Cruising the Atlantic (and only the Atlantic) -- Part 3 - Bonus New York Trip!

On Thursday morning, we headed off the ship, picked up our luggage and then figured out our transportation.  We couldn't decide between calling an Uber of just grabbing a taxi.  The taxis were right there, so we used them.  The ride into New York ended up costing $100! The driver was kind of crazy and it was a hassle to pay (we didn't have cash and they only took credit at the office). So he had to drive us to the office so we could pay before getting us to our destination.  Let's just say, we are true Uber users and so thankful for their efficiency!

We got to our hotel earlier than check-in time, but they had an available room ready and let us check-in (we were hoping just to leave our suitcases, so bonus for us!). It was a cold day, so we decided to spend our day at The Met (art museum).  We took our trusty Uber there and enjoyed the warmth and history in the museum.  Steve got the director's audio tour, so we just followed along that path and saw most of the museum's highlights.  Only other big art museum I've been to before is the Chicago Art museum.  The Met reminded me a lot of it (similar exhibits, but The Met is bigger).  I think Steve was getting tired of me saying, "I've seen that in Chicago" or "I'm tired, I'm gonna sit over there." We stayed at the Met until closing time.

(Checking out some of the armory.  Back in Middle School, my teacher Mrs. B took us to the Chicago Art Museum as a special trip for her medieval ages class to go see their armory.  This is the point where Steve kept hearing, "I've seen that in Chicago.")

(The museum itself has some great architecture!)

(Can you tell I was tired??)

From there, we stood out in the cold for another Uber (seriously, it was super cold and windy.  I was losing it.) which took us to a restaurant for dinner -- Tony's Di Napoli.  Steve had made reservations, but we got there before our time.  They weren't busy and led us straight to a table.  Their portions are big and the server encouraged us to share.  We split a ravioli dish - and it was amazing.  Once we were fed and warm, we headed (via subway) back to our hotel and called it a day.

On Friday, we ate breakfast in our hotel.  We stayed at a Comfort Inn that was on the outer edge of Manhattan.  On the subway, it was the last stop before heading into Brooklyn.  The rooms were very small (we lucked out and were upgraded to a business room which had a little more room) and it was pretty noisy with the traffic outside.  The breakfast area was located down in the basement.  It was very crowded in the mornings! We actually got our food and then took it back to our room to eat.  After we ate and got ready, we took the subway to get to Chelsea Market.

We had signed up for a food tour in Chelsea Market and met up with our tour group.  Our guide was the hilarious - Curt Upton.  He knew everyone in the Market and was super knowledgeable of the area's history and the food.  We later figured out that he does comedy and acting on the side.  He talked with each of the tour members and would learn some information about us and then share with the rest of the group - making it into a big deal.  There was a couple from Alaska, some girls from CA, and even from Brazil.  He kept calling us by our names and whatever information he remembered.  Steve and I were dubbed "Steve and Lindsey from Hurricane Cruise".  He thought it was hilarious that we were on that cruise and would randomly tell people in the different shops we would stop in.

The tour was totally worth the money and a fun experience.  We got to go into several of the different shops in the market and try out what they had to offer:
-Cupcake from a bakery
-Steak tar tar from a meat company
-Quiche from an Italian store
-Biscuits & jam from a bakery
-Veggies & salt from a salt store
-Meat pies & Kale salad from an Australian shop
-Caramels from a candy store
-Meatball subs from a hotel (we walked there after the Market)

(Red Velvet Cupcake -- it was good, but it wasn't "Sara's Sweets" good.)

(Inside Chelsea Market.  It had very interesting decor.  It was very industrial with lots of exposed metal and beams.)

After we finished the actual Market portion, we got to go into Iron Chef Morimoto's restaurant and use this super fancy toilets.  Then we continued our walk through the meat packing district and got to see some neat views of the city.  We ended the tour at a hotel, where we got to go up to the penthouse before tasting some meatball subs in the restaurant. We laughed some more at Curt, got a couple pictures with him, then went on our way.

(Curt being crazy.  He wanted to stage the picture like we were looking at something. And supposedly he plays some boy that dances with Winona Ryder on the movie Little Women.)

("Now look over there!")

We walked back to Chelsea Market thinking we could find a quiet place to sit and maybe get another snack.  However, the market was hopping! We did one pass and decided the craziness wasn't worth it.  We called up an Uber and headed for the afternoon's activity - a visit to the Tenement Museum.  We had a set time for a tour, but was a little early.  So we killed time by watching the movie in the gift shop before our tour was called.  We went on the "Hard Times" tour which took us through a couple of the apartments that immigrants lived in during the early 1900s.  The tour guide told stories of the families that lived in the apartments and explained how they got by.  It was crazy to think about such large families living in 1 bedroom apartments with no running water.  Boy do we have it easy!

(The Tenement apartment we got to tour.  We were on the 2nd level and got to see 3 different apartments. The first one was the shape the apartment was when the Tenement Museum got ownership.  The 2nd and 3rd had been remodeled to appear like the last families were living in them.)

