Harbour Island Bahamas - Best Kept Secret

Promise not to tell? One of the best kept secrets of the Bahamas is Harbour Island. This romantic little island, known as "Briland" by its inhabitants, is a short hop from the States. A one hour flight from Florida to North Eleuthera followed by a brief cab and water taxi ride gets you to this Bahamas gem in a hurry.

Harbour Island is less than 4 miles long and a 1/2 mile wide. Its long wide beach is famous for its hard-packed pale pink sand. The likes of Fodors and Conde Nast rate it as one of the "best Bahamas beaches." The beach, combined with some great restaurants, hotels and vacation home rentals, makes Harbour Island a destination of choice amongst Bahamas enthusiasts. It's no surprise to find a few "rich and famous" there -- they know they won't be hounded.

Central to Harbour island is Dunmore Town. This quaint and friendly community features old Victorian structures adorned with Bahama's colorful pastel paint schemes. No high rise hotels, fast food or traffic jams on this island!

Golf cart rentals are the transportation of choice. Swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, fishing, and just plain walking the beach are some of the popular activities. To be sure, Harbour Island is not known for its shopping and night life nor is there any gambling. If you seek large crowds, wild parties or theme park rides, this is not your destination.

Harbour Island's weather is delightful; especially during late Winter and Spring when there is little chance of rain. ocean breezes take any edge off of moderately warm temperatures ranging from the 70s to 80s during the day and late 60s at night. Air conditioning during season is unnecessary -- ceiling fans are adequate. Nothing beats falling asleep to the sounds of the ocean through an open window.

Dining out is casual. The better restaurants include Pink Sands Hotel, Coral Sands, The Landing, Rock House, Romora Bay Club and Harbour Lounge. For local fare, Ma Ruby's should not be missed. And there are more... Part of the pleasure of exploring the island is checking out the restaurants. When compared to other Bahamian islands, Harbour Island has one of the best selections of restaurants -- all within close proximity to any place you stay.

On the ocean side, hotels include Pink Sands Hotel, Coral Sands Hotel and Dunmore Beach Club. On the bay side, it's The Landing Inn and the Rock House. On a budget? There are other hotels to choose from. Visiting Harbour Island is not cheap, but if it was, then everybody would be there, right?

Harbour Island's vacation home rentals and villas are numerous. Location and size come at a price. If you desire "beachfront", the better locations are usually on the north and south along the east coast. If you want to save a little, there are some nice rentals in Dunmore Town and others located in the interior of the island. The beach is always minutes away.

Look for home rentals on the internet offering more than a few photos so you know what to expect. A number of rentals are handled by rental or real estate agents who may not provide much in the way of details, descriptions, map locations or photos. Owners who care about promoting their home rental typically have independent web sites and accept e-mail inquiries directly.

The better house rentals on Harbour Island are booked nearly a year in advance of prime season. Those who want the best make early reservations -- many are repeat customers. You can also take a "standby" position on a number of rentals in hopes someone cancels. Ask for referrals and double check policies for deposits and refunds.

If you seek a memorable and relaxed Bahamas vacation coupled with sun, sea, great food and a romantic beachfront that will knock your eyes out, consider Harbour Island. See you on the beach!

Copyright 2004 Perry Joseph

Perry Joseph is a freelance writer, website developer and frequent visitor to the Bahamas. For more information on Harbour Island, visit his website: Harbour Island Bahamas

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Why We Eat

In the quest for weight loss, the diet industry puts a lot of attention on what we eat but focusing on why we eat may be more important.

After losing over 70 lbs. permanently and becoming a weight loss coach for others, I've found most people have a pretty good idea of what they should eat. We have no problem categorizing foods into healthy and non-healthy lists. But ask someone why they eat and the usual response is "hunger." Unraveling the deeper reasons beneath the pre-emptive response of "hunger" may take a little detective work!

Here are a few things that might be lurking beneath the surface of hunger. Keep in mind that the categories can overlap and coexist!

Learned Behavior

Some people learn behaviors at an early age and never question them. A good example is milk and cookies at bedtime or a larger-than-usual meal on Sunday nights. We rarely think about Learned Behaviors, we simply do them unconsciously. However, the calories still count!

Availability of Food

Imagine you ate a satisfying breakfast. You don't feel hungry at all. Then, someone brings donuts to work. Imagine further that you don't even like the type of donuts that appeared! How many times would you eat them anyway? Nine out of 10 times? Availability of Food can be a real quagmire along the weight loss route, especially in the United States where food is abundant and relatively inexpensive.

Other examples of Availability of Food are all-you-can-eat buffets and social occasions.

Cravings

Cravings for food are chemical. For example, when the brain needs serotonin, the brain causes carbohydrate cravings. When blood sugar levels are low, we may crave sugary or sweet foods. When we experience cravings, eating what we crave will satisfy the body for a very short time, then the craving will return full force. Protein is actually a better choice when intense desire occurs because it will break the craving cycle.

Emotional Eating

Food can dilute, soften or dull emotions we term "unpleasant" like anger, resentment, frustration, guilt and hatred. Even emotions we label "desirable" can be so intense, food may be used to dull the feeling back into a manageable or tolerable level. Prime emotions for this type of eating are joy, happiness, desire, elation and excitement.

At other times, we may eat to substitute for a lack of feeling. A good example of this is boredom. Eating when you are bored can bring on feelings of self-hatred, humiliation, and shame, but the bored, empty feeling is gone!

Habits

A habit is a stable behavior formed through repetition over time. Many people ask how this is different than Learned Behavior. The difference is that Learned Behaviors are learned from other people, usually family, and have a long history. We are solely responsible for forming Habits. The good news is that good habits are as easily formed as bad habits.

Social Eating

It is rare to socialize in any way today in America without the involvement of food. Watching a football game at a neighbor's house, meeting friends you haven't seen for a while: these things don't need the involvement of food but it usually becomes an integral part of any social plan. This often intersects with Availability of Food. It might be wise to ask yourself if you are really hungry or just eating because it seems the acceptable and expected thing to do.

Environmental Eating

Does a visit to the ball park always mean hot dogs? Does a movie have to include 2000 calories of popcorn? Certain environments trigger eating that is unhealthy. Sometimes it can be any environment that is not home. For instance, do you always eat more than necessary when dining in a restaurant?

Hunger

Hunger, true hunger, is another reason to eat. And, ideally, it's the only reason. Humans were designed to eat to fuel their bodies. Fuel to survive. Fuel for the massive amounts of maintenance, healing and growth our bodies accomplish every day.

The first step in straightening out a negative eating style is to be able to recognize the why as it's happening.

It may take a bit of work to get to the point where true hunger can be recognized but we'd all be thinner and healthier if we ate only when we were hungry.

Pat Barone earned her title "America's weight Loss Catalyst" by coaching thousands of clients toward permanent weight loss. Her status as an expert is heightened by her own personal weight loss success. Receive her free newsletter "The Catalyst" by visiting http://www.patbarone.com/sign_up.htm

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