A Great Day at Half Moon Cay

Monday morning, we had a quick room service breakfast, and headed down for our morning devotions. We were greeted again by our friend Sandi, and led in devotions by Sheila Walsh.

After devotions, it was off to Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas. It is a private island owned by the cruise line, and has crystal blue water and beautiful white sand beaches. Before the cruise, I had reserved a cabana for us, which is a little wooden beach building for four. It is open sided, but has an air conditioner and a fan, as well as light refreshments and rafts for floating in the sea. I reserved the taupe cabana, as close as they had to 'old gold.'

When we opened our ticket envelope, there was an optional upgrade that included a five course lunch and a butler. Why not?

Our butler, Amin, picked us up at our cabins and escorted us to the island. He even found us a way to bypass the long line for the tender boat. Yes please! We even managed to ride the same tender as Sandi and her family.

Amin took great care of us in our cabana, bringing food and drinks as needed. We had a delicious lunch, which included chocolate cake and a ‘drunken whale’ for dessert. 

He also entertained us with his napkin origami skills.

We soaked up the sun, floated in the blue water, and walked on the beautiful beach with our ship in the background.

A lovely day on the beach.

We returned to the ship in the afternoon, had time for a rest, then got dressed up for our evening program and dinner. I was excited about the program since it was Angie Smith and Selah. Selah has been one of my favorites for a long time, and I have seen them in concert in Fort Wayne and Indianapolis. They are awesome. But before they took the stage, Angie Smith shared her story with the group. She is the wife of Todd Smith, who is the lead singer of Selah, so it was a two for one deal with them. They have four little girls who are with them on the cruise, and a fifth little girl, Audrey Caroline, in heaven. Angie is an author and speaker who shares Audrey’s story and inspires us with her words and her faith in the God who loves us through the storms.

I read Angie’s blog, and follow her tales of her little girls, and wanted to take them a little something for the cruise. I found floppy sun hats and had their initials embroidered on them. I gave them to Angie and the girls on Sunday night, and they were so sweet and appreciative. I even got hugs from the 11-year-old twins. It was fun.

 Kate already had a hat she was wearing, but she was still excited about her new pink one.

 After Angie shared, it was time for Selah. 

 I love this one of Todd and Angie's daughter Kate rocking' out to her dad's music.

They were awesome, as usual, and had some fun with the audience, including Sandi’s son Jonathan on their African number.

They also got Sandi’s husband Don up on stage to do an impromptu song with Todd. So much fun.

It felt almost like we were old friends as they went off script and just sang with us. They finished with ‘You Raise Me Up’, one of my favorites.

Sandi wrapped up the program by leading us in the Doxology with a big finish, to take us to dinner.

And it was morning, and it was evening, the second day. :)