Hoopin' it up in the Bahamas, Day VII
5/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
It’s Saturday morning and its 7:30 a.m.
Yawns go through the hotel rooms of the MSU women’s basketball team. Wow it’s early. Half asleep, people slowly wander around their rooms trying to get dressed.
But hold up!
Wow, we are going snorkeling.
All of a sudden the “getting dressed process” speeds up tremendously. Now, we are trying to hurry to get on the bus to go snorkeling. We leave the hotel around 8:30 a.m., and drive about half an hour to the Stuart Dove Dock.
We are quickly registered and fitted with our stylish flippers, and tossed onto the boat where the ladies with the pink shoulders and cheeks smother with “No. 30.”
Our boat speeds off through the beautiful turquoise water with the usual sun bathers, Callie (Goff) and Erin (Goodman), soaking up the rays on the bow of the boat.
Our first stop is just off a small island where the fish food is tossed into the water and a feeding frenzy is on. Hundreds of yellow fin tuna and parrot fish race around the stern.
No sooner had the food been tossed in- our guides toss us into the mix, as well. After a few squeaks and squeals we all find our way around the beautiful coral beds, checking out the residents as they go about their business- some of us quietly praying that the more feisty creatures keep their distance.
Once every one is done exploring the reef, the real splashing begins!
Whitney (Connolly), Beth (Sager), Todd (Binford), Rebecca (Mercer), Jamie (Thornton), and Brandie (Buckless) climb on top of the second level of the boat where an assortment of bombies, dives, back flips and belly flops (Jamie) are performed.
Our second stop is a quick one, where a huge splash from our instructor is followed by a meet and greet close-up with a huge starfish on the back of the boat. All the girls hold and take pictures with the spiny sea creature, and then he is quickly dropped back into the water where he resumes his exciting life of just chillin’ at the bottom of the ocean.
One thing that we all learn in the Bahamas is that if you want to own your own part of an island, you need to invent a little something called ‘spandex.’ We are telling you now, that this dude owns what looks like a great big jungle theme park. We are given a close-up of the mansion from the boat where 15 girls become the paparazzi of this stylish and funky palace.
The last stop is by far one of the most exciting things we have EVER done in our lives. We stop at a larger, and darker, part of the reef where the water is no longer a shallow turquoise, but now a dark abyss.
A mysterious black garbage bag is lowered into the water in a small steel cage and a long rope with a bright orange buoy is dangled off the end of the boat.
Large dark shadows begin to lurk in the water below us. Rebecca and Whitney are the first to be lowered into the unknown were they are greeted by a school of hungry reef sharks!
The tour guides dangle the MSU women’s basketball team off the back of the boat-- around a school of sharks AT DINNER TIME!
Through the top of the snorkels there are squeals and screams that sound a little like someone strangling a squirrel, and it takes a few minutes to convince Callie, Mara and Coach Saneholtz into the water.
Once we are all in the water, the sharks are curious and hungry. They start to play around and tickle our feet – and Erin’s backside, as well. After a few short (very short) minutes, some folks feel the urge to rush back onto the boat as the sharks come closer and closer to the bobbling lunch meat dangling off the end of the boat.
The ladies dangling on the end are a little concerned of one quirky shark eying them, as it give us the impression it’s deriving a plan of attack! We are all quickly fished out of the water and the real feeding frenzy begins.
The mysterious black garbage bag is unwrapped and out come half eaten chunks of fish. Our guides slap the fish against the water and up come all of the sharks. With a whiff of dinner they all scurry and splash around trying to bite off a chunk of fish, and nearly a chunk of our guide’s toe. There are a few close calls as the sharks try to launch themselves onto the boat, scaring Alyssa (Nelson) clear into the air! Once the food was out, so are we.
We return to our favorite spot on the boat and take in the last bit of sun as our guides return us to dry land, with all of our body parts intact.
In the evening, we all dress up and load onto a bus for a fish fry. After we take a million photos, and stop traffic for five minutes on the main drag, we spread out and find what looks to be the best restaurant on the street. Most of us choose Twin Brothers, were we sample Bahamian seafood such as fried conch, lobster, shrimp, snapper, grouper, and for the less game- a nice big juicy steak.
Smooth tunes come from the step show behind us as we all dine in fine style on what seems to be our own private VIP booth. After we down our dinner, we are escorted by our very own security guard, Coach Scanson, to the bus and are whisked back to the Wyndham.
