Our Grown Up Vacation

Bryan and I returned yesterday from our 8-day vacation sans toddler. It was hard to be away from Jackson for so long, but he was in good hands with Cici. They did great, with the exception of Jackson's refusal to take a bath.

Our trip was wonderful....it was almost like 3 trips in one.

Part 1: We arrived in New York City in the early afternoon on Sunday, 7/6. It was Bryan's first trip to New York - so what a culture shock it was! We checked in the Hilton in Times Square - left the room about 1:30pm and didn't return until 10:30pm! We walked around....took a double decker bus tour...went to a broadway show, and even stopped in at a favorite watering hole of my Dad's. The next morning we woke up and walked around Times Square some more, and over to Rockefeller Center and saw St. Patrick's Cathedral. We checked out at Noon and headed over to the pier - the Port of New York.....

Part 2: 5-day cruise to Canada. The cruise was fantastic! I wasn't sure what to expect since the last time I cruised on Carnival was Spring Break in college...so you can imagine the kind of trip that was! But the food was pretty good, considering the number of people they had to serve, and the service was incredible. The staff was very friendly, and our dinner waiter was great. Yudi brought me a big glass of milk every night - for the baby. Very cute. Our room was very nice - we had an oversized balcony, and I was impressed at the room size and storage. It was very comfortable. Our first and last days were at sea, with stops at Saint John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia in between. When I finally post some pictures, I will share some of what we did at the port stops. As most do on cruises....we ate....a lot. Average of 4 meals a day to be exact. Our dinner seating wasn't until 8:15, so we just HAD to hit the 24 hour pizza bar at around 5pm to tide us over. Couldn't let baby go hungry!! We also had a lot of fun playing Blackjack in the casino....and walked away with some money, believe it or not!

Part 3: After the EASIEST dismbarkation I have ever experienced in cruising, Patti and Jude picked us up at the port, and we stayed in New York City for awhile. We walked halfway across the Brooklyn Bridge, and also got to see their offices at the Federal building downtown - so fascinating! We had a wonderful lunch at the Liberty House overlooking NYC, and then relaxed for awhile before heading out to a great Mexican dinner in Jersey City. Sunday we had brunch at a cute place near their townhouse, and then went to Chatham, so Bryan could see where I grew up. It was weird to think we've been together for 7.5 years, but he'd never seen where I spent the first 14 years of my life. We even got to house hunt with Patti and Jude in the afternoon, which was fun. And a bit of a culture shock with the housing prices compared to Dallas. Wow. Another excellent meal...this time at John's Pizza....and we were officlaly stuffed to the gills with all the food from the week.

So, that is our trip in a nutshell. It's taking me awhile to go through all the pictures, but will post my favorites in waves as I can. Even though this blog is called Jackson's World.....I can still share some Mommy and Daddy fun too. And I need to start thinking of a new blog name for when little baby Moree makes its arrival in October!