After the "museum" (I thought there would be an actual tour through a museum with artifacts and such, but the Tenement Museum is just a series of different apartments you tour), we used the subway system to go back to our hotel.  It was too early for dinner, so we relaxed in our room a little before heading back out.  I really didn't want to get back out, but Steve had found a BBQ place that he wanted to eat at.  We used the Subway again and had to walk about 5 blocks to get to the restaurant.  The food was really good and worth getting back out for.  There was a little bakery that my friend Sara had mentioned before we left.  There was a shop for it another 5 blocks away from the BBQ that we decided to walk to.

The Momofuku Milk Bar (the shop not the actual bar) was a little hole in the wall place.  I thought it would be more like a bakery with fresh stuff in a case.  There was enough space for 3 people to walk in the door, and then there was a counter with a couple people working behind it. We got a few cookies that were packaged.  I was really confused by the place, but when we ate the cookies later, they were good.  We had to walk the 10 blocks back to the subway, and then headed back to the hotel for the last time!

(Inside the Momofuku shop.  The door to outside was right behind me, with another little counter to the left. It was super small!)

We were able to sleep in a little, grab some breakfast, and then take our last Uber to the airport.  We worried about delays due to some weather, but only got back to Indy about a half hour later than we should've.  Boy were we excited to see our Bean again! She had a great time at Ahm & Abo's house (my parents) and was able to soak up lots of attention and playing with cousins.  It only took us a week for Bean to detox off of all the attention and about 100 "Go Ahm's house?!" questions.

(One excited little girl to have Momma & Daddy back.)

(One not-so-excited little girl to be back at home with just Momma.)

(The struggle is real. I hear you kid.)

Cruising the Atlantic (and only the Atlantic) -- Part 2 - Anthem of the Seas vs a Hurricane

We woke up Saturday morning ready to get on the ship already! I'm the kind of person that vacation doesn't start until I have no more deadlines/times to worry about.  We were able to start boarding at 11:30, so we slept in a little, ate breakfast, packed up our stuff and called an Uber.  We had a great driver who was super talkative and kept us laughing.  He had never driven anyone to the Bayonne port before, but he figured it out.  We ended up being in a super long car line, so we decided to just go ahead and get out of his car and walk the rest of the way (less than a half mile).

Getting through the port and onto the ship was quite simple.  We did a pre-check before going through security which allowed us to just walk onto the ship. Last cruise we went on, it took us over almost 2 hours to get out of the car and onto the ship.  This time, it was more like 20 minutes.  We stepped onto the ship and vacation officially had begun!

(Our statemoom! Little did we know how much time we would spend in there!)

(View from the bed to the door/bathroom. I should've taken a photo of the shower.  It was a glass shower and really nice for a cruise ship!)

We chose this cruise based on the ship - Anthem of the Seas.  It's the 3rd largest ship in the Royal Caribbean family and had lots to offer.  It has a high tech lounge that offers one of a kind shows, roller skating, bumper cars, indoor/outdoor pools, Broadway style shows, and a pod that can take you out over the water.  Our first goal upon getting on the ship was eating, eating, and more eating :).  When it was time for departure, we donned on our winter coats and hats and headed up on deck to watch the ship pass under a bridge.

(First time being bundled up for a boat departure celebration!)

(As the boat sailed out of the harbor, it had to pass under a big bridge (not Brooklyn).  It was neat to watch the top of the ship clear the bridge by what appeared to be just a few feet!)

This was our first Royal Caribbean cruise and tried out some new things like the "dynamic dining".  The ship had 3 main dining rooms (there were additional ones that you had to pay for).  With dynamic dining, we got to pick which restaurant we wanted to eat at and reserve a time.  On our first night, we went to Silk which was Asian inspired.  The main dishes weren't anything impressive, but I fell in love with their sesame rolls and garlic butter.  Yummmm.  I could've just eaten those all dinner.  After dinner, we watched the welcome show and then went to bed.

The next day was Super Bowl Sunday!  I of course donned my Manning jersey all day to support my beloved Broncos.  Little did I know how memorable that Sunday would turn.  We made a reservation to see "We Will Rock You" - a Queen inspired Broadway show at 2:30.  On Saturday before we departed, the captain had warned us of potential rough seas on Sunday due to a storm brewing in the ocean.  He felt confident that he could outrun the storm though.  By 2pm, the ship was rocking pretty good.  We went to the theater and waited for the show to start.  Our cruise director came out before the show and made an announcement about how they were going to start the show, but with the rough seas, they may have to abruptly stop.  The show started and about 20 min in, you could tell that the actors were struggling.  Shortly after a couple dancers slipped, the director came out and cancelled the rest of the show.

We headed back to our room because we didn't have any other plans due to the cancellation.  It was hard to walk up the steps from the rocking.  We just figured it was rough seas mixed with the captain driving the boat fast.  We got to our room and looked out our balcony to realize how high the waves were.  There wasn't much to do other than read or pick something to watch from our 6 available tv stations - TBS (which was based out of Spain and didn't have normal programming, just mostly movies), CNN, ESPN, HLN, a channel like TruTV, and another channel that just showed episodes of The Middle (or at least that's all we ever saw on!).  Nothing was on and the rocking got worse. That's when the director came on and announced that for everyone's safety, they wanted everyone to return to their staterooms.

