A Wonderful New Find

Governor's Harbour   

Mother Nature provided a double-feature this morning with the full moon setting and the sun rising within 10 minutes of each other. The full moon unanimously took the honors for Best In Show. We did our morning chores and stretching and had an early lunch before taking the dinghy to shore. Today we were excited to explore a new place for us. We again walked up Buccaneer Hill, but instead of turning south toward the Levy Preserve and Tippy's, we continued east across the island to the highly-regarded French Leave Beach. A paved road transitioned to dirt and then to sand as it crossed the dune. Not so fast, though. We made a quick detour and headed south along the water in the shadow of many majestic coconut palms.

We had entered into the ruins of the old Club Med Eleuthera Resort. Club Med purchased the property of the burned French Leave Hotel in 1972. In 1976 the resort opened and for two decades had thousands of visitors each month. On September 13-14, 1999, Hurricane Floyd roared through The Bahamas with winds of 150mph and a 15-foot storm surge. Instead of rebuilding, Club Med pulled out. Walking the grounds, traces of the former luxury are still apparent. A tile "welcome mat" leads onto the pool deck. The office still stands nearly a quarter century later with papers strewn about. On the wall "The best made plans ..." has been written.

On the floor a check cancelled on September 4, 2009 lays in excellent condition. Its presence suggests that business operations continued here for at least a decade post-Floyd. As with other resort ruins which we have seen in our travels, it is interesting to see what remains behind. The sign at the shuttle stop looked to be in good shape and in its original position. The walkways are still lined with colorful bougainvillea and towering palms.

The sign face at the main entrance was missing, but the base and landscaping were there could be used today as is. We found a trail to the beach and quickly discovered why this mile-long stretch of sand is so popular.

The beach checks off every box on the Perfect Beach Checklist -- wide sand with a gentle slope from the shore; small lapping waves; amazingly clean without rock, shell, seaweed, or plastic; soft sand that packs to give a stable walking surface; clear water that transitions to a brilliant turquoise; and an unobstructed view all the way to the horizon. I was definitely in my happy place and Barry even said this was the nicest beach he's ever visited.

The tide was falling throughout our walk south through the surf. Before we reached the rocks, the sand took on a deep pink/almost magenta coloring. Wow. We were speechless. This is the pinkest sand we've seen, by far. We were also dumbfounded by the sight of a car out on the rocks and were pretty sure that activity was not in the rental agreement. I could not resist going in for a dip and a float. Barry stayed dry and took some photos. The water was so refreshing. 

I eventually came to shore and rejoined Barry to walk to the northern limits of the beach.

Finding this special spot has launched Governor's Harbour to the top of my must-visit places. Eventually we went back to the trailhead, put on our walking shoes, and said farewell to French Leave Beach ... but only after a few looks back over my shoulder. 

All along our route to the anchorage there are signs of development. Land is being sold and cleared, and large houses with elaborate pools are being built. The area is quickly changing.

We returned to Crossroads as clouds were building in the late afternoon. Soon after we opened all the windows and ports, a heavy shower moved across us. With the everything newly closed, I took a few minutes to check in with family in North Carolina. They had gone to God's Acre and placed Easter flowers on the family graves. I also heard form Paradigm Shift that they were safely docked at their home marina following a five day, 782-mile straight run from Nassau to Urbanna. All was good in our world. We watched the day end as it began, with a large sphere of light settling below the horizon.