Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻
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Food and Life

Visit: Atlantis Aquarium {Nassau, Bahamas}

April 19, 2013 · Narrative

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When it comes to traveling, whether we are half an hour from home or thousands of miles away, I can guarantee one thing.

If there is a zoo or an aquarium or pretty much any place we can visit that has animals, we will be there.

Because my kids? Are crazy for animals. Nick actually just started volunteering with a local animal rescue group and will be also shadowing a vet soon. Stoked for him, but I need to contend with a five-year-old who doesn’t understand why she can’t do the same. Yet.

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So anyway. When one of our stops during Spring Break landed us in Nassau, Bahamas, I knew exactly what we would do with our afternoon there. Visit the aquarium at the Atlantis Resort. Because as much as I’ve heard stories of how beautiful the resort is, and how expensive that bridge suite is, I’ve also heard wonderful things about their aquarium.

And you know, my kids.

It was a given.

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We bought our tickets as an excursion, which meant it included a one hour guided tour of the aquarium and then we were free to roam about on our own afterwards. If *you* happen to go, the one hour guided tour felt really rushed. Because the property is huge, the aquarium is all over and not just one contained area, and there was a LOT to cram into that one hour.

The property is gorgeous. And spotless. It reminds me a bit of Disneyworld in that there are thousands upon thousands of people there and yet you don’t see a speck of garbage anywhere. And you don’t see people cleaning really either. So I don’t know how they do it, but they do an awesome job of it.

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Our tour guide was very well-versed in all the different species of fish she introduced us to, and there were quite a few that we haven’t see at other aquariums before (hello Caribbean!). A huge clownfish that changes sex from male to female (which is behind Nick in that picture above). A unusual but gorgeous jellyfish that I forgot the name of, but what I *do* remember is that it can squeeze you to death (pictured below). And the creepiest looking eel that I have ever seen. They didn’t move. Like ever (also pictured below). The biggest manta rays we’ve seen anywhere. And conch! We had the opportunity to touch one as it oozed out of its shell. I touched it (YOLO!), but the kids opted out. Little chickens.

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Of course at the conclusion of our tour, we conveniently ended up in the gift shop. Surprisingly, it was quite reasonably priced. Nick ended up with a snow globe (he collects them), they both ended up with rubber bracelets to support some cause, and Madeline went with a t-shirt. After her Mom explained that she had already bought two stuffed animals on vacation, and maybe that was enough?

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In a completely separate area of the resort, there is Dolphin Cay, which allows interaction with dolphins. If you know Madeline in real life (and even perhaps just from here), you know how obsessed she is with dolphins. Although the excursion to interact with them was sold out when I finally decided to go ahead with it, we managed to, um, find a way to sneak into that area. It’s the closest she has ever been to dolphins, and she was transfixed. I’m hoping, with fingers tightly crossed, that we have a dolphin interaction on tap for next month. But shhh…

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If you happen to find yourself in Nassau, I think the aquarium is definitely worth seeing. It’s expansive, you’ll see fish you won’t see stateside, and it’s positively gorgeous. And if you’re not staying at the resort or there on an excursion, go after 6 pm, and it’s f-r-e-e.

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Hungry for more aquariums?
You can check out our review on Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey right here, the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Connecticut right here, and Jenkinson’s Aquarium here (just an fyi, Jenkinson’s was closed for quite some time during Hurricane Sandy, along with that whole area, so visiting them this summer would be a great way to support them).

Happy weekend!

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Posted In: Narrative · Tagged: aquarium, Atlantis, Bahamas, Caribbean, dolphins, Nassau, resort

Comments

  1. Joanne says

    April 20, 2013 at 6:24 am

    Wow that is a cool aquarium! Some of the excursions on cruises are total duds but this one sounds absolutely worth it!
    Joanne recently posted..Recipe: Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies ("the nora ephron")

    Reply
  2. Paula Ann says

    April 21, 2013 at 12:07 pm

    Atlantis has been on my bucket list for awhile. Too bad it’s so darned expensive. Oh well, maybe one day when we fall into a pile of cash… I had to opportunity to swim with dolphins in Puera Vallarta about ten years ago. It was wonderful! I can understand Madeline’s love for them. They are such gentle, beautiful creatures! I hope your surprise works out next month!!

    Reply
    • Cate O'Malley says

      April 21, 2013 at 8:20 pm

      You know, after visiting the place for an afternoon, I can’t say I’d feel compelled to go back and stay at the resort. Too expensive and, honestly, way too spread out. You need to take a shuttle bus to get to the various spots, and that just doesn’t seem very relaxing to me.
      Cate O’Malley recently posted..Visit: Atlantis Aquarium {Nassau, Bahamas}

      Reply
  3. Paula Ann says

    April 22, 2013 at 2:01 pm

    I appreciate your opinion, Cate! Maybe we’ll just scratch that one off… :)

    Reply
  4. patsy says

    April 24, 2013 at 8:53 am

    Cate – I agree with you on this resort! We went there as a 1 day excursion on a cruise we took. While it was nice enough, I don’t think it’s worth the expense to stay there. A friend did tell me that you can stay at the hotel across the street and still have access to the water park area at Atlantis… which works out a bit better for the vacation budget. :)
    patsy recently posted..Soyfoods Month!

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻

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