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Page: BA 1 PubDate: 03-27-2011 Time: 03-25-2011 17:58 Product: TAM_Tribune Edition: 1 User: ssmith1 Color: C
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SUNDAY
March 27, 2011
The Tampa Tribune
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TBO.COM
Search: Short List, for Tampa’s top 5 tastiest chain restaurants
Travel, Page 3
Gardening, Page 5
Flowers in the
pond? It may
be bloomin’
bladderwort
Grab the
clubs and
head to
North
Carolina
Prime Time, Page 12
Baseball helps
a 1961 Jefferson
High player see
the world
differently
An infinity pool is one of the attractions at Sky Beach Club in Eleuthera,
in the Bahama Out Islands.
Bahamianrhapsody
With tourism up, the islands are building, renovating and expanding
BY CHELLE KOSTER WALTON
Special correspondent
P
ink–cheeked and Kalik-guzzling
coeds filled the streets, bars, and
Junkanoo Beach. Little girls kept
hair-braiders’ fingers flying at the
cruise-ship harbor. Shoppers thronged
Bay Street.
The lobbies of Atlantis’ Beach Tower
resounded with the cacophony of kids
and sundry vacationers. Shop owners,
resort managers and restaurateurs
wore big, if harried, smiles.
Nassau buzzed during a late February week, at least in the resort areas
downtown, on Paradise Island and in
Cable Beach. After a big hurt in 2009,
tourism in the islands has bounced
back, according to the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism & Aviation.
In tempo with general island pacing,
change comes slowly on these islands.
Travel Briefs
Tasty deals in New Orleans
It does come, though. And a new
heydays appears to be on its way as
development again picks up.
v v v
In January, the tourism ministry
announced that visitor numbers for
2010 had climbed nearly 15 percent
above 2009.
By October, air arrivals alone were
up 4.1 percent — an increase of almost
45,000 visitors over 2009.
The main airport in Nassau, Lynden
Pindling International, has been staying ahead of the game as it works on an
expansion in three phases.
The first stage, a 247,000-squarefoot, $198 million U.S. departures terminal, opened in March. The old departure terminal will make room for a
slightly smaller international arrivals
BAHAMAS, Page 4
Call (504) 523 3341 for reservations.
JW Marriott New Orleans is charging
$244 a night, plus tax, for a two-night
minimum stay with seven-day advance
reservation. Guests get two VIP passes to
the Grand Tasting May 27
and 28, a bottle of champagne, and daily breakfast
buffet for two.
Visit www.marriott
.com/reservation/avail
ability.mi?property
Code=MSYJW&cc=HO9,
promotion code HO9.
At Hilton New Orleans
Riverside, for $242 a night, plus
taxes, you’ll get two VIP passes to
the Grand Tasting on May 27 and
28, a bottle of wine, and breakfast for
two in the hotel restaurant.
Call (504) 561-0500.
Food and wine lovers planning to attend the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience May 24 through 28 can find some
sweet hotel packages if they book soon.
At New Orleans Marriott at the Convention Center, the festival headquarters,
pay $199 a night plus tax and get two VIP
passes to the Grand Tasting on May 27 or
28; two tickets to the National World War
II Museum and the 4D movie there; two
glasses of house wine with purchase of
entree at John Besh’s American Sector
restaurant; discounted parking rate of $20
a night.
Call (504) 613-2888 for reservations.
For $799 total, tax included, Hotel
Monteleone, the host hotel, provides two
nights’ accommodation; two VIP passes
to the May 27 Grand Tasting; welcome
Big costs in mini-bars
bottle of champagne and stemware; welcome cocktails for two in the Carousel
Convenience can come at a high
Bar; daily breakfast for two in Le Café at
price, and nothing demonHotel Monteleone; and a 125th anniversa- strates that better than the
ry history book of Hotel Monteleone.
goodies to be found in your
CHELLE KOSTER WALTON
The huge Atlantis resort looms behind seafood shacks in Potter's Cay, Nassau.
Atlantis recently opened an $11 million club for 13- to 17-year-olds.
hotel mini-bar.
Just how much more do they cost than
the same beer and candy purchased at a
store or on-line? It can be plenty — or so
a Washington Post reporter discovered.
The reporter took stock of
the contents and prices of the
mini-bar at the Conrad Indianapolis, then did some shopping in stores and on-line.
Here’s what the mini-bar
held, the hotel’s price for the
item, and the price found by
shopping.
Cake Bread Chardonnay, half
bottle: $48/$25
Veuve Clicquot Champagne, half
bottle: $60/$28
Heineken, 12-ounce bottle: $6/$1.33
Miller Lite, 12-ounce bottle: $6/$1.00
Grey Goose Vodka, 50-millileter bottle:
$10/$5
Coca-Cola, 10-ounce bottle: $4/$1.10
Cranberry juice, 10-ounce bottle: $3/
$1.66
Voss Water, 12.6 ounces: $5/
$2.33
Red Bull, 8.4 ounces: $6/$1.67
Peanut M&Ms (2 regular size bags in a
decorative can): $5/$1.98 (no can)
Pringles Potato Chips, 1.41-ounce canister: $5/$1.15
Remember your ‘stingray shuffle’
The stingrays have arrived early at
Clearwater Beach, and the city is warning
beachgoers it’s time to do the “stingray
shuffle” when wading into the Gulf.
