Key West, Baby!

We sailed all night and were to our first port by Monday. We didn’t have specific plans for the day so we just headed out to see what we could find!

I should also mention – it was raining AGAIN. Seriously, Florida! What is up with morning rain??????

Interesting thing about Key West – we found it was either really nice or really not-nice. We walked through some pretty slummy areas – and we also passed some areas that appeared to be straight from a movie. And sometimes they were all of two blocks apart.

The chickens were EVERYWHERE. Even on mail delivery.

We ran into a woman selling coconut drinks {literally a coconut with a hole drilled in it so you could drink the water out through a straw...}, so Ryan decided to try one. Our thoughts…

As you can see…I was both thrilled by the weather AND the taste of the drink. Please excuse my drowned rat look.

One of our attractions in Key West was visiting the southern-most tip of the US. 90 miles to Cuba, baby! We heard one of the tour guides driving by say we were closer to Cuba than to a Wal-Mart. LOL!! That can’t be a bad day!

And then, y’all, we knocked off one of my bucket list items! I GOT TO SEE {AND GO UP IN} A LIGHTHOUSE!!!!! I’ve wanted to do this forever and I was so excited to have the chance! We saw this one from the cruise ship and went in search of it.

Remember that day I worked a concert in Wauseon, and the cashier at the Arby’s gave me a senior citizen drink? Well the old lady look must live on because Ryan and I got to go up in the lighthouse for the senior citizen price! We would have complained about the principle of the thing, but we were too excited about the discount.

I might take this moment to mention I am PETRIFIED of open heights and closed spaces. So the trip up the 88 steps of the lighthouse was an exercise in quoting Psalm 56:3 over and over. We made it to the top and had a great time taking pictures {Ryan} and walking gingerly around {me} enjoying the view of…well…a long, long way.

This was a huge highlight for me. I was not expecting to be able to cross off a bucket list item, so this was a sweet surprise.

OH! And guess what??? We made a video of that!

We also found out from the coconut lady that there are no natural beaches in Key West. Say WHA???? It’s an ISLAND for crying out loud! But we did enjoy the man-made beach we found between the lighthouse and the ship:

And that was it for us in Key West. A great time together – especially after the rain cleared up!!

Dinner, Shows, and Our First Night at Sea!

I’m not gonna lie – one of my most favorite parts of packing for this trip was picking out all the fun clothes and jewelry for our dress-up dinners. Ryan and I normally eat on the couch with two ottomans serving as our table {and we love that – no complaints!} – but the idea of getting all dressed up and pampered for meals was quite exciting to me.

I was so fortunate that my friend Kari had just gone on a cruise and was kind enough to share her clothing with me, so I didn’t have to buy much of anything for this trip! Thank you, Kari!! I wore one of her dresses to dinner the first night. It probably would have looked better on me later in the week when I had more sun!

So here was my dress…and jewelry….

And we went to dinner! The ship offered an anytime dining option and we took it – and we LOVED it. Since it was my first cruise, I didn’t know any differently, but apparently if you love the idea of having the same waiter every night and eating with the same people every night, this might not be the thing for you – but we just wanted the flexibility in our schedule, so it worked out SUPER for us. We could go to dinner whenever we wanted between 5 and 9. We ate early the first night – 

…shrimp cocktail and fresh fruit cocktail…

…tilapia and sweet and sour shrimp with shrimp fried rice noodles…

…chocolate melting cake and vanilla crème brulee…

And then we went out on the deck to take some pictures and watch the sunset {such as it was} and drink coffee. Heaven.

Then we went to the welcome aboard show, hosted by our cruise director. It was sort of a variety show – starting with a number by the cruise singers/dancers. I didn’t take a picture of that because you weren’t supposed to {that no photography rule took away my breath a few times this week!}.

Then the director brought three guys up on stage and quizzed them about their love lives and had them do a dance-off to with the title of Mr. Carnival Breeze for the week. The winner was Arthur, who was on the ship celebrating 31 years of marriage…and who recovered from falling onstage by giving the best dance of the night. {Took this picture from the TV later in the week! Arthur is on the far left.}

The evening finished off with a comedian {hi-larious} and then we got a late night snack and headed back to our room to find our first folded towel creation and make plans for the next day!

And We're Off!!!!

Sunday morning in Miami was a warm RAINY morning. Yes, rainy. Are you kidding me? I get to take my first ever cruise and you’re going to RAIN on me?? Sigh. 

The hotel recommended a shuttle company to take us to the ship, and y’all, we both thought we were going to die during that ride and never even SEE the ship. It was a 15 passenger van, transporting yours truly and the hot husband known as Ryan, and we were pulling a trailer that carried the luggage. That driver was all OVER the four lanes of the road…speeding, cutting corners…and our prayer lives increased significantly. He was in a HUGE hurry to get us to the ship by 11:15 so we could make it on board for the 4:30 sailing, apparently. LOL!!!!

