighthouse! With 80 knot winds could you imagine being up so high? Once the lighting had been done and there was a bright flame going, everyone had to get down off the grate platform and down at the base of the stand.
All the parts of the light house had been there since early 1900's. It was all old equipment but it worked flawlessly. The Keepers family had worked there for quiet some time. The keeper with us had told us that his father, grandfather, and grandfather's father had worked in the light house. We watched the light for a while in the light house then we decided to go down and get a view from the ground. We opened one door and scrambled through as fast as we could to make sure that no ventilation got in. When I stepped out onto the stairs after the old wooden door and the cool air hit my face did I realize how hot it was up in there! I could not imagine it during the summer when there are temperatures in the hundred's!We walked down to the dingys and looked back at the light that we helped light. It felt pretty cool to know that I had helped light that lighthouse. Back out at the boat we watched the light. Two hours later we still saw the light so the keeper must have cranked the weight back up. I thought that light house was a life time experience!

While we were still in the Bahamas we could not pass up an opportunity to go to a enormous outdoor water park. We got a dock at the Atlantis Marina and took the 'Bird On A Wire' crew, Brendon and Mark onto our boat for the day to go to the park. We had perfect weather for it too. It was sunny and warm. Upon entering the hotel to get to the park there was tile floor that went though a maize of shops and stores. We then found ourselves facing what looked like a giant rock candy stick. Only it was blown glass. Then after getting a few pictures we proceeded farther. We entered the casino in which the floor was multicolor and there was a loud chatter of people. The Casino was dimly lit and had several tables in which to play card games. There was a path down the middle of all the slot machines. There was a booth in the middle and on top of it there was a glass blown ball of red, orange, yellow things sticking out the side that looked like snakes without the teeth. It was probably as tall as me. Then with an immediate turn after the casino we ended up looking out ( with our jaws dropped) at a pyramid and a green building with four points and what looked like white flowers about to bud.

But to get to the water park we had to follow a yellow brick path that was a bridge with an aquarium that we could look down in. It was about 2 feet off the water in which you could look down on an aquarium full of grunts, snappers, and some really scary looking fish. There were also Manta Rays. They were huge and large enough not to want to be in the water with them. They were about 6 feet wide and 8 feet long! It was a Mayan theme so in the tank they had old statues and figures of the Mayans. Atlantis is has the largest outdoor aquarium in the world. It was tropical paradise with hammocks and white beaches with clear blue water. There were hundreds maybe even thousands of chairs set out in rows for people to set their stuff on or just to get a tan. It was crowded and we were having a hard time time finding a seat. We eventually found one and dropped all our stuff in relief and scurried off to go off the slides in pure excitement. There were only Seven slides. (Others were for smaller kids.) On the Power Tower (the green building) there were four slides. The Power tower was open on top so we could see the whole park. We saw the Falls, one of the smallest ones and The Drop another small one. On both of them we rode on tubes. The may have been small but they were awesome. The Drop would drop us about 5 feet in the dark then shoot us back up and drop us once more they did that several time then dropped us in a lazy river. The falls were about the same. When going up more steps we ended up on top of the Power Tower where there were two more slides. The one was a slide where you sat in a tube and it was like the Drop only higher and bigger drops. The other slide was called the Abyss. Down Down Down!!!! The Abyss, a body slide that is a 60 foot vertical drop. When I went down I did not touch the tunnel I was in. At the bottom we ended up in cave with glass all around us with big fresh water catfish. It took me a second to get over the shock. It felt like I had just been free falling. Then we went to the pyramid. It was still outdoors. One small slide, the smallest I went on dropped you in a plastic tunnel in which I could see out. But just outside of the tunnel there was a shark tank so I got a close look at the sharks swimming around! Also on the pyramid were two racing slides. They were called Challengers. It was a 50 foot slide that was at about a 45 degree angle, so it was not much of a drop. It was a body slide. It was made for speed. Two people on separate slides would race down. Kristen, from Bird on a Wire and I raced down. It was so incredibly fast, I was down in five seconds. The other slide was called The Leap Of Faith, Another body slide. It really was a leap of faith. It was only a 50 foot drop but this time it was NOT an enclosed tunnel. At the top I looked over where the slide started and it was so steep I could only see the very end of the slide. The water would spray everywhere so I could not open my eyes. I could not even tell I went through a shark tank. There was plastic between the shark tank and me but still. When I got out of the water at the end I was amazed I even did that. The day unfortunately had to end. Before we left, I went in what we called the current. It was not a lazy river. We were in inflated tubes on this ride. When we stared it took you under a semi dark bridge with rushing rapids and foot tall waterfalls. I know it sounds not big at all, but it wasn't it was just the fact that you were going pushed by this extremely strong current. Then drifting for a while, taking a nice smooth ride, yeah right! Then came the best part ,4ft waves they forced into the river and would push, flip and positively give you a thrill while riding on them. They would sometimes brake and send you flying or just give you a push.Then the rushing rapid and this time bigger falls and a skinner place to go through, only going one at a time! After rushing through that they put you and your tube on a flat escalator and took you up to drop you sightly then go through twisty, turn filled rapids that take you back to where you started. That was most of the water park. This was the first time we had seen a civilization in a long time. That was also the first time we had seen ice cream in few months so it was hard to restrain those of us who wanted it. We also got pizza. It may have just been cheese but that beat the rice and spaghetti we had been eating for almost every meal for the last two weeks.Well, from there we went on to Treasure Cay to Great Sail and then to Turtle Cay. At Treasure dad, Mark, Brendon and Dave from Bird On A Wire went spear fishing. The best catch of the day was our first Hog fish! At great sail we found some interesting items. Well first item I was with my dad, and Geneva and we found a piece of a space shuttle. Don't know which space shuttle it was from though, But we found it on the beach. The next day Kathy, Annie, Dave from Bird On A Wire and I found raw rubber from a ship that was torpedoed during WW2. It was about 50 pounds and had bugs creeping out of it and it a yucky brown color. From Great Sail, we crossed over to Cape Canaveral, Florida.
