The Abacos'
Green Turtle Cay
(Continued)
Dining
Green Turtle offers a wide selection of "upscale" as well as "native" (local) restaurants located in New Plymouth. The excellent restaurants of Bluff House and The Green Turtle Club and Marina are located about 15 golfcart-minutes from New Plymouth and are well worth the trip."Native" food usually consists of some variation of "peas 'n rice" (seasoned rice and pigeon peas) served with coleslaw, lobster ("crawfish") or deep-fried, deliciously battered strips of grouper ("grouper fingers"). There's usually conch salad or fritters to start, with diet killers as "guava duff" (an astoundingly rich cake) and home-made soursop or coconut ice cream to round out your Abaconian lunch or dinner as well as your waist line.
A story-book town steeped in history
Green Turtle Cay quietly languishes in Brigadoon-style time warp where the island's children still attend an "all grades" school house and quaint pastel houses (some are more than 100 years old!) and business establishments line the village streets of New Plymouth. There is even the inevitable Plymouth Rock Restaurant and Package Goods Store recalling the historical background of the town's New England namesake.Please Click HERE for updates on Green Turtle's Historical Preservation Foundation.
Honorary conchs, Key West, Bob Hope and all that stuff
This neat, tidy settlement looks almost Disneyesque. It's one of those quaint, charming towns where the neat houses painted in pinks and greens with Bahamian shutters dot narrowstreets. Yachtsmen and travelers find Green Turtle convenient for grocery shopping, boat repair, hardware purchases, banking and foreign exchange (at the Green Turtle branch of Barkley's). However, you have to plan in advance for "bank day" since New Plymouth's little bank is only open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Key West (Florida) and New Plymouth are "Sister Cities"
Interestingly enough, New Plymouth and Key West (Florida) are sister cities. Both of these unique towns are noted for their independent and imaginative inhabitants. Key Westers call themselves Conchs as a result of their Abaconian roots and, at several points in their history, attempted to succeed from the United States. On at least two occasions, The Abacos entertained the idea of succeeding from The Bahamas!
As is popular in Key West, Green Turtle also allows Honorary Conchs, a coveted honor which has been given to (comedian) Bob Hope and other world citizens. William Curry, born in New Plymouth in 1821, moved to Key West and became South Florida's first millionaire . On the other side of the coin, Bahamian hotel and cruise ship mogul Ted Arison became South Florida's first billionaire!
A little bit 'o night life
During your vacation, you may want to visit New Plymouth's "Rooster's Rest", a Reggae and (island-style) Rock & Roll and Rake 'n Scrape club just to the east of town at "the top of the hill" ... and one of the best known and most popular native nightclubs in all the Abacos. The club's "theme band" (The Gully Roosters) have an erratic schedule, so check with your local manager as to "play dates". Also, try the internationally known "Miss Emily's" Blue Bee" Bar (see next paragraph).Additionally, Bluff House and The Green Turtle Club and Marina have regularly scheduled "entertainment nights", featuring well-recognized local talent.
The Goombay Smash and fresh Bahama Bread
Down the hill from The Rooster, you might want to stop by and visit the The Blue Bee Bar, the birthplace of the world famous Goombay Smash. Originally made famous by the legendary Miss Emily, this potent and fruity drink is served throughout The Bahamas and in specialty restaurants through the world. True to her Christian principles, Miss Emily never tasted her Goombay Smash - or any other form of alcoholic beverage. Nor did she ever reveal the secrets of her "patented" anesthetic to anyone outside her immediate family.
Fresh-baked Bahama Bread
As you're leaving Miss Emily's, stop on by Sid's Groceries or the little house just a few gates away from the ferry dock for a loaf or two of fresh-baked Bahama bread - right out of the oven [pronounced "huv-en" by true Abaconians].
Stores and more stores
For the convenience of travelers, yachtsmen and residents alike, Green Turtle has three fully stocked grocery stores, two hardware stores, a half dozen gift & clothing stores and almost a dozen restaurants. Please Click HERE for a map of New Plymouth - a bit of a download (57k), but it's the only map of New Plymouth on the internet.Dependable, direct dial phone service is also available, although many people still communicate by VHF Radio, a boon for yachtsmen since they are able to call almost any on-shore establishment from their boat. Ocean Blue Gallery has a wide selection of collectable and gift art and sculptures, Plymouth Rock offers the Abacos' widest selection of fine rums (about 65 varieties, many of them not available in the US) and the Golden Reef Shop has a wide selection of gifts, souvenirs, resort and beach wear and a whole bunch of other discoveries you won't be able to do without.
Green Turtle Cay is aptly named
Its numerous Atlantic-side coves once the breeding grounds for hundreds of green turtles, now scarce and on the protected species list. Pirates once knew these gentle creatures as "belly timber" because, as a convenient source of fresh meat during long weeks at sea, turtle meat built strength and energy for the crews of the pirate vessels.
