Ahhhh…my first and hopefully not my last winter vacation.

Days One & Two in New Orleans: New Orleans is well known for its rich culture and for bordering on raunchy. It has a day life of antique shops, galleries, street cars, and steamboat rides. Men still up from the night before drinking liquor openly on the River Walk Park bench overlooking the Mississippi just one bench away from school children on a fieldtrip to the Aquarium.

As night begins to fall in the French Quarter colorful lights spill onto the cobblestones and music is everywhere. The streets start to fill with a melting pot of tourists, musicians, street vendors, men holding bar signs (“Best Po Boy Ever!”), and those unusual individuals dressed in freeform costumes that don’t seem to have any context. Women dancing in doorways. Men dancing in doorways. People strolling from block to block while drinking beer.

New Orleans is a real place as opposed to a tourist make-believe facade. Walking the streets and seeing the Super Dome you can’t help but think of the days following Katrina. I have since revisited pictures of the devistation of Katrina and I am again amazed at the transformation and suffering it caused.

The heavy food and drink compliment the colorful raunchiness of New Orleans. It’s like the pairing of fine wine. Together they are beautifully textural and rich. I’m so happy to have had the opportunity to see the legendary New Orleans.

Cruise Day Three: It was all about getting away from driving, not going to the grocery store, or doing any of those day to day things. Wake up whenever. Walk slowly. Read. Think. Talk. Get back in bed at 10:00am and/or 2:00pm. Eat a lot. Have the cabin curtains wide open to wake up to the sun coming up over the water. Watching old Bonanza episodes more than once and even staying to see how it ends.

The ship had three stops on the itinerary: Cozumel, Mexico; George Town, Grand Cayman; Falmouth, Jamaica. We didn’t do any excursion at any of the stops. The only one that was of interest was a trip to the Mayan ruins which was 8 hours long. I had already seen the Mayan ruins as a child and an 8 hour trip in the heat was not the vacation I had intended. I did manage to step off the boat in Mexico and Jamaica to check out the tourist shopping. I can’t say that I know Grand Cayman or Jamaica at all. I am ok with that. The ship was practically empty at the ports which was great! Swimming, eating, hot tubs, reading, and sleeping all uninterrupted with plenty of legroom.

Coming Home Day Ten: When driving home from the airport I scanned my feelings about going home and going back to work in a few days. I felt ok about it. I was surprised to feel so easy going about my return. I guess I really got what I needed on that vacation. It was not an amazing adventure like hiking the Himalayas. New Orleans was just stimulating enough and then the cruise was pure relaxation. That is exactly what I needed.