Cruising the Great Lakes Part III – Lake Michigan

We woke this morning to a bright blue sky, calm winds and temperatures in the very comfortable mid-70’s.  Today we are sailing on Lake Michigan.

We were up early and made a quick run to the lounge for a cup of latte before meeting Doug and Sue for a light breakfast in the Compass dining room.  According to The Daily Voyager newsletter left in our room last evening, today would be a very relaxed, informative and tasty day.

There were a variety of activities offered including exercise, coffee and pastries for early morning risers, a game of bingo, two lectures, an afternoon tea, a captain’s welcome aboard cocktail party, music and dancing.  It all sounded wonderful.  What to do?

After breakfast we made our way to the Compass Lounge for a, “Discover Our Journey” talk by our cruise director Katherine.  Katherine explained all the wonderful adventures that lay ahead at the many stops along our journey. We would be making stops on both the American and Canadian side of the lakes.  I came away feeling very excited at the variety of experiences that lay ahead.

We learned that Lake Michigan is 100 miles wide and 300 miles long and is the only lake to be totally within the borders of the United States.  Lake Michigan has a surface area of over 22,000 square miles and is third largest of the lakes and the fifth-largest lake in the world.  Can you imagine?

Katherine also shared that the name Michigan is believed to come from the native Ojibwa word mishigami which translates to “great water”.  She went on to give us an overview of the other great lakes.  One little tidbit of information I found interesting is that Lake Erie is home to a monster called Bessie.  Bessie is believed to have been sighted for the first time in 1792.  I could not help but wonder if Bessie is a cousin to Scotland’s Loch Ness monster, Nessie.

Katherine also talked about the history of the ship we were calling home for the next 12 days.  Evidently, the Victory I  is modeled after the steamships of the 1800’s.  On this voyage there are 202 passengers and 80 crew members.  She mentioned that other ships we might see as we cruised along had names like salties (these ships can go in both fresh and salt water), tankers, tug barges, tug boats, tow barges, commercial fishing vessels, lakers and pleasure boats.

By the end of the presentation, it was lunch time.  Doug, Sue, Randy and I made our way up to the outdoor grill located on deck 4 for lunch.  The Grill is a small buffet style restaurant.  I did not eat much as I wanted to save my appetite for the tea scheduled for later in the afternoon.

We spent the rest of the afternoon listening to an educational presentation called, “Waterborne Commerce” by Sam.  As soon as the presentation was over, we made a quick stop back at the cabin to prepare for the afternoon tea.

When we returned the Compass Lounge, we were surprised to find that the lounge had been transformed into a lovely tea room.  The “Spirit of the Maharajahs Afternoon Tea” was lovely.  Crew members were dressed in beautiful purple jackets, the classic sounds of India filled the room, and our eyes were filled with the sight of luscious looking scones, sandwiches and desserts.  This tea was definitely the highlight of my day!  I, myself enjoyed a lovely, aromatic vanilla chai.

 

 

As we cruised along, I was amazed at the size of the sand dunes  that lined some of the Lake Michigan shoreline.  At one point Randy spotted several people sliding down the dunes.  It looked like a lot of fun but a bit scary!

Dinner was very tasty especially the chicken satay.

After dinner, we returned to the lounge to take part in Captain Kerr’s welcome cocktail hour.  The captain spent a few minutes welcoming everyone aboard and introduced members of  his senior staff.  Everyone lifted their glasses as the captain wished us all a very pleasant trip.

It had been a lovely, lovely day and just before we retired we enjoyed the sight of a beautiful sunset!

Tomorrow we arrive at our first port-of-call, Mackinac Island.

Enjoy,

Mary

Cruising the Great Lakes Part II-All aboard!

Woke up to a cloudy day but filled with the promise of the start of a new experience.

Today we are off to join our cruise ship but first a trip down to Potter’s for a lovely breakfast.  Our tour guide Antoine stopped by for a chat before we headed to the meeting point to board our bus for a tour of Chicago and continue on to the pier to board the Victory I cruise ship.

