Carnival Caribbean Cruise: Day 4 – Second Whole Day on the Ship

This morning I was up at 6:00am and headed out to the gym while Thomas slept in. I did the elliptical again for 45 minutes and then worked on the nautilus machines for arms and chest and then I did some abdominal exercises on the floor. At around 7:30am I returned to the room and showered and woke Thomas up. We had to be at the Spa at 7:50am for a treatment. Yesterday we signed up for a special they were having and it was first thing this morning. The treatment consisted of a full body massage, full body brush exfoliation, pressure point foot massage, soothing scalp massage and espress facial. I ended up adding hot stones to the treatment as well. These 75 minutes were a great way to start the day. I also decided to head into the Thermal Suites before leaving the Spa.

Clouds and Sea

Once back in the room Thomas and I got dressed and headed to the Southern Lights Restaurant for some breakfast. Thomas had eggs benedict and Belgian waffle. And I had French toast and a cheese and ham omelet. After breakfast we met up with Heather and Brent and visited for a little while and then Thomas headed up to the room while I returned to the Serenity Deck and found one of the oversized chairs. I sun bathed and read for about two hours. During this time Thomas came and visited me twice – once he brought me a vanilla milk shake and the next he brought me a drink in a carved coconut (not sure what it was – rum and some kind of fruit punch). I was getting too hot outside so I headed to the Spa for the Thermal Suites again for about a half hour. I then returned to the room and took a shower and changed – worked a little on this blog and read.

After relaxing in the room I decided to take a walk around the ship and ended up covering Decks 12, 11, 10, 5 & 4. While on Deck 5 I checked out the Fun Shops but didn’t buy anything. I was also looking for the family while I was out walking but unfortunately this is a huge ship and I didn’t see anyone. I spent a little time on the Lido Deck (10) and listened to some music while hoping to bump into my brother or sister. Then Thomas met me and we decided to grab a burger at the grill and just relax for a while. Thomas then returned to the cabin and I went back up to the Serenity Deck to catch a few more rays.

Once I had enough sun I headed down to the cabin and Thomas and I took showers and got ready for dinner. Around 7:00pm we headed downstairs to Deck 5 and wandered around and we ended up bumping into Brent and Heather playing the slots in the casino. We talked for a few minutes then we kept on wandering. We eventually stopped at the Plat It Again Piano Bar. We each had a drink and listened to a gentleman play the piano and sing. At 8:15pm we headed to the Northern Lights Restaurant for dinner. We had a nice dinner – I had smoked chicken quesadillas and chilled cucumber soup for an appetizer and jerked pork loin for an entrée and ending with coffee and molten chocolate cake for dessert. Thomas had a salad and flat iron steak with cheesecake for dessert.

After dinner Brent, Heather, Donna, Mark, Thomas and I went to the Main Lobby on Deck 3 and talked about what we were going to do tomorrow Mahogany Bay. We decided to just play it by ear and we would walk around and explore the area. We also made a decision for the day after tomorrow. We planned an excursion while in Belize to do zip lining and cave tubing. So we ended the evening and decided to meet for breakfast in the Southern Lights Restaurant in the morning and then we would stop at the excursion desk and sign up and then head out for our day on Isla Roatan. Thomas and I then returned to our cabin and got things ready for tomorrow and then called it a night. For not getting off the ship for two days we have been very busy. We will see what our Ports have to offer the next three days.

Towel Monkey

Carnival Caribbean Cruise: Day 3 – First Whole Day on the Ship

Both Thomas and I slept pretty good last night and that probably caused us to wake up early this morning. It was around 5:45am when we decided to stop tossing and turning and get out of bed. We dressed and headed out side. We first did about five laps around the outside track and then we played a game of miniature golf.

By that time the buffet was open and we decided to have some breakfast.

Blue Waters

So we ate and talked and watched the water – because that is all we can see at this point. Then we returned to our room and I decided to go to the gym (which is right across the hall from our room) and get a little work out in. I did the elliptical for 45 minutes and then did some of the nautilus machines working my back and legs.

