My LONG Mardi Gras Story - Take Two! (with FunTimes)

[ninjacat123]

The Amazing Race sounds like a lot of fun (except for the passing out, and I'm glad all ended well) so I tried to book it on my upcoming MG cruise in June.  Nothing comes up in Cozumel shore excursions.  How did you book it, Michelle?  TIA!

[mlshum]

3 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

The Amazing Race sounds like a lot of fun (except for the passing out, and I'm glad all ended well) so I tried to book it on my upcoming MG cruise in June.  Nothing comes up in Cozumel shore excursions.  How did you book it, Michelle?  TIA!

It WAS fun and I know you will enjoy it!  I booked it through the Carnival excursions however, I believe you can also book it privately.  amazingcozumelrace.com  I don't know if it just isn't showing up yet for you or what, but maybe try booking it privately. Good luck!

[luvcruzing]

On 10/5/2024 at 8:06 PM, mlshum said:

I think Grand Central is a confusing space.  Some of the best big production shows are held in this venue but there are very few good seats.  Some are too close.  Some are under an overhang that makes it very difficult to see anything.  There are just a few really good seats on decks 7 and 8 but most seem to have something blocking the line of sight.

Totally agree. Grand Central is the worst part of the Mardi Gras.

[mlshum]

50 minutes ago, luvcruzing said:

Totally agree. Grand Central is the worst part of the Mardi Gras.

It's weird!  I like the big windows, and it seems like they're trying for the whole "atrium" feel but I don't think it's nearly as usable for the production shows.

 

 

[mlshum]

One thing you need to know about Cozumel, they WILL check your Sign and Sail card before allowing you to head back through the Duty-Free shop.  Thank goodness that they do!  Kim, Cami and Liz were doing a little shopping while Emory went back to the ship.  What he didn’t realize is that he had Cami’s sign and sail card with him!  When she got up to the Duty-Free shop, she did not have her card.  Fortunately, she was able to call him.  He caught a pedal cab and immediately came back to bring her card.  Had he gotten on board, it is unlikely she would have been able to reach him and she wouldn’t have been able to board if she WAS allowed to go to the ship.  While they were sorting this all out, Liz and Kim liked the thought of the pedal cab, so they grabbed one for the trip back to the ship.  Kim’s poor toes were pretty sore by this time, and it was a good choice.   It was a good day all around for all our people!

 

Our towel animal for the day.  Crab???

 

Ron and I were starving.  We hadn’t eaten anything since a light breakfast that morning.  We got a soda and a single piece of pizza each on our way to our cabin to hold us over until dinner.  Showering was the first item on the agenda.  After cleaning up, we just rested in our cabin until time to meet for dinner.  We were supposed to meet in the Fortune Teller bar area at 6:30.

 

On the way to our room, I noticed one of the photographers putting up a background with flamingos.  Now you need to know that I am a flamingo lover.  It didn’t surprise me at all to get a message from Liz with a “hey, they have a flamingo back drop so let’s get our picture made”.  She knows me well!  Sign me up!  We met at the flamingo backdrop a little before dinner.  I LOVED the way the pictures turned out.  We hadn’t planned it, but we were both wearing similar dresses in different colors and both of us matched the background.  It was meant to be!

 

I love our flamingo picture!!

 

Emory checked us all in and our table was ready almost immediately.  I think this was my favorite dinner of the cruise.  It wasn’t necessarily because of the food but because everyone was so happy, laughing and talking about their day.  The icing on the cake was we were taken to one of the back tables in the dining room with a view of the wake.  The sun was setting.  The clouds were orange.  It was a breathtaking view.   I had chicken roulade from the Emeril menu.  Ron had beef wellington.  He had a Greek salad, and I had a garden salad for an appetizer.  For dessert he had a banana split and I had orange sherbert. 

 

Ron and Liz

 

Steven and Sarah

 

Kim and Bobby

 

Emory and Cami

 

Love this view!

 

 

After dinner we all decided to go watch Family Feud.  We were a little late getting there and the theatre was surprisingly full but not so full that we couldn’t find seats together.  We managed to catch most of the show.  The winning family won fast money.  It was a fun show! 

