the honeymoon revisited: part two

I guess I should give all of our excursions their moment in the sun. I am so obsessed with our last experience of the trip, that I can hardly wait to write about it. And, yes, I realize that I am a complete lunatic.

Ok. In Costa Maya we walked around, souvenir shopped and laid in those picturesque hammocks. In Roatan, Honduras, we had a lovely little private island with rescued wildlife [up close and personal with sea lions!], the most beautiful water I've ever seen, and a killer lunch buffet where we were baffled that we couldn't go back for seconds [cruise-spoiled]. And in Belize we rode a charmingly janky bus into the Belizean jungle for over an hour. Me - terrified, Dustin - thrilled. I just new we were going to discover some unseen, ginormous species of snake on our Mayan cave tour. I panicked a little more as they suited us up with a harness, helmet, and head lamp and chilled out a bit as we started hiking up Central America mountains and crawling through old old caves. After we got through the first repel, I was happy to zipline and trample across some rope bridges from then on.

Alright now that that's done, let's talk about Cozumel. I keep saying that Cozumel was the best experience of my life, but then I remembered that I stood on stage and married my BFFL [<-- that is a joke] just a few days earlier. So, yes, the wedding/marriage excitement totally trumps this. But it's the SECOND best moment of my life.

We swam. with. DOLPHINS. For some background, I've been a long-time dolphin lover. And though I have friends that rag on me for it, I'm proud of my childhood dolphin figurine collection. That sounds so much more lame when I type it. At some point during junior high or high school, I thought it a good idea to make a life to-do list, a bucket list (though I didn't know that it was called this until that Jack Nicholson/Morgan Freeman movie). Number one on this list: swimming with dolphins. Really deep and meaningful, I know. But all I can say now is check, check, CHECK!

I'm pretty sure the people in our group thought I was a complete idiot. I continually waved to Athena [our dolphin] while everyone else listened to directions like normal people. Poor Dustin. Hopefully my excitement only enhanced his experience. I was the first to get a kiss from Athena and yelled, "that was awesome!" which my whole group laughed at. I supposedly hugged her a little more passionately than instructed. And the instructor may have had to pull me off of her when I didn't let go early enough at the end of the ride. I'm probably flagged at Dolphinaris as a hazardous visitor. It was well worth it. This could possibly [but hopefully not] be a once in a lifetime experience. Gotta live it up!

Afterwards, we headed back to our home at sea for our afternoon ritual: Dustin watching all the embarkation mechanics while I journaled the days memories. I think I filled up an entire page about Athena, and I knew that I had caught the new adventure/experience bug. And, in that moment, that desire to live this life to its very fullest became so much sweeter because I knew that I'd always, if the Lord wills it, have Dustin to share it with. I got anxious to step off that boat and into this brand new life we now shared. What a loving God we serve. He began this journey as a rich blessing and promises to uphold and guide us through every turn, both slight and sharp. And that's all for the mush. We've just got this party started!

the honeymoon revisited: part one

After so much wedding enjoyment, it almost seems unfair to get to honeymoon. I'm not complaining or anything. It's just that it was almost too good to be true.

 

We stayed the night at the Baer Inn in Vicksburg, Mississippi. And when I say we stayed the night, that's exactly what I mean. Got there around 12:30 and hit the road 7 hours later. Nevertheless, it comes highly recommended. You know my affinity for comfy beds and good food surrounded by old lovelies!

 

I must admit, I was a little cruise-skeptical. Though I didn't have much time to think about it thanks to the wedding buzz, I wondered if it was going to be over-saturated, cheesy, and filled with crew members trying to persuade me to do karaoke on the lido deck. [Moment of truth - it just took me several tries to spell karaoke before I got it close enough for Google to recognize.] This, of course, would be a pretty big disappointment since I have this selfish wish that the Titanic had never sunk so I could sail on it and experience all its charm. Let me say, the Norwegian Spirit nearly satisfied that desire. From the majesty of the ship itself to the the shiny hardwood features to the walloping windows in the main dining room surrounded by fabric covered walls - it was better than imagined.

 

Boarding could not have been easier. One of the Norwegian employees even told us "congratulations!" without us telling him that we were newlyweds. Good to know that our honeymooners' glow was seriously undeniable. Before our stateroom was ready, we grabbed lunch in that pretty dining room I mentioned earlier. We were obviously cruise novices seeing how we weren't aware that we each get to order a starter and we got up and left before dessert. Crazy look from our waiter. Now we know. Even sans-dessert, it was love at first bite. Steak for lunch seemed like an appropriate way to start this gorging-of-a-trip. Why the heck not?

 

We did break a cardinal cruise rule by skipping lunch one day. But we made up for it by taking advantage of the late night pizza delivery, ordering multiple starters, too-big-to-be-called-a-snack afternoon snacks, and nearly killing ourselves on the Chocoholic Buffet. Dainty little eaters, we were. See, the thing is, eating was just so much fun on the ship! We were seated at tables with crisp, white clothes where they pull comfy chairs out for you, put your napkin in your lap, hand you your menu and remove any tableware you don't require. Charming. Even more than that, your in this atmosphere filled with candlelight, soft music, and that wonderful dish-clanking sound of a great restaurant - every night for seven days!

 

Ok. Don't want to bore with an extensive vacation dialogue. Part One ends now. Of course I blogged about food first.