Bahamas Christmas 2022 - Day 6: Christmas

Christmas morning was much the same as the day before: windy, overcast, low 70s, and intermittent light rain.

After sleeping in (for me, anyway) and having breakfast in our kitchen, we gathered around an ipad for some FaceTime holiday greetings. Then, it was time for the (relatively new) tradition of a Christmas swim.

They were only slightly confused when we asked for beach towels at reception. While we waited, I sampled eggnog and had a cookie.

Over at the beach, the only signs of life were two kitesurfers on hydrofoils...

... and me. Nobody else was interested in partaking in this tradition.

Other people used the beach towels as blankets. Admittedly, it was quite windy.

We mostly lounged around the pool/beach area at the resort, trying to stay out of the wind. Some of the employees were wearing winter clothing and knit hats. As our waiter explained last night, this is as cold as it ever gets here, so it's really winter to them.

Over the course of a few hours, many other people emerged from their rooms to get some fresh air, try a hammock, play bean-bag toss, use the pools, etc.

We had an early dinner reservation at Capriccio, about a mile down the road (across the street from Sandals), and we decided to grab a bus ride there, so we got dressed up and left the resort around 2:45 PM.

Over the last 5 days or so, we'd been using two different routes from the resort out to the street, depending which side of the road we were aiming for. To get to the bus stop heading east, we would essentially go to the beach and then through the Blue Sail restaurant to the street. But today, they were closed and the gate was locked, so we ended up actually going via the beach. By that time, there were other people on the beach, too.

The restaurant had actually called, earlier in the day, to confirm our reservation and ask if we could be "early or on time", which we interpreted as "please don't be late". We had built in a large buffer in case we had to wait for a bus, or walk the mile or so, but ended up being about 30 minutes early. And then our table wasn't available yet, so we sat outside and waited. (The outside seating was closed, due to the weather.)

Dinner was excellent, and not just by "we're in the Caribbean" standards. It was truly a wonderful experience. If you're ever in the Cable Beach area and inexplicably need some fine Italian dining, definitely try Capriccio.

After dinner, the sun was just setting, so we decided to walk back to the resort instead of flagging down a bus. It was a lovely evening for a stroll, and we enjoyed the festive lights along the route.

Back at the resort, we did a few more FaceTime family visits, then spent a few hours finishing our adult beverage stockpile and playing card games.

I thought we might see or hear some celebration outside when Junkanoo started, late tonight, but Steve found this announcement on Twitter. I'd read elsewhere that it is going to be exceptionally festive this year, because it was canceled the two previous years due to the pandemic.

Tomorrow, we're checking out and heading to the airport for our return trip to the frigid tundra up north.