 

 

Afterwards, we headed out to Grand Central to see “Lovin’ Vegas”.  We were lucky to snag some pretty good seats on Deck 7 on the left side. 

 

Lovin’ Vegas was a new show for me.  Sarah and Steven were especially looking forward to that show because they used to live in Las Vegas.  This show actually had a little bit of a storyline in amongst the singing and dancing.  There were some aerial components as well.  It was a great show!  I hope to see it again at some time in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the show, we went to Summer Landing for our nightly ice cream cone.  It was only about 11pm but we were exhausted.  After hanging around for a while, we said our “goodnights” and headed to our cabin.  It had been a good day…..a long day, but a good day.

 

 

[ninjacat123]

I haven’t heard of Lovin Vegas either. I hope it’s still running this June👍😄❣️

[mlshum]

33 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

I haven’t heard of Lovin Vegas either. I hope it’s still running this June👍😄❣️

It was pretty good.  There was a LOT happening so it was a little hard to follow sometimes.

[AKR2011]

I'm so late for this, but I'm glad I caught it. I always love following your adventures, and this one is awesome so far! Thank you as always for sharing with us. The Amazing Race looks so fun. I too have never had a bad day in Cozumel and always find fun things to do there. Definitely one of my favorite ports ❤️⚓️

[mlshum]

18 minutes ago, AKR2011 said:

I'm so late for this, but I'm glad I caught it. I always love following your adventures, and this one is awesome so far! Thank you as always for sharing with us. The Amazing Race looks so fun. I too have never had a bad day in Cozumel and always find fun things to do there. Definitely one of my favorite ports ❤️⚓️

Oh goodness, thank you so much!  I’m glad to hear from someone else who likes Cozumel.  I so appreciate your kind words and reading along!

[mlshum]

Sept 17th – Costa Maya

 

Sleeping in was not an option this morning.  We hit the ground running around 6:30 am in order to meet our shore excursion at 8:30.  We had opted to go visit the Chacchoben ruins.  Ron and I had never visited any of the ruins before and this seemed like just the right day to do it.  Liz, Steven and Sarah were also going.  Sounds like fun!

 

Here are the Fun Times for this day...

 

 

 

 

This was a morning that Emory had been anxiously awaiting.  Icon of the Seas would be joining us in port.  Just as the five of us were leaving the ship and heading down the pier to meet our tour, Icon was pulling into port.  She’s chubby!  I guess I wasn’t prepared for how wide she would be!  I’ve watched a few videos about Icon of the Seas.  Maybe one of these days the price will go down enough for me to afford a trip.  Until that time, I will watch from a distance!

 

Icon of the Seas is pulling into port.  (More photos of it follow later.)

 

 

We walked into port and met our excursion at the end of the pier.  The port area is so nice in Costa Maya!  I was looking forward to seeing the flamingos and the Papantla Flyers when I got back but for now, it was time to proceed onward!  It would turn out that this was exactly the right thing to do.    We were the first bus on site, so our tour was unhurried and not crowded.  Lucky us!

 

Here's our bus - Red bus #1248

 

Very comfy!

 

 

We boarded red bus #1248.  It was a tour bus and was really nice!  I’ve been on a few tours where the bus was a repurposed school bus.  This was not the case.  The seats were comfortable and the bus air conditioned.  Our guide was Edna and our driver was Hiaro.  As we traveled to the ruins our guide passed around pictures and gave us information about the area and about what we would be seeing.  She did a good job.  The ride to the ruins was about 45 minutes and she talked most of the way.  I’m impressed with her memorization skills!

 

Here are a couple of pictures that were passed around while we traveled:

 

 

 

 

We learned that the pronunciation was “Chock-cho-ben” which means “place of the red corn” and it was built around 600 AD.  The ruins are located in the southern part of the Yucatan peninsula near the border of Belize.  At this time, only 30% of the jungle has been excavated and three temples were uncovered.  When Edna told us this, I was thinking how it would seem that the temples ought be easy to see.  They are pretty big after all!  I did NOT have any understanding of how thick the jungle foliage was or what an unexcavated temple looked like.  Once I actually saw those things, I understood what an accomplishment it was to unearth these structures.  It’s difficult to explain.  I think it’s just something you have to GO and see. 

