HOLA!

Day 6- COSTA MAYA

May 9

After missing the port yesterday, we were all worried that the same thing would happen today, but during the night, you could tell when we “hit” calm waters – everything settled and became very quiet. This morning's docking went without incident.

The shore excursion I had purchased was cancelled, due to insufficient bookings, so I went with my second choice – the Chacchoben ruins. This is a big site, and is a national park. It's in the jungle, as are most of the sites, but has a beautiful, non-commercialized welcome/reception area before you wander off throught the vegetation. The ticket says “wear comfortable walking shoes”, the write up stresses uneven ground, and warns you to wear closed toe shoes. The guide warned us about standing on mounds that contain fire ants. Yet, there must have been half a dozen silly people wearing flip flops. Duh! And, again, it was hot ... as in HOT! I had my hat on, but took it off every time we went into the shade to try to catch a breeze in my hair. I am used to high humidity with heat, so did fairly well, but some people who came from drier areas were not doing as well. Walking through the jungle was as marvelous as I expected. Lush greens with wild roots and strange growths around trunks, brilliant splashes of flowers, the rain-like sound of the breeze in the palm fronds, and the noise. It's a very very noisy place, with birds and the loudest grasshoppers/crickets I have ever heard. And mon keys. Yes, monkeys!!! You could hear them everywhere, and at one point, our observant assistant guide pointed out a spider monkey high in the tree above us, munching leaves and no doubt wondering what the troop of hairless apes were doing. I saw a monkey! And not a sanctuary one, but a wild jungle monkey. My trip was complete.. :)

Our guide, Jesus Rivero, was brilliant. It was obvious that he was passionate about this site, well educated, very informed, and involved. (I asked him afterwards if he was a teacher, and he grinned and said that yes, he had been. It was obvious.) It was like taking a living class or field trip with a university prof. He showed us trees where the Mayans developed chewing gum and rubber, showed us the whistles they carved in shapes of jaguars to call the sun each morning, pointed out the leaves used to make novocaine, and the barks used to heal burns from touching the toxic rosewood tree. He showed us the perfect alignment of the temple corners with the equinoxes. He explained the incredible accuracy of the Mayan calendar. (It's only out 18 seconds a year, compared to the 6 hours ours is off. As a result, we need to recalibrate every 4 years by adding an extra day. The Mayans only needed to recalibrate theirs every 5000 years! And the last recalibration took place on December 21^st, 2012... the end of the 12^th cycle- not the end of the world.) He explained the astronomical system that lined the cycles of the sun and moon every 52 years, when they could add to their temples.

When these amazing structures were built, the stones were covered in clay, and so the sides were smooth and white. While the clay was wet, it was carved and painted, so when dry, the brilliantly coloured frescoes were baked in and permanent .... until the jungle encroached and destroyed them. (This is the same method of painting we call 'al fresco'.)

Jesus also explained how it was only the high noble males and priests who could partake in the herbal hallucinogens to get their visions. If the wife or priestess needed a vision, she would go to a special, circular area, and kneel down. Her assistants would pull her tongue out as far as they could, and then pierce it. They would then pull a rope with embedded thorns through the hole, causing the blood to run freely and quickly. As she became weakened from blood loss, and just before passing out, she would have her vision. Lucky her...

The buildings allow climbing, and Cathie was eager to head up the steps again. I decided against the knee/leg pain and heat stroke, and remained below to take pictures. After all, I did climb the Temple of the Magician at Chichen Itza, and that's TWICE the height of this one! (I also was pretty close to never coming down again, since the steps there look like a ramp from the top.)

We spent almost 2 hours here, and it was amazing. Afterwards, we had the option of buying some fresh pineapple (picked that morning!), and it was perfect for quenching thirst and re-energizing us. (We passed many fields of pineapple on the way.) The Costa Mayan way to eat this treat is sprinkled with

habanero pepper! I opted to enjoy my pineapple “au natural”. We had a bagged lunch to snack on for the drive back (about an hour). I also had a minor heart attack when I realized my wallet was missing... tore my bag apart, and just when I was ready to alert Jesus, I realized it was on my seat, and I had been sitting on it. That kind of adrenalin attack I don't need!

After one of the hurricanes in the early 2000s, Jesus was involved in cleaning up the site. The huge piles of branches and kohune shells were ready to be burned until Jesus persuaded them to let him try to use the wood. He carved wonderful ornaments – conch shell whistles, turtles and dolphins, etc.- out of this “trash”. The wood is dark, polishes to a high shine, and is 4 times harder than pine. He trained a group of people in the technique, and all that “trash” was turned to art which supports both the artists AND the work done at the park. Now THAT is recycling at its best.

