Trip to paradise and some sad news

We are back from the Bahamas (sad face) and we had the best time with our friends. The trip started on Wednesday when we flew to Atlanta from Detroit. It was actually a little hectic getting to the airport because we had to drop Charlie off at John's coworkers house because they were going to watch him while we were gone. The traffic was horrible because it was rush hour so it took longer than we expected so we were running a little late when we headed to the airport. The traffic was now even worse and by the time we got to the interstate we were hoping to put the pedal to the medal and make up some time. We were doing just that for about 10 minutes when we came over a hill and saw the brake lights - 4 lanes of them, traffic completely stopped. We didn't know it at the time but apparently there had been some kind of chemical spill and they had closed three lanes, merging 4 into 1. We knew that if we didn't find another way we would never make it on time - we had about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the airport but we had a bag that needed to be checked and we needed to get to the airport in time for it to make the flight with us. If we had stayed in that traffic we probably would have just barely made the plane at all so we were scanning the map for another route. Unfortunately we had just passed an exit and another one wasnt for over a mile - it would've taken at least 30 minutes to drive that mile so we did what we had to do and cut across the huge grassy median to the northbound traffic and headed in the opposite direction. We got off at the first exit and cut through back rounds in a very rural area. We got stuck behind some local and slowed way down... just in time to get caught behind a TRAIN. We were now at just about an hour before our flight and knew we were cutting it close for our checked bag. Luckily the train only took about 5 minutes and we were able to get going again. We made it to the airport quickly after that and were able to check our bag 50 minutes before the flight and it made it! My mom picked us up in Atlanta and we drove the 2 hours to Greenville.

My family dog Carlie, our border collie, had been sick for awhile with bladder cancer and it had recently gotten a lot worse in the past few months. I was really hoping that she could hold on long enough so that I could say goodbye to her when we came home for the cruise. When my mom picked us up she told me that Carlie had taken a turn for the worst the night before and she wasn't sure she'd still be there when we got home. My sister was home with her so she had someone there with her. Carlie hadn't been in any pain before this so now that she seemed like she might be suffering we didn't want her to have to go through that and had decided that if she was ever in constant pain we would have to put her down. Well we got home late on Wednesday night and Carlie was still barely hanging in there. She was always so full of energy and when I saw her she was laying down and couldn't even lift her head up. She seemed to be having a hard time breathing too and it was clear that she wasn't doing well. I got to lay with her and talk to her for awhile and knew that it was the last time I'd see her. The next morning we had to leave at 6am to meet our friends Reed and Meredith to drive to Florida together and Carlie was still the same as the night before. My family had decided that we'd take her to the vet to put her to sleep that day because she was definitely not going to recover. We were halfway through the trip, somewhere in Georgia, when my mom called to say that Carlie had passed away on her own with my mom and Lindsey with her, about 2 hours before they were supposed to head to the vet. I was luckily prepared for this because I didn't want her to be in pain anymore but it's still so hard to believe she's gone. She was the BEST and I will miss her forever.

Pretty girl :)




Christmas card picture 2007

Anyways, we made it down to Florida in great time and were very excited to see Matt & Tayler and Brian & Margaret. It was SO HOT in Jacksonville and we were able to get through security and check in pretty easily.

Just arriving at the cruise port in Jacksonville, FL

Me and Meredith waiting in the HOT sun for the boys to park the car - so excited!

We all got through the check in process and went to the Lido deck Coconut Grove dining room to have some lunch! Our rooms weren't ready yet so EVERYONE was in there getting lunch. We got a table for all 8 of us and enjoyed our first fruity drinks of the trip with a delicious lunch buffet.

CHEERS!!!

Our rooms were ready at 1pm so we took our luggage there and later attended the Muster Station drill.

Our cabin - loved that king sized bed

Portholes - we got a great deal because we paid for an inside cabin but got upgraded to the porthole cabins

The Atrium

Muster station drill

Then we all headed up to the top deck to watch the ship pull out of the port and enjoy some lounging :)

Me, Tay, and Margaret

Matt and Tayler

About to leave Jacksonville

Brian and Margaret

YES we're moving! Matt's celebration :)

We also discovered that Carnival has added sushi bars to their ships and it's FREE! So every night before dinner we would go get some sushi as a little appetizer and we always seemed to have the best time, all 8 of us laughing and joking around over sushi :)

I love elephants! This was in one of the lounges on the ship






On the top deck in the back of the ship - waterslides


John sneaking his smuggled sweat tea vodka into a glass of lemonade

We had a great dinner that night with our waiter Joseph - he was fantastic. The food was fabulous the entire cruise so we all gained at least 5lbs on the trip. I had linked all of our reservations before the trip so the 8 of us sat at a dinner table together. After dinner we went to the welcome aboard variety show (a little singing and dancing, a little comedy) and then to the casino. Reed had some great luck that first night on roulette but we broke even - lost some then won it back.

On Friday we arrived in Freeport, Bahamas and we all decided we wanted to spend the day at the beach. It was perfect weather... well maybe a little hot but coming from Detroit I won't complain!

You can see our room in this photo - the top portholes above "Carnival Fascination" (on the 7th floor)






Beautiful warm water!











