The "A Trip To 'The Dig'" Story

Entrance to "The Dig", the lost city of Atlantis.

It was an ordinary day.  The fish are just beautiful and extremely impressive.  Carol and I along with Jerry and Just Sue have just embarked on an incredible journey through the Lost City of Atlantis.  We are walking down an ancient passageway where we can see hieroglyphics on the wall which depicts what it must have been like to live in the city of Atlantis.  The Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas has done a fantastic re-creation of what the city probably looked like thousands of years ago.  

"The Dig" is located under this beautiful
lobby that is part of the Royal Towers.

Atlantis was the legendary island first mentioned in Plato's Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC.  According to Plato, Atlantis was a naval power lying "across the Pillars of Hercules" that conquered many parts of Western Europe and Africa 9,000 years ago.  Atlantis sank into the ocean "in a single day and night of misfortune."  And, now, the four of us are walking through the lost city, looking at the underwater relics which are beneath the lobby of the Royal Towers of the Atlantis Resort in the world's largest open-air marine habitat.  Hundreds, and I mean that literally, of sharks, manta rays, angelfish, jelly fish and a vast variety of other sea life can be spotted through the windows under this huge hotel.  

Here you can see the lobby and the aquariums that are
a part of  'The Dig" which is below it.  

The lobby of the place is remark-

able!  They say their goal is to provide guests, who pay over $100 each, with a taste of life in the legendary destroyed city of Atlantis.  On the floor of the huge aquarium lays the wreckage and debris of the city that is scattered about and provides free passage for the creatures of the deep.  Since I was born a few years after the city was destroyed, I guess I have to believe what I'm seeing in front of me and I'll tell you ……. I'M REALLY IMPRESSED!!  

The base camp set up by the archaeologists who dug
through the ruins of Atlantis is seen at the start of the trip.

I tell Carol, "I can't imagine how much this place must have cost to build.  Probably as much as the original city did." The farther we walk it is wonderfully eerie seeing the huge rays glide through the silent underwater world from a past civilization.  The walkways through the city are easy to navigate and lit enough for you to see, but I bet it would be spooky to walk these paths at night and see the sea creatures swimming past.  

The walls are covered with Hieroglyphics as we walk
through "The Dig".

All of this is located in what is referred to as "The Dig".  If you are a guest at the Atlantis Resort you have free access to all their amazing adventures for the length of your vacation, but in our case we only have access for the length of our one day pass.  It would be nice to go through it all again, but the thrill of the initial experience will remain with us forever.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - follow the photos as I take you through the remains of the lost city of Atlantis.

Some of the many Yellow Tangs that roam the ruins.

You can see some of the walls of the city that that was destroyed 9000 years ago. 

Part of a Temple that was destroyed.

This looks like part of a globe or directional device.  This is all under the huge Royal Towers resort building.

Parts of the buildings were toppled.  Here one piece is covered with hieroglyphics. 

This was some sort of monument with writing behind it. 

More of the ruins.  I imagine we walked at least a city block or two looking at the different parts of the ruins of Atlantis.  Hard to believe it wasn't real. 

This was a small room that was part of the laboratories of the alleged archeologists who had found Atlantis. 

More of Atlantis

Several Moray eels scared the crap out of passers-by.

An urn or something similar is shown here which was discovered.  It was carried by four slaves.

The floor of the city as Carol and I stand on it.  

This is a diving device used by the archeologists in their discovery process.  Reminds me of Voyage to the Bottom of the Seas that I used to watch on TV.  They used to have a guest monster every week.