New 50 States Project

A while back, Family Fun (I think) wrote about a project where a neighborhood of kids set out to collect a postcard from each of the fifty states by summer's end.

I thought, why not?

So I enlisted my facebook friends, and have yet to beg by e-mail and we already have pledges from VA, NC, AK!, HI!, TN, MI, AL, and FL! How cool is that?!

Day 5

I didn't care much for the ship decor. We were on an old ship on its second to last sail, but there was a Carnival TV channel playing in the room and when it showed Carnival's other ships and their common designer, I really found them all to be gaudy and rather ugly. I'd like to see if other cruise lines have nicer more elegant, or just simpler, decor. I'm all for themes, but I prefer the way Disney resorts, for example, interpret them.

That said, our ship's inspiring theme was supposed to be New Orleans. I've been to New Orleans (before Katrina) and it was gorgeous. I really didn't get the feel of it at all here. But this one deck had a few stronger elements with the trolley and trolley line, and the lamposts.

I do think that this Endless Summer Lounge is a really cool room.

I very much wanted to revisit Jekyll Island on our way home. It's so beautiful, and who can get to much of oceans and islands? Besides, we were still feeling lulled. Going from boat to car kept us in that rocking motion, but sleeping while driving is not recommeneded. Brian treated me to a delicious fresh seafood lunch. The man's a gem.

View of the marina from the back porch of the restaurant.

I have a love affair with Spanish moss. It just makes me happy.

See, don't I look happy?

This may well be the softest sand I've ever felt.

Hamming it up.

Pelicans are my favorite seabirds to watch. They're really pretty ugly, but I love to watch them dive. I saw a bunch, but they were to far out to get good pictures. Trust me, I tried. There were, however, plenty of sandpipers and seagulls.

Day 4

I managed to not take very many pictures today somehow. It was a lazy day at sea, and we were lulled by the ship. We slept in, had breakfast, met and talked to a cardiologist about his medical research, got some sun (not that we needed any more after the day snorkelling), took a nap, and took pictures of the sunset. I wish I had read the tutorial on sunrises and sunsets. I took a million shots, but just couldn't capture what I was seeing. And the tropical breezes were now long gone - it was freezing out on deck that evening!

I've always wanted to try karaoke and decided that this was the place to do it - I'd never see anyone there again. :^) Broadway, here I come!

Day 3

Day 3 found me scrambling to get dressed in a hurry

so that we could run up on to an open deck

to watch us pull into the port at Nassau at 8 AM.

Entrance to the city

Souvenir shopping - we avoided shopping as much as possible,

but had to pick up gifts for our kids and parents. I collect magnets and postcards,

do that keeps my souvenirs at a minimum. I kind of wish I had

gotten myself something a little more significant from the islands, but

I guess that that's what my photographs are for. I thought that

I was going to be able to bring home a piece of coral I found on the beach,

which would have pleased me much more than shop merchandise,

but found out that stuff like that doesn't go through customs. :^(

Nassau was a center of pirate activity in the 18th century, and Brian really wanted to see the Pirate Museum.

It was a very nice wax museum and lots of creepy sound effects.

I'm pretty easily spooked and I was sure that one of those guys was going to turn out

to not be wax and was going to scare me to death.

The guy outside turned out to be the only resident pirate. But he more than made up for it.

The locals recommended The Fish Fry on our request for an authentic and "untouristy" restaurant. They also recommended trying conch. I had cracked conch (breaded strips) and Brian had grilled conch which came in a foil packet with peppers and onions. It was served with salad and french fries and we were stuffed! Oh, and a virgin strawberry daiquiri for me - perfect on a tropical humid day. :^) Conch is like a cross between clam strips and calamari. It was pretty good, but I was wishing for the marinara sauce.

We're sitting on the back balcony of the restaurant. Can you see our ship in the distance? click on the picture to enlarge it. It's the ship on the left.

We even got a lesson in how they "crack" conches and cut the meat out.

On the way to the fort, we had to pass these market booths, and Brian met his Bahama Mama. She stuck this coconut hat that she'd made on his head, and said, "Come get a picture with Big Mama." Then she wouldn't let us go until we'd bought coral necklaces and t-shirts from her.

Fort Charlotte

It was time to hit the beach, the buses take you most places for $1, and they stuff them full, but these buses had a unique feature. instead of standing in the middle holding on to a pole, they had little seats that flipped down from the side seats to fill the center aisle.

