The Best 20 Dollars Spent

Stardate 66168.7

21:26 - Our second port of call led us to the sunny and privately owned island of Half Moon Cay. This little island is a part of the Bahamas and is designed for Carnival Cruisers to enjoy a nice day at the beach.  I have to say that the beaches there are quite wonderful, but we did have a bit of trouble getting to them. Since the island is so small, they did not build a dock for the cruise ship. The cruise ship anchors itself, and we ferry to the island. The trouble came from all of the rain showers that were happening. Rain delays are the worst. Despite the weather's best attempts to stop fun, we had a blast on the beach.

They had a pirate ship there!

The absolutely first thing to note, Focus Foxies, is no one lives on the island. Well 40 people live on the island, but they don't come by that island naturally. Most of the workers boat in from other islands or come off the cruise ship. Basically, it has the feel of a deserted island but all the comforts of luxury. Also, wild roosters run about the island. Second thing to note is that we might have run into a cockfight. I was trying to get a picture of the roosters, so we traveled behind the kitchens to locate one. We found more than one; there were two. An older worker was there too, and he was trying to get the roosters to fight one another. We just backed away from the situation. Long story short: I don't have a picture of the wild roosters for you, Focus Foxies.

Little Boat is Rob; Big Boat is Cruise Ship

Our main Carnival-endorsed adventures on the island consisted of snorkeling and kayaking. I snorkeled with  huge angel fish, and by that I mean they were much bigger than the ones I had growing up. I would go under water, swim around with them, and mostly disrupt their swimming patterns. It was awesome! Some fellow cruisers found starfish under the sand. I got hold a live starfish. It felt boney. Rob rented a kayak and rowed around. I tried following him out there but got in trouble. Apparently swimmers can't be out that far. We just find trouble where ever we went on this island.

Ominous, but not that bad

The rain came and went through out the day. Knowing a bit about the tropics, we stayed on the island. We didn't run for the cover of the cruise ship since these rain showers just pass by. That being said, a bunch of people went back to the ship while we sat under our little clam shell and waited for the sky to clear up. For the record, Focus Foxies, Rob admitted my purchase of the clam shell cover was the best $20 spent. This should serve as proof of my awesome abilities to plan ahead. We did have a bit of a scare when the cruise ship started to move. Rob got a bit nervous then, but I sat around making this little video for y'all.

After one more drink, we eventually boarded the last boat to go back to the cruise ship at 15.30. I have to say I am a bit proud of us for that. I didn't want to leave the island, but we had fun things to do aboard the cruise ship.

Salt the Stingray Barb

Stardate 66166

The ship was the biggest thing on the island

Smiles for all on a boat!

21:54 - We landed in our first port of call early in the morning. Grand Turk awaited us, and we couldn't wait to get out there. Our main agenda item for the day was to swim with stingrays. Yes, focus Foxies, you heard correctly: swim with the little devils. No worries though. By reading this, you know that at least I survived with some of my typing fingers intact.  

We debarked our large cruise ship in lieu of a smaller boat, sailing towards Gibbs Cay. Why Gibbs Cay? Because that is the domain of the stingrays or at least the most tame, people-friendly stingrays. Our boat made its way over to the cay, but we didn't quite land straight away on the island. We had to do circles around the side of the island first to round up the stingrays. The sound of the engine attracts them, and they swim up to be fed. Also, they want to see us, but mostly, they like the food. We finally docked our boat and went swimming with these sea creatures. We had the opportunity, nay the privilege, to take pictures with the stingrays. So I bought the picture of a stingray swimming up my back. Focus Foxies, you can see by my reaction that I was scared. I blame the slimy feel of the beast for my fears. You will notice that Rob is kissing the barb. Apparently, it gives you 7 years of good luck. He claims he will have 15 years of good luck. More than the mathematics, I wasn't buying the logic behind kissing the barb.  See Steve Irwin for details. 

Gibbs Cay

More Gibbs Cay

Besides having stingrays, Gibbs Cay was a beautiful island. Gibbs Cay is really small island to the east of Grand Turk. It has gorgeous white sand beaches that the Caribbean is known for, coupled with clear blue water. We had time to snorkel around to see schools of fish and lay out on the beach. If I had to pick my favorite trip picture it would be from Gibbs Cay.