Jesus is mestizo- of mixed Mayan and European blood- but his 110 year old grandmother still speaks Mayan, one of the very few. I suspect his passion for this came from her.

A little shopping at the port, but the ship sailed early from here, so time was limited. Also, the day's heat was starting to nudge a migraine into existence, so I headed back to the ship for some cooling down and a nap.

Woke in time to hit the Taste Bar, listen to some bad karaoke, grab an ice cream cone, and relax on the promenade before supper. It was elegant night again, so that meant slightly nicer clothes for supper... and my gorgeous new tanzanite and Mexican opal ring (my birthday gift to myself.) Exchanged stories with the Rosenbergs (our tablemates) about the day, and shared some wine. The wait staff were as wonderful as always, and made us laugh.

The show that night was a tribute to the British Invasion, and was brilliant! Scene/sets, lights, and performances were all fabulous. My only complaint was that it was not long enough ... like this cruise. This was our last port of call. Sea day tomorrow as we head back to Miami.

Feline antics – all is well. Emily assured me that Tyler was diligent in making sure Astrophe was pilled on time, and everyone was doing well.

Daily food frenzy :

Brekkie – scrambled eggs, bacon,

Lunch – mex snacks on bus, Guy's burger back on ship

Supper – baked eggplant and mozza, penne siciliana (I want this recipe!), fruit plate

Monkey No See, Monkey No Do!

Day 5 – Sea Day

May 8th

I woke around 6am when someone sneaked into my cabin and tried to toss me out of bed. OK- so not really, but there was such a rough sea that I woke, grabbing the edge of my mattress to keep from hitting the floor. Holy cow, it was rough ... so I was rather surprised to fall back to sleep. (This whole liking the motion of the ocean is still confounding me, but that's not a complaint!)

It also meant I wasn't surprised when I woke the second time to this announcement : “Good morning ladies and gentleman. This is Gary, your cruise director, speaking. I am sorry to report that Captain Marino has made the decision that it is unsafe to dock today at Mahogany Bay, due to high winds. As always, your safety, the safety of his ship, and the crew are paramount.”

Since this was the port I was looking forward to the most, and I wanted to spend my birthday with my family the monkeys and wandering through the jungle and botanical gardens, I was disappointed. I understood and respected the captain's decision, of course, but yes, I was disappointed. He did try to find an alternate port, but nothing was available, so we had an at-sea day. That means a lot of work for the crew. They need to plan last minute activities, and then they need to reprint the daily Fun Times with all these new on-board activities. They need to plan to feed lunch to 2000 people that they had expected to be ashore during the day. And they do this all very well, and with smiles. We have chatted a lot to our dining room servers, and learned that they work 10-12 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 6 months, and then have 2 months off. And still they smile. (Savio said that's why they love the song and dance portion of the supper – it relaxes them and makes them happy.)

So, a complete change of plans. There was a lovely birthday card under my door from the dolphins (!) and ship crew, wishing me a good day, and Cathie gave me a beautiful card and gift. Nice start to the day. Off to the Lido deck for a leisurely breakfast, and to read the new Fun Times. The ship was full of activities. I watched karaoke, played trivia, listened to music, and then discovered a quiet oasis... Deck 3, right off the main lobby. It's just a narrow stretch of deck with lounge chairs facing the railing. No music, no bar, no people! I stretched out on a chair in the shade, where it was still very warm, and enjoyed the breeze, the ocean, the occasional spray of sea water (it was still pretty windy), and the absolute peace and quiet. There were only a couple of other people out there, reading or napping, and it was wonderful. I spent a few hours out there, in just a semi-conscious state of complete bliss. (I found Cathie later and showed her the “secret”, and she enjoyed it, with me for a while, until it started to get a bit cool and spritzy.)

At some point, between our afternoon naps and supper (which is at 8:15), we have gotten in the habit of wandering to the Taste Bar on the Promenade. This is a small alcove where they have samples of the various menus around the ship – on a rotating basis. The food is fabulous, but the real attraction is the staff. The 3 chefs and 2 servers are just hysterical. They are pure entertainers. I love sitting there for a while and being entertained.

