As with yesterday, I’m talking about my vacation excursion in this post, so if you’re looking for my regular post, in which I dicuss goals and such, then it’s below this one. That was probably a really bad run-on sentence, wasn’t it?

And then on the seventh day… they rested…

Sort of. *grin*

We had long day at sea on Friday (Dec 17) as we hightailed it back to whence we came – Miami. I spent 75 minutes in the best massage I’ve ever had. It was well worth the price – practically free. Since I pre-booked it before the cruise, I got that money back as credits. WOOHOO! Of course, I had to leave the tip and I purchased some massage oil to “continue treatment at home.” Which you know I haven’t even done yet. And it was $60 of “continued treatment.” I need to put that on my schedule of Things To Do.

So while I was up on the Spa deck getting pampered, Man was on the Lido deck soaking up the sun and reading his Nook. I joined him a short while later. We enjoyed a lot of time there on the deck with our Nooks in hand. It was glorious but, alas, we had an appointment with the wedding photographer at 12:30 which, of course, we kept.

It took a while to go through all the wedding photos. There were so many good ones and it was really hard to choose. We had to pick 25 8x10s and 18 5x7s. I wanted the bigger package so we could get a CD with all the photos we purchased. We must have gone through then a dozen or so times to pick out exactly the right ones. Some were no-brainers, others were more difficult to pick. We finally settled on our choices and handed over the money (ouch, by the way…not cheap).

Afterward, we made our way to the restaurant for some food and stood in the longest line ever. Since it was a day at sea, everyone and their mother (literally) was in line to get food. Even at 1:30 in the afternoon. But we persevered.

We saw all sorts of nationalities on the ship and heard languages we’d never even heard before. For example, as we stood in line waiting for food one gentleman and his children walked by. I swear it sounded like gibberish. To which Man replied, “Say what?” which immediately cracked me up. The man even chuckled.

After lunch, we went back to the Lido deck for more sun and more reading. I started reading Eloisa James’s A Duke Of Her Own and am enjoying I immensely. It’s a wonderful book and a quick read.

When we got tired of reading, we wandered around the ship, looked at the photo gallery, bought more pictures (like we need them!) and then it was finally time for dinner. We had lovely service the last night and our hostess (and also point of contact for the wedding) told me she would always remember me. It was sweet. She asked for my email address so I hope she really does email me! She’s a lovely lady and I look forward to talking to her via email.

We spent a little more time in the main lobby bar, just hanging out and watching people until time to head back to the stateroom and pack our final belongings. We debated on whether or not to let them take our luggage for us or take it ourselves. Since we have three large pieces, we opted for them taking it. Which meant we had to leave it outside our stateroom by 11 pm that night.

Despite the fact it was smooth sailing all the way back to Miami, we didn’t sleep well. There was a lot of noise in the hallways and the front of the ship. At 3:30 am, my phone came back into the network and I got a ton of push notifications all at once. At least I had bars again! I could text but I was too afraid to do anything else since it would cost $20 PER MEG. I don’t need to be on Facebook that bad. *grin*

We docked somewhere around 5 am (Dec 18) which was the time I had total give up. I got up. Man went to get breakfast while I showered and we finalized our packing. They shuttled us up to the Lido deck to wait for our group to be called to leave the ship which was about an hour later. We made our way through the port terminal and to the baggage claim. We managed to claim two of our bags but guess what? The baggage claim broke before we could get number three.

There was about a thirty minute delay in getting the carousel working again and then more minutes as I waited with the bags while Man went to retrieve the last suitcase. Then it was outside where we had to rearrange some items in the luggage and into a taxi to the airport.

I should mention that at this point it’s only around 10 am or so. Our flight wasn’t until 7:30 that night. Which left us with a large amount of time to fill. We went to the airport anyway and tried to check it. But we were even three hours too early for that. I should have remember that but I was travel weary at this point. The lady at the desk was super helpful though. She said she could get us on the 12:20 pm for a change fee of $50 per person.

I said YES. Because it would get us home about seven hours sooner than scheduled. I was ready to see my house, my kitty, and sleep in my own bed. We ended up checking all three bags again (another $85 plus $100 to change our ticket…eck…) but we were confirmed on the flight and had an hour to get to the gate.

