Record Setting Night
Minute Maid Park
May 5, 2004 - Wednesday

Lisa and I headed to downtown to watch the Astros play with the tickets she won last night. Tonight was Roger Clemens' chance to reach another milestone in his long career. Clemens only needed 6 strikeouts tonight to move past Steve Carlton for 2nd place on the all time strikeout record list. Clemens had been averaging just a bit over 6 strikeouts per game this season so we weren't sure if he would make the 6 required.

As it turns out Clemens struck out 9 batters and secured his new spot in the record books. When Clemens struck out Raul Mondesi in the 5th inning to take over the 2nd place spot the crowd went crazy and flash bulbs fired off from every direction! Clemens received numerous standing ovations during the game in which the Astros won 6-2 and improved his record to 6-0 for the season. He finished the game with a total of 4,140 career strikeouts, that's 1,574 strikeouts behind the all time leader, Nolan Ryan. I think it is safe to say that Ryan's record will be safe for a long while...



We drove to the stadium right after work and fought traffic for about an hour or so to get downtown. Since we were pressed for time, we ended up getting 2 mini pizzas and a coke for a cool $20. I guess they have to find a way to pay Pettitte and Clemens those large salaries huh?!



Here's a view looking out onto the field. Our seats were very high up but at least we were in the building for this historic game. There were a total of 35,883 fans on hand to witness the event. As a token to the fans who attended, the Astros issued out 8x10 commemorative certificates that you can mount your ticket stub to and frame for display. This was a nice little added touch to game, not only can we say we were there, but now we can prove it with this nice souvenir.


 

Powerful Sunset
Friend's place
May 4, 2004 - Tuesday

Tonight was our weekly poker night and all was going well until well uh I got eliminated first. I hate it when that happens. Anyways I had to run to the car real quick to grab some things and noticed the sunset near the parking lot. I had my S400 on my hip as I usually do so I took it out and snapped a few shots. I am really not very happy with how this image came out, the power lines seem a little jagged and I know it was not lost in the compression. Oh well, There's always tomorrow to capture a better photo.

The one good thing that came out of poker night was that Lisa finished 2nd and won a pair of Astros tickets for Wednesday night's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The cool thing about it is that Roger Clemens will be pitching and only needs 6 strikeouts to move up to 2nd place on the All-Time Strikeout Leader list.


 

Finally Updated
It was a long night...
May 3, 2004 - Monday

I finally got the past week updated on the page and now I am moving onto to sorting through the 400+ pictures I have from the entire cruise. I plan to make a separate gallery section for each individual location we visited with the images measuring a bit larger than the ones posted here on my PAD page.

Well with all of my time focused on editing my pictures for the past week and getting the website update, I did not have a chance to take a picture today. So in that case here is another image from Cozumel, Mexico. It is of The Summit cruise ship which is a part of Celebrity Cruises fleet. This particular ships original city of port was Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.


 

Back On Land!!
Galveston, Texas
May 2, 2004 - Sunday

After 2 1/2 full days straight on the ship we are finally back on land again. The entire time we were on the ship we did not have to carry anything other than our issued Sail and Sign card. These cards were issued to us as soon as we checked in at the main terminal and was used to purchase anything we wanted on the ship, all we had to do was sign for it.

Then at the end of the trip we receive a bill which included all of our purchases and excursion costs. The dangerous part was that the casino tables accepted Sail and Sign cards as a form of payment. For instance if I sat down at the Blackjack table, I could give them my card, tell them what amount of chips I want and just sign for it and it would be applied to my final bill. Lisa and I opted not to go that route when it came to gambling for obvious reasons. Instead we played with cash only so that we did not get carried away with using the card. These will make for a cool souvenir.


 

Not A Good Day
Mark Twain Library
May 1, 2004 - Saturday

Today was not a good day, to say the least. Last night there was about 10 of us or so from the wedding party that got together and spent the evening at a couple of different bars on the ship celebrating our trip. The partying started at about 8 or 9pm that evening and continued until 2am or so. Out of the 10 people who participated in the "Tequila Shot Conquest", a total of 7 of us got very sick including myself and Lisa.

