My two week vacation was planned before Jay was accepted to the CSP Academy. I assumed he would be home to take care of things. Fortunately, my friend Sue offered to provide home hospitality to Amber and Lacey. Hope they still remember me when I return. I left Colorado on Tuesday, 21st, and flew to New Orleans without any delays, problems or lost luggage. Upon connecting with Beth, we took a taxi to the hotel, checked in and walked down Bourbon Street for a short stroll, then went around Jackson Square. Bourbon Street was sparsely populated with tourists, but big on noise. The next morning, we took a walking tour of the Quarter sponsored by the Friends of the Cabildo, the state museum non-profit docents. After the tour, we hit the Gumbo Shop for lunch, a place we both remembered enjoying in our youth. We then walked to the ferry at the foot of Canal Street to catch a free ride to the West Bank, Algiers. Once there we took a free shuttle to Blaine Kern’s studios, where the majority of the Mardi Gras floats are built. We had an enjoyable tour and learned a lot about how the floats work, how the props are made, and more about Mardi Gras. By the time we finished the tour and returned via ferry to NO, Margaret and the girls arrived at the ferry landing to give us a ride to the hotel. After dinner, wonderful po-boys: roast beef, barbecued shrimp or alligator, we headed over to Cafe Du Monde for beignets and coffee. It started raining as we were watching the beignets being made through the observation window and stopped by the time we were ready to continue our stroll back to Bourbon St. We enjoyed the patio at the Hotel St. Marie for more conversation and pictures before heading to bed. Colleen was giving everyone instruction in the use of their digital cameras. She continued to be questioned for the remainder of the cruise, flash on or off?

Thursday we walked the French Quarter again and shopped for souvenirs, then joined the line parking at the cruise terminal. We boarded the MS Carnival Fantasy around 2:00 pm and settled into our rooms. The ship was supposed to leave the dock at 4 pm, but was delayed until 7 pm due to delay in getting their supplies restocked because of the rain. That seemed unusual for NO, since it rains there all the time. After meeting our waiters, Eduardo and Tommy, and enjoying the welcome aboard dinner in the Celebration dining room, we all trooped out to the front of the ship to stand in the wind and watch our progress down the river. We stayed out until we watched the oil refinery at Meraux, LA where we grew up pass by. The lights of the refineries were actually beautiful and reminded us of fairy castles or the land of Oz. We were surprised to learn how much the Mississippi River currents made the ship dip and sway.

Friday was an at sea day. We took advantage of the various entertainment opportunities on the ship: the spa, the sun deck, bingo, dance lessons, trivia quizzes, meals, etc. Colleen won a trivia quiz on Friday night, and earned the only 24 carat plastic ship on a stick of our group. Friday night was the formal night of the cruise and we all looked great, if I do say so myself. My pictures are on Picasa. However, I think I took the least number of pictures of everyone. We are supposed to share our pictures and I didn’t see the need to add one more camera to the 4 or 5 passed to unwitting guests or staff to take our pictures. But we made sure to offer to take pictures of other groups or couples so our Karma would work out right.

Saturday was the shore day in Cozumel. We split up into two groups. Kay, Beth, Margaret and I took the jeep ride to a snorkeling beach and Laura and Colleen went on a horseback ride. Margaret drove the standard jeep very well, and our jeep had AC. Yeah! It was Margaret’s first time to snorkle, but she took right to it and it won’t be her last. I enjoyed the hammock and the shade. Laura and Colleen had the opportunity to enjoy some excellent guacamole in a dock side restaurant before their excursion. Unfortunately, their horses didn’t like each other and wouldn’t ride together. But they said they had a good time. Amazingly we arrived back at the cruise terminal about the same time, picked up a few souvenirs and got back on board in time to clean up for dinner.

Sunday was another sea day. Starting to realize that we were on our way home and all the pampering would end soon, we again took advantage of the various venues on the ship, including watching the art auction. We stayed up until midnight talking, and only Margaret had packed her suitcase. She got to go to bed while the rest of us packed. Since she was the driver, we were all happy that she got extra sleep.

We were able to all debark the ship at the same time early. We didn’t know that if you had been in contact with farm animals or ranch land you had to have special attention at customs. Fortunately, it only took an extra ten minutes, and we were on our way. Margaret and the girls took Beth and I to the airport before continuing theirdriving tour of New Orleans and the homes we had grown up in. We got to drive through the Lakeview and Lakeshore neighborhoods and see the recovery efforts. There were still boarded up homes and homes under remodel and construction. Beth and I had time to visit at the airport and start working on the next girls’ trip, which we hope will include Maggie, Jane and Melanie next year. Everyone arrived home safely and agreed it was a successful trip. If other photos get posted on line, I’ll add a link here.

Now on to Texas!