,,: Let's go CRUISIN' baby!

For about a year Walter and I had talked about taking a vacation sans the kids. We wanted to have some time to ourselves for a week with no children, dogs, cats, fish, cell phones, laptops or anything else that distracts us from our focus on each other and our marriage. After all, aside from God, your spouse comes before all others. With all the traveling Walter does for work we don't get to focus on ourselves very often. We thought it would be fun to travel with "The Other Johnson's" Lee & Theresa. After doing some brain-storming we came up with a few options. I believe some of our choices were the mountains, New York or Las Vegas. Our first choice was Las Vegas mainly because both Theresa and I have never been. We did our research and found that Vegas was not affordable so we opted for a cruise. I have been on a cruise before so I was able to give some insight on this sort of traveling experience. We decided to cruise with Carnival and head to The Cayman Island and Cozumel, Mexico. Our vacation was planned for late October which seemed to work with everyone's schedules so we booked our cruise and let the countdown to vacation begin. Since we booked our cruise SEVEN whole months prior we had great anticipation and excitement building up for a LONG TIME. Finally October came and it seemed as though we were counting down the minutes until we packed our sun block and sandals and headed to Tampa! We were set to port out of Tampa on a Saturday so the day before we dropped the kids off at the grandparents and drove down to Tampa that night. It was sooooooooooo nice to have my husband all to myself for the next 6 days. Friday afternoon we arrived and checked into our Mack daddy hotel, The Marriott, freshened up and headed out for a night out on the town. We rode a trolley from our hotel to Ybor City for some sightseeing and dining. It was REALLY nice. Not only did we have a date night but we both were a little giddy about our leaving for our cruise the next day. Here are a few snapshots we took while in Tampa.

The next morning we got up, ate breakfast and headed to the port to hang out before getting on this HUGE ship. We drove around a while and took in the sites of the cool city. When we came to the port this is what we saw... our home away from home for the next 5 days. Carnival Inspiration.

Our trip was so much fun. For the next five days we relaxed, enjoyed ourselves tremendously and enjoyed each other. There are so many details of the cruise that I don't think I could pack it all into a blog so here is a quick recap of our fun and exciting adventure on our Carnival Cruise:

Meeting two couples from my hometown of Columbus, GA (how ironic is that!)
Playing miniature golf in the sun while sipping on a fruity beverage
Visiting the Cayman Islands and napping on Sea Grape beach
Having steak, lobster and other foods I cannot pronounce for dinner each night
Winning $600 playing Bingo (SUUUUUWEEEETTTTTTTTT!!!!)
Taking a private catamaran out to the ocean with all the beverages you can hold, while soaking up the sun
Doing the electric slide with 40 other strangers while having the BEST TIME EVER..while sipping on a fruity beverage
Overcoming my fear and snorkeling in the ocean with my honey by my side
Enjoying an exclusive private beach complete with kayacks, floats, bouncy slides, hammocks, and beds on the beach.... while sipping on an fruity beverage
Laying on the ship deck catching some warm rays...while sipping on a fruity beverage
Shopping in Cozumel and planning your retirement on a private beach
Free liqueur tasting (not a liquor drinker but the coffee liquore was pretty tasty)
Enjoying adult-only conversation while enjoying live music
Sitting with my honey, eating our breakfast and enjoying all of God's immense creation