I returned to the room and changed into my swim suit, gathered my Kindle and a few other things and headed out to get some sun. I finally found a spot on Deck 15, the Serenity Deck. I got a big, round, rattan seat with a cushion and some pillows and put on some suntan lotion and just laid there. It was wonderful to relax and enjoy the sun. I did a little reading but mostly just relaxed.

I am not sure exactly how much time I was out there but Thomas showed up at about 12:30pm and we went to the grill for a burger and some fries. Then we walked around the ship took some pictures of the different areas on Deck 4 (Mezzanine) and Deck 5 (Promenade). We stopped in at the Showtime Theater, The Fun Shops, Hat Trick Casino & Bar, Ocean Plaza, Plaza Bar & Café, RedFrog Pub, Vibe Dance Club, Play It Again Piano Bar, Prime Steakhouse, Spotlight Lounge, Photo Gallery, Northern Lights Restaurant and the Southern Lights Restaurant.

Spotlight Lounge Entrance

At some point in there we bumped into Brent and Heather.

Thomas and I went back to our room and did a little reading until around 2:00pm and then we met Brent, Heather, Donna and Mark at the Cloud 9 Spa. Since we have rooms on the Spa Deck we have some perks and usage of some of the areas of the Spa that other people have to pay extra for. So we took advantage of them this afternoon. We spent time in the Thermal Suite. Here is a description from the Cloud 9 Spa brochure . . .

“Like a passage toward ultimate relaxation, the Thermal Suite is based on the traditional Turkish Baths, where friends and family would spend the day relaxing together. Here , we have different herbal steam and sauna grottos that cleanse the body with gentle heat. Heated chaise lounges and tropical shower features make this both a cleansing and relaxing experience.”

 Let me tell you, it was heavenly. This was so relaxing I didn’t want to leave and vowed to spend a little time there each day. But eventually we did leave and went up on Deck 11 and sat outside and enjoyed some music and the sun. We visited and relaxed and laughed until it was time to get ready for dinner.

Dress Night

Around 6:00pm we all returned to our rooms to get cleaned up and changed for dinner. Tonight was a dress up night for dinner so all us guys had suits and ties and Donna and Heather had really beautiful dresses. We met up about a half hour before dinner to get some pictures taken. We found a spot on one of the staircases and a nice passenger agreed to take the picture. Once that was done it was down to the restaurant for dinner. We sat with the same family from last night and had another great evening visiting with them. Tonight’s menu was pretty good – Thomas had a salad and a flat iron steak with baked potato and for dessert he had an apple tart. I ended up having a shrimp cocktail and alligator fritters for an appetizer and then had lobster and shrimp for an entrée and ending with dessert I had molten chocolate cake.

After dinner we all went to the Showtime Theater to see a show. This is a Carnival musical production of a game show called Win! in which they pick someone from the audience as a contestant and they have singing and dancing. It was pretty entertaining and we enjoyed it. By the time the show was done we were all tired and made our way back to our rooms. It was another good day and we enjoyed our relaxing time on the ship.

Towel Bunny

Carnival Caribbean Cruise: Day 2 – Embarkation Day

Well today we board the ship for our cruise to the Caribbean. We were awake by 6:30am and then we had breakfast at the hotel in The Tremont Café. Thomas had Eggs Benedict and I had a Croissant Sandwich. We ate and had coffee and just relaxed for a while. Then we returned to our room to get everything packed and organized and get our luggage tags for the ship placed on our bags.

Galveston Pier

Then we loaded the car and decided to take a drive along the sea wall. We parked near the new Galveston Pier and walked to get a closer look. Unfortunately it isn’t open yet and we could only see it from a distance (maybe it will be open when we return from the cruise and we can stop for a visit). Then I called my brother to see where they were. My brother and sister and their spouses were in Lafayette and were driving into Galveston this morning. They were meeting us at the car rental place near Hobby Airport and then we were all driving to the Port together. They were getting close enough that Thomas and I needed to make our way back north to meet them. We took the exit that we needed and filled the car with gas and waited about 15 minutes for them to get there. We placed our bags in their car and then they followed us to return the car. Now we could head back to Galveston.

I rode with Donna and Mark and Thomas rode with Brent and Heather. It didn’t take long to reach the Port but then we had to wait a little while in traffic to get to the drop off area. Mark dropped Donna and I off with the luggage and then went to park the car and take the shuttle back. Brent and Heather dropped Thomas off with their luggage and then went to park their car. Donna, Thomas and I waited at the terminal for them to return on the shuttle. Fortunately our wait time for things really wasn’t all that bad.

Once we all together we entered the terminal to start our boarding process. The first line was to show passports and boarding passes, the second line was to go to security and have our carry on bags x-rayed, the third line was to get our Sail & Sign Card (room key and charge card while on board the ship), the fourth line was to have our picture taken that so that they can match us with our card, the fifth line was to check into the ship using our card, and the sixth line was for a photo of our group right before we boarded. Then it was a pretty good walk up a switchbacked ramp to the ship. All this probably took less that 30 minutes – a pretty efficient operation. Once on board we had to find something to do because we still had a little more than an hour before we could get to our cabins. So we all grabbed a little fruity drink with an umbrella and a fruit garnish and then headed to the Lido Marketplace for the buffet lunch. We ate and visited and relaxed.

Donna, Heather, Brent, Mark T

After lunch we all headed to our cabins to get settled and relax some more. We are all on Deck 12 – Spa Deck. While we were in our cabin we received some gifts that Brent and Heather sent to us – a Fruit and Wine Basket and some Soda Drink Vouchers. We also received three of our four pieces of luggage. After about an hour in the cabin Thomas and I headed out to walk around the outside of the Spa Deck. On this deck there is a water slide called WaterWorks and a rope obstacle called SportsSquare. They also have a minature golf course, walking track and basketball court here. We walked around a little and then we checked out a couple of other decks just below us. Deck 11 has some cabins and they have Camp Carnival (this is the kids area with arcades and day care areas. On Deck 10, the Lido deck there is the pools and a large open area with deck chairs. They also have the Lido Marketplace buffet, a grill and a pizza area. After exploring a bit we returned to Deck 12 and ended up meeting everyone else. So we found some chairs and talked foa a very long time. We enjoyed the beautiful weather and the nice easy movement of the ship. It was great to catch up with the family and we had some good laughs. It was good to see everyone relaxed and having a good time. We had some drinks and pizza for a snack to tide us over until our dinner time at 8:15pm. Thomas, Brent and I tried our hand at the SportsSquare and did pretty well. Then Thomas, Mark and Brent each took a turn on WaterWorks. It was a great afternoon and we even saw part of Taladega Nights that they played on a big outdoor movie screen.

Around 7:00pm we headed back to our cabins to shower and change for dinner. The six of us are sharing a table with a family of six. The parents live in Knoxville, TN and their son lives in Georgia with his girlfriend and they just graduated from Georgia. The daughter and her boyfriend live in Dallas and just graduated from SMU. They are a very nice family and we had a great time visiting with them. The menu for tonight’s dinner was wonderful. Thomas had heart of iceberg lettuce and brisket with some molten chocolate cake for dessert. I had a mixed fruit platter and pan seared tilapia. And my dessert was crème brulee. After dinner Thomas and I called it a day – we were both very tired and need a little sleep. A great first day on the ship and we are looking forward to all the rest of them as well.

