Bahamas

Jessica Alba, how do we love thee? Let us photograph the ways. In a bikini. In the gin-clear waters of the Bahamas. Into the Blue is a brutally competent thriller, decently cast, adequately acted and magnificently photographed. Cinematographer Paul Zuccarrini gives us stunning underwater shots and even more stunning under-Alba ones. Paul Walker, who is to "bro" what Keanu Reeves is to "dude," plays Jared, a dive bum living on the margin in the lovely Bahamas with Sam (Alba). Old lawyer-pal Bryce (Scott Caan)

NASSAU, Bahamas - Hurricane Frances flattened houses, tore open roads and flooded broad stretches during its three-day rip through the Bahamas, killing at least three, injuring dozens and knocking out electricity, telephone and water lines throughout the islands. The strong, slow-moving Category 2 hurricane stormed directly over Grand Bahama yesterday, blasting the Caribbean nation's second-most-populated island with sustained winds of 105 mph and soaking the international airport under 6 feet of water.

NASSAU, Bahamas - Hurricane Frances barreled up the Bahamas yesterday, ravaging island after island with high winds, heavy rains and surging seas as it took aim on Florida. In Nassau, home to two-thirds of the nation's 300,000 inhabitants, 90-mph gusts blew out windows, sheared limbs off trees and ripped power lines from utility poles. White surf smashed boats into seawalls and flooded coastal roads. A Nassau teenager was electrocuted yesterday, the first death here attributed to Frances.

Bahama Breeze has surprisingly good food for a restaurant chain and decent enough prices. The problem is getting a table. Open only a couple of months, Towson's new island-themed eatery is already a hit. By 7 p.m. on weeknights and 6 p.m. on the weekend, the wait begins to be long. Like other popular chains, Bahama Breeze doesn't take reservations. No problem, I said to myself. The chain is proud of its same-night, call-ahead service. I'll just call before we leave home and put our name on the list.

Neighbors Committee plans meeting for Wednesday The BWI Neighbors Committee will meet Wednesday at 7 p.m. The committee has served as a liaison between Baltimore-Washington International Airport and surrounding communities since 1983. The organization provides an opportunity for suggestions and discussion, and meets quarterly at the Maryland Aviation Administration offices in Linthicum. Hooters Air to add flights to Bahamas, Florida Hooters Air will expand its service from Baltimore-Washington International Airport beginning Dec. 18. The airline will add flights to Fort Myers, Fla., and Nassau, Bahamas.

After testing Baltimore's waters with a pair of cruises this year, Carnival Cruise Lines said yesterday that it will offer 14 one-week Caribbean cruises from Baltimore next year. The round-trip cruises - to be offered in the spring and fall - will head south to ports of call in Key West, Fla., and Nassau and Freeport in the Bahamas. Miami-based Carnival Corp., the cruise line's parent company, is one of the world's leading cruise ship operators as measured by passengers and revenue. It is the second major cruise ship operator to make a significant commitment to the port of Baltimore in recent years.

NEW YORK - They've slept on office floors, in jails and on school buses that take them to and from shelters at 3 a.m. But now homeless people in New York City might get a new place to spend the night - on cruise ships. City officials, faced with a rapidly expanding number of homeless and a court order that requires New York to provide temporary shelter for any person who needs it, have come up with the novel plan to use old cruise ships as one of several solutions to a chronic housing shortage.

NASSAU, Bahamas - R&B singer Aaliyah and her video crew were in such a rush to return to Florida Saturday that they demanded a charter plane pilot take off without checking the weight of their equipment - even though the pilot was afraid the plane was dangerously overloaded, according to witness reports. In addition, Pro Freight Cargo Services, a South Florida freight company, said it, too, was pressured by Aaliyah's representatives to haul equipment to the Bahamas without a careful weight check, citing production schedules.

Nassau used to be a cheap weekend. A quickie cruise from Lauderdale to the Bahamas. A second-rate gambling junket. The poor man's Caribbean experience. Not anymore. If you want to come to Nassau -- and you may, after reading this -- raise your expectations and assume the brace position for a little sticker shock. And we're not talking just about the marine-themed Atlantis resort -- though we will talk about that later. First, a quick geographical orientation and a bit of history: Nassau is the capital, main port and only real town on New Providence Island, one of 700 Bahamian islands.

In his day job, Baltimore County chief buildings engineer John Reisinger examines foundations with a technician's eye. Can they hold enough weight? Do they meet code requirements? Away from the office, Reisinger looks at those same foundations more fancifully. Can they tell stories? Do they hold secrets? Vacationing in the Bahamas in 1994, Reisinger stumbled upon ruins hidden beneath an overgrown tropical garden. His travel books offered no clues. After doing some research, he learned that the garden covered what was once the Royal Victorian Hotel.