 

Looks like they're building a road

 

Choices!

 

We saw a rainbow as we drove along

 

 

I'll be back later to tell you more around Chacchoben

 

 

[mlshum]

 

We were indeed the first bus to arrive at the site, as promised.  As we left the bus, we were each given a can of water.  The area we parked was next to a store with an open-air bar that also served food.  Rest rooms were available.  We took about ten minutes for everyone to take a restroom break and meet our guide for our hike to the ruins.

 

This was our starting point.  It had restrooms, a small bar/restaurant area and gift shop.

 

 

Just before starting the hike the five of us used sunscreen and bug spray.  This was a good call!  It was hot outside; the sun was shining brightly and there were lots of mosquitos.  We set off through the jungle.

 

 

Interesting tree along the way

 

Walking into the jungle

 

The path

 

More of the path

 

Edna continued to explain as we went

 

Edna, Ron and Liz

 

 

It was during this hike that I realized how thick the jungle foliage was and how difficult the excavation would have been, especially without modern tools.  We hadn’t walked very far when we arrived at the first temple.  It was the smaller of the two that had been completely uncovered.  We were allowed to climb up about five steps.  We stayed at that site for about 15 minutes, walking all the way around, climbing as far as we could and taking pictures.  We could hear another group coming so we gathered back up and continued our hike.

 

 

 

The smallest temple

 

 

The next thing we encountered was a second temple that was not fully excavated.  It looked like a small mountain with some exposed rocks. 

 

An unexcavated temple.  

 

To the untrained eye it just looks like a mountain.  I now see how difficult that task would be!

 

 

At that point I understood why the excavation process was so slow.  Now I get it!  The removal of the dirt to expose the temple without damaging it would have to be slow and meticulous.  I have a newfound respect for the challenges faced by archologists when they began to excavate a site!

Our next stop was on the way to the big temple.  This site had been the town “marketplace” as denoted by the stone walls and foundations. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edna said this was a coconut.  It's much smaller than what we traditionally associate with a coconut!

 

Liz, Steven, Sarah, Me, Ron

 

Just beyond that was the big temple.  The marketplace area also had a bat tree, which was exactly what it sounds like….a hollow tree inhabited by bats.  I tried to get a good picture of the bats but I didn’t do a very good job.

 

The bat tree

 

You can barely see the bats. Two small black lumps on the right side... 

 

The biggest temple was huge.  It was sort of a temple on top of a mountain, yet the mountain was part of the temple and had stone stairs on the sides.  We climbed to the top of the first set of stairs and could then really see the intricate stonework.  It’s amazing that these structures were built with only the tools available in 600 AD.   Off to one side were a few orange cones and a drop off.  We couldn’t see what was over the edge.  Steven and I approached the cones cautiously and after a quick discussion, decided that they were merely a suggestion since there weren’t many and they didn’t look very official or anything AND there was no caution tape stopping us from going forward.  We moved forward past the cones.  When we got to the edge, we realized that it was simply another set of stairs that we had passed on our way up and we were allowed to climb those as well.  Oh well, so much for the orange cones!   I guess we didn’t have to be careful after all!   I was glad we came to see these ruins.  I’ve never seen anything else like it before.

 

 

 

Kind of a "temple within a temple"

 

 

Liz, Ron, Sarah and Steven

 

Ron and Liz

 

 

 

I think this guy was waiting for the heat to do its work!

 

Steven and Sarah

 

Super Steven...king of the hill!

 

It was time to return to our red bus #1248.  We had a few minutes to shop so we grabbed a t-shirt and a magnet with the Chaccoben name and reboarded the bus.  I was glad to get back to the air conditioning!   It was a little warm out there! I’ve grown soft in my old age!  Ron, Liz and initially took the back seat since there were three together  but quickly realized that the air conditioner was dripping on the person in the middle…..me.  Ron opted to move up a seat and planned to nap during the ride back.  Liz and I stayed in the back and I moved one seat over simply avoiding the drip in between us.   I was again sweaty and tired.  My hair was a mess.  It was well worth it to have visited the ruins!

