Don’t judge a book by its cover.

That’s the message my daughter’s 3rd Grade teacher drove home when she served the class chocolate-covered garlic.

Tourists crossing the bridge onto Paradise Island, home of The Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, should keep that in mind as they pass Conch Row.

Seeing the collection of ramshackle shacks, most tourists give it a pass to dine at the over-priced restaurants that can be found on the resort grounds (and in many US malls.)

It’s a bit of a hike to walk across the bridge to Conch Row, but it’s well worth the walk, especially when you can avoid eating at a Johnny Rockets or the $46 per adult dinner buffet.

For just $11, you can get the freshest conch, battered and fried, served up as Cracked Conch with salad, peas and rice, and a soda. Wash it down with a super-sweet Bahamas Goombay Punch soda or the local Kalik beer.

More Flavors:

Café con leche, Empanadas, Cuban Sandwiches, and Dulce de Leche cookies in Cuban Flavors At Miami International Airport.

Tropical Drinks and Conch is on the menu in Flavors Of The Bahamas.

There are some culinary delights that I’ll never sample. For example, grilled scorpion is one menu item that I Won’t Try For Love Or Money.

Selecting tropical fruits in New York City in Flavors of America: A Tropical Fruit Stand In NYC.

Discover corn dogs and Italian ice at Coney Island in Flavors of America in New York City.

Ice Cream Incentive - The ingredients in Blue Moon ice cream are a well-kept secret, but see if you can pick them out at Moxie’s in Troy, NY.

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I’m not a big fan of airport layovers or delays, but the Cuban cuisine at Miami International Airport is almost worth the lost time.

If you do find yourself stuck in the Miami Airport, be sure to pick up a café con leche at Cafe Versailles (near Gate D 45) and a little something to go with it.

You have to try the empanadas. Dave raved over the chicken filled turnovers, but the kids and I preferred the beef empanadas. They’re made just like my Argentine grandmother makes them, with seasoned beef, eggs, and green olives. Savory deliciousness!

Not flying through Miami in the near future? No problem. You can make your own with these Top 9 Empanada Recipes.

For a more substantial snack, try the Cuban Sandwich. Served warm and filled with baked ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese and condiments; half a sandwich makes a filling meal.

Personally, I think café con leche is best accompanied by a sweet treat. We picked up a Linzer Cookie filled with Dulce de Leche from the food stand at Gate C5.

Looking for a non-soda drink for the kids? They can try one of the tropical fruit juices. My kids like the Mango Juice, but they’re all yummy.

And if one of the adults is getting cranky over long delays, buy a little attitude-adjustment from a super-sized Mojito at one of the two Bacardi Mojito Bars (one is in Terminal D.)

More Flavors:

Tropical Drinks and Conch is on the menu in Flavors Of The Bahamas.

There are some culinary delights that I’ll never sample. For example, grilled scorpion is one menu item that I Won’t Try For Love Or Money.

Selecting tropical fruits in New York City in Flavors of America: A Tropical Fruit Stand In NYC.

Discover corn dogs and Italian ice at Coney Island in Flavors of America in New York City.

Ice Cream Incentive - The ingredients in Blue Moon ice cream are a well-kept secret, but see if you can pick them out at Moxie’s in Troy, NY.

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While our traveling companions spent hours pouring over the goods under the sweltering tents of Nassau’s Straw Market and the men escaped to Señor Frogs, Kayla and I ducked into to the air-conditioned comfort of the Pompey Museum of Slavery and Emancipation.

Sitting next to the Straw Market, the museum is located in the Vendue House, built in 1769 to provide a market place for commodities that included enslaved people. Currently, the museum hosts the traveling exhibition, Lest We Forget: The Triumph Over Slavery.

With shackles, slave branding iron, and slave house furniture to add intimidating visuals, the bulk of this exhibit is composed of posters that tell the story of enslaved Africans in the Americas. While not downplaying the horrors of slave trade, the primary focus is on the triumphs of a people who “were active, creative agents in the making of their own history, culture, and political future.”

You won’t find many artifacts in this exhibit, and you can read the posters online, but it’s still worth visiting the museum if you visit the Bahamas.

Through this display, I discovered some interesting connections. For example, one poster tells the story of William Henry Lane, aka Master Juba, the man who is credited as the father of tap dancing. In the mid 1850’s, Master Juba improvised on Irish Clog Dancing to create an entirely new form of dance that incorporated the complex African drum rhythms.

This is just one of many examples where European tradition and African heritage melded to produce a distinctly new American expressive culture.

It seems especially appropriate to view this exhibit next door to the Straw Market where you can see examples of just a tiny bit of the artistic contributions of the descendants of these peoples.

Frankly, to fully appreciate the arts, culture and cuisine of the Caribbean, as well as the Americas, it’s important to understand how enslaved Africans and their descendents shaped and transformed the New World.

Lest We Forget: The Triumph Over Slavery offers a glimpse into this rich and complex history.

