Western Caribbean Cruise - Texas Real Estate...and the cruise begins!

Saturday

Our bags are packed, and we're ready to leave for the port. Woohoo! Harry and I have never been on a cruise together, so this is a “first” for us.

Playing a little catch-up, here are a couple of things we did between the last post (Wednesday) and now:

If you live by the water, you have a dock for
your boat(s). Of course.
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved.

On Thursday, we went to look at houses in Kingwood (a very nice suburb), just for grins. These were houses I saw on the internet but thought they were too cheap to be true. But, guess what? They are absolutely fabulous! And they're 1/2 – no, 1/3 – the cost of houses in my neighborhood back home [Note: This was before the housing bubble burst...]. Or even less than that. Unbelievable. And these homes are in beautiful neighborhoods, with large lots, all the amenities, and nice touches – terrazzo, granite, stainless steel, bathrooms the size of...Texas, polished wood galore, closets you could live in comfortably. Ridiculous, palatial square footage AND backyards with flagstone patios, built-in BBQ's, and perfectly placed vegetation. Makes you want to cry. Or buy, whichever.

Cathy and I ran a bunch of errands and delivered “flat rate box” packages to the 24x7 post office, and then we went to Cathy and Fred's church to help set up for the Sunday school class Christmas dinner, which was that evening. All of this pitching in and poking around made me feel very “at home” and part of things, so you know I loved it! The dinner was BBQ, of course. Delicious!

There's a place called Harwin where there are the most amazing bargains to be had. That's where Cathy and I went on Friday to go shopping. Wow! Marvelous shops, incredible prices, the biggest costume jewelry shop I've ever seen. Okay, so I picked up a couple of things that I really, truly needed and couldn't live without. We might have to send out some more of those “flat rate” boxes, as my bags are in danger of being overweight for the flight home already (and we haven't even purchased cruise souvenirs yet).

Cathy's neighbors and friends knew we were coming for a visit, and so we went around the neighborhood to say hello. They would have been hurt otherwise, and they are universally charming, friendly, and hospitable.

For dinner, we ordered pizza, which we ate at the dining room table following mimosas. We used the good silver and had a nice salad in Cathy's special burl wood bowls from Alaska. Oh! And, naturally, we also used the good china. Why not?

NCL's Norwegian Dream
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved.

After dinner we had some “Blue Bell” (Fred is very serious about his ice cream. It must be Blue Bell brand, and there must be lots of it. Also, it's called “Blue Bell,” not “ice cream.” Makes you smile, yes?) with pumpkin squares. We drank herb tea and listened to classical music until 2 a.m. Bad idea. The 2 a.m. part, I mean, not the music part. That's three super-late nights in a row. Oh, well. We're on vacation!

And so we're up to date, and off we go to the port of Houston and the ship. So exciting! The last time I was on a cruise was a trans-Atlantic crossing with my mom and brother when I was 11 years old. That was some time ago. And this ship is so much bigger. Back then, there was a Great Divide between regular passengers and “first class.” I remember sneaking into the first class sections so I could see how the “other half” lives. And first class was way, way nicer than “our” class, may I just say. But now I'm all grown up (kind of), and nobody is going to stop me from exploring. I feel liberated.

The Gulf of Mexico from our window.
Harry's napping while I'm unpacking. One of the nice things
about cruising is that you're going to a bunch of places, but
you'll only have to unpack once.
Photo by Chris.

We left Houston, passed Galveston, and sailed into the Gulf of Mexico. Within 4 hours of arriving on board, we had already eaten twice. The first meal was kind of a snack/salad/pizza buffet, and the second meal was the “Bon Voyage” BBQ on deck, complete with a pretty good calypso band. Just hearing the calypso music puts you in a relaxed mood in this party atmosphere. I don't know if I can eat dinner later, though, and I'm positive I don't need it!

Our cabin is really nice, with a queen-sized bed, sitting area with loveseat, chair, table, television, and picture window. It is on the “port” side. I don't know what that means yet, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. There are a lot of oil rigs out there, and we are sailing between them. The waters are a little choppy (not bad). It has been unseasonably cold in Houston these past few days.

