2024 Feb 4-10, Five-Day Carnival Valor Cruise to Cozumel and Progresso, Mexico (5 Day Crusie)

 Sunday, Feb. 4: Travel to Slidell, LA.

We stopped at Jack's for breakfast, gravy, sausage, and biscuits, and then at Murphy's in Petal, MS, to fill up with gas.

We stopped at McDonald's for some pies and used the restroom.

We checked in at Hampton Inn by Hilton Slidell, LA, room 213, and then went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. I ordered grilled chicken and a baked sweet potato with rolls, while My Hubby ordered a Caesar salad, steak, and a baked potato.

Grilled chicken and baked sweet potato

We returned to the hotel, where we met a man unloading his car. He asked us if we were cruising with Carnival. I think he saw the Carnival luggage tag on my carry-on baggage. He and his wife were from Birmingham, AL. He said they had been cruising since the 90s. They had been on about 30 different cruises on different ships. We saw them leave the following day.  

Monday, Feb 5, Travel to New Orleans 

Ate breakfast at the hotel with 2 waffle rounds with whipped cream, sausage, and cranberry juice. 

Checked out of the hotel and headed to New Orleans around 10 A.M. 

Paid for parking at Erato St Cruise Terminal $125

We parked the car and walked to the elevator for the boarding process. For lunch, we ate at Guy's Burgers. 

And ordered a cheeseburger and fries. Our room, 6434, was ready by 1:30 P.M. 

The ship left port around 3:30 P M. Let the party begin. 

It was too cold on the Lido Deck, so everyone met in the American Lobby. 

The Crimson Trio 

We listened to the Crimson Trio in the American Lobby. 

We ate dinner in the Lincoln Room. I ordered a shrimp cocktail, a crawfish strudel (savory baked phyllo, sweet corn remoulade), Szechuan Shrimp (scallions, garlic, angel hair noodles, peppers, and bok choy), and a cheesecake with strawberry sauce. 

We sat next to a couple from Washington state. Said they lived on an island and watched cruise ships come up the Pacific Ocean. 

We also sat next to a mother and daughter from Columbus, Mississippi. 

Tuesday, Feb 6, Sea Day 

Watched the sun come up from my balcony. 

sunrise

At the Omelette Station, I ordered a made-to-order loaded omelet with bacon and chocolate milk for breakfast.

9:00 A.M. made two necklaces at Creativity at Sea in the American Lobby. 

We attended the Fun Ashore Giveaway at 10:30 in the Ivanhoe Theatre, but unfortunately, we won nothing. 

Lunch was at the Mongolian Wok, where I ordered shrimp stir-fried veggies.

Mongolian Wok Asian flavor, your stir-fried rice noodles,  veggies, sauce, and shrimp (double) cooked in unique culinary creations. 

I met a woman from Louisiana who was passionate about Mongolian food. She had several food bowls available for crew members because they didn't have time to wait in line.

Took a long nap.

Dinner at the Lincoln Diner, where I ordered Herb-crusted salmon with asparagus, sweet potatoes, and a shrimp cocktail, as well as Carnival's Chocolate Melt Cake with Ice cream. 

We sat next to the mother and daughter from Columbus, Mississippi, again. 

We visited the VIP Show at 7:00 P.M. in the Ivanhoe Theater. 

Wednesday, Feb 7, Cozumel 

Breakfast in Lincoln. Dinner ordered waffle, omelet, sausage, and water. 

Went ashore in Cozumel around 9:00 AM.

We walked around to several shops and bought Ron a pair of Crocs. 

Took several pictures. Walked up the street to Margaritaville, where we ate lunch. 

We ordered three tacos, one Pepsi, and a Sunrise Margarita. We walked back to our port area, stopping to take several pictures of the Coral Reef display. 

Stopped to take pictures in front of a couple of donkeys at the 3 Amigos. 

I had dinner in the Washington Dining Room, where I ordered a Shrimp cocktail, Chicken, Veggies, and a chocolate melt cake with ice cream. 

We listened to the Crimson Trio in the American Lobby. 

Chac Mool ("Red Claw") 

Thursday, Feb 8, Progresso 

Breakfast: Omelet, bacon, pastry, and Chocolate milk. 

All-inclusive Shore Excursions are at 9 A.M. and will take you to Mi Casa Es Su Casa Private Beach, your way. 

Back on the ship by 3:30 P.M. 