Towel Seal

Carnival Caribbean Cruise: Day 1 – Santa Fe to Galveston

Well today we left Santa Fe to go on our 7 Day Exotic Western Caribbean Cruise with Carnival Cruise Lines. We are going on this cruise with my brother, Brent and his wife, Heather and my sister, Donna and her husband, Mark. Our flight was at 7:25am so we left Santa Fe in the dark while the temperature was hovering around 54°F. And since this was a Saturday morning and pretty early we didn’t encounter any traffic and getting to the parking area at the airport was a breeze. We parked, grabbed the shuttle and checked in with Southwest Airlines. We then went through security without any glitches and it actually went really fast. Once at the gate we read for only about 20 minutes before they started boarding the plane. It was a pretty full flight and we had ‘B’ boarding passes which meant we ended up in the back of the plane – but I am not complaining because we ended up having an empty seat between us which gave us some room to relax. Both Thomas and I read throughout the entire flight and after two hours and some snacks (peanuts and vanilla wafers and orange juice) we landed at Houston at Hobby Airport.

Here we gathered our bags and checked in for our rental car. I had originally tried getting a shuttle to Galveston but they were ridiculously expensive and time consuming and it also meant we wouldn’t have a way to get around the town. After some research I decided to get a rental car and that would give us some freedom to do what we wanted. From the airport we took a shuttle to the car rental place and picked up the car. The weather here wasn’t too bad – temperature around 84°F, a cool breeze and clear skies. And I have to say that the humidity wasn’t too bad. We made our way to I45 south and only a few short miles later we exited. We had both decided we were hungry since all we had eaten that morning were the snacks on the plane. We saw a sign for Joe’sCrab Shack and made a beeline there. Thomas had a Chicken Fried Salad and I opted for a Crab Cake Sandwich. The lunch was perfect and just what we needed and now we could make our way towards Galveston and our hotel.

Lost Oak Mermaid

I had planned to do some letterboxing in the area and had my clues ready. We exited I45 again at Hitchcock and FM2004 and made our way to Jack Brooks Park. We probably hiked the trails in the park looking for letterboxes for about 3 hours. We enjoyed ourselves and the weather but the mosquitoes were horrible. There were tons of them and we had deet on but they still found spots that were deet free and we finally decided to call it quits on the trail and make the short drive into Galveston.

Once we crossed the causeway we headed straight for the hotel. We had reservations at The Tremont House in the Strand District of the Island. We got checked in and went up to the room to clean up and relax before we headed out to explore Galveston. The hotel was beautiful with lots of history. The lobby was open and bright and the staff was very friendly. Our room was huge, with two queen beds and a sitting area with a couch and chair. There was also a large armoire which housed the tv. The bathroom was large and decorated really nice and there were heated towel holders. Overall a very comfortable room. Now that we were settled in it was time to head out again.

We made a stop at the Galveston Visitors Center and got a map and some information. We then drove over to see Bishop’s Palace. A beautiful old building that we walked around on the outside and took some pictures but decided we didn’t quite feel up to taking a tour of the inside. From here we headed to the sea wall and drove along there until we found a place for dinner. We ended up at Gaido’s. It was a great restaurant and we had a terrific dinner. Thomas had a sirloin and shrimp with potato wedges and I had pecan encrusted catfish with a sweet corn relish and parmesan tomatoes. Everything was really good and we were stuffed by the time we left the restaurant. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the Old City Cemetery, the old Triple XXXRoot Beer Plant and a small neighborhood park (Darragh Park). By this time we were getting tired since the day started early. So we made our way back to the hotel and called it a day. We had a great time and it would have been even better if the mosquitoes hadn’t been so aggressive but still a great start to our vacation.