I had forbidden Cathie to announce my birthday (no singing waiters, please!) but I had mentioned it at the Chef's Table on the 7^th because one of the women announced it was her birthday that day, and then John (the young fellow in the wedding party) said his was on the 9^th, so of course I then admitted mine was on the 8^th – just because it was neat that three of the twelve people there had birthdays in a row this week. So, John remembered when we ran into them after supper and gave me a big birthday hug ... and so did Matt (John's boyfriend) and then Taylor and Mike (the newlyweds). We actually ran into those 4 many, many times during the cruise.

We headed to the show after supper- which was a life size Hasbro game show- and John managed to get himself in the game. Those 4 young people are making some amazing memories. Afterwards, I listened to music in the lobby for a while before heading to bed. No monkeys, but a perfectly wonderful birthday, nonetheless.

Weather permitting, Costa Maya tomorrow.

Cat news : all fine on the kitty mafia front. Kizzy is letting them pet her (which means she misses me!) and Mia is asking for belly rubs (and they are properly honoured!)

Food rundown :

Breakfast : French toast, bacon, fresh fruit, and hot chocolate.

Lunch : Guy's burger (they're awesome!)

Taste Bar : I dunno... but it was good!

Supper : Oysters Rockefeller, steak and fries, and warm apple pie a la mode

Belize it or not!

Day 4 BELIZE

Today we are in Belize. Because there is a large coral reef offshore (the second largest in the world, after Australia's Great Barrier reef) no ships can dock, so we anchor 5 miles off shore, and have to tender ashore. (Basically, that's a water taxi that runs back and forth to the ship.) It's about a 20 minute ride, and it was a bit bumpy. I realized that I am fine on the ship- even in rough water- but another 10 minutes in that tender would have been a problem. Urgh.

Apparently the scuba and snorkeling are incredible (or unBelizeable, as they say here), but I chose to visit the ruins of Altun Ha. After a brief tour of Belize City, we head to the ruins. Our tour guides (Carol, Mark, Amalia) gave us a running commentary about the countryside and the history of Belize (the country formerly known as British Honduras). It's not a rich country, but it's beautiful. It also made me realize that I was quite wrong about Cozumel being hot yesterday ... Nah, in hindsight, it was balmy. Today is hot... as in 98F in the shade with 85% humidity. I had picked up a straw hat in Cozumel, and it's getting quite the workout. Wearing it makes my head hot, but not wearing sets my hair on fire.

Anway, we picked our way through the gorgeous, lush jungle as Amalia pointed out various trees and flowers the Mayans used for medicine. She also pointed out the all-spice tree (the leaves smell divine!), the palm trees that have clusters of small coconuts called kohunes, and the national tree- the mahogany. She warned us not to wander off the path, as Belize is home to several dozen species of snake, 7 of which are venomous. One is called the “3-step” snake, because that's how many steps you take after it bites you before you fall down dead. Point taken. We stayed on the paths.

Belize is south of Cozumel, so Altun Ha is older than the ruins I saw yesterday (since the Mayans moved from south to north as they were invaded). This site dates from as far back as 200BC.  There are 350,000 people living in Belize now, but at the height of the Mayan Empire, over 2 million Mayans called this country home.  But they practiced slash and burn, cut down all the trees, had too many people to support, etc., and eventually collapsed under theoir own weight.

There were two distinct plazas that we could explore, with some very clear carvings in places- including several of their cross-eyed sun god. Our kind guide kept us under shady trees as she explained various points of interest, but we were permitted to climb these ruins, which surprised me. Since the steps were about 2 feet high each, I passed on this. How those very short ancient Mayans could lift their legs high enough to climb these steps was a mystery, until she explained that the priest ascended on his hands and knees in deference to the gods, and would arrive at the top, bloody and bruise. So, I let the others climb the steps, and I took pictures. The sounds of jungle birds was amazing!

After we explored the site, we headed back to the parking lot. There were some nice local crafts made from coconut wood, etc. Quite lovely. I fell in love with a heart shaped wooden bowl and had the craftsman sign the underside for me. I also bought a bag of homemade baked banana chips, and if I had known how good they were, I would have bought more. On the bus ride back we saw a jabiru stork – huge thing, over 5 ft tall, with a black head, a white body and a red neck. Very cool!

