My Dad Comes to Florida

After spending a week in Idaho, my dad and I drove back to Utah with my sister, Joyce, then flew to Florida the next day.  George and I had invited my dad to come to visit for a month.  One of the first things we did was to take him on a 5-day, 4-night cruise to the Caribbean.

 Going aboard the Carnival Ecstasy at Port of Miami

The center atrium is really quite something to see!

 I can't even tell you what kind of a car this is, but it was really something to see!

Our room was actually very large for the three of us.

 After eating lunch, we went outside to watch us pull away.  It is always fun to see the city as we leave, and Miami is a beautiful port to leave from.

 A little amphibious plane landed right by us.

 Interesting how the Coast Guard always escorts a ship out--including the guy on the front with his machine gun ready.

 We saw some beautiful yachts in front of huge mansions . . .

 a little ferry carrying cars from one side to the other . . .

 and of course, the beautiful white sands of the beach along the Miami Coast.

Our first stop:  Key West

 It had been years since George and I had visited Key West.  We had forgotten what a unique little town this was!

George and I love to do the Hop on-Hop off bus (in this case a train), to learn more about a city, so that's exactly what we did here in Key West.

 This is the Key West Museum of Art and History.  Although we didn't have enough time to go inside, the sculptures on the outside were just plain fun to see!

They captured real life so perfectly!

 

 Such a sweet picture of George with this little girl eating her sandwich.

 My dad and I with an old fisherman.  After all, this is the town where Ernest Hemingway lived in the 1930s and 1940s and who later won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for writing "The Old Man and the Sea."

Now that is one mean looking shark!  Thank goodness this is not real, but only a replica of what a Megalodon mouth would look like.  At 60 feet long, it was the largest shark that ever lived!

 I'm not going to explain every house we saw because first of all, I can't remember all the driver told us about them, but I thought I would remind myself of all the distinct architecture and plant life that is Key West.

 US 1 begins (or ends) in Key West on Whitehead St.  It is almost 2400 miles long and runs through 14 states and D.C. The other end is in Fort Kent, Maine.  It was started in 1926.  Our driver told us the sign is often stolen by souvenir hunters.

 Because Key West is often in the path of many hurricanes, you see shutters on almost every window.

Picture of shutters, but also an interesting name for a shoppe:  "Pelican Poop Shoppe."  Don't know if I want to know any more than that.

Yes, this is the original Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville. 

 Lighthouse at Key West

It was such a wonderful stay in Key West--just not nearly long enough!

 A highlight of the cruise is always the formal attire night.

  Dad looks so handsome, doesn't he?  You would never guess he is 91 years old, right?!

 Another thing you always think of about a cruise is the artwork done with the towels--always so clever and fun to see when you come in your room at night!

 Our other stop on the cruise was at Cozumel, Mexico.  Although we had been here a couple of times, it is always such a fun place to visit.

 We knew exactly where we wanted to go today--Chankanaab--a short 10 minutes away from the dock by cab.

 Chankanaab has a little bit of everything for everybody . . .

 a place to watch swimmers with the dolphins . . .

 a sea lion show . . .

 

Plus, there is a jungle path you can follow that is so beautiful with all the plant life, waterfalls, and reproductions of artifacts found all over Central and South America of many different peoples who lived there.

 As we went down one path, we saw about 16 people probably in their young 20s all standing in a circle.  They were all listening to the young man below chanting and then they followed him into this igloo looking building.  I couldn't believe they could all be inside there because it looked rather small, but they did.

 Then the young man went over to this stone furnace and starting loading these tremendously hot burning rocks and wheeled them over to the "igloo" and dumped them in there.  After doing this for about four times, he then looked at us and motioned for us to not speak, then he shut the blanket over the opening.  We were so interested as to what was happening.  It must have been nearly 100 degrees, then to go into this small confined area with all those hot rocks, I wondered how they would all survive.  We could smell something like incense and heard the young man chanting inside.  One woman had stayed on the outside and had given them all bottles of water before they entered.  We didn't stay until they came out because I guess they stay in there at least 40 minutes.

 Reading the sign helped us understand a little more about what was happening.  The sign said this was an ancient Mayan steam bath, "Temazcal" ritual--a purification ceremony through steam and aromatherapy.  This ritual is meant for the individual to harmonize and heal his or her body, mind, and soul with the four elements of fire, water, air, and earth.  It's a powerful therapy for the treatment of multiple conditions, relaxes the muscular system, enhances the circulatory system, and eliminates toxins."  It was so interesting to watch!

 A cool picture of it raining off-shore.  Luckily, we were able to return to the ship before we got any rain.

Returning to the ship.  Great day!

 Taken aboard the ship before we headed out from Cozumel.

 The next day was an "At Sea" day.  We played games (I didn't take pictures of me trouncing George in Connect Four--thanks, Preston, for getting me ready for that game!) and Yahtzee.  I must have been really on my game that day, if I do say so myself.  Hah!  Also, we watched an ice carver who built this Indian out of ice in about 20 minutes.  It was really amazing to watch!

 And all too soon--the five days were over, and it was time to exit the ship.  We dressed in our Sunday best the next morning, ate breakfast, then got off the ship.  The reason we were all dressed up was because we were ready for another activity that we had all looked forward to--stopping and doing a session in the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Temple.

 I actually took this as we were leaving--by this time, it was raining, so I took this through the window, but when we had gone in the weather was beautiful.

 The Ft. Lauderdale Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has only been open a couple of months.  It is absolutely a work of art on both the outside and in.

 We absolutely had the most wonderful session in the temple which just completed a fantastic week together.