We had a mind blowing pre-holiday meal at Cesarina. If you haven’t been there, put it on your to-do list. They greeted up with bubbly and warm bread. We dove into that while we waited for our crispy octopus with romesco, capers, red onions and almonds. For the main course, Pappardelle with marscapone and truffle sauce topped with guanciale. parm and cracked black pepper. You guys, it’s the best pasta dish in the universe.
The night before Easter Shawna and I stayed up making a scavenger hunt for the girls’ Easter baskets. How did it turn out? Let’s just say that they would most likely not make it out of an escape room on their own.
We also hid eggs for them to find. We hid them so well that we didn’t find two of them for weeks.
One day, you will find me on one of these beaches. I will be the one with the beach bar renting out water toys. Follow the music.
Not unlike St. Thomas, the Tortola port was also semi closed off and vans were the only taxi options. But, we didn’t venture out so please don’t take my word for it.
We went to Cane Garden Beach on the north side of Tortola.
It was everything I wanted it to be.
We found some chairs to keep, we pulled them into the lapping waves and just soaked up the sun.
There isn’t an exciting story about people we met or the amazing sea life we saw. It was just the best day on an amazing beach.
That is all we did. When the time came to leave I was heartbroken.
I vow to return to that beach.
This time our cruise entertainment wasn’t as exciting as the last one. Maybe because this cruise was packed. Either way, we stuck to drinks in the lounge and karaoke for our nightly entertainment.
Our plan for the day was to take a taxi to Magen’s Bay. Getting around from the port was super easy and reliable. The only downside was the taxis were vans and they waited until they had a car full of people before we left. Once we hit the roads, it made sense. It was a long winding drive but so beautiful.
Once we reached the beach we all piled out of the taxi and found someone to rent beach chairs from.
We had to pay for two lounge chairs, I think it was only 25 dollars. Once we settled in we made our way up to Fairchild’s Bar and Grill. It was crowded and lines were long. I guess that’s what we get for going to a popular place.
We don’t have many pictures of our time here and let me tell you why.
We were sitting next to a couple who was on another NCL cruise, the Outlaw Country cruise. {we will call them Carol and Bud.} I asked about their cruise and who was playing on board. I am a country music fan. I didn’t know anyone they mentioned. I guess “outlaw” means someting else. But now we were talking to them for our entire stay at the beach.
The time came for a drink refill so Carol and I went and stood in the long line for rum drinks. While we were waiting she told me that she had been in prison. “Oh, really? I asked. Then she said she’s been out for a few years. She is a whole new person. I mean obviously she is. So, I asked her what she was in for. You guys… She tells me this story. She was arrested in an Oklahoma casino. At the time, she had 40 packs of Sudafed stuffed inside her boots. She told the cops that she “had a cold”…Somehow she ran from them and was on the run for months. I am not kidding you. She told me how she would go to estate sales while evading law enforcement. She’d buy furniture without having a place to put it. Eventually she was caught after a shoot out and a car crash, I mean, of course. HAhahaaa…
She talked about how amazing prison was for her..blah blah blah. She said that she met the man she was now with (Bud ) while incarcerated, (that is another story) That makes sense right? Long story shorter, she got out early for good behavior and made her way to him. Now here they were.
We spent the afternoon drinking, swimming and chatting. They were fun, it was like watching a train wreck happen in real time. But as the day went on, their story changed. They spoke about being clean after their prison stints. They mentioned that they never wanted to end up in prison again. Her loose lips admitted that she keistered some Molley onto their cruise. She didn’t tell him because he has a guilty face.
Good times you guys, good times.
Before we new it, our alarm went off and it was time to head back to our ship.
We shared the taxi with them. These pictures should show you how we were SO glad that they weren’t on our cruise!
Once we poured out of the taxi , we said “Ok Bye” to our friends.
Then we had one more rum drink before getting on our ship.
After dinner we went to the lounge to watch Karaoke.
I took videos but I’ll spare you. It was basically the same people each night. We all sound good on vacation, right?
Back in January the best dad, my dad turned 80. He is a brilliant man. He is the rock of our family. He is the perfect example of what it means to be a husband and father.
We had a little surprise party for him with a few close friends and family.
What a life he’s had and continues to live. From a savage soccer player and coach to flying jet airliners. Having a cartoon strip in the newspaper and magazines. Traveling the world all while having art hanging in galleries. He’s checked off a lot of boxes in this thing called life. He is truly living his best.
My brother and sister in-law planned the entire thing and it was such a hit. Good food, good wine and great company.
Lake, village, cabins, horses, skiing. That’s what I think of when I think of Big Bear. Horseback riding on the Pacific Crest Trail, kayaking on the lake, wine tasting followed by karaoke in the village, or skiing in the winter.
My brother and sister in law have a cabin not far from all of the fun.
(Tomahawk Cabin is available for your perfect stay, if you want more info send me a message)
Once we arrived the girls took off running to the dogs and the hammock.
We had a few hours before our trail ride at Baldwin Lake Stables. The two of us have ridden with them plenty of times to know that this was a great place for the girls first trail ride.
However If I could change anything about that ride it would be all of the things. Certain things were a little messy and I don’t think the guides actually knew the horses well enough to determine which ones should have been behind each other and vice versa, especially given the young and novice riders. Yes, I am totally judging the guides on not knowing more than me, but it was fine. No one died.
All of the fears that the girls had at the start were non existent by the time we made our way back to the stables. It wasn’t two minutes in the car when they asked when we could go riding again, mom winning.
We spent the evening having the best family time.
The next morning was a lake day. Perfect weather and a few kayaks later we started the day.
The water was a little murky and I wouldn’t suggest ingesting it. We had a great time.
