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331 miles via SC 61, SC 7, I-26, US 301, SC 839, SC 39, I-20, I-75 and GA 92. Cumulative road miles: 921. Cumulative miles: 976. The extra miles were due to shopping and sightseeing in Charleston.
This was a complicated route that included some small rural highways. But the weather was good and the GPS kept me from getting lost. We had a stop in North Charleston to return some clothing. That was supposed to be a brief stop but, as is often the case with clothing stores, turned into a 90-minute stop. We also stopped in GA, near Atlanta, for fuel and food (KFC).
We had good weather. But we got into Atlanta at rush hour so the last hour of travel was painfully slow.
Our home in Charleston was the La Quinta Inn & Suites which was just 15 minutes from the center of Charleston. It was your basic hotel. It was a bit more basic than I expected – no refrigerator or microwave in the room (I had to book a “deluxe” room to get those). But it was clean, with a nice shower and good cable TV. It was also fairly scenic, being situated next to a marina so we could watch the fancy boats come and go. Free breakfast and a nice pool. I would stay here again.
Our second full day in Charleston looked a bit like the first. It started with breakfast in the hotel, then we went to Goodwill to exchange a couple of the items we had purchased the day before. Then we drove into the city with the intent of touring some churches. But not many churches were open on a Tuesday afternoon. We saw the interior of just one. But we did sit outside Mother Emanuel and reviewed the horrible events of the Charleston Church Massacre.
AltarStained glassChoir loft
We stumbled across Charleston Place, a very nice hotel in the central city. It had a wonderful horse fountain outside, a beautiful chandelier inside and a Black Market/White House shop inside – Marlene’s favorite clothing store.
Fountain at Charleston PlaceInside Charleston PlaceCity Market, near Charleston Place
When we got back to the hotel we fixed ourselves a couple of nice rum-and-cokes which we drank at the pool while consuming snacks. Dinner was ramen noodle soup which, believe it or not, we actually like. We prepared it ourselves in the lobby microwave. We had a donut for dessert. Fine dining at its best.
We had breakfast at the hotel and then headed out. But we didn’t go directly into the city. It was chilly and Marlene did not have a jacket to wear, so we went first to the Goodwill a couple of miles from us. Anyone who knows Marlene will not be surprised to hear that the “quick” trip to Goodwill took over an hour and ended with her walking out the door with two dresses and a some new used shoes. And, yes, a pullover sweathirt.
Then we drove into Charleston. The first stop was the South Battery, the ritzy waterfront area at the southern tip of the peninsula. We walked a short distance along the dike and then decided that we could leave the car there (free parking) and walk to the center of the city – about a 25-minute walk. Well, 25 minutes if you don’t stop. We stopped, many times. It took us about 90 minutes to get to the City Market. I took some photos along the way.
GardenMore gardenArt shot
We strolled the 4 blocks of the City Market, looking at lots of stuff but buying nothing but a very tasty Arnold Palmer. We had a late lunch at Tommy Condon’s, my favorite Charleston restaurant. We shared fish-and-chips and Irish stew. Then we wandered back to the car. Another 90 minutes.
At the City Market entranceTommy Condon’s mealStreet sceneCemeteryChurchCemeteryChurchCobblestoneMarleneChurchAnother church
We snacked for dinner and made an early night of it. The late nights in the casino caught up to us.
The disembarkation process was more difficult than it should have been, but not as bad as it was on the Vista. We gathered in the theater, without luggage, and waited about 30 minutes before being allowed to leave the ship. But the exit, rather than being on that level or the level below, was 5 levels down (due, apparently, to a malfunction of the main gangway). So we either had to wait a very long time for an elevator or haul the luggage down the steps. We opted for the steps. This was arduous as the suitcases were heavy (in part because they now held the 4 bottles of rum and wine that we had acquired during the cruise). I worked up a sweat by the time we got to shore.
We took the courtesy van to the parking lot, loaded the luggage and began Hop 2 shortly thereafter.
Shortly before leaving on the cruise we decided to cancel our stay in Pigeon Forge and instead spend 3 days in Charleston SC. This saved at least 4 hours of travel time. I knew that Marlene would enjoy Charleston and there was no compelling reason to go to Pigeon Forge. So we changed our planned itinerary.
CV1 Hop 2
Hop 2, then, was 441 miles via I-295 (through Tampa), I-75, US 441, US 301, I-10, I-295 (around Jacksonville), I-95 and US 17. Cumulative miles: 590. The trip included refueling and rest stops in Savannah GA. Marlene wanted to visit the Morgan Rae boutique in Savannah which she recalled fondly from a previous trip there. I treated her to two inexpensive dresses.