Yawns go through the hotel rooms of the MSU women’s basketball team. Wow it’s early. Half asleep, people slowly wander around their rooms trying to get dressed.
But hold up!
Wow, we are going snorkeling.
All of a sudden the “getting dressed process” speeds up tremendously. Now, we are trying to hurry to get on the bus to go snorkeling. We leave the hotel around 8:30 a.m., and drive about half an hour to the Stuart Dove Dock.
We are quickly registered and fitted with our stylish flippers, and tossed onto the boat where the ladies with the pink shoulders and cheeks smother with “No. 30.”
Our boat speeds off through the beautiful turquoise water with the usual sun bathers, Callie (Goff) and Erin (Goodman), soaking up the rays on the bow of the boat.
Our first stop is just off a small island where the fish food is tossed into the water and a feeding frenzy is on. Hundreds of yellow fin tuna and parrot fish race around the stern.
No sooner had the food been tossed in- our guides toss us into the mix, as well. After a few squeaks and squeals we all find our way around the beautiful coral beds, checking out the residents as they go about their business- some of us quietly praying that the more feisty creatures keep their distance.
Once every one is done exploring the reef, the real splashing begins!
Whitney (Connolly), Beth (Sager), Todd (Binford), Rebecca (Mercer), Jamie (Thornton), and Brandie (Buckless) climb on top of the second level of the boat where an assortment of bombies, dives, back flips and belly flops (Jamie) are performed.
Our second stop is a quick one, where a huge splash from our instructor is followed by a meet and greet close-up with a huge starfish on the back of the boat. All the girls hold and take pictures with the spiny sea creature, and then he is quickly dropped back into the water where he resumes his exciting life of just chillin’ at the bottom of the ocean.
One thing that we all learn in the Bahamas is that if you want to own your own part of an island, you need to invent a little something called ‘spandex.’ We are telling you now, that this dude owns what looks like a great big jungle theme park. We are given a close-up of the mansion from the boat where 15 girls become the paparazzi of this stylish and funky palace.
The last stop is by far one of the most exciting things we have EVER done in our lives. We stop at a larger, and darker, part of the reef where the water is no longer a shallow turquoise, but now a dark abyss.
A mysterious black garbage bag is lowered into the water in a small steel cage and a long rope with a bright orange buoy is dangled off the end of the boat.
Large dark shadows begin to lurk in the water below us. Rebecca and Whitney are the first to be lowered into the unknown were they are greeted by a school of hungry reef sharks!
The tour guides dangle the MSU women’s basketball team off the back of the boat-- around a school of sharks AT DINNER TIME!
Through the top of the snorkels there are squeals and screams that sound a little like someone strangling a squirrel, and it takes a few minutes to convince Callie, Mara and Coach Saneholtz into the water.
Once we are all in the water, the sharks are curious and hungry. They start to play around and tickle our feet – and Erin’s backside, as well. After a few short (very short) minutes, some folks feel the urge to rush back onto the boat as the sharks come closer and closer to the bobbling lunch meat dangling off the end of the boat.
The ladies dangling on the end are a little concerned of one quirky shark eying them, as it give us the impression it’s deriving a plan of attack! We are all quickly fished out of the water and the real feeding frenzy begins.
The mysterious black garbage bag is unwrapped and out come half eaten chunks of fish. Our guides slap the fish against the water and up come all of the sharks. With a whiff of dinner they all scurry and splash around trying to bite off a chunk of fish, and nearly a chunk of our guide’s toe. There are a few close calls as the sharks try to launch themselves onto the boat, scaring Alyssa (Nelson) clear into the air! Once the food was out, so are we.
We return to our favorite spot on the boat and take in the last bit of sun as our guides return us to dry land, with all of our body parts intact.
In the evening, we all dress up and load onto a bus for a fish fry. After we take a million photos, and stop traffic for five minutes on the main drag, we spread out and find what looks to be the best restaurant on the street. Most of us choose Twin Brothers, were we sample Bahamian seafood such as fried conch, lobster, shrimp, snapper, grouper, and for the less game- a nice big juicy steak.
Smooth tunes come from the step show behind us as we all dine in fine style on what seems to be our own private VIP booth. After we down our dinner, we are escorted by our very own security guard, Coach Scanson, to the bus and are whisked back to the Wyndham.
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