Scenes from the Bahamas

I hope you guys don’t hate me for doing this today, but I wanted to share some of the scenic photos from our trip to the Bahamas.

Despite growing up in Florida, this was my first trip the Bahamas. It’s definitely an easier journey from Florida, but still worth it despite a full day of traveling. My sister has been a bunch of times and she always comes back raving about how fun, laidback, and colorful the islands are.

When Vineyard Vines reached out to me about going down to help promote their sweepstakes with The Moorings, I knew I had to say yes. A trip to a warm location in the middle of March is the best way to look forward to spring!! I went down there with my friends Mackenzie and Kelly and photographer (and now, like, favorite person ever) Sean.

Not only was this my first trip to the Bahamas, it was my first experience with The Moorings, a chartered yacht service. It was a totally unique experience! We were island hopping in the Abacos and it was really nice to be able to bop between harbors and not have to unpack every night. Even though it was a boat, we each had our own cabin and bathroom. They were cozy, but perfect for changing into bathing suits and sleeping– we spent most of our time on the deck of the boat (so much photo editing!) and out exploring.

With everyone’s travel/life schedules, we did four nights bookended by two travel days. We packed SO much into the three days. It felt like we were there for two weeks, truly. I think that’s one of the best benefits of the boat– you can get “on the ground” so quickly while still being able to explore different islands. No need for water taxis or additional flights.

First stop Tuesday morning was Hope Town on Elbow Cay. We had no idea what to expect as we pulled into the harbor and found a spot to dock the boat. The lighthouse (the last kerosene-fueled one in the world!) served as a lovely backdrop. A dolphin even made his presence known to us! Our first stop was breakfast (very necessary!) and at the recommendation of our skipper, we made our way to the Hope Town Harbour Lodge. Before we sat down to order though, we got a little distracted by the beach. WOW. It was picture perfect.

Finest sand and bluest water.

The whole day was spent enjoying the beaches and exploring the town; the four of us were soaking in all the Vitamin D we could before heading back to Chicago, Greenwich, Hoboken, and upstate New York. After a quick afternoon dip (and nap), we took a short ride in a golf cart for dinner at Firefly. Sean took charge of ordering appetizers and we definitely experienced the “eyes bigger than our stomachs” at every meal.

On Wednesday morning, we took the boat over to Green Turtle Cay. We followed signs for the Turtle Crawl cafe and had the best toast (seriously, so good), breakfast sandwiches, and iced coffees of the whole trip. We docked the boat at the Green Turtle Club and had a delicious dinner there (more conch fritters!) after a day at the beach.

The bar was set pretty high during our first two days, but Thursday was, without a doubt, my favorite day. And I think the girls and Sean would all agree with me. We got rolling pretty early in the morning to go to No Name Cay to swim with the famous Bahamian pigs. They are absolutely adorable and pretty friendly– just don’t pick up the babies! Right before we anchored, Sean and I cut up apples to feed them. It was a huge hit. If visiting the pigs isn’t already on your bucket list, I highly recommend adding it ASAP. Going early was great too because we had the whole place to ourselves!

Then, despite being 9 am and a tiny bit nippy, Kelly, Mackenzie, and I took a plunge off the yacht. I could not stop laughing and we had so much fun swimming around. The water felt a lot warmer than the air so I wasn’t exactly rushing to get out!

We threw on dresses and made our way over to Baker’s Bay where Ian Murray, Vineyard Vines co-founder, has a house. Baker’s Bay is a private, highly exclusive resort and let me just say, it was unreal. I kind of wish I didn’t know a place like that existed because it was perfect with not a single detail overlooked. New (highly lofty) life goal, ha. My favorite spot on our tour was a little cottage set up for the kids called “The Jelly Bean” where they can stock up on sweets and treats.

For lunch, we went to Nippers and explored the beach a bit more before returning to the boat to get some work done. We went to Grabbers for dinner (great fish tacos!) and ran into Justin Thomas– pretty exciting!

It was sadly time to pack so we could all be ready to go in the morning for our flights.

Don’t forget to enter to win a similar trip with Vineyard Vines and The Moorings! I can’t thank them enough for such an unforgettable and unique trip!