7.31, 7.30, 7.29

I cannot believe that three weeks ago I was in Roatan, Honduras! It was a beautiful and relaxing day, despite some cloudy skies and down pours to start. 

view from our cabin before anchoring

Carnival basically built a beach, as far as I know, at the port. Unless you take an excursion through the cruise ship, I'm not sure how safe this port is in reality. You can walk or take the sky ride right from the dock to Mahogany Bay. We walked through the shops and well manicured "jungle" before hitting the little beach club comprised of a few bars, a restaurant and loads of beach chairs.

Thats the Carnival Legend from our seats on the beach!

And once the sun and the crowds came out.

It really was pretty gorgeous. I brought some color pencils with me and attempted to sketch from the beach, but nothing could do this justice. The water was clear and comfortable. We were in pretty often as it was hot! On the walk back, I bought a necklace and mahogany earrings from a local vender.

The day before, my mom and I went cave tubing in Belize. I did not bring my camera, so I don't have any photos... Unfortunately, there was a lot of waiting that day. We waited for the tender boat for what felt like over an hour. Then the tender took about fifteen minutes. Then we were herded into groups for our excursions and waited for a bus. The bus took us about forty five minutes west. Once we were there, we geared up in life vests, helmets with head lamps and tubes. We then trekked about twenty minutes into the jungle before linking tubes and floating down the river. 

I totally just stole these from my mom. Although I did take them on her camera. Thanks mom!

Check out those palms! We were seriously in a jungle. This was the second bus of the day. It was a manual in order to take us up and over a steep hill to the base camp.  

I have to say, after tubing, this is where I had the best nachos, ever. I know I had to wait for what felt like forever to get there, but I actually watched them make my nachos! There was another forty five minutes back, but I had a nice nap and at the end of the day, knew I had a very unique experience. 

The day before Belize, I dragged my family on an excursion I selected. This brought us to a museum called Discover Mexico and to a national park called Chankanaab in Cozumel, Mexico. 

Our tour guide, Ruy, was very knowledgeable. He led us through Discover Mexico, allowing us to take in the artistry from multiple generations, as well the "to scale" landmarks throughout history. 

detail of the Tree of Life, clay

I loved the artwork! 

I also may have freaked out by all the fish near us, but snorkeling at the park was awesome.

Our ticket included lunch at Discover Mexico. We watched a woman hand press the corn tortillas! I must have missed the explanation of sauces at the end of the buffet line though.

The green salsa was so hot, I think my eyeballs were sweating! (But soooo good)

Here we are in Cozumel! The Three Generations. 

did you read the beginning of the cruise, 7.27?

"Best of the Town" Painting Entry

Alright folks, I need your opinion.
I plan to enter a show hosted by our local Art Association. You can enter up to three pieces, each with a fee, in the juried show. You can also enter what I am calling here, the "Best of the Town" show, but the same painting can not be in both. Some of my favorite pieces of the last year deal with the subject matter of our town and I would like to enter one. But I can't decide! Help me out and leave a comment about which one I should enter.

Black's Creek, 5"x7" Oil on Canvas 

From Above, 5"x7" Oil on Canvas

Also worth noting, I am not married to the names. I almost can see these as companion pieces, but I don't have time to make them more harmonious. Plus I can only enter one.
Another note, I snapped these pics with my iPhone in the natural and artificial light of my new studio, aka our extra bedroom.

Your input is appreciated!

7.27

Packing for any vacation is a bit of a daunting task for me. Sometimes just getting ready for work, I will put on three different shirts and change my shoes five times before I am comfortable and happy. Why? I don't know. We joke that I should have a "swear jar," but instead of putting a quarter in every time I cuss, I should give every time I change my outfit. Needless to say, packing for two and a half weeks where I would need formal wear, casual dress, beach attire and comfortable excursion clothes, took a while, not to mention we were moving!

I arrived in the Tampa area mid- week and had a few days to relax with family. My nana and I had some time at Clearwater Beach before a typical summer thunderstorm rolled in, and my mom and I had a lovely evening of mani- pedis and dinner out. We even caught at Red Sox game at Tropicana Field. (of course we lost) By Sunday evening, this was the view of Tampa from the back of the Carnival Legend. 

About two hours later, the cruise ship had to squeeze under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. I've driven over it. Its really high!

But the tail of the ship only had about twelve feet of clearance!

Worst part of the Day: I don't think there was much of a negative the first day! Other than there being tons of people on deck and in the pools as we set sail. But then, there are literally thousands of people on board.

Best part of the Day: Immediately being catered to. Oh that sounds so snobby! But I think that service is part of the cruising culture and it was pretty amazing how quickly waiters made themselves available, even learning your name and using it when asking about the next round of drinks.

Thousands of Miles Traversed

My goodness, it has been almost a month since I last posted!

In that time, I returned from Nantucket and closed on a beautiful, three bedroom, one and a half bath home, complete with an in-ground pool, just blocks from the beach. My boyfriend and I are really excited to have purchased his family's home and in the short ten days that I was in MA, I helped pack anything I physically could before I was jet setting yet again.

This time I flew to Tampa and spent two and a half weeks with my mom and grandmother. Seven of those days, we were on a Caribbean cruise with stops in Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, and Grand Cayman.

After all the miles this summer, I think I should get a swallow tattoo!

I hope to post a bit about my cruise and my Florida adventures soon. I can't believe that school starts in less than three weeks!