My niece and I are beginning to talk about our travel plans for the summer. For those of you who don't know me, I have four nephews and a niece. Since I have no children of my own, I began a tradition when my oldest nephew graduated from high school of taking each of them on a trip. Just me and the nephew or niece. It's nice because I get to spend one last week with them just before they go off to college and I get to give them a graduation gift they will never forget.
For my oldest nephew Jacob, we went to New York for four or five nights. I can't remember how many nights it was now but I think it was five. It was a great trip. Jacob is a huge baseball fan and he did one act play in high school so we went to a Yankees game at the old Yankee stadium, we went to a Mets game, in fact we were there on the 25th anniversary of their '86 World Series win and had to sit through the entire ceremony before watching the dumb Mets get smeared. We both thought that game was the low light of the week and we are both avid Mets haters now. We also went and saw Dirty Rotten Scoundrels on Broadway. It was a great show. We ate at the ESPN Zone in Times Square twice because once just wasn't enough. We went up the Empire State Building at night. After our play we had dessert at Sardi's which cost me more than most of our meals did for the week. But it was something that Jacob wanted to do. We rode the Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty, we visited ground zero and spent most of a day in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We went to a comedy club and just generally did whatever we wanted all week. It was a good trip and I'll always treasure that time with Jacob.
For my second oldest nephew Matt, we decided to take a cruise out of Galveston. It was the last summer that Royal Caribbean ran a ship out of Galveston during the summer which was in 2007. Back then you could go on a cruise out of Texas in the summer time without fear of the ship breaking down in the middle of the trip resulting in being towed to Alabama, being flown back from St. Martin or just slowly missing two stops while creeping back from Grand Cayman on a crippled ship. Yep, that was back in the day when a dependable cruise line sailed out of Galveston year round. But I digress..... 
Matt's cruise was on my favorite ship, Rhapsody of the Seas and stopped in Cozumel, Costa Maya, Progresso and Roatan. That was my first trip to Roatan and when I discovered the greatness of that Honduran island. Matt and I did excursions in each of our stops except Costa Maya. At Costa Maya, there is this outdoor grass covered bar in the market area that we sat in for a few hours and drank a Sol while watching the people walk by and the partiers. At Cozumel, we did a Jeep ride and beach snorkel. It was the same as the Dune Buggy Beach Snorkel that I have done a couple of times except that the Jeep isn't as fun to drive. At Roatan, we went to a resort called Paradise Island and spent the day snorkeling, kayaking and just laying around the beach. In Progresso we went to the Chichen Itza ruins which I think are the best Mayan ruins in Mexico. I don't recommend Progresso as a stop on a cruise. It's not a resort type area. It is very industrial and ugly. The only excursion to do from there is the Chichen Itza ruins and even that is a long drive. But the cruise out of Galveston was going there so we did it. Again as with Jacob's trip, we both had a good time and I loved spending the week with Matt.
My third oldest nephew, Chris also chose a cruise for his trip. We sailed out of New Orleans on NCL. For those of you who haven't sailed on NCL, it is about like Carnival both in price and luxury or lack there of. I recommend it over Carnival just because they seem to at least maintain their ships. It's a viable option for Texans who want to take a less expensive summer cruise without having to fly to the embarkation port or drive for several days. I drove to New Orleans on Saturday. Chris flew in on Sunday since he came straight from his school's trip to Europe. It was the "Summer of Chris", what can I say? Unfortunately, all of my pictures of Chris's trip are on my old computer which is stored in a closet upstairs, so I can't share them with you. Perhaps another time.
Our stops were Cozumel, Roatan and Belize. We did excursions in each of our stops. At Cozumel, we did a speed boat beach day in which Chris drove our two person speed boat. It was a follow the leader type deal and it was fun if you don't normally get to ride in a boat. We went to this beach where the greatest source of entertainment was a family who was on our excursion and fighting. Chris really enjoyed it when the little girl told her dad she hated him. The dad was a jerk and we were rooting for the little girl. At Belize we did a Catamaran Sail and Snorkel. It was good but rainy most of the time we were out. After that excursion we went back to the ship and then tendered to shore to shop and have a beer. At Roatan, we did a beach break and snorkel at a beach where the reef was about 10 feet off shore. It was the best snorkeling of my life! If I could have stayed there for weeks, I would have been happy. As with the other two, we both had fun and it was great to spend the time with Chris.
So this summer it is Rebecca's turn. I am steering her toward a cruise, because I think it will be the least expensive option. But I also have started looking at a few all inclusives. An all inclusive might actually be cheaper than a cruise depending on airfare since I would really rather not go on NCL and I will never board another Carnival ship. Two years from now, my youngest nephew Tim will graduate and then I will be done with all of them. I suppose I could start again with great nieces and nephews, which would mean that I might be trying to figure all of this out again in about 18 years. If you have somebody graduating this summer, I highly recommend taking them away and spending time with just the two of you in a wonderful place that you will both always remember. Have a good Monday!
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