Some shopping at the pier, a quick taste of blue raspberry frozen margaritas some guy was handing out (well, why not?) and then the bouncy bounce of the tender ride back to the ship. Time for a nap, then off to supper. I really like our dinner companions, and they said they missed us the previous night when we were at the Chef's Table. Our serving staff also seemed pleased to see us again. Tonight, the staff danced and sang after the meal, and had us in stitches with their exaggerated movements. After supper, we headed to the lounge to watch a live version of the “Newlywed Game”, called the “Love Show”. It was very, very funny. They picked 3 couples – one married 50 years, one married 32 years, and one married the day before on Cozumel. We immediately recognized them as the ones from the Chef's Table, and realized we were inadvertently part of their wedding supper! Listened to some music on the promenade deck, then back to the cabin. Tomorrow is Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan!!

Kitty scoop :  Cats are all great – Ty and Emily are allowing me to have a wonderful vacation!

Foodie details :

Breakfast : same ol' same ol' (eggs, bacon, fresh fruit, hot chocolate, etc.)

Lunch : pastrami and corned beef sandwich on rye

Supper : tom ka gai soup

seafood newburg, coconut cake

Cozumel

Day 3 COZUMEL

May 6

Today is our first port of call, so I was up early with lots of time to shower, have a leisurely breakfast and meet my tour group in the lounge ... until I re-read my ticket and realized my tour was supposed to meet at 9am, not 9:30. Oooops! Grabbed my tote bag and tore down the stairs, and was lucky that the departure time was 9:30, so I didn't miss it. Whew!

Tour guide Miguel (“Call me Mike”) and driver Jose (“Call him Pepe”) were excellent. I spent most of the day with a great gal from New Zealand- Lisa- who is cruising solo. She's an experienced traveller, and has a great sense of humor., so it made the day more enjoyable. We drove to the San Gervasio archaeological site. Apparently there are 13 known Mayan sites on Cozumel, but this is the only one open to the public. Miguel was very knowledgeable and amusing. He says DNA indicates that his ancestors originally came from China. They share a similar sounding spoken language, and the concept of duality – the yin and yang of life. But, he added, he still thinks his ancestors came from ... and he pointed straight up, to outer space. LOL! The Mayans lived on Cozumel from 200 AD to about 1500, and San Gervasio is built in the geographic centre of the island. The ruins we saw were from the religious centre of the area, devoted to the worship of Ixchel, goddess of the moon, women, fertility, childbirth, medicine and weaving. Miguel was a great guide- pointing out little things I would have missed, and explaining things in the design of the place. There are 9 buildings with a total of 28 steps. (“Why 9 buildings?” asked Mike... and then mimed an increasing belly until we all caught on. And 28 steps for the moon's cycle. All very carefully thought out.) Ixchel was the goddess of life, so there were no sacrifices here. It's a serene and beautiful area, and you can easily imagine how it was once a sacred place where all women came on pilgrimmage from all over the Mayan world. Today, iguanas sunned themselves on the stones, and the lush vegetation stood as silent sentinel to a goddess long gone....

After leaving the ruins, we drove along the western shore of Cozumel – along the Caribbean coastline. Breathtaking, and still mostly untouched by development. We stopped for restrooms, a drink and a break at one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. Just stunning. The green area across the street is protected, and I saw wonderful birds flying around there.

After about 3.5 hours, we were back at the port, and bid “adios” to Mike and Pepe, and were all left to our own devices. Lisa and I sat in the shade for a while and chatted, and then I eventually wandered to the main square to do some shopping. GREAT bargains were there. It was also about 10 billion degrees, and I could feel my brain starting to boil. So I headed back to the coolness of the ship, where I could collapse in the air conditioning. I was bright red-- not from sunburn (don't leave my room without my SPF 45 sunscreen on!), but from straight heat. I was cooked!

Cool shower, a nap, and then up on deck to watch the ship sail out.... along with 4 other ships. Busy tourist day in Cozumel!

Then it was time to get ready for the Chef's Table. This is a once-a-cruise experience for 12 people. We are escorted on a behind the scenes tour of the galley, shown how to make Carnival's signature warm chocolate melting cake, and then served a glorious 7 course meal, personally cooked by the chef himself (Chef Biju Jacob). He was a lovely man, and explained each dish as it was served. It was good group of people, too, including a newly married couple (that day!), 2 members of their wedding party, etc. The meal- served with endless glasses of champagne (for the amuse bouches), pinot grigio (for the fish and chicken dishes) and merlot (beef pairing)- was divine. Absolutely divine. He even arranged for a magician to entertain and baffle us with some truly excellent up close sleight of hand. From 4 inches away, I still couldn't catch his tricks!

Staggered back to my cabin, swearing I would never eat again ...but I will!