It's kind of an eerie feeling, sailing off toward the Caribbean. And thrilling. It's very cold on deck tonight, but I hear it'll be warmer tomorrow, when we're closer to Cozumel. Bon Voyage!

Western Caribbean Cruise - Houston & Galveston

Time for another retrospective adventure! Our friends Cathy and Fred invited us to join them for a Western Caribbean Cruise aboard the Norwegian Dream (Norwegian Cruise Lines). We also spent a few days exploring their "neck of the woods." It was December, 2005, and here we go!

Houston and Galveston

Come and sit by the fire...
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved.

Here we are in Houston, at Cathy and Fred's, and it feels cozy and comfortable. Their home is lovely and reflects their personal charm and style, with gas fireplaces (always on for ambiance) in the living room and master bedroom, which is a loft room overlooking the living room. The house was designed to be open flooring, which it certainly is – vastly spacious, with beautiful hardwood floors. It says, “Come on in and make yourself at home. How about right over here, on the cushy sofa by the fire?”

The guest room is on the main level down a little hallway from the living room, very private, with its own bathroom that connects through to the laundry room off the kitchen. Cathy has thoughtfully supplied it with everything we could possibly need. She sets the hospitality bar pretty high and couldn't be more gracious.

Grab ya some sweet tea and sit awhile.
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved.

Situated right by the water on a peninsula between the San Jacinto River and the bayou, it is in a flood zone. So, it's up on pilings and is about 20' in the air. That way, when the water starts to rise and reaches a particular tree, Cathy and Fred can get in their car with their pooch and a few belongings and safely leave the vicinity for higher ground farther inland, knowing that their house will probably be just fine while they are gone. Or not. But judging from what we saw in Galveston yesterday, it's normal for homes near the water to be up on pilings. It's also harder for swamp creatures to make it all the way up to the deck, I imagine. But there I go with my imagination!

Galveston is flat. And, on this day,
it was grey, too.
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved.

Yesterday, when we arrived after an uneventful flight from Oakland on Southwest Airlines, we all drove down to Galveston to the sea wall that was built to protect the city after the hurricane in 1900 that killed 6,000 to 8,000 people. With all that water around, and with everything at sea level, it was easy to see why folks were freaking out at the possibility of a direct hit by Hurricane Rita. Galveston is built on an island, and there's basically one bridge and the ferry for getting out of Dodge. I imagine the traffic could back up in a huge hurry if everybody was in a panicked hurry to leave. And once the bridge and ferry shut down, there would be no easy way to get out. I guess you'd have to hunker down in your palatial beachfront home.

The beach at Galveston goes on for miles, and the water is very shallow quite a distance offshore. Glen Campbell, get out of my head with that song, already! Sheesh!

Watching the ships (large cargo ships and oil tankers) sailing in and out of the harbor, we were treated to some pretty entertaining antics by the dolphins. They love to frolic in the wake and jump ahead of the bow. It makes my heart glad to see these creatures having a blast, too.

We took the ferry to the Bolivar Peninsula (east), where we stuffed ourselves with soft-shell crab – BBQ'd, fried, boiled, fired – at the Stingaree Restaurant at Crystal Beach. Very delicious! And the frozen margaritas were pretty spectacular, too, as we sat our table, watching barges navigating the intercoastal waterway just outside the window. There's a bait farm at Stingaree, too, for the fishermen. There are cement block tanks with fresh live, live dead, and dead baits (Interesting classifications, eh? Not being a fisherperson, these may be standard designations, but I wouldn't know!).

View from the deck. Very private.
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved.

Upon our return to Houston, we went to the post office and to Target. Yep, just like home. I noticed that flags are at half-mast everywhere, as it is Pearl Harbor Day. Texans are seriously patriotic, and such observances are not overlooked lightly.

The weather is unseasonably cold. In fact, it's freezing. Fred had hoped to BBQ for us on his patio boat, but that may not happen. Maybe we can have a BBQ on the deck if it warms up a bit.