With that announcement, I started to get a little afraid.  I realized that things were worse than what we (or the captain) initially thought.  Life jackets aren't located in the rooms, but at muster stations.  Our muster station (place you meet in event of an evacuation) was the theater we had just left located on deck 5, we were on deck 12.  I freely admit that I had a slight panic attack at this moment.  Steve was calm and had no fear of the situation.  He immediately comforted me and stopped and prayed.  I quickly came to my sense and realized I couldn't think worse case scenario, but instead had to focus on each passing minute being 1 minute closer to it all being over.

The waves started to get worse and another announcement came on saying we were going through the worst of it.  Steve started feeling queasy as the waves really picked up.  He typically has no issues with motion sickness (ironically, I do) but he was really feeling it (I was fine).  I happened to have some Dramamine with me and gave him some.  He laid on the bed and was pretty useless for awhile.  His uselessness made me be the one that had to be levelheaded and in control.  I took care of his needs and just focused on trying to get him feeling better versus thinking about our real situation.  He just laid on the bed the rest of the time, but I would get up and secure things like glasses and our random toiletries in the bathroom.  You could hear them falling off the shelves and rolling around the floor.  Stuff in drawers and clothes hanging in the closet would shift left and right as the boat rocked.  I had to get up and pee a lot and there were times that I would have to crawl on the floor from the bed to the bathroom because it was too hard to walk.  When I would go to get back into the bed, I had to time the waves right so that the bed was in the high position as I got on.  If it was in the low position, I would continue to roll over the bed and would have to catch myself against the wall.  The scariest part to me was when the wind would hit our balcony door just right and it would pop the seal.  You could hear the wind screeching through and it would make our ears pop.  The director came on with an update and let us know that all pay per view movies would be free the rest of the day.  Despite Steve being sick and useless, we settled on a movie to try to pass the time.  By the time the movie ended, it was Superbowl time! The waves had calmed a little, and the last update from the director/captain said "just a few more hours."

Those "few more hours" ended up being more like 6+.  But at least they kept giving us hope that we were surviving and would be in calmer waters soon. The captain was very open with us over the situation.  He explained his plan of action and would update every hour or so on what was going on.  The storm was too powerful to try to navigate through.  So he had to point the ship in the direction of the wind and then power the engines to just hold position and allow the storm to pass over us.  So basically, the ship sat like a lame duck for about 10 hours (only at the time, they predicted the storm to be less severe and to pass quicker than it was).

The Superbowl was the perfect distraction! Steve was feeling better and we really got into the game.  We were shocked that we had such a clear picture of the game (after all, we were in the middle of the ocean in a hurricane!). I got to watch my beloved Peyton Manning lead his team on to a great victory over the Panthers!  We were getting a little hungry during the game (hadn't really thought of food much until then) and luckily, the director came on letting us know that we could raid whatever was in our mini-fridges for free.  I investigated and found a lot of useless booze, bottles of water, some soda, 2 cans of mini Pringles, 2 Snickers, and 2 packs of m&ms.  So we watched the game and feasted on our junk food.  I drank a diet coke for the first time since before getting pregnant.  Boy was it tastey :).

(Superbowl "feast"!)

(Had to take a shot of how we were surviving the storm! Go Peyton!!)

Once the game ended, we figured the waves would stop anytime soon.  However, the last update that came on around 11 said "a couple more hours" again.  By 1am, we were tired and gave up caring (the waves were significantly smaller).  The waves lulled us to sleep and we woke up the next morning around 8:30 to a very calm ship! Woohoo! We made it!  Announcements came on that food locations were up and running and to be careful while navigating around the ship.

(There was a channel on the tv that would show our boat's position and give stats - wind/direction/speed/temperature/etc.  During the storm, we would flip to this channel a lot to get an idea of how fast we were going - even though we were staying in one spot - and how fast the wind was hitting the ship.  The next morning I took a snapshot of the screen so you could see our "holding position" during the storm.)

We made our way to breakfast and saw lots of crew out and working.  I got a little chuckle out of all the barf bags hanging in stairwells for people to use (and yes we even got to see some barf that did not make it into a bag).  As we made our way to the lido deck, we had to walk some outside. The weather was actually beautiful out, but the damage to the ship was quite obvious.  The pools had been drained and were full of glass, random debris (pieces of the ship's outer shell came off the top, lawn chairs were mangled, etc), electric doors were either stuck open or stuck closed, lots of statue/decor were all in a huge pile on the deck as opposed to being in their right locations.  As we entered the actual buffet location, there was a big section of the ceiling that had fallen.  There were several workers already making good progress on it.

We got our food and ate and let it really sink in what we'd gone through.  We heard other people telling their stories and realized we had it really good! If you were in a decks 5 and below, the waves would crest up over the balconies, and enter through the door.  The water would then slosh through the staterooms and into the hallways.  Later when we walked deck 5, there were lots of air dryers being used to dry the carpets.  Others had stories of water coming up through their shower drains, or people puking in their ice buckets all night.  It really is a miracle that of the 6,000+ people on board, there were only 4 minor injuries reported (lacerations from broken glass).

