and then i drank out of a pineapple

got back a couple of days ago from the glorious cruise on which i spent my week. it was one of the most relaxing, fantastic, peaceful vacations i have ever been on. if i had any doubts about the joy of cruising before this past week, they vanished the first night at sea as i sat out on our private balcony, stretched out on a chaise lounge chair, sipping a cocktail while the warm wind blew through my hair and i gazed up at the clear night sky, wishing on stars. it was perfection.

we did all things cruisy - enjoyed a complimentary bottle of champagne upon arrival (we were in the grand suite, after all!), smuggled in our own liquor and had cocktails on the balcony, enjoyed the buffets, ice cream by the pool and room service whenever the slightest pang of hunger hit, had the drink of the day every day - and yes, one day it did actually come in a pineapple, floated on rafts in the clear ocean water off the shore of coco cay, played euchre in our stateroom, went to the theater and laughed at the cheesy shows offered nightly, got dressed up for dinner in the main dining room and then went for martinis in the lounge on the top deck of the ship, wandered around nassau and key west, saw ernest hemmingway's house and posed for pictures at the southernmost point of the continental united states, carried margaritas down the street in to-go cups, and spent our extra time on the top balcony of the ship falling asleep to our ipods while the sun tanned our white midwestern skin.

the biggest decisions i had to make on this trip were the following:

- margarita or mojito?

- spf 15 or spf 8?

- float in the ocean or lay on a chaise in the sand?

- is our towel animal (made for us nightly by our fabulous stateroom attendant bob) a fox or a dog?

- turkey sandwich or a veggie panini from room service at 12 am?

- listen to my ipod or read my book while laying out?

- from which deck should i watch the sunset?

- do we stop at the bar on the way to hemmingway's house or on the way back? or both?!

- play euchre or sit out on the balcony?

ahhh. to have those be the most important decisions i have to make on a daily basis would be heaven. we were so sad to leave on friday that we did actually call the cruise line and see if there were still rooms available on the 3 day cruise that was leaving miami the day we returned. alas, they were booked solid so we came back to the cold midwest, donned our sweatshirts and tucked into october weather in chicago.

some pics from the sea....

our boat - majesty of the sea

adam, amanda and gary in nassau

key west

sunset at key west

towel puppy - courtesy of bob