ROATAN

Many of you have never heard of Roatan, I share that same ignorance....."where in the world is Roatan". Well it is a jewel off the coast of Honduras, and I was very excited to get to see this small and yet very pristine Island. We all headed off the ship this morning without a plan, and no direction. Roatan was a mystery for us to solve and we were so ready to play detective. The entry to this beautiful and well kept port was very attractive, we headed up towards the exit, of course as is customary the cast of culprits were there trying to sell you things, however the pressure did not seem to be very intense here, and we strolled to the exit unscathed. On the way out a trio where playing some traditional music for our entertainment, and listening to them put us in the mood to head out and see Roatan. After listening for a bit, I turned to my wife and asked her what time we were suppose to return, "I dont know, thats your job" she responded. JOB! I came on this vacation to get away from a job.

I decide to head back to the ship to ask about re-boarding times, my oldest daughter Brittany volunteered to join me. As we approached our cruise ship I noticed an old fellow sitting with his legs crossed on a bench, he seemed familiar to me. As people approached and spoke with him, his voice was unmistakable, the man was Jerry Van Dyke from the popular sitcom "Coach" and also the brother of the very, very famous Dick Van Dyke. I approached him and shook his hand and of course took some complimentary pictures with him. I was star struck.

As I returned with the information my wife had demanded from me, we decided to book a car for the afternoon with a local driver acting as guide. He was a nice man who had a tendency to inform us at every turn, "American people live here" and then "Local people live here" not the type of tour guide I was looking for but we had a giggle every time he said those two phrases.

Our driver was doing an excellent job of showing us Roatan, from tourist sites to small venues. He drove into a very small quaint town that we just fell in love with. A beautiful white sandy beach, crystal clear waters and the main road maintained its original dirt look. It was paradise, we spent an hour and a half relaxing and swimming before we decided it was time to head back. On the way back to the ship we got to see how locals lived and also had an opportunity at every stop, to give the local kids candy that my wife had bought with them in mind. Most kids had rats as pets, and I found that interesting. I asked our guide if rats were a problem in Roatan, in broken english he said...."local people live here"

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We said our goodbye's to our driver and headed back towards the ship. Roatan had left a gentle and friendly impression on me and I thought as we boarded the floating resort....I'LL be back little Roatan, I'll be back.

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