With the slight cooling of the weather in Nassau in the latter half of the year, it has become the signal for two things to most people which are the coming of the holidays and the time for Jollification presented by the Bahamas National Trust (B.N.T.). Jollification has now become a household name and a staple of the Bahamian holiday experience. The three days of festivities all started on November 18th, 2011 at B.N.T. Village Rd. Retreat and Preserve.
Staying true to tradition, the first night of events started Friday where B.N.T. members exclusively were wined and dined into the late hours of the night and the following two days were for the general public. Team Vendetta made its way out to the celebrations on Sunday to enjoy a full day of events. The beauty and splendor of the retreat was breathtaking, lush beautiful green foliage complimented the vendors' stalls which were all masterfully placed so as not to seem out of place and unnatural. Our first stop carried us to the Bristol corner which was made up of an assortment of tents offering many different samples of wines and liquors. One brand that stood out was the Finlandia Vodka which was served in a very flavorful green punch.
From there we moved on to the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation table where the helpful and very cordial ladies explained their cause and showed off their promotional pink lip gloss with built in LED lights which help with the application of the cosmetic. We moved on to the Sands Beer area which can at best be described as a mobile bar with a fully shaded sitting area with draft beers on tap. The main thing they were promoting was their new product called Bush Crack - a refreshing malt beer with a great taste. Also in the area hawking their wares was Eudora’s Specialty Cakes & Catering which offered one the most amazing morsels called the guava duff cake, which was hands down one of the most delicious things out there that day. We also spoke to Hands For Hunger Charity which offered different soups and chowders that were donated by Van Breugel’s.
Strolling around was a pleasant thing even though after a certain point the crowd became huge. Smiling faces could be seen everywhere along with the sing-song hum of laughter and chatter of the people around. The atmosphere in the entire retreat was very laid back and joyous a perfect place for families to enjoy themselves together. This year the B.N.T. has truly outdone itself, and we look forward to next year.
