Castaway Cay Comes a Callin, Episode 2
Okay, time for a quick recap. . .
a) Day ½ - Drove 7 hrs. Slept. No Tropical Storm Mariayay!
b) Day 1 - Starbucks. . .mmmmm. . .hello, WDW! MK isnt crowded? AP is back! DHS thrills. More sleep.
c) Day 2 You have to beat that DCL bus!! Bruising on my arm ensues. OMG! OMG!! OMG!!!!! Its the Dream! More bruising on my arm. Boarding pass 3! Introducing the sleepydog and luvvwl family! Cabanas. Stateroom goodies. DVC meet where Im labeled Dopeytypecasting if Ive ever seen it. Lifeboat drill. When you wish upon a star. . .toooooot! Dinner at RP, the Lost Table Chronicles. No foil Golden Mickeys for us. . .yet. . . moonlit verandah then sleep.
d) Day 3 No Nassau for us. Cove Café. Working out. Ridonkulous rainforest showers. Cabanas sushi! Champagne in Pink. Sunbathing. Aquaducking. Mixology-ing. Dinner at AP, No Crush on Crush. Villains!! Sleep.
e) Day 4 Castaway Cay 5K and Captain Jack marathon
I think that about covers it so far. . .
I may have an itty, bitty habit of hitting the arm of the person nearest to me when I'm excited. I can't help myself. He really doesn't mind. It's ENDEARING.
So, Im waiting at the Pelican Point tram for my lovely to arrive, sweating up a storm having just finished the 5K (and unknown to me, she the marathon). I realize that good ol Capn Jack will be making his second appearance at that very spot about an hour later. Meanwhile, the eleventeenth tram stops, and I see a most enchantingly beautiful woman preparing to get off: Shes a hottie! thought I. Naturally, it was my own enchantress. She relayed her hunt for Jack and opined that it was time to seek some water in order to cool off. Guess what lies nearby? Pelican Plunge. We walked over, stowed our gear on a beach chair, and eased ourselves into the water. At this point, a rather sheepish LOMF looked over at me.
Umm, Ive never been on a water slide without a raft before. I might be a little nervous. I couldnt decide if her trepidation was a result of the actual fear of going over the side of the slide or whether her top might come off. Hmmm, the latter put me into a mild trance, a pleasant one at that , but I snapped to and assuaged her concerns.
You will not go over the top, promise. And Ill even hold onto your DGs so you wont lose them. She was first to get in her chute and seconds later, she was off.
Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. . .!! Methinks she was having fun. At the bottom of a rather exhilarating ride, she was waiting for me.
Ah don thingk ahm supposed to get wadda up my nohse, am I? I could only laugh. Another water slide virgin bites the dust.
Its hard to believe, I know, but I really never have done a water slide without a tube. Im a little fearful of the body slides I expect to go right over the edge. Plus. Im teeny, tiny bit endowed up top so I expect to go right over the edge in more ways than one! And. NO ONE told me to plug my nose at T Minus 2 seconds!!!! 100 Million Gallons of Castaway Key shot right up my nose.
PS~ It DOES NOT TASTE OR FEEL GOOD!!!!!
Oh, and heres the cutest thing! I took the tram to Pelican Point to meet SD. NO WAY was I walking; after all, I had just finished The Marathon. I caught these guys trying to outrace us!
After grabbing a couple of towels at the Cabanas check-in with which to dry off, we waited for our ride back to Scuttle Cove, and though Capn Jack was going to be there very soon, if we didnt take the tram right then, we might be late for our parasailing excursion that was to leave at 11. That was a superb decision as it turns out. When we checked in at the desk, the CM tells us that one boat had mechanical difficulties, so they were down to a single boat and that the 11 a.m. sailing was full. There were several others checking in at the same time, so we hurriedly scribbled our signatures on the ifyoudieorareinjuredwhileparasailingitaintourfault form, and scurried down the dock. We were the last two to make the sailing! Woo-hoo!! As we were last on, that made us first up, no time to reconsider for luvvwl. We strapped into these lovely diaper-like devices, she in front, and moments later we were floating. . .getting higher. . .and higher. . .and higher. Its amazingly quiet sailing like that, just the slight drone of the boat engine below. We embracedwell, I squeezed her with my legsand remarked how fortunate we were to share such an experience, the entire cruise really. The water was incredibly blue or green depending on where you looked; the Dream appeared as though it were a model in a giant bathtub; and the beaches on CC seemed so far away. There is no hustle and bustle while parasailing. About that time, we noticed the boat towing us was growing larger meaning we were coming down. . .and down. . .and down. . . . . . . . . .and down? Oh, yeah, Id almost forgottentime to get dunked! Which we did, and all the while the crew was mugging, Oh, no, whats happened? It is cool how they can slow down to the exact point where the wind still catches the sail but your butt is dragging in the big pond. Soon, we were back onboard the tow boat, unlatching, and watching the next couple go out. Too quickly our time was over. If youve never parasailed, you owe it to yourself to take the plunge (literally, too).
