
A few months ago, I came across a man and his son while
flying home on a plane from Chicago to Los Angeles. They were en route from Florida to L.A. for
the boy’s interview at UCLA for film school.
Somewhere along the way as we were up in the air, he nudged his father
and said, “Dad, there are mountains down there!” I
remembered feeling the same excitement when I first saw snow falling
from the sky. It wasn’t until I heard that comment about the mountains when I
realized how much we take for granted the environments that we live in. It has always been my goal to travel, but I’m
really trying to amp it up now. Newly
married with no kids yet, I think it’s the perfect time to start exploring the
world – while I’m still somewhat young.
After turning 30 this weekend, I
know that I haven’t even really begun seeing
too much of the world out there.
2 months ago, I went on my first travel assignment for the NFL to
Indianapolis. Last night, I had my first
pastrami sandwich. Little things, yes,
but I’m trying to go outside of my usual
(I usually go for tuna or a roast beef sandwich).
2 weeks ago as an early birthday gift, my wife Chanda booked
a Carnival cruise from Long Beach to
Catalina Island, to Ensenada in Baja California. Yeah we heard about the Carnival cruise
fiascos in the past month, but we decided to take our chances. The original plan was to fly to Chicago, but
the cruise was a more economical alternative, especially when we’ve been
talking about visiting Catalina for a long time.
So we set sail from Long Beach en route to Catalina. Our first cruise had been on our honeymoon in
Fiji aboard the Fiji Princess with Blue Lagoon Cruises. We were on board a much smaller ship, with
about 50 other people. In contrast, this
ship (Carnival Inspiration) was huge.
It’s literally like a hotel on water, with a whole ton of accommodations
– a casino, multiple auditoriums, a comedy club, multiple dining rooms bigger
than those on most college campuses, a gym, a giant water slide, whatever you
could think of – they’ve found a way to incorporate it on this ship.
After a day on the water, we docked in Catalina and took a
small boat out to Catalina, where we decided that we wanted to try
Parasailing. They hooked us up and away
we went up in the air. Being 600 feet
above the water was pretty relaxing and exhilarating at the same time. Pretty cool experience while it lasted.
Every night that you come back into your cabin, the staff
leaves a towel animal on your bed to greet you as you walk in. The first night we got a rabbit, and we were
both pretty impressed by the creativity of it.
Over the course of the next 3 nights, we got a different animal every
time, and on the final night, I asked Chanda what she wanted to see. She said “I want the elephant!” And lo and behold, we got an elephant on the
final night!
On the second night, we woke up in Ensenada. Once we got off the ship, we took a bus to
our daytime activity, which was the ATV tour.
We ended up at a ranch where our chariots awaited us. From there, we followed our guide across the
dusty roads of Ensenada, eventually to a sand pit where we were allowed to go
crazy and do whatever we wanted. There
are a ton of wineries in Ensenada and we were able to see a lot of them from
the outside on our ATVs. By the time we
got back, everything was brown with dust, including my camera and lens.
After finishing our tour, we took the bus back to downtown
Ensenada and walked around trying to find local eats and shopping.
Ensenada is the birthplace of fish tacos, so
we had to have some authentic battered fish tacos.
Back at home, I have been going to this place called
La Bufadora since I was in high school.
Go on Wednesdays and Sundays for $0.99 cent fish
tacos – I personally guarantee you that they are the best fish tacos you will
ever have in your life.
Anyway, I have
always wondered about the origin of the name La Bufadora, and as it turns out,
it is the name of a natural spout in Ensenada, which blows water every couple
of minutes.
Pretty fitting name for a
restaurant specializing in fish tacos.
We found a small cart on the street, with a bunch of kids in
line for food. I told Chanda that I
trust that the local kids know the best places to eat, so I stood in line and
got 3 fish tacos and 1 beef taco. They
were just as good as the ones back home – I went overboard a bit on the hot
sauce, so our mouths were burning once we finished our food! Either way, I was glad to get to have
authentic fish tacos straight from the original source.
We walked the streets some more and stopped for some
horchata. In our lifetime, we have
experienced “Mexican” restaurants that don’t even serve horchata. What a sham!
Chanda has had the unfortunate experience of being the one to ask, only
to find dumbfounded waiters who have no
idea what it is. No Mexican restaurant
is legit if it doesn’t have horchata. We
continued walking, and found another small shop serving food and decided to get
another cup of horchata. A few steps
later, we stopped at another shack and had their ceviche.
After a few hours out in downtown, we headed back to the
ship and hung out for a bit before spending our night at dinner and a comedy
show. The next day was a fun day on the
water as we headed back en route to Long Beach.
And just like that, the cruise was over without any major hiccups. We had another location notched in our belts
in Mexico, and now we’re already planning a new trip for July. Check back later, but for now, please enjoy
the photos!
-Johnny
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A view of the Queen Mary from the deck of the Carnival Inspiration |
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Port of Long Beach |
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The Casino |
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The look of joy - casino edition |
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Towel Animals |
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The look of joy - towel animal edition |
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600 feet in the air over Catalina Island |
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The look of joy - Asian peace sign edition |
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No, I didn't take this from a Mexican jail cell |
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Mexico's largest flag is proudly flown in Ensenada |
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A view of the ATV ranch |
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Two Banditos |
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Fish Market |
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Pick a hot sauce, but stay away from the bright red stuff in front! |
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The Carnival Inspiration boasts a giant water slide on deck |
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Running track and mini golf course on the top deck of the ship |
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A view of the inner atrium of the ship |
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