Going on the cruise meant skipping GYC, the first one I’d ever missed. I felt a bit sad about that, but then there’s always 3ABN and AudioVerse, where the GYC highlights are captured in all their multimedia glory. The one part I really missed was seeing my friends — but I got to visit other friends, so am consoled.

Our group included my mom, Eugene and Heidi, and me, along with my mom’s Aunt Faye and Faye’s sister Kate. Our cruise was a week-long trip through the Caribbean, including Jamaica, Cayman Islands, and Mexico.

Friday–Saturday, Dec. 12–13

I left home on Friday, December 12, headed for my brother’s home in Arkansas. I arrived in time to attend Ouachita Hills Academy’s Christmas concert, featuring singing, a bell choir, strings, a harp trio, woodwinds, and other instruments. It was a great performance. After the concert I had time to talk with quite a few friends and people I hadn’t seen in a long time. On Sabbath I spent the afternoon with my friends, the Nealls.

Sunday, Dec. 14

Our cruise departed from Galveston, Texas, about a 9-hour drive from my brother’s place. With boarding beginning at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, we had to leave very early — at around 4:30 a.m. My mom was driving from Tennessee, and had gotten stuck in slow traffic due to bad weather and a vehicle accident she passed. At 4:00 a.m. she hadn’t arrived at Eugene’s, and we were getting worried. But a few minutes later she stepped through the door, tired, but there and ready to go.

Arkansas borders Texas, and most of our driving was in TX. The northeast part of Texas makes southern Illinois look beautiful! Almost makes me think of that song “Tumbling Tumbleweeds.” As we neared Galveston, there were more trees, more hills, more palms, and finally glimpses of the Gulf of Mexico.

We arrived with ample time to get through security and board. We had three cabins between us, which thankfully were all close to each other.

My cabin:

After dumping our luggage, we found a pizzeria on the upper deck. All the meals on the ship were free, and we enjoyed a custom cheese-free veggie pizza. As we sat there waiting for our meal, I spotted a dolphin jumping around in the harbor. A couple more appeared as we watched.

Our ship departed at 4:00. After exploring the ship and unpacking, we all met again for supper. The evening meal was assigned seating, and served. We were in the late seating, so sat down for supper at 8:15. I don’t think any of us are accustomed to eating that late, but we managed. While standing, waiting to enter the restaurant, the ship really rocked, and everyone was laughing as we all swayed together. We had great waiters, one of whom was mostly vegetarian, which was a great help. He really looked out for us. The food was exceptional, and there was always one main vegetarian dish, and various vegetarian sides. My first supper was Indian food (rice and curry), with a fruit platter.

Eugene and Heidi:

The housekeeping staff often cleaned our rooms during meal times. When I got back to my room I found a towel on my bed shaped like a walrus. The staff made different animals each day. I thought it was cool.

An elephant towel critter:

Monday-Tuesday, Dec. 15-16

Monday and Tuesday we were all day at sea. I checked my email once, but the prices were crazy: 75¢ per minute, and the speed was slow. It look me more than 20 minutes just to download my email headers and a few complete messages. No more email on that trip!

The ship kept up a good clip — 15 knots or more I think. It was quite windy on deck while the ship was moving. While watching the waves, I spotted several flying fish jumping away from the wake.

We checked out the mini golf game on deck.

The wind was strong enough to blow the ball around, which added some challenge. Although we usually met or beat the par on most sections, the one with the mouth was very difficult. I think it took me about 20 tries to get it. Some took to less conventional methods to get the ball in:

Monday night was the first of two elegant nights. Everyone dressed up for supper. It was quite a show, all the ladies in their evening gowns, some of the guys in tuxedos. It was obvious that black is still the “in” color for formal events, for men and women both. Not everyone was so dressed up — including us. But I had brought a couple shirts and ties on a whim, for which I was thankful!

On Tuesday, Eugene, Heidi, and I checked out the jacuzzi. I think there were four on the ship’s deck, and we had one to ourselves. It was nice.

Personally I did not have high hopes for the food on the cruise, but we had another unexpected treat that day: veggie burgers!

