Our Trip

***Thursday, 8/28/2008***

We're packed, the car is loaded, the house is clean/neat and Dominic was waiting patiently for me to figure out how to lock the door with my arms being full of junk that I really didn't need to bring with me. Things were going so well that is until we stopped for breakfast at Dunkin Donuts in Brattleboro, VT where I walked in on a little old man using the restroom. The door handle was broken so it didn't lock correctly. Once onto the open highway again we missed our exit in CT/NY and headed right threw NYC going into the Bronx. We made it back on the interstate without any any issues. We stopped in New Jersey to gas up the car for the first time and it was for $3.45/gallon--Cheap! We made our way into Pennsylvania where it was blue skies and about 85 degrees outside. We drove past the War College for the US Army---that was a real sight to see. It began to rain and the temperature dropped to 65--BRR---I had to wear a longsleeve shirt. We ate dinner that Golden Corral which I had never done before. We arrived in Knoxville, TN at 12:45ish. We stayed at the Super8. We walked into our room which was supposed to be a nonsmoking--it had clearly been smoked in at one point or another. We both decided against showering--the shower was gross--it looked like it had soap scum on bottom of the shower.

***Friday, 8/29/08***

We were back on the road by 8am. We drove right past a Hummer dealership on the outside of Knoxville. Had we known it was there we would have went to at least have our baby get a picture in front of the sign. It was really neat at 10am we entered central standard time zone adding an hour to our day =) I loved the idea of that! We ate at a WHATABURGER--which was much less than a wonderful experience! There was mouse droppings all over the floor and a roach crawling on the floor and right underneath my seat. I took 2 bites of my burger and threw it out with Doc following. We arrived in Mobile with it being 94 degrees HOT! We checked into our hotel room at the Days Inn which was VERY VERY clean! I showered right away and got ready for dinner at Oysterella's which was sitting in Mobile Bay and across from the USS Alabama.Our waiter Mike was fabulous! He gave a little history of when Hurricane Katrina came through she ruined the building so it was a brand new building that we were in. Mike was a native of Mobile--he rode out Katrina and planned to ride Gustav out as well. He said that he wouldn't be surprised if Oysterella's building was destroyed again but flooding or high winds. At Oysterella's we ate oysters, hush puppies, squid, and beer cheese clam dip. It was AWESOME! Dominic's allergies really started to kick into high gear so we found the mall and did a little shopping before we went back to Hotel and got ready to sail out in the morning.

***Saturday, 8/30/08***

We got up at 7am--Showered and checked out of the hotel. We went to the Waffle House for breakfast $14 for the entire table to be completely covered in food. We drove down to the pier--told we were too early and had to go back to enter at 11am. We drove through a gorgeous neighborhood in the downtown area of Mobile. It was a neighborhood that I wouldn't mind living in. It looked like it was straight out of a movie. HUGE brick homes with big column porches--sculptures on the walkways--Gorgeous patios with water fountains--brick driveways--the foliage of their lawns were outstanding! Continued driving and ended up back at the mall where we went to Book A Million. The South's version of Border Books. Back at the Port--we were able to park our Hummer for $75. for the week and check our luggage. We got into line where we found out we were VIP's. We got put right through to go through security. We sat in chairs while we waited to go into the corporate office to receive our room keys and finalize our paperwork. We again, skipped all the lines and had our pictures taken and walked right through and onto the boat. Our rooms were not ready until 1:30 so we had plenty of time to "learn" the boat. Once our room was ready we walked in and viewed it and all hell broke loose! We paid extra for an "ocean view" only to have the window boarded up. We went to the purser's desk--only to have the experience be less than favorable. We were not given an explanation as to why we had a board on our window. We were simply told that we could cancel our trip if we didn't like it. So back in our room Doc called Travelocity who checked the status of our room and Carnival wasn't very helpful for them either. They were told that they had plenty of empty Ocean state rooms that were available. So they said that if we didn't get anywhere with Carnival to call them back. Once we did our Muster exercise--we check with the purser's desk hoping to receive an answer this time. This time we were told that it was a hurricane cover and if we didn't like it we could call the customer service number once we disembarked the ship on the final day with any complaints. We had dinner in the Seven Seas dining room. We loved it--it was more intimate than last year. We sat at a booth with another couple from Texas they were adorable. We did a little shopping on the on board shops--the search was for rolaids for Doc. I went to bed after dinner with a killer headache while Doc went to find himself some more food.

***Sunday, 8/31/08***

Sunday was a super lazy day! I just enjoying spending the day relaxing in the sun by the adult pool! I got a little sunburn. The Captains dinner was nice. We dressed up mildly. We saw a gorgeous sunset but I missed it by about 3 minutes. Here are some photos of just how pretty it was. Although it was so hot outside that my camera fogged up from the AC inside the ship.

The Towel Creation of the night: