In the "never say never" area, I never wanted to go on a cruise. The Cayamo 7-day Caribbean cruise changed that. Bruce and I love the "contemporary folk" genre of music. I guess if you were weaned on Peter, Paul and Mary and the like, like I was, then it's only natural to navigate toward this "modern" form of that music. At 50+, we are done with the head-banging rock, but still love music; especially that which is very instrumental and acoustic.
The line up excited us (can you say "Woodstock on the Water?"). Each night, there were special shows by the headliners, each running about 90 minutes - simply phenomenal acts of music! Each person received one of those shows each night, plus a bonus show one night.
- Lyle Lovett
- Indigo Girls
- John Hiatt
- Brandi Carlile
- Patty Griffin
- Shawn Colvin
- Glen Phillips
- Over the Rhine
- Kathleen Edwards
- Vienna Tang
- Mindy Smith
- Bonepony
- The Greencards
- John Wesley
- Aslyn
- Ed Robertson
- David Ryan Harris
- Drew Copeland
- Joe Ely
- Beth Wood
- Webb Wilder
- Heather Luttrell
- Emerson Hart
- Oakhurst
- Tift Merritt
- Girlyman
- Marc Broussard
- Jim Bianco
- Edie Carey
Within the list are old favorites and several new favorites. The entire experience was nothing less than overwhelming with music at several venues from afternoon to the wee hours. We stayed up for three of those wee hour shows - Glen Phillips, Over the Rhine and Mindy Smith. They were the best since no one was following them (and the musicians, by that time of night, had enjoyed a drink or two).
The cruise itself. We stopped in four ports: Samana (Dominican Republic), St. Thomas, Tortola (British Virgin Islands) and Nassau. Nassau was a replacement for a smaller island that we had to bypass due to strong winds and rough water. Twelve foot waves and 50MPH gusts were enough to keep us away from an island, but it didn't stop the 2,000+ on board from partying on the upper deck while the ship swayed us from side to side and up and down.
There was knitting, too. The first day at sea, I passed a table of knitters and joined in. We shared our stories of music and knitting. It was a great addition to the entire experience. I primarily knit on my Raglan Rust. It's a top down raglan light jacket that will be perfect for chilly spring mornings. Although I knit every day, and in a variety of locations,
I didn't knit as much as I thought I would due to late nights, dark venues and beer.
We returned home last night, and this morning, I was unpacking while watching CBS Sunday Morning. On it, there was an interview with Van Morrison, who is known to be a man of few words and even fewer smiles. At the end, he was asked about how his opinion of "Brown Eyed Girl" improved over time. He chuckled and replied, "if you can shake your ass, then it must be alright." Believe me, there was a whole lotta ass shakin' on the Norwegian Dawn last week - it was definitely alright!
Now a collage of pictures to share:
