On Day 3 of the cruise, I awoke to find the sun shining brightly.

I stepped onto the deck and saw this sign greeting the boat…

The water was absolutely GORGEOUS…

As I scanned the water, I spied this sailboat…

Grand Turk is a rather small island.  It boasts a hotel, which I easily spotted from the ship…

Looks like an oasis, eh?

My crew ate quickly.  We were eager to explore…

Yeah, the sign looked exactly like it did from my view on the ship. Imagine that.

The ship looks really big when you stand in front of it…

We walked through the “Welcome Center” and faced a courtyard of Tourist Traps…i.e. “shopping.”

I let the crew do the shopping while I took a seat outside, capturing the following pictures…

I love the palm tree in the next picture…so “island-y…”

My nephew spent some of his vacation money on this little guy…

After everyone got the tourist thing out of their systems, we were ready to tour the rest of the island.

We paid an exorbitant amount of money, splitting into two groups and climbed into our respective taxis.

The “tour” was mainly a drive across the very small island.  The driver provided various facts about the island, and I was saddened to see the state in which a majority of the population lives.

We got dropped off in the “shopping district,” which was, in reality, a few small open-air shacks.  You had to feel bad for the ladies running them.  It was, after all, about 85 degrees.  The humidity must have been near 70-80%, so it felt even hotter.

We decided to go for a stroll and saw the island’s museum…

I took the next picture to show that Grand Turkans (can you call residents of this island that?) drive on the left side of the road…

The next photo shows the famous establishment where emancipation was loudly proclaimed…

We saw real flamingos (now I know where those Miami folks get them)…

At the next sighting, we were told that John Glenn’s capsule landed about 14 miles away from the island, and he was taken to Grand Turk for physical examinations after he returned to earth.  This is something that island residents are very proud of…

After our trip back to the ship, we were ready to cool off and play trivia.  Don’t ask me how that went.

While we were gone, our room attendants had been busy…picking up discarded towels (yes, I actually showered BEFORE leaving for that hot, humid island), making up our beds, and creating this work of art…

Butterfly!

We re-visited our cabin decks, where Rooster spotted (pun intended) the following…

Yep…it was a cow…way in the middle of the island.  How he saw it is beyond me.

I filmed a bit of video (the quality isn’t the best) to give you an idea of just how small the island is…

The ship left the island fairly early in the afternoon, once again heading across the open sea…

I had my afternoon mug of peppermint tea and a cookie, which is mysteriously gone from the following picture…wonder where it went?

I did a bit of knitting…

My brother-in-law, Super D, spotted this mini-rainbow…

It was soon time to get ready for dinner…

Scallops (I think) made a delicious appetizer

Time for the entree…

Tortellini!!

Super D’s entree looked…um…interesting…

I hit the jackpot with dessert…

And yes, I did order two, thank you very much.  It’s my party, and I’ll eat two desserts if I want to…you’d order two if it happened to you (sing that to the tune of “It’s My Party”).

This was some sort of apple thing.  I took two small bites and handed it over to my nephew in a pre-arranged deal to make me look like less of an oink-oink…

Do you think I shared my chocolate mousse?

AuburnChick + chocolate = the glare of steel if you even think about it.

After that dinner, I had full belly and turned in early to prepare for the next day’s adventures…

Day 2 of the cruise was all about the open sea as it takes time to get from one location to another.

For the most part, it seemed as if we were the only people on  the big blue expanse…

However, this was a BIG holiday week, and other people apparently had the same idea.

I spotted this ship mid-morning…

Later, I spotted what I suspect to be a Disney ship…

The Eurodam kicked up some foam as it moved through the water…

Here’s a little taste of what it sounded like to sit on my deck…

After breakfast, I got comfy beside the pool for some knitting…

Lunch came and went, and the relaxing continued.

My crew headed to the Crow’s Nest for Team Trivia.  It was a battle of the sexes as we split into two groups.  The girls called ourselves Team Banana.   The boys came up with the “brilliant” name of The Lightbulbs.  They even said, “Boing,” when they posed for a photo.

Um, yeah, real “bright,” eh?  LOL

Let me just say that Team Trivia was one of my favorite activities…probably because I am a nerd.

I quickly figured out that my poor little brain hasn’t acquired a large amount of random trivia, but I did learn quite a few things…

Such as, what is a pregnant goldfish called?  Google the answer and leave a comment with the answer if you want.

Trivia was so much fun and took us to the time when we needed to prep for dinner, which was to be formal.

