Key West

This morning, we arrived in Key West (which is part of Florida, which means it is still in the US. I guess people often think they are in a different country while there). I got up early to go on a shore excursion. (Left - again, the air was so humid, that you couldn't really see through the moisture in the air. This is a picture of the ship through the sticky air. I tried to get a picture of myself, but I am hardly visible. I've never seen such humidity before, and I wouldn't want to live in it. Though if I had to, I suppose I would get used to it. I just hope that I would have air conditioning, otherwise I would have to get used to always being wet) We went out on a catamaran and went to a portion of a reef where we went snorkeling. It was fun, even though it was hard to see anything. I did see a giant lobster. (Right, me on the catamaran with our cruise ship in the background). That was pretty cool, but I wish I would have seen a shark. Oh well. Maybe some other time.
We rode back to Key West and arrive in the afternoon. From there we went shopping. I guess Key Lime Pie was invented in Key West, so we stopped at Kermit's Key Lime Store. I got a piece of Mango Key Lime Pie which was delicious. Then I continued on my way. (Left - Melanie, Kristi, and I on the catamaran)
There is a hot sauce store that is famous. I guess it was featured on the food network, or something like that. I stopped there and tried a few of their sauces. Then I continued shopping with a few people. I bought a skirt and a swimsuit cover up. I also received a free charm bracelet from Diamonds International. It was pretty cool.
Some people from our group ate lunch at Wendy's, but I couldn't bring myself to do that when I can eat at Wendy's anytime that I want. (Right - if you look closely, you'll see some fish that I saw in this picture. I have no idea what kind of fish they are, so don't ask. The fish were kind of small, so that made the snorkeling a little disappointing. It was pretty, but it definitely could have been better). Instead, I went back to the ship for lunch. I ran into Colette in the Windjammer, so we were able to have lunch together.
After lunch I went to the Gotta Dance dance rehearsal (to perform at the final show). (Left - Can you see the lobster in this picture? He kind of blends in with his surroundings, but he is there coming out from under a rock. That was probably the most exciting thing that I saw while snorkeling). There were a few people from our group. I have a feeling that most of the people who came will not actually be performing with us on stage. (Right - Me in the water. Don't snorkelers look so cool? It was much easier to stay afloat than I remember. But that may have been the aid of the vest . . .) After rehearsal, I sat down with some people and talked with them. Then I went to get ready for dinner. It was formal night.
I really enjoy dressing up every now and then. I stayed in my dress after dinner, went to Karaoke (I dance during one song, and sang with a bunch of people for another one). It was fun. They didn't have a very good song selection, but I still enjoyed myself.

After Karaoke, I changed out of my dress because there was a pool party. I didn't want to dance a lot in my dress and get it all sweaty. We danced for a while, but they started repeating the music. (Left - Kermit's Key Lime Shoppe) A bunch of us went up to the top of the ship to talk. Again, I was out late, but it was worth it.

Jenny, Ryan and me inside the hot sauce store. I learned that Jenny and her friend Jaime both went to Jerusalem the spring after I did! It was pretty exciting to find someone else who had shared a similar experience to the one that I had had.

Formal night, waiting at the elevator to go up to dinner