Wednesday, July 7, 2010

From the Beginning!

Our journey to the Bahamas began last Wednesday many, many months ago when my mom decided that it had been WAY too long since our family had vacationed together. If my mom was given the option to do ANYTHING in the world, she'd pick cruising with her family. My mom loves cruises. So, when the idea started swirling around that we should go cruisin' together, my mom jumped on it and started calling and researching every cruise line out there. She was able to work her cruise magic and find us a great deals to the Bahamas on Carnival Cruise Lines. She was also able to get everyone room upgrades and on board credit to spend while on the ship. Isn't she the BEST?

So,  last Wednesday was the day we had been dreaming of for months! Cruise Day had finally arrived. Or at least 'Travel to the Cruise' day, which, in my mind, was equally as exciting as actually going on the ship. I LOVE flying and being in airports, and, as I mentioned in one of my previous posts, God had provided the money for us to fly to Jacksonville straight out of Lynchburg, so we didn't have to drive 10+ hours in our ratty sometimes-reliable little car. I was able to leave work a little early on Wednesday, which was probably better for everyone, as I was totally in the clouds that day anyway. Dallas friend, Prince, an International student from Ghana, offered to take us to the airport, so that we didn't have to pay to leave our car for the week.
If you know Dallas and I, you know that we are ALWAYS early. And usually very early. Wednesday was no exception. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 8 pm. We arrived at the airport 2 hours early, which, flying from Atlanta would be just on time. But, flying from Lynchburg, we were WAY early. There was only one other person waiting in the entire airport, and the gate wasn't even open yet. But, don't worry. We were so excited, and the wait didn't seem to take too long. Finally, they opened our gate and soon after, we were allowed on the plane.
And what a tiny plane it was! There were only 13 passengers on our flight, which made for a very comfortable, quiet ride. Perfect for reading. I got my nose stuck in a book and Dallas had to force me to even look out the windows during landing. Ah, vacation! After a quick 50 minute flight, we landed in Charlotte, NC, and soon boarded another flight to Jacksonville, FL. Everything went very smoothly and we arrived in Jacksonville right on time, around midnight. Rebekah and my dad met us at baggage claim, and off we went to catch some shut eye before boarding our cruise!

*I just realized that the calendar beside my desk still says May. I can't believe it took me 6 weeks to notice this. I guess I have been in vacation mode for a long time! Ok, now back to my story*

We stayed at the Jacksonville Plaza Hotel, which I found on Hotwire.com for $50. It was not the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in, and we had to put Dallas on an air-mattress on the floor, but it definitely did the trick for one night. I had a hard time going to sleep that night, for one thing I was FREEZING (my parents were trying to make Dallas comfortable by keeping things cold), and I was just so darn excited about boarding the ship in the morning. I rolled around for a while, and finally was able to drift away into dreamland.

Wednesday was a wonderful day.

Can't wait to share with you about my first day on the cruise!

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1 comment:

  1. Sounds like fun! I'm trying to plan a family cruise for next summer...sounds like I should have your mom do it for me, lol!

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