Gibbs Cay, favorite picture

Of our many culinary adventures on Grand Turk, our most daring was eating raw conch. One of our stingray guides swam to the bottom of the ocean and grabbed a few conchs. He de-shelled them and showed the little critter off around the boat. Then, he cut up the conch and served it to us. Well, not one to be left out of the fun, I grabbed a piece (and so did Rob). Focus Foxies, the following is a video of the experience.

Once back on The Grand Turk shore, we went to seek out some jerk chicken. The small piece of conch could not hold us over until we boarded the cruise ship. Earlier that day, I saw a sign for $3 local beers and jerk chicken, so we walked along the beach to the small hut. The delivered on their advertisements for both local beer and jerk chicken. The local beer, named Turk's Head Island Draught, came in both amber and lager styles. Fun Fact, Focus Foxies, the beer is made with Turk's head cactus, which is a prominent plant on the island. Turk's head cactus is so prominent that it is on the Turk and Caicos flag. I personally fancied the amber style better. The jerk chicken was well spiced without burning our mouths. Included in our plate was rice and fried plantains. We don't get too many fried plantains in the States, and that, my Focus Foxies, is a real problem.

We spoke with the owner chef about how he makes his meals and his future plans. Our favorite part of the meal was the sauce that came with the jerk chicken. It was a sweet and spicy red sauce. He brought out the ingredients he used in it: a hot sauce, a tomato based sauce, and his own blend of jerk spices. He also posed an interesting question, "Where is North Carolina?" He explained his needed to know because of a new opportunity he was thinking of pursuing. Apparently, he had an opportunity to set up a few jerk chicken restaurants in North Carolina. So, Focus Foxies, if you are ever in North Carolina and see a jerk chicken restaurant, take a chance. If it is his, it will totally be worth it. How often do you get a chance to have island food here? Answer: never.

Mangrove looking areas by the beach

Palm tree swaying around!

Parrot Head!

View from the top

My second favorite activity on Grand Turk would be our visit to Margaritaville.  Most Focus Foxies would know that I have a special place in my heart for Jimmy Buffet. The Margaritaville at Grand Turk is rumored to be the largest in the world, so I had to go visit the Jimmy Shrine. I cannot testify on it being the biggest in the world, but it certainly was a contender for being the largest building on the island.  They had swings, pools, bars, food, and shopping all rolled into one establishment.  We celebrated Jimmy in the best way we knew how: we ordered a gigantic margarita that came with an extra shot of tequila. Because the cruise ship was leaving soon, we grabbed the margarita and raced towards the dock. With the amount of tequila in us (mostly me) it might have been a sad sight to see. 

As we sailed away from the lovely Grand Turk, we had cheese-burgers on the top open air deck because after all, we were in paradise. 

Cruising the Caribbean

Stardate 66163.2

20:45 - For my first adult vacation, I decided to take a Caribbean cruise with Rob on Carnival Cruise Lines. As much as I would love to backpack across a continent, I had one week to make something happen. Plus, cruises are amazing fun. We set sail on September 9th from Baltimore to visit the wide world of the Eastern Caribbean.

Our embarking photo. Don't we look so cute?

The view from our 'interior' room

We originally order an interior room, which usually consists of a small room in the bottom of the ship. However, we got extremely luck and got a room with a view for an interior room price.Now, our view included the ship's life rafts, but we were not complaining. We got to open the door and everything. It was a steal of a deal.

Before we made landfall, we had a bunch of fun on the ship. We had two days to kill at sea, and we made good use of them. Our number one priority consisted of attending every trivia contest Carnival hosted. Focus Foxies, they hosted a bunch; I mean three or four a day. We had plenty of opportunities to smack people around with the amount of highly important facts we knew. 

We had our hearts set on winning the glorified prize of a Ship on a Stick! This was no ordinary trophy. It had a cruise ship on it and was made of 24 carat solid gold plastic. Focus Foxies, this was not a trivial prize; it was the prize. It was no easy feat to win one. We were up against teams who had 7 people on them, but we prevailed. By the end of just one day, we had won 3 ships: two for dominating trivia and one for an Elton John performance. By the end of the trip, we won 5 ships and 2 bottles of champagne. We were that awesome. True story.

