Back from the Bahamas

As some of you may remember, my mom is having a big year.  She turned 50, earned her BA, and got a promotion at work.  Months ago, I planned a celebratory cruise for the two of us, and I just got home yesterday.

 I still feel like I'm on a boat.

What an amazing experience!  I've never cruised before, and it took me a day or two to get used to the extreme service and high levels of opulence, but Mom loved it: within two hours, she was talking about taking a cruise with my step-dad, and maybe the whole extended family.  This from the woman who'd never had a passport until this trip!  I was thrilled: that was part of my sneaky plan, to get her bit with the travel bug. 

We ate all day.  

We went to amazing performances (the ventriloquist was a huge hit, and the band and the comedian were both delightful, as well). We visited an art auction (mainly because they advertised free champagne), but Mom ended up winning a raffle and took home a beautiful piece of modern art.  We played Deal or No Deal, and somehow, I was pulled as one of the contestants.  That was...interesting.  People recognized me the rest of the trip: "weren't you on Deal or No Deal?"  I got my fifteen minutes of fame (and won enough to cover the price of the game card, at least!) We cackled hysterically over the towel critters our housekeeping staff kept leaving us.

 And that's just what we did on the boat!

First, we stopped at Freeport, on Grand Bahama Island.  This was my favorite part of the journey: we went out to Lucayan National Park and explored beautiful underwater caves before heading to the beach.  The bus then took us to a restaurant called Banana Bay, where we ate conch fritters while watching the aquamarine water.  It was blissful.  I've experienced the ocean from many locations, but I've never encountered water that felt like this.  It must have a massive salt content, because I felt as buoyant as a helium balloon.  But it wasn't just that: the water has a whole different personality of any body of water I've ever encountered.  I think it has now become my favorite body of water.

The second port was Nassau.  We took a glass bottom boat tour around the harbor, where we saw lots of coral, fish, and mansions of the rich and famous.  Nassau was also a great day for shopping, but we didn't wander far from the pier: the city has seen an increase in crime in recent years, including armed robberies of tourists, so we played it safe and didn't do much exploring.

We were supposed to go parasailing on Great Stirrup Cay, Norwegian's private island, but the weather had other ideas.  Once the rain cleared, we camped out on the beach sipping, what else, Bahama Mamas.  It was a nice, low-key end to the trip.

I've never had the chance to travel with just my mom, and I'm so thankful we had such an amazing experience on this trip!  It's good to be home, however, and I'm looking forward to getting back into my routine.

First step to finding my routine?  Writing!

What's the best trip you've taken with someone in your family?  Where do you dream about traveling to?