Friends & Family Cruise-cation 2018

This past July a bunch of friends and family got together to go on a cruise and we had a GREAT time!  We sailed on the Carnival Elation to Bahamas.  We stopped at Half Moon Cay and Nassau and then had two days at sea.  We ported out of Jacksonville, Florida and had an interesting drive there and back.  HA!  

We met up with everyone Sunday evening at our hotel in Jacksonville, and then Monday morning headed out to JaxPort to board the ship.  

I'd say we were able to get a pretty close parking spot!  Our boarding time was around 10:30, but we got their a little bit early and was able to go through the boarding process and get on the ship pretty fast!  

We were one of the first people on the boat, but in know time, it filled up fast!  The pool remained crowded like this the entire time, with the exception of our two days in port.

Our first meals of the ship were at Guy's Burger Joint and the Blue Igauna Cantina.  Those were probably my fave places to eat and I'm pretty sure I had a burrito bowl every day for lunch!

Around 4:00 we joined the Sail Away party and watched as the boat left port and go under the bridge!

Tuesday was a day at sea, so we all had the Tuesday morning brunch wearing our matching shirts for our group picture and family pictures.  There was about 35 of us on the cruise!

Wednesday morning we our day at Half Moon Cay, Carnival private island.  This day was fantastic!  Heather and I made sure we were on the first tender off the boat 9:00 a.m. and had tickets around 8:30 a.m.  We had to develop a plan of action the night before!  We spent the entire 7 hours out on the beach.  The weather was beautiful.  It wasn't too hot and there was a nice breeze.  And the water...oh my that water!  It definitely was paradise!

Heather had us on a 10 miles trek to the less crowded section of the island.  I'm glad she did too!  It was nice!

We were also on the last tender off the island back to the boat.  I could of stayed there forever!

On our days at sea, I spent the majority of my day at the back of the boat on the Serenity deck.  It definitely was nice!  You had to be over 21 to be back there, so there was no kids.  And for the most part, with the except of a few loud ones in our group, it was nice and quite and just peaceful.  I spent our entire last day at sea back there.  Well with the exception of the hour and a half I was at the spa getting a hot stone massage!

On Thursday we were at the Nassau port.  Shawn and I had planned on spending the day at the British Colonial Hilton resort with some day passes we bought, however Shawn got burnt to a crisp the day before at Half Moon Cay and really didn't want to be out in the sun baking again.  I understand.  We canceled our passes and only lost out on our deposit.  We spent a couple of hours walking from the ship into Nassau and around the straw market before realizing how hot it was and that we wanted to just get in the pool on the ship.  It was nice too because there was hardly anyone on the boat and we had it to ourselves for a bit.

Once again we had lunch at Guy's and the Blue Igauna.  Do you like our  $36 souvenir cups with drinks?  HAHA!!

Saturday morning we were up bright and early to pack everything and headed off the ship.  We had a great time with a great group of friends and are already booked for another cruise next year!

Nashville Road Trip with Friends

For a couple years now, Heather and I have planned on taking a day trip to Nashville to walk on the pedestrian bridge and drive around downtown in music row.  Whether it was one thing or another, we kept missing out on opportunities to go.  A couple weeks ago, her husband had to work and mine was out of town, so Heather, Zoe and I loaded up the car and headed south for the day.  We planned on going to Marcy Jo's Mealhouse for breakfast which is about an hour on the other side of Nashville and then to drive back into Nasvhille to walk the pedestrian bridge.  The weather on this day was pretty chilly, but beautiful and sunny!

An unattractive selfie at a Tennessee rest stop.  Did I mention it was sunny and the sun was in our eyes?  That coupled with the wind and my jacked up selfie stick and this is what you get!

I had seen pics of Marcy Jo's before and thought it would be a neat road trip to go eat it, and the pics of the food looked delicious.  It wasn't until I started following the blog of Joey and Rory that I realized that Marcy Jo was the sister of Joey.  Joey and Rory lived just down the road from the restaurant so we wanted to drive by their house too.  Earlier this year, Joey passed away from her two-year battle with breast cancer.  You can read all about them in their blog. If you are a reader of their blog, the restaurant and their home will be all too familiar.

The following was taken off of the back of the postcard I bought while there:  Marcy Jo's Mealhouse - On the corner on Highways 99 and 431, in the small community of Pottsville, TN sits a refurbished old mercantile store built in the 1890's.  Once a major gathering place for the farmers and families of the area, it's now a charming country restaurant, thriving with new life, great fellowship and food.  Opened in January 2007 by sisters-in-law Joey Martin and Marcy Gary, the eatery has quickly become one of the most popular restaurants and music venues in middle Tennessee.  Whether it's the breads and bakery items that are homemade every morning or the gourmet country cooking that came from family recipes, you're sure to love your visit.  You never know, Joey and Rory might even pull out their guitar and sing you a song while you're there.  If you're in the area stop in and visit.

Our breakfast was really good.  The three of us shared this huge cinnamon with delicious cream cheese icing.

Heather and I both had the french toast breakfast - mine was stuffed with strawberries and cream cheese, hers was plain.

And then Zoe had the biscuit and gravy breakfast.  While my breakfast was good, that biscuit and gravy was really good!  This place is definitely going to be added to our stop anytime we travel south for vacations.

And this is Joey and Rory's Tennessee farm.  Once again if you are a blog reader of theirs, then you will be familiar with their farm.

Traveling back down the road I noticed alot of turkey's in the field.  Upon closer look, they were vultures...

...mealing on a buffet of cow!  BLECH!

We finally made it back into Nashville to walk the pedestrian bridge.  It was definitely chilly on the bridge that day and really windy.  Our hair can attest to that!  Not the most flattering pictures to follow, but we had a great time making memories!

And as cold as it was, I couldn't believe all the people out and about hanging out in Nashville listening to tunes and enjoying their drinks of choice.  

Tuckered out.  It's hard work sitting in the back seat and doing nothing.  

We stopped in Bowling Green for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants - Chuy's.  Thanks Heather ;)