January 12, 2010
Yesterday, Monday, was the first day of the cruise. I planned on getting up early and going to a cute diner that Kaydee and Tyler discovered the day before. I got up and showered, but when I came out of the bathroom everyone was still asleep. Kaydee told me that the boys had stayed up until 4:30 talking about business, God, and philosophy. She couldn’t fall asleep with them talking….and no one else was ready to get around either…so I crawled back into bed for awhile. We ended up skipping breakfast and getting to the ship around noon.
After check in we headed to lunch. Kaydee came back with a big grin on her face- she loves food and the ship has great food. We took it easy the rest of the day until dinner. Our tablemates were really…interesting. Besides being extraordinarily drunk, one was a drag queen! We had a total of six tablemates, not counting Kaydee and Tyler; a couple from Quebec who didn’t speak English very well, and a group of four flaming gay guys. Dinner was so fun, these guys were very entertaining. They broke every political nicety you can imagine. When the head guy, Kevin, would say something that one of the other guys didn’t like, they would say “at least I’m not black!” They referred to the rest of the table as “the straight people.” At one point we were talking about Kaydee and Tyler’s wedding and they asked Mark if he was in it. Mark told them that he was a lowly usher, and they misheard him to say lonely usher. Then one of the guys told Mark he didn’t have to be lonely and winked at him! For some reason, we also teased Mark about being a drag queen and decided his name was Marquetta. The Quebec couple had bought a bottle of wine and one of the guy guys didn’t realize it belonged to them, so he poured himself a glass. At first the Quebec guy seemed really annoyed by all their behavior , but he was laughing by the end. They kept apologizing for being obnoxious but we didn’t mind at all; they were really fun. We especially didn’t mind when they bought the table two bottles of wine to make us forget about them!
We went to bed early last night because we arrived in Key West at 7:30 am. We had breakfast delivered to the room and left the ship around 8. We docked at a military base; a trolley picked us up and took us into town. The trolley driver was hilarious. He told us he was driving the trolley as part of a work release program. On the ride to town we passed the zero mile marker on a highway- it’s where it all begins! The first thing I noticed in town was the roosters- they had wild roosters cock-a-doodle-dooing all over the place! I loved them. They are protected there. We walked down the main drag, Duvall Street, looking for things to do. Most places hadn’t opened yet. We stopped in a coffee shop and I noticed a pamphlet for a bicycle tour. We love bicycle tours, so I called the guy, Lloyd, and signed up. He was a local businessman who doesn’t advertise heavily. There were only two other people on our tour. He took us to some non-touristy places around town. The first stop was Nancy’s garden. Nancy is the quintessential hippy. Everything about her is hippy. She has a palm tree and bamboo garden oasis where she rescues parrots. We toured her garden; it was a really neat place. She lectured us on eating organically and let us try some organic fruits. After we left Lloyd told us that sometimes he will go weeks without seeing her, but when he does run into her during tours that she slows things down because she really likes to talk. After that we just rode around back roads. Lloyd kept stopping and pulling fruits off trees for us to eat. We had some weird fruit. We ate an avocado off an avocado tree seasoned with Key Lime. We had fresh coconut that he cut open with a machete. The coconut water tasted like sweet watery milk. The shavings were sort of bland. We also ate fruits we had never heard of. We had something called a Clarissa that tasted like strawberries and cream. We also tried something, I don’t remember the name, but it looked like a bright orange pear. It had the texture of an avocado and tasted sort of like pumpkin.
We continued our ride to the Southern most part of the continental United States, just 89 miles from Cuba. It was windy. On our way back, we passed an elementary school where a bazillion kids were playing outside. Lloyd rode up and blew in his Conch shell, which makes a really loud noise. The kids started screaming and running away, but then came running back over to the fence. Lloyd played them a couple of songs and they all clapped for him.
After we returned we walked back to the trolley. On our way, we stopped at the Hard Rock. It looked really cool; it was inside an old Victorian house. It had some Beatles memorabilia my dad would have loved, including a Paul McCartney guitar. The rest of the day was uneventful. We grabbed lunch and hung out by the pool for awhile. It is getting warmer but is still a little cool. We wear sweaters outside. There was a Men’s Hairy Chest contest this afternoon that was hilarious. After that we took a nap and then got ready for dinner. We skipped the main dining today and just ate at the buffet. Now we are waiting for the show to start and a fun night ahead- we don’t have to wake up early tomorrow. We arrive in Cozumel at 1:00.
