A funny thing happened on the way to the port…

I went to Florida a day before I was scheduled to leave for my cruise. I wanted to spend time with one of my favorite cousins Lisa plus, I didn’t want the hustle and bustle of rushing to the port (remember this statement) right after flying in.

Our first plane ride together

On Saturday night we had an awesome dinner at Grand Luxe Café by the Saw Grass Mall and of course I ordered my favorite, the Cedar Planked BBQ Salmon and I even got Lisa’s husband Anthony to try it and he definitely liked it.

Lisa & Anthony

To make our dinner even better my bestie Sheree and god daughter Kennedy were able to join us since they were on vacation in Fort Lauderdale too.

She sucks her thumb!

Finally it’s the morning of our cruise!! I did what I normally do first thing in the morning and checked my phone. I opened an email from Carnival that said if you have flexible travel plans arrive at the port between 2 and 3:30pm. That was perfect since Lisa and Anthony had to go to church that morning anyway. Once they got home, Nelson and Anthony went back on the street to run a few errands then we were off to Ft. Lauderdale port.

As we were driving to the port, Lisa kept pointing out that she has never left for a cruise from the Ft. Lauderdale port. She even ran down a list of people she has taken to meet the ship and not one of them left from there either. I heard her talking the whole time but I wasn’t really paying attention to what she was saying. I was too excited, flirting, and playing googly eyes with Nelson after not seeing him for a while. Not once did I think to check the paperwork in my purse.

We pulled up to port security and the officer asked what ship we were here for. I piped up from the back seat, “Carnival Valor”. He replied, “Carnival Freedom”. Without batting an eye, I repeated,”No Carnival Valor”. I was getting annoyed at this point and basically gave the officer the check your paperwork look when I should have been checking mine. After the officer reviewed his clipboard he confirmed that the Carnival Valor was NOT leaving from Ft. Lauderdale. I finally checked my green folder and I was suppose to be at the Port of Miami!

At this point it’s after 3:10 and I’m in a total panic. I call the emergency Carnival hotline and they said the latest I could get to port and still make it on is 3:45 but here’s the kicker… the port of Miami is 40-45 mins away. I’m freaking out and almost burst in to tears at the thought of ruining Nelson’s vacation not to mention how embarrassed I am. Thank God Lisa married Anthony who must have been a Nascar driver in his former life because he got us there safely and with time to spare. Nelson thought getting there late was the best thing ever since there were no lines and getting through was a cinch. I beg to differ… I never want that type of stress and worry again.

After getting over the shock and fear of almost messing up my vacation I was able to take it all in and look forward to my 7 days of R and R!

The first full day of our ocean voyage was spent on the sea. We spent the day on the adults only Serenity deck soaking up the sun while reading and napping.

Later on that night we got all dolled up for elegant night where we enjoyed a fantastic meal

There's always a lil towel creature waiting for us at the end of the night

We don't need no water...

I promised myself I would cook more when I'm in DC, not because Nelson cares, I mean he likes taking me out to eat ;-) but because my mom actually made a big deal out of it. The last time I was there she called and asked if I cooked breakfast for him before he went to work. I looked at the phone for a minute and asked her to repeat herself. Does she know what time he gets up in the morning? Did she forget I'm nocturnal and stay up most nights and get my best sleep in the mornings? I calmly responded no. She didn't hesitate to tell me "the way to a man's heart is through his mouth".

HUH?

After laughing hysterically and correcting her butchering of the popular saying, I realized she was right.

So on Wednesday I decide to cook my special chicken parmesan. It's a special recipe I came up with while in college that wins over everyone's heart. I haven't made it in 2 or 3 years so I was excited to bring it out the arsenal.

Everything was going according to plan. The chicken was complete and smelling divine, I just strained the spaghetti and the corn on the cob was almost finished boiling. It was the perfect time to cut and heat up the garlic bread. I grabbed a baking pan from the drawer under the stove and placed the bread in the oven. I went in the living room to sit with Nelson and his cousin Tony for a while. After a few minutes, I went to check on the bread and what I discovered was a fire in the oven!

I didn't know what to do, my mind went blank. I finally called out to Nelson for help. He went to the sink and grabbed the silver colander I just used to drain the pasta when he realized it couldn't hold water of course. The fire alarm is going off now and I'm worried the sprinklers are going to come on. I hear sirens in the distance and I pray they aren't making their way to his community. He reached into one of the cabinets and got a big plastic white bowl, filled it with water and threw it into the oven. Finally the fire was out.

I was so embarrassed! The baking pan I thought was metal was actually plastic. I caused his townhome to be smoked filled with black plastic remains (that are probably carcinogenic) floating around the main floor, not to mention the ruined oven racks. But Nelson was sooooo sweet, he told me it was no big deal and he's just happy I got up to check the bread when I did.

Besides the fact I almost made two people homeless, dinner was a success, they really enjoyed my meal and he even trusted me to cook the next day.