After we ate, we made our way to the Solarium (basically outside deck with glass all around it, so you get the view but controlled weather).  We found a couple of lawn chairs and were going to sit and read.  However, we started to notice lots of people around us watching news stories of our ship on their tablets!  We quickly realized that the ship had gotten national attention and I started worrying about our families freaking out about us.  The ship had an internal wifi that you could use to access their app, but that was it.  I went ahead and put my wifi on just to see if maybe there was information on the app about what had happened.  But all the sudden, I started receiving emails and internet messages.  For whatever reason, the internet was working (about 30 min later, the director came on and announced they'd opened internet up for everyone to use at no charge).  I was able to chat with a friend and have her text my mom that we were fine.  I then sent out a mass email to our family to let them know what happened and that we were fine! We did see news reports from CNN on our tv in our room later that afternoon. Let's just say, Nancy Grace had it allllll wrong!

We were supposed to port in Orlando by noon on Monday; however, it was obvious we were way off course.  There were all sorts of announcements all day saying that we'd have a delayed port time in Orlando, but that the main office in Miami was working on the scheduling and figuring out what the rest of the cruise would look like.  It was obvious that no one knew what was really going on, but at least they were trying to keep us all in the loop.  Activities were planned and they were doing their hardest to get the ship back to normal.  There wasn't just the obvious clean up of the random debris on the outer deck, but I'm guessing they lost a lot in the kitchens/storage areas.  Coffee mugs were few and far between the rest of the cruise (they did have disposable cups to use, though).  I noticed some other "short cuts" like packaged butter vs. the butter being served in dishes like the first night.

Eventually, we were finally notified that the ship would not be headed towards FL as planned.  They used a ploy about another potential storm brewing off the coast and decided it best for everyone to just end the cruise and get back to Bayonne.  After we were off the ship several days later, did we get the information that one of the engine's system's had burned out all it's gears and needed repair.  Steve and I were still in good spirits.  Other than never reaching warm weather, we made the best of our cruise.  The director did a good job cramming the highlights of a 7 day cruise into 3 days.  We got to eat lots of great food (even though it took Steve a couple days for his stomach to stabilize and want food), enjoyed great entertainment, and most of all -- had a great kid free break!

(Steve was bound and determined to use our balcony, even if it was cold! The warmest it got was mid 50s one day the day after the storm, but before returned back north.)

(Once we were well on our way back to Bayonne, I took another snapshot of our ships's path from the beginning, through the storm, and our return.  The loop/squiggle is from the storm.  Then you can see how far south we went before the decision was made to return back to original port.  We did experience some choppy seas again on Tuesday, but nothing compared to Sunday!)

(This may seem lame to some, but I thought it was super cool.  Before entering the lido (buffet) area, you were funneled through a hand washing station! There was crew there encouraging you to use it.  I thought it was great!)

(One of the technologies highlighted on the cruise is the "bionic bar".  You order your drinks on a tablet which is then sent to the bar.  When your drink is being made, it is shown up on the screen. Steve wanted to try it out just to experience.  You can see the information of his "Green Lagoon" being made.)

(The drinks are made by robots.  All the different liqueurs are stored upside down on the ceiling.  The cups and carbonated drinks were located in those squares behind the robots.  They'd move around, grab the cups, put the cups up to the right liquor, etc and make the drinks.)

(Showing off his drink, which he only took a sip of. Ha.)

(This ship was all about technology.  Another big selling point was the 270 cafe - which offered a huge panoramic view off the back of the ship.  At night, screens would cover the windows and they could display scenes and all sorts of stuff on there.  We got to see the big show offered in this theater - Specter's Cabaret.  To me it was a trip fest, but it was a one of a kind show.  It had aerialists, robot screens, and the different sections of the stage would raise and lower.)

(One night we went to the "silent disco".  We knew about this going into the cruise. It was supposed to be one of the last nights and was disappointed that we would miss it with the shortened trip.  However, it was the director's favorite event and he squeezed it into the schedule.  Everyone gets a pair of headphones that toggles between 2 different music stations - green or blue.  You then only hear the music through the headphones.  So people around you are dancing and singing, yet they may be listening to different music than you.)

(Silent Disco Selfie)

(We stayed for a little bit. Highlight for me was when half were singing Rockin' Robin while others were dancing and singing to "Bye Bye Bye".  The crew who were in charge of the event were really going crazy. It was a fun time!)

(One night I needed to get some ice water before bed.  Steve didn't want to go with me so I went off on my own.  I went on a long circuitous route to find it and discovered this artwork in one of the stair wells.  I told Steve about it when I got back but he thought I made up there being "Mickey Mouse donuts".  I tried to find it later in the trip but couldn't remember the path or stairwell it was on.  Finally on the last day, we ran into it! He thought the donuts made up the Mickey head, and didn't realize I meant they were legit Mickey Donuts. There was all sorts of random artwork featured around the ship and hindsight I wish I took some more photos!)

