Pelican Plunge

IMG_0598, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Thursday, March 17th:

Thursday was a sea day - we started the day with a character breakfast; while we were served breakfast a bunch of Disney characters would come by the tables for autographs and photo opportunities. I left midway for a pedicure. Really! And I enjoyed it! That seemed to be the theme for this vacation for me - doing relaxing girly-girl stuff.

We did more sea day things - Brenden went to the kid's clubs and played with Lilly then went to the pools and played with Brett. Jon and I played Bingo (yeah really) but we didn't win anything. Oh, it was Saint Patrick's Day so in celebration of not having a drop of Irish blood in me I drank Guinness Stouts all day.

Disney sometimes premieres its movies on board the ships the same time they are coming out in theaters so we watched Mars Needs Moms. When we got home I was amused to note that this movie bombed hard. It wasn't that bad. We liked it. I was a little freaked that the little kid who was the lead character looks like an 8 year old Seth Green but then I lolled when I saw the credits - Green had provided the voice and the character movements.

Friday, March 18th:

Friday was Castaway Cay day, on Disney's private island. I knew ahead of time that the Flying Dutchman had been dismantled - it was a movie set after all and time and some serious storms had taken their toll. I'm glad we got to see it on our first cruise!

Jon and Brenden went and rented a paddle boat - I found us some chairs and an umbrella near the Pelican Plunge and I read my Kindle and admired my shiny toenails in the sunlight. When Jon and B came and found me Jon went snorkelling and got some nifty photos of some creepy cuttlefish (they may be squids - my marine taxonomy is a mite shaky) and I helped Brenden build a sandcastle. A cute little 3 year old asked his mommy if he could help us and she told him to ask us. He did and I said we needed all the help we could get.

When Jon came back he took over sandcastle duties so I lounged and read some more. When we got back to the boat I took one last trip to the Rainforest Room, which I had all to myself. Yay!

Friday was the last full day and I don't remember what we did that evening except say goodbye to our Canadian dinner partners as well as our multinational servers.

Saturday, March 19th:

We woke up to see the ship docking at Port Canaveral, boo. We ate breakfast one last time then left the ship and took the shuttle to the car rental place. Since our plane didn't leave for Huntsville until 3 pm, we had some time to kill. Like many cruisers, we killed it by visiting the Kennedy Space Center.

As a nerd, that's kind of like visiting a holy shrine for me. We wanted to see the space shuttle on the launch pad but the tour for that lasted too long. We walked around some and I let Brenden play in a play area while I listened to a tour guy talking about the space programs while leading a group around their rocket exhibit.

Maybe I'm prejudiced, but the US Space and Rocket Center here in Huntsville is a much better museum as far as I'm concerned. I do know touring the Marshall Space Flight center might not be as exciting as seeing the frickin Space Shuttle on the launch pad but still.

We stayed and watched an IMAX movie, Hubble 3D (Waaay nifty) then headed for the airport. The trip home was extremely uneventful. I managed to walk off the ship with a scratchy throat and ended up with a nasty chest cold that kept me home from work Monday and Tuesday. I'm glad I didn't get that at the beginning of the trip.

Manatee

IMG_0173, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Nifty, eh? Nothing else to say, the rest of the trip report soon come.

Captain of the Bones

IMG_0289, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Tuesday, March 15th: St. Maarten

I must have low standards or something because everyone told me Saint Maarten sucks but I liked the place and we had a great time.

There is a nice beach near the cruise dock so we all went there for the day. I went in the water a few times but it was cold. That never stopped Brenden. He made a friend named Brett whose family was on the same cruise so they spent time together throughout the rest of the week.

St. Maarten had a lot of people on the beach hawking cheap merchandise, if there's a drawback to that place. But, it's fairly easy to smile and say 'no, thank you' so don't let that stop you.

We also bought a new camera while on the island, an SD 1400, and we also bought a new underwater case because the old one didn't fit the new camera. Here's a kicker - the new camera and case were about $50 less than what we paid for the old camera alone. All the photos that are up on Flickr currently were taken with the new camera.

That night was Pirate night - I'm glad Disney hasn't disbanded that tradition in light of the Somali pirates reminding everyone that pirates are really cruel, bloodthirsty, evil, vicious, and don't even say "ARRRR!". Of course Disney has a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie coming out this summer. I am so torn about that. I've already bitched about them ruining my favorite Tim Powers book, but on the other hand, Ian McShane is in the new movie! And he's playing Blackbeard! How awesome is that!

I digress - Jon took Brenden up to the top deck where the party was and watched the fireworks. I watched them from our balcony.

Wednesday, March 16th: St. Thomas

We went on an excursion, sailing to a small island not too far off of Charlotte Amalie harbor to do some snorkeling. Brenden got flustered about the snorkeling and so I stayed on the boat with him while Jon got some nifty picks of turtles. On the way back he loaded up on the painkillers (the drink) being offered around but I stayed away from them. The last time I drank a painkiller I was on Jost Van Dyke and woke up back on St. John having no clue how I got back to the villa.

A woman sitting next to me got loaded up on painkillers and decided she and I were best friends. This is why I try to stick to beer.

The excursion itself was a lot of fun despite my lack of water time. On the other hand, it was frickin cold for the caribbean so I didn't regret it too much. The 'sail' part of the excursion is debatable - sails were hoisted but I don't know how much they helped the engines. But the crew was entertaining and got everyone into the fun of things, including letting the kids steer the ship a little as well as help with the sails. I realized I really miss kicking back on a boat and just watching the islands float by.

