Nassau and Paradise Island

We were able to get off the boat again on Day 3. this was our long day on shore, we pulled in about 9 am and were going to be "parked" until 11pm. So, we had plenty of time to get some sightseeing in.

There were no scheduled excursions for us, our plan was to "wing" it. We set out to head to Nassau just to see what we could find.

We found "Captain Kirk" who promised to show us some good spots in the city and to take us over to Paradise Island to see the Atlantis.

Our first stop along the way was "Tasty Teas" where we were met by Sasha, she is 86 years old and it was her birthday that day. She told us all about the teas they sold there and their medicinal properties. We bought some, we figured if she looked this good at 86, we needed her secret.

Our next stop was a beach. It was pretty empty and this is where I drew a line in the sand. I have wanted to do that for a long time and finally had my opportunity. I even took a picture to prove I could do it.

My line in the sand

Moving on, we stopped at John Watlings Distillery. Our tour guide here was a young man, pretty sure he was less than 86. Probably 84. He said we could ask questions along the way and if he knew the answer he would tell us and if he didn't, he would make something up. That led to much skepticism about anything he told us. However, he did tell us that there was usually one cell phone a day that ended up in the well. This was a small operation but they offered a chance to purchase rum at the end of the tour.

Next stop was a t-shirt company. It was a store, not a market type shopping experience. There were some very nice ladies who worked here and we purchased a few things.

Along the route, Captain Kirk pointed out places of interest in Nassau. He had told us up front the tour was about 2 hours, so we went pretty quickly. He took us to areas of the city where the rich lived and to the poorer areas (probably never the poorest) and the in-between. There were two hospitals there in the city. One was a public hospital where you would wait to be seen for not less than 12 hours, unless it was an emergency. The other hospital, which took payment of either cash or insurance offered much quicker services.

The Bahama Parliment

He then took us up to Fort Fincastle and the Watertower. We just walked around the area. The fort was built to look like a ship. Near there was the Queen's Staircase. The history there was interesting. Slaves started building or digging the stairway and during the process the queen abolished slavery. The freed slaves returned to complete the job which ended up being 65 steps. When the queen died, her reign had been 64 years so the city paved over one of the step so that it matched the number of years of the reign of the queen. And that, is how I heard the story. If you look it up online, it may vary a bit.

Fort Fincastle

From there, we headed over to Paradise Island which is where the famous Atlantis is. We spent about a half an hour in the hotel, long enough to go to the "restroom" and the casino and then walk around the outside back to the vehicle. Certainly saw how the other half lives. We crossed the "Sidney Poirtier" Bridge. He is of Bahamian descent (who knew?).

Captain Kirk returned us to the port and we headed back to the ship.

This was the night we would see Plumb and Danny Gokey in concert. Kathy and I got in line while Renee and Leila went to dinner. I wanted front row seats and so we started waiting way sooner than we could if we did dinner. Here are some shots of the concert, I can't bring the sound from the concert to you, but it was pretty awesome.

There was a paint session by Jared and then a concert on the pool deck that night. I will tell about those events on my next installment. You are probably tired of reading this by now anyway!!

Well, We Got On the Ship!

When you and 3000 of your closest (or soon to be) friends board a ship at the same time, there is sure to be chaos and confusion. Why oh why did revolving doors cause such a disruption in a normal life? Well, for one, if the door is stopped due to there being so many people crammed in it, that can cause an issue. Or, better yet, if you have no idea it is a revolving door and you think it is a ride, like an elevator. The door was stopped when I approached it, the floor where the door was was different than the rest of the floor, the section of the door that was going out to the pool area was crammed full of people and someone said, "Wait, let more people get in before you go." So, thinking it was a ride of some sort, we crammed more people in. Finally, the door began to turn and when we arrived pool side, it was a huge epiphany, "Oh, that is a revolving door, as in, an everyday normal, run of the mill, revolving door...nothing too complicated!" It took a really long time on the ship for that to become normal.

(I tried to put a video in, but it won't let me...sorry)



I know my last installment was about getting on the ship. I cannot remember what we did after we finally found Leila.

Leila had found a seat at the Jordan Feliz and Zach Williams concert. She was fine, we knew she would be but we worried about her anyway. Funny thing, we told Plumb (Tiffany) that we were sisters and there were four of us, but we had lost two.

She sadly said, "Oh, I'm so sorry." But we explained, just lost them on the ship, not lost them to death. It was a pretty funny moment. Be careful when you tell someone you lost someone else, they may misunderstand.

Speaking of losing, I have not yet found the $5 I was promised at the start of the cruise. I am wondering if Larry will ever get change.


I cannot remember if we heard a concert on the pool deck that night. We may have, but I cannot recall who it was.

So, let's say, Day 2!