Lunch consisted of avocado dip, chips, a pina colada, and Coke. We watched our host make the dip using Mangoes and tomatoes. Cilantro, salt, pepper and avocados.

Dinner: Stuffed mushrooms, Fried Mississippi Catfish(cornmeal-crusted), spinach, mac & cheese, tartar sauce, and a banana split. 

Excursions to a private beach with around 40 people took place on a bus with 2 children. A nine-year-old named Sabrina. Our host cooked us lunch, which included Mexican Avocado dip, chicken tacos, and more. We had a bartender who mixed drinks. I ordered a Pina Colada and my Hubby a margarita, both virgin. 

I walked along the beach, and the water was cold. Monday, a storm had come through with 50 MPH winds, so the water was a little choppy and dirty. Not many people went into the water. Most everyone sat in beach chairs, and some under umbrellas. Lunch was served around 10:30 A.M. 

Around 10:30-11 we heard a mother call out  Sabrina, where are you?

She was nowhere to be found. Everyone joined in the search for Sabrina up and down the beach, inside the house. Going from one neighbor's house to another. A neighbor called the police. Five showed up at the beach. A detective went along the coast, circling Sabrina's footprints. Neighbors called their friends, and several reported seeing a small girl walking up the beach, crying. 

She had walked about 1 1/2 to 2 miles up the beach to the nearby hotel. When they found her, she said, "I thought my family had left me, so I walked back to the ship. You could see the boat from the beach. 

They took her to the hospital to be checked out for dehydration. 

The family was returned to the beach house, where everyone enjoyed eating and drinking the rest of the day. 

Everyone was so proud to see the little girl, Sabrina.

I overheard the mother ask Sabrina about her adventure, but she said, "I don't want to discuss it." 

The mother's feet were covered in scratches from running through the thickets while searching for Sabrina. 

Everyone loaded onto the bus and began our journey back to the ship. Thank God we were able to return with everyone. 

We were back on the ship by 3:30 P.M. The ship's departure time was 3:30–4:00 P.M., but we didn't leave until almost 5:00 P.M. because a bus full of people was running late returning from an excursion. 

The bus drove straight to the ship, letting people off at the boarding area. This was a very eventful day. 

Welcome to Yucatan

Friday, Feb 9, Sea Day 

Breakfast with Doctor Seuss' Cat in the Hat, thing one, thing two in the Lincoln Dining room.

Hubby ordered Green eggs with ham and funny Belgian Waffles. I just ordered Funny Belgian Waffles with Moose Juice.

At the Ivanhoe Theater, we created a bulldog and an elephant out of towels and purchased the Towel Art Book. 

Lunch was #6 Cuban Mixto: a roasted pork, ham, yellow mustard, Swiss cheese sandwich, accompanied by 3 cookies and vanilla ice cream. 

Bought Build-A-Bear for St Jude on the Lido Deck. 

Hubby took a long nap while I watched TV.

Ate a salad for dinner. 

We watched 90s music and We Are the World in the Ivanhoe Theater. 

We did the Debark process in the Carnival App.

funny Belgian Waffles

Saturday, Feb 10, Travel Home

Breakfast Lido Deck 9 Omelets, chocolate milk, pastry. 

Waited for our app to tell us when to embark. 

We went through the immigration process, loaded our car, and started heading home. 

We stopped in Petal, MS, to fill up with fuel. 

Stopped at the Welcome Center  for a break

Ate lunch at Cracker Barrel in Meridian, MS

I ordered Fried Shrimp, Pinto Beans, cornbread, chow, and tartar sauce. 

I bought some chocolate candy and a shirt for Hubby. 

It began to rain in Russellville and continued to rain all the way home. 

 

2017 Sept 4, Labor Day at Sweet Tater Festival Smith Lake Park Cullman, Alabama

After dropping our van off at Champion Chrysler Dodge in Athens (the air-conditioner not working) @ 7:30AM, we stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. I ordered two pieces of bacon, one scrambled egg, two pieces of whole-wheat toast, and a bowl of fried apples. Hubby ordered the big breakfast meal.

Cockatoo Dancing 

Camel eating grass
At the Petting Zoo, we saw a camel, some sheep, a couple of pigs, a rabbit, a couple of llamas & some goats. 
I encourage a two-year-old boy to pet a white rabbit and a pig.

Alpaca waiting for food

Little boy petting the pig & Chicken

We attended the Sweet Tater Festival Cullman. 
They are famous for their Fried Sweet Tater Pies, so we bought one.
It was awful (somebody cannot cook tater pies). 
We walked through all the vendor booths, stopping to buy a leather key chain.
Many of the people at the park were riding in Golf Carts, and babies and small children were in strollers or wagons. 