After a couple of hours on the lake we made our way back to the cabin just in time for the Italy/Swiss match. …..priorities.
After some soccer we headed to the village for doggie treats, ice cream, a little wine and people food.
The alarm went off at 7:00 and we were excited to get on with our day in Belize. We had ferry tickets to take us from Harvest Caye to Placencia so we could wander the narrow streets of the village, nibble our way through chocolate shops, eat fresh fish and sip rum punch while we sunbathed. Buuuut none of that happened because as we were getting ready the captain announced that the weather was too windy to dock and although he made several attempts he was unsuccessful. Day ruined, we were so disappointed. Instead we got a day at sea and since we now had a full 24 hours to reach our next port the captain took it really slow so we weren’t blown off the pool deck.
We saved a couple of pool chairs, had breakfast, made reservations for the Ice Bar and spent the day poolside.
We ran into a lady we met the first day at sea and she told us that the last time she took this cruise they didn’t stop in Belize due to weather. So if anyone has actually gotten off a Norwegian ship in Belize please tell me about it, I have questions.
Once we washed all of the sun cream and remnants of a day at sea off of us we made our way to the Martini bar where we could order a real espresso martini, not that fake shit. The martini bar is a nice place, they have a bar inside and outside with lounge seating in both areas. It would be a nice place to sit and watch the sun set, probably. This is wear we waited for our Ice Bar reservations. Oh the overated Ice Bar, exactly as it sounds is a small bar made of ice. The staff rolled out a cart of hanging ponchos which they gave us complimentary along with some gloves. These two things did nothing, the ice bar was well, fucking freezing.
The bartender was offering couple of different cocktails, we all got one free drink which was basically 2 oz. of said cocktail in an ice glass. I couldn’t handle it, we drank it and split. No thank you, the Ice Bar is not for me, not enjoyable what so ever.
Once we had feeling back in our limbs we went to the sushi restaurant for dinner and it was absolutely delish, one of the best meals on the ship.
And then, “no and then” it was music time.
Followed by some french fries and bedtime. Tomorrow we were hopefully going to be in Costa Maya.
The reason we chose this cruise was because of the itinerary. NOLA to Cozumel, Roatan, Belize and Costa Maya. I know right? NCL really does the have best deals, what they lack in certain areas they make up for on their price tag.
We woke up in Cozumel and as soon as we stepped off the ship we were in heaven. The weather was perfect, the water blue and before we knew it we were hopping in a taxi to go eat on the beach.
I read all about the all-inclusive beach clubs and we decided against it not wanting to commit to one place our first time there. However, looking back, I think that is a good way to go. There isn’t much to do in Cozumel unless you are doing a certain excursion or renting a car. So if eating, drinking and swimming is what you want to do, then head to Mr. Sancho’s or one of the other popular places.
We started at Albertos Beach bar and we had the place to ourselves. We ordered fresh caught seafood and margaritas and we were in a happy place.
When we were ready to mosey on, we had our waiter call us a taxi. We were on the southern part of the island so we decided to head closer to the port.
Money Bar beach club.
This place was very nice, reminiscent of Europe. Located on a reef, lounge chairs are above with stairs to take you down to the clear and warm water. And they made delicious espresso martinis.
When the time came to head back to the ship we made one last pit stop. Welcome to Miami is right across the street from the port. A small hole in the wall bar with a Captain Jack Sparrow character stumbling around out front which in itself was strange, but who am I to judge? We stopped in for one more drink.
Once we were back on the ship and clean, we went for dinner. Then, yep you guessed it, back to Syd’s Pour House. We took turns waiting in line and grabbing drinks at Malting’s whiskey bar which was located right outside Syd’s. After the show we wentto pool deck for an 80’s party.
This pool deck was supposed to be adults only but that rule was lenient. I also tend think all young people are 14 years old when they are in fact, legal drinking age and that saddens me. There were a lot of those around this cruise, dancing to music that came out before they were born, sigh.
We ended each night at O’sheehan’s bar and grill. A pub that’s open 24 hours a day and a perfect spot for late night snacks before bed. The pub also had two pool tables but those were being run by professional 14 year old billiard players, or so they thought.
They next day was Shawna’s 50th and we woke up in Roatan.
Woo you guys… we all got super sick around Christmas, it wasn’t fun.
We did manage to fit it some festivities closer to the new year.
Averi was (is) the only child that still believes, I will hold on to that for as long as I can. It’s like a toddler who wants to walk, just keep pushing them down, no need to speed up the growing.
We had our tree up all month, it really is a vibe…just makes the house happy.
You can see that we had the Era’s tour on in the background…not gonna lie, I’ve seen it three times.
Speaking of tours. I went to the SDFC Chrome ball tour supporters rally, so excited to have our own MLS team.
We had a small Christmas at ours with just the girls.
Then we spent a late Christmas in OC with the family. Good food, fun games, sunshine and the best people and doggies.
Photos have been piling up and I always have the best intentions of posting them, I don’t know where the time goes.
Heading back to the summer…
Belmont Park and SD Fair fun.
Summer night meals.
Roasted snapper.
And…
Esquites, which was so good I made it multiple times in a week.
I used a couple of recipes but mainly this one. I made it with fresh corn and the frozen roasted corn from Trader Joes and they both worked, but….the fresh corn was obviously superior.
Caramelized onion and blue cheese tart.
Fun day on the Island with Uncle C and Aunt A Frankie and Tony.
Averi, fabulous and nine years old. She had a mermaid theme birthday and chose McDonalds for her dinner choice..She hasn’t changed much in that department. She is, much like me, an emotional mess, I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets her Big Girl before her older sister. But she is smart, sassy, funny and outgoing, the world is hers!
The Art of Thyming 