 

We all sat together until the dripping started

 

Ron was trying to catch a nap but was photo bombed

 

[erstreet2017]

1 hour ago, mlshum said:

 

The bat tree

 

You can barely see the bats. Two small black lumps on the right side... 

 

Ron was trying to catch a nap but was photo bombed

 

Just some funny things- 

1- If you’ve read any of Michelle’s other reviews, you know that they are the most active “old people doing stuff” ever. Usually Ron just goes along with it, but apparently “sticking his head into the holes in the bat tree” was where he drew the line 😂 Michelle was the only one willing to do that. 

 

2- I literally live my life with the goal of annoying Ron, as you can see 😊 I tell him all the time he never would’ve made it with an “actual” daughter! 
 

3- we’ve dubbed that photo of Michelle as “Dora the Explorer” complete with the backpack. (Maybe that makes me Boots? Swiper no Swiping? Who knows.) 

 

 

[mlshum]

28 minutes ago, erstreet2017 said:

Just some funny things- 

1- If you’ve read any of Michelle’s other reviews, you know that they are the most active “old people doing stuff” ever. Usually Ron just goes along with it, but apparently “sticking his head into the holes in the bat tree” was where he drew the line 😂 Michelle was the only one willing to do that. 

 

2- I literally live my life with the goal of annoying Ron, as you can see 😊 I tell him all the time he never would’ve made it with an “actual” daughter! 
 

3- we’ve dubbed that photo of Michelle as “Dora the Explorer” complete with the backpack. (Maybe that makes me Boots? Swiper no Swiping? Who knows.) 

 

 

1.  SOMEONE had to take the bat picture!

2.  He can hold his own with anyone!

3.  I have never seen Dora but from what I know, I take that as a great compliment!  That's actually one of my favorite pictures! 😊

[princess76021]

I have allot of catching up to do, but I got here!!

Thanks for I voting is

Hugs from Texas

[mlshum]

43 minutes ago, princess76021 said:

I have allot of catching up to do, but I got here!!

Thanks for I voting is

Hugs from Texas

So glad you made it!  We were waiting on you!  Lol

[mlshum]

I forgot a couple of Chacchoben pics earlier...

 

 

Steven, Sarah and Liz

 

We got back into port.  First stop for me was to see the flamingos.  I think they are fascinating!  I even managed to find a flamingo charm on board later in the week for my Pandora bracelet.   After watching the flamingos for a while, we stopped in one of the shops for gelato.

 

Love the flamingos!

 

 

Like I said earlier, I’m not a huge fan of the flavors of gelato available onboard.  This place had AMAZING gelato!  I had chocolate, Liz had dulce de leche and Ron had blueberry cheesecake.  They were delicious!  We heard the Papantla Flyers beginning their show, so we hurried that direction to watch.  Although we had seen them before, I always enjoy watching them.

 

They start pretty high up

 

Spin down rather quickly...

 

While playing instruments and VERY close to the pavement!

 

Ta da!

 

 

  We were sweaty and hot.  I had seen all the things I intended to see on this trip.  I was ready to go back to the ship and get a shower.

 

MEANWHILE……(Photo credit for food and Icon of the Seas to Emory)

 

While five of us visited the ruins, the other five opted to stay on the ship and in port on this day.  The rest of our group was simply enjoying a free day.  Emory spent some time watching Icon of the Seas and trying to get a look down onto the decks as much as possible. He took some great pictures!

 

Icon docked across from Mardi Gras.  Pretty similar in height.

 

Icon docked beside Dream.  She's really wide!

 

Emory got some great pics!

 

Look at the difference in size!

 

  Hopefully we can get him on that ship at some point.  He and Cami went into port for a while.  They also watched the Papantla Flyers do their show.  When she came back to the ship, Cami got a massage.  I asked Emory what he did while in port and he said they “watched guys swinging from a pole”.  To quote Liz, “He isn’t wrong!” 