We got up and went to breakfast. This was the day we could get off the ship and head to Freeport. We had not scheduled any excursions and just decided to go to the market right at the port and see what was happening there. We thought about venturing into the city but never really made it that far.

 We bought a few items and Renee and I got a braid. Kathy and I got a can of pop (as we call it here in the midwest) from a street vendor. He was hilarious. The pop was free, the price of the straw was $1. Somehow, he made $1 whether you wanted the straw or not. He had a line though and it made us laugh, "Don't let dehydration ruin your vacation!" His pop was cold and he had Dr. Pepper. It was sugar sweetened and I couldn't drink the whole can because of how sweet it was. But, I was not about to get dehydrated!!

Getting on the Ship

So, getting on the ship ended up being about one of the funniest events of the whole vacation. One thing about cruises, you can be on a ship with 3000 or so other people and either never see someone more than once, or you see the same people over and over again. You have to make friends in the line going in so that you have someone familiar when you are on day three or four!


I didn't know this rule at the start of the trip, I kind of just made it up because of what we experienced during the coarse of the cruise.


When you start in line to get on the ship, it all begins with many many lines of people in a serpentine that seems to go on forever. This line is just to wait to go through the checkpoint for security. When we finally got to the x-ray machine and metal detector, we had to wait for Leila to get through due to her pacemaker. We waited several minutes for that before proceeding to the next serpentine line to wait to check in with the cruise line. When I stepped back into that line, I noticed the same couple was right in front of me who had been right in front of me before. I thought we had taken a long time with Leila. I commented to them that is was like a person who speeds to get to the red light at the same time as you. We chuckled and then began introducing ourselves to each other and sharing where we were from, etc. As we talked and walked through the serpentine line, all of the sudden we were in front of them. Larry asked me how we got in front of them. Kathy told him that I was sneaky and I just befriended people to get ahead of them in line.
 Larry said, "See that guy up there?" as he pointed to the third person from the front of the line. "I'; give you $5 if you can get in front of him." Game on!!!




I bent over and climbed under the straps dividing the lines and popped up in front of another couple. They didn't see where I had come from and I just started chatting, introduced myself, asked where they were from, etc. I kind of looked back to see what the "group" thought of my antics. They were all laughing hysterically. I then kindly explained that I had butt in line on a dare and that I was really with that group of laughing people.


They seemed unimpressed with the whole event and then when we got just up to the opening to be called to the window, the man (and I never got his name) said to the security person, "Ma'am, this woman butt in the line!" as he pointed to me.




The woman looked at me sternly and said, "You, go stand in that corner!" We all got a good laugh at that. Larry never came through with the $5, well, actually, he did. I'll explain that later in the story.


We got on board. We found some food. We sat by the pool and just started enjoying the whole thought of being on a ship and on vacation; looking forward to seeing multiple artists perform. That night, on the program was John Crist and Steven Curtis Chapman. When we were able to, we went to our cabins to get ready for dinner. We had a lot to learn about the rules of cruising and how to navigate the concerts, etc.

We went to formal dinner in the dining room and were sat at a table with three other couples, ten at a table, not great for conversation. The couple next to me were a bit back woodsy and she did not converse, if a question was asked, he answered it. The other two couples kind of conversed amongst themselves and it wasn't the greatest of dining experiences. But, we moved on. We realized when we got done that time was tight to make it to the concert in time and get a descent seat. So, we discussed skipping formal dinner then next night in order to make it to the concert in time.

Somehow we got separated between the concerts. One was at 7pm and the next at 9pm. Kathy and I went looking for Leila and Renee, we found Renee who was heading for the cabin, but we never found Leila. We assumed she found a seat in the concert of Zach Williams and Jordan Feliz and since we had looked and looked for seats to no avail, we opted to go sit at the pool and wait for something to happen.


While we were sitting there, there was a group of people across the deck from us. They started calling out to a guy, "Hey, Danny!!" The guy was dark haired, glasses, beard...for sure Danny Gokey. after all, they called him Danny. So, I decided to go ask. It was not, but it was Plumb's manager and she was sitting right there near me, he pointed her out. Since Ryan had seen her in concert and said he really liked her, I wanted to tell her that. We began a conversation which lasted probably 30 minutes and she just poured herself into our lives and ministered to us in such a special way, it was truly providential that we were there with her. She prayed with us and shared her life and trials that she had gone through and just ministered to us in our need. It was so incredible and great that we missed a concert in order to be ministered to in such a meaningful and genuine way.

Jared Emerson painted on the pool deck. So, we watched that.

Sisters, The Very Best of Friends

Sisters, The Very Best of Friends.

I was honored to spend about 10 wonderful days with my three sisters. We had decided a year ago to go on the KLOVE Cruise together. Since Renee was able to give us some time share points, we were able to stay ahead of time in a condo as we prepared to embark on the adventure.



