cayamo 2011.

Did you hear? I went on vacation.
To the Caribbean.

Sidenote: I said "cuh-ribbean" and the IT lady at work corrected me and said it's "care-ibee-an". 

And then she tried to give me a history lesson about it, but I tuned out.

Am I right? Or is she?

Because she wears purple velour pants.

This recap is only going to happen if it can come in the form of a list with no rhyme or reason.

Get some snacks because it's a long one.

• Possibly my favorite photo of the week happened right after stepping on the ship.

• John Prine. He's an adorable, adorable man. And he plays with an Apolo Ohno look-alike. Hey, remember when I loved Apolo Ohno during the 2002 Olympics? Yeah, me too.

• Brandi Carlile. We got in to all three of her shows. I never get tired of it. AND she played two new songs. If I start telling you that "you rattle my bones", it's because of her new song.

• Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We took a water taxi to Virgin Gorda and then a "bus" to The Baths, which we walked/climbed/ducked through and ended on a beautiful beach. It ranks high up there for my favorite activity of the trip.

• I also danced a jig in The Baths  (not unlike this one). When that penny whistle starts, I have to dance. 

• Another favorite moment of the trip was when we found Mike & Dwayne on the beach in Virgin Gorda. They were walking with great purpose (they were late), I called out to them, Mike looked up and saw us, pointed and just said, "AWESOME", and kept walking. Writing it doesn't do it justice, but it was often quoted throughout the rest of the week.

• "Did you know that Dwayne hates big sunglasses? He thinks we all look stupid right now. Except for Em." -Unck

 The bigger, the better, I say.

• I think I'm allergic to Caribbean sand. The CANKLES! tried to overtake me, but I was ready for them this year. Well, once I turned over my life savings to the ship store for Benadryl I was ready. Two little pink pills were my nightly cocktail.
• Ice cream cones. Self-serve was back!

• I learned that I laugh out loud in my sleep nearly every night. One night I woke myself up with my giggling, immediately rolled over and looked at Lindsay (who was still awake reading) and without me even asking if I had just been laughing in my sleep she looked up and me and said, "Yup". 

• Speaking of sleeping, I didn't have the top bunk this year. Stacey rocked that.

• We were lucky enough to have Valentine's Day dinner with Mike & Dwayne. Apparently they had questioned "who's going to get who?" without coming to any conclusion. When Mike, Em and I got up to go to the bathroom all at the same time, the decision was made. I guess our bladders were made for each other.

•  Let's talk about Shawn Mullins for a bullet (or three). His voice pierces my musical soul. Make fun of me all you want, but every time I see him live my mind is blown by how much I love him.
• My #1 musical moment of the week was when the Indigo Girls were singing "Kid Fears" and he came out in the middle and started singing Are you on fire? I can't even describe it. Shawn sang the part that Brandi sings in the video below (around 2:20).

• It's possible that I have a soft spot in my heart for Shawn because he was the soundtrack to some teenage drama. Shawn has a little song called "Lullaby", maybe you've heard of it? The song's not great. However, when I was 16 I found myself with a broken heart. And for a week or two the last song I heard on the radio every night and the first song that came on the radio every morning was that one. Everything's gonna be alright.
• St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. We thought we were walking 1/4 mile to the beach, but we ended up walking 1 mile through the ghetto to the beach.

•  That island provided a very hot sun and cell phone service. Perhaps you saw my tweet?

•  Patty Griffin. She won a Grammy on Sunday for her Downtown Church album and then joined us on the boat on Thursday. She's adorable. And she makes what comes out of her mouth seem effortless.

•  I can't tell you how much I love Mike & Dwayne. They are weird and normal at the same time. So kind. So, so funny. It was basically like we were on a six-person vacation. Cayamo's best decision was seating us next to them in 2009.

 

• Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas. This was the day I entrusted my life with Captain Meeko and Big Daddy Tunes. After years and years of trying to convince someone to parasail with me, I finally did it. It was super peaceful (minus the part where I started to freak out a little about getting dipped in the water).

•  This is also the place where I fake snorkeled. The water was shallow for a long way so I just walked out and stuck my face in the water. Not satisfying, for the record.

•  I spent some time alone on the deck at night, watching the waves and the moon. It's hard to put into words the way it makes me feel. So I wont even try.

•  There was a bowling alley on the ship. Finally, on the last night, we bowled some balls. And by "we" I mean "everyone but me". I just wasn't feeling it, but Mike wins the award for most creative bowling. Loved it.

•  Virgin Gorda (Tortola) had chickens. And they kept coming after me. As it turns out, I'm not a fan.

•  Lindsay put a spin move on a hammer head shark. Yes, you read that correctly. Every time we got off the boat there was someone dressed in costume waiting to pose with you for a picture. The shark really wanted Lindsay to pose. Lindsay really did not want to.
• Dar Williams sang "The Babysitter's Here" during one of her sets and her friend's daughter danced on stage. That little girl just meant it. And it made me cry.

• I read 1 1/3 books on this trip. That's 1 1/3 more than last year.
• I got a little worried when it was cold in Miami. But I was pleased to find that the weather every other day couldn't have been better.

•  There was still no Diet Coke, just Diet Pepsi. We made the most of it.

• Stacey rocked an open mic. I wish I would have been brave enough to sing one of her songs with her. One day.

• Speaking of Stacey, she kept falling up the stairs. And I kept missing it. But the third time's the charm and I finally witnessed it. Man, I love people falling down.
• Colin Hay. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed him. His wife was...interesting. I wish I had captured Em's reenactment of her interpretive dancing. Priceless.

•  Dan Wilson. Remember the band, Semisonic? Yeah, him. Another top musical moment was Dan Wilson singing his song "All Kinds" and the audience joining in. I'm a sucker for that crap.

• All in all, it was not a waste of time.