The Port at Nassau

The morning we woke up at port in Nassau, I knew it was going to be a sketchy day, for me anyway.   Not quite-a-hangover and not quite food poisoning,  I think on Cruise Ships it is called Norovirus and it had my stomach knotted up tighter than the beads of the hair-braiders we encountered at Port.  Still, I didn't want to show my discomfort too much and I soldiered through as we opted to explore Nassau, as least superficially.

I'd like to have explored Nassau more thoroughly but having kids along, limiting cruise departure times and knotty-stomach-syndrome equated for a grumpy and anxious version of me that wasn't up for exploring more than a couple of miles from the port. We took in a museum (whose creepy(ish) pirate displays scared the crap out my little girl and walked around the streets and maket areas a bit before returning to the cruise ship.

I snapped this shot after clearing local customs to head back to the ship, on the way back.

Standing there then - and even now -- I can't help but wonder, what was this place like before Atlantis came in?
Does the presence of Atlantis help or hurt the local economy, does it make these shop owners and vendors more desperate or does it act as attraction enough to help feed their appetite for tourist money?

One thing's for sure.  The crowded / noisey streets we encountered weren't the stuff postcards are made of but had plenty of character.     How much of that genuine, regional character got lost to make room for trinket stores could prove as an interesting object lesson for economies focused heavily on tourism, like ours on the Gulf Coast.