Heights of the Bahamas– Cat Island, Bahamas, March 14, 2022

Since we were not able to see much on Cat by boat with the weather, we decided to split a rental car with a couple more cruisers and see the Island by land.  In typical Ron and Sally fashion, our rental car left a little to be desired, much like our travels in Costa Rica.  It was a Toyota Land Cruiser with 240,000 miles on it and very was rusted from the salt.  Unfortunately, since it rained intermittently during the day, one of the rust spots was though the roof so whomever sat in the third-row seat, was a bit wet.  The guys were champs and took one for the team on that one.  Where is a roll of duct tape when you need one?

We started off the day seeing ruins of a cotton plantation.  Now, you know our track record with ruins, so we were pleasantly surprised it was more than a pile of rocks.  These were actually pretty cool and were ruins from the Devereaux Family.  

 After this we went to see the highlight of the island, The Hermitage, which is not only a one-man monastery but also the highest point in the Bahamas, at 63 meters high.  It was built by a Catholic priest, who was also an architect and sculptor, back in the 1930’s and completed in the 1940’s.  The fact that he was a sculptor was evident in his work.  Apparently, he lived and meditated there alone once it was completed and considered it his retirement haven.  It is a beautiful place with panoramic views and all the amenities you may need like a well for water, chapel for worship, and sleeping space.  He built several other cathedrals throughout the Bahamas including the one we saw in Clarence Town, Long Island.  

 

On our way to the top, we walked up one of the most interesting parts, the Stations of the Cross.  It is a narrow sone stairway with over a dozen carvings of Jesus carrying the cross.  The whole place is very moving.   

 We did stop at the famous “Da Pink Chicken” and were basically grossed out.  The place was a shack, even by Bahamian standards, with meat rotting in coolers outside.  It ended up being a good thing that they were closed, and we ended up stopping for lunch near the rack n scrape in New Bight.  Cat Island is the birthplace of “Rake N Scrape” Music, which is Bahamian sounding music played on a common handsaw scraped with a screwdriver and joined by an accordion.  Ron would feel very at home based on his West Virginia roots.  Reminiscent of blue grass.