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Hello all,
    Having returned from my trip to the Bahamas, I thought I would
finally provide the summary and my own experiences about where to eat,
etc. Everybody else's advice can be found below this. I did not pack any
perishables, especially not meat. I do not eat beef anyway (migraine
trigger) and planned to subsist on fish. In addition to being gf, I also
do not tolerate corn, soy or dairy. So, I took a cardboard box lined
with a garbage bag, and filled it with: olive oil, coconut oil (my
butter substitute), lemon juice, tea, a small container of sugar, some
herbs and spices, corn-free salt, dried meat for snacking on, two
packages of crackers, three tins of salmon ( just in case), a jar of
peanut butter ( just in case), a package of rice flour, a couple of
bread mixes from Miss Roben's  (no connection, jst enjoyed the
convenience), anyway, you get the idea.

    We were staying in North Palmetto Point, in an apartment with a
kitchen, so we were not planning to eat out much. Pretty much the only
public place for buying fish is Tarpum Bay, about a half hour south of
where we were staying. Fresh fish off the docks is pure heaven! As to
groceries, every little town has a small grocery. And I mean small,
usually a little better stocked than your local seven-eleven, but about
that size. But we were able to find what we needed to supplement what we
had brought, with little problem. We used the grocery "Charlies" in
Tarpum Bay, "Millard's" in North Palmetto Point, and the big (felt like
a small Loblaw's or Safeway or wahtever) grocery store in Rock Sound.
    We also bought fresh vegetables from Farmer Clyde's, just south of
Palmetto Point. He had the most amazing tomatoes. And everything we
bought from him he took directly from the garden while we were there!
Yum! He explained to us what was and was notin season this time of year.
And which crops had been worst hit by Hurricane Floyd.  Many of their
fruit trees: citrus, banana, etc. were not fruiting this year at all due
to the storm damage.

    We did eat out twice during our week in Eluthera. Once we went to
Rock Sound for lunch. We ate at Sammy's. I was able to order a lobster
tail (from frozen) with no breading, fried on the grill with no butter,
and convinced them to use only salt, pepper and lime juice. They also
brought me a plain, unadulterated baked potato (no butter). This special
preparation took 45 minutes, but they warned us in advance that it would
take a long time, and we were on vacation, so were in no rush. The food
was good, and I did not get sick afterwards.

    The second place we ate was at the Rainbow Inn, located near Hatchet
Bay, between James Cistern and Gregory Town. We had dinner here. Here
although they tried hard to accomodate my requests, they accdientally
put toast around the plate of one dish, and I found two errant croutons
in my salad, etc. You get the idea. I did get sick after this, But only
one day of not feeling so great. I still enjoyed eating out with my
husband.

    All in all we had a fabulous time. As long as you don't expect to
eat like you do at home, and focus on simple fare, there was lots to
eat, and gorgeous scenery to enjoy.

    I hope this helps someone else. You will find other's inputs below.
        Take care,
            Eliyanah Fitzpatrick
            Ottawa, Canada


Take a cooler full of whatever you might want - the selections there are
pretty limited and pretty expensive.  We took a large cooler with steaks,
hamburger, and breakfast sausage plus a large "gym bag like" suitcase
full of other stuff.  We were very glad we had all of it.  There is a
small store/gas station but it is a lot like a corner grocery store from
fifty years ago.

There are a couple of places to eat out but they are VERY laid back, VERY
slow, and very un "celiac sensitive".  It is, however, a beautiful and
friendly place (don't miss the "cliffs" at high tide!).

Pat & Karen

My husband and I went to the main island and stayed in the Hyatt.  It was
a resort area and the food was Very expensive.  It was a little hard to
find food to eat, but I did bring rice cakes and peanut butter with me so
that helped.  The open market area was definitely third world.  There
were banana and and mangos and apples and tomatoes etc.  I didn't look
for other things as we were eating in the hotel.  Have lots of fun.

Becky

I have only been to Eluthera once and I loved it.  What a nice honeymoon
place.  Very secluded.  I stayed in a house and was warned by previous
visitors to take whatever I wanted to eat with me.  My family carried
coolers of meat, wine, fruit and veg.  The people we rented from arranged
for someone to meet us at the airport and that person helped us buy
potable water as we arrived on Sunday and stores were closed.  Unless
things have changed drastically in 4 years I advise you to take most food
with you.  Everything but fish was very expensive.  The fish was grand
though and had we not gone Easter week when fishing professionals are on
break we wouldn't have needed protein sources.  There are few restaurants
on the island.  I had success in one (name escapes me) but another served
nothing I could eat, and time has no meaning there.  My family and I went
out for lunch one day and it took 2.5 hours to get food.

    Best wishes for gf fun and happy marriage.

Karen in Ky.

Hi, I took a trip to Central America a few months ago and stayed in a
condo.  I took a bag of food from Kinnikinnick Foods and kept it in the
freezer.  I took bagels, donuts and waffles.  It was great.  Then on the
way home I had an empty bag for my souvenirs.  You can order from
kinnikinnick.com.  They are in Canada.  I also recommend the pizza crust.

Kelly


I am responding because I am from Eleuthera and you had some concerns
about food items.  I am not certain in which part of Eleuthera you wil be
staying but seafood (salt-water) and chicken should not be a problem at
all, both are reasonable in price.  Beef and other meats would be more
expensive.  Basic fruits and vegetables would be available but variety is
somewhat limited other than what is grown there.  I'm sorry I don't know
about the procedure of bringing items through the U.S.
<snip>
   There are two grocery stores there in the main part of town
(Governor's Harbour) there may be other smaller ones, I don't know.  I'm
pretty sure that the hours would be like 9am-5pm at least, one thing
about Eleuthera is that the people there are really friendly you won't
have a problem finding out info like that.  As far as buying seafood
there is no formal market, people usually sell from docksides.  But,
again anyone in town could give you details.