Did anyone miss me? My family took a cruise on the Carnival Elation this week, going to Progreso and Cozumel, Mexico.
We boarded the ship Monday afternoon here in New Orleans.
The first thing that happened is that they kept us busy by feeding us. From there, we proceeded to our stateroom to unpack. Since we had kids with us, I attended the parent orientation to the children't activities and we all attended the safety drill. After supper we put my eight year old in Camp Carnival and we sat out on the deck watching as Plaquemines Parish rolled by. Plaquemines is the most downriver parish in Louisiana and my firm had a lot of Hurricane Katrina cases down there. However, I can count on one hand the number of times I've been very far south in the parish, and I haven't been past the northern-most city since Katrina, so I was interesting to see; but as you can see, it got dark and then about all you could see was lights.
Tuesday was a sea day and I spent a lot of it reading. A friend told us before we left that we had to try tea at 3:00 p.m. for the desserts and she was right!
Wednesday we were in Progreso. We took a tour to see some Mayan ruins and some other attractions.
Our first stop was to see flamingos in their natural habitat.
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| Our tour guide, Arturo |
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| At the top of the temple |
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| Ain't she cute? |
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| Exploring Xcambo |
From Xcambo, we headed to a local town where Arturo gave us a very brief rundown on the architecture. We drove to the church in the middle of town, saw some Mexican children dancing and then got to briefly tour the church. I'm sure glad I don't have to attend mass in a church with no air conditioning and wooden, unpadded kneelers.
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| The red coloring comes from red coral |
The next stop was the local cemetery. As we do here in New Orleans, they bury their dead above ground. We do it because of the water table (and French tradition). They do it because there is rock not far beneath the soil. Their cemeteries have a lot of personality, and our tour guide told us all about celebrating The Day of the Dead.
Our final stop of the day was at a beach resort where we had a buffet lunch and a chance to briefly swim if desired.
What fun! Looks like a good time was had by all.
ReplyDeleteI was gone too, but not so well fed.
Jim and I were off to Zion and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was, indeed, grand.
Welcome back!
We went to Zion on our honeymoon and are thinking of heading to the GC for our second honeymoon in a couple of years.
DeleteDid Jay stay home or did he just avoid the camera? At least I now know why you've been so quiet
ReplyDeleteHe chose to stay home. For the last two years he has asked to stay home. We asked him if there was anyplace we could go that he would want to go with us and he said no, so we lined up folks to check on him and we left him home.
DeleteLovely Cruise and I loved seeing Plaquemines Parish in your post! I grew up in South Louisiana and so reading your post has been a treat! The red coral altar is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI love that red!
DeleteAwesome pictures! I looks like you all had a good time. :) I love the picture of the altar of the Mexican Church.
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