 

Kim found that during this cruise, Serenity was her jam.  She spent some time relaxing at Serenity while the ship was a little less crowded.  I think I mentioned earlier that she’d had two toenails removed prior to the cruise.  The doctor had cautioned her about getting sand into the wounds, so she had used some neoprene socks that I had that went with my fins.  While they did help keep the sand out, they also rubbed her poor toes, and they were feeling pretty sore and rough.  She needed a little time off her feet, and it was a perfect day to just relax.

 

Aaron stayed on the ship for a while, got a massage and then went into port in search of Mexican food. 

 

 

 

 

He later said if he’d known the buses were so nice he would have taken the tour with us.  I’m skeptical!   (He tends to get carsick pretty easily, so he was concerned about the bus ride out and back.)  Regardless of whatever each of us chose to do, it seemed that everyone had a good day.

 

I’m not sure what Bobby did during that day.  I’m not sure if I should be concerned.  Was he up to something sneaky?  If so, why was I not invited??

 

Meanwhile, Ron, Liz and I got back on board, and I headed to the shower. Our towel animal was waiting.

I have no idea on this one!

 

We all agreed to meet up on Deck 17 for a Guy’s burger a little later.   Steven and Sarah stayed in port for a while to explore and see the flamingos. 

 

We got in line for burgers.  I had worked up an appetite and a burger sounded pretty good.  We ran into Aaron around this time and agreed to meet him downstairs in the air-conditioned part of Lido Marketplace to eat.  We sat around, ate and chatted for a while.  After an early morning, some exercise and now a full tummy, I was ready for a nap.  Ron decided he was ready to go back to the room, too.  We headed to our cabin to rest for a while before we met the rest of our group for dinner.

 

Gotta finish it off with ice cream!

 

 

After resting for a while, we got cleaned up AGAIN and got dressed for dinner.  If you read my Sunshine story, you will remember that the girls bought matching Hawaiian shirts for the guys as a joke.  We all enjoyed it so much we decided to do it again.  They really weren’t surprised this time, but we did pick out the pattern as a surprise.  We chose a blue shirt with large red lobsters.  Subtle??  Maybe not.  Fun?  Definitely!

 

We left the room while it was still a little early for dinner.  I hadn’t been in the Carnival store yet, so I stopped in to see if they had a ship magnet.  Fortunately, they did.  I also got the flamingo charm I mentioned earlier.  It came with a set of five charms for $10.  Not bad!

 

 

We caught up with Kim and Bobby at Pixels and chatted with them for a while.  Bobby hadn’t been able to wear his lobster shirt, so he was sort of the “centerpiece” for the guys.  That would become relevant in a couple of hours. 

 

One of the nice things available on the Excel class ships is you get to eat at Cucina and Chibang free of charge for one dinner.  The charge is minimal ($8) if you chose to go more than one night.  We agreed that this night would be the perfect night to go to Cucina.

 

 

Just past the Fiat

 

Entrance to Cucina

 

After a very short wait, we were seated in Cucina.  I was really torn on what to order as an entrée.  I finally settled on the chicken parm with the understanding that I would get a bite of Ron’s spaghetti carbonara.  There was no question in my mind as to what I wanted for an appetizer….definitely the arancini!  Ron had the meatball, which was also very good.  We both had the lemon torte for dessert.  It was a lovely meal with great company.

 

Arancini

 

Spaghetti carbonara

 

Lemon torte

 

 

 

Upon leaving Cucina, it was decided that the guys needed a picture of them all together in their lobster shirts.  It started off calmly enough.  Bobby sat down on a stool in the front and the other four stood behind him.  It made for a very nice picture. 

 

There was a suitable backdrop right outside Cucina

 

Everyone lined up..no problems so far....

 

And took a perfectly nice picture.

 

The photographer then said, “Squeeze in” and that’s when it started.

 

The photographer gives instructions, one of which was "Squeeze in."

 

 

Steven reached across Bobby and, indeed, did squeeze. 

