The Bahamas. The name evokes images of exotic, endless summers and colorful fish swimming through crystal clear water, sandy beach cabanas with friendly locals serving rum drinks. The reality has always failed to match the image, or perhaps the image is just out of focus and excludes the sand fleas, power outages, water shortages, twenty dollar rum drinks, etc., etc. - but this past weekend we went to February Point in the Exumas and found, for the first time ever in the Bahamas, our expectations surpassed.

February Point is a new development on the Southern shore of Great Exuma Island. The homes there reminded us more of Bermuda than the Bahamas with their bright white roofs and pastel colored stucco walls, manicured landscaping and a distinct air of affluence. And water everywhere. Unlike Bermuda, however, there was no hint of chill - it was the middle of January -  the wind was blowing and all thoughts of winter obediently fled the instant we arrived.

The reason for this visit began two years previous when I met the owner/developer of February point in Kermit's bar at the airport on Great Exuma. I was waiting for my flight back to the states after completing a small construction project on one of the out islands, and Randy was sitting with his head in his hands, waiting for his wife to arrive from Florida. Kermit Rolle, the proprietor and an old family friend, knew that I was interested in doing a fractional project in the Bahamas, and Randy was just beginning a fractional program at his development, February Point. After the initial introduction and pleasantries, we began talking shop. I am a contractor and he is a lawyer who was enmeshed in construction angst after attempting to oversee the construction of his multiple home development. We both bemoaned the difficulty of maintaining quality in the booming construction environment in the Bahamas at that time. I had just had the difficult task of settling a labor dispute where a carpenter demanded (and wound up receiving) a month's severance pay after I fired him for theft and fighting (he sliced a coworker with a utility knife). Randy's construction trailer was just burned down with all of his tools, computers, and records by disgruntled staff who felt they were underpaid. Randy won the worst day at the office competition.

A year and a half later, after optioning property, forming a Bahamian construction company, multiple trips to the islands, and the crash of the world economy and real estate markets, I was ready to give up on the idea of a Bahamian fractional when Kermit again suggested meeting with Randy. He had put the development on hold after completing about fifty homes. One of the homes was furnished and ready for occupancy. We scheduled a weekend in the house to see if the advertisement was reality or just pretty pictures.

Traveling to Great Exuma is not arduous - for us it was a two hour trip from Savannah to Miami, three hour wait and then an hour and a half flight over the Caribbean to Georgetown International Airport. My brother and his fiancée-to-be were joining us for the weekend. They left from DC and flew to Fort Lauderdale, then on to Georgetown. They were supposed to arrive an hour ahead of us, but as luck would have it, we were a half hour early and they were a half hour late. Generally I advise people never (EVER) to check luggage. There is a saying in Georgetown about the flights from Fort Lauderdale: ‘ Eeder all o dee passengers arrive, or all o dee luggage arrive, but narrie da both'.

After clearing customs (and do not make the mistake of folding your immigration card - you'll be sent to the back of the line to fill out a new one) we made the obligatory trip across the street to Kermit's Airport Bar. Kermit, a 70 year old soft spoken Bahamian, set us up with a rental car and offered to take us to the house. After a few Rum and Cokes (yet another of our Bahamian traditions) we loaded up the car and headed out. I was glad for my brother's presence as the steering wheel was on the right, and driving is on the left (he had done that in Australia), so he was elected chauffer for the weekend. I rode with Kermit, who carried his Rum drink with him and drove single handed. As we cruised towards the development, we passed through a police roadblock. They were wearing crisp, white uniforms and had very official manner. Kermit raised his glass to the nearest officer and he was passed though with greetings of ‘Lo Mr. Rolle'. I am not sure what the purpose of the roadblock was - unless they were enforcing the ‘Never drive before drinking' rule of the islands.

We arrived at the gate and any sense of the ordinary fell away.
The home and setting compete well with anything we have seen - anywhere. There is an infinity pool looking out over turquoise, green and blue expanses of Elizabeth Harbor. Balconies furnished with lush wicker lounges and tables at all levels capture the views and call you outside. There were very few chinks in this armor. The floors and patios were all marble, including the stair. The bar and fridge were stocked.

We made ourselves at home and within an hour the concierge, Colette, dropped off a golf cart for our use and told us she had made dinner reservations for us at the on site restaurant. We all showered and changed our winter inspired traveling clothes in favor of lighter, more colorful island attire. Colette guided us to the restaurant, and we had a great meal prepared by a French chef.

Given that we were trying to gauge the viability of a home for our private residence / destination club, we decided to try all the touristy things. After a quick breakfast at the house, we walked around George Town - the 1700's era capital of the Exumas. The quaint atmosphere has the feel of long past pirate dominance - shades of scenes from Disney's movie ‘Pirates of the Caribbean'. We then sought some local fare for lunch at nearby ‘Palm Bay' restaurant. Conch fritters, cracked conch, and grouper fingers washed down with the local beer, Kalik, were absolutely what the doctor ordered.

The wind was too strong for water activities. Had it been calmer, we would have made a run over to Stocking Island just across the bay for a little beach time, or maybe anchored the 26 foot power catamaran (it belongs with the home) off a reef and snorkeled the afternoon away looking at the colorful tropical fish and coral. Having visited the area periodically over three decades, one can really see the effects of global warming on the reef system through the Bahamas as many stony corals are dying off due in part to increased levels of CO2 dissolved in the water.
Instead, we opted for a nap.

Dinner that night was truly a highlight. We drove about ten minutes south (don't forget to drive on the left) to the Bonefish Lodge, the very last structure before leaving Great Exuma Island. The ambience was good, and the food satisfied some of our last cravings: lobster, blackened grouper, pigeon peas and rice (the local staple). Then after dinner the proprietor - a colorful woman in her mid fifties - invited her guests out to the large patio deck where there is a lagoon and small inlet to the bay. All of the diners joined her at a rail, and she proceeded down a set of steps leading to the water with a drywall bucket in her hand. She reached in and tossed a grouper head in the water. A five foot lemon shark swam in and took the offering. Within ten minutes there were six sharks, all five to seven feet long. She offered several morsels to the new visitors by hand and squealed when they splashed her with their tails as they made off with their orders (grouper sushi), the other sharks in hot pursuit. All the while she gave an informative monologue on the behavior and biology of sharks. A couple of the creatures had remoras attached and we threw some dog food in for them (they detached themselves and grabbed a morsel, then quickly swam back to their host).

The wind stopped that night and we awoke to utter silence, which was more than just the lack of wind. It did not take long to glean that the power was out (it was still dark). Not too long after that, we realized that the water was also gone. So, much to our dismay, we awoke to find that we were in the same old Bahamas after all. Yet within an hour, power was restored and water an hour after that.

Later that morning we made an offer on the house.

Then I took a dip in the pool.