Cruisin

We had the time of our lives. Neither of us realized how overdue it was for us to get away from it all. The cruise ship was a great medium for relaxation and adventure. We would plan our day and then do next to none of it and it was great. The only thing we could possibly be late for was a meal and even that gave us a three hour window. Too bad we never missed one. I suppose it is a small kind of accomplishment that in eight days on a cruise ship I only gained seven pounds but thankfully it's coming right off as I return to eating like a normal, sane human being. Eating dessert three times a day in addition to about four meals a day is not sane and who knows the effects of such a lifestyle long term, but it was yummy and thank goodness it has come to an end.

We went to the Virgin Islands (St. Martin and St. Thomas). The beaches in St. Thomas were amazing. In St. Martin we mostly shopped and that was a fun and new experience, because we bought some nice jewelry which is something we've never had or wanted before. We had a short stop in Puerto Rico, there we shopped and we tried the local food as someone advised us to do. We had plantane soup, giant avacado filled with steak, and mango juice. We bought some hand carved bowels to decorate our table. In Haiti we set a course for adventure and tried three different excursions. 40% of the excursion money went directly to the Haiti people, so it was also a good cause. We did the zip line (the longest in the world) that is 400 feet high, then we went parasailing, and finally we had a boat take us out to a nice location for snorkeling. A Haitian man was selling coconuts to drink and we bought two of those from him. It was weird stuff, but we were all about trying new things and spending money that week so why not.

Finally we finished the trip with an airboat and alligator zoo excursion in Florida. Our camera battery died before got to the alligator zoo. It's really too bad because our son especially would have appreciated a picture of the self proclaimed alligator wrestler doing tricks with an alligator including sticking his head into the alligators mouth.