Let me take a moment to tell you that never, ever have I taken two showers on the same day more than two days in a row.  I am of the firm opinion that if you shower more than once, you should receive a credit for that second shower and thus not have to shower on another day.

Regardless, I did shower, again, and I did dress up in something besides blue jeans and a t-shirt.  My family was proud, and Chicky was heard to say, “See, Mama, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Thanks, Honey.

When we got to the dining room, this is what the table looked like…

And the menu for the night…

Is it any wonder that the primary stress of the cruise involved which dishes to order?  Oy!

You know you have a blogger in the family when she pulls out her camera and starts photographing the food…

Grand Pooba's appetizer

My appetizer

Surf and Turf! Yummmmmmm

After dinner, I headed back to the room, where I discovered this towel animal…

Stingray!!

Along with the stingray were these items…

Two beach bags, information about the next day’s port, and the ever-famous chocolates.  Yum!

I headed to bed to prepare for Day #3…

Hi all!

I’m back…not that you knew I was gone thanks to the handy-dandy feature in WordPress that allows users to schedule posts to appear whenever we decide.

For safety reasons, the Mr. asked me not to put some cutesy saying like, “AuburnChick can’t come to the blog right now because…”

He was worried that some savvy computer person might do something wholly undesirable.  So, instead you got my rather lame (yet honest) little “thankful” posts.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

While you were tucked into your homes stuffing your bellies with turkey and dressing, Your’s Truly was cruising…

On the open seas…

It all started early this year when Grand Pooba and Coupon Queen, Master and Mistress of the Seas, decided to commence on yet another journey.  Ever since Grand Pooba retired, they’ve been leaving their beloved children and grandchildren behind a couple of times a year while they explored vast lands.

Only this time they decided that they would invite the rest of us along.

So, they booked passage, generously paying for all ten of us (them included), to take a ride on Holland America’s Eurodam.

This is a beautiful cruise ship that routinely travels to the Eastern Caribbean.

Being the good blogger that I am, I took pictures so you wouldn’t feel left out.

This is the first of eight posts (hope you don’t get bored) about the trip.

We pulled the kids out of school on Friday, November 20th.  The school generously obtained a sub for me (sub for the sub…funny, eh?), and I got experience writing lesson plans for someone else to follow.

Anyhoo…we drove down to Ft. Lauderdale…a long drive during which I slept most of the way.

After arriving, we headed out to dinner.  We used to live in Coral Springs, which is a hop, skip, and a jump away from Ft. Lauderdale.  It felt good to be on familiar stomping grounds.

Until…

We stopped at a traffic light, waiting for it to turn green…

And heard the weirdest noise ever.

The noise repeated itself several times before we figured out it was a car horn.  It sounded like a baby crying.

Some impatient-have-to-be-there-now-person-who-shouldn’t-be-behind-the-wheel-of-a-two-thousand-piece-of-metal was irate because we were obeying the law and not running a red light.

To make it worse, they were yelling at us…from two cars behind.

Sheesh.  Give me a break.

You do that where we live now, and you’re liable to get shot.

Anyhoo…

We met up with the rest of the gang…Grand Pooba, Coupon Queen, and my sister and the Mr.’s brother, who are married to one another.

I’ll let you have a second to run that one through your head.

The Mr. and I have siblings who are married to each other.  Hey, we’re from Alabama.  What do you expect?
They have two sons.  Music Man is the same age as Rooster, and Dr. J is ten.

We arose Saturday morning and headed to Port Everglades…

When it was our turn to pass through, we were asked the all important question, “Are you carrying any weapons?”

Um, hmmm…what would be the correct answer here?

Chicky was not impressed with the security, but I guess we looked honest enough that we were allowed through.

On to the terminal, where we answered health questions.

Chicky had been suffering from either a very minor cold or an allergy attack, so she honestly (remember, we tell the truth) answered that yes, she had suffered a runny nose and cough.

While the rest of our crew was given room keys and literature about the ship, my family was told to have a seat and someone would be with us.

Say what?

Ten minutes later, a lady wearing nurses scrubs came out to question Chicky further.

How embarrassing for Chicky…especially when she had to have her temperature taken.

After assuring the nurse that she was fine and simply had allergies, and after obtaining a normal temperature reading (thank goodness as mine would have been sky high after the nervousness), we were cleared to board.

Now, this is where the real fun began.

If you’ve never been on a cruise, let me explain that one of the most fantastic things is the ginormous amount of food available.  And the feasting begins immediately upon boarding.

Trust me.  This was my third cruise, and every one of them have been the same.