Visiting Ground Zero

The effects could well be called unprecedented, magnificent, beautiful, stupendous and terrifying. No man-made phenomenon of such tremendous power had ever occurred before.
General Thomas Farrell, Deputy to Gen. Leslie Groves

I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.
Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, Director of Los Alamos

Now we are all sons-of-bitches.
Dr. Kenneth Bainbridge, Director of Trinity Test

Trinity Site
A National Historic Landmark
White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico

where the world's first Nuclear Device was exploded on
July 16, 1945

The Trinity Site is located at White Sands Missile Range. The site is only open two days a year - the first Saturday in April and the first Saturday in October. Thomas and I have wanted to visit this site for a while now but something always came up. But this time we planned and made sure nothing could make us cancel this trip. We left Santa Fe on Friday and spent the night in Socorro so that we wouldn't have to make the drive early in the morning. We left the hotel around 8:00am and drove the 8 miles to San Antonio and US Hwy 380. From there it was another 12 miles to the turnoff for the Stallion Range Center and we still had to drive about 5 miles to the entrance. At the entrance they checked our ID's, gave us an infomation booklet and instructions not to take pictures except at ground zero. We still had another 17 miles to the parking area for the site, but it went by quickly. I had done some reading and looked at some pictures on the net so I had an idea of what to expect and I knew that there really wasn't a whole lot to see. But I still wanted to visit the site and here we were.

Next to the parking area there is a set up with an information booth, vendors selling 'stuff' and some food tables. There is also "Jumbo" sitting out front. This is the casing that held the plutonium core for the device. The casing is steel and about six inches think and big enough to walk through it as a tunnel. Next to the entrance gate to the site is a mileage sign with distances to cities in the area and there is also a sign post with directions to Ground Zero, Toilets, Ranch Bus and Stallion & US 380. We decided to take the quarter mile walk to Ground Zero first. There are a couple of markers explaining Ground Zero and Radiation at the Site. After reading these we then walked to the obelisk that marks the point of explosion. The bomb was sitting atop a 100 foot tall tower when it was detonated. The entire tower was obliterated except for one of the footings (which is still visible). There is also a shelter that is protecting a protion of the original crater and the casing that held the Fatman bomb. When you walk around the area you can still find Trinitite on the ground. It is a green glass that was formed from the sand when the blast occurred. It is named Trinitite because the Trinity was the name of the first atomic bomb test. The Trinitite is radioactive. Along one portion of the fence that encloses the site are pictures that show the base camp, the staging area, the people involved in the test, the actual blast occurring and the aftermath. After spending about 30 minutes walking around and reading all about the site we returned to the information area and picked up some brochures and I got my National Passport Cancellation Stamp for the site. We also got a few postcards and a patch.

Next we boarded the bus for the McDonald House where they actually assembled the plutonium core. We had to wait a while because a caravan of over 150 cars was coming in from Alamogordo. The had followed a military escort through White Sands Missile Range to get to the site. Once the last car entered the bus was able to take us the two miles to the house. Here they had some displays showing what the did in each room to get the bomb ready for the test. We only spent aobut 10to 15 minutes here before taking the next bus back to the parking area. Like I said earlier there isn't a whole lot to see but I still felt it was very interesting and very historical and glad we made it out there. Below are some links for more detailed information about the area.

Trinity Site at White Sands Missile Range
Trinity Site
The Trinity Site
Trinity Site New Mexico
Trinity Site, New Mexico - A National Historic Landmark
Trinity Atomic Web Site
Detonation of the First Atomic Bomb at the Trinity Site, 1945
Trinity
Trinitite

The Garden Comes Alive

Today Thomas and I spent the day outside working in the garden. The weather was incredible - blue skies, sunshine, mid 60's, gentle breeze - so we felt we should take advantage of the day. We cleaned and organized the shed, cleaned up flower beds, tended to the ponds and picked up trash around the property. We ended up spending about six hours out in the yard and it was worth it. It looks great and we got to enjoy a great day. While working in the yard we noticed that things were beginning to bloom and grow. I decided to take a break from working and take a few pictures. We spent some time enjoying the flowers because we know this weather isn't here to stay. Here in Santa Fe we can get freezes and snow up until mid May so these flowers are being fooled by Mother Nature and may only be here for a few days. Well, we are going to enjoy them while we can - and here is what we have blooming now.

CrocusDay Lilies

Forsythia

Iris

Roses

Tulips

Vinca

Goodbye, Whitney!

Whitney Houston
1963 - 2012