Some evening shots from on deck:

The “whale tail” is the ship’s smokestack:

Wednesday, Dec. 17

On Wednesday we arrived at Montego Bay, Jamaica. We went out to the taxi area, looking for a ride to Dunn River Falls. The first drivers we met were asking $60 per person (for a group of six!). Others said they would come down to $55. Not only was that considerably more than we expected, it was also more than we could afford. My brother kept haggling. Eventually we found ourselves surrounded by taxi drivers, talking to each other in another language, trying to convince us of their prices, and sometimes loudly jeering us publicly. Eventually we found a driver who would take us for $25.

The ride to the falls was interesting. Jamaica has mountains and beautiful beaches. There were large, beautiful resorts. But most of the country was gripped with poverty. The people looked poor; the houses, even those made of brick, were weathered and ill-kept. Locals meandered along the roads. Flocks of goats foraged by the highway.

The driving there is kind of crazy. People pass each other at high speed in short passing zones with oncoming traffic. On a two lane road, cars traveling in each direction will pull to each side, and a third car will pass down the middle. But our driver was pretty safe. I think he was mainly worried about getting a ticket, having given us such a cheap rate.

We finally arrived at Dunn River Falls. But we were disappointed to find that we had to fork over another $15 per person to get in. The main thing to do there is climb the falls, which we did. It was longer and more difficult than I expected, but everyone managed. Even Faye and Kate, in their 80s, made it all the way up (with quite a bit of help from our guides). There were parts that looked difficult, but I always found good footing, as the park staff keep the rocks free from algae. The only scary part was at a natural pool between falls, where the guides would push people backwards into the water. The guides insisted that it was “part of the experience.” I reluctantly agreed to try it — and survived!

At the start of the climb, everyone — a group of 30 or so — held hands in a long chain, which did make the going easier. But as we progressed, and people became more confident, we tended to go it alone, or in small groups.

There were five to ten spots like this one, with natural pools in between:

On the way back we stopped at a small beach and swam a bit. The water was very nice. There were no fish to speak of, but we found some simple shells — the only shells I found on the trip.

Sunset over the bay at Jamaica:

On this trip we learned that we would need more pocket money than we had thought. Unfortunately, even though I had read advice on this very thing before departure, I had inadvertently brought only $20 cash with me for the whole trip. On top of that, having never used an ATM in my life (incredible, huh?), I did not know my PIN, so could not get any more cash on the ship. I had to borrow constantly to get by. Fortunately the others in the group got more money through the ATMs, so this wasn’t too much of a problem.

Thursday, Dec. 18

On Thursday, we arrived at George Town, Grand Cayman. It was a much cleaner city than Montego Bay, and we had no hassles there.

Our ship did not dock at this port, apparently because the water is too shallow. It anchored some distance off shore, and a “tender boat” took us to land.

Our cruise ship (and if you look closely, you can see the tender boat beside it):

My mom had prearranged a trip to Stingray City, but because the waves were a little rough, our captain had bailed out. We did find another ship, but they could not visit Stingray City either, because of the waves. Nevertheless, they took us to several good snorkeling locations. On my first swim, my mask was not adjusted properly, and I kept getting salt water in my nose and mouth. I’m not a great swimmer, and I had not taken any floatation support on that swim, so I kind of wore myself out fighting my mask and the waves. I waited out the second swim. On the third swim, I got a late start, since someone had taken the fins I was using, and I had to wait for a pair. But when I finally got in, I saw lots of fish, and got to pet a stingray that one of the crew had caught. (It had no tail, having apparently donated it to a shark, the crew said.)

Evening sunset pictures:

Friday, Dec. 19

On Friday we arrived at Cozumel, Mexico. This was my favorite part of the trip. (On a calmer day, with a better underwater camera, I might have liked Grand Cayman as much or better.)

We took a taxi to Chankanaab Park, which was a lot of fun. My mom got a picture of me with an iguana and macaw. The iguana sat there so motionless, with its eyes closed. I think it was going to sleep!

Although there were lots of people there (four or five cruise ships were docked at one time — unbelievable), we had this one stretch of beach pretty much to ourselves.

We snorkeled there, and saw all kinds of beautiful, colorful fish. I even saw what I think was a very colorful parrot fish, but I saw it after I had used my last picture in my disposable underwater camera.

This homely fish kept swimming around my head:

Lots of sergeant majors:

Colorful coral and fish; check out the fairy basslet in the lower left.

After a swim, we enjoyed some other aspects of the park.

One of the attractions at Cozumel (and other places that we visited) was dolphins. However, most of the activities were pricey, so we did not do any of them. However, it was fun to watch. Here is a video of a woman getting a “foot push” from two dolphins:

The park included a salt water lagoon, with all kinds of colorful fish, including parrot fish.

