SEA JOURNEY

It started as a sea journey. My husband Philip and I set sail from the port of Miami aboard the Carnival Liberty, along with roughly 2500 fellow passengers around 5 PM - just before sunset. We headed out onto a smooth as glass sea - destination - Cosumel, Mexico. The sunset was every shade of red, pink and yellow. Glorious!
Years ago, the port at Cosumel had been rebuilt after a devastating storm. It was interesting to have seen the old port on a trip there several years back. Then, passengers were ferried from the big ship over to the shore. I remember this because as we were heading for shore back then I was fascinated as I watched a pack of dogs romping in the surf and suddenly one of the dogs held a smaller dog under the water for the longest time and just when I thought it was gonna drown. The bigger dog let the small dog up.
The Liberty docked at Cosumel and another, larger cruise ship docked there too. We walked out of the canyon of cruise ships to explore the town of Cosumel. Phil headed straight for a scooter rental place (mentioning to me that the cruise director had warned against renting scooters) and rented a scooter. I was nervous. I kept picturing the headlines "American Woman Dies in Freak Scooter Accident - Body Still Missing!" Yet we strapped on the helmets and headed out to explore. We rode through the town of Cosumel with it's speed bumps designed to slow down a tank. Yes, they were tall bumps and we slowed down so much that we almost tipped over the scooter several times.
When we got to the end of town and things started looking seedy, we headed back toward the scooter rental shop. We left the scooter there while we went back aboard ship for lunch.
After lunch we came back for further scooter adventure. Phil wanted to find a good place to snorkle so we headed toward the beach. I was hanging on tight as he sped down the highway to nowhere. My helmet felt like it wanted dearly to take flight so I was hanging onto the helmet too. We must have been a sight as a truck load of Mexican men passed us, pointing and laughing.
After miles and miles of driving we spotted a beach. The surf was churning like wash water, foamy and blue. We had come so far to find a beach and had limited time before the scooter was due back so Phil decided to stop here and snorkle. He got the OK from the shop owner next to the beach and so Phil plunged into the foamy, turquoise sea. I sat down on the sand to get some sun and watch my husband be tossed about in the water. Then the shop owner started gathering people together along the shore edge. He came over and motioned for me to join them. So I did. Then something wonderful happened! The shop owner came out of his building carrying a huge tray and in that tray were about 50 to 100 baby sea turtles. He took them to the water's edge and set them out in the sand. Soon they made their way into the water and floated away like fallen leaves into the big, blue sea.
Then Philip and I headed back to the scooter shop to return the scooter. We made our way back down the canyon of cruise ships and back to our room exhausted by the heat and excitement of the days adventure. We enjoyed a refreshing lemonade drink and laughed and talked about the wild ride we had just been on. I was glad that the headlines had not come true but knew that tomorrow was another day and I was travelling with a wild man!
After leaving Cosumel, we headed east toward the Grand Cayman Islands. We had a day at sea before getting to Cayman so we did the usual stuff that passengers do...eat, eat, eat. A passenger could find some kind of food being prepared at any hour on the ship. Also there are art auctions, variety shows, spas, sports, gambling, etc.
When we got to Grand Cayman, Phil and I walked around for a while then got on a local bus which was basically a club van which only charged $2.50 per person to go anywhere in the town. We rode down to the beach where Phil again tried to snorkle. I sat in the shade watching him. One observation - I could actually hear my skin sizzling in the sun. I got such a burn on Grand Cayman. Yet, it is a beautiful place and as we waited at the bus stop to catch a bus back to the ship, I noticed an iguana which had come out of the jungle to graze on the foliage near the bus stop. He had such a beautiful, emerald/dark lime color and would take a bite then look about as if keeping an eye out for what? I don't know.
The ship left Grand Cayman around 3 PM and then we were on our way to Ocho Rios, Jamaica. I wanted to mention the dining rooms on the ship. They were beautiful. Ours had these spoon shaped structures that canopyed the dining tables and in the walls where shadow boxes which held samples of antique flatware. I mention the dining room because we did not eat lunch while we were on Grand Cayman so as soon as we got back on the ship we had a snack and 30 minutes later went to the captain's cocktail party which was followed by dinner in the fine dining room. Overload!
On Thursday morning, our ship docked in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. It was a bit overcast and I was hesitant about going ashore - we've been to Jamaica before. Phil said that he was going so I knew I had to go else I might never see him again. We started down the long "gang plank" of a dock. Most passengers were getting hooked up with their tour for the day but Phil and I decided that we would just walk through the streets and explore....maybe go to a local park. From the git go we were hit on by the local folks to let them help us help them. "We can take you there..., we can take you there..., we can take you there...." We were being swarmed by everybody within a three block range to do business with us, plus braid my hair. At one point two of the potential business men seemed ready to get into a fight over us and then a police officer/military guy showed up with a billy club. I got the impression that we were not going to get off the island without a cracked head. I could just see the headlines now "American Woman - Has Run In With Jamaican Police - Head Still Missing." I told Phil I wanted to go back to the ship. We'd had our island adventure and it wasn't even 10 AM. And as we headed back to the ship, a tropical storm set in and the rest of the day was called due to rain.
From Jamaica we headed back to Florida. On Friday night we went on the top deck to see if we could see the launch of the space shuttle. I thought I saw the launch plume clouds. There was a full moon on Wednesday or Thursday of that week. Some folks on the ship were wearing Obama tshirts and at times it looked like giant Obama heads coming my way. Our dining mates were a couple from Florida and the guy loved guns and proceeded to explain why everyone needs one. I was the butt of a stand up comic's routine whose jokes were totally raunchy...yes he called me up on stage. Saturday we ate breakfast for our last meal aboard ship then made our way, our official papers in hand, through the lines of people, drug dogs and various groups gathering to gather their luggage. And the adventures just kept coming.....