Colder Weather

Stardate 66255.3

12:40 - On Friday (Stardate 66248), some friends and I went to see the Zac Brown Band. Since they're one of my favorite bands, I was thrilled to get a last minute ticket to the show. So we drove until the city lights dissolved into a country sky to arrive at the Jiffy Lube Live Amphitheater. 

Before any good concert, you must tailgate; it simply is a fact. My well-prepared friends brought hot dogs, chicken, and beer. Also, they brought a grill. Class acts, all of them. We sicced Justin on the chicken, and we relaxed with cold beer in our hands. Life was good. Speaking of being prepared, they brought jackets. I did not. I had no forethought and did not believe that the weather would drop to forty degrees. With only a scarf and a long sleeve shirt, I was stuck in colder weather. 

It was seriously cold. Seriously.

Zac Brown Band has an amazing group of musicians with a wide range of talents, skills, and musical instruments  They go beyond standard country music; they represent every sub-genre of country that I love.  They blend Southern Rock, Caribbean, folk, blue grass, and gospel harmoniously together. My favorite aspect of Zac Brown Band is that their music inspires you to jump right in. Their music pulls you in and does not let you go until they are good and ready to. They never take themselves too seriously. My favorite part is how effortless they make it look. Music, much like life, is too easy to be so damn complicated. They just play whatever they want, however they want to.

Girls' Photo

Focus Foxies, you can understand why I would be excited about seeing Zac Brown Band live. Believe you, me they do not disappoint. They played for over an hour and a half. Their play list was half album hits, half jam session craziness. The whole musical experience just washed over me and helped to put the outside world away for a minute. It felt great to pretend that I didn't live in it. The only worry in world was when the music was going to stop. Eventually their main set did; then, they had a dueling drum solos; then, they came back onstage for an encore. They are that awesome. True story.

After the encore, we saw goodbye in their eyes; we didn't think we could change it. They had to be on the road to their next stop, and couldn't wait around for us. We never questioned why; they just kept chasing those melodies across the US. We were just thankful they stopped by our town. The next time Zac Brown Band comes back by, keep them in mind. I know I will be waiting. In my humble opinion, live music, good friends, and beer are the keys to paradise. 

Focus Foxies in attendance: Justin (Ticket Purchaser), Alex (Photo Queen), Rachael, Kara, and some dude named Thomas?

Hail to the Falcons

Stardate 66236.5

15:28 - On Sunday (Stardate 66233.7) Rob and I made our way to Landover, Maryland to Fedex Field. We had tickets to see the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins battle it out. Being from Atlanta, Rob wanted to be there to support Matt Ryan trampling the Redskins. I wanted to support RGIII and the home team, but I secretly wanted the Falcons to win.

View from the outside

Despite having Washington attached to their name, the Redskins' field is not located in Washington. It is barely in what I would consider the metro area. It's outside the beltway! But I digress, Focus Foxies, the Landover location allows Redskins' fans plenty of room to tailgate. They tailgate pretty well for not being in the South. They have tents, grills, and games set up all around the parking lots. We had to dodge footballs to make it into the stadium. I think they were aimed at Rob's Ryan jersey, but there is no way to be sure.

We got inside the bowl shaped Fedex Field at last. Let me tell you something, Focus Foxies, no one comes to the stadium until kick off or a bit afterwards. We were worried that no one would show up. For the first half of the game the Redskins remained competitive with the 4-0 Falcons. They met them touchdown for touchdown. In fact, they looked like an awesome team for a bit there. After the touchdowns, I was introduced to the Redskins' Marching Band. Each touchdown they play their fight song: 'Hail to the Redskins.'

Rain and cold weather didn't stop us!

Well, the Redskins' good luck couldn't last very long. The Falcons came out ready to play the second half. They kept RGII contained, and then they sent him to the sidelines with a mild concussion. The Falcons were trying to make short work of the Redskins, but the Redskins kept limping along. One of the more special aspects of this game was the opportunity to see a career die. It wasn't RGIII's (although he should take lessons from Harper in sliding); it was the kicker Cundiff. We watched the sad field goal attempts to keep the Redskins in the game. Missing a 30 yard field goal was an especially low moment for Cundiff. His next extra point attempt led to the crowd booing him. I mean the guy could not kick a simple field goal; why add to his struggle by booing an extra point attempt? Redskins' fans that's why. Cundiff was eventually cut the next week in disgrace. The Redskins had a few chances at the end of the game, not that their fans would have noticed. A majority of them left before the last 5 minutes. Two turnovers in the last 3 minutes sealed the deal for the Redskins defeat. So I guess their fans' bet against the home team worked.