 

It went downhill from there

 

The rest of the guys cracked up.  The photographer cracked up.  Everyone standing around was laughing.  Kim had stopped in the restroom across the hall and could hear the laughing inside.  After Bobby got over his initial shock, he was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes and was squinting so much his eyes disappeared from the picture.  That was definitely the funniest and probably most memorable picture of the cruise.

 

 

We wanted to see the Love and Marriage show.  Apparently, everyone else on board did, too.  Ron, Steven, Sarah and I were in the piano bar when we got a text from Liz saying “Hey, we’re in line and if you want to see this show you’d better come now.”  We immediately left and got in line for the show.  It was crowded but we managed to get seats together. 

 

The theatre fills up for Love and Marriage

 

 

 

The Love and Marriage show always works on the same premise.  Three couples are chosen to come on stage and answer questions about each other and their relationship.  There is always a pair of newlyweds, an older couple and a couple which falls somewhere in the middle.  The older couple this time had been married 60 years.  Almost without fail, the older couple is my favorite.  It was a fun show, and everyone enjoyed it. 

 

 

T.J. looking for likely candidates

 

Victims, I mean players, are chosen and the game begins

 

 

After the show we decided to go back to our cabin.  We were tired from a long day, and we had a port stop in Roatan the next day.  We said our “goodnights” to all and went back to the cabin.

[mlshum]

Sept 18th – Roatan

 

The ship docked around 8:30 and we were cleared to go ashore shortly afterwards.  Our excursion didn’t start until 10 but we wanted to wander around for a bit first.  Off the ship, we went to see what could be seen!

 

Mardi Gras 

 

Welcome to Roatan!

 

Perfect photo op!

 

We took advantage of it because that's what we do!

 

 

If you read my story from Celebration last November/December, you know that this is the port I pretty much missed when I become so sick.  I did manage to get off the ship by the sheer force of my will back then, but I didn’t manage it for long and I quickly had to go back.  I wanted to make up for that this time!

 

Port area

 

Port area

 

Port area

 

I like this parrot!  He's right under a sign that says "Jerk chicken".  He's clearly a herk parrot!

 

See??  Definitely chicken.  I can get behind some jerk chicken!

 

I have never ridden the sky lift over to the beach area and we decided to try that out first.  There is also a walking path that you can use to access that beach if you’d rather not use the sky lift.  The cost per person is $15, which seems kind of steep, but it also is good for the entire day.  If you planned to travel back and forth several times, I guess it would be worth it.  For research’s sake, we plowed ahead!

 

The waiting area for the sky lift is misted.  It wasn't that necessary this early in the morning but I'll bet it feels great in the heat of the day

 

 

 

 

 

At that time of the morning, there was no line, so we walked right up and got on the ride.  I looked down and realized I was wearing flip flops.  I could easily see my flip flops falling in the trees below and never finding them again, so I quickly took them off and put them in the seat beside me. 

 

Here we go!

 

I really did NOT want to lose my favorite flip flops!

 

 

 

The ride is rather short but there are some great views of the ship along the way.  I enjoyed it very much! 

 

Mardi Gras peeking through the trees

 

It's actually a pretty good ride!

 

We begin our descent

 

One last section over water.  You can see the bridge to the island should you choose to walk.

 

 

It's a nice sandy landing but I don't think I can jump from here.

 

 

We “landed” right beside the beach area and set off to explore.  There are quite a few chairs and plenty of beach access points as well as restaurants, an open-air dining area, a playground, shops, restrooms, water sports, etc.  It wasn’t very busy that early in the morning, but a few people had already chosen loungers and a few were in the water.  We walked around for a bit but since we were going snorkeling in just a little while, we didn’t go in the water and didn’t stay long on that side of the island.

 

 

Lots of available loungers right beside the water

 

It's a really cute area!

 

Open air seating for lunch

 

Some restaurants/bars are available

 

I like the decor in this bar

 

He's guarding the garbage and recycling cans

 

 

Here's the end of the walkway

 

Lot's of water sport options

 

Wonder what happened here?

 

What would you choose?

