Today the letter C takes me back to a time spent in Cozumel in 2008.
It was late September and I really should be back at school Hurricane Ike was bearing down on the Texas Gulf coast and had his sights set squarely on Galveston island...the departing point for my first ever cruise on the Carnival Cruise ship Conquest.Our excitement had ebbed and flowed for a week now watching this storm on TV. My wife had booked the trip almost a year earlier. What luck.
September 13th 2008 was the day Ike rolled into Galveston with a mean streak of whoop-ass. Of course this was the day prior to our scheduled departure. Galveston was destroyed. Seriously destroyed. At the 11th hour on Saturday night we called and canceled the cruise, found a great deal for a week in Cozumel, booked the tickets and flew out the next morning. Best. Deal. Ever. Lemons made into the best lemonade on earth, this was.
This trip was infinitely better than the cruise. How do I know, you say, if I had still never been on a cruise? Simple, we got to watch cruise ships land day after day. Seeing gaggles of people streaming off the ships like cattle, with their multi-colored wrist bands identifying which ship they were on and which level of travel they enjoyed. And my wife and I leisurely strolling through the shopping areas and squares while these boaters hustled and scurried from place to place trying to take in as much as they could before they were herded back on the ship. It seemed exhausting as we watched it all while sipping Starbucks at our own pace.
My wife is a diver, so a week on the island was right up her alley. We would get up about 7 each morning and have a nice open-air breakfast right off the beach. The dive shop was right where we were staying so all her gear and the boat were there waiting after breakfast. They would leave out about 9AM and get back around 1:30. Then a couple drinks at the beach bar and we would be off to town for more touristing. All very laid back with a no-place-to-go attitude.
During her dive time I took the rental car and toured down to the far south end of the island. Met some other travelers, shared a beer or two, enjoyed the sun and the waves and snapped a few shots.
Could have stayed there a lot longer.
A few shots for those still mired in the winter season...
(click to enlarge for best viewing)
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| Ahhh....the beach massage station |
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| The dive boat that began each day |
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| Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville...our hangout |
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| Yep, a rainbow that touches down in Cancun |
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| Added to the collection at Margaritaville. Our thanks to Ike for a great vacation! **Apologies for slipping into a Rod Stewart lyric at the beginning of this post. Can you name that song? |
8 comments:
Sounds like a wonderful vacation.
I've always found that the unplanned trips are the most fun/relaxing.
:-)
Sounds like a great time! Better than dealing with a hurricane, that's for sure.
......Maggie May! ;-)
Lovely pics from the holiday! Just goes to show every cloud (or hurricane!) has a silver lining!
SueH I refuse to go quietly!
Sounds wonderful :)
That is a great post! Sometimes those things happen and I remember hurricane Ike being from texas myself. I can only imagine how it must have felt to be there enjoying your vacation and watching what you saw.
http://icecoldpenguin.blogspot.com
Misha: Thanks for stopping by...hope to see you again. You're right, unplanned sometimes makes for the most fun. It WAS great!
Alex: My second hurricane I've dealt with in Texas. I was in the middle of Alicia back in the early 80's.
Sue: You are correct! It was really a silver lining for sure.
Kristin: It was, I still think about it from time to time since the days leading up to it were so anxious.
Alex: Thanks for the vist sir!
Teresa: Yes it was the most ironic of vacations. Every ship from Carnival that sailed to Cozunel was there that week EXCEPT for the Conquest. The entire cruise was canceled!
Sounds like Maggie Mae to me. Love that song. Great post. I too have been to Cozumel a few years ago and it was beautiful and peaceful. Would like to go again.
You just squished those ole lemons into the best lemonade, didn't you? Look at what a great result. What a perfect vacation and you took some great photos too.
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