The roads were fine but the weather was not. It started raining as we were leaving the dress shop and got heavy quickly. It continued to rain for the final 2 hours of the trip. At times the rain was very heavy. We arrived after 6pm and immediately went out to dinner at The Roost, a sports bar near our hotel. We had a light dinner of chicken wings and fries. I had a beer which I felt I needed after hours driving in the rain.
We were disappointed to discover that the room had no refrigerator or microwave. But it did have a coffee maker and was otherwise quite acceptable. We got some ice from the lobby, had a nightcap and went to bed. A long day of driving and some late casino nights on the ship had taken their toll.
I should say a few words about the Carnival Paradise. This is an old ship (it entered service in 1998) and is one of the smallest ships in the Carnival fleet. It was adequate for our purposes, I suppose, but was not special in any way. It was, however, weird in almost every way. Most ships have the casino, shops, lobby and theater on a lower deck – usually deck 3 or 4. On the Paradise the lobby was on deck 7, the theater and shops were on deck 8 and the casino was on deck 9. The lifeboats which are usually on deck 4 or 5 were on deck 11, above the swimming pool. Very strange.
This was our last full day at sea and most of it was spent in the casino. We could have saved a lot of money if we had done other things. I had my worst casino experience ever: I lost $320 and ended the cruise down an even $600. It won’t break the bank, but I much preferred my casino experience on the Carnival Vista where I won $2400.
The day began with breakfast in the buffet and some blogging (through Day 4). Then we went ashore with the intent of going into downtown San Miguel which is pretty much the only city of any size on the island of Cozumel. But we never got there. Marlene and I had some kind of silly argument. I can’t remember now what it was about but the result was that we returned to the ship without doing much of anything on shore. I did some reading while Marlene did her own thing. I got a text message from her in the afternoon that she was going to Margaritaville, which was nearby in the port. Later, as the time to return to the ship approached, I texted her to remind her to head back. I got alarmed when she didn’t respond and left the ship to go find her. I thought I had just an hour to get there and get back, so I walked quickly.
I found her almost immediately but then learned that we had another hour due to a time zone change. We did a bit of shopping before returning to the ship. After returning I worked on getting the new laptop set up for fulltime use (it has become apparent that the old one will never be the same, even with the new motherboard). I made some progress but still haven’t figured out how to get photos directly from my cell phone to the laptop. More to be done.
Mexican mannequinsMannequins and Marlene
After dinner we went to the casino, as usual. I almost broke even but ended the day down another $40 (down $280 for the cruise).
As you can see from the photo, it was rather hazy when we docked in Belize, near Belize City. The haze eventually wore off, but it was a hot and very humid day.
Traversing the shaky bridge
Belize City is not a deep water port. Large ships need to dock about 2 miles from the city. The trip, via tender, was about 20 minutes. The city and the port are not memorable in a good way. But in this case we went ashore to go on an expedition to tour some limestone caves and walk a few suspension bridges. The bus trip to the site was nearly 90 minutes and included passage over a very unsafe-looking bridge spanning a river. Both Marlene and I thought it very possible that we could all end up in the river. But the bridge held and we got there safely.
I rented a locker for our backpack and also rented a waterproof pouch for my phone and bought some insect repellant. The pouch and the repellant became a point of contention between Marlene and me. She thought I was being a spendthrift. I thought I was being careful. And the repellant was recommended by the guide on the bus, while Marlene was dozing. As it turns out the repellant wasn’t needed and the pouch was only marginally useful. Still, I felt they were prudent expenditures.
The tour began with a walk through the jungle. Our guide was very knowledgeable and pointed out many interesting trees and insects. He found a small dead tarantula on a log. Marlene, not sure that it was dead, asked me to touch it. I declined. So, every adventurous, she touched it. And it scampered away. Not so dead after all. She screamed, which made the other 6 people in the tour group laugh.
Preparing for the hikeThe first suspension bridgeTrekking in styleThe river at the first bridgeThe “open air” caveOn the second bridgeFruits of palmA short breakTogetherThird bridgeOur guide Harrison
Part of the tour involved a hike through a large limestone cavern which was very dark. We lit the way with the lamps on our helmets. I was surprised to see that the zipline (which we could have taken on a different excursion) was very long and ended deep in this cavern. A very impressive zipline.