Tomorrow, we dock in Belize.

Foodie details

Breakfast - eggs benedict, bacon, fresh fruit and cottage cheese

Chef's Table supper : (wait for it!)

Appetizers : parmesan stuffed olives, dates stuffed with chorizo, piquillo sofrito focaccia, marscapone cream and prosciutto crudo, langoustine and sundried tomato fritters

Mains : Tomatoes coated with white chocolate (who knew??)

Tuna Banh Mi

Cornish hen (not a whole one!) with caramelized butternut squash and sofrito

Bavarois (greens with a warm turnip and apple soup)

Salmon with herb pesto, cured tomatoes, carrots, fava, beet crisps

Wagyu beef au jus, potato pebbles, pumpkin fudge

Dessert : Pistachio and mango cake with marscapone cream, guava and caramel praline, and chocolate drops

Sea Day

Day 2 – Sea day

05 May

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. This is Gary, your cruise director. I'm sorry to wake you on this sea day, but you may have noticed that we are slowing down. We have spotted a capsized life raft off the port side, and will be investigating to see if there are any people that may require our assistance.”

That was quite the wake up call. As it turned out, there were no people found, so the appropriate authorities were notified, and we resumed our course toward Mexico.

This was just a sea day, so no obligations. After breakfast, we headed to the cruise director's talk on shore excursions, and then decided to stay for the shopping talk. (It's handy to know which retailers are and are not given the seal of approval by the cruise lines. If you don't want to be cheated, know who has been vetted. The Caribbean is a jewelry shopper's dream – especially for stones like Tanzanite and diamonds.)

More ship exploring, then I headed off for the art auction. I was very smart and sat on my bid card – no accidental buying a $5000 painting because I scratched my ear while holding the card! There were works going for a couple of hundred dollars, and some going for several thousand. I sipped my champagne and watched ... not even tempted to wave that card in the air. Eventually, I got bored and left in search for food.

My goodness! All this lazing about and eating can be exhausting! Had a nap, explored some more, and suddenly it was time for supper. It was “elegant night”, which means tuxedos, formal gowns and diamonds .... or at least it used to. Now it just means dressing up – dresses, suits, sparkles. The food was great, the servers assigned to our table (Mario, Savio and Nada) already knew our names, and were amazing. It was just us and the Nebraskans. The other couple opted for a table closer to the 'action'. Our table was really quite far out of the way, in the back – sorry, aft – and we couldn't see the wait staff when they were singing and dancing. (It's so fun when they do that, and they truly seem to have a good time.)

After supper was the “Divas” show in the lounge. Great music, fabulous singing and dancing, and amazing costumes. A lot of fun, and a good way to cap the day. Adios! Tomorrow.... Mexico!

Kitty update : all is well. Dexter is stalking Emily's food, but is otherwise behaving.

Food : Breakfast – scrambled eggs, bacon, grapefruit

           Lunch – fish and chips

           Supper – stuffed mushroom caps, broiled lobster and tiger shrimp, fruit plate and coffee

I be Cruisin'!

Cruise Day 1

04 May

The day dawned sunny and lovely. I went for a nice walk around before breakfast, enjoying the warm sunshine. Headed back to the hotel for some breakfast before the bus came to whisk me off to my cruise ship. I ordered a nice meal (scrambled egg, bacon, fresh fruit and coffee), and sat, sipping my coffee while I waited for my food. And waited. And waited. They eventually realized that they had forgotten my order, and brought me me breakfast- piping hot, with a side of abject apology, just the way I like it. LOL!  They were really upset, but I told them it was fine; it came in time for me to eat and still have time before the bus arrived.

The bus was on time, and the driver was a personable, chatty philosopher/comedian named Mr. Brown. Between his pithy comments on life and his funny monologues, it made the bus ride a very entertaining passage of time. Arriving at the port, we were deposited at the proper building at the Miami port authority (each ship has its own building), passed off our luggage to the porters, and prepared for the embarking process. I had purchased something called “Faster To The Fun”, which, essentially, bought me royalty ... I mean VIP status. That means I got to bypass the other 2000 peasants and get processed in the VIP line. I got off the bus at 1:05 and was munching a Guy's burger on the Lido deck at 1:20. I like being a member of the hoi polloi!!!

