Last week we set sail on the Carnival Imagination to Key West, FL and Cozumel, Mexico. It was a complete blast watching Vegas style shows, laughing at the comedians, playing games, participating in competitions, eating to our heart's content, sightseeing, and of course relaxing by the pool.
Our first stop was to the Ernest Hemingway house in Key West. There we were able to see how he lived, where he wrote some of his most famous books, and of course his cats. At all times there are 40-50 furry friends roaming the acre property. These cats are direct descendants from Hemingway's cats and some of them even have the six toe gene! My favorite part of the tour was the pool. It was built sometime in the 30's by one of Hemingway's wives while he was overseas. The pool is a saltwater pool and cost $20,000 to install. Unbelievable, considering the house was purchased for just $8,000!
The southern most point in the Continental United Sates...Only 90 miles to Cuba!
Mile Marker Zero... We're such tourists.
A cowboy bar in town where we had 2-for-1 margaritas.
The night before arriving in Mexico. We stopped to take a picture in the library while waiting for dinner to begin.
One of the many restraurants Cozumel has to offer it's guests. This one was my favorite with it sitting right on the crystal clear water.
Brent and I on the boat headed out to parasail. When we were trying to sign up for it in town the adventure companies wanted $90 a person to parasail. We decided that it was way over priced and ventured out of the tourist spot to do some deal searching. We ended up finding a guy that let us parasail for cheap, cheap, cheap. It was really nice. We had the boat to ourselves and we able to be up in the fresh air for 17 minutes.
The gorgeous water we parasailed over.
The "zonkey" at Fat Tuesdays
One last picture before heading back to the ship.
So, Brent and I were laying out by the pool when we heard announcments for the Men's Hairy Chest contest. I begged and pleaded with Brent to go sign up and he did. We were very much under the impression that all he would have to do is stand up on stage and look handsome as we all know he is. However, that was not the case. When the contest started each guy had to dance down a stair case, dance up onto the stage, have his chest felt, and give a tarzan yell! Although he didn't win the grand prize bottle of champagne, he did walk away with a "ship on a stick." Needless to say, it was a total hoot and not at all what we expected!
Us with Fun Ship Freddy during the free cocktail hour on our last night aboard.
The southern most point in the Continental United Sates...Only 90 miles to Cuba!
Mile Marker Zero... We're such tourists.
A cowboy bar in town where we had 2-for-1 margaritas. 
The night before arriving in Mexico. We stopped to take a picture in the library while waiting for dinner to begin. 
One of the many restraurants Cozumel has to offer it's guests. This one was my favorite with it sitting right on the crystal clear water. 
Brent and I on the boat headed out to parasail. When we were trying to sign up for it in town the adventure companies wanted $90 a person to parasail. We decided that it was way over priced and ventured out of the tourist spot to do some deal searching. We ended up finding a guy that let us parasail for cheap, cheap, cheap. It was really nice. We had the boat to ourselves and we able to be up in the fresh air for 17 minutes. 
The gorgeous water we parasailed over.
The "zonkey" at Fat Tuesdays
One last picture before heading back to the ship.
So, Brent and I were laying out by the pool when we heard announcments for the Men's Hairy Chest contest. I begged and pleaded with Brent to go sign up and he did. We were very much under the impression that all he would have to do is stand up on stage and look handsome as we all know he is. However, that was not the case. When the contest started each guy had to dance down a stair case, dance up onto the stage, have his chest felt, and give a tarzan yell! Although he didn't win the grand prize bottle of champagne, he did walk away with a "ship on a stick." Needless to say, it was a total hoot and not at all what we expected!
Us with Fun Ship Freddy during the free cocktail hour on our last night aboard.This trip was such a blessing for Brent and I. For the past few months we had talked about taking a cruise to get away together before he leaves for the Army. Last month we had finally given up on being able to take a vacation before he left purely due to a lack of money. It was such a surprise when I opened up papers for a cruise in my brithday card from Brent's parents. Thanks to them we were able to enjoy each other without any stress from our daily lives.
