If you're wondering where I've been all this time, Erskine and I have been travelling a lot for the last several months, as we searched for and transitioned from one home rental to another here in
Nassau, Bahamas. We had been given only 40 days' notice to vacate our Cable Beach apartment in January, as it had been sold!
We managed to find a rare but expensive three months' short term rental in Cable Beach.
However, when that ended we were in a dilemma. We still couldn't find a permanent apartment or even another short-term one. So we decided to spend the month of June in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, as it was cheaper to stay in an apartment in Florida than AirBnB here! And we had some JetBlue credits that were about to expire.
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea sea grapes!
Our sons kept looking for rental apartments
for us back in Nassau while we were in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and we searched
online.
There
is a shortage of affordable and decent rentals here in Nassau, partly (or
perhaps mainly) due to the increasing number of expensive AirBnbs and also
because some foreign companies snatch up rentals sight unseen and are prepared
to pay high rents and large deposits for their non-Bahamian employees in
advance. We read that a similar problem exists with the rental market in many
other countries.
View from
our third-floor apartment at
Surf Rider Resort, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
“Fancy Nancy”, one of the wonderful drivers
who drive the free Circuit electric trolleys up and down
A1A, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea!
While in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, we strolled around the town and discovered the Town Hall. Unfortunately, the
library was closed at the time. Quaint little place. Well kept and very quiet, but has
great amenities. Would love to live there! One apartment owner that we chatted to said she had been
there seven years and loved her “little piece of paradise”!
In the nearby Publix, before starting our
walk around the town, I asked an employee there if it was safe to walk. Would
there be any stray dogs that might attack us (as can happen in Nassau when walking in some neighbourhoods!)? The employee laughed and said no
way, "the place would be closed down right away"!
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Town Hall
Never far away from a book! Small guest library,
gym and computer
station at Surf Rider Resort.
When our unexpected vacation was over, we returned to
Nassau. Unfortunately, a rental that one of our sons had found for us fell
through, and we moved back into the Orange Hill Beach Inn on the Western Shores
of Nassau, where we had spent a night or so in between our moves.
Grounds of Orange Hill Beach Inn
(with "visitor'!)
We ended up
staying in a room there for 28 days! Fortunately, the hotel owners were very
kind and helpful. We were even able to set up our desktop computer there and
start to get back to a somewhat “normal” life.
Finally, we found a permanent rental apartment in
Cable Beach, signed a year’s lease and moved in at the end of July.
Final destination!
It’s been quite an adventure, if we can call it that, as it was a strain on our finances. But we held out for what we wanted and didn't choose second best, despite the "naysayers".
We’ve learned a lot and are going forward with more strength and vigour. Our Tiktok platform (tiktok.com/@youngheartsforever) has given us a new interest and is becoming
quite successful. My husband Erskine is a musician and is enjoying playing his
guitar and singing a selection of songs (including some he has written
himself) for videos we upload to Tiktok. I'm even singing a bit on there from time to time!
And I am getting back to my writing projects. I have so much to catch up with! Still Book 3 in my Buchanan Mystery Romance Series to be published.
(If you wish to comment on this post, please click the title and a comments box will pop up. Thanks!)
