Five days in Florida

After our western Caribbean cruise, we had another 5 days in Florida before flying home. We spent most of this time on the west coast of Florida, staying with Nathan's grandparents - Levi and Ruth - in a town called Venice (3 hours north-west of Miami). Venice's claim to fame is that it is the shark tooth capital of the world!

Ruth and Levi (many thanks!)

One day we drove half an hour north to the town of Sarasota, FL. We went shopping, ate cupcakes, admired the scenic beaches, and hunted down a Costco to buy some mangoes that we thought might be nearly as good as Australia's Bowen mangoes (they weren't though). Sarasota looked like a great town for a family vacation... lots of kid-friendly attractions and a laid-back beach vibe. We'll have to return someday!

The only photo we took in Sarasota was of this fantastic piece of work...

Another day, Finley and I went to the beach in Venice while Ben had his first experience with the American health system (don't worry, he's fine)...

The most interesting thing we did during our stay in Venice was go to the Myakka River State Park and take a narrated tour on the world's largest airboat to see some alligators. We saw lots! Did you know that you can tell how many feet long an alligator is by judging how many inches from its snout to its eyes?

Myakka River State Park

The airboat

Our tour guide and airboat captain

Gators!

Yikes

Keeping an eye on the tourists

The day before our flight back to Seattle, we drove back to Miami in our rental car and stayed overnight at the same motel we'd used before our cruise.

The next day, we passed the time before our flight by relaxing in a quiet park near the airport.

Then, it was two flights back to Seattle (again via Charlotte, NC), and a 3 hour drive back to Canada (via Trader Joe's and Wee Ones Reruns in Bellingham, of course).

In his own seat for the first time as the plane wasn't full

From my window seat, I saw another plane overtake us in the distance!

It was a fun and relaxing holiday!

Caribbean cruise, Post 6: Honduras (Anna)

While Ben was scuba diving (see his post here... and share some love in the comments if you want to encourage him to post more often!), Finley and I checked out the beach and tourist village at our port stop in Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan, Honduras.

Of the four ports of call on this cruise, Isla Roatan was by far the most picturesque. Like the other ports, it was very touristy, with an almost identical selection of jewellery, souvenir and t-shirt stores in the little village at the port. However, the water was a gorgeous blue-green, the sand was bright white, and the island's hills were covered with lush green vegetation. Rusty shipwrecks protruded from the bay's azure waters, and fluffy white clouds punctuated the blue sky. This was the only time on the cruise that we saw the tourist-brochure-esque Caribbean, and it was incredible!

This was the view from the buffet deck on the Conquest...

Here's the beach that Finley and I walked to after disembarking...

After checking out the beach, we had a look around the tourist village. We got our passports stamped by a tourism official, and chose a bongo drum to buy at the craft market.

Back on board the ship, we were reunited with Ben after his scuba diving excursion. We all stood at the buffet windows admiring the beautiful bay as we set sail from Isla Roatan, our fourth and final port of call.

The following day - a sea day - was our last full day on board the Conquest. On May 16th, we arrived back in Miami, refreshed from a relaxing 7 days at sea, and ready to enjoy our remaining 5 days in Florida.

To be continued...

Caribbean cruise, Post 5: Honduras (Ben)

For our stop at Isla Roatan, Honduras, we did the opposite to Cozumel: I got to go diving and Anna looked after Finley. However, as my dives were booked through Carnival's Shore Excursions (first time ever for us - but the price difference was negligible, so why not?!), Anna and Finley were not able to accompany me on the trip. So, while they slept in and had a leisurely breakfast, I dashed around then headed ashore for my designated 9am meet-up in the sparkly new "tourist village" at the port.

After signing my life away on the usual forms, and waiting for the stragglers to arrive, we all piled into a mini-bus to travel across the island to our dive resort. It was worth the wait! The resort looked awesome - gorgeous views, stunning water, and the option of staying in cute little bungalows right on the water. I would definitely be up for a vacation there! And all this was before I went diving.

Very helpful and professional crew sorted us out for gear. I just had a few pieces of my own stuff, and as is not uncommon, especially in marine parks, I wasn't allowed to wear my gloves. Because I wasn't with my usual buddy, I was paired up with a middle-aged gent from the States, who turned out to be a pretty good buddy (though not as pretty as my usual good buddy :)).

The dive boat

My temporary dive buddy

Our first dive was a reef dive at Overheat Reef. A very nice reef, with great visibility and lots of life. We saw grouper, lots of parrot fish, including the biggest I've ever seen, eels, crustaceans, and TURTLES!!!

Turtle...

Turtle, turtle...

Turtle, turtle, turtle...!

Our second dive started at a wreck, which was surrounded by multitudes of huge groupers - literally dozens, many of which were over 4 feet long. Visibility was once again fantastic, and though there was less life (other than the groupers), the wall and coral formations were pretty cool.

The wreck

Lots of groupers...

Really big grouper...

Really close grouper...

Some kind of crustacean

Still lots of groupers

Me

Anthony's Key Resort

After coming up, we headed back to the resort and cleaned up. Then we piled back in the bus and headed back to the ship. It was a great day, and the water was fantastic - Isla Roatan is definitely added to my "to go back to" list.

Caribbean cruise, Post 4: Belize

Thursday's port stop in the small country of Belize was another one where we didn't do much except wander around, and we don't have many photos to show for it!

There was a serious tourism zone in Belize - the port area was fenced off and had security personnel posted at the exit. They didn't stop us as we did our usual beeline out of there though... it seemed that the purpose of the tourist zone was more to keep locals out than to keep tourists in!

Outside the touristy complex of generic souvenir, jewellery and t-shirt outlets, there were locals manning makeshift stalls along the streets near the port, selling souvenirs, offering to braid hair, etc. One man followed us for a while, trying to sell us hip hop CDs and then circular Belizean number plates.

There was a school where all the children playing in the yard were wearing school uniforms (a sight that stands out to us now, as it's not the norm in Canada). There were horses and carts taking cruise ship passengers on tours of the area. Mostly, I remember it being very hot, and fairly run down in the residential streets.

We stopped for a cool drink and dessert at a restaurant, and then headed back to the port to line up for a tender to take us back to the ship. I don't feel like I learnt much about Belize!

To be continued...