The security line was rather painless, however, this is where TSA confiscated our snow globe (which I mentioned in Day 4). It was a very long way from Gate 24 to Gate 42. We were tired and I was highly upset about the snow globe. When we got to the gate there is practically no place to sit. There are a couple of seats together but one lady has her bag in front of one, so I march up to it and ask if anyone is sitting there. She looked dumbfounded for a moment before moving her bag so we could sit.

Thankfully, we were in Group 2 to board, so it wasn’t long before we were getting on the plane back home. It’s a very full flight and we’re on the exit row (the only two seats left together but we didn’t care at that point). There was a slight delay – a maintenance issue – but they got it resolved fairly quickly and then it was off the ground and in the air for nearly three hours. We arrived late at DFW and they switched gates on us but failed to tell us the new baggage claim. So we went to the wrong one. By the time we figured out the right one and got to it, they had already removed our bags from the carousel. At least we were around to break that one.

The shuttle bus to take us to the parking lot appeared almost immediately after stepping outside the airport. We were terribly happy to see the truck still there, unscathed. It started right up, we got out of the gate, and we were on our way home!

Our first stop was Sonic – because were starving and wanted “real food.” As we approached the front door, Man took all the cups and bags out of my hand and ordered me to stay. A few minutes later, he comes back out, picks me up, and carries me over the threshold and I’m laughing the whole time.

I was very glad to see the cat, that the house was still intact, and that we had Sonic burgers for dinner. It was a great trip and now we know what to do and what not to do for the next one.

I can’t wait.

Hi, everyone! I’m resuming my vacation memoirs here but if you want to read my “regular” blog post, it’s below this one. Otherwise, enjoy!

Thursday we docked in Grand Turk (Turks and Caicos Islands) mid-morning. We’d booked our shore excursion to do the horseback riding on the beach. I dressed for the beach that day and once off the ship, it was actually the warmest date of our vacation. The weather was beautiful. No jacket required! Just sunscreen and a very large hat. Despite that, the water was still too cold to get into. Which was okay by me since I’m not much of a swimmer. I like to wade and that’s about it.

We had some time to kill before getting on the bus to the place where we’d ride the horses. We browsed the shops and I made a mental note to come back and get the kiddo his pirate stuff (he specifically asked for a sword).

The bus to the beach was rather bumpy but we did get some see some of the island, which isn’t very high in population. However, the scenery was gorgeous. The place where we ended up for the horseback riding was an open stable. There, they instructed us to leave our bags and put on helmets. Then they would put us on the horses.

I was one of the first to be put on a horse. Her name was Pikachu. After sitting in the saddle for what seemed like eons, Man was finally in a saddle and ready to go. Then they paired us off and put us together with the people in our parties. For whatever reason, they put me first, followed by Man and the rest of the group.

Now, let me say here that it’s been years since I’ve been on a horse. I’m not savvy when it comes to that and I certainly couldn’t tell you how to ride a horse. So to be in the lead was a bit disconcerting, to say the least. But I did fine, really, and the horse knew the trail so there wasn’t much “steering” I had to do. She was gentle and did what she was supposed to do. However, when she decided she wanted to stop, that was it. She was done. No amount of kicking her in the ribs was going to make her go.

(Later I learned from Man it was because she had to stop to pee…on his horse. That’s why he decided to go around me. haha)

We did the trail on the beach, riding alongside the surf. It was lovely. When we returned, it was time for part two – riding waist-high in the water on the horse. They took them out five at a time. Man and I sat that one out because as I said before, the water was just too cold. And I really didn’t want to be that wet.

So we watched from the covered porch while everyone else went out and that was fine by me. I didn’t get wet or cold.

While we were waiting, a group of dune buggies raced by on the other side of the stables far enough away to where it wouldn’t spook the horses. Man and I looked at each other and suddenly we KNEW that’s what we should have done instead! It was a total light bulb moment. It looked totally fun and so cool. So we have marked that on the “next time” list.

