Cruisin' part deux

Actually forgot where I am for a minute.

Cruisin' part dos.

Better.

So IIRC I left off yesterday morning, the Process (TM) well underway. After a decent visit to IHOP we went up to Publix to pick up some supplies for the cruise; the stuff that's not included with our cruise price, like pop and water. Ok of course we could get free water on the cruise but we want some bottled stuff for our room, just to be safe.
We also picked up three nice bottles of wine. The ship has a descent wine list and I know we will partake in some of it, but their markup is rather significant so it saves a few bucks buying some and bringing it on board, even with the $15 corkage fee. One of the bottles was the same champagne that we had at our amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's during our last appearance in the Sunshine State, so we are excited to pop that baby open to celebrate the beginning of our cruise.

After Publix we took a cab down to the Miracle Mile, a street of shopping and dining that is so named because of course it's a mile long. That is complete bullshit of course, it's just over half a mile, but I guess there is no cachet in directing people down to the Miracle .58Mile. Just goes to show there is no truth in advertising anymore.

It is the best shopping area on Earth as long as you are looking for a wedding dress. For anything else, notsomuch. Tons of dining options though, and we had a nice dinner at a little French bistro. We ordered a bottle of Napa Cab Sauvignon and sent it back, only the second time I've ever done that. It was steadily declining; I heard the owner grumbling about it a bit but he took it in the back and tasted it, only to come to the table and apologize as he agreed with us. Our wine palates have sure developed, I doubt we would have noticed that a year ago. The replacement bottle was much better; not quite of the quality we are expecting to have on the ship, but perfectly fine nonetheless.

One thing I've noticed here is that pedestrians are on their own. The drivers here don't give a flying carajo about walk signs or lights. If you are in their way, you better get out of their way. And quickly.

My cold is much better but I'm still a little lethargic, and after dinner I had no energy for anything but rest back at the hotel. Watched some TV and slept until....

Second day in a row I am still asleep and Tracey is up, showered, and In Process. I know it drives her nuts that I sleep for another half hour, get up, and am still ready to go before she finishes.

Off to IHOP for another round of breakfast goodness and back to the room where I update the blog while she finishes packing. I'm already packed you see, I did that while The Process was in its final stages earlier.

In mere minutes we are heading down to check out and hop our shuttle to the Port. Cruise, here we come!!!