My travel companion, Cathie, was due to land at Ft Lauderdale at 2pm. Since sailing is set for 4:00, we were worried that it was cutting things a bit too tight, but the Carnival flight people assured us that she had lots of time. I had to stop waiting for her in the main lobby at 3:30 when they announced that we needed to get ready for the muster (mandatory safety/lifeboat drill). As it turns out, Cathie arrived at 3:45, just as they were calling for the muster. That is cutting it a bit too close for comfort!

We left on time. It's always fun sliding past the huge Miami mansions with yachts the size of my house sitting at the giant docks. Time for ice cream (soft serve ice cream stations abound!) and explore. The ship's theme is “artists”. The theatre is the Toulousse Latrec, the main dining rooms are the Renoir and the Monet, etc. The lobby is lovely, and there is crazy art style lighting everywhere. Found the actual art gallery and signed up for the auction. Found the Taste Bar and sampled spicy pumpkin and avocado soup, and pulled pork with green chili. Mmmmm! (They serve samples from all the main menus.)

We found our assigned table in the dining room, and met our dining companions, a husband and wife and mother-in-law from Nebraska, and a lesbian couple from Puerto Rico. (Carnival is wonderfully LGBT friendly. I noticed several same sex couples in the first couple of hours.)

After supper we went to the theatre for the welcome show, and the live music- dance production called Latin Nights. Wonderful music, dance and stage sets. Such high energy fun – was completely re-energized!  I love live music productions, and these ships have live music everywhere.

Back to the room, finished unpacking, and went to sleep in the teeniest bed ever. It's a small room, with twin beds, a desk and a small bathroom – which is okay, since I am not planning to spend much time here. But every time I roll over, my arm hits the wall or the night table. :) No worries... I be cruisin'!

Kitty update : Emily and Tyler report that all is well on the cat front. Dexter is behaving and showering them with affection. I hope they don't get lulled ....

Food : Lunch : Guy's cheeseburger

          Supper : shrimp cocktail, broiled salmon and asparagus, black forest cake

Cruisin' 2014

Cruise Minus 1 day ...

03 May 2014

Yesterday, Tyler and I drove to Halifax so I could fly out Saturday morning for my “exotic Western Caribbean” cruise aboard the Carnival Conquest. After the long winter we just endured, I need this!

The drive was pleasant, and we arrived without incident. Emily was waiting for us, and I finally got to meet their zoo- the soft and nervous chinchillas, and the beautiful tabbies, Princess (well named!) and Garnet (so tiny!) . We had a fabulous meal at a great all-you-eat Japanese restaurant, Tyler did a little stint as tour guide (the area has built up so much I didn't recognize anything), and back to their place for sleep.

Up obscenely early on Saturday for a pre-dawn drive to the airport. The fog was incredible – Stephen King fog. But, as usual, it lifted with the sun, and it was a clear day. Thanked Tyler -again- for his help, and off I went, into the wild blue yonder.

Have you ever flown Delta? Seems nice enough, but they charge for even the first bag, and there was no in-flight entertainment on either leg of the journey- no audio, no movie/TV, not even a newspaper handed out. It was a small jet (CRJ700, I think?), but comfy enough. I snoozed most of the way to NY, anyway. LaGuardia is much smaller than I had expected for an airport in NYC, so navigations were easy. It was amusing that after you left the plane- on the tarmac, because it's too small to gate- they loaded us all on buses, and drove us to the terminal doors... about 50 yards away! LOL! We had all cleared US customs in Halifax, so I guess this was the extent of the security check. Had a long laylover, but there are thousands of iPad stations with free internet everywhere. (Mind you, if you want to use your own device, there is a fee for the internet.) Boarded the jet for Ft Lauderdale and was pleased to discover that it was only about 1/2 full. Had a row to myself, so it was a very comfortable flight ... until we hit the storms over Florida. We ended up circling for a long time (interspersed with occasional attempts to land) before we finally got the all-clear and landed at one very wet airport. I collected my bag and went outside to wait for the shuttle. Ahhhhh!!! It was like getting smacked in the face with a wool blanket that had been soaked in boiling water. Yep, it was Florida, and it felt wonderful! It was a short ride to the Courtyard Marriot, and I was settled in my nice room quite quickly.

There was a restaurant in the hotel, but a lovely Norweigan couple on the bus told me about a seafood place next door, so I headed there. I was somewhat taken aback by the “no firearms”sign at the entrance, but it was a good call! Had a truly delicious meal – Key West shrimp in a lobster alfredo on linguine. Mmmmm!

It was a long day, so headed back to the hotel for an early night. Tomorrow, I cruise!!