There was more confusion about when we would return to Bayonne. The issue wasn't the ship getting back to port, but the port having space for the ship to dock.  We were told we could be back at port as early as Wednesday morning, when reality it didn't dock until 8pm on Wednesday night.  We had to option to get off the ship that night (had to be off by midnight) or stay the night and depart Thursday morning.  We took option 2.  However, we still had to "go through immigration" on Wednesday.  So we were corralled along with everyone else on the ship to go through a specific location and turn in our customs sheet.  The agent we handed it to didn't look at our paper work, our passports, or even our faces.  You could tell they were just going through motions because of legalities.  Whatever.  I got our stuff all packed up and we enjoyed 1 last night on the boat (even if it was docked).

And for those of you wondering how we were compensated:
-Drink package purchases were refunded
-Internet packages refunded (didn't apply to us, but we did get free internet the rest of the trip!)
-Free movies
-Free minibar "purchases"
-Free all you can drink "Happy Hour"
-Full refund of trip
-Up to $150 refunded for changed flights (we chose to keep our flight and have bonus days in NY)
-Parking reimbursed (didn't apply to us, we did submit our taxi ride from port to NY after cruise, but awaiting response)
-50% off voucher to book and sail on another cruise by March 15, 2017
-We also had lots of on board credit that we had to burn.  We didn't figure it out until the last day and didn't get to take full advantage of that credit, but we did come out with several free t-shirts.  Unfortunately, none of them said "I survived the Anthem of the Seas." Marketing opportunity missed!

Cruising the Atlantic (and only the Atlantic) -- Part 1 - Preparations & New York!

Ever since our last cruise in the fall, Steve has been itching to go on another cruise.  When we found out we were pregnant, we realized that our window of another cruise got significantly smaller (cruise lines won't let you cruise over 25 weeks pregnant) and we knew we didn't want to leave a newborn baby for a week (or take with us).  Even though it sounded crazy to go on 2 cruises in 5 months, we realized we are crazy and booked our first Royal Caribbean cruise for the 2nd week in February.

Since I am pregnant, we decided this cruise was all about relaxation.  We picked a ship with lots of entertainment options (and didn't care so much about destination or excursions).  Once we picked the ship, we got locked into leaving out of Bayonne, NJ with planned stops in Orlando, FL; Nassau, Bahamas; and Cocoa Cay, Bahamas (private island).  We have never cruised the Atlantic Ocean before, always just the Caribbean (Steve's cruise the Pacific Ocean/Alaska, but that doesn't matter to the story).  We know it would be a weird cruise leaving out of NJ in February!

As the date approached, Steve was like a kid in a candy store.  He spent hours each night researching about the ship, things to do for our extra day in New York, and some possibilities of small excursions at ports (like Space Center in Orlando and beaches in the Caribbean).  Now I do enjoy cruises, but I'm the kind that it stresses me out until we get there.  I have to figure out all the packing, and who's going to watch Bean, plus my worrier spirit prevents me from being gung ho about the next adventure.  And THEN, we heard all over the news in the weeks leading up to the cruise about the Zika virus and causing birth defects in pregnant women. Great! That added to my stress, but after doing my own research and talking to my doctor, we decided we would be fine if we just stayed on the ship in the Caribbean ports.  

The date quickly approached and I had to kick it in to high gear to get stuff pulled together.  I am a procrastinator by nature, but I always pull through.  We planned to leave Thursday by 4:30pm to head to my parents house (they watched Bean while we were gone).  By the Sunday prior, I hadn't even pulled out suitcases yet.  Steve was panicking about not seeing packing progress so I made a bet to get it all done by Wednesday night.  I succeeded except for a few last minute items I had to get at the store on Thursday (and I even got to sneak in a visit to our friends' house to see their new son!).  

We made it to my parents' house in great time and got to celebrate my sister's birthday with the majority of the family.  We even got to share with everyone that Bean is getting a baby sister! Once the festivities died down, we tucked our little girl into bed and ran over the "Bean List" with my mom.  We said our goodnight/goodbyes to everyone and went to bed.  We had an early morning wake up call, got on the road and got to the airport in Indy without any issues.  Our flight ended up being delayed a little bit (would've been nice to know prior to waking up!) but we made good time in the air.  Once at the airport, we had to pick up our luggage, get on the hotel transfer, drop bags off at hotel, pick up an Uber and get to the Liberty Ferry Boat dock on the Jersey side all within an hour.  I was stressed about how the timing was going to work, but it all went smoothly.  We even were able to just go ahead and check into our room.  

When I was younger, my family did an "All American" Vacation - Philly, New York, and Washington DC for 4th of July fireworks.  We only had a brief afternoon in New York and had planned to just go and see the statue of liberty. We got lost trying to find the ferry dock and missed the last boat by minutes.  I imagined this scenario happening again, but our Uber driver got us to the right area with a little bit of time to spare.  However, we found the right area, but couldn't find the dock! We knew it had to be along the water, right?? It ended up being hidden back behind an old building.  The signage was awful and it was easy to miss.  Thankfully, we made it to the ferry!

