cruisin'

On June 3rd, the Brewers headed down to Charleston to spend a day and night and to board the Carnival Fantasy for a seven night cruise to the Bahamas and to Turks & Caicos.

Our first day down, we spent time walking around our beloved Charleston and eating at Hymans so the boys could get their bellies full of seafood. We stopped by a bookstore to purchase a few books for our trip and then headed down to Waterfront Park to hang out and watch the sunset. Bliss.

On Saturday, we boarded our cruise ship and headed for Nassau, the port we were scheduled to dock at in just two days. We were so excited because we had booked an excursion to Atlantis where Anderson and I were going to swim with the dolphins and where we were going to play in their huge waterpark all day. Sadly, our maitre d' had a heart attack before we made it to the Bahamas, and we had to divert to Port Canaveral. Losing time, we had to abort our plans to dock in Nassau. We were SO bummed.

From Canaveral we headed down to Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas. There we hung out on the beautiful white beaches and played in the clear blue (almost white!) water. Anderson especially loved snorkeling there. Bennett and I took a lagoon tour and saw all kinds of fish and sea stars on a glass bottom boat while Anderson and Paul went deep sea fishing.

From Half Moon we departed for Grand Turk of the Turks & Caicos Islands. It was overcast that day and we had a bit of rain, but we never got too hot nor did we have to apply tons of sunscreen, so we made the best of less-than-optimal weather conditions. We spent the day hanging out by the pool at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. Paul and Anderson spent an hour and a half on the flowrider, which is basically a simulated wave where you can surf and bodyboard. It can be quite challenging, but Anderson and Paul looked like pros compared to everyone else because they had surfed on one at the Great Wolf Lodge several years ago. Bennett and I watched from the pool and took lots of photos.

The following day we spent at sea in the middle of a tropical depression. This brought rain, dreary conditions, and rough seas. As a result, I woke up in the wee morning hours feeling sick. I took some Dramamine, but I spent the next 48 hours not feeling great. The upside? I got LOTS of sleep! In fact, I spent the first day of sickness sleeping in the room, and the next day, when the sun came out, I spent on the deck of the cruise ship looking at the ocean, reading, and napping on and off. Heavenly!

Bennett's favorite part of the cruise was going to Camp Carnival every day. He LOVED going to play games, sing songs, draw pictures, do art projects, building his very own bear, etc. He thought he was so grown up going off to Camp Carnival all by himself. It was wonderful to have this entertainment for him so that we could really relax.

Anderson loved the arcade. He spent many evenings there challenging anyone he could find to a game of air hockey. I believe he was the reigning air hockey champion the week we were on board. :)

There was also a putt putt golf course on board, so the boys' putting skills could stay sharp even while on vacation. :) It was the first place the boys wanted to go when we boarded the ship.

All in all, in spite of a few glitches along the way, we had a wonderful vacation. These pictures are proof. There are way too many photos here, but I am too tired to sort through them, so here they are...

https://picasaweb.google.com/hollytbrewer/Cruise2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCOGH5qWYqp_7Og#