Dolphins have always held a very special place in our hearts so there was no question of my going on a walkabout to check out the Dolphin House here in Bimini. We wandered over there late this morning and took a tour with the owner, designer, and sole builder of the Dolphin House, Ashley Saunders. He began the project in 1993 and built it from the foundation up with his own hands. He is immensely and justifiably proud of it and beams when he talks to you about it. It was a wonderful hour exploring his 21 year art/construction project. I'll let the pictures tell the story, but if you want more history of the place you can check out his Facebook page, or just Google Dolphin House Bimini.
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| He has a book of every single Pulitzer Prize winner in literature on these shelves. |
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| He has a copy of every state license plate |
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| He found this chair in the dump, removed the rotten wood and did the mosaic in its place. |
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| This wall is in the Mermaid room. You can rent this room and stay there. |
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| Any guesses how many shells are in this curtain??? |
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| The desk is part of a dock that was destroyed in hurricane Sandy. |
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| He loves to decorate conch shells in what he calls "Their Sunday best". |
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| Ashley Saunders, the creator and sole builder of the Dolphin House |
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| The view from the new observatory deck that he is currently working on. |
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| This stuff grows on coconut palms and I'm fascinated with it. It looks and feels like burlap. |
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| An antique stone anchor from the 1600s |
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| Hemingway had a huge impact on Bimini. His quotes are all around the ceiling in the Dolphin House museum. |
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| Took this one for Tim |
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| A pirate's knife |
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| Ashley with one of his beloved conch shells |
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| All of the building materials in the house are represented here: conch shells, limestone, and coral. |
5 comments:
Very cool. We'll have to check this place out this fall.
nice photography Deb
I finally did it. I started reading your blog months ago from the very beginning and finally completed the whole thing. What a wild journey. Congrats on making it this far. We are charter-junkies right now and are wanna-be-cruisers. It's not just a dream, it is evolving into a plan! Thanks for all the work you put into this blog ... it has been a great read.
~Tim & Leanne Kopischke
Tim and Leanne - Welcome to The Retirement Project. I keep telling myself that I'm going to sit down some day and read back from the beginning too, just as a reminder of how far we've come. Glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully we'll get to meet you in the future on your own boat. Keep in touch.
Hi Deb
Great post.
I always blow in and out of Bimini as fast as I can.
Guess that was a mistake.
Next season I'll do more exploring.
really like your blog too.
Thanks, Robie
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