Despite some tense moments catching our flight to Fort Lauderdale, our Caribbean cruise went smoothly and we enjoyed it. I misjudged the time it would take to get to the boarding gate from Wylie world where we spent the night. When we checked our bag, we were told it was a late check and might not make the flight, which would have meant we would embark on the cruise with toothbrushes, pajamas and not much more than the cloths on our back. We were greatly relieved when our bag came around on the baggage claim carousel.
We made stops at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, Grand Cayman in Cayman Islands, Cozumel, Mexico and Key West, Florida. We took a guided excursion at every stop and, while all were enjoyable and interesting, I think our favorite was the butterfly garden in Key West. The town itself is quaint and interesting and we had been there before several years ago. We also visited an aquarium there, but the butterfly garden amazed us. As you one would expect, there were lots of butterflies flying around the 50’X50′, give or take, hot house type of enclosure. There was a path that wound through the vegetation and some button quail scrabbling round in the undergrowth. Our guide George provided a lot of information and it was easy to tell he loved the garden. We didn’t spend a lot of time there, it being small and not taking much time going through, but we could have spent more time if we hadn’t been with a tour group.
Our next favorite excursion was in a semi-submersible boat in Grand Cayman that took us out over the coral reef and over a couple of ship wrecks to see the denizens of the deep. There were plenty of them, too. The two lads manning the boat did their best to entertain us with their humorous banter and succeeded, mostly. We also visited the turtle farm and I held a turtle that didn’t like it one bit so I put it back in the water.
Half Moon Cay is one of 200 cays and 700 islands making up the British territory of the Bahamas. Our guide Cassandra was from the island of Euthra. Cays are just small islands and Half Moon has been leased by Holland America from the government. It has a very nice beach which lots of people and beached whales populate this time of year, it being their high season. We took a nature walk where Cassandra show us how to weave material taken from the thatch palm. She also told use about the sea cucumbers that are among the fishy fauna found in the waters surrounding the cay and are referred to by the locals as slippery dicks because they get hard when you touch them and squirt water at you. She told us a lot about the vegetation on the cay as we walked along and the medicinal properties of many of them. The locals combine ingredients from several of these to make a local equivalent to Viagra called the 21 gun salute.
At Cozumel, Barbara, our little Mayan guide, took us to the Mayan Cacao establishment for chocolate sampling. We were given a shot of ground cacao and several other spice-type ingredients I can’t remember. The proprietor said most people like to add something to sweeten the concoction but we were satisfied with the unsweetened version and wished for more. We did invest in several chocolate bars. I say invest because they sure weren’t giving those away. Our tour bus took us along the road to the west end of the island while Barbara extolled the virtues of a local drink called coco loco. And, shazam, we happened on a group of thatched huts where one could indulge in the combination of coconut juice and tequila served in a fresh coconut with the end whacked off with a machete. Coco loco is supposed to be good for all sorts of things. Joyce and I split one and it didn’t seem to do us any harm.
The weather was generally nice and the seas calm so that we didn’t suffer from any motion sickness. Each evening we had dinner with others on the National Review cruise. On several evenings one of the NR notables joined used and there were interesting conversations around the table. It seemed to me like everyone was greatly relieved with the way the election turned out, even the NR people, none of whom were Trump supporters. We got to view the super moon while at sea and enjoyed excellent food to go with the excellent company. One of the attractions of a National Review cruise is being with like-minded people and giving the politicians and similar invertebrates a good cussing. That quite makes up for the long lines to board the ship and get through customs, not to mention the bump and grind at the airports.
On our flight back to Dallas we sat next to a woman with a dog. The dog was about six months old and of the lab type but white, a very pretty a dog and a nice seat mate but we spent a lot of time helping the woman corral the dog which wanted to get out and roam around. We even babysat it while she went to the restroom. It was ostensibly a service dog but I don’t know what service it was supposed to perform.
We got home about 1:00 am. The drive from Love Field to Amarillo was uneventful but wearisome.