To my surprise, the crossing to Florida was not to bad. It was 140 miles. I could not do much because we rolled a lot. I sat on the rail for a while. The air was a bit nippy and when I was sitting on the rail My feet went in the water on one of the rolls and we were in the Gulf Stream so the water was like 80 degrees! It was really warm, not what I was expecting. I get sea sick so I spent most of my time sleeping because it made me feel better.While in the Gulf stream we going 10.5 knots! That is good for us considering we average 6 knots. Sandpiper hit 13 knots! Like I said I spent most of my time sleeping so I didn't get to see or do much. The hard part was that I was in the Cockpit so I kept rolling out off the bench I was sleeping on. I had to hang onto a line while I was sleeping. It was not a deep sleep. While in Cape Canaveral we got a car from our very gracious friends (Brian and Linda). We went and toured the NASA Space center. We decided to be tourist and did all the tours and saw the space shuttles. (Waited for my dad to stop counting rivets.) We also saw the Imax in which we learned the very important studies in space, like how to go to the bathroom in space. We got to see shuttles on the pad ready to go Space Center. The Space station was made in three separate parts by all different counties. All the parts made it to space successfully and they are now all connected and are one big Space Station. Astronauts spend six months at a time up in the Space Center making repairs and doing experiments in space. To be an astronaut you must be in exceptional shape. They would train for two years in advance to a launch. They trained for zero gravity by going in 6 million gallon pool in a life size simulation of the Space Center! In space the astronauts exercise for hours a day. It was incredible what those people did even before space exploration. Some were fighter pilots in war or were in the Navy. They had to be skilled in plumbing, electrical, know everything about space there is to know. Their life was in their hands, so if anything happened during take off they would have to handle it. They had to know how every part of the Space Center worked. We got to see memorials of the people who died in honor of science. We also got to see a space shuttle that never took off but was a replica of the ones that did. It took up a whole building and this was no ordinary size building. It was super long! But not very tall. If you go to http://www.kenndyspacecenter.com/ you can look up Canaveral then it will show you a picture of it.
After leaving Cape Canaveral we went to St. Augustine. We had gone there on the trip south. We decided to return. It is such a perfect town and they have the best pizza I have ever tasted in my life. From St. Augustine we went to Cumberland Island. Cumberland Island was so nice. At first we went down the dock and were standing at a little clearing covered in leaves and on our left there was a log cabin that had rockers facing the water. It was like heaven sitting in the rocking chair with the warm air and birds chirping. I could have fallen asleep, but instead we went for a walk. We walked along the beach then cut back onto a wooden dock without water below it. It was all mud below the dock. The Mud held tons of little one inch crabs. We then arrived at a trail that had little country houses on both sides with woods intertwined. There were horses just wandering freely around. The horses were skinny but looked healthy. We came up to a house that looked like a millionaire had owned it. It had four floors, that we could see. In the picture we saw it in the days it was new. It had porches that were magnificent and royal. The gardens were well maintained back then and the statues just made you want to look at the picture for ever. All it looked like now was a brick wall four stories high. There were the old fountains that looked now old and worn down. There were no longer luscious gardens but weeds growing in there place. It looked as though it had been in a fire though. Well turns out it had been in a fire! It had burned the inside in 1959. The Carnegie's had owned that house in 1907! Even today it l would have looked like a huge house from the remains of it. Could you imagine what it would have looked like to a person on 1907? It must have looked like a king lived there. They owned most of that island as a matter of fact. We walked down the driveway discussing what we were going to do the next day. We were thinking of going off shore to Charleston, South Carolina when we had turned back to the wooden lodge. Geneva looked over and said "Erin look it is an Armadillo". It was one. I had never seen on in the wild before! It was so cute!
I was walking down the dock with my dad when I had an idea.. I thought. "Hey dad why don't we start off tonight?" "I mean to Charleston?" It was only 3 o'clock in the afternoon. To my surprise he said yes! So that night we picked up anchor and were off to Charleston!
