Honeymoon - Part One

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Sorry it took so long… but I’ve been busy catching up with work & even my social life. Believe it or not!!! I’m wanted and needed!!! Anyway, I know you all want to see some amazing pictures from our Honeymoon in New Orleans and Caribbean… back in August... so here we go…

 

Day 1 – August 19^th – New Orleans

 

We started off with a morning beer at Oakland Airport… because we’re classy…

 

Then we met up with my great friend Filly at the New Orleans Airport and she took us to our hotel to change into hot & humid attire since the temperature went up about 40 degrees since the start of the flight. After some sweet talking at the front desk & dropping the “honeymoon” a few times… Donte was about to hook us up with a corner room… on the 40^th floor…

 

After changing, we headed over to Frenchmen’s Street to have a wonderful dinner at Adolfo’s& meet some of Filly’s friends.

 

 

Check out this rack… of lamb…

 

That night, we also met up with Lone Cicerone & Big Ben who were in town on the last night of their 15^th anniversary, so we had some drinks at the Creole House nearby. They had a pickled vodka which was… interesting. Another great thing about New Orleans now… because Abita is the local brewery, they have Andygator Doppelbock on tap EVERYWHERE!!!

 

Day 2 – August 20^th – New Orleans

 

Unrelated to the drinks the day before (that’s my story & I’m sticking to it), I woke up pretty ill. I’ve basically decided that hard alcohol is not for me… and more importantly, my body agrees with me. Oh well, I just have to have beer & mixed drinks in moderation. Regardless, I was not doing well in the morning at all… but Izzy was amazing& got me food and fluids to regain my health by the evening… so we could watch “My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding” marathon & I think even some “Naked & Afraid XL” that night. What is it about those shows that are so mesmerizing?

 

We were also introduced to Smoothie King, which is amazing. We ate some muffaletta sandwiches, walked around the French Quarter a little bit, all that stuff once I could leave the safety of the bathroom. TMI?

 

Day 3 – August 21^st – Cruise Ship Day at Sea

 

Oddly enough, the majority of this day was just getting onto and acquainted with the Carnival Dream cruise ship. It’s pretty impressive… and we got some great pictures of the sunset cruising down the Mississippi River as we left for Caribbean…

 

Day 4 – August 22^nd – Day at Sea

 

This day at sea involved… a lot of relaxing. See, this was the first cruise where it was just me & Izzy… basically not a family of 8-25 to coordinate everything with, so that was INSANELY relaxing… so we enjoyed our towel animals, buckets of ice cold beer & made up stories with the pictures that lined the hallways…

 

That evening, another beautiful sunset with my beautiful lady…

 

Day 5 – August 23^rd – Day at Sea

 

Another wonderful, relaxing day… accented when Izzy got her 1^st Build-A-Bear… which was actually a Shark… and also a fantastic drinking vessel for them both to share…

  

Day 6 – August 24^th – Montego Bay, Jamaica

 

This was my first time going back to Jamaica since the weekend before 9/11 (never forget) and that was a wonderful time for somebody who was not quite 21 years old yet. This trip, Izzy & I decided to do a shore excursion through the cruise ship that sounded right up our alley. All you can eat Jamaican barbecue… all you can drink cocktails& craft beer (Red Stripe, but FRESH!!!) and basically a private beach where you and other cruise shippers can enjoy the crystal clear water & beautiful atmosphere… plus a Jamaican DJ pumping the hottest jams??? ABSOLUTELY!!! Did you know that fresh Red Stripe is actually pretty damn delicious? I know! I just found that out too! We actually did really good about not getting too sunburnt as well, thanks to sunblock & wise decision making, even while a little buzzed. Anyway here are some pictures…

 

More sunset back on the boat too…

 

Day 7 – August 25^th – Grand Cayman, British West Indies

 

Our next port was the island of Grand Cayman, which was absolutely gorgeous!!! I highly recommend it. We started with a snorkeling trip to the U.S.S. Kittiwake, which is a former Navy vessel that was purposely sunk when decommissioned to create a man-made reef for the local wildlife to take flight… and it sure did. Great numbers of beautiful fish, stingrays, all kinds of stuff to see. Unfortunately we haven’t developed the old-school film underwater cameras yet… but here are some pictures of the top of the water…

