From around the globe, in the wee hours of the morning of Feb 18th, 2016, the whole Quacker team took off by boat and by plane, and met up at the beautiful Grand Lucayan resort in Freeport, Bahamas!  It didn’t take long to realize that our work “RETREAT” would definitely be a “TREAT”, given the tropical paradise we found ourselves in! Since we are all scattered around the US…. And in the UK, it was very exciting to be together in one place… laughing, sharing, and reconnecting!

Half of our group began our journey aboard the Balearia Express Ferry in Fort Lauderdale and kicked back for a little excursion over to the islands. The boat held about 500 passengers and had top to bottom windows for lots of site seeing and dolphin spotting! The ride over was a bit rocky due to rough seas…but before you could say “Quack-a-Doodle-do,” we were in the Bahamas!

                      Frank, Mary, Mariana, Tiago, Page, Patrick & SJ…on the boat!

The other half of our group flew right into Freeport and we all met at the resort for a delicious poolside lunch and some Pina Coladas!  A few of us had not met all of the team’s spouses, so it was GREAT to finally put a face to all the names we knew so well!  That afternoon we enjoyed some tasty tropical drinks; (just a FEW) J played catch up about our families, and soaked up a few rays!

Some of the gang…poolside! 

Kristy and Her Husband Greg

At first, the resort appeared to be one large building, but it turned out to be a half a mile long with nightclubs, little shops, restaurants and a casino — Anything and Everything having to do with RELAXATION and FUN! 

Another Tropical Punch? Sure, don’t mind if we do!

  Glen and Angel-what’s not to smile about!

Relaxed and a little sunburned… we headed to our rooms to get ready for the evening’s gathering at a restaurant called, “The Iries, Carribean Seafood”.  What a FUN night that turned out to be! I’m sure no one could decide whose dinner was the BESTEST… how do you pick between scrumptious crab cakes, fresh grouper, and melt in your mouth shrimp! The Crème Brule and Oreo Cookie ice cream with a caramel topping…was not too Shabby for our little group!!!

John and his lovely wife Mary…at “The China Grill!”

Leave it to Patrick to be full of surprises! After dinner, he handed out several bags filled with little quacky souvenirs! There were postcards of the Queen of England that he had personalized for each of us and these crazy ducky sunglasses and fuzzy colored moustaches! We had a BLAST swapping and stealing each other’s glasses and snapping lots of silly pictures!

James sporting a moustache NOSE!!

Susan, Jack… and Karin peeking from behind!

On Friday morning, we woke to the sounds of waves splashing against the shoreline and seagulls squawking …a memory that will certainly stay with us, not to mention the gorgeous view of the blue/green ocean…  as far as the eye could see!  It made you wanna just pinch yourself and say, “Am I Dreaming?”

Can you Say Paradise…..?

The main restaurant had a spectacular breakfast buffet each day, serving everything you could possibly imagine!  And counting calories was definitely NOT allowed—

After breakfast some of the guys left the resort for a round of golf, while others in the group treated themselves to a massage at the spa —and the rest of us just CHILLED by the beautiful infinity pool!

Surely somebody hit a hole in one!

Our fearless leader Tim, a consummate sailor, spearheaded catamaran rides each day on the island. He convinced several of us to try it, who might not have otherwise… who’s gonna say no to the boss right?  He said, “Weather conditions for sailing don’t get any better than this, even in Delray!”

The Hot Tub was definitely HOT and a great way to end each day, especially as it cooled off after the sun went down! AAHHH…what a way to relax your muscles from a hard day’s work! We did work SOME… really we did!

Dinner on Friday was at a place called Churchill’s. It was a fancy-schmancy restaurant so our flip-flops and T-shirts…weren’t going to cut it! It was a lovely place and they gave us this great big long table with oversized chairs.

We got a little chuckle thinking about our Head Quack Jeanne… and remembering her strict rules about choosing a restaurant. If there wasn’t a round OR an oval table, you just didn’t eat there! Gatherings with family and friends were very important to her and you had to be able to converse with EVERYONE, from where ever you were seated!

We all agreed that Churchill’s was our favorite restaurant in the whole resort!!!

On Saturday the girls all decided it was time for some retail therapy.  Outside the resort was a local market called Port Lucaya — it had row after row of little huts filled with Bahamian jewelry, and lots of other hand-made stuff. We had a great time snapping up lots of touristy gifts to take home to our kids, families, and friends!

Well… our 4 days in paradise were quickly coming to end! L Before we knew it – Sunday was upon us and we were packing to leave. We all ate brunch together, sat by the pool to catch a few more rays, and take in the view one last time before we departed.  It sure was QUACKTASTIC getting all of us together, and enjoying the R & R! As Jeanne Bice always used to say…”It’s good to play hard at WORKING …but it’s better to work hard at PLAYING!”

To view the complete gallery of our Bahamas trip CLICK HERE

Stay up to date at what’s Quackin’ at the Quacker Factory join the email list HERE!

Follow Quacker Factory with Angel on Facebook, click HERE!

Follow Quacker Factory with Patrick on Facebook, click HERE!