Shuffling your feet in the sand as you
walk in the water helps scare away any
stingrays — and helps you avoid a painful
sting.
One person had already been stung by
early last week, and purple warning flags
have gone up to let beachgoers know
when the rays are in the area.
Those who do get stung are advised to
alert a lifeguard, who can treat the sting.
People who are stung are also transported
to the nearest fire station for monitoring.
Stingray season generally lasts through
the summer. Call (727) 462-6963.
— From staff and wire reports
Page: BA 4 PubDate: 03-27-2011 Time: 03-25-2011 18:25 Product: TAM_Tribune Edition: 1 User: ssmith1 Color: K
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BAYLIFE AND TRAVEL
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SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2011
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THE TAMPA TRIBUNE
%
TBO.com
Bahamas
IF YOU GO
From Page 1
v v v
Lodging
Rates for European Plan
double occupancy unless
otherwise noted.
♦ Atlantis,
Paradise
Island; (242) 363-3000,
www.atlantis.com. The
islands’ mega fantasy
resort, starts at $280.
♦ The Dunmore, Har-
bour Island, Eleuthera;
(242) 333-2200 or (877)
891-3100, www.dunmore
beach.com. Newly renovated historic cottages —
relaxed with a bit of
British formality. Rooms
start at $320.
♦ East End Lodge,
McLean’s Town, Grand
Bahama Island; (561)
CHELLE KOSTER WALTON
A hammock awaits guests at Small Hope Bay Lodge on the Bahamian island of Andros. The pace in the islands is
relaxed, but a jump in visitors last year has energized building and remodeling efforts throughout the islands.
354-8005, www.east
endlodge.com. New
five-cottage nicely appointed bonefishing
lodge with all-inclusive
rates starting at $1,395
for a two-night fishing/
dining package.
♦ Marley Resort &
Spa, Nassau; (242)
702-2800 or (866) 7371766, www.marleyresort
.com. Once the vacation
home of the late reggae
icon Bob Marley, it has
been dressed by his
family into a reggaethemed upscale resort
with 16 rooms named for
Marley songs, Simmer
Down restaurant, Stir It
Up bar, and Natural
Mystic spa. Summer
rates start at $295.
♦ Nettie’s
Different of
Nassau; (242) 327-7921,
www.nettiesplace.com. A
re-creation of a Bahamian Out Island yard with a
museum, restaurant, and
15 rooms decorated in
wood furnishings and
equipped with televisions. Rates start at
$105-$150.
Pink Sands, Harbour Island, Eleuthera;
♦
TIM AYLEN
Atlantis resort's new CRUSH teen lounge includes a gaming tree with Surround Sound. The club, offering electronics, music, and mocktails, is open from 8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. each night.
who brought popular Carmine’s Italian restaurant
to the resort, the New
York-style Virgil’s Real
BBQ debuts this fall with
650 seats — part of a $100
million expansion plan.
v v v
Nassau’s vigor extends
to some of the Out Islands,
where development, redevelopment,
expansion,
and major renovation
have been underway since
last summer.
For jump-starters, there
was the highly publicized
reopening of the Bimini
Big Game Club under the
auspices of Guy Harvey
Outpost on North Bimini
Island.
In Eleuthera — known
for its gorgeous, off-thebeaten-path beaches —
the design-forward Sky
Beach Club near Governor’s Harbour will be adding more rooms, rental
homes, tennis courts, and
a spa and fitness center to
its current inventory of
three poolside cabana
rooms, four four-bedroom
homes, a hip restaurant
next to the black-bottomed infinity pool, and a
secluded beach.
Also in Governor’s Harbour, a new 25-acre botanical preserve is expected to
open soon, and an equestrian farm for beach horseback riding is under con-
PETER WESLEY BROWN
The family of late reggae legend Bob Marley recently
transformed his vacation home on Cable Beach.
struction.
Eleuthera’s most exclusive destination, Harbour
Island, has kept vital with
its celebrity reputation
and movie shoots. The two
big guns in the resort
scene there continue to
upgrade and expand.
At 48 years old, The
Dunmore is under new
ownership. It’s gotten a
complete facelift to its restaurant and 16 rooms and
added a new oceanfront
swimming pool. It recently
broke ground on a residential component; the
first home should be finished by November.
Celeb-favored
Pink
Sands, too, is getting into
the residential sales business with plans to offer
new luxury homes for
multi-generational vacationers in its rental program.
0003021572-01
Just over the bridge
from Nassau, Paradise Island has something new to
offer to the hardest-toplease of resort visitors:
teenagers.
In December, the 3,500room Atlantis Resort, Bahamas opened its $11 million teen club, CRUSH. It’s
so awesome, parents will
wish they could stay. They
can’t.
The club has everything
13- to 17-year-olds could
want in the electronics,
music, and mocktails field.