We were starting on the Jersey side, but wanted to end up on the New York side.  There were 2 routes going counter clockwise, so we had to ask someone the best way order in which to hit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and end up in New York.  We figured it out and it wasn't that hard, just had to bypass a stop on the first trip.  So we started at the statue.  We picked up an audio tour and walked through the little museum first.  We then only walked up to the pedestal lookout.  Even though I've been doing great with the pregnancy (as far as hanging in there, haha), I didn't want to climb all those steps to get all the way up the statue.  Maybe next time??  Maybe. 

(Photo cred goes to Steve.  Have I ever mentioned how good he is at taking photos?!)

(Lady Liberty's close up.  I'm not sure what makes this photo more awkward, Lady Liberty or my fashion statement.)

(If only we brought our selfie stick. . . )

After the statue (which was neat to say we did, but not as impressive as I thought it would be), we took the ferry over to Ellis Island.  It was much cooler than I thought it would be.  My great grandpa came over from Romania in the early 1900s and came through immigration at Ellis Island.  It was neat to hear all the history (we did an audio tour) and to think about what my great grandpa went through just to find a new life in America.  What a sacrifice! I was taken aback by how many immigrants never made it through the island.  A lot were quarantined, died on the island, or were rejected and sent back overseas on boats.  

(Upon entering the building on Ellis island, immigrants would leave all of their belongings in this room before heading off for registration.  My parents have the original steamer trunk that my great grandpa brought over from Romania.  It was crazy for me to think about him leaving it there - and also having to lug it around, that thing is huge!)

(Registration room.  Back in the day, this room was full of immigrants waiting on benches.  They would be called one at a time up to a little podium to register for entry.  While they waited, they underwent some quick medical assessments and were marked with chalk on their clothing.  Different markings met whether they had passed or needed further assessments.)

It was nearing closing time, so we left the building to go catch the ferry.  For some reason, the ferry took extra long to come back to Ellis Island.  It was a cold day and the wind coming off the water made it even worse. The boat finally came and we packed on with everyone else to get to New York.  I was done being cold and ready to just get dinner and get to the hotel, but Steve had a full evening planned.  We walked from battery park down wall street to see the bull statue (I still don't understand it), then swung by the New York Stock Exchange building (kind of weird that it is hidden in a back alley, haha).  We continued walking and made it to our dinner spot - Fraunces Tavern.  It claims to be the oldest building in Manhattan and once served as headquarters for George Washington.  We loved the rustic/historic atmosphere and especially loved being out of the cold!

(Eating in Fraunces Tavern)

(Yum! Steve got a stewed chicken dish while I had a sweet corn and cheese ravioli.  It sounded kind of crazy but was pretty tasty!)

After dinner, we walked to the 9/11 Memorial and museum.  It was really cold, but I sucked it up.  The memorial itself was breathtaking.  There were two huge memorial pools where each tower once stood.  Surrounding the pool's rim were written all the names of those lost in each tower.  The names were etched in black granite with lights shining through and illuminating the names. In the center of the pool was a dark abyss that sucked down all the water from the cascading pool.  It is quite the site to see and I encourage anyone venturing to New York to make this a stop on your list. 

(New One World Trade Center or "Freedom Tower" with the WTC Tower 1 reflection pool in front of it.)

(Notice the names on the black edging at the bottom of the picture.  Water cascaded down the walls about 20 feet into the pool and then got sucked down into the black abyss in the center. It was such a serene setting.  So crazy to think of the mayhem that took place on this spot.)

After we walked around the pool, we went into the museum.  I was blown away by all the museum offered.  I wasn't prepared for it to bring on my own emotions of what went on that day.  As cool as it was to see a historical place like Ellis island, this historical place seemed just a little more real in that I remember exactly where I was when the towers were bombed.  It's weird to live history and see it memorialized. The museum itself was fascinating.  It was below ground level and built around the foundation of the towers (you actually got to see the foundation stones and walk around their edges).  There was history of how the towers were built, the 1993 bombing, and of course the Sept 11th attacks and aftermath.  The museum did a good job of incorporating media reports, artifacts (like shoes/glasses/airplane seat belts/fire engines/etc) and written information.  I wasn't prepared for the rooms filled with pictures of all the lives lost or the areas that had voicemails from those inside the towers to their loved ones.  It was a very emotional experience, but again, one I feel like everyone needs to experience.  

(The only picture we took inside the museum.  The left is the slurry wall that was created before construction started on the towers to keep water from the Hudson river from ruining the foundation.  On the right is the "Last Column" which was the last steel beam removed from ground zero.)

After we finished the 9/11 Memorial, we headed to the nearest PATH stop (like Subway) and took it to a main station.  From there, we picked up an Uber and headed back to our hotel in New Jersey.  We crashed for the night and excitedly woke up and got ready the next morning for our cruise departure!

Cruisn' The Carnival Freedom

In September, we took our first big vacation without Bean! We left Bean with my sister in Indiana while we headed out for a 7 day cruise to the Western Caribbean -- private island in Honduras, Belize, & Cozumel. 