January 14, 2010
Cozumel was crazy! We slept in yesterday morning - it is so easy to sleep in, our room is like a cave with no natural light - and then wasted some time until we docked. Kaydee, Tyler, and I watched the ship come in. It was pretty cool to see a massive ship pull so close to the dock and to see the gigantic ropes that hold it secure being pulled into place. After a quick lunch onboard we headed to the shore. We had paid $50 a person to go to Playa Mia, where they had all kinds of fun things to do. They had paddle boats, kayaks, a water trampoline, a water iceberg, hammocks, and most importantly, unlimited free drinks. And we took advantage of the free drinks.
It was a beautiful day, finally warm enough to lay out in our suits. The sun peaked through the clouds a few times but for the most part the day was overcast, but we were just happy to be warm. We spent the day just being lazy and having fun. We buried Kaydee, turned over rocks, and did handstands. We watched people make fools of themselves and we pet a huge lizard. We took a paddleboat ride and talked about how unbelievably clear the water was. We took romantic walks on the beach and took pictures of Kaydee and Tyler writing their name in the sand. What we did NOT do is climb the iceberg or jump on the trampoline. I was not very happy about this. I really wanted to do these things, but not badly enough to do them by myself. No one wanted to be wet, so we did not get to experience the awesomeness that could have been.
The beach closed at six, so we headed back into town and went to Senor Frogs, a club right by the port. We got the boys to dance with us. Senor Frogs helped us by giving us free tequila. After getting balloon hats made, we left and quickly shopped before heading back to the ship. Mexican men kept hitting on Kaydee, which did not make Tyler happy. Tyler really liked to give people high fives and say “Hola Mi Amigo.”
We got back to the ship around nine and had a yummy dinner. The ship has very good food fit for every taste bud. We called it an early night and headed to bed.
This morning I heard noise and thought it was time to get up since Mark was out of bed. He told me that he had just gotten up to get a drink and to go back to bed. He also asked me if I wanted anything from room service for breakfast. When room service came a few hours later, they delivered four cartons of milk plus a glass of orange juice. He really was thirsty. J
Today is the last day of the cruise, and it’s a full day at sea. We get back to Miami at 7am. We got up fairly early and had breakfast looking out over the ocean. Today is fairly warm but very overcast and very windy, so it’s not a nice day to lay outside. We went to the adults only area at the back of the ship and sat in the hot tub for awhile. It was heaven.
Later this morning we played Battle of the Sexes with about two dozen strangers. The boys won, but they were good sports and let us lay claim to the title.
After lunch Kaydee and I went to a dance class where we learned a fun line dance. Then we all went to a Couples Game that was set up like the old-school game show The NewleyWed Game. Tyler didn’t want to volunteer to participate. We had fun laughing as the three couples in the game, including one guy who was supposedly a priest, answered risqué questions and revealed personal secrets. We especially laughed when one lady who spoke English as a second language didn’t understand what the “happy dance” was and instead told us details about actually dancing.
This afternoon we tried to go down the big waterslide on the ship, but it is closed due to the wind. Mark and I went mini-golfing instead. Not sure if you’ve ever golfed on the top level of a ship in the middle of the ocean on an incredibly windy day, but it is not easy. Let it be known that I beat Mark, unless you don’t apply the six stroke limit rule. He doesn’t.
Now I am sitting on a window seat looking over the ocean. It’s so beautiful. In a few minutes I will meet the others, who are having sushi as an appetizer for dinner. We’re going to the show at 7:00 and then to real dinner at 8:15. If anything eventful happens- and with our tablemates that’s a real possibility- I’ll write again on the plane tomorrow.
January 15 2010
Nothing exciting happened. We went to dinner; the gay guys didnt come. Then we tried to go salsa dancing but Mark was having none of that, so we went to bed and now we're safely home. Until next time, friends.
Posts