Back on the bus to the ship where they dropped us off in town. We had lots of time to kill and wanted to get some beach time and get something to each. The only place we could find was Margaritaville, a bar and restaurant that played very loud, very obnoxious music. So loud, we couldn’t even carry on a conversation and had to shout to order. I was highly annoyed. So we inhaled our food and got out as fast as we could to the beach.

We walked a long way off to get away from the loudness (I guess we’re old, if the music is too loud). We found two beach chairs in the sun with the ship just in view. It was a total relaxation moment. I did go out to the edge of the water, testing it with my toes and looking for seashells.

It wasn’t long before we had to get back to the ship. Back in our stateroom, we had a view of the dock and watched all the latecomers. The last couple on was a guy practically dragging the girl because she was so clearly drunk. I don’t know about you, but that’s not how I want to spend my vacation – drunk and hung over.

I napped while he went and got coffee. We wandered down to the photo galleries and looked for pictures before heading to the dining room for dinner and then sitting in the main lobby bar just hanging out and people watching. We went onto the deck, watched the water go by, then went up to the Lido deck to see what was going on up there.

Not a lot as it turned out.

Friday was a day at sea, which is actually tomorrow’s blog post! See you then.

On Wednesday (Dec 15), we docked at 7 am in Half Moon Cay (the Cay is pronounced KEY). Since we docked early, that meant we were up early. Looking out our window, we could see the tenders already coming and going to shuttle people to the beach. It looked amazing even from the distance.

Even though we’d ordered a very light breakfast of toast, yogurt and coffee, Man went up to the Lido deck to get something a little more substantial while I showered. He came back with eggs, bacon and potatoes and more coffee. My hero!

I was asked by someone if he was going to see me in the dress before the wedding. It seemed like a silly question at the time since we were already living together and sharing the same stateroom for the cruise. Of course he would see me in the dress. In fact, he’d have to help me get into the thing.

But I digress… while he showered and got ready I started putting on my face. The lighting in the room wasn’t all that good, so it was difficult at best. Plus, my right eye decided to water and thus ruined the outside of my eyelid which I had to reapply numerous times. Grr.

We took our time getting dressed. It was actually nice to be leisurely about it. We didn’t have to meet in the lobby until 10:15. So by 9:45, I was ready to get into the dress. Since it’s a strapless gown, there are make-shift stapes safety-pinned to the sides so it can hang on a hanger. Naturally I didn’t realize I wanted these off until I was already zipped up. I tried to remove them but was having a time of it and then I realized I was bleeding! I had this cuticle messed up on my middle finger and it decided to open up and bleed. Thankfully, it didn’t get on the dress, just on the strap, which was immediately removed.

But because my fingernail was now outlined in fresh blood, I had to cover it up with a Band-Aid. Luckily, I came prepared but I hate I had to have a Band-Aid on my hand for the wedding (and my left hand, too!). I made sure it didn’t really show up in the pictures but there are a few where you can see it.

We gathered up the paperwork we needed plus camera and other miscellaneous items to take with us and were ready to go when our stateroom phone rang. The hostess/wedding contact, Senti, was waiting in the lobby for us. I told her we were getting ready to make our way there.

Walking out of the stateroom, we immediately garnered looks. One lady even took my picture from way down the hallway. A couple walking by smiled and congratulated us. People are funny about weddings. I think deep down, they secretly love them and they love seeing them.

We had to wait for the elevator to go up one level because I didn’t want to fight with the dress going up the stairs. Of course the elevator was already somewhat full and the people inside were dressed for the beach – sun hats, bathing suits, shorts, beach bags. And here I am in this giant pewter dress with a bustle and he in his tux. We looked out of place but gorgeous.

In the elevator, Man says, with a smirk, “You’re taking up more than your share, you know.” I giggled and those folks on the elevator laughed. A guy in the back says, “Yeah, you’d think it was your day or something.” Which made everyone laugh again. It was a good light-hearted moment that sort of broke up the tension. Because, let’s face it, no matter how much you don’t want to be nervous or THINK you’re nervous, you are. Wedding jitters never go away.

