Hope Town 

Patrick Davis Hopetown Songwriters Festival
We’ve headed to Hopetown for the music festival and we have reservations at the Hopetown Inn and Marina. It will be a chance to show a whole different side of cruising to Jim and Michele which is much more social and land based. We are so excited for the music festival which is a gathering of songwriters mostly from Nashville who share their stories and music each night.

It’s truely a magical experience with each night having its own energy and artist collaborations. The people watching is pretty great too. We have one night where everyone is out dancing and the next, the artists are really jamming with each other. Each evening is hosted by a different resort or restaurant on Elbow Cay. We’ve enjoyed every evening and the songwriter artists are very interesting and accessible to chat and ask questions. It’s neat to see how they work. Not to mention, we’re meeting songwriters who’ve penned huge hits for some of our favorite bands, Zac Brown Band and Hootie and the Blowfish, for example.

On Saturday we head over to Man O War Cay for their annual flea market fund raiser for the school. It’s chock full of both flea market items and local artists from all over the Abacos. John scores an Hawaiian sling spear for his handle and a hookah pump. I got to check out the fabric store and Norman Albury Sailmakers where the ladies make wonderful fabric bags. Needless to say, we did our part to support the local economy.

Walking the beach on Man-O-War Cay

We enjoy exploring Hopetown’s shops and restaurants including Vernon’s grocery/bakery for fresh bread and Sip Sip Wine shop where we have excellent flatbread pizza.

We play pickleball with a new crowd and on Monday morning, and unfortunately Jim takes a tumble, rolling his ankle on loose concrete. Probably broken…so we head back to Marsh Harbor to see the emergency doctor there. It was our plan to spend the week there anyway, but sure hope he’s okay.

Pickleball, before the tumble.