Cruise Day 5 - Freeport

Oceans and Seas » Caribbean
February 4th 2016

Published: February 10th 2016

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Sandy and Cory

Towel Animals

All over the place

Happy Fat Tuesday! I'm really ready to celebrate this day because I fit right into the title....fat-fat-fat! And it's Tuesday and we should all be Happy - happy-happy-happy!

Cruise Day 5 - Freeport

Up and at 'em. My walking shoes are worn out and shredded just like my entire body. I hope you are in better shape than me. You would think with all this walking I would be prancing and dancing like a young gazelle. Wrong! I'm dragging like an aged tortoise with broken legs. Big Lulu can run faster than me and she has no legs. No matter, we must still plug on.

Breakfast first, then debarkation onto the island of Freeport. Hey! What's all this? Outside on the pool deck are thousands of towel animals all over the place. Cute! They block our way. They have gathered in herds. Lulu can't believe her eyes. She wants to play with them all. No time, Lu.....we have places to go and things to do today. If our evening towels are damp....at least we will know why.

Freeport is new to us so there is an air of excitement and anticipation. Sam and Sandy have been here

Freeport

Lulu finds a dress she likes

before but it was like 20 years ago. We scurried along and quickly came to a nice, clean tourist trap area with all the same "stuff" offered by the various native vendors. Only difference in this stuff is it has the name of Freeport on it. To see more of Freeport, we have to take a taxi. The "Main Drag" is miles away. A thousand cabbies beg feverishly to take us. You feel so wanted. We finally decide on one that could accommodate all 8 (1/2 including Lulu) of us plus Sam's scooter. We board a well used & broken-in van driven by Marcus (a very, very large, hefty, black wrestler). We are certainly safe in his van. Yow! Yikes! Watch out. Duck! Brace yourself. Pray! We are going in for a head-on collision! Whew! It was just that the people drive on the opposite side of the road here so we are okay now. It was close. No problem. We are safe. Marcus drives us many miles through big refinery storage areas and huge storage container places. Soon, he drops us off in an area where we are called "fish".......the perfect "catch" for the hungry shop owners. It is

Tourist area

Getting a cab with Marcus

a nice, clean, attractive area with numerous shops and restaurants to wander through. Lulu was thrilled. She got to be photographed with a big, live iguana ....a real close interaction. Touchy close! She's one brave little lady. She wants to be called Tarzan's Gal! She had me snap a few pics of some real "Lulu heads" to take back to our mainstay Lulu. She'll be happy to add these to her photo album and lengthy pen pal list.

Didn't take long to wander through this tourist arena so we crossed the road (no chickens here)and headed to a big casino. It was nice. Flashy! Not all that big unless we missed a section. Not crowded at all. Had nice bathrooms. Cory threw a few coins into the slot machine.....no winning jackpot so we left. Plus, security told me I couldn't take pictures....meanie!

Time to head back to our assigned location where Marcus would pick us up. Yep...he was there. He said a gallon of gas here was$4.64. Jeepers. And we thought our gas prices were always high around our neck of the woods. We trolled through the last section of shops just before we embarked back on the

Tourist Spot downtown Freeport

We're dropped off by Marcus

boat. Good-bye, Freeport. Nice visiting with you.

Just in time to eat lunch! What's the best thing to do after lunch? For me, go back to the room, write my blog and take a nap. All this walking and fresh air has caught up with me and I sincerely admit, I'm whipped! Broken! Exhausted! Cory put on his bathing suit and took off for the hot tubs and lounges in the sunny sunshine. My dermatologist does not look kindly upon me when I show up with my melatonin at its max.

The time passed quickly and we were soon marching again to the dining hall. This will be our last meal when we are waited on hand and foot. I shall miss this greatly. I love all of the attention and service. Lucky Queen Elizabeth gets all of this special treatment for her entire life. Luckeeeey! Always listed on the dinner menu is a special offering of a delicacy one may not always be able to or want to try. The night before was braised ox tongue; tonight is frog legs. Tried both and found them to be quite tasty. I've had cow's tongue before and liked it.

Marina

Lulu likes this bush

First time for the frog legs. They taste like chicken just like people always say.

On our first day of the cruise (way back when), Cory & I found in our room a "Welcome Back" note, two pins and 2 coupons for a free drink costing up to $9.00. Only problem, it had someone else's name on it. Just call us Debbie and Bill. It works for us. We just couldn't locate Deb and Bill....sorry lost couple. I would rather be called STAR but Debbie will do for tonite and the free drink. I ordered some luscious, huge, ice cream liquor drink that was the ultimate. Yummmmy. A meal in itself. Cory said he wanted $9.00 worth of whiskey. Smart-Alec. He didn't get it!

After the meal, they had the waving of the white, linen napkins again as the servers paraded throughout the dining room. They deserve all the recognition and praise that can be bestowed upon them. They work very, very hard. Thank you, severs! Wave-wave-wave!

