After having a great week in the Bahamas and a deep run in the European Poker Tour PCA event last year, I was truly looking forward to making the trip again this year. I expected it to be one of the best and most relaxing weeks of the year for me once again.

Boy, was I wrong…

The problems actually began before I even left for the airport. A few days before my girlfriend and I were scheduled to leave she found out that her ex-best friend had passed away. I never knew the girl, but apparently she was my girlfriend’s best friend for several years before we got together.

However, shortly before we got together they had a falling out. My girlfriend had been trying to avoid her for the past few years because of the person the girl had become. That is why I was surprised at how upset my girlfriend became after receiving the news.

She ultimately decided the night before we were to leave that she had to skip the trip to attend the funeral. I was a bit disappointed, but obviously completely understood and respected her decision to say her final goodbyes.

I was determined not to let traveling solo spoil my trip. I arrived in the Bahamas after a layover in Orlando and was at the carousel waiting for my suitcase. They must have dumped four or five flights worth of baggage onto one carousel, because the belt became so overloaded that they actually temporarily shut it down.

I waited patiently for about an hour before giving up and filing a missing bag claim….along with about 20 other people from my flight. I got to spend my first two days in the Bahamas wearing the plaid pajama pants and a Bob Marley shirt that I wore to sleep on the flight. Thanks AirTran!!!

Then there’s the weed situation. More specifically, there’s what the locals call “weed.” Imagine taking pencil shavings and compressing them into bud form and what is surely 30% stems. Then you take these “buds” and shove them up your “ass.” This disgusting brown concoction is about all tourists can expect find in the Bahamas.

Oh, I forgot the best part. If you’re going to buy it anywhere near the resort, the shady guys on the beach will want $30/gram for this crap.  If you want any reasonable quantity, you have to know somebody or get dragged deep into the Bahamian ghetto by a cab driver.  

Naturally this middleman will jack up the price on you, want $70 for a 30-minute round trip cab fare, and even have the audacity to insinuate that we should be tipping him even more for his “services.” What a country!

I still spent my first couple days in the Bahamas having some drinks, partaking in the local Bahamian “weed,” and trying to make the best of a somewhat rough start to the trip.  Little did I know, the worst was yet to come …