We also saw several kinds of reptiles there, mostly iguanas.

Ordinarily one might think of reptiles as cold-blooded carnivores. We were surprised to find this iguana enjoying fresh greens:

Still another part of the park features reconstructions of Mayan artifacts and buildings.

Two Carnival ships were docked side by side; ours is on the left.

That evening, back on the ship, I sat on the forward deck. I was the only person there. Blocking out the ship’s lights with my hands, I enjoyed a spectacular view of the clear, starry night.

Saturday, Dec. 20

On Saturday we had a worship on deck; curiously, it was the same place I had been the previous night. Eugene led the worship. We had one stranger listening in, whom Faye and Kate talked to afterwards.

More sunset at sea pics:

We passed several oil rigs:

That evening my final wisdom tooth, in my upper jaw, made a major effort to come in. After a couple Tylenol capsules, the pain subsided enough that I could eat supper. Thankfully it didn’t bother me anymore after that.

Eugene and Heidi with our friendly head waiter from Indonesia:

A towel monkey!

Sunday, Dec. 21

Our ship arrived back at Galveston early on Sunday. We headed straight back to Arkansas, and arrived sometime after 6:00 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 22

On Monday, we had an early Christmas. We were joined by Heidi’s sister Pam and her kids, along with her brother David, and also Matthew Morea. There was a delicious Christmas dinner, and then we exchanged gifts. Immediately after that, I headed home, arriving shortly after 11:00 p.m. I didn’t even bother to unpack; the next day was a work day, and I needed sleep!

SUMMARY

It was a fun trip, and I really had a good time. I highly recommend Grand Cayman and Cozumel to anyone wanting a relaxing, enjoyable vacation.

Most of these pictures are also online at my Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=77863&l=7c271&id=809418097

and

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=78000&l=7fda7&id=809418097

Facebook childhood pictures

Enjoy!

On the Sunday that ASI finished, my mom and I headed south from Tampa for a vacation in the Florida Keys. We decided to take the southern route, Highway 41.

It was a scenic drive through the Everglades, but because we were in a hurry to reach our motel in Florida City, we didn’t stop along the way. I saw two alligators by the road; one of them was definitely dead, and I wasn’t sure about the other. I later wished I had stopped to take a picture of the possibly live gator, but I had to make a split-second decision, and with cars behind me I decided to just keep driving.

The landscape along Highway 41 was lush and varied. There were stands of long-needled pines, wide open spaces studded with various palms, broad fields of grass and reeds, swamps with Spanish moss, and more. Every so often there was an exit for an Indian settlement, which often seemed to be collections of small cottages, small businesses, thatched-roofed structures, and mobile homes. At around 2:00 we were getting very hungry, so stopped at a local restaurant. But unfortunately it was the loud, greasy-spoon variety, where about the only thing on the menu without meat in it is fries, so we left without ordering anything.

We finally found a good restaurant at the spot where 41 meets 997 South. That was an interesting drive, lined with endless nurseries featuring every kind of plant imaginable, with special emphasis on ornamental palms. It seemed that every other business was a nursery. There were also fruit stands offering avocados, papayas, and mangoes.

At Florida City we came to Highway 1, but not knowing which way to go (the map was unclear), we turned south. This turned out to be the wrong way, but there were few options to turn around, so we decided to drive on out to Key Largo. Along this route we saw the first of many anhingas, a not particularly attractive bird, but it has the intriguing habit of hang-drying its wings. The first one I saw would have been the perfect anhinga picture, but it was on the wrong side of a divided highway, and there was no good way to stop and get a photo of it.

While on Key Largo we visited John Pennekamp State Park, where we saw some white ibises. We also took a boardwalk through a mangrove forest. We saw some lizards there, including a gray one that would thrust out a brilliant red display from its throat. There were also lots of small fiddler crabs rummaging through the mangrove roots. Unfortunately the place was infested with mosquitoes. Even though I applied repellent, the insects managed to find the few small spots that I missed. They showed no mercy.

Boardwalk through the mangroves:

Shortly after this we decided to return and find our apartment, which we did without difficulty. It was a fairly nice room at the Fairway Inn, right off Highway 1 in Florida City. It was nothing special as motel rooms go, but it came with a cooler, mini microwave, and safe box, and the AC and shower worked well. After a thunderstorm passed, I decided to go out and try the pool. It was just after sunset, and I had the pool to myself. But the water was quite cool, and there was lots of small bits of junk floating in it. Besides that, another storm started to roll in. So I didn’t stay out long.

