Saturday, April 18, 2009

Touring Long Island


Shot from the front porch of Long Island Breeze
The sun broke through the clouds and just lit up this little rock.



We rented a car and drove around the island yesterday. It is a beautiful island. Driving down south on The Queens Highway (the only highway) to Clarence Town we spotted this church in the distance. It has some history that I googled up. It was built in 1843.

Clarence Town is twice blessed with fine churches. St Paul's Anglican Church was built by expatriate architect-priest Father Jerome. He converted to Roman Catholicism and then built St Peter's Catholic Church, also in Clarence Town.


This is not a church but a private residence that is in the final stages of being built. We like that the owners have respected Father Jerome's architecture. We would love to see this when finished.

then a stop for a cold rum drink at Max's World Famous Conch Bar. Great local color and very nice patrons.
Yesterday was a good day... amongst many good days.

More I google up about Long Island.

Long Island - beauty queen
The Atlantic side of Long Island is a dramatic rocky shoreline. The lee side is the essence of tranquillity, fringed with soft sandy beaches.

Bahamian artists consider Long Island, believed to have been visited by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the beauty queen of the country.

In the 1790s, Loyalists migrated here from the US and set up prosperous cotton plantations. More arid than most of the Bahamian islands, Long Island is noted for its sheep and goat herds. Long Island mutton is a Bahamian speciality.

Many say Long Islanders are the most physically attractive of all Bahamians. Their Afro-Euro-American genes may or may not include input from the Lucayan-Arawak-Taino aborigines who lived here in the 15th century and before. Archaeologists have found ceremonial stools, called duhos, and other evidence confirming pre-Columbian inhabitation of Long Island's magnificent caves. Today, one of the caves at the north end of the island is used for dining and parties. A network of caves with stalagmites, stalactites and tiny fruit bats lies at Deadman's Cay, six miles north of Clarence Town, the island's largest settlement.



Today we still have the rental car so we will head up Island.

More later...

Adios,


Istaboa