Entering the cavernCavern ceilingLarge stalagmiteSmooth floor
The final portion of the tour was via inner tube – the guide strapped 8 inner tubes together and we all floated down the river through another large cavern. This was not only beautiful but was wonderfully refreshing after a hot walk through the jungle.
Me and my tubeMarlene in hersHarrison guiding us into the cavernInto the darknessTaken in near-total darknessHarrison swimmingLarge stalactiteSelfieBat nestsNearing the endInto the light
Restaurant view
We finished the excursion with a not-very-interesting baked chicken and rice-and-beans lunch. But the view was nice.
Dinner was again (and somewhat surprisingly) elegant. Cruises rarely have an elegant night on a port day.
We went to the casino both before and after dinner and I did much better, winning $130. Still down $240.
We went to a show – “80s to the Max” – after dinner. It was pretty good, but my photos weren’t. Then we went to the late R-rated comedy show. The comedian was Steve Wilkins. He was very raw and very funny.
RestaurantBack at the port80ss to the Max80s to the Max
I have always liked Roatan. Jett and I visited here at least twice and were even considering buying a vacation home here. That never happened, but the fond memories remain.
On those earlier cruises we docked in town. This time we docked at Mahogany Bay, a new port on the south side of the island. It is very similar to the other newer cruise ports – lots of shopping, a few restaurants and access to a beach. We didn’t use the restaurants or beach but did quite a bit of shopping. We didn’t buy anything other than 3 liters of rum, but a couple of hours browsing shops still qualifies as shopping.
Proving we were here
After reboarding we spent some time in the casino, of course. It wasn’t a good day. I lost $95 on my own and, at Marlene’s suggestion, I contributed another $100 to a joint effort which failed spectacularly. Down $370.
This was mostly a casino day but it also included an elegant dinner and a show on the ship. We spent a LOT of time in the casino. I lost $55 (down 175). But that loss was in spite of three separate slot machine bonuses of over $200 each. So on three spins I won over $600. The rest of the time I had hundreds of spins that lost me nearly $700. Good thing I had those 3 bonuses. Marlene lost a lot early but recovered some of her losses late, so it wasn’t a horrible day. And she is still using the winnings from the previous week in Immokolee. So we aren’t broke yet.
Poor photo from the show
Elegant Night dinners aboard a ship are always special. I had a filet mignon/short rib combo that was delicious. Marlene had a fish/crabcake combo that she also liked very much.
The show was a very nice song-and-dance medley by the ship troupe. It consisted of popular rock songs with a heavy emphasis on Queen songs. Very well done, very well staged.
We finished the evening at a comedy show featuring Dean Austin. It was raunchy and quite funny. Marlene wanted to sit up front so she could hear. I figured this would make us a target and it did, but I didn’t mind. Apparently I am a pimp because we weren’t married. Go ahead, sticks and stones…
With the show’s hostessMarlene and Dean AustinBoth with Dean
We had to drive to Tampa to get on the Carnival Paradise for the first 6 days of this short vacation. We had to be on board by 3pm and we had to park the car and take a shuttle to the ship. But we couldn’t drive there directly from Lehigh Acres FL; we had to stop in Cape Coral FL for an 11:15am medical appointment for me. When we booked the cruise I thought I would have to reschedule but a careful look at the route, coupled with my expectation that it would be a short appointment (my last one was no more than 15 minutes), I figured that I could do the appointment and still make the ship on time.
We did, with nearly an hour to spare.
So Hop 1 of the auto portion of the trip was 149 miles via FL 884, FL 82, US 41, some local roads, I-75, US 301 and FL 60 to the cruise ship parking lot.
Embarkation was a breeze. No waiting since we were two of the relatively late arrivals. And our cabin was ready, so we immediately got unpacked, did our muster station checkin and grabbed a bite to eat. Then we watched departure and the long journey (nearly 3 hours) through Tampa Bay from the still-closed casino. We wanted to be at our favorite machines when it opened. We needn’t have been eager. I lost $120 and Marlene lost much more. Not a good start to our Paradise casino experience.
Carnival Paradise atrium
We ate in the buffet and went to bed relatively early as we were both very tired. That might have something to do with the late night in the Immokolee Casino where we both lost money (though not much).
It took some effort getting photos to this new laptop. I couldn’t directly connect my phone and couldn’t link via Bluetooth. I had to upload to the old laptop, copy to a thumb drive then then copy to this laptop. There has to be an easier way…
