Nassau Day 7
We walked to
the oldest part of Nassau to revisit a couple of sights we briefly stopped at
during our guided tour of the city. We
went to the Queen’s Staircase and climbed the 66 steps to the top and from
there on to the Water Tower and Fort Fincastle.
The Queen’s Staircase was hewn out of solid limestone rock by slaves
between 1793 and 1794. It provides a
direct route from Fort Fincastle to Nassau.
We took a few more pictures and bought some pineapple and coconut cake
for a snack. “Sexy Mary” was there with
her tour group for the day. We visited
with her for a few minutes before she had to get her group on the way to their
next stop.
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| Queen's Staircase |
It was all
downhill from Fort Fincastle to visit the Nassau Library which was formerly the
city jail. The building is an octagon
with the entrances to the former cells radiating from the center which once served
as an office for the guards. The cells
are now lined with bookcases.
Our next
stop was the Pompey Museum of Slavery and Emancipation which is located at
Vendue House or the Bourse as it was called. The building dates back to 1769 and was a
marketplace until the late 1800s. During
the 18th and 19th Centuries it served as the slave
market. The museum is named after Pompey
who, in 1830, led a slave up-rising in the Exumas. The military subdued the slaves and Pompey
received 39 lashes as punishment. The
museum highlights the use of slavery in the “New World”, the slave trade and efforts
to end chattel slavery. The museum also
reminds us slavery still exists in the world today.
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| Pompey Museum |
All the
walking was making us thirsty. We saw
signs pointing the way to Watling’s Distillery which sounded like a good place
to get a drink. The distillery is
located at the Buena Vista Estate which dates back to 1789. The visitor’s center is in a colonial manor
house which once served as the residence of several notable Bahamian
politicians and was visited by royalty, politicians and celebrities well into
the 20th Century. The
residence was eventually turned into a hotel and restaurant initially frequented
by the wealthy and famous but went into decline beginning in the 1980s. Watling’s Distillery took over the property in
2013 and restored Buena Vista House for use as a tasting room and
restaurant. The tour was interesting as
was the rum.
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| Buena Vista Estate - Watling's Distillery |
We began
walking back toward Bay Street and decided to stop by Graycliff for a
pizza. It was shortly before 5 PM and
they not yet open for dinner. However,
we were invited to tour the grounds until the staff was ready to begin serving
the evening guests. Graycliff caters to
the wealthy. Besides the luxurious
hotel, there is a truly 5 star restaurant and wine cellar, a cigar factory and
spa. It was off-season, so the place was
nearly deserted. The pizza was
delicious.
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| Graycliff |
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| A Swimming Pool at Graycliff |
We ambled
down to Bay Street where we caught the jitney back to the marina. We were tired but had a great day.
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