I LOVED it!!!! This was another first for me, and the first few seconds while youre waiting for them to release the rope are a little butterfly-inducing and then, WHOOSH!! Youre up, up and away!
By now, it was close to noon, and we were hungry. Our options were the grill at the adult beach or head for sushi at Cabanas. Cabanas won easily. Off to the Dream we headed, where we freshened up just a bit, then headed up to eat. . .only there was NO sushi. Apparently, its an every-other-day deal. No biggie, we found plenty to eat, anyway (can you say lots of shrimp?).
NO SUSHI???? Are you freakin' kidding me?? I walked ALL the way back here JUST FOR SUSHI!!!! Geez!!
After eating in the only partially full Cabanas, we headed back to CC, tramming it to Pelican Point where we grabbed our rental snorkeling gear.
What do I do with THIS? asked she-with-the-arched-and-doubting eyebrows. She was holding up the float vest.
Umm, you wear it? I chuckled in response. You have to blow it up first.
Im supposed to put my mouth on that tube?! Neither she nor I are particularly germophobic, but she did have a point of sorts, so I did it for her.
I dont know that I need this vest to keep me afloat, babe, she chimed with a certain levity in her voice and twinkle in her eye. Lets just say the vest rode much, umm, higher on her chest than on mine, just sayin. Next came the flippers.
How do I put these on? Its a safe assumption to say she had never been snorkeling before.
Walk out into the water, turn around, slip them on, then walk backwards, I replied. Easy peasy.
Oh, really? Im not sure she believed me, but soon enough she had them on and we were floating toward points unknown.
In my defense, I had NEVER snorkeled before. WhichSomeoneWhoShallRemainNameless KNOWS. And. Secondly, I think by then we had firmly established that the water tastes ICK-EEEE!!!! Your snorkel tube thingie keeps getting that icky water in it which you have to keep spitting out, your goggle thingies keep getting foggy so you have to keep putting that icky water in them to get the fog out. Which, said water settles in the nose part and thus BACK INTO YOUR MOUTH AGAIN. And another thing!!!! My floatie thing kept deflating!!!!! I literally had to stop every five minutes to blow it up again.
PS~ make sure you push down on the nozzle PRIOR to putting it in your mouth. Thats right, if you dont, you guessed it, ANOTHER BIG, FAT MOUTHFUL of that icky water!!!!!
We swam a lo-o-o-n-g time before making it to the first buoy. Though I had been here years before, I couldnt remember exactly where any of the underwater sights were located, so we started swimming buoy to buoy. All of sudden, there was Mickey! Then we found the sunken boat! We took some pics with a waterproof camera, and if any of them turn out halfway decent, then well post them once theyre developed. We spent a good hour and a half snorkeling, maybe a bit longer, and by the time we made it back to shore, we were more than ready for a beach lounger, sun, and drinks. And thats exactly where we headedto Serenity Bay!
Unfortunately, we dont yet have any of these pics. The reason why goes something like this:
LUVVWL: I think we should get one of those inexpensive underwater digital cameras for our CC day.
SD: Oh, no, babe. We dont need one. Well pick up one of those disposable cameras. They take decent pictures and it will cost way less. More $$ for drinks!!!
LUVVWL: Weellllll, if you really think so
SD: I do. Trust me.
I will also point out here, that if we HAD that camera I wanted, then SOMEONE wouldnt have kept saying THE ENTIRE TIME we were snorkeling, Im not really sure this will come out. I cant tell. Maybe I should take another one to be sure.
See babe, with an underwater DIGITAL camera, you have the ability to REVIEW your pics.
Just sayin
By the time we arrived at the adults-only beach, it was pushing 2:45, and there were plenty of open beach chairs w/umbrellas. We settled in, noticed the gorgeous vistas there on the beach (nature and human alike ), and within a few minutes, I offered to go get drinks.
I think someone might have been more interested in the gorgeous human vistas, FYI, and Ill give you one hint: It was NOT me!!
Twas just moments after swimming while sunning in chairs,
We had parched throats (and I thinning hair).
A drink we did need and sooner rather than later
When magically appearing was a smiling drink waiter.
Two for one drinks while they last! he did say,
Theyre Bahama Mamas, and the drink of the day!
We cried out in joy, though no jumping did we employ,
But, man those heavenly drinks did we thoroughly enjoy!
They were YUMMY!
We sunned and lazed awhile, but by the location of the sun, we knew our day on the beach was ending. It was time to head back and get ready for dinner, and not just any dinnerit was Palo night. We bid adieu to our wonderful spot on the beach, hiked to the tram, and dragged ourselves on board the Dream. Wed spent several hours in the sun and the water, and we were tired, but it was with that feeling of having spent a glorious day doing things wed not done together before. It had been near perfect and now a most amazing meal awaited. The evening was going to be even better. . .
Next up: Palo and BelieveGuess Which We Liked Better?
It was just a perfect day. With the perfect partner.