Float-A-Palooza 2013 Recap! Part 3

Hi Everyone! Hope everyone had a great weekend. My St. Patty's Day weekend turn out more eventful then planned. We had friends over last night for a last minute gathering. I almost always prefer to having friends come over compared to going out because it cheaper, more relaxed, and no driving home!

Now back to our regularly schedule post... Check out Part 1 or 2 if you missed them.

When we last left off, we were on our way to Coco Cay! If anyone has ever been to Coco Cay, you know it's a private island own by Royal Caribbean. So all and all it's just a preplanned day at beach. What's a vacation without a day at the beach.

However, before we could get on the beach, we had to to get to the beach. Being that it's only a small island, you have to take a small boat from the ship to get on the island.

The boat ride to the island wasn't bad. (But coming back was a different story- Big Ocean Waves + Little Boat = Wild Ride)

It was in the low 80's that day. We did little bit of hanging out in the water, but for the most part this is what we did for the majority of the day...

I know that tanning isn't great for anyone, but it felt so nice to have that sunny beating on your face. And in retrospect we really should have enjoyed it because at home they got 8 inches of snow dumped on them. That is why I believe a vacation in the winter is a great idea.

After we got back on the boat, it was "Formal Night". If you never been on a cruise, on "Formal Night" everyone gets dressed up for dinner. We had a great looking group if I do say so myself. 

While we enjoyed our dinner, we were sailing towards our next and final stop- Key West! You know what they say, "save the best for last" and we totally did!

Float-A-Palooza 2013 Recap! Part 2

I hope everyone is having a great St. Patty's Day weekend! No big plans (yet- we'll see what today brings) in this Irish girl's life. Maybe just some corned beef tomorrow, that's about it.

I can't believe that's it's been over a week since we got off the boat, but we still have some recapping to do. If you missed Part1- check it out here! So when we left off, the boat was sailing out to sea for our big adventure.

 

One of the things I really like about this cruise is that it made a stop everyday of the trip. Being that it was a smaller boat then last years, it was nice to be able to get off and explore everyday. Our first stop- Nassau, Bahamas!

Sam had done some research before we went on the trip and he found a place he wanted to check out call the "Queen's Staircase". If you are going to visit Nassau, I would highly recommend checking this place out. It was pretty cool. Here is a link to some information about it.

Not only do you get to see the stairs (which some how we didn't get a picture of) but there is this cool man-made waterfall. Additionally, we were lucky to be stop by Tony, a park worker, who gave a us a get history of Nassau and the "Queen's Staircase". He was super funny and spent about hour talking with us.

Tony, the boys, and the "Bahamas Mama's"!

 

Just a few steps away from the "Queen's Staircase" was the water tower and Fort Fincastle. To visit the fort it cost a whole whopping $1. It wasn't a big place, but for a dollar it was worth it.

The fort sits at the highest point of the island, so we got a pretty cool view and a great place to take pictures. 

 

We could even see the boats from there. After the visit to the fort we walked around... we walked a lot... I mean A LOT! I don't think it would have been so bad if I was wearing my own sandals, but a good friend takes one for the team. After a long fun day, it was time to get back on the boat.

Our next stop... to the beach at Coco Cay!

Float-A-Palooza 2013 Recap! Part 1

So now that I back into the swing of things at home, it is time to finally get around to writing my vacation recap posts! I tried out the Blogger App while on my vacation, that's why you got two short posts last week; however I have to say it's a lot easier to write on post on a good old computer. Smartphones are nice but can't don't something as well as computers (well not yet at least).

Our vacation started off with a 24 hour straight road trip down to Ft. Lauderdale. I've never done a long ride like before and I don't plan on doing it again anytime soon. It wasn't so bad because we had 6 drivers so we could keep switching off, but it still was rough. However, we rode in style...

That's one sexy set of wheels right?

After relaxing at the hotel for a bit we went out for dinner. I thought it would have been fun to go to the same place we went last year but no one could remember of the name of it, so we found a new place to try.

The food was pretty good, but our server wasn't. He just totally didn't care and you could tell he didn't want to be there. I order the burger and I thought was an interesting touch...

After dinner we were pretty lame and went to bed early because we all were still very tried from that long ride.

Come Monday morning we got up, ate breakfast, and hit the road again to get on the boat. Once on the boat the first order of business...

Somehow I was talked into drinking Long Island Ice Teas. Let me tell you that only lasted one day. The bartenders on the boat were very heavy handed, so no matter what type of drink you got, it was pretty much straight booze.

 Do you like the shirts? Jen was sweet enough to have her sister make us all shirts to wear!

I think one of my favorite parts of the cruise is the take off. This year we left from the port of Miami and you get a great view of the city as you sail away.

Another Float-A-Palooza was under way! We were off to our first stop- Nassau, Bahamas!

Good Bye Miami

So we are hitting the road again and heading home. The boat got into port at 7:30am this morning and it's a prefect day out. To bad we are heading home where it's only going to be in the 40's on the best days next week. I'll be sure to write a full recap post once I have access to my computer again. Have a great weekend!

Float-a-Palooza 2013 Begins!

Hey everyone! Just wanted to put up a quick post before the ship sets sail. Now we have made it on the boat and we'll set sail in just a few minutes. We have a good group of people with us and I hope to even have better time. See you in a few days!

What type of packer are you?

So there are three different types of people when it comes to packing for a trip.

1. Over packers. You know those people, the ones who pack everything in sight because they can think of some crazy reason why they may need it.
2. Strategic packers. These are the people who make lists and check (and double check) that they have everything there and accounted for before they put their things into a suitcase.
3. Under packers. Those are the people who just bring what they need and hope for the best.

I'm an under packer. So here my bag for the week.

I pretty sure I got all the important things I need, but I'm really not too worried that I forgot something. Also there are something I just didn't worry about packing. For examples night shirts to sleep in. Normally I just sleep in Sam's previously worn shirts, so he'll be there wearing t-shirts so there was no need to pack those. Maybe it's just me, but I like sleeping in shirts that smell like my man.

This morning I hit the store for one more important thing I needed for my trip...

That's right. I'm that girl. I didn't get it at midnight, but it was important to pick it up and download it to my phone before I left. I'm excited! The sad thing is that this will only take up 1/12 of the car ride.

Well the bag is packed, the movie is downloaded, and it's time to hit the road!

Too Cool for School

Happy Friday Everyone! And Happy Vacation to me! (and all my other friends going on our trip!) So I was too cool for school so I left work early. I got everything done that I needed to so I booked it out of there. Peace out people! See you in 10 days! But it was a good thing I left early because I had 4 loads of laundry waiting for me at home to fold...

Things you got to get done before you leave for a week. But at these I got to enjoy this while folded.

 

In other important road trip preparations, we had to go food shopping! Road trip staples... water, pop, chips, cookies, candy, Lunchables... you know hitting all the important food groups.

We still need to packs your bags, but I'm not too worried about it. I'm a little worried about leaving the fur baby. I know that the kitty is going to miss his daddy. Did you know cats can hug?

Aren't they cute? Shamrock will just have to make new friends with his uncle Joe because he'll be his babysitter for the week. Well, I better get to packing!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!