♪♪♪ Neff: There's a heartbeat in the Bahamas that's easy to find.

♪♪♪ But where can I find the spirit of this Caribbean nation?

It's a voyage that'll take me to the very edge of these tropical islands and beyond.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Nassau, it's the cultural center of the Bahamas where music, nightlife and art live and breathe.

While you may find the heartbeat of the palm is here, the spirit of the Bahamas lies in the 700 islands and cays that surround Nassau.

That's what I'm searching for and why I'm headed to Eleuthera.

I'm Mirissa Neff, journalist and world traveler, and I'm chasing the rhythms of Caribbean music and culture.

And right now I'm sitting in a teeny airport waiting for my flight.

This is my first clue that time runs a bit slower and everything's a bit more relaxed here in the out islands of the Bahamas.

The flights in between these islands are usually small because each island has a population of only a few thousand.

Bohemians call these outer islands the family islands.

They each have their own charm, but Eleuthera is what I'm interested in exploring.

Everybody is related in some way, shape or form.

It's either your brother or your sister.

That's my cousin or my aunt, but somehow we're all related.

That's why we're called the family island.

My first stop is in Harbour Island, just off the coast of Eleuthera, where I meet up with Brittney Possenti.

That's my aunt.

Hey, Grandma.

This is my friend.

I quickly get the sense of family ties here on Harbour Island.

It's like being in the countryside where everyone's linked in one way or another.

Tell me about Harbour Island, because it feels like a small place, but it feels kind of more urban, sophisticated.

Yes.

Well, we're only three miles long by a half mile wide, so the island is pretty small.

We have about 3,000 people that reside here on the island.

But it feels -- Tell me more about this feeling that I'm getting of it feeling like more than just some little island.

Yeah, because we're pretty much -- we have so much to offer, so much activities, you get an island feeling, but it's more a city like.

It's never a dull moment.

♪♪♪ As I explore the island, I find a unique work of street art and a guitarist named Rocky Saunders.

♪ Your love is more ♪ ♪ Than a four letter word ♪ ♪ Before I met you I used to run around ♪ ♪ Doing my own thing ♪ ♪ I didn't care about nothing at all ♪ ♪ Living life in so much mystery and fantasy ♪ ♪ And then you came... ♪ Tell me about this license plate wall here.

Well, basically, from what I've heard from my friend Ralph Sawyer, that's the one who really started it.

Okay.

He went away once, twice, and he brought some back.

And then people, tourists that come in that meet, you know, he's a real friendly guy, always joking and laughing.

And they just send him license plates, you know, their whole license plates.

And we just keep putting them down -- putting them all up, you know, hanging them.

That's basically how it started.

Yeah.

♪♪♪ Cuisine in the Bahamas is, as one might expect, fresh seafood of every persuasion.

Bahamian conch salad is always at the top of my list, but Eleuthera had other flavors to offer.

I wanted something more traditional, something with a bit of that home cooked flair.

So Chef Montgomery Penn sliced and diced a truly traditional Bahamian meal for me.

So why is this a favorite way of preparing food in the Bahamas?

It's light, it's quick and it's fast.

And from my grandmother time is something that just got passed on from generation to generation.

And because we are surrounded by 700 islands and keys, you can just go right to just about any dock and actually catch a grouper or a snapper and prepare this meal.

We eat it just about any time of the day, breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Typically we serve it with Johnny Cake, which is in front of you.

So Johnny Cake you said that comes with it?

Yeah, Johnny.

Who's Johnny?

We still trying to find it out.

[ Both laugh ] ♪♪♪ ♪ Because we were on fire burning through the night ♪ ♪ They can never find us because we were burning high ♪ Tebby Burrows is a soulful musician with a sweet and sincere sound.

♪ Maybe we flame on tonight ♪ ♪ Look at me... ♪ A lot of us, our backgrounds are in the outer islands.

Like I -- my family's from Eleuthera.

So everybody comes from the outer islands to Nassau Ii you really want to get involved in industry, whether it's music or culinary arts.

It's kind of the space where all of that's happening.

Her music has a laid back feel that totally jives with my experience in Eleuthera so far.

What's the name of your song that you played for us?

It's called "Wild Ambition."

Yeah.

Yeah, and most of my music are love songs about life and loss and the ups and downs of love.

♪ Because we were on fire burning through the night ♪ ♪ They can never... ♪ Home is where I find a lot of time to write, because nature is, as you guys have seen, is all around the beaches.

So I'll just go out, and there's a beach in the back of my house and just go and sit down and write.

