Its a Hero

cruise

cruise part 1: cruising and cozumel!

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Don’t say I didn’t warn you that this is a lot of pictures! I’ve decided to break this up into a few parts.

But let’s start at the beginning.

We flew into Tampa on Saturday the 24th of September. It was an exhausting day of travel. When we got to our hotel, we expected to go find some local eats. But, instead, we ordered Papa Johns because it was the only place that would deliver and we didn’t feel like moving from our comfy king-size bed! 🙂

On Sunday, we took a bus to Tampa Port Authority. Luckily, we got there early; which meant we were able to get on our ship nice and early!

We met a lovely couple who became our cruise BFFs for the entire trip! We spent the first day walking around the ship, checking out our awesome balcony room {upgraded a few weeks prior to the trip — SO grateful we did!}, and meeting new people on the top deck as we made our 2-hour trip out of Tampa Bay!

We had an fun {and yummy dinner} with our new BFFs, Tommy and David, and then decided to get some sleep! I’ve gotta say; we slept incredibly well!

Monday was our first at-sea day; so we did some exploring and sun-bathing; and met up with David and Tommy again.

Tuesday we were at port in Cozumel. We got off the ship early and met a non-English speaking cab driver to take us to a non-Carnival booked excursion. {… yep, I decided to book my own excursion; which means find our own transportation!}

Here’s what you need to know about our trip to Nachi Cocom private beach:


1. You will take a cab with a guy who will drive 70MPH and almost hit a gazillion people;
2. The driver will drop you off {after a terrifying 15-minute drive} at a Jurassic Park-like entrance and will say something in Spanglish that sounds like “15 minutes” and laugh.
3. You will stand there, stranded, alone, hoping that someone will show up and not murder you.
4. Turns out they are on central time and not on ship time {eastern}. Super.


But when they open, it’s paradise:

{what a view! Cozumel, Mexico.}
{Swimming in the beautiful, clear waters of Mexico!}
{Corona and Pina Colada!}
{our little bit of paradise in Cozumel}

{Post-Cozumel beach glow!}


The next day, Tuesday, we were in Belize. We didn’t have anything planned at this port, but decided to get off the boat anyways. It was a mistake. Belize was creepy. That is all.

Tomorrow = Isla Roatan, Honduras! This means monkeys and zip lining!

all my bags are packed

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I’m ready to go!
So long! Farwell!
It’s 5:30am-ish Eastern time and we are leaving my parents house shortly
to get dropped off at the airport!
By dinner time we’ll be in Tampa,
checking into our hotel
{and hopefully getting a good night of sleep!}.
Tomorrow our cruise leaves the port
and I will be completely disconnected from technology!
Excited AND scared.
 So of course I had to fit in one more blog post
from my parents computer. 🙂

my mind is all over the place. so this is random.

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  • This past weekend I went to two yoga classes: one at Cleveland Yoga and one community class at Lululemon eton in Chagrin. I forgot how much I miss switching up teachers. My practice has been so stagnant as of recent; likely because I haven’t been keeping my teacher options open. Thank you, Marni Task, for enlightening me this weekend!
{Lucy’s book}
  • Exactly 7 days stands in between me and our cruise! Not that I’m counting or anything…
  • Monday night was our fourth meeting of book club at Yoga Bliss Akron. We read Yoga School Dropout {and by “we read” I obviously mean, I read half the book prior to our meeting :P}. And while we were enjoying our wine and food, the author, Lucy Edge, dropped in on us via Skype from the UK to answer our questions! I have to say, it was an incredibly awesome experience to be able to talk to someone about the book that they’ve written. It brought a whole new level to the book for me.
  • This week I’m featured on Cleveland.com’s Twitter Twenty: Twenty Cleveland Tweeps discussing today’s hot topics! Topic of the week? Where has the summer gone!? Ohhh boy do I have a lot to say! 🙂
  • Downtown Akron Restaurant week was amazing! Tuesday we went to Downtown Akron’s Bricco. Previously I had only had their gourmet pizzas. I was much more impressed with their entrees than their pizzas. Wednesday we went to Crave, which is my favorite restaurant in Akron! I branched out a little and got something different {I always, always, always get the Espresso Braised BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich on a pretzel bun – and yes, it really is as amazeballs as it sounds!}.
{Picture of food, Clockwise from Upper Left: Tomato and Mozzerella Salad from Bricco; 
Filet with Yukon Gold Potatoes and Broccolini from Bricco;
Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese with grilled chicken from Crave; 
and Pan-Seared Scallops and Grilled Shrimp with Bacon and Apple Risotto, 
and white-wine buttered green beans from Bricco}

  • I am really excited to go to the BFs cousins bridal shower tomorrow. It’s at Shooters on the Water in Downtown Cleveland, and I’ve never been! But this also means that I’m going to be really nervous driving there by myself. I hate not knowing where I’m going.