Part III: Cool Places

The cruise left from New Orleans, and Welles and I woke up bright and early Saturday morning. We left at 5:00 Am and arrived at the cruise parking deck around 10:30. We decided to walk to Cafe Du Monde because Welles had never had these:

They were so good! After a walk through the Riverwalk mall, we decided to board the ship. As I mentioned earlier, that was not the best experience. Some lady made us get in the wrong line - no matter that I kept protesting - and we were 2.5 hours waiting in line to board the ship. Upon boarding the ship, I felt it was finally time to relax and just wanted to take a nap in our room. HOWEVER, nobody told me about the DRILL! We had to get our life jackets and head to the muster station that we were assigned to so that we could be led to lifeboats. It was not fun, but we did find a great spot to see the sunset as we headed down the Mississippi River.

Since we had the cruise drama, we did not arrive in Key West until 1:45 on Monday - we were supposed to be there at 7:00 AM. Unfortunately, that meant that we only had about 2.5 hours in Key West. We cancelled our kayak excursion and just walked around picking up souvenirs and a case water. (Note to all of those that want bottled water on the ship...you must bring your own or risk paying $2.25 for a .5 Liter bottle).

The following day, we cruised to Nassau.

I will say that someday when we have kiddos we both really want to take them to Atlantis! What a cool place! Check out the following pictures from Atlantis and then the Queen's Staircase in Nassau.

Part II: Cruise - Great Friends

We met so many nice people on the trip and many of them we hope to continue to foster relationships with. We met our cool table mates the first night. There were two couples that were newlywed, and one couple had been married just a little longer than us. Bottom row: LaPorche, Sherry, Angela, Megan;
Top Row: Ephram, Iketut, Welles, Brooks, Andy, and Glenn

There were many laughs and great conversation each night. We also made friends with our wait staff, Ketut and Glenn. They were amazing, and knew just what we wanted even before we asked!

We also met the Chapman and Parker families the Monday morning at breakfast. Thereafter, we went to a couple of shows together and enjoyed a couple of lunches and breakfasts. The last afternoon the group decided to master the water slides on the back of the ship. Paul, Chona, Pam and Larkin were so fun, and we had a blast with them! Some stories they told were unbelievable and I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard! They always had great advice for us--both couples have been married 25 years.

From left: Larkin, Pam, Paul, Chona, Welles and Sherry

We hope to stay in touch with our new friends!

Part I: Cruise Drama

Despite the fact that we had a wonderful vacation, there were some bumps in the sea - some good and some bad. Fist off, our cruise was supposed to be a 5 day cruise from New Orleans to Cozumel and Progresso Mexico. Then, about a month ago the "Swine Flu" hit. Within days, we received word from Carnival that our cruise had been changed to a 7 day cruise to Key West and Nassau Bahamas! We were so excited!

We left one week ago today and boarded the ship around 3:00 PM. There was plenty of line-waiting trying to get on the ship, but once we were on board, all of that became a distant memory. That night, I won $250 playing BINGO - and won with my lucky number (B-4)! After a good night's sleep, we ate breakfast and headed to the first activity where we heard that the ship had to stop for a couple of hours the night before so that a passenger could be airlifted back to New Orleans for medical treatment. We did hear later that the passenger's condition had improved after being hospitalized.

No worries, though, because the captain planned to make up some time on our "fun day at sea" and we would only be 30 minutes late to Key West the next morning. Sunday evening during dinner, the boat came to a grinding halt and the captain came over the loudspeaker shouting, "Bravo, Bravo, Bravo!" We had no idea what it meant, but from the look on our waiters faces--it was not good. We all immediately thought, "PIRATES!" However, we later learned that a teenager named Bruce jumped overboard. Please keep this poor family in your prayers!

After searching for 7 hours, the Coast Guard released our ship, and we headed to Key West. Unfortunately, the delay meant that we did not arrive in Key West until 1:00 PM. We had to cancel our kayak excursion, but did enjoy walking around Key West for a couple of hours. We went by Captain Tony's and Bob's picture is still hanging there.

The last dramatic incident involves a minor one, but still caused the captain to stop the boat in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico for an hour or so. A boat had capsized, and one of the crew members noticed it as we were travelling back to New Orleans yesterday. Our boat stopped and some crew members were lowered in a lifeboat to see if there was anything the ship could do. Luckily, the Coast Guard released us and we were free to continue our journey home. More to come--great friends!

Cruise 2009 - because we will cruise again!

Welles and I just got back from our cruise! It was a wonderful and desperately needed vacation. We met some great new friends, and had an opportunity to relax, as this cruise had dramatic experiences--some that the captain said almost never happen on a ship. There is so much to post about that I think I will break this post into 4 separate posts. The following are the chapters:

1. Cruise Drama

2. Great Friends

3. Cool Places

4. Reasons to take a cruise

Easter Sunrise and a Beach Trip

Last weekend we went to the beach to celebrate Easter with my family. We got to enjoy this beautiful Easter Sunrise from our condo balcony in Navarre Beach, FL. We then went to a sunrise church service. You will have to ask Welles about seeing Lynyrd Skynyrd in concert--for free!

The picture below was taken Saturday night before we went out to dinner. My sister is sitting in front of me with my parents on either side of her. My brother and his wife Ashley are standing beside us. Overall we had a fun weekend!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter, friends!

The Lord is Good!

If you know me (Sherry) at all, you know that I am notorious for losing things. I lose things weekly and sometimes daily. Many times the things I lose are unimportant--like the earring that I just cannot seem to find. Sometimes the things I lose are a BIG deal. For example, exactly one week before our wedding, I lost an entire set of keys. I remember the day clearly. It was the day I went to pick up my shoes and dress in downtown Homewood. I stopped in a couple of stores to check out bridesmaid gifts. By the time I got back to my car, the keys were gone. I went back to every kind store owner and the keys were nowhere to be found. I had a spare car key, thank goodness, but to this day I have not found the keys that were part of my life before Welles and I got married.

Life goes on. I don't lose my keys very often anymore, because I have developed a system. Today I lost the passport that I had gotten in the mail less than a week ago.

I have never owned a passport. I have been to Mexico and Canada, but in those days you didn't need a passport. Well, we are going on a cruise to celebrate our 5th Anniversary next month, and I went to the post office about a month ago to get a passport. (Side note: be wise like Welles and not foolish like me...if you live in Birmingham, go to the Vestavia Post Office and not the Downtown Post Office. You will save yourself at least an hour and a lot of frustration!) Mine came in the mail a week ago, and I remember seeing it on the cafe table in our kitchen all week. I would look at it sometimes, think, "what a dumb picture," put it back in the envelope that the post office sent me and go on about my day.

Something today told me to put it in the safe. I went to the cafe table, and...where is my passport? I went through the mail stack in the kitchen...no passport. Now my heart is starting to race, "Lord, please help me find my passport," and "Where could it be? Where did I put it?" I looked around for at least 45 minutes. emptied the kitchen trash and sifted through it (it wasn't too bad b/c Welles took the trash out this AM). "Oh no! The trash people came today! Heavenly Father, please do not let it be in the garbage that the trash people took!" Poor Missy was getting anxious, too. I know she would have helped me look if she only knew what a passport was.

Frenzied...near tears...wondering how in the world I will get another in time for our trip...where is my passport...In here? In my dresser? Nope...It was in the cabinet in our office, and I do not for the life remember putting it there.
Losing something that is semi-valuable reminded me of a story from Luke 15 that our Journey group read a few months ago. See below, and although it seems silly, please friends, rejoice with me for finding my passport!

Luke 15
The Parable of the Lost Coin

⁸"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' ¹⁰In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."