Hopetown

We’ve had a great week exploring Hope Town on Elbow Cay, as well as nearby Man-O-War Cay in the Abacos. Here is the photo album. The Elbow Cay Lighthouse, one of three lights in the Bahamas that still runs on kerosene, is an often photographed landmark marking the entrance to Hopetown.

We had the opportunity last night to visit Franklin, the lighthouse keeper for Elbow Cay for 40 years now. He allowed us to accompany him to the top of the light at sunset and watch him ignite it. The kids even got to turn the crank which lifts a weight that keeps the light spinning - a mechanism much like the weight on a grandfather clock. It must be rewound every two hours throughout the night.

The islands of the Abacos have a very different “feel” compared to the Exumas... in part because they are more developed (being closer to the US makes them a bit easier to reach for vacationers and many charter boat companies do business here) and in part because they have retained much of the culture of their British Loyalist founders.

Man-O-War Cay in particular - being very small and its residents very closely related - has a very distinct dialect and a long tradition of family boat building. The settlement of Hopetown is much larger and is definitely a tourist destination spot. It has a busy harbor, lots of vacation rental properties, restaurants and other amenities that are not unlike many coastal communities in the US.

The Loyalist Museum here in Hopetown was today’s social studies field trip... that means “reports from the field” will be coming soon. For PE, we took a long walk along the beach and then stopped by the Hopetown Harbor Club’s pool bar for a lovely afternoon swim!