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Atlantis 2012!
Story
written by Rick Archer
November 2012 |
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Marla and I visited Atlantis two years earlier on our
Bahamas 2010 trip.
We were so blown away with this place that we absolutely had
to return.
During our first visit, we concentrated on roaming the
gardens and goofing around in the Lazy River. Only
late in the day did we get around to the amazing rides and
slides. To our dismay, the moment we realized just how
awesome each ride was... we had to go! Oh, how that
hurt. Knowing that we had missed out on over half the
rides ate at our souls. We had to come back!
That is my friend Shari Clark in the blue and my friend
Peggy Mazeika in the white. When I was a boy, I was
raised as a Quaker, a religion I am fond of to this day.
Shari and Peggy are my childhood friends from the Quaker
Meeting. I spent so much time with Shari's family I consider
Shari to be my kid sister.
If you have read my story of
Panama 2012, you may recall that Shari and her
mother Polly, a lady I owe a huge debt to, came along with
Marla and me for that cruise. Shari had so much fun on
that trip that she talked her friend Peggy into coming along
as well. It was wonderful to have both ladies along for this
trip.
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Don't forget that I
have a previous story about Atlantis.
Bahamas 2010
contains a great deal of background on the Atlantis Resort
plus many amazing pictures.
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You definitely will want to see
Bahamas 2010
again. I left out many of the pictures I took on
today's visit simply because they were duplicates of my 2010
pictures.
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From our Magic group -
Barbara,
Kathy, Cindy, Candy, ??, Ana, Sue
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Here
is
the iconic
Mayan Temple that serves as the symbol of the Atlantis Resort. |
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The
Waterfall Tour
Marla and I
spent the vast majority of the day riding the Lazy River and taking the
incredible rides with our friends Ross and Carolyn. Sorry, I don't have
any pictures of the rides because I didn't have a waterproof
camera. Fortunately, my
previous article
on Atlantis documents the Lazy River very well.
In the
afternoon, we decided to do some exploring. First we
wandered over to beach facing the Atlantic Ocean. Then
on our way back, we encountered the area highlighted in the
picture. Here I saw an astounding series of man-made
waterfalls.
I would like to
make the point AGAIN that it is incredible how realistic
this scenery is. The rock formations look so authentic
I actually wondered how they pulled that off.
Furthermore, the waterfalls are so natural that I could have
sworn they were real. I had to repeatedly challenge my
senses with the reminder there was no possible way they were
not man-made. They sure looked real!
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What may not be obvious is that these are all different
waterfalls. There are four of them all in a row.
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I couldn't get
far enough away to capture all the falls in just one
picture. It was a stunning display indeed.
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Another feature
of the waterfalls is the terraced pools below. In
addition to the giant waterfalls, you had a series of small
waterfalls like this one dropping into smalls ponds.
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I shouldn't
admit this, but I tried very hard to build a small waterfall
in my background. My utter failure to even begin to
replicate this work only reinforces my admiration for
Atlantis.
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There were about
eight separate waterfalls in all. As I said in my
previous article about Atlantis, I don't know what the
Garden of Eden looked like, but until I see something
better, Atlantis gets my vote with its stunning landscape
and lush foliage.
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The picture you
won't see is Marla and I collapsing together on one of these
blue lounge chairs. The temptation to go to sleep was
overwhelming. Marla and I both feared we would miss
the bus so we left now. It is depressing to admit we went back
to the ship early simply because we didn't have the strength
to have more fun.
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Here is a
picture of a canyon created by two enormous Carnival cruise
ships sitting side by side. That is Kurt, Barbara and
Iqbal on the left.
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Everyone was in
a good mood at dinner that night. Joanne, Sherry,
Jeannie, Fran, Mary, and Andy's lovely blue shirt. On the left you have
Don and Marsha. They got married the Friday before our trip,
then shared their honeymoon with us!
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My kid sister
Shari absolutely loved Atlantis. For the rest of the
trip, Shari thanked me for convincing her to visit the
resort.
Shari formerly
worked as an attendant for Continental Airlines, but these
days calls United Airlines her employer. For many
years, Shari has worked the shuttle between Houston and
Honolulu. In fact, Shari has a home in Honolulu.
After our day in
Atlantis, Shari said the place reminded her of a very
beautiful hotel on the Big Island in Hawaii known as
Waikoloa Village.
Shari suggested
we might enjoy visiting Waikoloa when our group visits Kona
on our Hawaii 2013 cruise next year. Shari said that
when it came to natural beauty, Waikoloa was a perfect match
for Atlantis.
That got my
attention.
Marla and I are always looking for gardens to visit. So I decided to
check it out.
Waikoloa
Village
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Waikoloa Village on the Big Island, Hawaii |
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