Tha ish: Bahamas, baby!





Although I just got back from my 4-day cruise to the Bahamas (Dec 6-10th), I am in a total funk. I miss the palm trees, white sand and flirting with lascivious Bahamian men! I need another vacation! LOL



We visited Grand Bahama Island, Nassau, Freeport and Great Stirrup Cay. The islands were breathtaking. I have never seen water that colour in all my life! The water had such a vibrant turquoise-y colour that seemed unreal. I’m not much of a swimmer, but I had to dip my toes in the water just to fully experience it.


My favourite part of the trip was meeting a couple that operates Educulture Bahamas. It’s an organization that celebrates the culture of Bahamas. They provide a host of services. Everything from providing tours of the Junkanoo museum (Junkanoo is the major cultural festival of the Bahamas), to facilitating workshops and seminars. During our tour of the museum, we had the chance to make some Junkanoo music. Yes, I felt like a kid again banging on drums and shaking the bells!


I will say that I am very appreciative of the fact that I have consistently been able to get away from the blistery winter weather for the past 3 years. (FYI..it’s crazy cold in Toronto!) This trip was a little shorter than usual (I usually get away for at least a week), but I am soooo glad that I went. I have been completely stressed from work, and I really needed to take time out for myself to relax. I also went to celebrate my sis’ monumental b-day (don’t worry girl, I won’t tell them your age!).


Overall, Bahamas was gorgeous. I would like to go back to see and do more. Even though I’m totally missing being on vacation, I have my pics to warm my spirit! Yay!

Tha ish: Barbados

I promise that I will stop reminiscing about my recent trip. Not sure when that will happen, but I’m sure it will ; )



As much as I fell head over heels in love with the visually stunning island of St. Lucia—the other highlight of my vacation took place in Barbados.


When my mom and I were deciding on what sites to see in Barbados, I pointed out to my mom that it was imperative that I see the slave huts. They are replicas of the living quarters for slaves that lived in Barbados.


I had to see it. Being a black woman, I owed it to myself to see it.

And there it was. It was on the last scheduled stop of our off-shore excursion. There were a few replica slave huts and rows of chattel houses. I felt like tears were ready to start streaming down my face.

Slave Hut

Chattel Home

The tour guide led us into one of the chattel houses and really let us explore it. I practically rushed the crowd. I really wanted to see with my own eyes how my ancestors were forced to live. I took a million pics. I needed to take a piece of my history back home with me.

After snapping the pictures, we hopped on our bus and we were on our way to the cruise ship. Not sure if seeing the slave quarters affected anyone else as it did me. I’m just grateful that I got to see it.

Tha ish: my totally fun Caribbean vacation

I got back from my Caribbean cruise this past Sunday and I feel like I can seriously hop back on board of that amazing ship (I sailed on the Royal Caribbean). We travelled to Labadee, Haiti, Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico. We also had a chance to visit Cancun (BTW, it is very NICE!).

I had sooo much fun and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I met cool people, got hit on by “friendly” Jamaican men….basically life was good!

The reason for the cruise was to celebrate my mother’s birthday. She wanted to celebrate her monumental birthday big, so she wanted to go on a cruise.

I have never gone on a cruise before, and to be completely honest, I wasn’t that excited about it. I don’t really like being enclosed anywhere and I rather do my own thing on vacations. Knowing that I would be trapped on a boat for seven days was a bit daunting.

But being the good daughter that I am, I decided to take my mom on the cruise (actually, it was me, mom, and my sister that went on the cruise).

After experiencing this cruise, I have COMPLETELY changed my opinion of cruises. They are incredibly fun! I got my dance on on the ship’s deck at night, attended every dance/ comedy show, went skating (yes, I left the freezing Toronto weather to go skating on the ship!? heheh), and had some libations (the pina coladas were sick!). I can honestly say that this vacation exceeded my expectation.

Oh, I can’t forget the staff. They were fantastic (shout out to Albert, Rock, Rosefil, Baker, Kewin, Andre, Jason and everyone I came into contact with!). I have never been pampered like that in my whole entire life. They really take care of you. I loved every minute of it.

For anyone still not convinced that cruises are for them, take a look at this pic. Enjoy!