10 posts tagged “anniversary”
Before I try to remember our last cruise day, which was a sea day, here are a few of the underwater photos we took (yes, I finally got them developed) when we did the sting ray and snorkel excursion in Grand Cayman.
I am not sure why I am smiling in an underwater photo...
And so, back to Day 7, our final day of the cruise. We were both pretty crispy sun-exposure-wise from our snorkeling the day before, so we spent the day just wandering the ship, watching movies in our room, and checking out the cruise sales (I found a cute top and a lovely sterling silver cross necklace). As the evening came upon us, we hurried aft in hopes of finally catching an amazing sunset.
This time, we were not disappointed.
Our final port was Grand Cayman. This was another replacement port, so once again we found ourselves lacking in information, save the fact that we wanted to snorkel at some point on the trip. We signed up for the Sting Ray and Snorkel excursion. Upon arriving at the island, we boarded a tender to shore, waited a bit, boarded a bus, and were taken a few miles out to a large motor boat.
We'd purchased an underwater camera for this excursion, and I have neglected to get those photos developed to-date (Bad Nicole!), so at this point you will just have to use your imagination. We donned snorkel vests and masks, jumped into the water, and proceeded to be mauled and molested by dozens upon dozens of sting rays. The waters were choppy and crowded with both the sea creatures and screaming, squealing tourists. I tried my hand at feeding the buggers a few times, but I didn't care for how they bumped and brushed against me in search of the calamari even after it had been sucked away by one of their own.
After we'd all been groped sufficiently by the creepy sea animals, we climbed back on the boat and were motored out to the edge of a reef. After a brief yet informative orientation, we were snorkeling.
And I loved it! Once I understood the physics involved - the choppy waters were not kind, and I swallowed my share of salt water - I loved gazing upon the reef, watching the colorful fish dart here and there, seemingly oblivious to our presence in their world.
I can't wait to go again on our cruise at the end of the summer!
We returned to the cruise port after the excursion and went back to the ship to shower, change, and grab a bite (ha, who am I kidding - more than a bite - we are on a cruise, people!) of lunch. Then we returned to the town and wandered about, doing a bit of souvenir shopping.
This was also the long-awaited lobster and Baked Alaska night. We dressed for dinner and headed to the dining room with anticipation.
That night was also "Champagne Waterfall" night. I couldn't convince Rob to go down to the Piazza with me (he is not a champagne fan), so I wandered down on my own.
The bubbly was blah, but the display was beautiful. The highlight was when a 60-years-young man proposed to his equally young girlfriend.
I returned to our cabin with bittersweet thoughts that our lovely vacation would soon end - just one more day left.
I was trying to be playful, but I am thinking I probably just look silly.
Ocho Rios, Jamaica was our first "substitute port". I felt a little apprehensive about it since I'd done zero research (obviously).
The first thing I noticed about Jamaica was how green and hilly it was compared to the Bahamas and Grand Turk. It looked very lush and tropical as opposed to the open, flat landscape of our first two ports.
We decided on a catamaran excursion to the popular Dunns Falls. The crew was upbeat and accommodating, as we sailed slowly along the shoreline to our destination.
As we tracked back toward the port, they cranked the music up and encouraged us to dance. One person in our duo was a bit of a party pooper, but the other one...
We headed back to the ship, showered, and had some lunch, then made our way down to the many shops. I wasn't that impressed with most of them, and the staff didn't seem as happy to have tourists as the folks in Grand Turk were. We eventually found a little hole-in-the-wall store with a jovial storekeeper, so we purchased most of our souvenirs from him.
Suffice to say, I am glad we got to visit this verdant country, but it's not a port I'd really be interested in visiting again.
Once we'd bid Ocho Rios adieu, we made our way to the most forward part of the ship in yet another attempt to catch a breathtaking Caribbean sunset.
If I remember correctly, this was lobster night, but I didn't take a single photo of anything at dinner except my dessert. It is the closest I will ever get to such a thing*...
