From South Carolina, we went to Florida. We stayed the night with Dwayne's mom and dad, but we left the very next morning to meet the boat for our 10th anniversary cruise. The girls stayed with Dwayne's parents while we were gone.


This was a view of our ship, the Monarch of the Seas, from the little boat that shuttled us to and from the island. Our first stop was Coco Kay.

The deep water in the Caribbean is the brightest turquoise.


The shallow water we swam in (and by "shallow" I mean as deep as 45 feet) is perfectly clear.

This is the view as I relaxed my head back on my lounge chair. We spent the whole morning at Coco Kay snorkeling, then we pigged out on BBQ ribs, chicken, fresh vegetable and fruit salads, then we relaxed in the dappled shade with our paperbacks for a few minutes until we snorkeled again in the afternoon. At the end of the day, we were totally exhausted and content (and sunburned).

I didn't get any underwater photos, since I don't have an underwater camera and I didn't want to spend money on one. I don't think I can even describe how wonderful it all was. We'd be in three feet of warm water trying not kick too hard, else our knees might brush against the colorful (and sometimes poisonous) coral and then almost all at once the ocean bottom would drop out from below us and we could see all the way as deep as 45 feet and the water there would be shockingly cool. The bottom was covered in bright corals, at times, or white sands or even in long, waving, green grass, as far the eye could see. And, tropical fish were everywhere!!! sometimes swimming alone, sometimes in a group of a thousand or more of the same kind together. They'd come close enough to touch you, but they would never let you touch them.

I hope I never forget how magical it was. And I hope I get the chance to do it again.