(We helped Bean get read for the trip by having her spend a couple nights with Amber as a trial run.  About a week before the cruise, Bean and I headed to IN so that she could stay a day with Amber.  I didn't think it was really necessary, but I will say that it did help add hype to the trip.  Bean was really excited to go back to IN to see "Amba" & "play wit Gabbie".)

We headed to IN after Steve got off work on Thursday evening.  We drove a different route than normal, so that I could pick-up my wedding ring from the jewelry store.  I had taken it in a few weeks prior to get it resized (smaller!).  The mall that the store was in has a nice food court and is just slightly out of the way to my parents, so it worked out great.  

(There is a little kids play area with riding machines.  So we let Bean try a couple.  Most ate our quarter, but this ice cream truck one moved.  She thought it fun!)

(We couldn't get this one to work, but she liked sitting in it anyway.)

Our flight was on Friday evening out of Chicago.  Steve worked from my parents' house in the morning while my dad went into work.  He came home afternoon and we got the van loaded up.  We were on the road by 2 and got into Chicago with great time (and minimal traffic!).  Our flight went smoothly and we got into Houston late evening.  A hotel shuttle was supposed to meet us and take us to the hotel, but when I went to talk to the guy, there was confusion on his part and he wasn't willing to wait and confirm we were to go with him.  So we got left at the airport longer than we should have been.  We had to call the hotel  again to get the shuttle and the same guy ended up coming later (and had too many passengers because he was being ridiculous earlier).  Oh well, we finally got to our hotel and we all crashed!

(On the plane! I only read books while traveling, so I was pretty excited to dive into "The Martian".  Oh man, let me just say, 10 min in, and I was sold.  It's an amazing book. Go read it.  NOW!)

To get from the hotel to the cruise terminal, we had to go back to the airport and catch the Carnival transport.  That transfer went smoothly and we got to the terminal in Galveston with no issues.  We must have gotten their earlier than we should have because we had to wait way too long in the terminal to get onto the boat.  But of course, it was all worth the wait once we got on the boat.  I didn't care where we were going or what we were doing.  I was just ready to not cook/clean/think for a week!  

(Steve surprised me and had our room decorated for our anniversary!)

(Our real anniversary was in August, but we didn't ever do anything special for it. It wasn't our original reason for going on the cruise, but I'm glad he can still surprise & spoil me!)

(This is what vacation looks like!)

(Steve was super excited to be able to play with is GoPro all week.  He would set it up for sailing shots, use it to capture sunsets, and he videoed our entire cave excursion.  He still needs to edit all the footage and put a video together - hint, hint!)

I was pretty nervous about leaving Bean.  I knew she'd survive the week without me, but I just would get mental about how I know her every need and desire. I, of course, had nothing to worry about.  She had 3 cousins to entertain her for the week.  Amber did great sending me texts (until I couldn't get anymore) and even a couple emails -- but we never checked them!  We went the full week cold turkey, and just trusted all was well.  My sister sent me the following pictures/messages throughout the week:

("Dear Mom & Dad, Vacation is fun. We are at the zoo. I got a sucker. It is a beautiful day. Try to have some fun even though you're not on vacation, too. Love, Bean")

(Email: "Dear Mom & Dad, This Vacation thing is great. I now see why grown-ups talk about them. I should take them more often. Everyone waits on me hand and foot, and I get whatever I want. Try not to be jealous. Love, Bean")

("Dear Mom & Dad, Vacation has been lots of fun. But I'm readt to go home. Love you and see you soon.)

We had Sea days on Sunday, Monday & Friday; with our stops on Tuesday-Thursday.  Every day was pretty much filled with laying in the sun, maybe a dip in the pool, maybe go to a trivia event (where we never won, but always laughed), and always lots of food.  I will not admit how much weight was gained on the ship, but I'll hang Steve out to dry and say his was double digits! 

(Best part of any cruise is ordering tons of food!  Where else do you get to try multiple dishes for 'free'??)

(Pictures at dinner!)

(Our side of the table!)

(Dressed up for formal night.)

(Formal night photo obligation.)

 We had 3 different stops on 3 different days.  In Honduras, we got off the ship for a little bit and went to Carnival's private beach.  Steve and I got in the water while my parents lounged in the chairs.  It got too hot if you weren't in the water, so we decided to go back on the ship and enjoy the pool there.  In Belize, we took a private excursion and went cave tubing.  Our guides took us into a national park where we were able to float on tubes through caves while they taught us about the scenery.  And lastly, in Cozumel, we went shopping! We just got off the boat to find some souvenirs, then headed back to enjoy the pool and emptiness on the boat.   

(Headed back to the ship after our little beach outing.)

(It was hot, but beautiful!)

(Pretty much what we wore all week - suits & shades!)

Even though there were some differences this cruise that we didn't care for (like no ice or chocolates in the room at night; no tablecloths at dinner; just missing some details, etc), we still had a great time with Carnival.  I think one thing that really made the week was the great staff.  Our cruise director (Malcolm "Woohoo" Burn) was the BEST cruise director I've ever had (I've been on 6 cruises, so I think I can say that).  He had a fun personality that just made you want to get involved.  We had the same servers each dinner and they were always funny and entertaining.  And last (but not least) the performers and shows were amazing! The singers all had great voices and you could tell they enjoyed what they do.  It was a lot of fun to watch them sing and dance each evening.  

