Take a rock home?

[brandymleahy]

I know this is kinda odd but, my grandma wants a rock, I don't know why but that is just what she wants me to bring her back. Would I get into tremendous trouble or is it okay for me to bring her back a caribbean ocean rock?:confused:

[driftwood]

Has she given you no specifications? Most of the rock on Cozumel is an ancient, fortunately relatively lightweight limestone composed of the compressed seashells of antiquity, essentially the same material that most of Florida is composed of. Whether you will amuse Customs with it when you return may depend on how substantial a version your grandma desires. You might be able to pick up just the thing on the beach. Taking a hammer to a Mayan ruin is of course a no-no, and if there are any interesting carvings on your rock they had better be documented by a modern artesana on the receipt she gives you.

 

But generally a rock is a rock, and it will only affect the weight of your luggage if you have to fly after your cruise.

[brandymleahy]

Hey, my grandma said just a small stone, one that would probably fit in my pocket. She isn't picky just wants a rock, she has one from most of her travels and wants one from mine too. I don't see the harm in it but I was just making sure before I tell her no problem and then not be able to bring a rock back home with me. Thank you for your response,

 

~Brandy~

[clackey]

If you can't find her one, she can have one of mine.;)

[Efrain]

Grandma's probably way too advanced in years and you're probably way too young, but I would suggest seeking out a "Mexican Love Stone." Don't ask cause I can't tell you.

[driftwood]

Of course if you actually put it in your pocket you might have issues with Homeland Security . . . .

 

I myself might well put a dozen or so rocks of that size, perhaps neatly spaced around my laundrybag or in an egg crate, in my luggage, to see how puzzling they might be to those rummaging legally or illegally through my luggage. Then my grandma could take her pick when I got home!

 

Good luck! :eek:

[clackey]

I honestly don't find this request unususal. I have rocks and shells from everyplace that I've visited. When people come to the house I can show them off and give them a complete tale of how I stalked and bagged my trophies. It gets harder to remember the details as the years go by.

" I picked this one up in Belize as we made our way back onto the ship. That is when someone stepped on my hand."

[Albino Mosquito]

If you do bring a rock, make certain it isn't from any old building even if it has chipped off naturally.

 

Do you guys remember when that girl brought a piece of rock back from Rome? I can't remember which ruins it was from, but she didn't take it off the building, just grabbed it off the ground?

 

There was a massive scandal, and she was charged by the police etc. etc.

 

Who knows what the 'laws' are in other countries for certain things, I think it is fine to bring a rock, but get it from the roadside or the beach maybe?

[driftwood]

One of us is old enough to remember Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in The Long, Long Trailer, and that memory of boulder collecting is what pops into mind when grandma wants a rock.

 

I must confess that I myself--in 1970--picked up three pieces of tuff from the summit of Vesuvius and carried them home in my luggage. But of course we were not so safe in those days--people were still shooting at Presidents they didn't like, and none of our borders were sealed, and we left the building of walls to the Soviet bloc and the industrious East Germans. Pieces of volcanic tuff were not so precious to the Italians in those days as diamonds were to South Africans, and I made it home with neither challenge nor gunshot wound, from neither patriotic Italians or patriotic Americans.

 

But although each piece of tuff was easily over one inch in diameter, I have never yet found a use for them. Unlike clackey, I can't even spin much of a yarn about them--and they aren't very pretty! ;)