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I’m not much of a shopper. I like to buy things when I can afford them (and sometime when I can’t), but I don’t get the whole window shopping thing.

Still, when I travel, I like to pick up a little reminder of far away places for my home. Sometimes, I end up searching high and low to find local arts and crafts.

Fortunately, in Nassau it’s easy to find these at the Straw Market. Under a tent in the the center of town, you’ll find venders selling an assortment of goods from kitschy souvenir items to designer knock-off purses.

Some of the most interesting items were the the straw crafts. I picked up a table mat with needle point inserts, as well as a couple of small bags for gifts.

I didn’t see anyone weaving the straw items, but there were several women sewing on decorations who also offered to add a free monogram.

Later, I wondered how much of the straw crafts were actually created in the Bahamas.

There were also several stands offering wood carvings. However, some of these I recognized right away as imports from Haiti, with their distinctive wood carving style.

It’s difficult to tell what was made locally. Then, again, it doesn’t always matter.

I ended up purchasing a wooden mortar and pestle and tribal mask that I knew were from Haiti. But, I’m not likely to get any closer to Haiti any time soon.

Well, there was at least one wood carving vendor who left no doubt. You can see the chips flying as he sculpts a massive fish, perhaps the one that got away.

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Kayla, and her Daddy, on her first scuba dive experience in the Bahamas.

Isn’t it wonderful when our kids share our passions?

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The right incentive will propel a child to do nearly anything - pushing boundaries, knocking down inhibitions, and blasting through fears.

Usually, Alex refuses to go into the water without a mask.  He just won’t do it.  Doesn’t want to get his face wet.

Following his buddy Joshua at The Atlantis’ Dolphin Cay; however, Alex swam with the dolphins - without a mask.

Well, first, he wore his mask to glide alongside the dolphins in deep water propelled by a hand-held water scooter.  But, then Alex took off the mask to “board” a dolphin for foot push across the lagoon.

Meanwhile, big sister Kayla dove into the open sea with a scuba tank.  She’s twelve years old, not old enough to be unconditionally certified, but certainly old enough to try it out.

There is nothing remarkable about a 12-year-old scuba diving, except that the last time we were in the ocean, just six months back, Kayla was freaked out by the tiniest fish.  She kept avoiding going into the water because she didn’t want to be near the fish.

So, what’s changed?  Why is she so willing to scuba dive now?

I think it’s just the age-old desire to push age limits.

Scuba diving is an adult sport, and she can’t wait to grow up.

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A tropical drink is almost a requirement on a Caribbean vacation.  In the Bahamas, this has inspired a plethora of exotic concoctions with fanciful monikers: Bahama Mama, Love Boat, Goombay Smash, and Seeing Double are just a few.

Even the underage crowd enjoys the non-alcoholic tropical drinks, especially the daiquiris that taste like iced tropical fruits.  Our favorite?  The Mango Daiquiris from The Twin Brothers Restaurant in the local hang out, Fish Fry on Arawak Cay.

Going To The Fish Fry

Our new Bahamian friends, two girls who we met working at The Atlantis, offered to introduce us to Bahamian cuisine.

We piled 6 people into each of the girls’ 5-seater cars, seat belts optional.  I was in “Choco Babie”, as the car proclaimed on its windshield decal.  It’s a sweet ride, but it couldn’t keep up with the other car.

Every few minutes, our driver’s cell phone shouted, “It’s Peanut Butter, Jelly Time,” signaling that our friends in the other car were checking up on us.

It’s a catchy tune, but, here in the Bahamas, it should have been, “It’s Daiquiri, Conch Time.”

Our friends made early reservations at the very popular Twin Brothers Seafood & Steakhouse to beat the local crowd that converges after the race tracks let out.  Even so, it was a boisterous setting with competing loudspeakers from at least three clubs, including the popular Cricket Club.

Comfortably ensconced on the balcony, we could hear the music and look down on the gathering crowds.  And, we could almost imagine what it might be like to visit the Bahamas during Junkanoo, when bands “rush” Nassau’s streets.

But, we weren’t there for the music, or the party, or even the “down home atmosphere.”  We were there for the “Down Home Food.”

Conch, Conch, and more Conch

Early in the day, Kayla visited the touch tank in Atlantis’ mythical “archeological ruins,” The Dig, where she handled a real, live, conch.

Later, when sampling the Conch Salad, with seasoned raw conch, I couldn’t help but remember the live conch in the touch tank.  But, this didn’t stop me from fully enjoying the dish!

And, I fully enjoyed the Conch Fritters and…

…the Grilled Conch in a foil packet filled with vegetables with side dishes of plantains and pigeon peas and rice.

Find the recipes for these Bahamian dishes, and more, on Bahamas Recipes.

Culture Shock

Oh, yes.  I ate well, and after a day of sun and fun in the water rides, I was yawning at the table.

That was when my new friends accused me of suffering from “niggeritis.”

Okay, well, I was surprised, and possibly a little shocked.  The “N” word is usually not considered acceptable, and I’d never heard of this particular term.

