Thursday, cont'd
After our bittersweet "goodbye" to the Island, we made our back onboard the ship. I'm sure I don't need to point this out, since someone already noticed my repeat pictures of the ship.... but as gorgeous as she looked in Nassau, it was absolutely majestic to see her docked on CC alone, right up alongside the shore. So, you can bet there are a lot more "boat pictures"
After getting ready for our evening at Palo, we headed to the lobby for a few more pictures. I dragged Kyle there almost every night, as it honestly always takes about 30 pictures of us (in a formal setting) to get one we both like, of each of us. It's really quite pathetic.
Palo was outstanding. So many people had said it was "the best meal of my life". Well, I was a little skeptical. I've eaten at some REALLY memorable places, and I figured that - while I'm sure it's spectacular - some of that hype had to be from the overall experience. It certainly couldn't be the best restaurant in the entire world (the real world, not the Disney one

).... so there had to be an explanation as to why nobody had "ever" had a better meal.
Well, unless we fell prey to the ambience as well, I have no better explanation to offer to you! The food was definitely up there at the top of my list. But add to that the view... and the service.... and the fact that it "only cost $20" (don't remind me that the rest was included in that first giant price I paid, please. thank you

). It really was superb! Kyle had told me I should get the Fairy Tale Cuvee here, even though we really hadn't been buying drinks otherwise on the ship. Wow, is it good! I was really impressed. Little hint though -- $40 on the ship, $27 in Downtown Disney. Make a detour before or after your cruise if you want some! Kyle had a limoncello martini, which was also very good!
We had grilled eggplant and calamari for appetizers, as well as a pizza margherita. We forced ourselves to only get small portions, but oh my gosh -- that might be the most willpower I've ever had in my life!
For my entree, I had filet mignon. I can't remember for the life of me what Kyle ordered. And then came dessert
I had already ordered a chocolate souffle, but Yoost (our fabulous server) decided to bring out his 3 favorite desserts. So.... along with the Souffle, we had the tiramisu, and the Panna Cotta custard dessert. Yum. It was all SO good, and I literally was in pain afterwards from eating so much! I couldn't get over the feeling, and promised to never eat again!
Don't worry, I had my fingers crossed.
After dinner we walked around Deck 10 a bit and watched the sunset. It was absolutely perfect. Again. I don't know how those words can honestly be uttered while on vacation (come on, even at Disney World we all have our little bumps along the way).... but it was really all we could say, at so many times throughout the trip.
This phrase wouldn't end with this evening's show, that's for sure. I heard going into this that The Golden Mickeys is great. I heard that Disney Dreams was everyone's favorite, but GM is a close second. Well, if you think that, then I respectfully disagree. Disney Dreams is really well made. Theatrically, I think it's the best (but let's not get ahead of ourselves). But The Golden Mickeys literally had me choked up with tears. Even Kyle couldn't keep his eyes off the screen, and was absolutely mesmerized during the hero tribute. I wish that we could have seen this with Roy Disney (we'll be sure to watch in the stateroom next time!), but honestly Whoopi didn't detract from it -- since we didn't know anything different. Her interaction with the narrator was really so little of the show to us (although I suppose it's the main point

) ... but the clips and the overall narration were so well planned out. As cheesy as it sounds, it really embodied everything that we love so dearly about Disney as a whole. It was truly magical! And the announcer out on the red carpet interviewing the kids was priceless!
We had planned on staying dressed up after the show, and going to the romantic music on the deck instead of - gasp! - the pirate party. I had been looking forward to the Party, but this just seeme like a better fit to end the night.
That is, until we saw these girls in the cutest t-shirt ever. And then we saw that our server tracked us down outside the dining room (I'm sure on accident, but still) to give us bandanas. Well, what's a girl to do?!
So we headed back to the room (after an ABSOLUTELY necessary stop at Mickey's Mates

) and got ready to party!
The deck party was really cute. We ran into Cruise Director Andy in the elevator, who promptly told us he had been made fun of for his costume. We thought he looked great (as did all the cast, and several of the guests!) so we stopped for quick picture after we got to the deck. The fireworks were a lot of fun, the characters came out into the crowd to dance.... it was really a very cute night! And it turns out that, on this particular sailing, the "romantic music under the stars" wasn't that great, so we felt we made a good choice. Besides, there's always next time. And Mickey did NOT fly into the adult party next door to come to their rescue, might I add
We called it a night after a quick stroll down Route 66. Tomorrow we would be settling our tips, packing up our luggage, etc so we were a bit melancholy. I was beyond thankful at this point, that we had kept this reservation despite all the stress that may (or may not) have been alleviated had we stayed home. We were making the best memories, and really escaping the stuff we couldn't control anyway.... and catching up on all the celebrating and spending quality time together that we had missed so dearly during his medical school. Despite all the things going on that had me in such a frazzled state before we left, I couldn't remember a time I felt happier with life in general, and my life with Kyle in particular.
Ok, sorry for the sap. I think that'll be the extent of it, but I couldn't help but remember all those thoughts while I was recalling those details. We're smack in the thick of residency now, so those moments were all too precious! As much as I cherished them then, I appreciate the opportunity especially tonight, to relive them
