Second Cruise

When our first cruise was over, the kids headed home, so they could get back to school and work. And Cahl and I hopped on another ship for a second cruise! We Ubered down to the port in Miami, and boarded the Freedom of the Seas, for 6 more days of vacation. It felt a little weird being on a smaller ship for the first time in so long, but we had a great time wandering around and seeing everything. Our room was perfect, and in a great location, and we really enjoyed our time. 

Our first port was back in Nassau, and we loved walking over to the Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle. Sadly the fort was closed for construction, but we absolutely loved the staircase. The history is super cool, and the location is so awesome. It's like a hidden little jungle right in the middle of the city. After that, we walked back through town and saw the Gregory Arch and some other cool buildings, and did a little shopping. We even stopped at a place called Paradise Pedis, and got fish pedicures. The little Garra Rufa fish nibble on your feet and eat all the dead skin, and it tickles so much. It was an absolute blast, and we both loved it! I think we'll definitely do it again in the future! We also toured the Pirates of Nassau museum, which was designed really well and super informative and fun. 

Our second port this week was in Georgetown, Grand Cayman. We hadn't been to Grand Cayman since 2018, so we were super excited to be back. We booked an excursion that took us over to Pedro St. James, which is the oldest surviving stone structure in the Cayman Islands. It was built in 1780, and has been put to a variety of uses, including a cotton plantation, courthouse, jail, and Government Assembly. It is a beautiful house, with beautiful views of the ocean, and we really enjoyed our tour. Once the tour was over, we hopped back on the bus to head over to the Cayman Turtle Center. They have hundreds of sea turtles of all ages and sizes, and we were even able to snorkel with them! It was incredible to see the older females up close- they are HUGE!, and to pet some of the adolescents. It was also seriously so cool to swim with them!

Once our cruise was over, we had a few more days to spend in Florida, so our first top was the Coral Castle. We first visited the castle in 2012 for our 10th anniversary trip, and we decided to go back and check it out again. It is still so cool to see, although you can't touch or sit on any of the coral anymore. Then we headed south and drove down to Key West. We stopped along the way in Islamorada to feed some Tarpon, which was super cool. They are so big, and everyone on the dock got a good laugh at me when I screamed as the fish jumped out of the water to grab the little fish I was holding! We got the Key West in time to watch the sunset and walked over for dinner at El Siboney, our favorite little spot there. The following day we had breakfast at Blue Heaven, then headed over to tour Fort Zachary Taylor, a historic fort predating the Civil War, which is now a state park known for its massive Civil War armament collection. It was super cool to see all the old cannons and artillery, and read about the history of the fort. We also toured the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. We didn't really have super high hopes for this stop, but a few different people had recommended it, so we decided to give it a go. It was so worth it! They have hundreds of beautiful butterflies, and they  swarm all around you while you walk through. Several even landed on Cahl while we were walking though (people even stopped to take photos of him!), and 1 landed on me right before we were done! It was so much fun, and we loved it- especially the flamingos! That evening we stumbled across a family Christmas festival, so we stopped by and checked out all of the booths. Then we hung out on Duval Street and watched the local Christmas Bike Parade. Hundreds of locals decorated themselves and their bikes of every shape and size, and rode through town. It was so much fun, and we were so happy that we got to see it! The next day we headed back north to Miami, and flew home. It was a long time away, but it was so worth it to spend the time together and with our family!