66 Steps

Postmarked 13 March 1951
Nassau, Bahamas

Message:

66 steps. I counted them when we walked up them. Just like other things here just as you pictures West India Islands. Beautiful flowers, narrow streets nice beaches, 80% colored people and best of all hot weather. Only staying 2 or 3 days. Wonderful flight from Miami only 55 min about 184 miles. / Alonz & May

Most sites say there are 65 steps; May either miscounted or included a top or bottom step that isn't part of the official count. The stairs were hand-carved in the late 1790s out of the limestone by slaves. Later, the staircase was renamed in honor of Queen Victoria who played a role in abolishing slavery in the Bahamas.

Grandma and I went on a cruise to the Bahamas in the late 1980s. Here I am on the Queen's Staircase. I don't think I grasped the significance then.