Cruise Day 2

Nov. 11th

We got up around 7:00 AM so that we could eat breakfast in the dining room.  On our way down there, we met up with Daryl and Kim which was nice because even though there was open seating (meaning not our assigned dinner table) in the dining room for breakfast, you still had to sit where they told you and with who you came in with.

Daryn and Becca were already eating when we got there so unfortunately, we weren't able to sit with them.  But the four of us made some new friends, Brian and Eunice, but we didn't know their names for a few more days.  We called them our "breakfast buddies" and we saw them EVERYWHERE!  You know how when you learn something new, like a new word in a foreign language, you swear you've never heard it before, but now you hear it all the time?  It was like these people!  Most of the time it felt like we never saw the same people twice, except Brian and Eunice!  Good thing they were friendly!

Since we had only planned on one excursion, we didn't have any specific plans in Key West, our first port of call, and neither did Daryl and Kim.  We spent the morning with them shopping and walking around town.  As we got off the boat, they gave us all kinds of coupons so that we would spend a lot of money.  The one that I was interested in was a $5 pearl pendant necklace.  So pretty!  Daryl and Kim wanted to find t-shirts for their kids and parents so we followed them around while they looked.  Key West is full of tourist traps and bars so once we found what we were looking for we moved on out of the central shopping area.

The one thing that I knew I wanted to do in Key West was see the Ernest Hemingway house and museum.  Not because I love his work, but because the place is full of polydactyl cats.  I am officially a crazy cat lady.  Thank goodness I have a husband and that he is equally crazy about cats.

The house was beautiful and the cats were nice and friendly so it was a success all around.

Derek and Daryl in front of the "Cheney Bros. Inc." truck we saw along a street in Key West

Us in front of the Hemingway House

More Hemingway House

I love to take pictures of Derek, not of myself.

Someone said this cat was 20 years old and REALLY cranky.  There was a Japanese group there who thought the cat was cute (so did we) so Derek said "Kawaii desu ne?" Meaning, "it's cute right?"  At first the lady acted like it was completely normal to have a white guy speak Japanese, but after a couple seconds, she realized the amazingness of the situation and exclaimed, "Ah nihongo o-jouzu desu ne!" Or "your Japanese is so skilled!!!"  The typical response from a polite Japanese person.  I was never prouder of my husband! :)

This is one of our signature poses. Derek is the master at self photos.

His eyes were a little closed, but he's so cute!

The bench I sat on was a little wet, darn!

All the cats were friendly. This one especially!

This is an example of a polydactyl cat. They have 6 toes instead of 5. All the cats living at the house are descendents of Hemingway's original pets who were polydactyls.

Derek and Daryl posing next to a HUGE ice cream cone. I guess Derek really wanted some.

Us in front of our boat.

We got back on the boat just after noon and went to have lunch.  We met up with Daryn and Becca and had an AMAZING lunch in the dining room.  They had the best salad bar I have ever tried!!! You go through and tell them what you want--they had a gazillion choices--they even picked out all the nasty, crunchy, white parts of the romaine lettuce for me (I am a picky eater)!!!  Then after you have everything, they toss it in the big plastic you start with and then transfer it to a more manageable, clean bowl!!!  They also had the most amazing blueberry cheesecake.  I would have eaten 10 if I had the chance!!!!!
 

The rest of the afternoon was spent being lazy and getting ready for the formal night.  For dinner, one night everyone was supposed to dress more formally.  I stressed a bit before the trip, trying to figure out what to wear.  It's hard for a girl to find an appropriately formal outfit.  I had heard that some people dress super formal and others dress more casually.  So I shopped around a bit.  I didn't want to buy something that I would only wear once; I also wanted to be able to wear it to church.  But I didn't want to get anything too casual.  Agh!

Finally at Dress Barn, I found the perfect outfit.  A new, nice looking black skirt and a gold, satin shirt.  I even found a casual summery dress for only $14!!!  Yay!!

Here's some of the pictures from the formal night.  Somehow I didn't end up with any group shots, but Kim said she'd share what she has with me! :D

Derek and me after dinner. You can see my pretty pearl necklace!

Each night they had a show on board the ship.  The first night was the dumb comedy thing.  The second night we hoped would be better.  The boat had some singers and dancers who performed throughout the week.  This night the performance was titled, "Can't Stop the Rock."  Sounds good, right?  Well, it wasn't so hot.  They chose songs out of all rated-R movies and most of the costumes and dance moves were well... petunie.  Just ask Jane what that means.  But it was fun to hang out with the family!!!

Kim, Me and Derek waiting for the show to start.  Everybody else was there too, they just weren't in the picture.

Another of our signature poses. This time, Derek wasn't all in it...

Derek posing with a statue. He's so good about doing all kinds of weird things in pictures for me! :)

My memory is a little fuzzy on what we did after the show.  Probably looked for our pictures on the picture wall.  Photographers took our pictures everywhere we went it seemed, and we were supposed to find our pictures on the wall.  If we liked them, we could buy them for a whopping $20 a photo.  If we didn't, we were supposed to throw them away in a special box.

We might have also played shuffleboard.  Derek and I played it a few times with different couples.  I don't remember which nights we did, but I do remember I LOVED IT!!!  I want my own shuffleboard in my backyard!!!