The crossing to Charleston was not bad at all. It was offshore and over night. I even read some of my book. I am proud of myself! I also found a better place to sleep offshore. It is the port side couch below deck. Now onto our time in Charleston. We met up with our cruising buddies 'More CowBell'! More CowBell's crew, Sam, Dana and Dave. The first night in Charleston we went out to dinner with them. We went to a pizza place. They only gave you two pieces and that is all you needed! The pieces were huge! The next day we went on a walking tour of Charleston. We saw old houses and buildings. The coolest building was the one we ate in. It was a church! When we were walking up the steps my mom said watch you step from behind me and I still tripped over it. So did every one behind me even though they had been warned! The step was so weird. Inside it had TVs at every table and huge flat screens all over and the food was good to boot. Sam, Geneva and I got a table together.The waitress was super cool. After that the men ditched us and Sam,Geneva,Dana, mom and I went to a bead shop. We recollected the men and went for ice cream! Yum! We walked around the town eating ice cream and looking at the stores.After that we had to go home. We said our goodbyes and departed from More Cowbell.
From Charleston we went to Calabash (North Myrtle Beach) where we got pizza and that was it.
We have left Charleston and now are traveling down the ICW. Not much goes on during the day. I do school then at the end of the day we lay down our anchor and go into the new towns. Now we are in Newbern,North Carolina. It is storming and very cloudy and other than that I have no more to say so, ERIN OUT!


Update from Geneva:
Hey Senoritas, Senors, Ninas, Ninos, and llamas. We are currently in Royal Island, Eleuthra. Nassau was so exciting! Going to Atlantis was amazing. Everywhere I looked giant yachts, Shops (Gucci, jewelry shops, Ben and Jerry's)took over. The water park was my favorite because it was fun. The slide were Leap of Faith which was a 60 foot drop into a shark tank that went really fast. It was open so you could see over the park, but I thought the Abyss(meaning black hole) was better because it was a 70 foot drop(about) through darkness and landed in a underground cave with fish in aquariums around you. The tube rides were the Surge (tallest tube ride), the Drop (second), and finally the Falls. They had an extreme lazy river called the current. You went down a bunch of rapids which one time I fell off the tube and body slide down the rapids it hurt. But they had these 4 foot swells to flip you on one part. The last slide was called the Challenger because you raced a friend and it was as tall the Leap of Faith, my best time was 4.46 seconds! We went with Bird on a Wire and Sandpiper. The people that work there were so nice, they would push you on the rapids and talk to you. Sometimes they started to sing! I have heard that the resort was glorious and trust me, it was!! I loved Atlantis and if you ever needed a place to go in the Bahamas I'd like to mention Atlantis. Well if you want a resort that is. We got to go to rachels bubble bath in Cambridge before Atlantis and after Staniel. IT was so cool the waves were huge and you get up close but when a wave comes I like to go to the bottom of the water and watch it go over me with all the bubbles. You have to be careful because it knocks you back on the rock and sea urchins. We went hiking up the sides of the cliffs. The wind was so strong it literally almost knoked me over! I loved it! Spearfishing is amazing here we've got Grunts, Snapper, Grouper, and wait for it...... Hogfish! You should have come Rio Dulce if you are reading this! They were delicious, we actualy had leftovers! We've seen a bunch of green turtles. They are so cute! I kind of want one... but of course I want a three headed dog like Fluffy in Harry Potter too. Hehe *laughs hysterically*! We moved up to the Abacos and they were awesome! The islands we visited are Treasure Cay(the cay is pronounced key because it's the Bahamian way!), Hopetown, Man-a-war, Green Turtle Cay and Great Sail Cay. Now I'll get to tell you what there was on island. There was Bahamas best cinamon rolls which is indeed true! Hopetown was to cool for words! There was shopping where I got and awesome bag, and an amazing lighthouse. This lighthouse was the last one that was not electric it was kerosine! Bird on a Wire came with us and we got up to the top and look through glass while he started the light. Then we cranked up a 1200 pound wieght (I'm super strong!) to get the light rotating it was a gorgeous view from up there, I loved it! Man-a-war was a quiant little town with ice cream! Green Turtle Cay was not much but the had a great bakery! Finally, Great Sail Cay was nothing more then an impossibly long island and warm water to snorkle in. The Abacos were nice but I'm still in love with the Exumas and always will be! In the U.S. we jumped through Florida from cool cities like St. Augustine and met up with Brian and Linda in Canavaral when they graciously lent us thier car. We stopped at Cumberland in Georgia and let me tell you it's a beautiful place from the gorgeous wild horses to the incredible scenery. We saw plenty of wildlife such as armidillos to fiddler crabs, I hope we get to go back for a spring break and camp out! We wanted to skip the rest of Georgia because it was getting shallow, we decided to leave that very night for a 25 hour hop to Charleston where we would hopefully meet up with More Cowbell (Sam, Dana, Dave) who we cruised with. The crossing was long and rolley so out of exhaustion and seasickness my mom was asleep the first 30 minuets we were out. It was up to my dad and I to drive through the perilous waters to safety of the land the waters tossed the boat....... okay so what if it wasn't like that? The world'll never know. Now in Charleston we had a fun time with More Cowbell we did everything tours, shoppping, eating, eating! It was cool to see them again and we hope to see them again. Well thats all and the next time I wrote I should be in North Carolina. Tootles everyone! Buh-Bye!