Apparently, some Blacks use this to “refer to the feeling one gets after eating large amounts of food, often associated with the need to take a nap after eating.”

And, supposedly in the Caribbean, “niggeritis” is used as:

… a direct allusion to the laziness of Africans.

The dazed state of inactivity or sleep brought on by extensive over-eating, after the Trinidadian snake that devours small animals whole and lies in the same place for several days after, digesting; the politically correct or polite version is “Macajuel syndrome” of the more well-known but less socially acceptable “niggeritis”

From The Urban Dictionary.

Well, it’s not a term that I will ever use, and we ended up having an involved discussion about why this is not an acceptable word in our vocabulary.  I wanted to make sure that my children understood that it was a demeaning and inappropriate word that should not be part of their vocabulary.

Still, I guess that I should be flattered that my new friends felt sufficiently comfortable with me to even use that term.

I guess that I was blending in pretty well.  At least that’s what I choose to believe!

More Flavors:

There are some culinary delights that I’ll never sample.  For example, grilled scorpion is one menu item that I Won’t Try For Love Or Money.

Selecting tropical fruits in New York City in Flavors of America: A Tropical Fruit Stand In NYC.

Discover corn dogs and Italian ice at Coney Island in Flavors of America in New York City.

Ice Cream Incentive - The ingredients in Blue Moon ice cream are a well-kept secret, but see if you can pick them out at Moxie’s in Troy, NY.

Would you like to receive free articles from On Living By Learning by Email? (Click this link. Fill out the form. Don’t forget to click on your verification Email. Look for this in your mailbox.) You can also click here to receive updates on a RSS Feed Reader.

Live, Laugh, Love, and Dance! Dancing In The Bahamas Video

I’ve taken Jenny Joseph’s poem to heart:

Warning

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Mostly, I set a good example for my children.  We dress appropriately, eat nutritiously, and strive to learn a little every day.

Once in a while, however, they get to see that Mom is a person too who likes to dance a little, drink a little, and enjoy life a lot.

That’s a good example too.

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Rarely, a children’s book fires the imagination, tugs at your heart, and resonates long after you have children of your own.

In our family, that book is My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George.

My children, much like I did when I was little, have hatched elaborate plans to run away.  And, like my mother before me, I waved them on, encouraging them, knowing that they would be back in minutes.

As children, we wondered what would happen if we kept on going.   And so, we can relate to Sam, the young boy at the center of My Side of the Mountain, who does just that when he runs away from his New York City home to survive on his own in the Catskill Mountains.

A Family Love Affair

Dave couldn’t wait to share his all-time favorite book with our son, and started reading it aloud when Alex was barely seven years old.  Alex fell in love with the story, and eager to read more than the nightly chapter, started reading it on his own. 

Suddenly, this first grader, who was struggling to finish a Magic Treehouse easy chapter book, was powering through a 4th-6th Grade Level book.

In reading My Side of the Mountain, and its sequels, Alex became an able, confident reader, who also found a love for the wilderness and falcons.

A desire to capitalize on this enduring interest has inspired some of our recent family adventures.

 

Exploring The Catskills

Thinking that we were in the Catskill Park area, we stopped in New Palz, NY to explore the setting of My Side of the Mountain.  It turned out that we were actually in Minnewaska State Park, near but not in Catskill Park.  No matter.  We could still easily imagine that we were following Sam’s path from New York City to the Catskills.

Just like our hero, we were embarking on a wilderness expedition with meager provisions:  a couple of water bottles, a Sponge Bob Squarepants first-aid kit, and a camera.  Okay, we were only going for an hour, not far from our car, but still we felt adventurous.

Since this was a spur of the moment decision, we hadn’t planned where we were going to go, or what we were going to do.  We chose the Peter’s Kill Parking Lot because we weren’t required to pay the exorbitant day use fees that are required elsewhere in this park.  And, once there, we decided to explore the area.

By chance, we found a fantastical rock climbing and bouldering area appropriately nicknamed “The Rock Garden.”  It was gorgeous, and oh so tempting.

Doesn’t this look like a magnificent place to spy falcons?

Alas, there was just one drawback to this spur-of-the-moment, unplanned expedition.  Wrong footwear.  Sparkly pink flip flops might be de rigueur in Tween circles, but not climbing rocks.

Next time we explore the wilderness, we’ll think of bringing the same items Sam carried: a penknife, a ball of cord, an axe, $40, a flint and steel set, and hiking boots.

More Book Extension Ideas:

Book Babes: A Mother Daughter Book Club

Reading On The Road

Winter Wonder: Through A Child’s Eyes

Shakespeare For Children 

Resources:

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On a recent stroll in Hudson, NY, Alex and I found statues of new dog breeds at the Best In Show street exhibit.

The richly adorned Tutt Mutt was a show stopper.

Thinking of Kayla’s recent fascination with corn dogs, we had to snap this one for her.

But, his backside is just for Dave.  He knows why.

Finally, for Diana, we found a relative of Keiko, her catdog.  This guy is from the more canine side of the family.

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