Out the elevator, we have to round a corner and pass Guest Services where there’s a long line… and a lot of people turning to stare. They can’t help it. There were “awws” in the crowd and lots of congrats shouted our way. Senti and Reymond (the photographer) were waiting for us and when she saw me, she gushed about how beautiful the dress was.

I have to admit, it IS a beautiful dress. I’m trying to come up with another occasion to wear it.

He snapped a few photos on the grand staircase in the ship’s lobby while Senti radioed down that we were on our way. Make way for the wedding couple! So we go down to the gangway where more people are staring and offering their congratulations. We bypassed the long line to get on the tender (hehe) and where the first ones on. What can I say? I love special treatment. And, really, they treated us like royalty. It was awesome.

People are so funny to me. They can’t help but look. Some asked to take a picture.

The tender was a twenty-minute ride to the dock. We let everyone else get off the tender first but even so, there were a few who were behind us and one guy almost stepped on my dress. I think Man nearly shoved him out of the way, though.

We met up with a couple of the locals who would drive us out to the wedding spot. So it was onto a big truck then. Reymond snapped a few photos here and there while we went. When we got there, they offered to drive us up one at a time in a golf cart, but we decided we’d walk it. I mean, that was the point of getting married in a beach, right? I started off wearing shoes, but the shoes I had were not beach-friendly, so I immediately kicked them off.

Seeing the beach and the wedding spot was breathtaking. These pictures don’t even do it justice. The place is just THAT beautiful. And the weather was awesome! There was a bit of a breeze which was cool but not uncomfortable. It was actually nice and warm in the sun and the sand was cool and felt really good on my feet. Not hot and grainy like the beaches in Texas I’m used to. But smooth and soft. Like standing on a giant pillow. I loved digging my toes into it.

We met up with the officient who was a native to the island (one of the 30 inhabitants). She was awesome. Very funny lady who joked that most brides were late but not THIS bride. Senti told her I was the first bride she knew that already had all the paperwork ready to go. I guess this isn’t the norm for most of their wedding couples but you know me…my analness shone through. I can’t help that I’m organized. *grin*

There were some forms that had to be filled out and some paperwork to be signed before we could get going. Witnesses were procured: Senti and Reymond from the ship. Then, I picked out the music to walk down to the alter to – Canon in D. Seemed appropriate. And so, we were off!

Our officient was wonderful. The vows were beautiful. And in the background the surf crashing onto shore. Heaven! We had a few spectators, too, on the beach, watching the ceremony. Funny to have a bunch of people we didn’t know there but at the same time it didn’t seem strange at all. Like it was meant to be that way.

And when we were pronounced Mr. and Mrs., there was lots of applause from those who came from the ship and those who were spectators. We had our champagne toast, snapped lots of pictures, and signed the marriage certificate to make it all official.

In case you’re wondering, YES, the marriage ceremony is quite legal in the Bahamas. We are most certainly married. And no, we don’t have to get married again in the States. As soon as I can, I’ll be ordered a certified copy of the marriage certificate just in case we ever need one for whatever reason.

The entire ceremony took approximately 30 minutes but it was great fun and I’ll never forget how beautiful it was there and what an awesome wedding we had. Afterward, we decided to run back to the ship, change, and then come back to the beach to enjoy what was left of the day. So it was back on the truck to get to the dock to catch the tender.

(If you’ve been following along all week, you know all the modes of transportation we’ve taken. It became a joke with us by the middle of the week. I hope you’re paying attention because there will be a pop quiz later. *grin*)

On the boat back to the ship, a couple sat down in front of us and told us they watched our wedding from the water. Another girl who boarded the ship, stopped to talk to me in her perfect British accent. Asked if she could have a picture and then later asked if I was going to “toss the bouquet”. To which I replied no, since I wanted to keep it. Throughout the next days on the ship, we had several people come and tell us they saw our wedding and offered their congratulations. It’s amazing how people can recognize you when you least expect it.

We spent what was left of the afternoon on the beach, enjoying the nice weather in the afternoon. Then it was back to the ship by 3 and, eventually, dinner where we were surprised with a complimentary bottle of champagne – a gift from my sister and brother-in-law!

When we got back to our stateroom later that night, a knock on the door from room service. Yet another bottle of champagne (our third!) and chocolate covered strawberries. All complimentary! 

