I came home sick. Today was my first day back to work and I had to call in sick. Not cool. But if you are sick, what else can you do? I have been fighting something all week. I got a bad cough the first night on the ship because I was out in the cold wind watching a coast guard helicoptor hover over the ship to rescue a sick crew member on board. I have never been on a helicoptor and thus did not realize how much wind they produce. I'm not skinny yet the combination of the wind and the helicoptor-induced wind, kept moving me on deck. I think a 100 pound person could have been blown overboard!
We made 3 stops on the trip...here's the run-down...
Puerto Vallarta - Sort of a nice place. People not particularly friendly to tourists. Rode in a taxi into downtown and back again. Both times I thought my life was coming to an end. Scary as heck! A co-worker of Luigi's had recommended a little family run restaurant downtown. We found it (pure luck) and had lunch there. We were the only ones in the place. Found out that was because they were not open yet! However, they welcomed us and said they were happy to feed us. It was called Melissa's. It was run by Melissa and her husband, Jorge. Really nice people. I was served my Red Snapper with the head on. First time ever...but I ate it and I liked it! I would recommend this place to anyone visiting Puerto Vallarta. Went to the Mexican Wal Mart. Got in trouble by security for having my picture taken in front of the frosted corn flakes and Tony the Tigre! Oops - glad they didn't haul me to jail for such a crime. Here is the evidence against me...
Horrendous pic of me but that's exactly what I looked like after 2 hellish taxi rides and eating a fish with the head on! Oh, and did I mention it was in the 90s with humidity to match?
Mazatlan - I found out that you have to take a taxi to go to the main shopping area of Mazat54ln*988 (sorry, that was Zoe walking across the keyboard) Mazatlan. Heck no I was not taking a taxi. We had not purchased a shore excursion so we were kind of stuck on the ship. Which is not a bad thing - to be on a huge ship with about 80% of the passengers in town. It's like having a cruise ship to yourself. During lunch, the woman sitting in the booth across from me told me to take the little shuttle from the ship to the Mazatlan terminal and there would be a shopping area and a couple of bars serving up beer and margaritas. I was interested in the shopping so we did that. I was thrilled with the shopping. Really nice people and fairly priced items. Found a cute little gift for my friend, Marianne, who lives in Wisconsin. I had to laugh though because most of the items said "Mazatlan" on them. The guy who makes them had not painted "Mazatlan" on the particular one that I picked out though. He told me it was no problem and he could put it on there. Yes, please! So what does he do? He gets out a Sharpie and writes "Mazatlan" on it! Who knew?! I told him I could have gotten a Sharpie and done that! He just looked at me strangely. Ok, guess he didn't like my comment. Here is Mazatlan...
Again, not a most attractive picture of me but let's blame this solely on the heat since I wasn't in a taxi.
Cabo San Lucas - Beautiful place. Would love to go back there. In fact, I will be in January. Beautiful scenery and the water was a very pretty turquoise color. We did a shore excursion in Cabo. Took a catamaran out to "Lands End" where the famous rock formations are. Such a nice trip and a great photo opportunity. Did a little shopping right there by the port and was back on board the Splendor by 11:30 which was great - just in time for lunch (which by the way made Luigi sick and took him out of commission for the evening. He did go to dinner with me but after that I went to the showroom for a trivia game and then the evening show. Was out until the late hour of 11:45! I had fun...sorry he was sick but glad I went ahead and went out. Here is Cabo...
I met the cruise director, John Heald. Really nice man and one of the funniest people I have ever met. His humor is so much like mine and he was just a delightful man. I have been following his Blog for quite a while now and mentioned that to him. He asked for my Blog address so he can read mine too. I left him a note at Guest Services the last day of the cruise. I hope he gets it because since that time, he has been dealing with the fire on board and all that goes with that. I'm sure keeping 3000 people as happy as possible during such a mess is a horrendous job. He has got the toughest job by far. Here is his picture...
I ended up saying something to him during the picture so I have a ridiculous looking mouth but oh well. I'm not perfect and learning its ok either way! There you have it - a summary of my vacation. Back to work tomorrow and then Veteran's Day on Thursday. Hope I can make it through one whole day!
♥Julie
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