♪ We were on fire ♪ ♪ We were burning flames higher ♪ ♪ Than the wild ambition of a mad man wishing ♪ ♪ Maybe we flame on tonight ♪ ♪♪♪ Harbour Island has a very special vibe.

As I explore the island, strolling by colonial architecture painted in Caribbean colors, I'm struck by its uniqueness.

Golf carts instead of cars, pink sand beaches and everyone knows everyone.

Can you tell me how to get to Pip's Store?

Yes, so...

I've been told that when I arrived here, I had to find a vibrant and fabulous woman named Pip.

The wonderful thing about Harbour Island, it was really the first capital of the country.

Queen Victoria at one point was going to make it the first port of entry, but it was a bit small for that and then chose Nassau afterwards.

But it was a lot of beautiful architecture, which you'll see, which was very, very rundown and has now been picked up and sort of become "Nantucket" of the Caribbean.

Right.

Pip Simmons owns a clothing store on the island called Miss Mae's.

She was born in Canada, but has lived on the island for the last 40 years.

I've always loved fabric and woven, hand woven, follow all of it.

Right.

I can't tell what's vintage and what's not.

Well, that's the wonderful thing about fashion.

Yeah.

I know.

It's so lovely.

Yeah.

The fabric feels vintage, but also some of -- I don't know.

Is it a mix of vintage?

Everything is natural, number one.

Polly's don't live here.

Got it.

And it is.

It's all about fabric.

It is what it feels like next to your body.

Right.

Yeah.

Up until recently, Pip also owned the Ocean View Club, a Bahamian beachside hotel that has attracted celebrities, musicians and fashion models since the late 1970s.

Basically, "Elle" magazine, the headquarters were almost in Harbour Island versus New York.

Wow.

Yeah, they lived with me three months out of the year to shoot pictures.

They shoot winter stories in the Bahamas.

Oh, got it.

And what happened was that was sort of also the pre-supermodel story.

And so I had Naomi Campbell, Rachel Hunter, Elle Macpherson, all of them sharing rooms.

Nobody was a superstar.

Like, that whole supermodel thing did not exist.

It was just before.

Before that, yeah.

We were all very young.

Yeah.

Very young.

Just pretending we knew what we were doing really.

[ Both laugh ] Her son's the current owner, so she drives me across the island to see it.

I remember this photo so well.

Yeah.

Yeah, and that was shot here?

That was shot here.

All of it was shot here.

Yeah.

It's stunning.

No, this is pre-supermodel life.

Yeah.

And yeah.

This is what was going on.

Yeah.

At the Ocean View.

Yeah.

It was quite something.

It was funny.

It was really pretty funny.

Yeah.

And you had rock stars coming through as well?

Yeah, there are quite a few different famous people.

Yeah.

Yeah, it was -- And it was great because the island was so small and sleepy and nobody cared.

You know, I remember once Robert De Niro was at the bar and he said to my ex-husband, "So, do you watch movies here?"

"No, not really, no."

"I see."

[ Laughs ] We had no idea that it was... Yeah.

And I said, "What was that guy's name?"

He said, "Bobby."

I said, "Bobby who?"

Well, it sounds like the scene back in the '80s.

It was great.

It was great.

Yeah.

I would have loved to have been there.

Oh, no.

It was Kath.

Yeah.

I met Richard Gere.

I mean, I can't tell you the cast of characters.

I could sit here all day long.

Decorated with old musical instruments, the hotel's ambiance recalls a different era, a time before smartphones and WiFi.

And there was no television, there was no Internet.

There was no telephones in the rooms.

You know, lots of time, there was no power and everyone just entertained each other.

It was the old fashioned chat.

Yeah.

Do you miss that?

I do.

I do.

And that's another reason why I sort of, you know, I mean, I just -- everybody on their computers now.

I just, you know, you'd go to the bar at 7:00 and you would join for a drink before dinner.

Cocktail hour.

You wouldn't know who you were sitting next to, and then, you know?

I could tell you stories, really.

Tell me a story.

Billy Joel was great.

Billy Joel.

[ Laughs ] From America, goes, "So, what do you do?"

"Well, I play the piano."

"That's great.

How do you play the piano?"

"Well, I just play the piano."

[ Both laugh ] He's the piano man.

[ Both laugh ] There's been some funny times.

Yeah.

Were there any memorable nights of music filling the air at the Ocean?

Lots of them.

Lots of them.

Pick one.

Um... Fabrizio [indistinct] and Billy Joel.

That was a great night.

Yeah.

I'll just leave it like that.