 

Great views of Mardi Gras....and my finger.   Oops!

 

 

 

 

 

Shopping opportunities

 

Loving the float ring ceiling!

 

Very cute playground!

 

We caught the sky lift back over to the main port area.  We needed to find our obligatory magnet.  We went in the open-air market area where local vendors set up.  As we were wandering around, I found a lady selling small beaded Christmas tree ornaments.  One of them was a sloth!  Since Liz was visiting sloths on this day, I got her a sloth and a turtle for myself.

 

Back to main port area

 

Here's my turtle ornament

 

And here's Liz's sloth ornament.

 

 

In addition to the magnets, I tend to pick up Christmas ornaments when we visit a new place for the first time.  I already had a Christmas ornament from Roatan, but the little turtle was too cute to pass up.  Here in our little town in WV it is very temperate and tends to the cooler side of the temperature range.  They serve lemonade on the streets if the temperature hits 90 degrees.  I think it has only happened once or twice in 13 years.  The winters, however, can be another story.  I don’t love cold weather.  I don’t particularly enjoy winter sports and since I work outside part of the time, I dread winter.  Pulling out those ornaments from all the places we’ve visited really helps stave off the winter blues for me.  It’s almost like the promise of warmer days to come.  My Christmas tree is very “hodge podge”.  There isn’t a lot of rhyme or reason to it.  Many people have beautiful, themed trees or trees that are decorated in one color.  They are always gorgeous, but I personally love my chaotic tree with my memories hanging on the branches. 

 

This was last year.  You can't see any of the specific ornaments, but you can tell that it's pretty chaotic!  🙃

 

We picked up the turtle and sloth ornaments and went in search of a magnet.  While we were searching, Ron found a half-price sale on some really nice t-shirts and his personal favorite, polo shirts.  We opted for long sleeved tee’s because it was already fall and time for warmer shirts at home.  We had both recently lost some weight and many of our clothes were too big, so I was happy to have another long-sleeved tee. 

 

We saw this real estate office behind the port area.  These are our people! 😁

 

After shopping for a bit, we met our excursion and boarded a bus for Big French Key.  Edimar was our guide, and the tour company was Edimar Island Tour.  One of the things I appreciated was they did not make us wait in the heat for everyone to arrive.  Instead, we went ahead and got on the bus while we waited.  I appreciated that!

 

Our bus

 

Cuddled up in our little seat

 

 

The bus was very nice and had air conditioning but had very tiny seats.  Ron and I were comfortable enough, but I could see that seats of that size might be more uncomfortable for some people.  I wonder if the buses were originally manufactured for children?  I don’t know the answer!

 

I'll be back later to add more!

 

[mlshum]

I nearly forgot the Fun Times for the day!

 

 

[ninjacat123]

We like to get Christmas tree ornaments from our ports and sometimes a whale tail!  Love your chaotic tree😍

Edited October 9 by ninjacat123

[princess76021]

14 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

We like to get Christmas tree ornaments from our ports and sometimes a whale tail!

I have one of those trees also!!  It started off as a 4 foot one and is now a 7 foot one!!  

Great minds that enjoy reminiscing!!  And cruising!!

Hugs from Texas

Edited October 9 by princess76021

[SenatorsFan]

This is just a close-up of one side of my tree. I put all our travel ornaments together.

 

[ninjacat123]

1 minute ago, SenatorsFan said:

This is just a close-up of one side of my tree. I put all our travel ornaments together.

 

Nice!!

[SenatorsFan]

3 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Nice!!

Thanks, yours is too! 😸Actually, I like seeing everyone's! 😻

[mlshum]

1 hour ago, princess76021 said:

I have one of those trees also!!  It started off as a 4 foot one and is now a 7 foot one!!  

Great minds that enjoy reminiscing!!  And cruising!!

Hugs from Texas

That's awesome!  I love that I'm not the only one!

[mlshum]

1 hour ago, SenatorsFan said:

This is just a close-up of one side of my tree. I put all our travel ornaments together.

 

I love that!  I see that you're way further north than me.  It is very nice to remember those nice warm days during the cold days of winter!