Our first dinner on-board

I have to say that our second priority was eating a much food as humanly possible. Did you know, Focus Foxies, that Carnival has a sushi bar that you can go and get a bunch of sushi from? Amazing. Combined with every dinner being a three course masterpiece, we were stuffed non-stop. Just in case we were not, they had 24-hour pizza and ice cream places. There would be no way to avoid food on a cruise ship. So, pro-tip: leave your diets at home. We don't have room for them on the boat; we have too much food.

We felt restless after two days at sea. We could not wait to see what adventures our first stop in Grand Turk would bring.

A gigantic flag was hung in the atrium to  remember September 11

Becoming a FONZ (ehh)

Stardate 66140.7

15:33 - Many Focus Foxies know that I am a big fan of zoos. I mean a huge fan! Recently, the National Zoo has had many births. After a long wait, they finally put the cheetah and fishing cat cubs on display. We excitedly ran to go see these little celebrities.

We got to the zoo a little late to see cheetahs. They were out, but they chose to be coy. We decided to visit the fishing cats cubs who decided to be coy as well! These cubs were stubborn and playing hard to get. Eventually, they would have to come out of their lofty hide outs. The fishing cats were the first to poke their heads out.  They played around with their mom and walked around the back of the enclosure. I got a picture of one of the fishing cat cubs, but their mom was much more photogenic. Fun fact, Focus Foxies, those spots make for great camouflage so you will have to take my word on their cuteness. My camera couldn’t capture their essence properly.  

One really special moment happened in the Panda Pavilion.  I became a FONZ (Friend of the National Zoo). I choose the young professional option. I will be getting a magazine and discounts on their events. We also got to go into the American Trail early, which brings me to my next adventure.

The American Trail opened! This trail featured many animals from North and South America. The trail had sea lions, otters and wolves, oh my! The otters and beavers put on a show for us. They swam around, and the beavers showed off feats of strength. I got pretty close to a wolf. How awesome is that? The sea lions had an amphitheater to watch them do their thing. The zoo opened a new sandwich stand with environmentally sustainable fish and shrimp. The sandwich was great but priced high. But what are you going to do? The zoo is free to get into.

We decided to make another swing around towards the cheetahs again. They were let out, and they were still being a bit coy. I tried getting more pictures of them. They were hiding behind a tree, and my equipment wasn’t as cool as the tons of professional photographers there. Justin and Carmelita (Cheetah cubs) just wanted to play without being bothered by us.

All in all, a proud day for this focus fox! Being a FONZ is important to me because it helps give back to the zoos I love so much!

Moving to Mt Vernon Triangle

Stardate 66042

14:49 - Recently, I moved from Southwest DC to Mt Vernon Triangle. I wanted to plant some roots in a place where I could decorate and have my own furniture. It has been exhausting to move, but I have somewhere I call home. This post will be all about pictures.

 I made this bed from two Ikea shelves. Ikea will be a running theme in my new place.  I have never been to Ikea before this year, but now I have a mini temple to it. Well, this bed offers a ton of storage. I ended up getting really cute purple storage bins to put in the shelves to hold my clothes.

 Those are my Ikea curtains. I had to hem them myself. I did not realize how long 96 inches is. I will give you a hint, more than 6 feet. Also, I just cut the curtains and hot glued the edges.

I bought a small desk. All of my other desks were just holding places for paperwork. So I decided not to give clutter a space in my room.

These Ikea wall shelves were crazy to put up. They were worth it though. The hold all of my memorabilia and some fancy things. I now have a vase with flowers in an attempt to have nice things. They are fake to make sure they last.

This bit took some time. I have a bunch of currency from around the world, mainly the places I have been. I have wanted to display instead of keeping it in a jar. So I got my hot glue gun out and started arranging.

Fourth of July, 2012

Eric Lewis' Picture

Stardate 65975.7 

08:49 - Last night was our country's birthday. Being my first time in DC, I wanted to celebrate it well. There is something about being in the nation's capital that makes you feel a bit more patriotic and altruistic about our country.  I blame all of the amazing monuments. Well, the National Park Service (an underrated agency) hosts an amazing fireworks display every year. So we watched the fireworks from the roof of Rob's work as they blew up in spectacular form. It is about a twenty minute show that absolutely lights up DC. It is like nothing else in the world. You get to see the colors illuminating the Washington Memorial. People come from miles away just to catch a glimpse. The fireworks are huge and worth the wait to see. After the main show, all the neighborhood shows start. From the roof we got to see the perimeter of DC light up as well. It seemed like we were inside an amazing ring of fire.