The Dinner at The Point

 Here we are, waiting on our dinner at "The Point"  For a charge of $30 per person, you have a dinner that would cost you $100 at Folks Folly or Ruth's Chris.

 We are going to start at the end, because the beginning is so cute.  This little slice of cheesecake was pure heaven. Bennie learned on his behind the scene tour that is is a mere 14 oz. And yes, that is a chocolate bar stuck to the side.

 Now, when  you read the rest of this, you will think that this is a gourmet dabble of some sorts, but you would be wrong.  It is a drip of salad dressing on the table, and I stuck a piece of rosemary in it.  Why, you might ask?  It's the sort of thing I do to entertain Bennie.  It worked.  I got a "you ain't right" out of him.

 Bennie ordered the filet.  I had the Surf and turf.

 Cindy says I took a great picture of the knife.  I was trying to get the sides, etc.  And the knife.

 Our salads.  And the dressing that left a drop on the table.

 Oh my.  Are those shrimp?  Oh yeah.  And Bennie had the Onion Soup.  Notice the  delicate little cracker rings.

 And what would this be?  The chef sent us a course in appreciation of us coming to dinner.  Bennie's was a yummy fire roasted red pepper soup.  Mine.   A raspberry.

Yep. it is a single raspberry.  And yes it is very large.  And it has one of those very cute little crackers sitting on top of it.  And what is that??? Why, yes, it is caviar.  3 little fish eggs. There was a drizzle of something that was dried around it, but since I am a not a gourmet, I couldn't tell you what it was.  Now my quandary was, do I slice this into a few bites, or do I scoop it up?  I did try to cut it into a couple of bites, and I cant tell you if I like caviar, since there were only 3 little eggs.  But I tell you what.  This was worth the $30 just for fun!
Jeannie, when you read this, you have any gourmet chef ideas about my raspberry?

Bahamas Etc

Thursday was Nassau.  We didn't have anything planned, but their downtown is not too threatening, so our plan was to go wander around town and eat lunch, then go back to the ship. Our plan, such as it was, was to eat lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. 

Side note, which will play into this story eventually, Bennie has gotten us addicted to this "Logo" game on the iPhone.  It has pictures of logos, and you have to figure out what they are.  Back to Nassau.

So we made it around town and got to the Hard Rock about 11:30.  There was a note saying the restaurant would not open until Noon.  (But feel free to buy T-shirts).  We didn't want to wait, so we left and ended up in EVERYONE's favorite Vacation destination, Burger King. Oh well.  It wasn't ship food, so it was OK. Then we headed back through town, intending to go back to the ship.  But along the stores were all the signs and logos that we needed to complete some of the levels on our Logo Game.  So I am standing at the corner, making a picture of a sign with about half a dozen logos on it.  And we hear screams.  I turned around, and there was a family crossing the street and a local Bahamian in her hoopty hit them.  Best I could tell, the one hit the hardest was a little girl about 10 years old, and her Mom.  The girl was able to scramble to the sidewalk and was crying.  The mom was screaming.  But at the driver more than in pain.  So I know they were OK. ish.  And the one thing about these tourist ports, there are police everywhere.  So once we saw that  help was there, we decided to vanish.  We didn't witness the accident, as there were logos between us and the street.  But it was pretty scary.  Up until recently, I never thought about the cruise insurance.  But after hearing some stories about getting sick in ports, or now watching someone get hit by a car, I won't travel with out it.

So back to the ship we went.  After an hour or so, Bennie got to wishing we had waited for Hard Rock to open.  We have 3 hours left.  It's only a block away.  So we get off the ship and haul our asses back to Hard Rock Cafe.  Guess What.... The restaurant was without water and they weren't going to open.  So back to the ship we went. I took advantage of not many people being there, and did the most glamours thing I could think of.  I was all the dirty clothes.  AND I will jump ahead to Friday here, and just say I washed clothes again Friday, and came home with all clean clothes that just had to be put away.  It did make unpacking much easier.

Now for the complaint part of my show.  You always hear noise at night in a hotel or on a cruise ship.  It happens.  But 3 of the 7 nights, it was so loud it woke me from my Ambien induced sleep.  Drunks, you ask?   No.  Crew.  I guess our room must have been at a hub of some sorts.  They were LOUD. And talking.  Not in hushed tones.  Loudly. One night, there had to have been a metal cart outside our door, and the steward must have been refilling the metal cart with the little liquor bottles. One at a damn time.  Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.  Get the picture?   I will remind you of Bennie's favorite quote....He doesn't wake up grumpy...He lets her sleep.....

The last thing for now, Friday, Bennie took the Behind the Scene tour.  It takes you to the bridge, Galley, Crew quarters, brig, morgue, all sorts of places.  He learned lots of stuff and I think I will probably have to do that tour next time.

Narrative to go with these Pictures

I was going back over the notes I had made during the week to be mildly entertaining.  But pretty much, I realized, it was just like every other cruise we have taken.  So I will just hit the highlights.