By the time we got back on the ship, Jon decided he needed more rum, so he returned to Charlotte Amalie and bought 6 liters of Cruzan rum. Like we don't have a 2 year supply back home. So now we have a 4 year supply.

I was sorry to see St. Thomas go as the cruise ship left the harbor, but instead of being totally bummed I reminded myself that we would be back in June (yay!). Jon had a hell of a hangover at dinner that night.

Aaand in case you are interested, here's a common painkiller recipe:

rum
coconut milk
equal parts pineapple and orange juice
garnish with ground nutmeg

I think the painkiller's deadliness lies in the fact that you can mix a hell of a lot of rum in this recipe without noticing it. It is quite tasty!

Disney Magic Redux part 1

IMG_0213, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Friday, March 11: Travel Day

Our flight left for Orlando at noon so I just kept Brenden out of school and started his Spring Break early. We took Air Tran, which just recently started flying out of Huntsville. The flight to Orlando was uneventful. This time around I had booked us a hotel room in Cocoa Beach instead of staying at a hotel in Orlando. How the hell did I ever plan a vacation before internet forums?

So we got our rental car, got to Cocoa Beach, checked in, and went and ate dinner at of all places Boston Beef and Seafood. Pretty doggone good food, I might add. Then we went to Wal-Mart to buy a soft-sided cooler and a case of Yeungling beer. Even adding in the cost of the cooler it was much cheaper than if we bought 24 beers on the cruise. I'm glad Disney lets you do that.

Once we got back to the hotel room we saw (and heard) something nifty kewl - a Delta rocket had just been launched.

Saturday, March 12th:

We weren't in a hurry to get to the port - the boat doesn't even start loading until 12:30. So after some dawdling, including checking out the beach, we returned our rental car and took their shuttle to the port terminal. We checked in and boarded almost immediately. Things went really smooth! I like that.

Then, while we were on deck 9 playing ping-pong, I saw another nifty kewl thing: a manatee! I ran downstairs to the promenade deck to get closer and snap some photos. I'll post those soon. Really! Any way she was leisurly swimming around, investigating the Magic and the nearby fueling barge.

Jon and I amused ourselves from our room's balcony by watching the dockworkers engage in a Charlie Foxtrot trying to load some steel sheeting aboard the ship. They were sweating and cursing up a storm and running their forklifts around in a tizzy because it was time for the Magic to sail. They made it by about a minute. They were still buttoning up the ship while the lines were being cast off.

So nothing else exciting happened that first day - we had an early seating for dinner (5:45) and this time we shared the table with a family of Canadians - Grandma, grampa, mom, dad, and their sweet daughter,Lilly, who was Brenden's age. I thought we all got along pretty well. I spent most of my conversations with the grandfather, who was a retired schoolteacher, comparing Ottawa's climate with Alabama's. I enjoyed it, he was a nice guy. Actually they were all really nice. Very Canadian, eh? I don't think I could have asked for better dinner companions who were strangers. That can be awkward.

Sunday and Monday, March 13th and 14th:

Okay, these two days are somewhat blurry. I do remember Brenden broke our trusty Canon SD 900 on Monday. He was so upset neither Jon nor I had the heart to punish him - he was doing a great job of punishing himself.

I do remember Jon and I got cruise passes to the Spa's Rainforest Room - basically a place to relax and listen to new age music and tinkling water fountains or sit in a sauna for a while or take a nice shower. I enjoyed it - wonderful quiet time.

When Brenden wasn't in the kids clubs he was swimming in the pools. Jon and I took turns watching him.

I remember a lot of food and a lot of beer. There was a reason I gained 5 pounds while on the trip.

Mice in the Dining Room

IMG_0395, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

I would say I was slack, but I'm also sick, a souvenier from the cruise. Thank goodness my cold didn't manifest until we got off the boat.

We got back from our cruise Saturday, and I did have the wherewithal to post some pictures to my Flickr account. I will write up a trip report as soon as I get the gumption.

Overall, we had a great cruise, but as an introvert I got my fill of other people real fast. If I had a highlight to list it would be our day at St. Maarten. I didn't do anything but sit on a beach and watch Brenden frolic while I drank a few El Presidentes.

Trip report soon come!

WTF stovetop

WTF stovetop, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

I'm going to reply to Nancy's comment as a post: I like the island, too - I mentioned before we are going to have a new one built around a gas range that I've already ordered. We've also hired a cabinet maker to build the island for us. Once that's done that wall between the kitchen and living room will come down, the oven, the cabinets below and stovetop will go bye-bye and the countertop will be replaced. The cabinets below will remain and we're turning that into a bar between the kitchen and living room, if that makes sense.

That, I hope, will be the extent of our remodeling for now.

Jon is still heavily involved with the drop zone, and I suspect he will for a long time coming. He is helping the new owners as well as flying their plane, training the tandem instructors, doing jumps, etc. I think since a huge chunk of responsibility was taken off his shoulders so he is actually enjoying skydiving again. Me, I have no intentions of jumping again.

We are buying a souped up riding mower today. With 5 acres we need something speedy.

We are pretty much totally moved in; we need to clean out the garage and attic and Jon needs to clean out his desk then take that behemoth to the dump. We hope to start getting it ready for sale next week.