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Since we didn't have a port call, this was the perfect day to sleep in. I wish I could say that I did...for some reason, I did not sleep well the entire cruise, though this was probably the best night's sleep of all since I wasn't worried we'd oversleep and miss a scheduled excursion.
We awoke to a lovely, albeit rough day at sea. We took our time making our way up to the breakfast buffet, then proceeded to try and find a spot on deck to catch some rays.
It was during this time that I experienced my first negative of the trip: how folks act concerning the deck chairs and loungers. There are signs posted every where that say that you can not reserve the loungers. Of course, these go totally unheeded.
Rob and I made our way to the back of the ship first, the Horizon Terrace. This is an adult-only sunning and pool area. Of course there were no loungers so we grabbed a seat in the sun with a small bistro-style table between us. It didn't take long for me to be reminded of that scene in Finding Nemo where the gulls are perched and waiting for a bite of something - anything - and at the first hint of chow....MINEMINEMINEMINEMINE!
Now imagine a couple dozen scantily clad adults perched on seats and benches, just waiting for someone - anyone - to need the rest room....
You get the picture.
We didn't stay in that area long, eventually making our way to one of the main deck areas and finding decent seating rather quickly.
During this time I didn't take a single photo. Suffice to say we enjoyed just lolling about in the sun, bringing fresh fruit and yummy drinks to our seats and playing "Real/Not Real" as we watched many a youth-enhanced woman strut about the deck.
(Yes, we can be very mature that way.)
At about 2 PM, the captain came over the PA and announced that due to a hurricane making it's way toward Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, we would be having a change of itinerary. You could almost hear folks holding their breath as he announced that we'd be bumping up our stop to Grand Turk to the following day, with new stops in Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Grand Cayman the following two days.
There were some grumbles and groans, but a whoop of glee from Rob who'd wanted to go to Grand Cayman all along (but the cruise for the same week with GC as a stop was several hundred more per person, so we'd nixed that one).
I remarked that he must be living right because he was getting what he wanted after all. He just grinned.
Once we'd had enough fun in the sun, we made our way back to our cabin, showered, and changed into comfy clothes. We head out to the deck and once again tried to catch the sunset.
We reluctantly made our way back to the room so that we could get all dolled up for the first formal night. We had our photo taken professionally, but didn't end up buying any because I knew I'd want one from the second formal night when I'd be wearing my new black gown.
Our tablemates skipped out that night, so we had a quiet dinner for two.
After dinner we went up to the Explorer's Lounge. I think I said that we saw Phil Tag on Monday night; I was wrong. We actually saw Tony Laffan, a magician/comedian on Monday night in the same lounge - he was much funnier/entertaining than I expected. Tonight (Tuesday) was Phil Tag, and he was hysterical. As I mentioned before, it was standing room only, which was no small feet (pun intended) for me since I had on my favorite heels.
Since our tablemates went AWOL, we didn't have anyone to take a nice photo of the two of us with our camera. A polite crew member obliged as we were heading back to our room after the show.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
At this point in our trip, I realized that for the first time in I don't know how long, my dear hubby was finally able to totally and absolutely relax...
Leaving the house in about a half hour to drive to the airport and fly down to FL.
"See" you in about a week!
20.
10 X 2.
4 bundles of tally marks.
A few shy of 2 dozen.
2 decades.
2 decades?
How can that be? I mean, I know that there are a few more lines in my forehead and a few more gray hairs frosting your jet blank strands, but...
20 years?
How could 240 months...7304 days...438240 minutes have passed since that phone conversation, the two of us some 2300-plus miles apart, fumbling our way toward a life together?
"I'll be gone a lot. Training. School. Out to sea."
"I'll wait."
"It won't be easy or fun."
"I know. I'll wait."
"You'll wait?"
"Yes. I'll wait."
And here we are, 6 states, 12 homes, 3 kids, 15 jobs, and at least a half a dozen or so pets later. That chaplain was right. We have grown up together. We've been with one another longer than any other person was with us. You know me better than I know myself sometimes. And I, you.
Would you have it any other way?
Me?
I am looking forward to 20 more. And then some.