Our tour of the city was interrupted periodically with spits of rain covering the windows of the bus.  I was very happy that we had taken advantage of our free day yesterday and walked around enjoying the many wonderful sites there were to see in this beautiful city under a sun-filled sky.

As we drove along, our tour guide Rebecca drew our attention to many points of interest and gave us a sense of the city’s history and its inhabitants.  We learned that the Chicago Loop has a thriving population of 2.7 million people living within 77 neighborhoods.

By the time we arrived at the entrance of Millennium Park it had started to rain just enough to require the use of an umbrella.

Randy and Doug enjoying a light moment.

Our first stop was at the Cloud Gate with our guide explaining that when artist, Sir Anish Kapoor, was creating Cloud Gate he was, “inspired by the qualities of liquid mercury”.  We continued our walk to the Crown Fountain and enjoyed, once again, watching children playing in the falling waters.  Too funny!

Our next stop was at the beautiful Jay Pritzer Pavilion created by architect Frank Gehry.  The Pavilion is host to many festivals and concerts during the year.  I loved the canopy.  Standing on the grass I found myself thinking fondly of the many concerts and events I attended over the years at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Virginia.  Very nice memories.

 

 

By the time we were back on the bus, the skies opened up making it hard to see the sights being pointed out by our guide.  We drove by Wrigley Field, Second City, Old Town, Chicago Theater,  Magnificent Mile and more.

We shared a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw, bread and butter pickles on a Brioche bun. Just perfect!

We eventually made our way through the city and towards the Navy Pier which is evidently a destination point for visitors along the waterfront filled with restaurants, shops and host to sponsored cultural events throughout the year.  We were given a short amount of time to find a restaurant.  After walking quite a bit, we finally stopped at Harry Caray’s Tavern.

 

Crack The Whip by Seward Johnson

We had a few precious minutes before returning to the bus and took a short walk along the waterfront enjoying some of the sculptures the sprinkled the area and had a great view of our cruise ship, the Victory I.

Victory I-the ship with the dark blue hull.

Over the last several years, we have cruised on ships that carried anywhere from 2500 to 6000 travelers.  The Victory I has a capacity of just over 200.  We finally boarded the ship and were pleasantly surprised when we entered our cabin.  It was small but cozy and had just enough storage space.  What I liked the best was that our cabin was located on deck 2 and close to the dining room and only one deck below the lounge where, I was sure, we would be spending a great deal of time.

 

We settled in and prepared for our safety drill.  Once the drill was over, we made our way to the outside deck to catch our last glimpse of the Chicago skyline, the Navy Pier and the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse.

Chicago Harbor Lighthouse

Then it was off to the lounge for a welcome aboard reception with our cruise director Katherine.  As we enjoyed our cocktails, several senior officers shard various bits of information that would be useful for our time on board.

We enjoyed a very nice dinner in the Coastal Dining Room and turned in early.

Tomorrow we will be cruising along Lake Michigan.

Enjoy,

Mary

 

 

 

Cruising the Great Lakes Part I-Chicago

Chicago skyline

We have over the last several years cruised many of the earth’s beautiful oceans and seas stopping at many lovely countries and loved them all.  But this cruise will take us closer to home.  Back in 2018 our friends Doug and Sue suggested that we take a cruise on the Great Lakes.  The trip sounded amazing and so we made our plans.

A year later we met Sue and Doug and headed off to the Orlando airport for our flight to Chicago which will be the starting point of our wonderful two-week cruise around the five Great Lakes.  The flight was very comfortable and uneventful.  We were met at the airport and escorted to a limousine for the 45-minute ride to the Palmer House Hotel.

Our first day in Chicago was a wonderful afternoon and evening of getting settled, attending a meeting to get acquainted with the other members of our tour and our tour director.  We were split into two groups.  Antoine would be our guide throughout the duration of the cruise.

Antoine also gave us a little background on the Palmer House.  This beautiful hotel is the longest and continuously used hotel in the United States.  The first Palmer House was built in 1871.  Unfortunately, the hotel burned down only thirteen days later.  Less than a year later the hotel we were staying in was opened on July 1873.  According to Antoine, “Over the years, many notables could be seen walking the halls of this lovely hotel”.