 

 

Unfortunately while snorkeling… I’m not sure what happened exactly, but I think I had a bit of a panic attack for some reason and just could not maintain my breathing and floating or whatever… it was really weird, because I’ve snorkeled before no problem and I really enjoy it. However, upon further review, the last time that I had done something like this was when I went scuba diving in Hawaii and nearly drowned towards the end… and I don’t know, maybe something from that came back. It was really weird… and rather than push it, I just decided to hang out on the boat with the guides (twenty-something British ex-Pats who live there now… and have the tribal tattoos that you expect them to have) and shooting the sh*t with them. Anyway, the next stop was Cheeseburger Reef, so named because it’s by the Burger King (no joke) and here are some pictures of Izzy enjoying the snorkeling…

 

We then had an amazing lunch with probably the most incredible Blackened Red Snapper that I’ve ever eaten… and we washed it down with some local Caybrew Lagers… but unfortunately I didn’t take a picture of it. Check Izzy’s Facebook though if you want to check it out.

 

Day 8 – August 26^th – Cozumel, Mexico

 

At the next port of call, we didn’t have an excursion planned… but Izzy caught the snorkeling bug… and I wasn’t going to deny her… and frankly, I wanted to get back out there & prove that I could snorkel and enjoy it… so we went to Stingray Beach and got to interact with some real life giant stingrays… and snorkel with them… and just have an absolutely amazing time… and it even rained towards the end. It was probably my favorite part of the cruise to be honest!!! Here are some of the pictures…

 

Day 9 – August 27^th – Day at Sea

 

We had also ordered a bottle of Appleton Rum to enjoy during our cruise… and this day at sea was really the day that we decided to finish off the bottle… responsibly… and still making fun of all of the pictures on the wall…

 

Day 10 – August 28^th – Back to New Orleans

 

The Carnival Dream was amazing… but there’s still plenty of trip left… but that’s for another entry… so until next time, have a great day everybody!!! Check out eilfm.podbean.com and the Everything I Learned From Movies Podcast is now on iTunes so it’s even easier!!!

Mayan Riviera Cruise - Part 2

Good Afternooon Ladies & Gentlemen,





The saga continues...





Day 6 - Isla Roatan, Honduras





This day started off with us landing on this beautiful island off the coast of Honduras... and then to a place where you Zipline through the jungle... which was pretty damn cool. Observe...








Afterwards, we were driven over to a beach to have some lunch, relax with a few beverages, get peddled to by little hustlers selling jewelry and my personal favorite... conch shells. Hell yeah, I bought one... and got it home in one piece too. It's f**king huge. After lunch, we swam in the warm ocean... and basically were figuring out how we could move here rather easily.





The story goes that a business man goes on vacation and starts up a conversation with the local selling stuff to tourists. "You've got a great little playground here." "Yeah, it's great. I work here on the beach all day selling these things my wife makes, get drinks for people, have a few for myself, swim a bit afterwards, head out on my boat, catch some fish for dinner, eat it under the stars, not a bad setup." "That's great man... but you've got some real potential here. These things could sell like hot cakes back in the States. You know if you worked hard, you could set up a business, get some serious money... and then retire." "Really? More money would be nice I guess... but what's retire? What does that mean?" "You know... retire. Not work anymore." "What would I do then?" "Well, you could retire to a place like this..." "I'm already here... and as you can tell, I don't see my work as work at all. I make enough to get by & get to enjoy the rest of my time doing what I want." Moral of the story: Don't believe the hype of the Machine!





That night, back on the boat, I finally got cornered and did some portraits with my mom & grandma. Here's one that I was able to get on my camera before the guy pitched a fit.





There was this comedian named Sam Grisebaum on the boat... he was okay. Go support him! After that, more hot tub, then bed.





Day 7 - Belize City, Belize





Well, I got to spend Cinco de Mayo in Central America... but it was Belize instead of Mexico, so no real celebrations other than Coronas at the hot tub that night. Belize was another place where we considered moving... or at least vacationing again. It's an English-speaking country with about 300,000 people, allegedly a female to male ratio of 6 to 1, beautiful scenery, fresh fruit, affordable cashew wine, full houses for about $10,000, great people and about the only drag I can think of is the occasional storms wiping your house away. So yeah... if I'm even missing from the United States, you may want to start looking there.