All in all, it was a wonderful day.

And…I’m going on break until Monday. Next week, I’ll finish up with stories about the cruise. Until then, I hope everyone has a VERY merry Christmas!

On Tuesday (Dec 14), we docked in Nassau at the early morning hour of 8 am. I say early morning since we didn’t get to bed until around midnight. Because our stateroom was on the second deck and forward, we heard all the noise associated with docking. The pulling of the anchor ropes, banging, clanging and just general noise. Which meant we didn’t sleep in much, if at all.

Besides, we had to meet for our shore excursion at 9:45 am. As we left the ship and stepped into the Bahamas breeze, one thing was readily apparent: it was freezing in the Bahamas! The cold front had followed us down from Miami to Nassau. Back to the ship we go to get jackets but I hadn’t changed my footwear, so here I am in sandals. My toes were cold. A blustery cold wind whipped right through us while standing on the pier waiting to go. To get our blood flowing, we walked along the pier and to the city. We hoped to get into warmer temps the further we got from the ship. No such luck.

We finally met up with our shore excursion and it was a walk from the ship, down the pier to some waiting taxis which were actually vans that could hold about 12 people. (At one point during the walk, Man said if it was anything open he would murder me. hehe) Luckily, the vans were enclosed and we were out of the wind.

So we piled into the van along with the rest of the small group and off we went. The first thing I noticed about Nassau was that it pretty much looked dirty. We got a bit of history on our way to the first stop – the island only won their independence 37 years ago from England. I wasn’t all too impressed with the city itself though our first stop was pretty cool – Fort Fincastle built in the late 1700s. We got to stand on top of the fort which was interesting yet the wind was brutal and we froze. Back down to the Queen’s Staircase which was built in honor of Queen Victoria’s 65 year reign (there are 65 steps – one step for each year she reigned).

Back in the taxi, we headed for our third stop – a tour of Fort Charlotte which was built in the late 1700s. This I remember a little better since we got to go down into the tunnels and see where the barracks had been. The soldiers stationed there were bored and cared pictures into the stone. There was also a water-less moat and the fort had a real drawbridge. There was evidence of it on the stone walls where it had carved out ruts from going up and down.

After we visited Fort Charlotte, it was back into the taxi where the driver showed us some of the island and where the rich folk lived. We got back to the city where we visited a pirate museum. There were a lot of interest tidbits inside the museum. It was a self-paced tour, which we liked. We found we didn’t much like being on someone else’s timetable.

We stopped in the gift shop to pick up some souvenirs. I got the kiddo a map to sunken and buried treasure and Man bought him a really cool snow globe. For whatever reason, the kid specifically asked for that. However, much to our dismay, the TSA confiscated it at the airport because it was liquid. I was highly distressed (we’d already checked our bags and we didn’t have time to go back to check yet another bag [they'd already gotten us for $85!] and then go back through security again before our flight).

Anyway, after finishing up at the museum, we strolled through the very busy downtown area and popped in and out of shops looking for more trinkets. I found some fun ones to bring back to my coworkers. By then, it was mid-afternoon and we were starving. Since we had to be on the ship by 4, we headed back before the masses and grabbed some late lunch on the ship.

We rattled around the ship for a while and checked out the photos in the gallery then made our way to the dining room (we were in the Galaxy Dining Room). We met with the hostess that night. She was our contact for the wedding day. We planned to meet in the main lobby at 10:15 am and she would escort us from the ship to the tender to the beach. We were also assigned a photographer who turned out to be marvelous. (Just wait till you see some of the pictures!)

Back at the stateroom, we ordered room service for breakfast on Wednesday since that was The Big Day.

And that’s where I’ll end today! Tomorrow: Wedding day on Half Moon Cay!

Since I crashed super early on Sunday night, Monday I was up super early. Again! Like before sunrise. Man was not amused about that either.

We ordered room service for breakfast. There’s nothing better than having coffee while listening to the seagulls (by the way, they really do sound like they’re saying “Mine” like from Finding Nemo!). We had a leisure morning of hanging out in the hotel room until we had to check out and head to the port.

