Come Sail Away

And now for something completely different.

Things have changed since our last encounter. The ominous specter of law school became the best decision I’d ever made, as I spent the semester doing intense, yet intensely enjoyable learning and having all manner of new experience. And, in the process, I made what are sure to be lifelong friends. In short, I loved every minute of the past four months.

That said, it’s time for a break. 

 

While it’s painful to take a break from seeing my “gang,” a break from classes is probably necessary, lest I turn into some sort of carnivorous doctrine-spewing tortfeasing lizard by the equinox. Fortunately, my mother had this same idea within a week of returning to school (the break part, not the tortious lizard part). The problem, though, is that her and my ideas of “break” do not always overlap. I prefer the road trip (I know – this is shocking news), while she enjoys this idea called “relaxation.” So, after a good deal of lobbying, I was convinced to give 5 of my 12 days of vacation over to Carnival Cruises (despite the volume of Supreme Court jurisprudence involving cruise lines). I did have one condition, though: There would be no stops for “sand and palm trees.” If I wanted to sit somewhere and relax, I could accomplish it without the TSA getting involved. When all parties agreed, all systems were go.

So here’s the plan: Tomorrow, my mother, my sister, and I fly to New Orleans, where we’ll spend nearly a full day. I’m particularly excited about the bountiful fried dessert products and the ubiquitous vats of seafood. Unusually for me, I’ll probably miss some of the must-see spots because I haven’t had time to figure out what those might be (Civil Procedure, Torts, and Property will do that to a person’s free time). But as long as I get something worth posting here, it’ll be a victory.

From New Orleans, we get on a boat (I won’t call it a ship until it earns that designation) and spend some time floating in the ocean (two days, maybe? See previous parenthetical for why I can’t remember the exact itinerary), before ending up in either Cozumel or some other nearby Mexican destination. I know that there will be two such destinations, and that by the time we head back we’ll have seen Mayan ruins and done something involving a glass-bottomed kayak and a snorkel (fear not, though, I used my legal research rewards points to get myself a dry bag specially designed for bringing cameras into such situations). Then there’s more floating and some more time in New Orleans to wrap up any loose ends we couldn’t take care of earlier.

I’m still not sold on this whole “cruise” idea, though. They say a cruise ship is a floating luxury hotel, but taking a vacation to a luxury hotel isn’t exactly my style. My sister keeps placating me with talk of the cornucopia of free food and the glut of free entertainment. I’m still bringing yarn and some crochet patterns, just in case.

As usual, I’ll do my best to post an update every night. I’m told the service may be spotty in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico and in a foreign country when I have roaming disabled on my phone, so they may come in bunches. But rest assured, I’ll be writing every night. And, of course, acquiring new photographic material for my walls will be a top priority.

Stay tuned…