What qualifies as a road trip?
There have been many long drives in my life that you might consider “road trips.” My family drove everywhere when I was a kid because my mom was afraid to fly. I had a growing collection of magnets for all the states we passed through. I know we went as far south as Florida, as far north as Maine, and as far west as Arizona, but honestly most of that is a blur… and the magnets have all been lost to time.
After I got my driver’s license, I can remember driving myself to various parts of Virginia, New York, the Carolinas, and several other places. I couldn’t tell you why, but most of that has always been up or down the East Coast without a lot of travel in westerly directions (save, perhaps, West Virginia).
Selene and I have taken several trips by car. The longest has probably been from Florida to Virginia — a mere 14 hours and 979 miles. We also pack up multiple times a year to head to different festivals, which I guess you could consider roap trips. Heck, sometimes even visiting friends in other parts of Florida feels like a road trip. Florida is huge!
All of these trips have been focused on a destination. There is a place to be and a time to be there.
I think something that I would really enjoy experiencing, at some point in life, is a trip that is focused on the journey itself rather than the destination. The driving version of coddiwompling I suppose. Purposeful driving toward a vague destination, without a specific place to be or time to be there.
Who wants to loan us a hippie bus?
Good morning and happy Monday, friends!
I can confirm that this is not a scheduled post. We have indeed returned safely and our cruise ship didn’t hit any icebergs. It was a four day cruise to the Bahamas — from Miami to Nassau.
So… it’s time to share some pictures from the trip…
Leaving Miami…
Neither of us had been on a cruise before, so we weren’t really sure what to expect. Selene collected all sorts of anti-nausea meds for us before we were a little terrified at the possibility of getting seasick, but luckily we actually found the gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) rocking of the ship to be rather soothing.
First sunset at sea…
Okay, so it doesn’t really take very long to get from Miami to the Bahamas. Despite the fact that it was a 4 day cruise, we would only be in port at Nassau for one day. For the rest of the days, they just had the ship in some sort of holding pattern, making giant circle in the ocean.
Sunset kisses…
But that did give us the opportunity to get lots of cool pictures of the sky, water, and sunsets.
No, you don’t have pareidolia. This is clearly an animal towel with a face.
And they fold all your towels into random animal shapes. If that’s something you’d like to adopt at home, Carnival also offers classes on how to recreate it. Kind of like making balloon animals, except… out of towels. Very niche skills.
There was lots to do on the ship — not all of it worth doing, but lots nonetheless. There were musical performances, comedy shows, an arcade, casino, and plenty of food. We lost about $10 playing slots. We also tried one of their big bingo events. There was a beautiful spa, but the spa packages were [unsurprisingly] extremely expensive. I think one of the best things about the whole experience was the view.
More views of sky and sea…
When we docked at Nassau, we didn’t have a whole lot of time on land. I think we left the ship around 10am and had to be back by 4pm. You definitely don’t want to miss your cruise.
I don’t know what this flower is, but it was pretty enough to take a picture.
Our first stop, naturally, was the Bahamas Rum Cake Factory.
Delicious…
Don’t make the same mistake that we did. If you get the opportunity to visit this place, don’t buy one small rum cake. Buy 10 large rum cakes. Buy as many as you can carry and as many as will fit in your suitcases.
Because they are delicious.
Streetside coconut service…
Next, we headed to something called The Queen’s Staircase.
A fort of some sort…
After you walk up a bunch of stone stairs, there’s a fort. I’m sure there was some sort of historic value here.
Masonic entrance to an unknown building…
From that fort, we walked back across most of the island to get to the Pirate Museum. We passed by a very large, touristy shopping area. I guess if you come to shop, that’s the place to be.
The one single thing I wanted to do on this entire island was sit on a beach and drink something out of a pineapple.
Beach vibes
My goal was accomplished!
We didn’t really have any cell service the entire time, so we were just asking locals which way to go and where to find things. I thought everyone was pretty friendly and gave us good recommendations. For lunch, we were pointed to an area called The Fish Fry and we eventually wound up at a restaurant called Twin Brothers.
The water at Junkanoo Beach
And that was pretty much it! It was time to start heading back to the ship.
I did put my toe in the water at Junkanoo Beach, though. It felt like a freezing arctic blast. A toe was as far as I was willing to go. It was not a warm day. The water was very cold.
Nassau
So we left port at Nassau and headed back to Miami.
One last sunset…
Which gave us time to watch one final sunset from the ship!
I’ve got more pictures, but I think that’s enough for today.
Anyhow, this past week has been a lot of catching up and returning to reality. I’ve got a bunch of upcoming festival workshops that need to be finished. Here’s what’s happening in the next 30 days…
- January 24 – 26, 2025: StaarCon 5
- February 7 – 9, 2025: Turning the Tide
- February 7 – 9, 2025: WitchCon
I’ll be performing or teaching at those three events… so… you know where to find me!
I also wrote a little article that showcased some of our recent adventures in making cold process soap.
That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more soon!
Aerik Arkadian 
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