And yes... I know the recipe...

Oh, it's just my pet coatimundi...

Above ground graves... not unlike New Orleans

Our first stop was the ancient Mayan ruins of Altun Ha. Check it out!

My mom loves croc...

...and Chick 'n' Wing liked it so much...

she talked about putting the croc in her fanny...

pack

Next was Cave Tubing down a river where there are plenty of stalagmites & stalagtites... and a trusty guide to pull you through the shallow parts. In my opinion, not a bad job to have being a tour guide. Hang out with people all day showing off your country, if it's too hot, the water's right there to cool you off. I could deal with it. The only problem with this though... is I wasn't the one with a waterproof camera... and I've yet to get the copies... so pictures will have to be a future entry. Sorry.





Our tour guide was named Fabulous... and I highly recommend him. Once we got to the cave tubing, we met up with his friends the Rock & Cello. We got to chatting a lot and it amazed me how many obscure references we were right there on despite all the cultural differences. For example, the Wingmans have two large dogs that are the same breed as the big dog in the movie "The Sandlot" which is how Chick 'n' Wing described it. Their response: "Hercules? That's a BIG dog! You have two of them?" That's just one example... but good times.





Back on the boat, ate, drank, went to bed.





Day 8 - Cozumel / Playa del Carmen, Mexico





Our first stop in this port was the ancient Mayan ruins of Tulum located on a beautiful coast. Legend has it when the Spanish first started coming to town, this place was a thriving metropolis with about 30,000 people... but within a few years, completely uninhabited. Why? Disease? Genocide? Nope, what happened to most of the major cities of the Mayan empire that disappeared before the Spanish came to town. To make their cities, they had to destroy the surrounding environment... and with no environment, there's no food, no shelter from invaders, etc. There's a message in their somewhere... but I'm a simple man. Not a bad place to set up shop though, right?





That night, reality started creeping back into this wonderful trip. My grandma got an emergency phone call when we got back on the boat. Her son, my uncle had a brain tumor. Obviously that put a little bit of a downer on her trip... but hey, the important thing is that they found it & they're already looking into several treatment options. Just kind of threw everything back in perspective for a minute. It also meant that grandma was flying back to Utah almost as soon as we landed in New Orleans. Lame...





Day 9 - Day at Sea





This day at sea was pretty laid back, just enjoying a few of the ship's shows... including a VERY lame burlesque show. Sorry to spoil... but just saying... don't know what I was expecting... but it wasn't there.





Day 10 - New Orleans





The next day was Mother's Day and lucky me, I got to spend it with my mama. I also got spend it with some of my best friends. A few times throughout this trip... the Wingmans & Filly were all introducing me as their "best friend" and it hit on me a few times throughout this trip, that I am INCREDIBLY lucky that so many great people out there will truthfully refer to me as their best friend. The Wingmans, Filly, Bubbles, Isaiah, a few more out there, and every time they introduce me like that... it truly makes my day. I've been blessed.





Day 11 - New Orleans





This day was me hanging out with Filly for a bit, seeing her new apartment, trying to find a place to eat, then eventually going to a place in the French Quarter, checking out the French Market, a few local shops after meeting up with the Wingmans. All I really remember was that it was hella hot... and after a while I was done. Nap time... but not before food...





After the nap, we went out to Checkpoint Charlie's with Filly and met up with a few of her friends to sing karaoke. I also bought a painting from one of Filly's friends that I met when I was around for Halloween. It's fitting for me... but I don't have a picture of it yet though, so future post. Great night... and then we got back to the hotel around 4 AM.





Day 12 - Flying home





So yeah... I flew home the next day... and was feeling pretty sick for a few days when I got back. Maybe it was the airport, maybe it was the 90+ degree weather followed up with 50's in San Francisco, maybe it was just time for me to be sick, maybe stress of going back to work the next day, who knows? Since then it's been pretty busy... but I'll get you caught up. Hope you enjoyed the pictures half as much as I enjoyed the trip. Have a great evening everybody!!!

Who dat?