This is the first Sunday to Sunday cruise we have done. I prefer Saturday to Saturday.  But Carnival was not willing to change their itinerary for me.  So I made it work. (I can hear Brenda in the background not working up much sympathy for me again.)

We leisurely made our way to Covington, La on Saturday.  I was a little afraid with Jazz Festival being in NOLA that weekend, there might be traffic issues.  But there wasn't.  But we stayed in a very nice Hilton Garden Inn, had lunch at Whataburger, dinner at Outback and shopped at Pier 1.  Got a picture of a pretty palm tree, and the "biggest" moon of the year.  Guess I missed the biggest part.  I've seen much bigger moons. (Usually in the bathroom mirror after a shower)

Made our way to NOLA the next morning, got right to the cruise terminal, and through the registration line in no time at all.  And then, BOOM!  We waited.  The Coast Guard was doing their semi-annual inspection.  Oh well.  I much preferred the inspection over the greeting of "Your ship was hit by a barge last night and your cruise has been cancelled". We were still on the boat by 11:30. 

Bennie had a friend that was on the same cruise.  So we had dinner with them that night. 

Monday was a Day at Sea.  I sunned for about an hour, then could not take the heat any more.  Just killed some time doing what I do best.  People watching.  Monday night was our dinner at "The Point".  It is one of the restaurants that you have to pay for.  Like I said earlier, it will get it's own blog post. I just have to finish rounding up the pictures.

Tuesday.  Our day in Key West.  This is the day I plan these cruises around.  I love Key West.  We hopped off the boat and RAN to Sloppy Joe's.  Had my Sloppy Joe Fix.  Then we hopped on the trolley bus.  This time, we toured Truman's Little White House.  It was a very good tour.  The tour guide was a little long winded for my liking, but I learned a lot.

Then we hoped back on the bus and headed to the Southernmost Point in the United States.  Every other time, I have just taken pictures from the bus, since I didn't want to give up my seat on the bus and have to wait for another one.  There were a couple of "Code Yellows" and I sure didn't want to wait at a bus stop. (See my blog entry from the first Key West Cruise a couple of years ago if you don't remember "Code Bright Yellow".)  But Bennie wanted to stop and actually get our photo made next to the concrete block.  So we did. And we caught the next bus, so it wasn't a big deal.  We got back to Stop one, and had our Key Lime Pie at the Key Lime Factory, which is in the same spot the Blond Giraffe was earlier.  And we split a piece of pie.  And we loved it, so we got another one to go, for later.  As we were going back to the ship, there was a Kermit's shop, so we got a piece of his pie too.  And the next day, we had a scientific taste test.  The judges gave Key Lime Factory the gold medal.  It was the best.  So now you know.

And back to the ship.  We always get the invitation to the "Past Guest" party. Free Drinks and appetizers.  We never go.  Well, we decided to go this time.  And Oh My Gosh. Half a Dozen Rum Punches and I was one happy cruiser.  But don't worry.  I made sure I had a designated driver before getting sloshed. And I can't drink Rum Punch without thinking about my little brother and his catamaran excursion.  Guess the Rum Punch must run in our blood!  LOL.

 This is the special treat that was sent to the room after Bennie took the behind the scenes tour. He said anyone cruising should take that tour. He really enjoyed. it.

 This huge Sunflower chandelier is hangin over the entrance to the dining room.

 The ceiling of the atrium

 The Atrium

 Senor Frog inNassau

 I don't know why this place thrills me so much.  But it does.

 Bennie in his never ending quest for wi-fi

 The light house at Nassau

 Here's my money shot.  Atlantis AND the light house.

 Bennie at the regular dinner table.   The "Special dinner table will get a blog entry of its own.

 The Great Key Lime Pie Tasting-  Key Lime Factory beat Kermits 2-0

 First Stop was Sloppy Joes.  Yep It was 9:15

 Cin- Here the jet skis are barely moving in a very tight space.

 Then they zoomed off.

 We actually got off the bus and walked over to the southernmost  chunk of concrete.

 Everyone back to the ship at 3:30.

 Here come the jet skis back to dock.

 This is how calm the seas were all week.

 I have to get a picture of Bennie rec lined to prove he gets to do his favorite thing on vacation...NAP!

 Anyone that Farms knows the significance of this.

 My First Husband

 Policeman and doggie seaching for whatever it is they are searching for.

 Pool and slide

 See that door behind Bennie, that is the door to the balcony of the room we have in October.

 I'm standing where Cindy will be standing looking onto my balcony.

 This photo doesn't do justice to the pretty lights down the promenade.

 PrettyPalm at the Hilton we stayed in Covington LA.

 The Blowfish Drink cup.  I didn't buy it.  Two women bought them and then gave me the fish.

 Bennie posed for this.  I quickly snatched the Rum Punch from his hand and got rid of it so he would not be tempted again.

 Starting my stockpile of the Nectar of the Caribbean.

 Oh yeah.  Sloppy Joe....I love you.

 Like I said earlier. I look like a Christmas tree.  Red shirt. Red face. Green wall. Green pie.

This is Funship Freddy.  He was coming for my Rum Punch. I killed him.