Awesome.

Pete and I came back from our vacation late Monday, and all I have to say is that our trip was AWESOME. Well, that and all of this....

First, we flew into Orlando and checked in to the Disney Pop Century Resort. I got pictures of us in front of the crazy stuff they had at the resort, but they're on Pete's laptop and I can't find the jump drive. So, pictures to come! We went on all the fun rides at Magic Kingdom, but Pete refused to go into the Hall of President's claiming that as a kid his Dad dragged him in there and he thought it was stupid. That isn't really a very fun ride anyways, so I wasn't too distraught.

The next morning we were picked up at the resort and driven to Port Canaveral to board our ship, the Sovereign of the Seas. My friend Laura who works on the ship met us outside and we boarded the ship pretty quickly. Here's a picture of the ship.



On the first day Pete was fine, but I was feeling a little green. I didn't puke, but it felt like I was riding in an elevator the whole time we were on the ship with all the slow lurching. I was over it by day two. I have no idea how people get smashed on the ship without barfing their guts out. Pete went to the public restroom once while on the ship and said there was a fresh batch of puke all over the place. Gross.

Anyhoo, on the first night we ate at the buffet that was pretty good, we played a rousing game of Bingo which we lost, and then we went to the Follies Theater to watch the Love and Marriage game show. We got picked from the crowd to be one of the three couples contestants. Laura told us it would be aired on the ship, but what we didn't know is that it would be aired on the ship over and over and over throughout the course of the cruise. By the end of the cruise everyone and their mother recognized us. We were ship celebrities. It was kinda funny, and kinda annoying. Someone even asked for our autograph (as a joke, of course).

Day two we docked at Nassau in the Bahamas and went on a Segway Tour! It was so flippen' fun! If I had an extra six G's sitting around I would totally get one. They were really fun to ride. We toured Fort Charlotte,stopped at a touristy shopping place, and Segwayed through the Botanical gardens. I cannot emphasize how FUN it was! Next, we went back and met Laura back at the ship. She had the rest of the day free, so we went to a fish shack on the beach and got some conch deep fried in what tasted like corn dog batter with this yummy, spicy dipping sauce. It was the bomb. Then we went to the straw market where I purchased a green knock-off Prada bag for the bargain price of $30. I would've bought more, but I was on a budget. Budgets are lame. Then we went over to Atlantis, this whole island owned by Michael Jackson with a giant building that looked like a Las Vegas casino, surrounded by tons of extremely expensive shops and restaurants. We had dinner at one of them. Never again do I plan to spend $140 on one meal for three people. The food was good, but DANG! I could've bought four more knock-off designer bags for that price, and then got some more of that $4 fried conch! At least the food was yummy. That night we went to the formal dinner on the ship and got pictures taken all fancied up. I'll scan and post them in the next few days or so.

Day three the ship docked at a cheesy little private island owned by Royal Caribbean called Coco Cay. They sold lame trinkets including this lovely coconut that I thought Melanie and Brian would like.



I also found these sweet, racist "Bahama Mama" salt and pepper shakers that I totally wish I'd bought.



After a little shopping while Pete layed in a hammock on the beach, Pete, Laura and I went snorkeling in the bay. Pete was freaking out a little at first because he wasn't used to sticking his face in the water while breathing, but he got the hang of it soon. He didn't want to really do it, but Laura and I pretty much peer pressured him into it. We told him that all the cool kids were doing it. Don't be a nerd, go snorkeling with us. So, reluctantly, he went. We saw lots of colorful fishies swimming around an underwater cannon, and there was a crashed airplane as well. After snorkeling, we got a cool beverage, went to the empty side of the island, and chilled out on some lounge chairs on the beach. It was there that Pete realized his wedding ring was missing. It fell off in the water! We offered to go back and look for it, but Pete convinced us that it had been swallowed by the ocean and was gone. He was pretty sad. Other than Pete losing his ring, the afternoon was quite nice........UNTIL WE GOT BACK TO OUR STATEROOM AND REALIZED WE WERE COMPLETELY FRIED! I didn't really think about it when I was putting on sunscreen, but I was wearing a shirt at the time. So my entire back, and Pete's, were sunscreen free. Duh.

We got back to the ship, and Laura had arranged for us to get a tour of the bridge. Technically, it's like touring an airplane cockpit in terms of security, so it was pretty special. All the dudes had Russian or Scandinavian accents too, so it felt like we were on Hunt for Red October or something with burly men saying "anchor ho" and then other people repeating "anchor ho." It was spiffy. The captain's number two, or as I like to call him the Will Riker of the ship, gave us our tour. Unfortunately, he wasn't nearly as ruggedly handsome as Riker. On a plus side, he wasn't nearly as big a douche as Riker, so that was nice. I can't believe they let us take pictures. And, check out the sweet mecha-chair!



Since it was yet another Bingo night I decided to attend. In case those of you out there are unaware of my love of Bingo, you can consider yourself informed. I love Bingo. I own Bingo markers. I collect lucky cats. Bingo rules! I haven't won at Bingo since I was nine years old, but I don't care. Bingo is fun. So, I dragged Pete to Bingo once again. There were four games. Guess who won game number four! That's right...ME! I won the biggest jackpot of the cruise! Unfortunately, someone else also called Bingo, so I only won half the pot. Luckily, half the pot equaled $622 and change! If I'd known I'd win bingo I would DEFINITELY bought some more knock-off purses! Here I am glowing from my Bingo blackout victory.



The next morning we de-boarded and flew back home. Everything went smoothly, and we were sad to leave. I was so tired I fell asleep on the plane while Pete read his book. Oh, and I also read some of the awesome book I purchased at Wal-Mart before the trip. It's called Highlander Rogue, and it's every bit as cheesy and hot as the title sounds. Plus, there's time travel! It was so bad it was good. Pete read over my shoulder a couple times and shook his head, but he can't talk. He was reading a classic called This Alien Shore.

Anyhoo, that was our vacation. It was wonderful, and I'm hoping to take another one soon. But first we get to pay off our credit cards. Yay!

Your promised awesomeness: