Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
consultants, photographers and ministers. Most major hotels and tour operators
can also make arrangements; they usually ask couples to send notarized copies
of required documents at least one month in advance. Major resorts also have
special honeymoon packages and can make wedding arrangements at your be-
hest.
Graycliff Cigar Co
CIGAR FACTORY
( W Hill St; admission free; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri) Wandering into the back room of the
Graycliff Hotel's steakhouse is like falling from 2010s Bahamas into 1920s Cuba. In a
narrow, smoke-yellowed room with old-fashioned mosaic floors, a dozen
torcedores
(ci-
gar rollers) are busy at work, their hands a blur as they roll hand-dried tobacco leaves into
premium stogies. Until his recent death, the company's head
torcedor
was Avelino Lara,
the former personal cigar roller to Fidel Castro. If you speak Spanish, the rollers will be
happy to chat with you about their craft.
Government House
GOVERNMENT BUILDING
( W Hill St) This splendid Georgian mansion, residence to the Bahamas' Governor-Gen-
eral, sits atop W Hill St like a pink candied topping. Below, the
statue of Christopher
Columbus
has maintained a jaunty pose on the steps overlooking Duke St since 1830. The
original home was built in 1737 by Governor Fitzwilliam but was destroyed by a hurricane
in 1929. The current building was completed in 1932, and the lavish decorations date from
the Duke of Windsor's time as governor in the 1940s. Visitors can walk the grounds for a
close look at the building, but must be accompanied by the guards. Between 4pm and 5pm
on the last Friday of the month, you can 'have a cuppa' with the governor-general's wife,
complete with high-tea sandwiches and live music from local bands.
St Andrews Presbyterian Kirk
CHURCH
( Prince's & Market Sts) Below Government House, this handsome church owes its exist-
ence to a Loyalist who settled in Nassau at the end of the American Revolution. In 1798 he
established the St Andrew's Society, comprising 55 Scots, to 'cultivate good understanding
and social intercourse.' The Freemasons laid the cornerstone in 1810, and the church has
since undergone many architectural changes.
Gregory Arch
MONUMENT
