Bonney's
Vacation Sagas

We docked in Cozumel, Mexico at 9:00 am for St. Patrick's Day. Many people were wearing green and there were a few decorations around, but there wasn't a big deal made of it on the ship.

Katie was up early again so she could get her coffee and breakfast before we went ashore. I ordered room service for breakfast so I could sleep in longer. Most nights I was up until about 3:00 or 4:00 am.

Walking on the docs from the ship to the shopping area, one gets the feeling of just how large our ship was. That's Katie (the yellow speck) standing toward the front of the ship. When we docked there was a U.S. Navy vessel anchored on the other side of the pier. Several sailors were preparing to cast off. Other passengers asked what they were doing there. They said they were sweeping for mines!

Our party had agreed to meet at the town end of the pier in Cozumel at 9:30 so we could share a taxi to Playa Mia for a few hours at the beach. Bruce had signed up to scuba, so he left earlier. He'd had the forethought to shave his mustache so water wouldn't leak in his mask while he was on his tour.

Katie and I arrived at the shops on the land end of the pier about thirty minutes early, so we did some window shopping, but didn't plan to purchase until our return from the beach. The area was heavily crowded with people lined up for various tours they had signed up for, so there was no place to sit except near the shops closer to the road. John, Debbie, and Page finally found us, claiming they were waiting at the END OF THE PIER for a while. They had apparently expected us to be late and didn't look elsewhere for us. I wonder where they got that impression?

Together at last, the five of us hired a taxi to take us to the beach. Playa Mia is a Mexican National Park. The $29 "tour" price covered our entray, chairs, umbrellas, drinks, beach access, clean restrooms and showers, a pool, and hammocks.

Other activities like hang gliding, sailing, and food was available for purchase. John spent about an hour and a half on one of the massage tables under a white tent on the beach. This was another activity that cost extra.

John's massage.

Debbie spent her time eating chips and salsa, that looked more like pico de gallo, and reading the book she had brought with her. After John finished his massage, he lighted up a cigar. Anticipating complaints about the smell, he wandered to the hammocks with his book.

Debbie munches while she's reading.

Katie got four little braids put in on one side of her head. She sat in the sun sipping her drinks, and eating nachos. Katie claimed to have gone in the swimming pool, but since I didn't actually see her, I'm not so sure....

Page and I sat a while, read some, and ate nachos. She went to the water with me, intending to swim, but it was a little cold for some people and the beach area was very rocky in the shallow water, so she just stood in about six inches of water but didn't go in. I think she was hoping the water would feel warmer if she stood there a while. She gets bonus points in my book for trying, anyway! I managed to dodge most of the rocks and swam for about fifteen minutes before we returned to our lounge chairs. Abracadabra! Wish you were here. After that I went to the pool to swim there. The water was a little warmer.

When it was time to leave, Katie and I grabbed a quick shower and changed into clean clothes before our taxi ride back. John smoked another cigar while he was sitting in the back of the taxi, trying to have the smoke go out an open window, but when we were shopping afterward, I kept smelling the cigar, thinking John was nearby, He wasn't. My damp hair had absorbed the odor in that short amount of time.

John, Debbie, and Page had separated from us to shop and later went to Senior Frogs where Bruce met them after he returned from scuba diving and before returning to the ship. John and Debbie had purchased cigarettes for Debbie and gin for John to restock his bar at home.

Katie and I returned to the pier shops to pick up souvenirs and gifts. I bought two liters of vanilla extract, one for me and one for my daughter, Brandi. We both bake a lot and really like using Mexican vanilla. Katie found all kinds of things to buy for her family members. When we boarded again, the smaller Navy ship was gone.

I think it was some time on this afternoon that I gave a gift box to Page when she came to our room to look at the formal night photos I purchased.

For some reason, time snuck up on us...again. My hair wasn't dry after my second shower, to wash out the cigar smell, and it was almost time to leave our room. "Katie, would you please plug in my curling iron?" I said as I finished applying my makeup. Everyone was just a little late for dinner. Bruce and I had sirloin steaks and baked potatoes, Debbie ate spaghetti, and I think Katie ate a crab cake.

Debbie.	Bruce, Bonney, and John.

Katie, Bruce, Page, John, and Debbie went to a musical show where several other people were nodding off after their first day ashore. John and Debbie were supposed to come by my room to get their gift boxes, but never showed up.

So I went to find some salt! I was having such a difficult time breathing at night that I couldn't sleep, even when I was tired. I had brought a gallon of distilled water, but had forgotten to pick up some salt at the buffet restaurant. So I walked to the other end of the ship to the Windjammer to try to find several packets of salt (I needed about 1/2 teaspoon to make a saline solution to irrigate my sinuses), only to find the restaurant closed. I wandered around and found the soft serve ice cream machines in an enclosed area of the deck and got a vanilla and chocolate cone. There was also a waiter-type-person whom I asked about the salt. He went into the Windjammer and came out with a saltshaker! I left with it and a second cone (it took him a while) and headed back to the room via the Promenade.

It was there I found John, Debbie, Bruce, and Page sitting with some people who had a condo in Galveston in the same building where John's is, and are also friends of John's business partner. They were seated in a patio area in front of an English-type pub where a guy with a guitar was running "Superstar Karaoke" night. I told John that since he didn't show up at my room after the show, he blew his reprieve to get his gift. Mind you, he and Debbie really like my caramels.

The pub was called the Pig and Whistle. Katie and I had not had time to investigate this location yet. And I wasn't sure what Superstar Karaoke was, but they were doing it there. Two doors on either side of the Pig and Whistle were open so those sitting in the patio on the Promenade could participate. I sat down with the group, not intending to stay long. I quickly learned that the rules for Karaoke here were very different. The KJ, Karaoke Jockey, who was also playing his guitar and singing between songs, would call on someone at a table to come up and sing. Then he "randomly" selected a song for them to sing, whether they knew it or not. While I was there, he mostly picked oldies, but goodies, that everyone could sing along with, and eventually played Margaritaville. At the appropriate times when the singer got to the line, "Searching for my lost shaker of salt," I pulled the salt shaker out of my pocket to show everyone. They had a good laugh. When I knew I'd be staying longer, I went to a phone and called Katie, assuming she'd be back, in our room to let her know where I was and see if she wanted to join us, but she was already in bed, almost asleep.

I returned to the table where we were all trying hard not to be picked to sing the next song. The KJ interacted with people at most of the tables and had names for the various locations. The people in front of him in the pub were called "inner pigs". Remember, the pub is called Pig and Whistle. There were some seats inside that were behind a railing. They were the "jail pigs". Outside, we were called "patio pigs". There was wavy glass in some of the windows between the inside and patio and the KJ couldn't really see some of the people who were separated from him by those small windows. He called the people on the other side of those windows "fuzzy pigs". He also picked on people who were walking the Promenade and stopped to listen to someone singing. They were "free range pigs". There were others on the Promenade who, when he tried to get them to sing, rushed off. They were called "running pigs". A few establishments down the Promenade from the Pig and Whistle was a place with Ben and Jerry's ice cream and where pizza was served. Some people stood around do there, listening to the singers, so they were called "ice cream parlor pigs". The KJ picked on all the different types of pigs, but fortunately, we were not selected to sing that night.

With the hour late and a new port in the morning, we retired for the evening. This night we had an armadillo waiting for us.