Anna's trip to Nassau Bahamas with grandma enabled them to share fun times, discover a new culture, and enjoy each other's company.Anna's trip to Nassau Bahamas with grandma enabled them to share fun times, discover a new culture, and enjoy each other's company.

The best way I’ve found to bond with a grandchild is to take him or her traveling. Exploring new places, trying out new foods and meeting people from other cultures all provide a basis for learning through conversation and discovery, and build unbeatable memories.

I decided to start early with my then 7-year-old granddaughter, Anna, and the destination I chose was Paradise Island, Bahamas.  It was close enough to our Florida homes for an easy trip, yet far enough away to be exotic, yet ideal for a family beach getaway.

Exploring the Islands of the Bahamas

The highlight of our trip to Paradise Island and Nassau, Bahamas was the Close Encounter experience at Dolphin Encounters (866/918-9932 or 242/363-1003; reservations strongly suggested) on tiny Blue Lagoon Island, which visitors reach from the Paradise Island Ferry dock. Here we knelt in the water as gentle Atlantic bottlenose dolphins snuggled against us, allowing us to stroke them and giving us "kisses." For the entire time we were there, Anna's smiles matched their perpetual grins.

Another memorable moment came the next morning when we enjoyed a horse-and-buggy ride. Our nag, who wore a straw hat festooned with lilac flowers, took us clip-clopping along the narrow streets of Nassau past colonial buildings as our driver told us a bit about English Colonialism and African slavery. We observed the action at the busy Straw Market on Bay Street, promising to return to buy souvenirs, and the teeming activity at the duty-free shops.

Then we stopped at the Pirates of Nassau Museum (242/356-3759) on King and George streets. Anna was frightened when the "pirate" jumped out with a bloodcurdling shriek. But she was delighted by the re-created buildings of old Nassau, the screeching pirate ship Revenge and the detailed description we got about the colorful lives of the pirates. This was a chance for her to learn about my favorite women pirates, Mary Reed and Anne Bonny.

Later, outside at Ardastra Gardens, Zoo and Conservation Centre (242/23-5806) at Chippingham Road near West Bay Street, Nassau, a flock of pink flamingos marched in perfect precision. Then we photographed each other with exotic birds and snakes. Anna, who says she's going to be a veterinarian when she grows up, was less squeamish about the snake than about the birds.

Cultural Explorations

But I wanted Anna to see more of the Bahamas than just the tourist attractions, so we participated in a People-to-People Experience. It was arranged through Educulture Bahamas (242/328-3786) on Nassau, so we could visit the private home of a Bahamian family, Lawrence and Ursula Chisholm. Here Anna played in their pool with their relatives and neighbors along with other participating American kids, talked to them about what it’s like to live on this lovely island year-round and how their school compares to hers.

This also presented an opportunity for her to try some of the local foods, such as conch fritters. But she found all the youngsters liked mac and cheese.

There we also met Arlene Nash Ferguson, director of Educulture Bahamas, who told us about the colorful Junkanoo custom. She said it dates back 200 years, with the two annual parades reaching their peaks at midnight on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) and early New Year's morning on Bay Street. Costumes are made from cardboard (from refrigerator and washing machine boxes) and trimmed with crepe paper. Originally they were frightening, but now they are beautiful. At the Chisholms’ pool, the children made Junkanoo masks out of cardboard, and joined the musicians marching around.

Ferguson said Junkanoo is a contraction of John Canoe, who was believed to be an 18th-century slave trader. Others say he was an African tribal leader. Whichever is correct, he brought the custom to America. Slaves were given three days off for the holiday at this time of the year, so it became part of the tradition and later an expression of their freedom. It's strictly a Bahamian experience, not practiced on other islands.

Back at our beach hotel on Paradise Island -- Atlantis -- Anna and I sailed down a giant water slide at the Mayan Temple and strolled through an acrylic tunnel where manta rays (the only ones in the Western Hemisphere) and sharks cavorted above and around us. We passed huge glass windows overlooking aquarium tanks where scuba divers fed enormous fish. We also went rubber-tubing down the Lazy River, which she loved so much she had to ride a second time.

Nassau Trip Planning Details

The Atlantis (800/ATLANTIS) on Paradise Island is truly a family-friendly beach vacation hotel. Ranked in 2009 as one of the Top 10 Caribbean resorts for families by Travel + Leisure Family magazine, it offered lots of other attractions to help keep us entertained. Atlantis boasts 13 swimming pools, not counting the Lazy River Ride; the world's largest marine habitat -- a 141-acre waterscape holding 20 million gallons of water that sustains 50,000 live sea animals tended by 60 aquarium employees; a re-created underwater world of Atlantis and a complimentary movie theater.

The Club Rush Teen Center entertains teens and ‘tweens, and, starting in December, the new Atlantis Kids Club for youngsters will entertain little ones ages 3 to 12. For adults seeking a few hours on their own while the little ones are in camp, there’s a large casino bedecked with four stunning Dale Chihuly chandeliers.  Additionally, 40 restaurants and lounges beckon, including buffet-style eateries, often a good choice for antsy kids.

American Eagle provided us easy access directly into Nassau, Bahamas, where a brief taxi ride sped us over the bridge to Paradise Island. There is also an inexpensive water taxi from the Nassau Pier. American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Spirit, Jet Blue and Continental are other airlines serving Nassau from many major US cities.

Photographs for this story provided courtesy Molly Staub.