Today it was Nana's Birthday AND we were arriving in Nassau!
Nana, the party animal she is, was up at 6:00am after going to bed after 2am. Jennifer and I, both tried to sleep a little bit longer - we are not early birds.
When we were finally up and about, we just hung out on the balcony as we came into port. I forgot how absolutely BEAUTIFUL the water in the Bahamas is. It's just the most beautiful turquoise blue. I think I even spotted good ole' Sandals, from our Honeymoon.
Before, we got off the ship, we went up to have some breakfast on the lido deck. We got a table right by the window overlooking the water and we could see Atlantis off in the distance. While we were enjoying all the beauty, the cruise director came on to make an announcement. He went on to say, the U.S. Embassy had issued a travel alert, because of the increasing violence against tourists in the Bahamas. He suggested you leave your valuables on the ship and stay together. And, DO NOT rent scooters. After all that cheerful news, he continued on to say, "But have a WONDERFUL day on the island!" Yea, that will be easy to do!
Finally, it was time to head off to our excursion. We got on this tiny little bus, that was more like a van. I was the co-pilot, Nana was right behind me and poor Jenny, had to go all the way in the back. Our driver was crazy and we probably made it to the Atlantis in 8 minutes!
When we unloaded, we were led to the beach where we had some chairs reserved. We were ready for a little quiet, relaxation time after all the music on the ship. The beach was just gorgeous! We settled in our chairs and just took it all in. It wasn't that quiet though, because every two minutes people were coming up to you asking you to buy something. There was one guy that was selling Pina Coladas out of a big plastic bin. First of all, no thanks. I don't know what you have in there. Secondly, it's 85 degrees and you have a milk-like substance with no ice. YUCK! We opted for some Bahama Mamas from the actual Atlantis bar.
After we lounged for quite awhile, we decided to go check out The Dig. It's a huge underwater aquarium, where you can explore the fallen city of Atlantis. It's really cool to walk through.
After that, we decided to use our vouchers to get our lunch before heading back to the ship. They gave us a TON of food! We had pizza, burgers, fries, popcorn and nachos. OH MY!
We were early for the first bus back, so we thought we'd take a taxi. We hopped in, then realized he wanted to fill the WHOLE van, before heading back. We could have just waited for the regular ship shuttle. Oh well. The ride was interesting, because he took some back roads. Whoa, a little scary!
When we got back to the dock, we headed over to the Hard Rock Cafe, to use some WiFi to check in at home. It was nice to see some pictures of Reagan and text with Jim. I was missing them SO MUCH!
We rushed back onto the ship to catch our Goo Goo Dolls concert at 5:00. Even John Rzeznik said, "This is really effing early for a concert!" The show was fabulous and it was just amazing being that close. John Rzeznik, almost stepped on our fingers and cameras a couple times! LOL! Jennifer got some guitar picks, too! He ended the show with Holly Jolly Christmas. He even said, "I can't believe I'm even going to sing this song!" It was great and everyone loved it!
After the Goos show, we went over to have our dinner. I ran down to the room for something. When I got in the elevator, I noticed this sad little guy all by himself. At the airport, I was searching #MBGOOSCRUISE on Twitter, when I saw a tweet from a Brian Millar. He said he was on his way there, from Denver. We were laughing at the airport, saying "what if we see Brian Miller?" Here, I ran into him in the elevator. It was a HOOT! He was a really nice guy. You could tell he was really shy. We felt bad he was all by himself!
After that, we went to see if we could peek at Group B's songwriters session. The doors were open, so Jennifer and I peeked in. The very LAST row was empty, so we just plopped on down. Nana was shopping in the store right next to there, so she came looking for us and plopped on down, too! We are such rebels! We held our hands over our wrist bands the whole time. We were so afraid of getting kicked out! The songwriters session was great to see again, since they talked about different stuff! We loved it!
We now decided to head over to this room where the band would hang out. They had the doors covered with paper, so you couldn't really see in, but the cracks between the doors were large enough, you could make out who was in there. We saw that Rob was in there, so we decided to stand around to see if he would come out. It was just Nana, two other girls and I. All of a sudden, here he came! He said, "I'm sorry guys, I don't have time to sign or take pictures, I have to get ready for the show. I'll get you later." I blurted out, "Rob, can you at least say 'happy birthday' to that grandma over there." He looked around because my mom was practically HIDING. She looked at him and said, "It really is my birthday." He said, "Well then, Happy Birthday" and went over and gave her the BIGGEST HUG!" It was so awesome! She was SO EXCITED!!
Finally, it was time for MB20's lido deck show. We got up pretty close and were chatting with some really cool people. There was a ship docked right next to us, that had to be twice the size. There were people on the top deck of that ship looking over the edge. They were probably thinking, what the heck!?
Matchbox Twenty totally rocked the concert! It was awesome! There was a guy a few people up, holding what looked like a letter. Our little group, kept kidding and saying, "What is that, an essay!?" I said, "Geez, if we give him an "A" will he put it down." We all got a big kick out of him. We still don't know what it was!
After the lido deck show, we decided to check out Joe Bachman in the Xanu Lounge. He was actually putting on a pretty awesome show. He was doing upbeat covers and everyone was having a blast dancing. Jenny and I were bouncing fools! We were having a great time! All of a sudden, he pulled the same thing he did at Sister Hazel, that turned everyone off. He told this 10 minute story about an experience with the troops, then played a song about the troops. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE and support the troops and appreciate everything they do for our country. BUT, this guy put such a spin on the story to almost make it like HE was the hero and made it all about HIM! HE never served our country. About 1/2 of the people that were previously having a blast, just turned around and left. It's a Matchbox Twenty party boat, at 2:00am, that is not the time or place to tout your heroism, sir. It worked out though, because after we left, we ended up talking to a bassist from the Goo Goo Dolls, who had also left the Joe Bachman concert. I ended up showing him a couple pictures I took of him, at the concert earlier in the evening, and he asked if he could use them on his Facebook page. I was so honored!
Soon enough, here comes Paul Doucette and Randall (one of their buddies who helped them with stuff on the cruise). We got to talk with Paul and get a picture. I, after SEVERAL "Real Worlds" patted Paul on the head and said, "You are just the cutest little thing." He is pretty short, but I can't believe I said that right to him. I'm surprised he didn't kick me off the ship! LOL!
By this time, we were just giggling and getting pretty pooped. We headed back to the room, walked in, and there was Rob Thomas singing away in the room. We started howling saying we were "overstimulated" from all the concerts, meet and greets, just everything really. We were laughing, that we just HAD to turn the TV off for a little bit. We needed a little bit of quiet. The first night we didn't even turn the TV off while we slept! It was just ROB all day and night! We were totally immersed in the music. What a fabulous time we were having! We eventually did fall asleep in silence.
Meanwhile at home, Jim and Reagan went to Children's Nature Hour at Mill Creek Park. Today they were learning about hibernation. They had a great time. Reagan made an awesome craft of a bear sleeping in a cave. She was so proud!
This evening, we got some snow, so they played outside and shoveled the driveway! Reagan just loves the snow!
The photo of the day is, Nana and I with Paul Doucette.
Next, Nana getting her birthday hug!
Finally, Nana, Jenn and I enjoying the beautiful beach
Reagan and Jim - Reagan enjoying hibernation class
Eppie Adventure - sitting on the shelf.
