If you’re much of a traveler, by now you’ve seen ads or at least heard about the Atlantis Paradise Island mega-resort in the Bahamas with its tall pink towers, 14 pools, 141-acre water park, marine mammal habitat, 21 restaurants, casino, bars, golf course and miles of beaches. This signature resort in Nassau put the Bahamas on the tourism map. But there’s much more to Nassau that is not Atlantis.
The island nation off Florida’s east coast has a long and rich history that is often overlooked by tourists eager to hit the beach. Cultural and historical sites around Nassau offer a glimpse into the small Caribbean nation with a colonial past whose local people — the descendants of slaves — have kept their own traditions alive. Tourism is the main industry in the Bahamas, an archipelago of nearly 700 islands — all but about 30 of them uninhabited — and former British colony.
Boating, scuba diving and water sports are popular activities throughout the islands. You can also tour a pineapple farm on Eleuthera, visit a historic red and white striped lighthouse built in the 1860s on The Abacos, or rent a house and hit the beach every day. Fried conch fritters and hot conch chowder are local specialties made with the meat of the Queen conch shell.
My husband and I took a short cruise to the Bahamas in early April, departing from Miami with stops in Key West and Nassau. In Nassau, we took a city tour in a large, open Jeep accommodating eight guests to discover the island�.
