HELL

On Board The Conquest

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This is Gene wearing the Santa hat that Grandma Patti gave us to take along on our Christmas cruise.

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This is me wearing the Santa hat that Grandma Patti gave us to take along on our Christmas cruise.

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This is our cabin looking towards
the hallway door.

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This is our cabing looking towards the door & window of our own private balcony.

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Gene in one of those white-knuckle-hold-on-for-dear-life glass elevators.

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This is the Disco with lots of great music. We used to be able to dance to that stuff when we were younger. hehehe

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This is me trying my hand at the
one~armed bandit in the casino.

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This is me getting a computer fix
at the on~board Internet Cafe.

Welcome To Jamaica ~ 25 December 2002 ~ Yeah, Mon!

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Here we are getting off
the Conquest in Jamaica.

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Jamaica Terminal

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Rose Hall Great House

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View from Rose Hall's front porch
overlooking the ocean.

If you ever get to Jamaica Rose Hall is a must see. A large beautiful mansion built 1770 - 1780 it was the home of the white witch Annie Patterson who came here in 1820. Annie became the wife of John Palmer the owner of Rose Hall. Annie was a young beautiful Irish woman who was taught voodoo & witchcraft as a child by her nursemaid also a Haitian priestess. John Palmer was the first of three husbands murdered by Annie by either poisoning, stabbing or strangling. She also tortured & killed numerous slave lovers when she became bored with them. Annie was strangled in her bed during a slave uprising in 1831. It is said that she still haunts the house to this day. I did not know prior to the tour that Rose Hall was once owned by a Henderson family. I don't know if they are connected to my Henderson line. If they are it would be very remote.

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Our Rose Hall tour guide.

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Rose Hall's christmas tree.

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Haunted Mirror

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Bedroom where Annie Palmer
murdered her third husband by stabbing him
& then pouring boiling oil in his ears.

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This bear trap was found on Rose Hall grounds. Since there are no bears in Jamaica they believe it was used on slaves.

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Slave children ages 5 ~ 9 years old had to carry this bucket full of water to the Great House. If they spilled any they were lashed with a whip. I lifted the bucket & it is heavy enough empty much less with water in it.

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Rose Hall dungeon exit / entrance. Notice the dungeon door at left.

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Rose Hall dungeon where slaves were formerly kept with little ventilation & only a small candle for light. The dungeon now houses
a gift / souvenier shop.

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Rose Hall entertainment in the pub. Here we sampled some witches brew.
Whew!! Powerful stuff!!!

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Rose Hall patio.

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Beautiful lily pond near the tomb.

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Tomb of the white witch, Annie Palmer. A lady in our tour group who had sampled a bit much witches brew layed on top of the tomb to see if she could conjur up any spirits. Much to her disappointment (& the relief of everyone else) nothing happened. lol

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Overlooking Montego Bay from
a restaurant up in the mountains.

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This is Gene with our tour guide for the day,
Lynford Warlock, of Juta Tours.

It's kind of hard getting used to riding around in Jamaica as they drive on the left side of the road. At one point a tan furry critter scurried across the road in front of our taxi. I asked Lynford if it was a squirrel & he said it was a mongoose. Wish I could have gotten a picture of it but it was in too big of a hurry to avoid being road kill. lol

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The Coconut man.

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Here he is opening
a coconut for us.

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Our guide, Lynford,
enjoying coconut jelly.

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Me & Gene sampling delicious coconut milk. While Gene was posing for the picture I was busy sucking up all the coconut milk through a straw. hehehe

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Here we are back aboard the Conquest, leaving Montego Bay & sailing off into the sunset. These pictures were taken from our private little balcony.

Next stop: Hell

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Welcome To Grand Cayman Island ~ 26 December 2002

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Here we are arriving on
Grand Cayman Island.

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Sea shore behind the Rum Cake Store.

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Gene

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Esther

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Gene

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Sure is a hell of a place!

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Esther

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Hell rocks that give the area its name.

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Hell Rooster~this banty rooster was running around loose by the Hell Gift Shop.

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Flowers blooming near the Hell Gift Shop.

Now if anybody ever tells me to "go to hell" I can reply with, "Been There~Done That!"

Time to get the hell out of here! Next stop: Cozumel, Mexico

Welcome To Cozumel Mexico ~ 27 December 2002

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Arriving at Puerta Maya

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Welcome to Puerta Maya

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This is the restaurant where we
ate lunch right by the ocean.

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Woo Hoo! Look what I found in Cozumel! hehehe

We left Cozumel after dark on the evening of the 27th. Gene & I were VERY tired so went to bed early. I woke up sometime during the night. When I looked out the window there was a shore line with lights which I hadn't expected to see. The more I looked at the lights the more I thought they looked like the lights of Cozumel. But I told myself it couldn't be as we had left Cozumel hours earlier. So I shrugged it off & went back to bed. The next day we found out that a passenger had fallen & broken his leg. Cozumel was the nearest port so the ship turned around & went back to Cozumel so the patient could be put ashore & admitted to a hospital. HA! I knew those looked like the lights of Cozumel! I'm not crazy afterall! hehehe

Spent another day at sea & arrived back at New Orleans the morning of the 29th. After going through customs & picking up our luggage we hightailed it for home. Wanted to get home in time to pick the "kids" up from the vet before the holiday. Got home in time for sleet & snow. Sounds like good weather to hibernate. Somebody wake me up when spring gets here. lol