Coincidence?

There's a perfect place on a perfect island, that I turn to and envision when I am in turmoil.  It is my happy place.

My screen saver is a photo of my "happy place." It's a photo I took of THE perfect palm tree on Paradise Island in the Bahamas a couple years ago. It's just outside the Cove section of the Atlantis Hotel.

Today, I had a bad day at work. But who doesn't have those? Then tonight, I check my e-mails and the following ad appears for the Atlantis Hotel:

That's MY palm tree. That's MY happy place! That palm tree in the photo really exists.  I have a photo that I took, on my screen!

It's like the Bahamas are calling me.

How do they know I need them?

When can I go? Can I go now?

Please?!!!

Bahamas - Go Now!

It's 28C in the Bahamas today. It's the same tomorrow, and the day after. It sure beats the weather here. But nobody talks about the weather in the Bahamas, because it's always the same. It's always gorgeous and warm, and in that 25-28C range year round. If it rains, it's just for a few minutes and the sun returns.

Air fare costs are more like the Canadian weather... up and down. Volatile, and unpredictable in the winter. However, I've spied a bargain.

If you go on April 15th, and return the 23rd, you can get return air fare, tax included at $415/436/500 from GFK/MOT/YWG airports. This is with Delta Airlines.  So, even if you're not interested in catching the flight from Grand Forks, you can still fly cheaply out of Winnipeg.

I've stayed at the Sheraton Cable Beach. It's my favourite Sheraton on earth (so far). I've also stayed several times at Atlantis.  Nothing satisfies like Atlantis! It literally has something for everyone and at all budgets. (As long as your budget starts at $200 per night).

You could also stay at the Comfort Inn, which is next door to Atlantis. It's a sister hotel, and you have all the waterpark privileges included at Atlantis. So that's a nice little savings, if you're willing to stay a further walk from the pools/casino etc.

The Sheraton is currently offering every 4th night free. So, since this is an 8 night stay, it kind of lines up nicely.

The Lyndon Pilling International Airport at NAS is brand new. Absolutely amazing. It was opened mid  October 2012. I was through there shortly after. It's fairly similar to YWG right now. It's also leaps above the Caribbean hut on an airstrip that was there previously.  It's currently the best airport in the Caribbean IMO.  You should check it out!

At $415 air fare, you'll have plenty of money left over to buy straw market crafts.

It IS BETTER in the BAHAMAS!

That's a plate of spaghetti!

Sometimes on an trip the food is memorable. In this case, it certainly was!

On a visit to the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas, we ate at a restaurant in the Marina Villiage called Carmine's. It was an Italian, Family Style restaurant.

Carmine's served everything "family style" meaning one large serving platter with enough for everyone at the table.

Unbelievable! It took the waitress two hands to hold this platter.

We laughed and I invited the busboys to join us. There was no way the four of us could eat that much spaghetti. Plus, we had a Caesar salad with it that was likely made with four whole heads of lettuce. Crazy!

Crazy but fun! We would totally go back. And we'd go back prepared... we'd run a marathon, climb mountains and starve all day. THEN we'd go for dinner at Carmine's and eat like kings.