What an adventure it turned out to be. We coordinated as best we could to arrive at Fort Lauderdale at close to the same time. Renee and I flew on the same flights out of O'Hare and met up with Kathy in Atlanta and the three of us took the same flight down to Florida. Leila was a bit behind us. You would think that three grown women could handle the logistics of this trip, but we were unsure of what to do once we arrived. The dilemma: how do we get four bags in a car with all of their bags? We weren't sure how big the car was we were renting and how many suitcase type bags it could hold. So, we called the men in our lives to get advice. Renee was given the advice to just go to the counter and stare, don't say anything, just stare. See what happens. Well, that would have worked if we even knew what counter to go to. Kathy was offered advice; find a store with magazines and especially "Runner's World" or "Sports Illustrated" and spend the time reading magazines for free. (I am not sure how that was going to solve the issue other than the killing time while waiting for Leila). My husband gave us the logical answer, not surprising. Leave one person with the baggage, go get the rental car, load it, go park, and wait for Leila. So, that is what we kind of decided upon.


So, Kathy waited with our bags and Renee and I went on the semi-long journey to the car rental pick up. This ended up being a long way from the airport property, but it was a very good experience and even though the name was "Economy" they were generous in their customer service. I had not planned on being a driver and decided on the trip over that I should go on as a secondary. So, thankfully it was early enough in the day that I could call my insurance company and get a declaration of insurance. Where would we be without technology??

The agent assured us that we were getting the best car available for the capacity we needed. We assured him that four bags with bags needed a lot of room. They rented us a Nissan Altima. I think we could have fit three dead bodies in the trunk, but not four big suitcases. We were determined to make it work. Our goal was to not have to make a trip to the condo and back to the airport for Leila.


Renee and I returned to the airport and we strategically loaded the suitcases in the trunk of the car. We knew Leila would not have a heavy carry on since she was on a weight restriction following her pacemaker work two days earlier. We felt we could fit a big suitcase in the back seat along with two people, so Kathy and I waited for Leila at the luggage claim and Renee parked at the cell phone parking. (Not sure what that is, but that's what they call it.)


While we waited for Leila to come, knowing she had been a recent patient, we grabbed a wheel chair and waited at the foot of the escalator. Since we were in a touristy area, we decided to write her name on an envelope as if we weren't sure who she was, Then, I noticed someone else had an iPad they had done that with, so I got mine out and put her name in BIG BOLD letters while we waited. Kathy stood, camera ready. When Leila saw Kathy at the foot of the escalator with a camera, she was a bit worried about what she would see as she descended. Let the laughing begin. There was a kind gentleman there, willing to capture the moment for us with our camera.

We had been in touch with Renee and she was on her way. We loaded Leila and her bag in the back seat and headed to the condo.


Once we settled in, we decided we needed to eat something. Looking on the internet, we saw there was a "Ruby Tuesday"within walking distance from the condo. So, we ended up there. The waitress told us we were the most fun she had all day. She said people were either grouchy or they didn't speak English.


Then we went to Winn-Dixie for something, I am not even sure what we got there other than that it took Renee about 20 minutes to check out for her one item.

Saturday: We were invited to go to a sales pitch for the time share. The promise was breakfast and $75. Sounds good, wasn't. It was high pressure and a bowl of instant oatmeal. We walked out, Kathy was embarrassed, Renee and Leila assured her that the only way to get those people off your back is to be rude to them. So, Renee handled that part and we broke free.


We needed mani-pedis. I tried calling several places and decided the only option we had was Wal-Mart. We went there and the wait would have been too long. We knew there was another salon in the same shopping center where Winn-Dixie was. We also needed to eat lunch since our huge breakfast had been long since digested. Kathy needed soft foods so we thought a baked potato at "Wendy's" would work. We walked over there and were told they didn't have any potatoes. WHAT???? So, next try for food was "Pollo Tropical" which was next door with a very unfamiliar menu. While placing our orders, we were often told, "We don't have that." They were out of Dr. Pepper and when Leila asked for cole slaw, which was clearly on the menu board with "NEW" right next to it, the gal said, "WE DON'T HAVE COLE SLAW!"  I wonder if they really did and she hadn't been informed. The lunch was okay once we actually got something to eat and they had macaroni and cheese for Kathy.


Then, on to the nail salon...if you want to call it that, it was more like a freak show. Walked in and noticed two transvestites getting nails done. The place was dicey, to say the least. We almost felt a need to shower on our way out.

Dollar Tree was our next stop. There we witnessed a near fight break out. I though it was a shoplifter, but Kathy saw more of what happened and it appeared to be tow women who had some history. One was the manager of the store and the other came in as a customer and didn't know the manager worked there. We could kind of put the puzzle together as the customer threw her basket into the store as she was leaving and called the manager a not so nice name. Who needs television???