Food Vendors 

Bonji Jumping 

Fire Department 

Stage with Bands 

Light Green Cadillac 

The little helper 

Green Truck and 1973 Ford Gran Torino   

Red Mustang 

The Classic Cars were located in the shaded area of the park. This is always my favorite part of the festival. 
We left after walking around the park for a couple hours.

In Athens, we stopped at Aldies for a few groceries.
At home, I cooked hamburgers with onions, adding taco sauce to make tacos.
Hubby tackled the grass after dinner.

2016 September 5, Saturday, Sweet Tater Festival @Smith Lake & Labor Day Actives

Started the morning with a call out to work with hubby. It only took about fifteen minutes to reset the alarm. 
While at Red Stone Arsenal we stopped at a couple of new buildings so I could take pictures. 
The first building was glass and the entrance had a metal winding staircase that led upstairs to the top level, with high ceilings. 
On display in the lobby were rockets, the Space Shuttle, the mini Apollo Lunar Module, globed Sea of Tranquility July 1969, and a table made from a rocket exhaust nozzle.

Tabletop
Base made from Rocket Exhaust Nozzle

Table made from Rocket Exhaust Nozzle 

Space Shuttle

The next building held The Space Launch Systems.
It had a life-size space suit, an Orion Space Craft, and a mini NASA building, with a launch area.
There was a half-circle orange bench where people could set not very comfortably. 

There was a life-size model of the Space Launch System (SLS) 1.25 scale.
The Space Launch System is going to Mars. 

Lifesize Space suit with an arm around a woman 

Space Launch System will be the next rocket in space going to  MARS

Smith Lake at the Sweet Tater Festival was our next destination which took a little over an hour.
As we got closer to the park we saw signs that said, This way to tater festival, have money ready. The entrance fee was three dollars per person, and children 5 free.

There was plenty of parking with no one directing traffic, we found a nice close spot and parked. 
I took my camera with me and started taking pictures. 
I think we picked the hottest time of the day to visit the festival, the sun was blazing hot,
and sweat was already pouring down the back of my shirt.
The aroma of barbecue, hamburgers, & french fries filled the air.
There was a lemonade stand for the thirsty. 
I could see Smith Lake in the distance, I wanted to take my shoes off and wade in the lake. 
The sound of music filled the air coming from a staging area.
There were people with their children and many with their dogs. 

They had carriage rides for five dollars, I wanted to ride but it was too hot.

Smith Lake 

Carriage Rides

Inflatables for kids

Band

Mechanical Bull riding

Food Vendors 

Several people brought their dogs

In the wooded area was the Hot Rod Car Show.

We saw Corvettes, Fords, Chevys, Mustangs, Camaro, Trans-Am, Firebirds, Cadillacs.

Thunderbird

Ralph Lane st 1927 Rat Farm 

Most of the car show was in the shade

Cadillac

Corvette

Oldsmobile 

Orange Ford truck Hemi Powered

the red car 

Two hours was more than enough fun in the hot sun.
We exited the park, and took I-65N, to Cullman.
We stopped at Logan's Roadhouse for a late lunch.
I was still wearing an orange wristband when I went to the restroom at Logan's. There I meet a family also still wearing their orange wristbands. I ask them if they had been to the festival? They said yes.
When we were leaving we met a man carrying a large camera case and he also was wearing an orange wristband. I ask if he had been to the festival? He replied yes. I laughed and said that Logan's must be the stopping-off place for many people that had been to the festival.

We ordered 1/2 rack of ribs, fried apples, broccoli, salmon, and rolls.
For dessert, we order three bucks of sweets pies.
One peanut butter, and two strawberry cheesecakes.

A bucket full of strawberry cheesecake

Arrived home around 4:00PM
At 5:30PM we rode to Tennessee for lottery tickets.
Stopping at Roger High in Greenhill to watch our grandson play football.

The first team lost Rogers 0, and Lauderdale County 28.
When the first team played the sun was still blazing down and I could nearly see the boys play. By the time the next team played the sun had gone down and it had cool down enough to enjoy the football games.
The boys took several cool-down breaks which they needed, several looked very hot.
The next team won 27 Rogers, Lauderdale County 17.

There was plenty of activity going on in the bleachers with our great-granddaughter.
Had a full fun day.