Once the meeting was over, we retreated to our room and settled down for a short rest before preparing for, what was going to be a wonderful evening.  We learned that our friends, Jim and Vilma who were on a road trip around the country and our friends Mickey and Betty would also be in town.  The eight of us had taken a great cruise in 2016 together and this evening would be a wonderful reunion for us all.

Betty, Mary, Mickey, Vilma and Sue

 

We agreed to meet at Miller’s Pub for dinner.  Miller’s Pub was just next door to the hotel.  We gathered outside the hotel and waited with great anticipation for our friends to arrive.

 

Long day so, of course, I enjoy a comfort food dinner of roasted turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy. YUM!

Dinner at Miller’s was very nice.  When I am very tired, I tend to choose comfort food.  Tonight was no different.  I decided to have the roasted turkey dinner complete with mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, etc.

We had a wonderful time catching up with one another.  All too soon it was time for us to part.  Tomorrow we were to explore Chicago at our own pace.

We started our day enjoying a lovely breakfast in Potter’s Chicago Burger Bar in the lobby level of the hotel then spent a short time in a group meeting and then we were off to explore.  First stop, the concierge desk to purchase tickets for the Chicago Architecture Center River Cruise. What I loved most about staying at the Palmer House, aside from the fact that the hotel was just beautiful and full of old world charm, was its close proximity to the river and other points of interest.

We started our walk around Chicago on Michigan Avenue.  As we walked, we made note of several restaurants that we may want to stop for lunch.  We also decided to make a stop at Millennium Park.

I had heard a great many things about Chicago, some good some not so good, I was pleasantly surprised as I walked along Michigan Avenue at just how beautiful the city was.  Everywhere I looked were beautiful flowers, beautiful old and new buildings.

Wrigley Building (This was my favorite building)

Marine City

We boarded the First Lady River cruise ship and settled down for a wonderful morning of learning about Chicago’s beautiful architecture.  For the next 90 minutes we looked right and left as a docent of the Chicago Architecture Center filled us with wonderful stores about the history of Chicago and the history of the many beautiful old, new and repurposed buildings that graced the city skyline.

I must say, I loved this wonderfully informative tour.  I especially loved how the city retained so many wonderful architectural features of the past while blending new architecture creating such a beautiful skyline.  With the tour over, we decided to walk back along Michigan Avenue and look a little harder to find a restaurant to enjoy a bit of lunch before continuing our walk back to the hotel.

It was late in the afternoon so we chose to enjoy a beverage and desert.

Delicious berry cobbler.

We stopped at Sweetwater Tavern & Grille.   By now it was almost 3 o’clock so we decided to just stop for a snack.  Of course, we had to try a local beer.  We chose the Goose Island Bottlenecter, and found it to be very refreshing.  Randy and I shared a mixed berry cobbler; it was delicious.

 

Decisions, decisions.

Doug and Sue have been to Chicago several times over the years and said we just had to stop at Garrett Popcorn Shops; and we did.  Oh my, we tried a couple of samples and eventually purchased a bag of the cashew caramel and the cheese corn.  Delicious!

We continued our walk and stopped at Millennium Park.  What a lovely park.  We leisurely walked along taking in all the beautiful flowers and architecture and eventually stopped at two wonderful, eye catching sites.

Our first stop was at an interesting piece of artwork called, The Bean (Cloud Gate).  From afar the artwork looks like a bean but up close you could see why it was called a cloud.  The structure was so large that you could walk through it.  Everyone was taking selfies as they were enjoying their reflections in and around this beautiful sculpture. So, of course, we had to do the same.

Our next stop was at a water park that was filled with squealing children and adults.  We stopped and watched trying to understand the laughter and after a few minutes we too were laughing.  On either side of the water park were these giant structures called the Crown Fountain.  As we watched a face would appear on the wall of the fountain and after a few minutes the lips of the face would purse and out would come a stream of water much to the delight of everyone standing under it.  What fun!

It was getting late so we decided to return to the hotel and get a little rest before heading out again for dinner.  After a quick shower and a little rest we were once again, on a Chicago street looking for a place to eat.  Antoine had provided everyone with a listing of nearby and casual restaurants.  After looking the list over, we decided to go to the Elephant and Castle Pub and Restaurant on North Wabash Avenue.

