“The best thing one can do 
when it’s raining is 
to let it rain.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I know that there is a forecast of rain for Nassau, but not until next week. The rain that began to fall at 6:15 this evening was not predicted on my weather app. So…

I took a late afternoon walk down to the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel across the street from Junkanoo Beach. That’s where I’ve stayed during my last three visits to the island. I’ve gotten to know a number of the hotel employees — front desk workers, bartenders in the restaurant, and a very charismatic hotel concierge named Clyde. I was just going to stop by for a social visit.

As fate would have it, the hotel was hosting a complimentary reception for Bonvoy Club members from 5:00 to 6:00. Even though I’m not staying at the Courtyard this time, I am a Bonvoy Club member, so I joined in the festivities. There was a local musician providing music on a steel drum. Complimentary drinks and appetizers (conch fritters) were being served. Instead of having the event in the restaurant/bar area, it was being held outside poolside. The weather was ideal and the event was quite successful.

When I arrived, I was greeted warmly by one of the front desk clerks. She remembered me from my previous visits. When I walked out to the pool area, I could see that Mico was the bartender for the event. I felt quite welcome when he greeted me by name, as did two of the servers who were assisting with the event. 

As I prepared to walk back to my condo on St. Alban’s Drive, a 30-minute walk from the hotel, rain began to fall. It wasn’t just a drizzle. It was pouring. I don’t mind getting a little wet, but with the heavy rain comes flooding along the curbs of many of the local streets, as well as mud on some of the dirt pathways I’d taken to get to the hotel. 

While I agree with Longfellow that the best thing to do when it rains is to let it rain, the second best thing to do is to hail a taxi. As I exited the main entrance to the hotel, a taxi driver had just dropped off a small group of people. I asked if he was available to drive me to St. Alban’s Drive. He graciously agreed.

He was quite a talker. He asked if this was my first visit to Nassau. I explained that I’d been here several times over the past fifty years, and that I used to teach on the island. Suddenly, he looked back at me and said, “I know you! We met outside the British Colonial Hotel one evening when you were walking by. You taught up at SAC!”

Indeed I did, and indeed we had met previously. It was just about a year ago. I’d been downtown for the afternoon and decided to walk back to the Courtyard. As I passed the British Colonial, this gentleman was sitting in his cab with the door open waiting for his next fare. We got to talking. As I mentioned, he’s a talker, and so am I, so we’d enjoyed a lively conversation about life in the Bahamas. He, too, is the product of a catholic education. He attended Aquinas College here in Nassau, graduating in 1977. We had more than just a few mutual friends and acquaintances.

While I still plan to do a lot of walking during my stay in Nassau, I now have a driver to call anytime I need a taxi.