WE DO!!  We needed to go watch HGTV for hours on end, and so we did. But, decided we could go watch a horse race since there was harness racing across the road from where we were. So, we walked a very long way and went to watch horse racing. None of us had ever done such a thing and had no idea what to do as far as betting, se we just observed. Well, that is only entertaining for one race, then what? I said, "Okay, let's do this, let's each one of us pick a horse for the win."

So, we did. Kathy 2, me 3, Renee 4, Leila 5. That was also the order we were sitting in. The race began, I was is first place (my horse) for quite awhile, then Kathy's horse passed mine, as I was complaining, Renee's horse came from way behind and overtook both of ours, then the race finished. Renee, Leila, Kathy, and me. But, funny thing is, of the 8 horses running, our were the four winners. We were so proud and happy that we had doubled out money. Since we were so lucky, we decided to call it a night and go back home, after all, Chip and Joanna were waiting for us.


Sunday, beach day. After going to breakfast at Moonlite Diner, we were going to head to the beach. Kathy had had terribly blood shot eyes since she had arrived. We decided before a cruise, maybe she should be seen by a doctor. So, after breakfast we headed to MD Now, an urgent care. The doctor prescribed steroid ointment and we ended up at Walgreens to fill that. Then, off to the beach. It wasn't super warm or sunny, but it was warm enough to sit and enjoy the waves crashing and get in some sand and salt time. After the beach we looked for something good to eat. We found "Burger Freaks" and since they had hot dogs, we ended up there. Renee saw a pizza place nearby and she had pizza. Leila and I had sweet potato fries with a dipping sauce of marshmallow crème and cinnamon. It was very yummy!!  We did spend some time in the hot tub. We met a couple who had taken a year off of life and were travelling in the fifth wheel. They had two girls and their plan was to see a lot of the US. However, since the weather was not cooperating, they had really only been in Florida since leaving upstate New York. That night she and the girls were sleeping in the condo of friends' of theirs and the dad was sleeping in the RV with the dog so he wouldn't be lonely--the dog!

Back to the condo, we needed to prepare to get on the ship. We needed to decide what we were taking and what we were leaving at the condo. Plus, I am pretty sure there were several more "Fixer Upper" episodes that we had not seen yet!  We had met a couple in the hot tub that everyone was convinced she was the mother, but they really were a married couple. She was especially strange and was telling about washing her dishes in the dishwasher without soap and if there were food particles left, she would just scrape them off with her finger nail. He said, "Yeah, kind of like how you pick your nose." It was quite the conversation.


We also ordered pizza and Alfredo from "Little Italy" and had them deliver. It was really good. Renee ate her left over pizza and we tried to go to bed early.


Are you keeping up with our menu so far?




Monday morning. Time to get to the ship. We were going to try out "Lester's" for breakfast because of the recommendation from hot tub woman. Why did we believe someone who would not use soap when washing dishes?


So, off to Lester's we went. The plan was to eat breakfast, drop the bags at  Port Everglades and leave two of the "bags" there while the other two went to take the car back. We snapped a picture when we arrived at Lester's. Funny thing, Kathy commented on her "stupid camera". Little did she know, she had video recorded the inside of her purse the entire ride to Lester's. When we discovered this later, it was one of the funniest things to listen to. Nothing is as funny as when you do not know you are being recorded. When we "listened" to the video, at the very end was Kathy getting her camera out to take this picture.

She said, "This stupid camera!" Not having a clue that for 14 minutes that camera was giving us great content for the rest of our lives. We will never NOT laugh about what was said on that trip...and NO, we will not share it. Some things just need to be secret among sisters!!

When we got in to the restaurant, you would have thought is was 100 degrees outside. The place was freezing. We ordered. Apparently, if you don't like potatoes with your breakfast in Florida, it is custom to have a tomato instead. When I requested no potatoes, the waitress, in her not really American English accent asked me if I wanted a sliced tomato instead. It caught me by surprise and I was really trying to figure out what she had said. Apparently, the look on my face was priceless, I don't know, I couldn't see it...and no, no tomato either!! Lester's was not one I would put on my list of needing to go there again. As we were leaving, I was forced to go back in to see a woman who had clearing gotten too much Botox.


We drove down to the Port. When we got there, they were already taking bags to the ship. Our porter, Reggie, assured us a safe arrival of our bags. So, we left them and all four of us went back to take the car back. That was uneventful except when the GPS says one name for a street and the street sign says something else, it can get confusing. But, we recalculated and made it in good time. We were shuttled back to the Port and started the embarkation. Oh man, this is where the real fun begins.