vacation

7 days aboard a ship cruising the Caribbean is best for late winter blues, for me, anyway.. Para-sailing is way overrated. Only I can feel claustrophobic and out of air 400 ft up in the sky. Tubing, on the other hand, rules. I did everything physical I could think of. That too, lots. Things that impressed the most -- the ship, rocking-- no sea sickness, just feeling drunk hence the hangover, and it rocks you to sleep ever so gently..Cemetery in Aruba much like one in New Orleans -- vaults stacked above the ground, only in festive pastels..pink, blue, yellow, very Mardi Gras. A tiny chapel atop a sun-drenched hill, not a shade in site in a 90 degree heat -- stone cold to touch.. Old fortress of San Juan towering over the sea --entire Spanish armada sunk by its walls. Lunch of ceviche and tapas in old cobble stoned San Juan. Vintage porn in a local thrift store. Grenada's port, a sign for tourists to please refrain from wearing military attire on the island..scents of cinnamon and saffron and coffee, coffee to die for, palpitations and all. Dirt poor Dominica, chickens walking the the streets, stoned locals with tertiary syphilis, one of them chasing the jeep with a huge machete for I dared to take his picture..and a stinky sulfur springs resort named "Screw". Tiny Bonaire that is all ochra and deep blues and greens with trees a color of flesh, hot and mellow. As if stepping into a Gauguin's painting. And a very American St Thomas, vanity fair and tax-free David Yurman. Few things that didn't impress: casino, on-board entertainment, a sip of $1500/bottle cognac, local markets.