The 700 islands of the Bahamas Islands begin 50 miles off the coast of Florida, stretching 760 miles to the southeast. The heritage of Old Nassau blends the Southern charm of British loyalists from the Carolinas, the African tribal traditions of freed slaves, and a bawdy history of blockade-running during the Civil War and rum-running in the Roaring 1920s. Over it all is a subtle layer of civility and sophistication, derived from three centuries of British rule.