On Monday we left early for our long drive to Key West. Along the way we stopped at a dolphin research center. But the prices for seeing the dolphins, or getting into the water with them, were outrageous. I think my mom was still tempted to fork over the money, but instead we just looked around the gift shop a little, and then headed on our merry way.

Driving through the Keys was an interesting experience. There is just a simple road connecting all the Keys, which are long, thin islands stretching out into the ocean. Between the islands the road is really just a long bridge, with open water as far as the eye can see on both sides. Much of the water was quite shallow, though, so in places you could look out and see underwater features for a long distance. In other places there were marshes or mangrove forests blocking the view of the ocean.

Finally, some hours later, we arrived in Key West. We got veggie sandwiches at a little shop, but although the sandwiches were really good, it was kind of a gross environment with all the fresh seafood “aromas” in the air.

Finally we boarded the catamaran that was to take us on our afternoon adventure. We had two really nice crew, and the other passengers, about eight of them, were also friendly.

My mom with one of our friendly and knowledgable crew members:

It was a beautiful day to be out. A cool breeze was blowing. For some reason the ocean there doesn’t have the strong smell that I often associate with the ocean. There wasn’t really any smell at all. It remained a clear day for us. Around us we could see rain falling here or there. But mostly it remained bright and sunny overhead.

Along the way to our first stop some of the passengers spotted a sea turtle. However, not being fluent in English, they couldn’t communicate what it was until it was past.

Later we ran into a pod of dolphins (the crew knew where to find them). We were told there were probably about 10 dolphins in the pod. One of them was a baby. They came very close to our boat, and I got quite a few pictures.

See the baby dolphin?

They came even closer than this:

After that we went to another place to snorkle. This was my first time snorkeling, but it mostly went well. There were a couple short moments of panic where I breathed in a moutful of salt water, but I didn’t drown. (LOL.) I made a mistake when I took off my mask to clean it, because it was getting really foggy. I had been standing on a submerged piece of junk, but as soon as my mask was off, the current knocked me off the platform, and I couldn’t get back on again. So I decided to put the mask on while floating on my back. But in my efforts to swim back to where I had been standing, my snorkle—which was attached to the mask I was holding in my hand—had fallen out. Despite my best efforts, I was not able to dive down far enough to retrieve it. However, the crew on the boat told me not to worry about it, and they gave me another one.

Although most of the fish were quite plain, we did see a few very colorful ones. I also saw a good-sized lobster. My mom saw a ray. And I also saw a shark. It didn’t come close enough to be clearly identified, but I think it was about 5 to 7 feet long. At first it was just a dark silhouette, which I thought might be a big fish. But I swam a little closer, and then this dark shape turns out to be a shark. It wasn’t too scarey, except I looked around and there was not a single person in sight. Apparently I had swam further out than I thought. But at the same moment the shark swished its tail and disappeared. Then I was torn about whether I should try to find it again and get a photo (I was advancing my camera when it vanished), or just go back to the group. I decided to go back!

Fishies:

Minutes later, we were all told our time was up, and we needed to return to the boat. So ended not only my first snorkeling experience, but also my first time swimming in the ocean!

Later that evening my mom and I ate at an IHOP. Then we watched the sunset at Mallory Square. Personally if I had a chance to watch a sunset there again, I would pick a spot as far away from Mallory as possible. There were too many people, and the view was obstructed by a big, developed island offshore. After the long drive home, it was nice to be in bed!

We also saw this really unusual tree, called a kapok tree:

The next day we slept in. We decided to take the northern route back, which is Interstate 75, also known as Alligator Alley. (However, there is little chance of seeing any gators or other big wildlife there, since the whole stretch of highway is lined by tall chainlink fences on either side, set back quite a distance from the road.) It ran through some pretty Everglades country.

We had hoped to stop at Sanibel Island and do some shelling. But by the time we got there and checked the time, we had to leave immediately.

It was a long and tiring flight home. But it was good to be home again!

While we were out on the Keys, my mom and I had talked about how it would be difficult to evacuate if a hurricane ever passed through. So it was really striking to hear, after we got home, about the hurricane forming near the Keys, and how long it took cars to get off the islands.

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