(Our head server was pretty funny.  On certain nights, there was a "Showtime" where all the servers would dance to a song together.  Our guy had some pretty good dance moves.)

(So this picture isn't the best, but right smack dab in the middle is a guy in blue with a blonde faux hawk -- that was our cruise director! He was a 6'6" tall black guy - who does NOT play basketball - from Brooklyn.  He has the personality to be doing what he does. He could persuade anyone to do anything.) 

(Waiting for a show all dressed up on the other formal night.)

(Showtime selfie)

On our Sea days, they made a big deal about Dr. Seuss.  There was a parade, story time, and even a special breakfast.  We participated in all the Seuss events and even went to the special breakfast (limited seating & tickets were $5/person).  It was a fun and memorable time! 

(The tables were all decorated in Suess themed items.  The menu looked just like a Seuss book.)

(Mom & Dad being crazy.)

(The front of the menu.)

(Thing 1 & Thing 2 came around and wreaked havoc.  They made dad drink his water and they kept tipping the glass so he couldn't stop. Then they tussled his hair.)

(Thing 2 sat on Steve's lap and tussled his hair, too.)

(My food! Steve got Green Eggs & Ham, but I got fruit loop crusted french toast.  It had a Seuss name - something about Horton's toast - but all I remember is that it was delicious.  I may have had this for breakfast 3 times on the ship (it was on the regular brunch menu, too, just not Seuss named).)

(Cat & Sam-I-Am came to breakfast, too!)

(The only photo of all of us together.)

(Thing 1 & Thing 2)

Needless to say, we love cruises.  Steve maybe loves them a little too much.  He was already looking up new cruises as we were getting off the ship.  I will not confirm or deny if he has already booked another one.  Okay, who am I kidding?!  We will be going on another one in 2016! I'm one spoiled girl :)!

And just when you think the story is over. . . 

Getting off the ship was very hectic and we cut it pretty close of getting off the boat, getting our stuff, getting through customs, getting on the bus and getting to the airport.  The bus stopped at 2 different airports, ours being the 2nd, which added even more time.  We got through security quickly and made it to the flight with no problems.  We were even able to grab some quick food and get right on the plane.  Once we got to Chicago, we got our luggage, got to the van and headed out of Chicago.  

We stopped for dinner a little after 8 just cross the border into IN.  As we were getting back onto the highway though, my dad noticed the engine's temp was too hot and pulled over.  He was able to pull off on the extra long ramp (so we never made it up to actually merge on).  

(Dad and Steve assessed the situation and realized there was a leak in the radiator.)

Mom had a couple water bottles so dad poured water into the radiator.  I found an auto parts store a couple miles away, so dad backed up on the ramp to get to the road.  Not even a half mile on the road, and we had to pull off again.  The temp was still climbing and dad didn't want to push it.  We stopped in an empty lot next to a fast food stop.  I took all the cups and bottles from the car and went into the fast food place and filled everything with water.  It took a couple of trips, but dad was able to dump enough water in to cool it off some.  He noticed as he poured the water in, it immediately poured out, so he knew there was a big crack somewhere.  We got enough water in it that dad felt confident to go the last mile to the store. 

Dad parked under a light and went inside with Steve to assess their options.  Originally, he was going to get some product that you poured into a line to create a new seal.  Once he talked to the worker, though, he realized that wasn't going to work.  The worker did a quick inventory and discovered he had 1 radiator left for the make of car my dad owns.  So, a decision was made -- replace the radiator!  Usually, dad travels with a tool box in this van (it has a record), but he didn't have it this time.  The worker offered a set of tools and many items to help get the job done.  The store closed at 10, so dad had a deadline.

(New radiator purchased and quickly disassembling the old radiator.)

(Dad put Steve to work prepping the new radiator.  Steve would also do whatever my dad asked -- get tools, loosen/tighten bolts, etc)

(Working like crazy.)

(Old radiator out, just prepping to put the new one in.)

(I think this photo was taken around 9:30 - 30 minutes to go!  The worker would even come out and check on us to see how it was going.  I think he was routing for my dad more than mom/I were!).  

Dad got the new radiator in and all the tools packed up just as the building was closing.  He filled the radiator up with antifreeze, but the temp still wasn't going down like it should.  He figured out that the coolant wasn't circulating.  Luckily, there was a Walmart just across the street.  So we loaded up the van and drove over there.  Dad/Steve went in to buy a couple wrenches/tools.  Dad has encountered this issue before and knew that the line needed "bled".  He knew exactly where the issue was and got it fixed within minutes.  We were back on the road by 11! 

My sister had put Bean to bed at my parents.  So she was asleep when we got home (at 1am!).  When she woke up early in the morning, she was crying for Amber.  I went over to her and told her it was Momma.  She immediately grabbed me and held on tightly.  Oh how I missed that girl!