I'm back! I'm back to blogging and I'm back in town from my cruise to the Caribbean.  I got back late last night, and I'm here at work trying to clean up the mess that was left in my absence. When you work by yourself like I do, you have the privilege and autonomy to run things the way you want but don't go away too long or someone will come in and turn your work world upside down!


Ok, so I live in Arizona. I don't know if you're familiar w/our climate, but it gets up to 110 to 115 degrees during the summer. Right now we're in the high 80s. But there's hardly any humidity. It's a common humorous phrase to say down here, "But it's a DRY heat!" So we took a plane to Ft. Lauderdale FL on Saturday where we would catch the ship to take us to the Caribbean. Needless to say, when I stepped outside, the humidity was so heavy, I could barely breathe! But I love how the moist warmth felt on my skin.

Sunday, we boarded the Emerald Princess and settled in to our cozy cabin and awaited disembarkation. We left the dock at five o'clock under stormy skies and even stormier seas. It was not looking like a promising start to our fun filled, sun soaked week in the tropics.

However, Monday morning, we awoke to beautiful clear skies and a calm ocean of the most beautiful shades of azure and turquoise I had ever seen. My brother, his girlfriend and I left the ship early to take a yoga class on the beach at Princess Cays (Princess Cruise's own private island in the Bahamas). It was a cross between peaceful and strenuous. It was heaven to be out there with the soft white sand beneath us with the sounds of the waves lulling us into our meditation, but it it was hell to try to hold some of those positions under the relentless hot sun and humidity. My brother and I were in the back and eventually just started goofing off. Our favorite pose became the Balasana (Child's Resting Pose) and rarely moved from it after awhile.

After an hour and a half of this nonsense, we retreated to a bungalow we rented and met up w/my parents and my husband. My brother and his girlfriend laid in the sun and posed for pictures (they are quite vain) while Brandon and I went for a swim in the Atlantic. I do believe I was a fish in another life so finding my way back into the ocean was like coming home. We swam in a little private cove and rocked with the rhythm of the waves. Later we had lunch and I fell asleep on a beach chair. Big mistake! While applying my sunblock, I apparently missed the backs of my ankles and for the rest of the trip suffered from a painful sunburn. I usually tan, but my ankles aren't used to receiving much sun and reacted quite differently than normal.

Next day was spent on the ship basking in the sun by the pool to rest up for the next three days of which would be filled visiting three different islands.  Wednesday was spent on the island of St. Maarten.  We spent most of our time in town on the Dutch side of the island, shopping and touring the quaint little town of Philipsburg.  It was amazing to experience just a small taste of such a diversity of cultures.  We encountered Dutch, Belgians, French, Indians, West Indians and of course a number of islanders to name just a few.  The afternoon was spent touring the rest of the island and journeying over to the French side.  Both sides are breathtakingly beautiful, but I prefer the Dutch side as they were a great deal friendlier and the majority of the French maintain that nasty habit of smoking.

We enjoyed another delectable dinner--something for which cruise ships are quite reputable--followed by yet another late night of drinks and entertainment.  After all, we didn't have to get up too early the next day for our catamaran and snorkeling excursion on St. Thomas U.S.V.I.   Although the water surrounding this island isn't as brilliantly blue as the others, the land itself is lush and hilly and would be my ideal future resident island for when I retire to a life of a beach bum.  We took a 40 minute boat ride out to a secluded beach and reef to do our snorkeling where we spotted dozens of sea turtles, sting rays, and a variety of tropical fish.  Those turtles are not shy.  Even though it is illegal for humans to have physical contact with them, the turtles had absolutely no qualms about swimming right up to us and looking us straight in the eye!  The water itself was clear and warm and soothing.  I could have stayed out there all day, but alas, we had to re-board our little boat to head back to our big boat.  The crew rendered a wonderful party for us with music and an endless supply of rum punch from the local distillery.  Yum yum rum punch!

We were exhausted once we reached the ship, but that didn't stop us from indulging in another night of fun and games.   We weren't arriving in port to the next island until the afternoon the next day, so we could enjoy a lazy morning on Friday.

I didn't think the water could possibly be more beautiful than what we beheld on St. Maarten, but the colors of azure, cerulean, cobalt and turquoise must be seen to be believed.  This picture does not do them justice. 

While my brother and his girlfriend separated from us to take in another day of snorkeling, my parents, my husband and I began this day in a local upscale art gallery (as per my request, of course) where I spent far too long talking with the manager about my favorite artists while discovering some new ones.  My husband jokingly asked if the manager had offered me a job yet.  Boy, I'm glad he didn't!  It would have been far too tempting.  The four of us then went on a curious little jaunt to "downtown" Grand Turk.  Downtown consisted of 6 little huts on a deserted beach selling charming trinkets and artifacts crafted by the locals.  I purchased a few small items from a couple of the vendors.  I soon found out that the artisans and sellers were actually Haitian and I was quite pleased to have been able to help them out rather than spending my money with the commercial vendors at port.  We did, however, spend some of our money and time at such a commercial venue--we had to check out Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville.  The restaurant and shop overlooked a serpentine pool, complete with swim up bar.  It was fun to experience but it's regrettable to see all the tourist dollars being dumped into an already profitable, large scale franchise rather than the local outfits who could really use it.

We left Grand Turk late in the evening and surprised my parents with a late supper at the Crown Grill Steakhouse on board to thank them for their generous provision of the vacation and to celebrate their 40 years of marriage.  It was one of the best nights we had on the trip as it provided an opportunity to express a fraction of our love and gratitude for them and put them into the well-deserved spotlight. 

As we spent our final day at sea, we broke off into our respective couples to decompress and enjoy some quiet time reflecting on our wonderful days spent making memories before returning to the real world.  As much fun as vacation is and as beautiful as the sights were, the trip would have been much less luminous without my wonderful family to share it with.  Thank you Brandon and Michael and especially Mom and Dad.  You all are the best!