And then there's the acoustic guitar players that have been hanging in the bush as well.

You know, it was just... And local Bahamians coming in, too.

Local Bahamians coming in, too.

We've always, you know, and then the kids were little.

We danced every night before dinner.

And so everybody, you know, was -- Music is very much part of this place.

♪♪♪ ♪ I wonder nobody don't like me ♪ ♪ It's an impact that'll hold me ♪ ♪ I wonder why nobody don't like me ♪ ♪ It's an impact that'll hold me ♪ ♪ I leave my old attitude ♪ [ Singing continues ] [ Blowing seashell ] ♪♪♪ Night falls here on Harbour Island, and instead of sitting in my hotel room, I find myself sitting with new friends in a tiki bar, listening to some Bahamian tunes and soaking in the atmosphere.

[ Man singing ] ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ [ Waves crashing ] ♪♪♪ The pink sand beaches on the east side of Harbour Island, the turquoise waters, the blue holes, It's worth exploring the Bahamas just for the natural beauty.

So I take a ferry to the mainland of Eleuthera to explore some of the island's unique landscapes.

♪♪♪ [ Camera shutter clicks ] This part of Eleuthera feels more raw and wild.

I get a true sense of nature's power at the Glass Window located at what many call the most narrow place on earth.

On the east side, the roaring waves of the Atlantic Ocean crash against the Eleuthera cliffs.

On the west, just a few feet away, the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea sway peacefully, and in between is a teeny bridge connecting the island.

It's in this area that the Bahamas as we know it began.

♪♪♪ Puritans seeking religious freedom known as the Eleutheran adventurers shipwrecked off the coast during a hurricane.

The year was 1647, and those that survived took refuge in what's now called Preacher's Cave.

They named the island Eleuthera from the Greek word for freedom.

For a hundred years, religious services were held here in the cave.

Soon after, the Eleutheran adventurers started the first modern Bahamian settlement on St. George's Cay.

♪♪♪ This small town is actually the largest exporter of lobster in the Bahamas.

I make a quick stop in Spanish wells where Jack Morgan, whose ancestors helped start this town, drives me around the island.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ He takes me to the Spanish Wells Museum and tells me more about Preacher's Cave.

And I learned that the Eleutheran adventurers were not the Cave's first inhabitants.

Morgan: This is artifacts that we found in Preacher's Cave.

These are Lucayan tools.

See some of them here?

Okay.

Jack explains to me that the Lucayan people were the Bahamas original inhabitants.

And this is some of the pottery and parramatta where they had.

Okay.

And that's what gave us -- started to give us the idea of Preachers Cave having Lucayan staff.

I'm discovering that Eleuthera had a major influence on the rest of the Bahamas, and I'm not just talking about its history.

Though the world has embraced many Bahamian artists and songs from the Baha Men to Joseph Spence, Eleuthera has also given music one of its most popular folk songs.

♪♪♪ ♪ We come on the sloop John B ♪ ♪ My grand papa and me ♪ The origins for the song "Sloop John B" can be traced back to the turn of the 20th century.

♪ Stayed awake all night ♪ ♪ We got into a fight ♪ ♪ Yes, I feel so broke up ♪ ♪ I want to go home ♪ [ Vocalizing ] The song and the boat itself were created here in Eleuthera, and the song has been covered by many artists, most famously by Johnny Cash and The Beach Boys.

♪ I want to go to home ♪ To learn more about the origins of the song, I link up with musician Cedric Bethel, otherwise known as Dr. Seabreeze.

"Sloop John B" was built right here in Eleuthera in Governor Harbour, and right where the new clinic is right now.

That used to be Captain John Bethel house.

Okay.

And he's the builder.

He's the builder of the Sloop John B.

Okay.

And that's why they call it Sloop John B.

But this is a song that's been played all over the world.

Been all over the world, and we did it.

They made it up in Governor Harbour.

They sang as the old rake and scrape and ring play songs.

And they just came up with these words and put them together.

You know, it really was just something talent with the Lord instill in the people to do.

Right.

And they just picked it up from scratch and made it today, It's all over, international, like you say.

Yeah.

All over the world.

Came from right here in Eleuthera.

That's right, came from right here in Eleuthera.

♪ I want to go home ♪ ♪ I want to go home ♪ ♪ Yes, I feel so broke up ♪ ♪ I don't want to go home ♪ ♪ No ♪ ♪♪♪ To learn about some other Bahamian musical traditions, I head to rock sound where I meet Will Simmons, a teacher at Preston Albury High School.

Will organizes the school's Junkanoo Club and is invited me to a practice where the club is preparing for the Junior Junkanoo competition.

We have Junior Junkanoo, which happens at a national level every December.

Schools from around the country compete for the winning title, and every island also has their own Junior Junkanoo parade, too.

Junkanoo is a street parade that includes live music, handmade costumes, and is celebrated every year throughout the islands in the Bahamas.

Junkanoo is a very important part of our identity as Bahamians, and it's something that goes way back to the time of slavery.

And it was an expression of freedom that has just come to really embody a spirit here in the Bahamas.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ So we try to do is let students, you know, experience that, and also through that experience, they develop a lot of different educational skills like problem solving, music, obviously art, craft, designing, construction of costumes out of cardboard.

It's a very, very dynamic art form.

Yeah.

One of the most dynamic, I think, out there because what other art form has dance, music, theater, visual art all incorporated into one procession?

Well, this is the Preston Albury Junkanoo Shack.

Junkanoo Shack.

Got it.

Yeah.

Can you show me what's inside?

Let's do it.

Inside one of the classrooms, more students are designing and building the costumes.

And we have students who are working on pasting, tricking.

What's tricking?

Tricking is what you do after you have all the paper laid out.

It kind of -- it looks a bit raw.

I'll show you.

Alright.

So what you're going to do to a costume like this, the tricking is when you put the gold jewels and rhinestones around the tip.

So the bling.

The bling, exactly.

Okay.

The bling.

These costumes are an important part of the Junkanoo tradition.

Munnings: Basically being a Bahamian, you are surrounded by Junkanoo every year because you love Junkanoo in December and then you love it on New Year's.

So basically you will be there and you will just be having fun listening to music with your friends, family.

This Junkanoo Parade, it pulls the community together because you have all sorts of different people working as one.

And when we go down to Nassau, we represent Eleuthera, and then with all the groups together in Nassau, that's the whole Bahamas coming together in a tradition that is vibrant and that is alive.

And that at its very center is about community.

♪♪♪ Junkanoo takes place every Boxing Day and New Year's in the Bahamas.

The Nassau Junkanoo Festival is the largest of all the islands and the most competitive.

♪♪♪ But the out islands celebrate Junkanoo at the same time, and I was curious about how Junkanoo differed in Harbour Island.

So I head over to the Zulu Dancers Junkanoo Shack.

Inside, I find several guys hard at work making last minute touches to this year's Junkanoo costumes.

The inside is filled with materials needed for designing a Junkanoo costume, cardboard, crate paper and glue.

This is Raphael Sanders, one of the costume designers and dancers.

So, when are you working on these costumes?

Tonight, I'll be here from 5:00 until about 4:00 in the morning.

4:00 in the morning?

Yeah.

Okay.

And which days of the week are you coming down here?

Every day.

Every day?

Every day.

I'm a Junkanoo junkie.

You're a Junkanoo junkie?

Yeah, sounds like it.

All of the sudden, the skies open up.

A late afternoon shower comes through, and Raphael and the other zoo members scramble to cover some of the costumes.

[ Thunder rumbling ] With the costumes safely covered, Raphael urges me to try on one of the finished costumes.

I can't even see anything.

[ Laughs ] Do I look like An Egyptian goddess?

I can't tell.

Next, Raphael wants me to test the costume by dancing.

Parade, that's a parade dress.

Okay.

Once you get on that road, you just... Do you -- so you don't do choreography.

You just do free...?

I just dance.

Okay, but you're in one of the huge costumes, so you can't free dance too much.

Nah, so I just -- All I do is, basically, I've got the costume on, and I just... [ Laughs ] You just go like this?

-Yeah!

-It's about the spin.

It's about the spin, yeah.

Alright.

Okay, okay.

As long as you the bass drum kick in.

Uh-huh.

You got to feel it, too.

What's that noise?

Is that the bass drum kicking in?

No.

[ Laughs ] ♪♪♪ The rain peters out and the Zulu musicians prepare for practice by heating up their goatskin drums.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ I'm invited to participate in practice and line up with some of the dancers I'm getting ready to do Junkanoo just this evening, but these folks are getting ready to do it in a month or so.

[ Children singing ] ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Whoo!

♪♪♪ As we make our way through the streets, tourists and locals alike come out to watch.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ As I dance through Harbour Island, I think about my last few days.

It's becoming clear that the soul of the Bahamas is out here.

This is where the seeds of the culture are nourished.

The family islands are the spirit in the way that Nassau is the beating heart.

But combine them together and they form a passionate and vibrant nation.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