The group on the beach in Freeport:






Here's Matt with a surprise for you:

We headed back to the ship around 4pm and were all a little hungry and had sushi (and Matt had some chili cheese fries) and some drinks before we went to our rooms to shower and get ready for the elegant night dinner.

John and Matt - reunited and it feels so good


Matt - finishing off the chili cheese fries - Tayler's face cracks me up!












Thanks for the photography skills Matthew ;)

We all looked gorgeous and had a fun night at dinner (lobster and prime rib!!). They had this incredible, indescribable, white chocolate and dark chocolate bread pudding-like dessert. I can't even begin to explain how delicious this was, but I can say that all 8 of us LOVED it - ahhhhmazing. That night was the 80s musical show and it was a lot of fun - the Carnival singers and dancers were great. Then we went to the adult comedy show at midnight and it was really funny. I was pretty tired after that so I headed back to the room but John and Reed went to the casino and Reed had a lot of luck on roulette again!

Lookin' good fellas




John - such a joker




The incredible desser




The group with Joseph






Our surprise for celebrating our 1 year anniversary




Reed and Meredith's 2 year anniversary - Reed's anniversary kiss?

Saturday was our day in Nassau, Bahamas and we started by talking the water taxi over to Paradise Island to walk through Atlantis - it's a beautiful resort.

Lots of ships at the pier in Nassau

On the water taxi

Our ship - Carnival Fascination






Atlantis (from the water taxi)

Atlantis grounds

Looking good hunny

Atlantis

Beautiful blown glass light fixtures in the Atlantis casino

We spent the whole day at the beach again and enjoyed more perfect weather.

Walking back through the Atlantis grounds on the way back to the ship


Sea turtles!

We took the water taxi back to the pier where the ship was docked and a lot of people took a nap before dinner. We got ready and met for sushi before dinner and enjoyed another delicious meal.

Me and Mer before dinner


Just before dinner - Atrium in the background


The Nodtvedt's


At dinner - Joseph heard my nickname is "Bunny" so he made me bunny ears...


... and turned it into Madonna's bra for John :)

Our waiter Joseph pulled a practical joke on Matt and John - it started when he told us he wanted to show us a cool scientific kinda trick. He took two pads of butter and handed them to Matt and John.

Then he unwrapped them on the table and put salt on one and covered it with a plate, then pepper on the next and covered it. The whole time he was looking at his watch and saying that the timing was very important. He asked John and Matt to put their hands over the plates and tell us if they felt hot or cold - John said it felt cold but Matt's felt warm.

Then Joseph took the plates away and asked them to do the same thing and Matt and John were about to respond when he pushed both of their hands in the butter! It was really hilarious - all of us were fooled and had totally fallen for the little dog and pony show :)

There was no show after dinner that night - instead they had the pool deck party with a really good cover band playing. We were all pretty tired but enjoyed the band and spent a little time on the "serenity deck" at the back of the ship enjoying the night breeze as we sailed out of the Bahamas.

We also stopped in to see the karaoke - pretty funny stuff - and dropped into the dance club on the ship but it wasn't that great. We finally went to bed and got some much needed rest.

My favorite - a pachyderm - elephant towel animal

Sunday was our last day on the ship and it was a "day at sea". Matt and I got up early and saved chairs for the 8 of us on the back of the ship where we enjoyed a breakfast overlooking the ocean.

Enjoying the top deck in the morning:

After a few of our group started to get up and come join us we decided to move it to the pool area so we could watch the stage where they did activities like Bingo and trivia throughout the day. I got to read some of my book and enjoy a few pina coladas with my friends :)

Matt and John playing some ping pong



Ping pong action:

Around 2pm they did the Marriage Game with a newlywed couple, a couple that's been married for 20 years a couple thats been married for 40 years - it was really funny! We went back out to the pool for awhile after that (John napped) and then eventually went back to our rooms to get ready for dinner. We met for sushi of course and then went to the front of the ship for our last pictures.

Oh Matthew...

John's model shot

HAHA! The wind inspired this photo - Matt wanted a "model action shot" and this is what resulted

Our waiter Joseph was also the singer for all the little waiter songs

After dinner was the second musical show - Mambo Mambo - and it was fantastic! The dancers were dressed in Vegas showgirl style outfits and the music was all Latin, I really enjoyed it. We went to the second adult comedy club afterward and it was pretty good. My allergies had been horrible all day so I was definitely ready for bed after that with a bit of a sore throat and very congested - luckily I had my allergy medicine with me so it was better by the next day.

Goodnight!


Frog towel animal

We were very sad to leave on Monday morning because we had had such a great time with everyone and gotten some good tans :) We drove back to Greenville and got home around 2pm so we were able to enjoy the afternoon in downtown Greenville with my mom. We went to the Reedy River bridge and then to Corner Pocket to play some pool and have a Blue Moon on such a hot day.

Reedy River - Falls Park

Mom made us a delicious dinner that night and we really enjoyed hanging out with her. She'll be coming to see us in about 2 weeks for the Fourth of July, so I think that made it a lot easier to leave this time. It was such a fun trip and I'm so glad we were all able to fit this vacation into all of our schedules because we probably won't be able to do that so easily in the future. If only we could be back on that Bahamian beach now...