Open from 8:30 p.m. to 1
a.m. each night, it holds up
to 500 kids, plus a hefty
contingency of security
guards.
For $25 admission,
teens can play an assortment of cutting-edge solo
electronics game in a
speaker-rigged chair or as
a group in a game cabana.
Electronic surface tables
allow them to order food
and retail items. Might
want to keep a grip on this
— there’s everything from
a $6 glass nail file to a $259
iPod available with a touch
of a finger and slide of a
room key.
Designed to look partcasino, part-club, CRUSH
has a disco with a full bar
of mocktails (ma-jito anyone?) and energy drinks.
Coming to Atlantis:
From the same people
BAHAMAS (224-2627) or
visit www.bahamas.com.
0003016416-04
terminal in fall 2012.
For those flying from
Nassau to Freeport or the
Out Islands, a new domestic terminal will complete
the project in fall 2013.
The new facilities promise to accommodate upwards of 5 million more
passengers with 34 additional gates and, tourism
officials
hope,
more
flights.
In downtown Nassau,
the bustling, shopper-happy Bay Street is being
turned into a walking mall
with a mix of local and
duty-free outlets. In the
meantime, the new Straw
Market will open by August. It replaces a temporary tent market erected
after a fire in 2001 burned
down the original marketplace.
The new, concrete, twolevel market will concentrate on local, handmade
crafts and food, whereas
the old one was known for
cheap imports and designer knock-offs. The second
level will host live entertainment.
On Cable Beach, the
long-awaited Baha Mar
mega-resort development
broke ground in February.
Following the opening of
the new boutique Marley
Resort (yes that Marley)
and massive renovations
at the Sheraton and Wyndham, Cable Beach promises to reinstate its former
“Riviera of the Caribbean”
reputation with three new
hotels, a new 18-hole Jack
Nicklaus signature course,
a bigger casino, spas, and a
water park and retail village.
For those with simpler
tastes, the new and growing Nettie’s Different of
Nassau is just down the
street.
Part out-island cultural
experience, part inn, part
restaurant and culinary
school, its eponymous operator, Nettie Symonette,
is nothing short of a hoteling legend in this land.
Here, visitors can find
home-style meals served
indoors or out, a patio bar
that attracts the locals, too,
and a courtyard pool.
Nettie’s is minutes from
Cable Beach and the attractions of downtown
Nassau. But for those who
want to duck the cruiseship crowds, escape is easy
on a taxi to some of the
island’s outlying historical
and natural attractions.
Worth the drive out to
the west end, Clifton Heritage National Park has
plantation ruins, slave
steps, a museum, nature
trails, and a beach all in
one.
At the island’s other
end, The Retreat national
park is making a comeback with its trails, structural ruins, and lush gardens filled with rare palms
and native vegetation.
Information: Call 800-
For those without rockstar budgets, colorful and
funky Tingum Village is
locally owned with basic
accommodations
that
sleep up to eight. It, too, is
getting a spruce-up for the
strengthening market.
v v v
On Grand Bahama Island, growth and recovery
seem to have stalled despite big plans — particularly downtown Freeport
and at the West End.
However, at the other
extreme of the 96-mile island known for stellar
bonefishing, East End
Lodge just opened five
0003026007-01
new, charming Bahamianstyle guest rooms in
McLean’s Town.
“I’ve been to every
bonefishing lodge in the
north Bahamas,” says
owner Robert Neher. “I
took the best of all and
made it better and more
affordable.” Year-round
packages include all-day
boat-fishing, breakfast and
dinner in the dining room,
and a box lunch for fishing
or beaching.
On Great Exuma Island,
Sandals Emerald Bay celebrated its one-year anniversary in February by announcing the completion
of a million-dollar renovation of its Greg Normandesigned golf course, upgrades to its dining options, and the addition of
66 rooms to debut April 15.
As a result of the Bahamas’ strong re-emergence
into the vacation scene,
airlines are responding by
resuming seasonal service
and, in some cases, adding
new flights, including
more flights from Miami to
Exuma and an AirTran
weekly nonstop from Orlando to Nassau.
0003027911-01
(800) 407-4776,
www.pinksandsresort
.com. Top chic on Harbour Island with 25 oneand two-bedroom cottages and airport transportation. Rates start a
$495 for a one-bedroom
garden view.
Sandals Emerald
Bay, Great Exuma
Island; (888) SANDALS
♦
(726-3257), www.sandals
.com. Part of the new
Sandals Luxury Included
brand, it takes all-inclusive vacationing up a
notch with free scuba
diving and more. Rates
start at $330 per person.
♦ Sky Beach Club,
Governor’s Harbour,
Eleuthera; (242) 332-
3422 or (800) 605-9869,
www.skybeachclub.com.
Original architecture and
design with poolside
rooms starting at $225.
♦ Tingum Village,
Harbour Island, Eleuthera; (242) 333-2161,
www.thesecretkiss.net.
Close to the beach, its 19
rooms and suites and
three-bedroom cottage
are comfortable and
tropical, if a little dated
and worn at the edges.
Rates start at $95.