All my love and kisses that come in threes,
Your 'Cloe
And now back to our regularly scheduled program...
(Or, in other words, here are some more photos from our anniversary trip.)
I think I mentioned that the hotel gave us one of their three deluxe rooms. It was a corner room, so it had three big windows. The hotel was also kind enough to help us remember the date and time, as well as current temperature at any given moment...
After breakfast on Sunday, we checked out and then headed to Antietam National Battlefield...
Another interesting site, and difficult to imagine some 23,000 men losing their lives there in one day. Yes, you read that right: 23,000. In one day.
As you can see, we were standing on practically the same spot as those men who gave their lives that dark day. Sobering to say the least.
Rob mused, "Isn't it interesting that our government spends thousands of dollars to transform a place of violence into a peaceful memorial.
I am glad they do. That they did so at Antietam. Beauty from ashes.
Finally "historied out", as Rob quipped, we drove back down to the Baltimore area for a late lunch at Cactus Willies. Then we picked up the boys and headed home.
Tomorrow I will try to post the last of the photos: my favorite flora shots taken at Antietam.
I never realized until this weekend that John Denver was really singing about a very small portion of West Virginia in that favorite song of my preschool youth. But the Shenandoah only meanders through the very eastern part of West Virginia, the very area in which the tiny town of Harper's Ferry has sat for over 250 years.
After enjoying typical continental breakfast fare at the hotel, Rob and I made our way over to Harper's Ferry National Historical Park. I'd remembered a long-ago bus trip with my family and had wanted to revisit this area for quite some time. Once in the park, we took the shuttle bus down to the town area and began exploring this quaint restored village and the river valley it calls home.
We were pleased to learn that there were several living history demonstrations planned for the day. But we had an hour or two to explore before they began, so we made our way over to the Shenandoah River and the trails running it's length.
A walking bridge runs parallel to the train tracks and allows one to cross the river and climb down to the Chesapeake and Ohio National Historical Park and it's path along the Shenandoah.
One of my favorite photos from the weekend (above).
Rob found a bench of sorts to rest on......
Along the way, we also found some time for silliness...
We returned to the visitor's center via the shuttle bus and the ranger told us we should visit Bolivar Heights before leaving the park. This area also boasted some lovely views.
We drove back to the hotel and changed for dinner, with plans to feast at Olive Garden. The wait was an hour and 20 minutes; Rob said, "It's good, but it's not that good!" We went to Uno Pizzeria instead and enjoyed it quite well. And now we still have a gift card for OG that we can hopefully use tonight!
I also took some photos of flowers and such, but will save those for another entry.
Last night, in honor of the H@llmark holiday, I decided to chill and open a bottle of wine that Rob and I purchased while on our anniversary trip in October.
We went up to Lehighton, Pennsylvania near the Poconos. After attending the fall festival in Jim Thorpe, we ventured out to a family-owned vineyard - Big Creek Vineyard - a bit north of our hotel.
I am the one with the apprecition for vino, so to have Rob not only agree to drive around a bunch of country roads in search of this vineyard, but for him to then join in the wine tasting with me was one of the highlights of the weekend. The staff was accomodating and knowledgeable; they took their time talking to us about each wine before we tasted it.
We bought two bottles (though now I wish we'd gotten more - isn't that always the way?): the Dulcinea, a sweet white dessert wine and the Vin Di Pasqualina, a nice rosé. I opened the Dulcinea last night.
Over the past year, I've moved away from sweeter wines, but as soon as I tasted the Dulcinea, I remembered why we bought it. It is sweet, yes, but not too much so. I sipped it while I nibbled on some dark chocolate that Rob gave me that morning, and it was a lovely accompaniment.
The website describes it as "very well balanced, not overly sweet, with a nice refreshingly acidic finish". I couldn't describe it any better.
Now I can't wait to open the rosé, though I hesitate because I don't know when we will get back to that vineyard. Must plan a trip after the thaw.
So, if you are ever in the Pocono region of Pennsylvania, look them up; it is worth the detour - and the prices are good too.
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