.. I do!
Unfortunately, that was the rather cheesy tagline for Cayamo: A Journey through Song cruise that I've just come back home from. The whole trip was brilliant - Meeting up with J beforehand and spending a couple of nights in Miami, driving to Key West again but this time fully appreciating it as we didn't stop off at all the Keys on the way there. The cruise itself was marvellous and I could even say that this was one of the best holidays I've ever had - It had everything (even me being ill on the last night). I'll go into detail at a later date, but for now I just want to try and capture the whole spirit of the cruise without having to resort to shouting "WOOHOO!" like Malcolm in the Middle (the tour director) did every time he made some sort of announcement. I've discovered that whilst I found my sea legs very quickly, I'm having a bit of trouble finding my land legs - I'm still swaying a bit and find that I get light-headed very quickly.
The cruise wasn't just how you could get everything in abundance and excess (I kind of miss being able to go to the ice cream fountain at 3am), J and I were saying how we've both drunk WAY too much alcohol (and it took me 3 days to realise that I was getting drunk much quicker because they gave me a straw as standard and I was drinking vodka and cranberry juice by the pint with a straw - Is it any wonder that I was drunk most of the time?!), we've both smoked way too much - By the end of the cruise, I smoked about 20 a day and J about 40, we were hardly getting any sleep - But we didn't really miss it either. OK, I caught a chill and was ill the very last night where I wanted to stay up all night, but I knew that I needed to get back to the cabin, rub some chinese medicated oil on myself, wrap up extra warm and sweat it out. I wasn't looking forward to the flight back home anyway since the flight to Miami was so awful (10 hours stuck on a tinny thing with a whingeing woman next to me who didn't like that fact that she was stuck next to the fat woman on the plane), I couldn't sleep on the plane, I was worried about flying since it had been so long, and well, time just dragged along.. So the prospect of being on a 10hours flight whilst ill was not too appealing.
My fellow passengers were all fantastic. OK, there were some terrible ppl (the non-smokers who whinge how half the bar in the Casino was smoking because it ruined a good night out for them as some of the best band performances were in the Casino - I say they were good BECAUSE ppl could smoke!), but on the whole, it was good to be amongst like-minded individuals who were there for the music. Whilst everyone went for one, two or even three of the artists, I guarantee that everyone will have discovered some new bands from the cruise. Everyone was out there to have a good time and because they like good music - And it was good to share the camaraderie.
Let us not forget that amongst all this music - We were stopping off at various places in the Western Caribbean (Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, Jamaica). The weather was just fantastic - HOT! sunny. In fact, the only time that it did rain was when we got to Hell, Grand Cayman (typical!) and it rained so hard that when we got out of the mini bus coach tour/taxi we were on, I landed in about 2 inches of water. We baked in Mexico as we travelled to Tulum to see the Mayan ruins there. It was our first excursion of the trip and didn't really know what to expect. J was worried sick because a winter tornado had hit her home town and she couldn't reach her family and friends there. We got the news that her parents were OK, but some people she knew had been badly affected and they knew one fo the 5 casualties from that area. However, once we knew that her family were safe and well, we knew that she was going to carry on with the trip. If there was any hint that all wasn't well at home, she would have been on the next flight home.
And let's not forget the music - The main reason why we all went on the trip. The music was fantastic. The only thing was that I missed some shows because I was either too drunk or completely forgot because I was having too good a time at the bar chatting to people. I don't think I saw a bad performance by any of the performers and well, seeing Emmylou Harris live was so very special. When I first heard her perform "Orphan Girl", I must confess that I started to cry. It was so beautiful, I remember closing my eyes, tears streaming down my face, but still smiling as I thought to myself that I needed to remember that moment as it was one of them rare moments of pure happiness/bliss. I loved listening to some of the open mic sessions they had for ppl. OK, some were pretty terrible, but some were also quite good - But the spirit in which people were allowed to perform and were received in was fantastic. Also, where else in the world would you be able to rub shoulders with someone you saw on stage 15mins previously? When Buddy Miller walked into the casino bar about 15 mins after finishing onstage with Emmylou Harris, I just had to say hello to the guy. He was one of the bigger reasons I went on the cruise and I wanted him to know that. I apologised for my drunken schlurr, but he did offer to take me to meet Emmylou since I told him that she was the main reason I was there and I would love to meet her. Remember this now, for I may live to regret this... I somehow (in my drunken state), managed to turn down the offer. I said something along the lines of how I was drunk (and ill) and I'm sure that Emmylou would not appreciate being disturbed just to greet someone like me. If I were sober and not ill however, I may have taken up the offer but in that state? No way!
It was just brilliant - I would gladly go again next year. But for now at least, I have plenty of treasured memories to keep forever :)
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