Sailing The High Seas

We set out on a cruise last week for our first anniversary/babymoon.  Granted, our anniversary isn't until March, but it was a lot cheaper to go in early January.  Plus, we found out that I wouldn't be able to get on the ship if I was past 24 weeks pregnant.  So last week it was!

The trip started out with a bang, as we found out literally minutes before walking out the door that our flight from Indy was cancelled because of the ice.  So the original plan was to have a relatively short drive with supper at The Cheesecake Factory before a relaxing night at our hotel.  That plan turned into a 3 1/2 hour drive to Chicago on icy, snowy roads and a late arrival at our hotel before crashing into bed for a few very short hours.  Although we did still manage to find The Cheesecake Factory close to where we were staying the night:)

The top deck of the ship and the Tampa skyline:

As we were pulling out of the port in Tampa, there was a rowing team either having a competition or practicing- we weren't sure.  Either way, they were fast enough to pass the ship!

The second day we woke up to warm air and sunshine!  We were at sea all day but there was plenty to do to keep us busy, like playing mini golf on the top deck of the ship:)

It's not every day that my view from the treadmill looks like this!  Oh wait, it's not every day that I even HAVE a view from the treadmill.  This was just my one day of being all motivated to get a little exercise whilst on vacation.  That, and taking the stairs the majority of the time.  There were a LOT of stairs.

Danny did the rock climbing wall while I sunbathed and read my book.

Formal night- I think we might have been about the most casually dressed ones there!

First stop- the Cayman Islands!

There is a town on Grand Cayman Island called Hell.  It had some kind of weird rock formations to look at, plus a little gift shop.  Please know that even though I have a few pictures of the place, I do NOT think that hell is anything to joke about.

In fact, I was awfully glad to see this painted on the side of the gift shop while we were there!

We also went to a turtle farm in Grand Cayman.  They have a breeding pool with several hundred giant green sea turtles.  (Think "Finding Nemo")  The turtles were huge!!  They can get up to 600 pounds.  They are raised for research and released into the ocean.  We held some of the smaller turtles and snorkeled in a lagoon with some medium sized ones.  It was pretty neat, but I think we both liked our second excursions better.

Next stop: Cozumel!  We actually split up this day and did two separate excursions.  So romantic, right?  But Danny really wanted to go scuba diving and I have an irrational fear of the ocean and have no desire to scuba dive really didn't.  Plus, they wouldn't let me because I'm pregnant.  So while he did that, I went to a salsa making class!  The class was called "Salsa, Salsa, and Margaritas".  We made six different types of salsa, two types of margaritas (or in my case- limeade), and were taught to salsa dance.  The dancing was mild enough that I think even my grandma could do it!  They had everyone work in pairs so I was pretty happy to meet another girl going stag:)  I spent the whole time with my salsa making buddy, Margaret from Tampa.

Danny and I both really enjoyed our different excursions.  I would not have liked his and he would not have liked mine.  But it was great to meet up again and be back together at the end of the day!  (By the way, I know I look fabulous in that hat!)

Just in case the ship sunk, we were prepared thanks to the life vests in our closet!

After one more day at sea, we got back to Tampa and were ready to fly home.  We had about five hours to kill at the airport and we found a little grassy area out in the sunshine where we could sit and watch planes take off.  It was one last fun and relaxing thing to do before we headed home.  Well, besides the fact that an airport worker saw us and called the cops who came to check up on us.  They were really nice and we didn't get in trouble- they just wanted to make sure we weren't hurt or drunk.

Oh, and somehow this picture got out of order.  These are the rock formations in Hell in Grand Cayman.  Not sure why it showed up here, but here it is!

It was great to be gone and I suppose it was good to come home as well.  Life must go on, right?  I was a little bit leery of a cruise when we first booked it, but I would do it again!