Fox Town (22-23 January)

A buddy of John’s suggested he visit a place named Fox Town, across from Hawksbill Cay, and that he say “hello” to Ron and Judy. Since that moved us closer to our Marsh Harbor destination, we decided we were game and would accompany John. Now, Fox Town was the first real Bahamian town we had visited and it was probably as close to the real Bahamas as we will ever see. There were three things that dominate my observations of Fox Town. First, there was religion – Baptist. We arrived on a Sunday and just about everyone was observing the Sabbath the kids were out playing and there was nobody – or almost nobody – in the streets (except those few people in the bar watching the New England – Baltimore football playoffs). Second, there was poverty. The economy here is based on fishing, primarily lobster, conch, grouper and some other fish whose name I didn’t recognize. And while things appeared to be going okay, no one can really get ahead. My one-day observation – for what it is worth – is that the harder they worked the further behind they fell. Remember the Tennessee Ernie song, “Sixteen Tons?”It seemed kind of like that. It was kind of sad. But the third thing that no one could fail to notice was how friendly the locals were. When we docked our dinghy, there were two young boys who helped us onto the dock and decided to accompany us – and show us the way to – the nearest (and only) internet site in town. Kevin, one of the young men, was about 11 and claimed to have six brothers and four sisters. When we got to the local bar-café, Judy (of Ron and Judy) let us use her internet connection for free. John connected with his family and we connected with our friends and family. Oh! And I got to watch a little (and just a little) of the New England-Baltimore Playoff game. It was a great day!


Cracked conch MMM mmm ... Even better than gator!

 We were there only about two hours, but the local extroverts had to come and see the new people. I am sure you have all seen movies about how the locals followed the hero explorers into town. Although we were not heroes, we felt kind of like that. In addition to Kevin and one of his brothers, others came to join us when we arrived at Ron and Judy’s. We thought we were the tourists coming to see their town, but they seemed to perceive us as the aliens they had to observe. Strange. Anyway, I learned all about catching lobster and conch from one local fisherman (whose name I, sadly, do not recall) and Ann learned all about the town from Caroline. Caroline was a big lady. Ann and I disagree on her age. Ann says early seventies, I say maybe her fifties – who knows, who cares, she was a sweetheart -- who had owned her own fishing boat until she had a stroke. Now, they wouldn’t let her take a boat out on her own anymore, so she hung around town. I don ‘t know whether or not she was the (very sweet) town gossip, but she sure knew and relayed a lot about Fox Town. Anyway, we all decide that since there were several grocery stores in Fox Town, and since we were not yet finished with our internet business, we would come back in the morning and leave for out next destination in the afternoon.


Ann and her new friend Caroline

The next morning, we initially went to the bar-café where we had been the day before so we could establish internet connections. When we arrived, Carline was already there. We asked where the best grocery store was and she decided that she should take us there. She really wanted us to go to the local phone company and get a chip in our phone so she could “check up on us.” We didn’t tell her that we were going to wait until we got to Marsh Harbor, but we did take her phone number and tell her we would call. The grocery stores were not what most American would consider a real grocery store. They were about the size of a small bedroom or a walk-in closet; they were small. For the most part they had canned goods, and staples. We did not see any vegetables or fruit, fresh or otherwise. These were minuscule “grocery” stores. However, since we were there and did take up the proprietors time, I felt obliged to buy something. At the first one we bought pineapple juice (for rum drinks, of course) and barbecued Pringles – primarily because no one was buying anything.

 After using the internet at the bar-restaurant-café, we decided we need to have a real Bahamian meal, so we ordered cracked Conch. (Besides, we needed to repay Judy for her hospitality and I thought the best way to do that was to order a meal. It was heavenly. Ann, especially, fell in love with it and convinced the cook to yield her recipe. We also met Theresa, a white lady living in Fox Town who is from Deale, Maryland, the location where we used to keep our boat. It is a small world. After we talked to everyone and eaten our conch, we were stuffed and ready to head off to Allens-Pensacola Cay.

 ANN’S NOTES: I think Michael has described Fox Town rather well…the town has about 500 people living in the town. It has a fueling dock, the internet café/bar, several of what the locals call grocery store,s and some very friendly people. Oh…just a note …almost all the little settlements/town have wonderful bakeries that have home-made bread. Fresh fruits and vegetables are catch as catch can..if you see a tomato, buy it JThe cracked conch was excellent…I talked with Judy the cook/bar maid/fueling attendant/internet expect…the multi-tasker if ever there is one. Anyway we talked about how to make the perfect cracked conch..I think the trick is to hammer the conch to death until it is tender. They also used a special kind of flour from Canada, of which we now have a five pound bag in our pantry J


Theresa (from Deale, MD) and Judy of Ron and Judy fame