You go in, take the elevator up to the deck that has the buffet dining hall, and you eat…

I can’t remember how many lines like this existed, but everything was a little different…Italian, Asian, salads, fruit…you name it, they had it.

And then I saw this…

Dessert!!!!

Now, to my credit, I will say that I never once got any dessert from this display.  Most of the items had milk in them, and because I am lactose-intolerant, I have to steer clear of such yummies.

That’s okay.  I knew I’d get my turn.

There were large windows around the dining room, providing patrons with an incredible view.  Ft. Lauderdale really is gorgeous.  I sometimes miss it, except for the rude people…

After eating, we decided to explore the ship…

Mainstage - Where all of the shows were put on

The staircase outside of the formal dining room

Since we were so close to the dining room, we decided to saunter by.  This would be where we would be eating dinner each night at our assigned table with the same table attendants each night.

The dress code most nights was smart casual...two nights were formal.

The menu for dinner was displayed each day.  I chose not to look because I like surprises.  I did snap a picture without really reading it…

After cleaning up the drool from the floor, we resumed our tour.

This was the private cabana area, which was roped off to mere mortals like myself.  It was on Deck 10 and had stairs (outside the roped area) that I frequently climbed to get to another, more accessible, deck…

Now, don’t act all surprised to see my knitting.  You knew I would pack it.

Bex tagged along in my carry on.  She’s felt lonely because every time I think I have a chance to get serious about finishing her, another project magically jumps on my needles!  Dang that soft heart I have for giving away knitted creations.

Anyhoo…

We decided to head to the top of the ship…to the Internet Cafe/Crow’s Nest.

If you’re a book lover, this is the place for you.  Oh my, but what a relaxing place to sit, read, do a crossword puzzle, or sleep in the lazy chairs that line the ginormous windows.

This is where Super Sis and I took a break from the touring.  I asked if she’d be interested in trying on Bex’s mate, which has been crying the lonely wail that first socks typically cry…

Um, no, I'm not planning on being THAT generous...here, socky socky...come back to Mama where you belong...

The Crow’s Nest, an extension of the Internet Cafe, was blocked off because there was a wedding going on.  We had seen the bride earlier…dressed in her finery.  We later saw her at the lifeboat drill, carefully holding up her dress as she hunted for the place she was assigned to be, should there be an emergency.

We were finally allowed to enter our rooms.  Here’s what we saw…

The couch folded out into a bed, and another bed came down from the ceiling above the large bed.  Every room had its own deck, and we later got the room attendants to remove the partitions between the three rooms.

After a lovely dinner, during which we sailed away from port, I headed to my cabin to start a new knitting project (poor Bex).

Meanwhile, the moon was keeping watch as the ship slowly made its way south…

I am thankful for the sound of a metal bat hitting a baseball.

It reminds me of the park where Rooster played t-ball as a young child.  The park was across the street from my house, and you often heard baseballs being hit late into the evenings.  You could sometimes hear the crowd cheering as one of their youngsters hit the winning run.

It was a time of pre-teen angst and one I miss tremendously sometimes.

I am thankful for cool days of Spring and Fall when I can open the windows, hear the birds chirping, and nap lazily on the couch.

This is the perfect way to spend an afternoon.

I am thankful for the smell of clean laundry hanging from the line.

It invigorates my mind and washes away the clutter that has filled it.  I, too, feel cleansed.

I am thankful for Pajama Days spent with the kids.

You know these kinds of days…when you don’t have to go to work or school and lounge around the house watching movies in your pj’s all day.

Pure laziness.

Pure joy.

I am thankful for the twinkle in Chicky’s eyes when she discovers a delicious treat.

I’ll never forget the look of surprise that lit up her face the first time she tasted a Shirley Temple.  The smile started in her eyes and eventually covered her entire face as she grinned from ear-to-ear.

The other time she had this look was when she tasted a Godiva Caramel Chocolixer.

We both had gotten this drink while walking through Peachtree Mall in Atlanta, Georgia.

We took our first sips, looked at each other, and mirrored looks of absolute happiness.

It is a look I carry in my heart every day.

I am thankful for the cool breeze that precedes a storm.

You know the feeling.  You can smell the rain coming in.

I don’t know why, but this always makes me stop in my tracks and enjoy the moment.

I am thankful for a each sunset.

Every time I see one, I am reminded that the end of the day is near and rest is close at hand.

The colors soothe my soul, and the arrangement of the clouds playing peek-a-boo in between the rays of fading sunlight make me catch my breath every time I see them.

God is truly revealed in nature, and I am always in awe of His creativity and beauty.