Big...Bigger...Biggest

Well...Happy St Martin's Day, Folks.  Hope you are enjoying a much needed day off. As of the time of writing, I have no idea what my activities will be, but am positive that Mrs. J has plans.

Had a bit of fun this past week.  Got to meet Brother Aaron, a frequent commenter here, as well as Carla and Aaron Jr.  They were visiting San Antonio for a conference and stopped by the Burg for an afternoon.  Unfortunately, the Guy Upstairs was busy replenishing the Burg's rainwater supply at the time, so the transit time from the Parking Lot to the Nimitz Museum was futilely speedy.  For some reason, that didn't seem to bother them very much.  Perhaps, because they'd just received the weather report from Mrs Aaron.  She reported the temperature back home in South Dakota was -15^o.

As always on this visit, I learned something I hadn't known before .  One of the exhibits, is a restored TBM.

Source

As I was walking around it, there was the expected discussion of the rescue of President George H.W. Bush off the coast of Iwo Jima after having been shot down while flying one.  However, I hadn't realized that Paul Newman had served as a gunner on one and been wounded.  Butch Cassidy indeed!

Changing subjects, "The Lair" project passed a significant obstacle in the road to construction.  Which was...of course...the Road.  Gravel Base has been laid all the way to the entrance of what will be the garage.

For those of you curious about the give and take of weather vs construction, the road was in place before aforementioned rain started.  The two low water crossings did a pretty good job of getting water from the high side of the road to the low side without much washout.  Once the house is completed and the heavy machinery returned to base, the crossings will be finished with cement.

One hopes (prays) that will minimize transiting problems. Next step, getting the engineer out to do soil sampling to plan the foundation.

While all that was going on, the Juvat Clan had to take a little working vacation.  As most readers are aware, I've mentioned that Mrs J is a travel agent and we have taken frequent vacations with our wine maker friends

Ad Nauseam, juvat!

So, putting two and two together (=3.14159...), she and they decided to put together a Wine Cruise.  The cruise left Galveston on Jan 5th and returned on the 12th.  Cruised down to Roatan, up to Costa Maya and had the mandatory stop at Cozumel before returning to Galveston.  We had 40 people sign up for the cruise, along with Mrs J, Winemaker Lead, Winemaker Wing (I'll leave it to them to argue who's who there), and, little old wine pourer, me.

We had wine tastings every evening.

We also had two seminars on the Sea Days.  Yes, tasting was again involved.

 I even perfected my gyro-stabilized wine pouring arm to correctly direct liquid through the air into a glass while the glass was moving in all three dimensions.

That, alone, should be worth 6 figures in any future job interviews I may have.

Pulled in to Roatan (an island off the coast of Honduras) and found our self-arranged tour guide.  Mrs J and Mrs Winemaker decided we needed to culturally enrich ourselves by studying local wildlife.  Frankly, I think she'd been calling me a sloth for so long, she just wanted to see what one looked like.

Apparently, the only difference between he and I is...he has more hair.

This wasn't our first visit to the island and tourism, in general, has been good to it.  The facilities and infrastructure have improved greatly in the 7 years or so since the last visit.  The presence of heavily armed Policia around indicated their understanding of tourism's importance.

One of the drawbacks to a privately arranged tour is that the ship doesn't wait.  We made it back on board with plenty of time to spare.

Next stop was a first for us.  We'd never visited Costa Maya, Mexico before.

As you may have noticed, it's a fairly small port.

Big and Bigger

This was our first real indication on how big our cruise ship was.  Of course, mobbed elevators were another indication.  The closer ship is a Zuiderdam by Holland America.  Liberty of the Seas is significantly bigger, longer, wider and taller.

Our activity for the day was a Guacamole and Salsa culinary adventure.  The brochure Mrs J indicated we would be taught how to make authentic Guacamole, Salsa Fresca and Salsa Borracho.  It also indicated that Margaritas would be involved.  However, it did not mention that we would also learn to Salsa...as in "Dance the...".

My friends,  while in a former life, I was renowned for being able to maneuver a 25 ton fighter with grace and agility arriving in weapons parameters precisely as planned.  However, NONE of that translates onto the dance floor.

No...more Margaritas didn't help.

I think Mrs J is still complaining about her stomach hurting from laughing.

Proud to serve.

After this exercise, other members of the group went for a swim.  I, however, realize that one of the benefits of a large lunch is the siesta that follows.

So, I did.

It's off to Cozumel we go.  We've been there many times (many, many, many).  Our first was on our honeymoon.  We haven't been there since before Hurricane Wilma hit it in 2005.  We were happy to see that it has been pretty nicely rebuilt.

We wake up to what looks to be a cloudy day, step outside on the balcony to check the weather only to realize that the sun is being blocked by a steel overcast.

Biggest and Bigger

If Liberty of the Seas dwarfed Zuiderdam, Harmony of the Seas did the same to her.  7000+ passengers, 16 decks and probably at least a football field longer.  Way more people than I can deal with.

But, as our President might say...It's  YUUUUGGE!

Our excursion today, again arranged by Mrs J, involves Mexican Cuisine.  Burned once, I inquire as to exactly what that entails.

Well...Margaritas, of course.  Then we will divide into teams of two, and cook a three course Mexican lunch.  No salsa, or other dancing, involved.

First course (to prep) will be dessert.  In this case, caramelized plantains in chocolate and cream sauce.

The chef demonstrates what the final product (less plaintains) should look like.

The Ace tries his best.  However, despite my lack of artistic ability, the dessert would turn out quite nice.

The main course was next, a seared Fish Fillet with Tamarind sauce.  This involved quickly searing the fish fillet in olive oil, shaking the pan to keep it from sticking.  Mrs J had a helper. 

I was closer than she was. It was hot

The filet then was wrapped in foil and taken off to the oven.

Final course to cook was the Hors d'oeuvre, Shrimp Sope in chipotle cream tomato sauce.  Fairly simple, although the dough was made for us and might have been challenging.  Get the shrimp started cooking add some tomato sauce, chipotle paste to taste, heavy cream to desired consistency.  Very tasty.

Time to eat, along with a Margarita, ¡Por supuesto!

Back to the boat, but in Cozumel, there is one mandatory stop.

 
Para una margarita, por supuesto! ... o dos.

 Or maybe a jello shot.

Time to leave, and as we got back on board and headed out on the balcony, we could hear the sounds of  bacchanalian revelry coming from the Carnival ship docked about a half mile away.

We start to head back home, with a sea day to help recover from the festivities.  Mrs J went  to a Cake Decorating Class.

She's very artistic.

I'm not, so I sought out a quite place to ponder things.

I'm the King of the World!

OK, Maybe Not!

A good time was had by all and we've already had people sign up for the next Wine Cruise. Royal Caribbean is a nice Family oriented line and sailing out of Galveston is convenient, so we'll sail them again. However, I thought the ships were a bit too big for my taste. When it's Mrs J and I we'll be sailing on smaller, more subdued, lines. Just sayin'.