As we left the hotel, there were taxis outside the hotel dropping off and picking up. Two cabbies argued over getting us as their fare. Man being Man told them they could argue later but we had a ship to be on. The funny thing about him is, he could always make the cab drivers snicker. In Miami, they like to use their horns. A lot.

A ten minute cab ride got us to the port and right to our ship – the Destiny. Seems fitting for our trip. We love symbolism. At the curb, we handed off our luggage to the porter, who was kind enough to let us know it was then time to tip him. Always love when they tell us to tip them, eh?

It wasn’t quite noon yet but the line to board the ship was already long. We had to go through another security checkpoint similar to the airport. They checked our passports against our boarding passes. Except with this one, though, we didn’t have to strip down. Only had to put our carry on bags onto the conveyor for x-raying.

Then we had to figure out what our next step was. Luckily, we’re fairly intelligent individuals and headed to the check-in kiosk where we set up our shipboard account. They assigned us a “sign and sail card” and then it was up the escalator to the gangway. Woohoo!

From there, we discovered what would be a constant part of the trip: pictures! We had our first one taken just before heading onto the gangway. Later we’d buy that picture with a background that says Miami. It’s cute. (Sorry, I don’t have it electronically or I’d post it.)

Onto the ship, another long line to board. Once we boarded, they shuffled us up to the Lido deck, a place where we’d hang out for most of the trip. Our stateroom wouldn’t be ready until 1:30 so it was a good place to hang out and wait for the ship to sail.

We found two deck chairs to hang out on and I had my first fruity drink to kick off the trip. The music was loud and the breeze was cold. In fact, we practically froze in Miami. In the picture to the right, this is a shot of downtown Miami from the Lido deck.

After an hour or so of sitting there, we roamed the ship to get familiar with it. We found our stateroom. It was on the Main deck forward with an ocean view. Which sounds really cool but it turns out it was quite noisy when the ship docked at oh-damn-thirty.

But I digress… So after several hours of roaming, it was time for the safety briefing. In case, you know, the ship sank we’d need to know where to go and how to get there. And by the way, the horn they sound just before leaving port … really loud. REALLY loud.

Here’s a shot of our stateroom.

After the safety briefing (another sheep-herding moment), it was back on the deck to watch the ship leave the port. The wind was blowing pretty good and quite cold. In fact, we froze. But leaving port was so awesome. We stood there until we were officially out to sea, then we headed back to the stateroom to find our luggage waiting for us.

On to dinner that night where we met our waiters for the evening. The first night, we sat at a table for two. Next to us was another table for two and then another one on the other side of that. There was a single guy sitting at the middle table chatting up the couple on the other side of him. We noticed this right away because the guy barely drew breath the entire time he talked. And the poor couple next to him looked completely bored and annoyed by him.

Which sent us into fits of laughter. We immediately dubbed him The Talker. We never did figure out why he was on a cruise all alone. By the time the couple had dessert, the man looked completely beaten down by this guy. I had this horrible feeling that after they left, he would turn to us and try to engage in conversation. However, Man, who was sitting across from me and could see the guy, was giving him the look that said, “Don’t even try it.”

He finished up (after having two entrees and two desserts) and left. As soon as he was long gone, we busted out laughing. Pictured here is a shot leaving port following another Carinval ship way in the distance. Off to the right is a Norweign ship.

After dinner, we checked out the bars. We started with the disco bar but that’s so not the Man’s scene. We hit the karaoke bar next and watched some incredible people sing (and some really bad singers). Then it was on to the piano bar where Judy and her little friends were drunkety-drunk-drunk and really ruining things for the rest of us. You know the type. They get totally smashed and think they’re cuter and awesomer than anyone else in the bar. And Judy loved the piano guy. She hit on him constantly, sat next to him at the piano and insisted on a duet. She was highly annoying.

We figured Judy would be hurting in the morning as we left the bar (somewhere around midnight) to head to our stateroom and crash. After all, the next day we were stopping in Nassau, Bahamas!

And that’s it for today. Tomorrow: Nassau.

View from hotel room balcony. Note: you can click on any picture to see it larger! You may have to click and then click on it again.

First: I want to thank all my guests last week for filling in while I was off on vacation. I hope you had a great time reading their posts! Now on to the great stuff!

I woke up at 5 am on Saturday (Dec 11). It’s a new thing my body has decided to do since the time change. We were already mostly packed but there were the odds and ends that had to be done before we took off for the week.

Our tradition is to go to IHOP for breakfast before heading off to the airport. We left around 10:30 am. There was a bit of a wait but we still had plenty of time to kill before catching our 2 pm plane. Breakfast was great and I stuffed myself silly.

After breakfast we moseyed to the airport. After much debate on how to get there, we finally decided to just drive and parking in remote parking. Turns out, it was the same cost as taking a shuttle or a cab. I ended up having to check The Dress because it was too fat to be a carry-on. I sweated about it the entire time we were on the plane (about a 2 1/2 hour flight).

In this picture to the left, this is another view from the hotel room balcony. You can see the cruise ships in the distance.

We landed in Miami around dinnertime. Miami International reminded me much of DFW International. They had the same stark look about them. Heading for the baggage claim area was a big adventure. As we were walking through the airport, I was busy texting (of course) and didn’t realize I had stepped onto a moving sidewalk. I, naturally, lost my balance and nearly bought it. Luckily, the Man was standing right behind me and was able to stabilize me. It seemed like a mile walk to get to the claim area.

We stood there for an hour waiting for the thing to start. They were having technical difficulties it seemed. FINALLY we got our bags – and I was relieved to see The Dress had arrived unscathed. After that, it was into a cab to the hotel where we could decompress some. We made our way downstairs after resting up for a bit for some dinner. Primo’s was an Italian place and I had this yummy chicken pesto flatbread pizza.

Since I got up early that morning, I crashed fairly early…

…and woke up early the next morning. Man was not amused. However, we got a jump start on the day. We were headed to South Beach to see what it was all about. According to the concierge, we could catch the #2 bus to South Beach, get off and walk about a block and there we would be. The bus station was only a short walk from the hotel and it only cost $2.00 each. Better than a $12 cab ride we thought. When we got to the bus station, it turns out there were several #2 buses and we ended up on one that didn’t exactly take us where we wanted to go. Luckily we had a walking map and Man knew where to get off before it was too late. The downside of that was, it wasn’t in the best part of town and we had to walk about 11 blocks before getting where we really wanted to be.

However, we did make it to South Beach finally. It’s a cool place, actually, and it was a lovely warm day. We walked all up and down Ocean Drive and saw all the historic places. We even stopped at a sidewalk cafe for some Cuban food, which wasn’t all that great (sadly). We made a stop at the beach, too. I’m not normally a beach person but I can see why people love the place and want to live there. The water was chilly (no swimming for us) but I did stick my toes in it.

We managed to find a Starbucks near Miami Beach and headed in for some much-needed rest and refreshment. We hung out there and rested our feet for a while, then caught a cab back to the hotel. Once we got back and offloaded our souvenirs, we decided to head back out to downtown. I had it in my head I wanted to see the Challenger Memorial marked on our map in downtown Miami. We discovered they had a monorail system and it was free.

So, being brilliant as we are, we decided to give it a try. A local told us how to get where we wanted to by switching trains. However, the people on the train were, ah, interesting and colorful. One approached us and asked for money. Most of them were vagrants riding the trains back and forth looking for handouts.

We got off the train and headed downtown in search of this mysterious memorial. We had a difficult time finding it and walked all over downtown until we finally discovered it. It was, shall we say, underwhelming. I was disappointed to see it didn’t have any sort of marker other than the names of the astronauts killed. No plaque to tell what it symbolizes or anything. Not even the year it happened.

By then, we were a bit delirious from walking not to mention exhausted. Rather than catch another train back to the hotel (and since we were losing daylight), we snagged a cab and headed back to the hotel for the night. Oh, and I’d taken my pedometer with me on the trip. For Sunday (Dec 12), I walked 15,000 steps. That equates to about 7 miles. No wonder we were exhausted!

But it was a really good day.

Tomorrow: Day 3 and leaving the Port of Miami!

On South Beach