Can someone pinch me please? I had been to Nassau a few times on cruise stops and even visited the Atlantis Resort on a day pass while in port, but I had never flown into Nassau and stayed overnight at the resort. Total game changer! We were able to fully experience the resort, the restaurants, the entertainment, etc... The resort itself reminded me a lot of a cruise ship with lots to do - shops, restaurants, pool side bars, water slides, a casino, and just the overall vibe. However, we went in the times of the virus that shall not be named and the Bahamas have only recently re-opened and are currently in Phase 1. So even though things have been very lax here in Florida, being in the Bahamas meant being mindful and respectful of their restrictions.
As promised, I am going to lay out what we needed to do to enter the country and also to return home.
All visitors entering the Bahamas need to apply for a health visa - this applies to both vaccinated and non-vaccinated individuals. It's $40 per person, and you have to present it at the gate when boarding the plane, at customs when you arrive in the Bahamas, and again when checking in at the resort. When we arrived at the gate of the resort, we also had to present our health visa to the guards at the front too.
There were no temperature checks in the Orlando airport (and no social distancing as far as the eye could see - just a mass of people clumped together in Disney World gear heading home). As soon as we de-planed in Nassau we all had to have our temperatures taken. We had our temperatures taken again when we walked into the main entrance to the resort.
Masks must be worn in all public places, and there is a steep fine if you are not. We wore masks through the airports, on the plane, and while walking around anywhere. Lil' Miss as always was a champ with her masks, and never once complained. We did not need to wear a mask when sitting down to eat or in the beach and pool area.
To re-enter the United States, you must take a rapid antigen test. These were provided at our resort, and we booked a reservation for one morning. They cover the cost of the first 2 per room, so we had to pay for only 1 test. The results were ready within a few hours, and were emailed to us to present to the airline to fly home.
The only other item was we received a survey each morning from the Bahamas government in our email. We filled it out before breakfast each morning on our phones (took less than 20 seconds), and were ready to enjoy our day.
It sounds like A LOT, but it honestly wasn't that bad and definitely worth it to travel again and to feel safe knowing everyone else on the plane and at our resort had to do the same. Just make sure you do your research (or refer to this post - ha!), print up all your documents, and wear a mask while walking in public places. Oh and don't forget your passport!
We also decided in addition to the above to self isolate at home prior to our trip. I even turned down a girls brunch the weekend before on National Mimosa Day. Who am I?! I didn't want anything to mess with our much anticipated trip. We ordered in pizza that weekend, went on walks around the neighborhood, and splashed in the pool for some outdoor fun and fresh air. Again - all worth it!
We stayed in the Royal Tower which is the iconic structure above to be in the middle of it all. It was a quick walk to the shops and dining, and also the best part - the pools, beaches, and aquaventure water park.
We had a quick non-stop flight from Orlando on JetBlue, and from take off to touch down it was less than an hour. My new OTS jumpsuit was the perfect cozy piece for our travel morning. Our flight took off at 9:35 a.m., and we were checking in at the resort by 11:30 a.m. We also opted for a private transfer instead of a bus full of people like we usually do, so it was just the 3 of us and our driver from the airport to the hotel.
We took a walk to explore the resort, and had some lunch at the deli. We then changed into our suits and hit the pool and beach area. My first umbrella drink of the trip was a Yellow Bird which hit the spot as I could feel the stress of the past year melting away.
Lil' Miss makes friends where ever we go, and had lots of fun on the kids water slides and having snow cones with this little girl. I was just relieved that she didn't spill any of her cherry snow cone on her brand new white bathing suit - ha!
For dinner on the first night, we made a reservation at Carmines for some family style Italian food. It was AH-MAZING, and I'm glad I wore my new flowy floral print maxi dressbecause we definitely indulged ourselves! When on vacation...
After some pool and beach fun, we took Lil' Miss to The Dig which is where you walk through and see all the iconic fish tanks and explore tunnels of the lost city of Atlantis.
For dinner the second night, we had a reservation at Olives. We stopped for a photo opp on what Lil' Miss dubbed her "princess throne" before heading to the restaurant. I broke out one of my favorite resort style maxi dresses (I've worn it to Boca Raton on my birthday, in the Keys, and Marco Island as well). Before our bread basket even arrived, Lil' Miss knocked her water over all over me and I was soaked throughout dinner. At least it was just water!
The next day we decided to set up shop over at the Cove pool since it was so big and we wanted to try out all the pools. It was also pretty close to the power tower so we could finish conquering all the water slides.
When we checked in, we were given 2 re-usable water bottles that we could re-fill around the resort. The water was usually somewhat warm, so we would just ask for a cup of ice to add to it and our water would stay nice and cold all day out in the sun. And you better believe we packed these bottles in our suitcases to bring home - you can never have too many of these bottles!
Lil' Miss said her favorite part of the whole vacation were the waterslides, and I'd have to agree with her. She conquered every single child slide, and we conquered all of the adult slides even The Abyss which is inside the power tower and in the dark. You go down "the abyss", and are dunked into a cave with lots of fish tanks around. Super cool setting! You can check out their different slides here- are you brave enough to conquer them all? They have everything from the peaceful jungle slide to water coasters, and then the thrilling drop slides. I'm always scared of those at first, but once I finally try it out want to immediately climb back up and go again. So I always encourage people to go for it!
