Belize

Haven't posted here in a long time. I figured since I am lounging poolside in Belize that now would be a good opportunity to get back into it. In order to escape the clutcheds of an Alaskan winter Callie and I decided to take a trip somewher tropical. After some research on activities we landed on Belize. Flying anywhere from Alaska is a pain in the ass and you are almost guaranteed to have some sort of delay. Generally you need to plan for about 20 hours of travel time when flying anywhere outside of Alaska besides Seattle. So in researching airfares we came across a United deal where first class tickets were only around $250 dollars more than economy. Well that was a no-brainer. We also found a really sweet litttle cabin on Caye (pronounced key) Caulker with a shared swimming pool for a good deal. Its a little more laid back than the more touristy Caye Ambergris. We got to the airport around 2pm Sunday and found out iur flght was delayed by an hour. Eeek! So we headed to the new Silver Gulch restaurant at the airport. It's pretty sweet because they sell growlers to go that you can carry on the plane. After a couple beers and a pizza we headed down towards our gate. The plane still hadn't arrived so we went over to Humpy's for another beer. By the time we took off the estimated landing time was only 20 minutes before our connecting flight departure in Seattle. Yikes! At least we have the luxurious amentities of first class to temporarily take our minds off that. When we landed in Seattle we were only two gates away from our connecting flight and luckily there was enough people on that same flight (the joys of the alaskan traveler) that they were holding the plane for us. The flight to Houston went by super fast because we were both out cold. (Not sure if the wine or the dream water was more responsible for that). We landed in Houston and were both feeling super groggy and tired. 5 am houston time equals 2am Alaska time. So we headed to the United club for some complimentary beverages and light snacks. Time for the final leg of the flying portion of our journey. We landed in Belize city and were the first ones off the flight, we both decided that would be a great opportunity to use the loo. Unfortunatley that gave the rest of the plane the chance to get in immigration line ahead of us. Damn- rookie first class traveler mistake! Once through customs we went over to the taxi stand and asked them to take us to the water taxi. The drive was interesting. It was almost like stepping back in time. Most of the advertisements for US products look like they were from 30 or 40 years ago. There is a lot of cool architecture but much of it has fallen victim to lack of maintenance. Heading thru the city towards the port we got a view of local life. When we arrived at the water taxi we were greeted by some friendly locals who took our luggage and directed is towards the water taxi ticket booth. Yes! We made it just in time for the noon taxi! After grabbing some refrescos at the mini mart we boarded the water taxi. After a thorough safety briefing we were on the way to Caye Caulker ! ( the safety briefing consisted of the captain " saying watch you steps!" As we boarded). The 40 min water taxi was pleasant yet choppy and brought us to a nice dock in Caye Caulker. There was a bit of chaos as we got onshore with everyone trying to find their luggage. Since we had arrived early and werent sure how to get ahold of the guy who was meeting us we decided to hit up the barrrier reef sports bar and have a beer to two. My first thoughts upon entering this low key laid back bar were "holy crap they have hockey on tv and trivia night and a view of the ocean this is the best place ever!!" Then i saw a phillies banner on the wall and that confirmed my first thoughts. The bartender chatted with us as we slugged down some Belikin drafts. We asked him if he knew Michael and he said he did so we decided to hang out and gave beers until he arrived. When michael arrived he greeted us. We finished up our beers and loaded up onto his golf cart ( main type of transportation on the island) and headed towards our cabin. Well my battery is about to die so I am done boring you for now. Stay tuned for more adventure updates....