Superman Rob over Fedex Field

Well, a bunch of people in the stands were happy with the Atlanta win. I credit this with Atlanta fans being the only ones left (I cannot stress enough the emptying of the stands. Incredible). Focus Foxies, what you are more interested in knowing is why would I want the Falcons to win? Is it love? In a way yes. I would love to have a Falcons/Texans Superbowl. I would love to see the hope drain from falcons' fans eyes. I would love to see them leaving the stands as degraded as Redskins' fans. The picture that I want to paint for you, Focus Foxies, is one where our dear Superman is shaken up by the kryptonite that is the Texans Defense. It would include the one-two punch that is Foster/Johnson duo masterminding a Lex Luther like destruction of the Falcons Defense. Unfortunately for the Falcons, there will be no Parker Posey to save them. So yes, love is the reason.

Stage Presence

Stardate 66174.8

02:45 - We planned to make the last day on the ship Legen.. wait for it, and I hope you are not lactose intolerant….

We started out with brunch. Because alcohol costs money on board, we used our winnings to make mimosas. We had our mimosas, piles of food, and trivia. Always with the trivia. Rob’s team ended up winning Pictionary, but this day was all about winning. Rob and I had a bunch of time on stage and in the spotlight.

 

I made it to the spotlight by way of towel animals. Carnival had a class on how to make towel animals. I had been dying to know how to make them. During the class, I got up on stage and made a dog, an elephant and a couple of seals. Also notice the Aggie pride. That is the day we mopped the floor with SMU.

Rob’s time came when he got to show off his karaoke skills. He won a competition to be Elton John on the Carnival Legends show. They dressed him up, and he performed Crocodile Rock. He has come a long way from the third place win when we met.

Winning!

Our last act of the day was to gamble. Both of us do not really gamble. In fact, Focus Foxies, I had never gambled. We had two coupons for a $5 match, so we took a chance. It was the last day on the ship. We took $20 and gambled away on Black Jack. Let me tell you, we were so successful. We took $20 and made it into $70. This holds the second spot for best $20 spent on the cruise!

Dairy. It was legendary. The whole cruise was awesome. True Story. If I had to pick my favorite part it would be Grand Turk. My least favorite part was final debarkation. Rob and I made good travel buddies. I can’t wait for our next trip!

The Lucayan Marketplace

Stardate 66170.9

16:12 - Our last port of call led us to the town of Freeport, Bahamas. Freeport is a popular destination for cruise ships; I say this because when we debarked, two other ships were docked as well. Cruisers swarmed the place. Lucky for us, we woke up early and rushed off to Port Lucaya.

 Freeport does not have a whole lot to do. It resembles more of an industrial town than anything else. The comparison would be Port of Houston vs. Galveston. Freeport is Houston, and Lucaya is Galveston. Lucaya/Galveston is a bit prettier and with few better beaches, but you still are next to Freeport/Houston. For non-Houstonian Focus Foxies, that probably didn't make much sense. To you, I say Freeport had a bunch of manufacturing plants, but no beaches. Lucaya had fewer manufacturing plants, and more beaches. Also, shopping, Lucaya has more shopping. 

We headed out to the marketplace in Port Lucaya with several other cruisers and a lively cab driver. Our cab driver, Eddie, had lived in the U.S. - Los Angeles specifically. He moved back to The Bahamas because he wanted a better school and healthcare system for his children. Apparently, the LA system wasn't cutting it; I don't blame him. The Bahamas has a universal healthcare system. Another interesting fact, Focus Foxies, is that The Bahamas does not have income or sales tax; they rely primarily on import taxes. With 80 percent of the consumption coming from imports, the government can bring in a lot of revenue. Eddie explained that he was thinking about bringing in a new van in the country, and he would have to pay a 60 percent tax on it. So a $30,000 van would cost $50,000 once it clears customs.

Eddie dropped us off at the market, but we were early. Shops didn't open until 9 AM, so we wandered around until they did. The Lucayan marketplace had many shops both formal and informal as well as two straw markets. we found one little shops with straw fans for sale. I bought five of them. I have four sisters, and the shop owner put the each of their names in them. She let me take a video of her sewing.

Once we got all of our souvenirs we grabbed a local beer at a small bar. I had been dying to try conch fritters. The raw conch tasted pretty good, but I wanted it fried. We ordered a batch, drank our beers, and watched a bit of football. The conch fritters tasted amazing, but the beer left a lot to be desired. I missed the beer from Grand Turk.

While at the bar, we noticed that a bunch of people put up dollars with their country or school on them. We also noticed a definite lack of an Aggie dollar. With markers borrowed from the barmaid, we worked to correct it. Now, if you go to that bar, you will find a Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2010 and a whoop dollar. Focus Foxies, you should go check it out. I mean right now; jump on a cruise, and go to The Bahamas.

Our cruise ship set sail early from Freeport, and we had to be back at the dock by 13:00. We did have one more misadventure regarding a Bahamian dollar and jerk chicken. What is it with us and jerk chicken? We had a great morning in Port Lucaya. We had one more day on the ship before we had to go back to the real world.

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