This Ain't No Tex-Mex.

Open Seas. Fresh Air.  Mexico!

Mike and I had the opportunity to go on a Royal Caribbean cruise last week and needless to say, it was glorious.  The weather was perfect: sunny, in the 80s and breezy.  We visited Costa Maya and Cozumel and traveled almost 1300 nautical miles (I don't know how many regular miles that is but it sounds cool) on a giant ship.  The food was surprisingly delicious and the service was outstanding.  We felt totally renewed and rejuvenated by the end and were ready to come back home and snuggle with some kids.  Not quite ready to do real work, though : )  If you have a chance to take a cruise, do it!  

Here are some pictures from our vacation (which we have been looking at longingly):

This is the 11th deck where we headed to have lunch before departing from Tampa.  Up ahead is the red jogging path I ran on when we were in the middle of the ocean.  Yeah, I ran a mile in the middle of the Gulf.  Did that just blow your mind?

Here is the lookout tower I wanted to go up but could never find a stairway.  That was probably on purpose.  But below in the glassed-in area was a solarium, adults only, that was the essence of tranquility.  You could do laps or lounge in a saltwater pool by the giant elephant statues or relax in the hot tub.  The only thing I was left desiring was a live peacock walking around.  That would have been perfect.

This is at the front of the ship, on the helicopter pad.  It was very windy as soon as you got to the very front point where the ship was cutting through the water and air.  We hung out here as we left Tampa.

So long, Tampa!  You had the lamest Ramada ever.

Mike thinks this is a goofy picture of him but I like it.  

Here we are, on our way out of the port, an old U.S. Navy boat restored to the right.

And here is the window in our room.  

Look at our view!

This is our room.  It was small but very comfortable.  You could rent movies from your tv, for a small fee...$12.95!  

Here is the Radiance, our ship, docked in Costa Maya, Mexico.

There is an area in Costa Maya where you could swim with dolphins.  I didn't do that, but I sat on the wall and watched them swimming around.  This one watched me too, and as it swam by, it smacked its flipper on the water to splash me.  

There he is!

And then we went to Cozumel and did lots of shopping.

I loved the colors and patterns.  That's what I mostly took pictures of.

Look, even their tequila is stored in bottles with fancy designs.

A mariachi band played typical songs as we headed back to the port.

Isn't that beautiful?

I had never seen water this clear before.  We got to snorkel, as well, and saw lobsters, sea urchins, a mama sea cucumber with a baby attached to her, a sting ray and lots of fish!

I just liked this font.

Our room number.

I couldn't figure out how to vertically rotate this photo, but this is on deck 4 looking up to the top deck.  It was huge inside!

Here are the green-lit stairs.  I so wanted a gold sequined dress to walk up them.  

Everyday, someone mysteriously changed the day of the week on the floors of the elevators.  

This is looking down from the 11th deck.

These are the people we ate dinner with nightly, three of them from Boston.  And then there are our waiters who Mike and I miss.  They were so sweet and so good at their jobs!

And once back home, we gave Anna her present: a Mexican dress!  She calls it her Mexican Cinderella dress b/c she just read Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story.