We went to Cable Beach, thinking we'd find an open stretch of beach. The bus driver, however stopped in front of a hotel casino and told us to go through the casino to the beach. We did, and found a lovely beach a the resort, but spent a little while wondering if we were really supposed to be enjoying the lounge chairs and tiki huts, then decided not to worry about it. And enjoy them (and that gorgeous blue water!) we did.

This is a view of the other two cruise ships from our ship.
The only time I really felt nervous on the ship was out on an open deck on the open sea, in the dark. When the only other mental images your mind has of a big ship cutting through dark water is Titanic, it's a bit unsettling. Hehe.

The guy spinning the plate was our head waiter, Martin. He was a hoot! And our maitre'd was a crazy man. Every night as we finished dessert the lights in the dining room would flash, and he'd whisper "showtime" into the microphone in his French-Canadian accent, and a hilarious five minute show would follow. One night it was Italian night which ended in the wait staff singing "O Solo Mio" in Italian in 16 different accents. Another night it was a congo line. The last night a hilarious farewell song.

Day 2

Windy morning on deck

We were scheduled to pull into Freeport at noon. The plan: rent a scooter and go to Lucayan National Park to walk through a mangrove forest to a quiet beach and see some of a underwater cave system. The problem: Brian's boss who lived in Freeport for a while had suggested the scooter rentals, but everything on the ship's information discouraged it.

We had talked about snorkelling and other activities, but I had shied away from reserving them early, not knowing how Brian would be feeling, but Praise the Lord, he felt great the entire time! (And is still feeling well, making this past month and half the longest good streak he's had since diagnosis, I think. Although we have determined that whenever he is not working, he has that strength and energy to use on fun things. This is just not available on weekends after a long work week.)

Anywhoo, as we discussed this at 11 AM this morning, looking at the shore excursion list, and wanting to be sure that there would be no regrets, Brain decided that he wanted to go kayaking. I was a bit skeptical, but he insisted that he felt good and could do it, so I put in my hope to do some snorkelling, which perfectly combined in an excursion that was leaving at 12 PM! I was sure that there wouldn't be any tickets left, but on running to the purser's desk, we got the last two, ran back to our room to change and pack a bag, and ran to debark.

Of course, we waited at the wrong deck, enjoyed a conversation with a Baptist preacher and his wife, then ran to the right deck, debarked, and met Shami, the absolute coolest Bahamian guide and naturalist.

A study on palms (which, of course, turned out to not be native to the Bahamas at all):

native vegetation

Shami needed someone to sit in the front of the van with him and I quickly volunteered in hoped of getting a few shots on the way. He gave us so much information on the history of Freeport, its industries, and the native plants and trees.

Barbary Beach

view from Peterson Cay (pronounced "key") back to Barbary beach

Peterson Cay is a one and a half acre island. It and its adjacent coral reef make up the Bahamas smallest national park. It is basically empty except for vegetation and lots of little hermit crabs, which are more than happy to finish your lunch for you. Oh, and did I mention that there are no bathroom facilities on either beach? Fun times.

Another shot of Barbary beach

Tonight was the captain's dinner and the Grand Gala midnight buffet.

Also another example of missing pictures. I carried my camera all night, but never had someone take a shot of us dressed p for the formal dinner. Arrrgh.

Nightly turndown service with delicious chocolates and a new towel creation each night. Brian crashed for the night, but I had to stay up and see the midnight buffet.

Worth the wait. I will say, though, that it looked better than it tasted. Which surprised me.

I have more shots of the snorkelling and kayaking on an underwater disposable camera. I don't know how to scan them in, but I will share them when Brian has a chance to do that for me.

Day One

I found that despite carrying my camera everywhere, I took far fewer photos than I had anticipated. Life on the cruise ended up being far more anecdotal than event-oriented for us, and many a moment passed by me unnoticed until later. Next time, I plan to take pictures of more people and moments, and have more pictures taken of us together.

first view of the ship

Our stateroom. We also had three closets and a small bathroom.

The bridge we would pass under from the port.

Our first excitement came from skipping the required safety exercise. We could not understand half of what the speaker said from the upper deck we were relaxing on, and thought that it was optional. I kept worrying that we were goingot be in trouble, and characteristically, Brian was not at all worried. When someone finally told us that it was required we got five decks down to our stateroom for our lifejackets just in time to hear the all-clear signal. Good grief!

The bridge workers waved to us as we passed...

And we giddily waved back.

It looked like a tight squeeze, and the back of the ship was even higher.

First sunset and Brian making the first of many perfect wallpapers for his phone (and mine, because he's gonna share!)

Mikael, the jazz pianist we enjoyed many times.

He played right outside our dining room and we found sitting

and listening to him much more fun and relaxing than standing in line.