I laid in my bed all day long today and finally felt ok enough to try to venture out and walk a little bit to get my blood circulating etc. Lisa and I decided to walk to the library that was onboard since more than likely that would be the quietest place on the ship. Loud noise is not a good thing when you're still not feeling well from a night like we had.

Anyways, Lisa and I played a game of checkers which she beat me at and I snapped off a couple of pictures of the book cases in the library. Once I got a couple of pictures I had just about had enough of exercise and needed to lie down. We decided to get back to the cabin and just order room service for dinner. One thing I did learn today was that a hangover on a cruise ship is not a good thing because the ship is constantly moving and just makes matters worse. Note To Self: Lay off tequila for a long while....


 

Exploring The Ship
Elation Cruise Ship
April 30, 2004 - Friday

We just spent the day wandering around the ship, gambled a little bit and explored parts of the ship we hadn't been to etc. We will be at sea all day today and Saturday and finally arrive back in Galveston on Sunday morning. The cruise is a lot of fun but we are just ready to get back on dry land for a change. This image of the ships navigation system was taken at the very front of the ship. We had been on board for 5 days now and this was the first time we got up to this area. There are probably a ton more spots that we haven't even been yet.


 

Snorkeling In The Caribbean
Secluded Island - Belize City, Belize
April 29, 2004 - Thursday

Belize City was today's destination and unlike the past two ports, we had to anchor about a mile or so offshore and be transported to shore via a few 100 passenger tenders. Since we had already signed up for a snorkeling excursion along the Barrier Reef, our tour guide service picked us up in their own tender and drove us about 25 miles out to this secluded little island out in the middle of the ocean.

The boat anchored about 30 yards off of the beach and we all grabbed our snorkeling gear and jumped in the crystal clear water. We saw a ton of fish and some great coral all over the ocean floor. After snorkeling for about 45 minutes or so we all made it to the beach and was quickly greeted by endless amounts of Rum Punch provided by the guides.

This island was completely made up of Conch shells and it was very obvious since these large shells were everywhere! In fact, I stepped on one that was sticking out of the sand a little bit and I do believe I yelped like a school girl. We sat out on the beach for about an hour or so and finally it was time to make our way back to the boat so that we could be transported back to the cruise ship. Since the boat was anchored offshore a little bit we all swam our way back to the boat to once again be greeted with more Rum Punch.



This location was unbelievable. Just to give you an idea, the extent of the island is almost completely captured in the image above and it was about 60 feet across from one side to the other. The captain of the boat cranked up the stereo and had his shipmates continue to keep our glasses filled with their tropical Rum concoction. By the time we reached the cruise ship, we had drank so much alcohol we decide to lay down for a little bit back in the cabin. We were both completely wasted and it wasn't even noon yet!  Wow!
 

Paradise Found
Cozumel, Mexico
April 28, 2004 - Wednesday

Our second day in port brought us to Cozumel, Mexico which we took a powerboat excursion. Lisa and I were given a small 2 seater powerboat which was powered by a 25 horsepower outboard motor. There were about 8 boats total and we all followed our guide a few miles along the coast line to a nice secluded beach. Once we pulled our boats on shore we were greeted by an open buffet of beef and chicken fajitas which were made for us. The beach we were on was absolutely gorgeous and the water was so clear. I think along the way to the location we saw every shade of blue imaginable in the ocean.



This is a courtyard located near the pier where we docked and it makes for a very nice image. We did a fair amount of shopping in the area and made sure to get plenty of souvenirs.



This is another area near the pier which was located right beside Fat Tuesdays bar. There were a ton of hammocks and shade trees all around for us to lounge in and enjoy the sight of seeing 5 cruise ships, 4 of which can be partially seen in this image. A local cab driver told me that they actually had a total of 9 cruise ships in port today.



In this image there are two Carnival cruise ships. We were on the Elation which is on the far left side of the picture. These two ships were absolutely HUGE! This image just does not give the ships their due justice.



This is just another view of the beach we drove our boats to. It is a vertical image so it kind of adds a little more to overall feel of the atmosphere. This beach was amazing to say the least. I sure wish I was back on it now.



Next vacation I think we will want to spend an entire week here in Cozumel and enjoy the beaches and all of the other excursions that are available. It was a shame that we only had about 9 hours to spend in this great city before we had to get back on the ship and head to Belize City.