COPA Bahamas Trip 2013
by Gil on May.07, 2013, under Flying
We departed Hilton Head Thursday April twenty fifth for Sarasota to spend an afternoon and evening with our NCR colleagues,the Whites,Stephans and Exleys. We arrived in time for lunch with Elton, Gordy, and Chuck, then spent the afternoon visiting with the Whites. We had dinner with all three couples and soaked in the great Sarasota ambiance with our friends. Friday morning, after one of Gordy’s great breakfast, we headed for the airport and flew to Fort Lauderdale. We spend the day with Jennifer and Alexandra, our daughter and grand daughter and were joined by Mike for a birthday dinner. Saturday was more family time and then we joined the COPA group at the departure hotel near KFXE, for the trip briefing and cocktails. The trip was expertly organized by Joe McMonigle, Nancy and Jim Knollenberg. After the briefing we had dinner , with our friends from Texas, Bob and Mary Miller. The next morning we started a trip that would take us to Treasure Cay in the Bahamas and then on to the Dominican Republic.
The flight to the Bahamas was easy, over gorgeous water, past Grand Bahama Island into Abaco, only one hundred fifty five miles. Its an impressive site to see 30 Cirrus parked on the ramp. What was more impressive is the attendee’s were from as far away as Oregon, Northern and Southern California, Canada and all across the United States. We were greeted by the Bahamian tourist representatives and served the obligatory rum or Bahamian beer.
After the short flight, we checked into the Bahama Beach Resort, which is on a beautiful beach. We relaxed, had lunch and then attended the cocktail reception at the Tipsy Seagull at the Treasure Cay Marina resort, hosted by the Bahamian tourist bureau. After dinner we found a very nice restaurant and dined with COPA friends.
Monday, everyone did there own thing, including boat excursions, exploring the area by golf cart, beach time or just hanging out with friends. We did the exploring and some beach time.
The group dinner was on the beach and it turned out to be a great evening.
Tuesday, there was a optional boat trip to Green Turtle Cay for touring shopping and lunch. Just about everyone decided to go. This is a small island that was colonized by the “loyalist”, basically, the losers in the revolutionary war. It is quaint and historic and a great place to visit.
We boarded the boat for a short trip around the island for lunch to a great place, the Green Turtle Club.
Back to Treasure Island and then guess what, cocktails before dinner. Dinner at one of the good local restaurants and then file the flight plan either back to Florida or in our case to the Dominican Republic.
Joe, Nancy and Jim did a great job organizing the trip to the Bahamas and everyone had a great time. Some headed west and some headed south, but all left Treasure Cay with a great experience and more COPA friends.
Wednesday we got up early and were out smarted by the hotel telephone so we filed on the phone at the airport. No big deal, we were in the air headed for our refueling stop on time. In the Bahamas, they want to make it a, “no problem mon”, experience and it was. Onward!