The many photographers continue to entice us into their varied back-drop scenes. Lulu wished with all her might that she could pose with all the glitz & glamour. Finally, a

Lulu and a waiter

Lulu phones home...but wire is cut!

nice, young photographer recognized her beauty and allowed her to pose in his seaside beach scene. She really caught her eye and Lulu had his. I took her picture sitting in a little wooden chair. It was made just for her. She claimed it as her throne. Queen Lulu. She grinned from ear to ear exposing the deep happiness that radiated out of her internal being. Everyone wanted a copy of this special photo. She's getting more made and autographing them so put your name on the list! Thank you, kind photographer.

The list of activities on this ship is not as exciting as you might think. A lot of Trivia sessions....that gets old fast. Our group decided we would go to the Epic Rock Show in the Liguid Lounge. Again, we were not allowed early access inside and stood for hours outside the bolted door. Oh, my aching stub legs. I thought I had convinced myself I wouldn't do this again. Oh, well....here we are. Like it or lump it. Eventually, we are allowed inside and found a nice circular, cushioned bench for all of us to share. It was comfy. Aaaah. Quickly, we realized this was NOT

Lulu and a live Iguana

Brave Lulu

our 1950's Rock and Roll. Some guitarist came out strumming some pounding, loud hard rock music that almost made my ear bleed again. So glad when he was done! If I were into this kind of music, I could say it was a good show BUT I'm not! It was ridiculously loud and deafening with, in my opinion, most unpleasant music. The choreography and graphic effects were very good BUT they used some very bright, dangerous laser lights that truly almost blinded me. I closed my eyes and shielded them with my hands and still I could tell they were shining directly into my eyes. I was positive I would be making a true transformation into Helen Keller: becoming both deaf and blind. To say the least, I was glad when it was over and we could leave this theater for the last time. Sam shared my same feelings of this show......we suffered and commiserated together. I'm sure this loud music appreciation is generational but the laser bit was just plain dangerous and harmful. Unless you want to be like Ray Charles. Just give me that good time a Rock & Roll.

We have a lot of work to

Owner of the Iguana

Lulu loves both

do now. Time to pack our luggage and get it set outside our room by 11:00 PM for pickup. Why can't things fit nicely in the bags like when we started? We had two suitcases and a carry-on. Now we have 2 suitcases, a full duffle bag and a carry-on. The duffle bag is just filled with our dirty clothes. No liquor this time. It amazes me that when we board the ship, they instruct you on safety and keeping your belongings secure. There is a safe located in each room. Then, when it's time to leave, they have you put all your belongings outside your door in an unsupervised hallway. What's wrong with this picture? No matter, we got it done just in time. Hardly able to move, we collapse on the bed. Whew! It's been quite a ride!

OMG! Suddenly I wake up. It's after midnight. I wake up thinking that there is some gambling money left on my playing card from the casino. Nooooo. Say it's not true. I wake Cory up and tell him my plight. He dresses and heads to the casino....grumbling. Rightly so. For a couple bucks, we'll scratch it. Nope.....he returns to

Sterling Silver Items

Mega Bucks $$$

the room to tell me there's $115 on my card and they won't give it to him. Rats! We should be happy we have money due but my aches and pains scream viciously as I fall out of bed and struggle to get dressed. The elevators are unavailable because they are being used for luggage transport. Up we crawl, 3 flights of stairs (seemed like 30 flights), to the crowded, packed, smoke-filled gambling hall. Toss my Fitbit...I don't care that I've reach my goal of over 10,000 steps. I'm suffering. I retrieve my money quickly. This daming situation occurred when Cory gave me the tutorial on how to use the slot machine and its buttons to get your money onto your playing card...'member? I just used cash from my pocketbook cause it was too confusing to remember everything he showed me. All I knew was I lost what I had. I never thought I had to cash my card back in. Move on, Crybaby. Back on our tortuous, treacherous unending hike to our room. Every muscle in my body is throbbing with lactic acid. Moaning and groaning is heard from one end of the unforgiving hallway to the other....all from

Lulu has friends in Freeport

me! I'm sure the people in their rooms wonder what is really going on in this cruel tunnel but were far too fearful to even look. Will we ever reach home plate? Lulu is frantic.....she has no idea where we have gone. She calls out for us at the top of her lungs. Be strong, Lulu....we are coming. Hallelujah.....we have made it! What a way to end the night. Flop.....dead in bed! Wake- up call is going to come mighty early I suspect. ???????

I bet if we had told Sam about our sorrowful plight, he would have let us borrow his scooter to sail speedily through the halls. He's a fine fellow. Only problem, we couldn't use the elevators so it would have been a mighty bumpy ride up and down the enormous staircases. Sometimes, life takes you on a journey that has some bumps along the way. Tonight was one of them. Good-nite, one & all!

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