 The next part was a little hairy for me. I don’t really like crowds all that much…mean security people scare me…and being in situations where I don’t know what’s coming next really unnerves me. So pretty much boarding a cruise ship for the first time is the trifecta of nerves.

After getting yelled at by the suitcase Nazi {we did not want to surrender any of our bags because we’re territorial like that} and having my personal space invaded more than some doctor’s appointments, we made it through security and sat in the waiting room for our chance to board the ship. 

We actually got on the ship fairly quickly and were able to see our room for the first time. Want a little tour? {Just in case you've never been on a cruise and might be curious what their rooms look like!}

I took this picture standing in the hallway looking into the room – the bed and our balcony straight ahead…the closets/TV/refrigerator to the left and the bathroom to the right.

Our bed took me back to the days when my own bed at home was made up of two twin beds pushed together…big ole crack in the center. 

Our couch…not the most comfy thing in the world, but it was really nice for the times we wanted to eat in our room!

Our closet/getting ready space – and our TV!

And the bathroom. {With me. Probably the only time I’ll ever invite you in the bathroom with me. HA!}

And if you don't like the still version - howsabout the video version:




We were hungry, so we grabbed a quick lunch on board the ship and spent the entire afternoon exploring our new home for the next week. 

The water park area. {Where Ryan may or may not have REALLY enjoyed spending time...}

The theater. {Loved the little couch seating option!}

Ryan trying his hand at stand up comedy. {Not really. It was a photo opp.}

 Guy Fieri’s burger joint. {Probably our biggest source of withdrawal, post-cruise.}

The pool.

The adults-only deck. {YES!!!!}

And then after our exploration was complete, it was time to set sail. We discovered, during our exploration, that there was a little open-air deck on our same floor, right at the front of the ship, so when it was time to set sail, we went out there…and enjoyed a great view with just a handful of people. Way better than the masses on the main decks, I’m sure. The view was great – right out of Miami and into the ocean.

And that was how Day One of our cruise came to be!

Miami Bound...For Our First Cruise!

So....I want to tell you about our cruise!

Ryan has been on multiple cruises before, and he said the worst thing ever is to cut the flight too close to the cruise departure time. Well, I hate cutting things too close...so we headed out a whole day early so we could ENJOY our vacation.

I'm not sure if you can enjoy this...but this is the time we got up Saturday morning to leave for our cruise!

We packed up the car, said our goodbyes to Braeya, and met Ryan's mom, who provided our shuttle service to the airport. Here's our really bad departure photo. Sorry. 3:30 is not our finest hour.

See that little speck over on the right side of the picture...on the freezer? Yeah that's a baby frog. So now you know just how fake that smile is on my face. I was freaking out inside. Frogs are so...jumpy!

We went to the airport and got all checked in. Security went better for me this time than it usually does. I'm the kind of girl that something goes wrong for EVERY TIME. I was so nervous - SO nervous - to fly. I don't love it ever, but this time, for whatever reason, I was extra nervous. Soon I'll have to tell you about how God worked in my heart....it was a sweet time we shared there on that plane.

Ryan was good to comfort me...before he fell asleep, that is.

The flights were fairly uneventful - and I enjoyed my first chance ever to fly on a clear day, so I got to see a lot of scenery from above!

Beautiful mountains on our way to Charlotte!

Welcome to Charlotte!!  Well...thank you! It was my first time to be in that fine city!

And just so you know - this is NOT what you want to see when you look out the window. EEEK!

Our wing is broken!!! {Not really. But I was a little freaked.}

I was not even in Charlotte long enough to eat a whole granola bar before we were BACK on a plane - this time bound for Miami, baby!

Saw the Steelers' plane as we were fixin' to leave Charlotte. Hope they made it to their game in time!

Loved flying over the coastline - isn't this pretty?

We arrived in Miami around noon and caught a shuttle to our hotel. It was a GORGEOUS day in Miami...but now I know why they call it the Miami HEAT!

And the rest of the day was filled with lovely lounging. We made our way to the pool...and loved our lounging time.

Sorry I look so mad. It was just bright. :)

After we soaked up some sun {read: fell asleep and got burned to a crisp before the cruise even STARTED....} we headed out for dinner. The hotel recommended a Cuban restaurant across the street, so we went there and ate the massive portions put in front of us. Okay. Half of the massive portions.

My favorite part of the dinner was our waitress. She was SO nice and when Ryan asked her story {because he's nice like that}...she told us her husband came to the States from Cuba two years ago to look for work, found a good job, and a year later sent for her and their daughter to join him. She got a job as a waitress, they found a nice apartment, and she's hoping within a year or so, they can add to their family! Stories like that remind me of how blessed I am to have a nice home and a good job!

This was just not a stellar day in the looks department, but it was a blissfully wonderful day!!

And in case you've not had enough of us...a small video version of today: