On the Riviera, we want our guests to feel like travelers. Anthony Bourdain once said, “When you travel, let the happy accidents happen.” As such, we want our passengers to feel like they are stepping aboard a hidden gem of a yacht, experiencing sailing in San Diego as authentic and genuine travelers rather than tourists who mindlessly check off their travel itinerary boxes with their iPhone cameras.
Last week Victoria and I visited the Bahamas. It was a work trip for her; I was just the “+1” Although she lived in Nassau briefly several years ago, it was my first visit to this archipelago in the Caribbean.
The hotel and casino were huge. The property was Vegas-like. Ornate and gaudy. The food was what you would expect, average and overpriced. The beach and pools were packed with throngs of tourists that descend on these shallow islands weekly. Thousands of tourists, all wearing fuchsia and turquoise, trying to look slim in oversized Tommy Bahama. For me, it’s just not my jam. Sipping on a $28.00 cocktail in an overcrowded pool filled with urine has never appealed to me. Well, that’s not true… there was that one time in Palm Springs. Anyway, I digress. Where was I? Oh yes, the crowds and pee-pee. Right, not for me. I am a traveler, not a tourist.
Sensing my discomfort and destain for all things touristy, Victoria suggested we leave the hotel property and explore the island. She remembered a conch stand on the west end where she and her friends would hang out years ago. Yes! I said, thinking it couldn’t be worse than the hotel’s plate of $75.00 nachos.
The colorful hand-painted sign read Dino’s Gourmet Conch Salad. This small roadside wood and brick catina looked sketchy. I stepped over a large dog napping, or at least I hoped it was napping, in the shade of a poinciana tree and sat at the bar.
The salad was prepared in front of us by two knife-wheedling cooks that sliced and diced the limes, onions, peppers, and conch while avoiding the flys that dodged their blades. They knew it was my “first time” and stepped up their show to entertain the couple from San Diego.
I was handed a pint cup overfilled with the conch mix. A small crowd of locals had gathered to watch the goofy white guy take his first bite of this spicy concoction. It was incredible. My face lit up, my eyes watered, and I nodded in approval as the onlookers applauded.
Marinating in lime and orange juice, the fresh conch was tender and delicious. The goat pepper spice gave the onions, peppers and tomatoes the perfect heat. Paired with a bottle of Kalik beer, this meal is now one of my top 10 all-time favorite dishes.
The takeaway? No matter where you travel, look for the tourists, then go in the opposite direction. You just might find your very own hidden gem.
In San Diego, there’s no fresh conch to make a salad. But on Riviera, we’ll make a killer ceviche and pair it with wine from the Guadalupe Valley. Sail with us on Riviera and understand what it means to be a traveler rather than a tourist.
Fair winds and following seas!
Paul & Victoria