The hardest part of any trip is saying goodbye. We woke up on our last morning, and began packing while Lil' Miss was still blissfully asleep (girlfriend was tuckered out). H grabbed some coffee and breakfast for us as we finished packing, and then it was time to check out.
Still can't get over how adorable her unicorn suitcase is - best $35 ever spent! She was very proud to wheel her own suitcase through the airport and arriving and leaving the resort. Plus, it helps us out a lot that it's one less thing for us to carry.
Do you have any travel planned this year? I hope this post was helpful in feeling comfortable to travel internationally again. Please let me know if you have any questions, and start planning that next getaway! After last year we all need it!
I have so much to recap from our recent trip to the Bahamas, but wanted to write out a detailed post about the process to get in and out of the country as well as the extra safety precautions we took - so stay tuned! But can we talk about how NICE it was to travel again?
As things are slowly beginning to get back to normal around here, it's been nice spending time with friends and going on a trip with the family. But with that also means the office re-opening. I can't express how much I LOVED working from home the past 15 months, it made so many things so much easier plus the extra time with the fam was priceless. My husband's lucky enough that his company is talking about a possible return in October, and even then it will be voluntary. However, I return to the office today on a hybrid schedule. I have mixed emotions. It'll be nice to see some of my co-workers, and feel a sense of normalcy again, but I'm really hoping we remain on a hybrid schedule. The thought of ever working in an office 5 days a week again is daunting. I'm so much more productive at home, and work a lot from my phone in the world of social media marketing. I would like to point out that I am incredibly thankful that I remained employed throughout the pandemic, and was able to work from home for so long. I never want to take that for granted.
How do you feel about the inevitable return to the grind? Are you forever remote, are you not returning for a while, or are you in a hybrid model?
Now onto the fun since we've returned from the Bahamas. It was my husband's birthday the day after we got back, so we took an extra day off while Lil' Miss was at school and had a day date. (the best!) We grabbed lunch at our favorite local spot, and then hit some golf balls at TopGolf. I had never been, and it was so much fun!
I had no idea what I was doing, but picked it up pretty quickly with a bunch of air-swings mixed in. They disinfected our bay before we started playing, and the birthday boy and I played a few games before heading home for dinner and birthday cake with Lil' Miss.
On Saturday we relaxed in the pool before heading out to grab some dinner. We sat outside, and watched the storm clouds move in and were worried we wouldn't be able to light the fire pit at home for our first batch of s'mores of the season. Thankfully, we only got a few sprinkles of rain and were able to roast some marshmallows. I'm so glad we did or we would have had a very upset little girl!
On Sunday, we had more pool time with "framily". Grill food and lots of splashing in the pool. It was SO good for the soul to see some of our closest friends, and I almost cried as I hugged Emily. Still trying to convince her to come back to blogging.
Monday was refreshing to have the extra day off, and we had more pool and grill time at home. And I can't get enough of photos of Lil' Miss and the pup. They are certainly 2 peas in a pod! Luna is definitely living her best life, and was exactly what our family needed after saying goodbye to Roxy a few years ago.
I may need my blogger card revoked. So much has been going on, and I have barely taken any photos. I'm still pretty burnt out, and have been creating content but it's been for work campaigns and my freelance gig. Just not much new content for around these parts. Creating content is so rewarding and fun, and I still pinch myself that I've turned it into my career. But this momma is SO looking forward to a little vacation this week. We've been self-isolating at home, and checking off all the boxes for the health visas we will need in order to travel. It'll be our first flight and international travel since the virus that shall not be named began. And I haven't been playing around. Even though my friends are fully vaccinated, I turned down a girl's brunch on National Mimosa Day. Who am I?! I took a raincheck, and said we will most certainly meet for bubbles after I'm back.
I plan on doing a full re-cap including safety precautions, and the extra precautions we took as a family to be even more viligant. Just like on Friends - there's clean and then there's Monica clean! Any guesses on where we are headed? One hint - Lil' Miss will be living her best life.
I'm also a week late recapping a quiet Mother's Day spent poolside at home. I'm not the biggest fan of Hallmark holidays, and don't really celebrate Valentine's Day (other than making a big deal for Lil' Miss) and don't want anything for Mother's Day other than to relax with mom-osas in the pool. And boy did I need it. It was the first day I didn't open my work computer in who knows how long. It felt ah-mazing! Breakfast on the patio, the whole afternoon spent in the pool, and FaceTiming with our moms up in Connecticut equaled the perfect day. I was fully re-charged and ready to take on Monday!
Jump up jump up and get down! You're welcome... for putting those lyrics in your head. I mentioned on Monday, that I'm in burnout mode and very much looking forward to a quick getaway with my little family later this month. Even with working from home this past year (which I am still SO thankful for), we have been busier than ever. We both seem to be starting earlier, and signing off later with constantly checking in at night and the weekends. It's time for a much needed break, and whether you're sitting in the car for a while or on a plane - comfort is SO important! I will never understand people who travel in jeans! Seriously.
I had this jumpsuiton my wish list for over a year, and decided to finally scoop it up. I thought it would be perfect for traveling or even lounging around at home. And let's be honest, I've been literally living in loungewear or pj's since March of last year. It's nice when I actually head out somewhere and put on real clothes, but it's even nicer to come back home and hop right back into the comfy pieces. Oh and it has POCKETS!
I loved the jogger detailing at the bottom which gives it more definition, and if you're not into the whole off-the-shoulder look it can definitely be worn centered with both sleeves resting on your shoulders.
