Flashback Friday: Thanksgiving Cruise (Cozumel and At Sea)

If you are at all interested in checking out the first half of our Thanksgiving Cruise, you can here.

On Saturday, November 24th, we woke up and were just off the coast of Cozumel. Well, almost.....

Around noon, we got there. Before that, we all met for breakfast and then got ready for our day. Megan and I made it to the gym, again, before getting ready.

Trevor and the younger Megan were THRILLED, because their 19 year old selves could legally drink while watching the Florida/Florida State game at Senor Frogs...........

Yeah, you read that right. We are in another country and the four people above were most concerned with heading to a bar and watching football. Both Megan and Bryan were excited to have one another. See, we are a Gator family and they are the lone Noles. They revel in their own camaraderie.

Uncle Bobby rented a scooter and went on his own to explore.

Mom, Megan, and I had booked an excursion........

Salsa and Salsa!!!!

Let me tell you.... If you ever go to Cozumel, I *HIGHLY* recommend this excursion. SO. MUCH. FUN!!!! I will warn you, the frozen margaritas are endless. I very quickly forgot how many times they refilled it. The salsa was delicious, too, lol. I'll let the majority of the pictures tell the story....

After you make salsa, they teach you to Salsa dance. Both Megan and I danced from the time we were three, so it was a cinch. Our *ahem* slightly tipsy selves got tired of being taught something we already know, so we started improvise our routine.

We won "Most Fun."

Once our excursion was over, we headed back to the port area to wander around. We got caught up with a Mariachi Band!

While we were waiting for the game to be over and meet back up with everyone, we decided it would be fun to take as many ridiculous pictures as we could......

Eventually, the Gators won (can I get an Amen?) and we joined the rest of the group. My BIL Bryan got GREAT amusement out of the fact that I was dancing all over the place. For whatever reason, he'd never seen me so dance-y and carefree.

Some decided to stay in port and drink. I knew I'd reached my limit and needed food, so the rest of us went back to the ship to eat dinner and hang out before calling it a night.

The next day was At Sea. We spent most of the day chilling on the Lido Deck. We claimed a corner of tables and would take turns going to the Hot Tub, going to the Buffet, and watching our stuff. At one point in the afternoon, the guys split to go do something and Megan/I went to the gym. We caught a game of Bingo, walked around, read a little, and then got ready for our last dinner on the ship.

The whole crew at dinner......

Each night, the liquor guys would try to talk us into the specialty shot of the night. We declined until the last night when they got us with a really yummy sounding one.

Mom's first shot, ever............ Sadly, all four of her children preceded her in this milestone.....

My baby brother and I

After dinner, we all finished packing and then found another place to hang out. Trevor and I walked around a bit, once everyone else headed to bed. Sadly, our trip was coming to an end. We gathered for one last dining room meal for breakfast the next morning, got off the ship, and took the 4 hour drive back home.

Flashback Friday: Thanksgiving Cruise (Day 1 and KW)

Happy Friday!

So, as I'm typing this, I am broadcasting from Universal and I get a text from my uncle. He lives in Arizona and is scheduled to come down for a visit next Weds. Well, he sends a pic of his phone and the menu of a local eatery that we all love.... "Lunch is on me!"

I called Heidi to see if he's actually there and she had called the place to see if he actually was, lol! He is, in fact, in town a full four days early! Never, ever have I been so sad to be broadcasting from a theme park.

Anyway, I'm going to try to catch up on some drafted posts using my new "Flashback Friday." I have a lot of posts from the holidays and earlier this year that I've never finished, so here's hoping I can manage one post a week!

Let's start with Thanksgiving 2012, shall we?

On Thanksgiving morning (November 22), piled into three different cars to make the drive to Miami for our cruise. Mom, Jeff, Linda (family friend), and Joanie (Linda's friend) in one. Trevor, Uncle Bobby, and Bryan in a second. Megan, Megan, and I in the third.

It's a 4 hour drive to Miami. Not a problem. However, it *is* a problem when that 4 hours is mainly a two lane highway on Thanksgiving morning.

Tip #1 - If you are making a long drive on a holiday, pack a snack. It took us an hour to find a McDonald's that was open.

Our view for the better part of four hours....

Sister car.....

We finally made it to Port of Miami! Then, the fun *really* started. Getting so many people's allowed bottles of wine, water, and soda onto the ship turned out to be not so fun.

Uncle Bobby didn't wait for that mess and got right on the ship.

Tip #2 - Don't put ALL the water and wine in one vehicle, no matter what your mother says. You and your two sisters will end up trying to figure out how to get all of that onto the ship.

A full HOUR AND A HALF LATER, we were able to get this picture........

My brother is grabbing my butt which is why I'm positioned so weird.

By the time we got on the boat, Uncle Bobby had been on there for almost two hours and had the whole place scoped out. We got settled, walked around, and generally started our official vacation!

Dinner time eventually came around and our large party had its own table.

Tip #3 - YES, you can order whatever you want off the menu. My brother thought we were lying, at first, and was scared to order more than one entree, lol.

Tip #4 - DO NOT ORDER THE TURKEY. Regardless of the fact that it's Thanksgiving, just do not do it. Not worth it.

After dinner, Uncle Bobby, the two Megans, and I all changed and then met back up for the comedy show.

Uncle Bobby and his girls.....

The next morning, we arrived in Key West!! The weather was awesome and it was a perfect day to just walk around. We didn't bother with booking an excursion.

Trevor, Bryan, Megan, Megan, Me (and Jeff photo-bombing)....

I seriously love Key West. It's so fun and quaint-feeling.

So, we found this. A Tervis store. Not only are Tervis cups generally the best drink-ware in the world, but it was Black Friday. Challenge accepted. They had a great sale, free shipping, and the biggest selection of awesome cups I'd ever seen.

I never get tired of the crazy amount of chickens walking around....

Last time I was in Key West, I didn't get to get this picture, so I was pretty excited.....

Trevor desperately wanted to ride a scooter around the island, so Mom rented him one and then rented a supersized golf cart for everyone else. I took my life in my own hands and joined him.....

Megan took the second half of the trip......

Bryan and I decided to walk back to Sloppy Joe's and Megan had Trevor drop her off, so we could indulge in some fun adult beverages......

I think the name of this yumminess was 'Pain in the .....'

Alas, it was eventually time for us to get back on our ride....

Megan and I actually made it to the gym (go us!). We then hung around until it was time to get ready for Fancy Night on the Ship!

We all clean up pretty well, I think!......

Trevor and Uncle Bobby didn't feel like dressing up, so we changed and met them on the deck after dinner. They were playing 'The Wedding Planner' on the big pool deck screen, which was pretty cool!

After a fun-filled day, we all called it a night to get ready for a day in Mexico.......