We enjoyed a lovely walk to this small English pub and after looking over the menu we all decided to order traditional pub foods like fish and chips, stuffed Yorkshire pudding and Chicken Pot Pie.  All dishes were delicious as was the One and Done draft beers.

We returned after our lovely repast and settled in for our last night at the hotel.  Tomorrow we board a bus for a short city tour and then on to the cruise ship and the start of our wonderful journey through the lakes.

The building with the golden top is the Carbide & Carbon Building

Enjoy, Mary

Crazy, stressful, fun trip to far away Australia

It is 5:30am and I am sitting in the dark gazing out a wonderful bank of windows watching the sun come up over Perth, Australia.  As I sit in the serene quiet of the morning, I find myself wondering if I had gone completely daft about our decision to fly halfway around the world to catch a cruise ship while the world was facing an impending major health crisis.

So, where do I even begin?  Well, I suppose I should start at the beginning.  We, along with our friends Doug and Sue, were scheduled to take a long awaited cruise on the Quantum of the seas from Hong Kong on February 24^th with stops in Japan and the Philippines with a second cruise from Singapore with stops in Malaysia.

Pink and grey Galah

This was to be our first trip to Asia so we planned to spend a few days in Hong Kong before the cruise began and take in the sights.  We had been watching the escalating protests in Hong Kong and became very concerned.  Fortunately, we had made reservations at an airport hotel and came to the conclusion that we would just spend our couple of days resting after a tiring flight and then go right to the ship.  After a few more days of a declining atmosphere in Hong Kong we decided to just fly in and board the ship the same day.

Noisy Magpies

Well, that thought did not last long as a new impediment to our travel plans emerged.  At the end of the previous year, there emerged reports of a virus in China that had the potential of becoming a major problem. The virus spread and towards the end of January the first confirmed case of this virus was announced in the United States.

Mom Kangaroom and baby Joey

While all this was happening, we were getting regular updates from the cruise line with a change of port from Hong Kong to Singapore, policy changes and passport restrictions for anyone coming from mainland China and Hong Kong.  Information about the spreading virus was a constant on all network and cable television channels.  What made this particular time so stressful was the conflicting information that was passed along.  There were so many mixed messages it was hard to think or make informed decisions. So what to do?  Do we cancel or wait and see what happens?

That decision was made for us on February 11^th.  We received a text from the cruise line that, “In light of the current regional travel conditions, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel our Quantum of the Seas February 24^th cruise”.  The announcement was followed on February 24^th that our March 4^th cruise was canceled too.  Disappointing and sad, but to be honest we were actually a little relieved.

Great lunch at Avocadoes Cafe and Bar with Valerie and her son Richard. Lovely place.

Now here comes the crazy part of my story.  We still had cruise going out of Sydney, Australia in mid-March.   We also made plans to visit our friend Valerie while in Australia.  What to do?  After a great deal of thought and conversation, we all decided to go ahead with our plans to fly to Australia

By now, there were many health restrictions in place such as wearing masks, using hand sanitizer often and not gathering in large groups.  Before we left home, I managed to find us some N95 masks and packed those along with our hand sanitizer and prepared to fly to Perth to visit our friend.

The Strand Restaurant. We actually ate here twice during our visit.

After 30 hours of travel with stops in Los Angeles, California and Brisbane, Australia, I am afraid I was a bit useless when we finally arrived.  After greetings all around, I quietly excused myself from the group, retreated to my bed and fell fast asleep and slept peacefully for 12 hours.  Oh, my.

Loved the pizza

 

 

Our plans for this trip were to visit with Valerie for a few days, fly to Bali, Indonesia for a week of rest and relaxation in the sun followed by our cruise.

 

As the days wore on though, it became increasingly apparent that our trip to Bali was not going to happen.  We watched the news each day as this insidious virus made its way around the world causing many countries to issue lock-down orders for their citizens, closing ports to cruise ships and issuing travel alerts for citizens to return to the home countries.  It was all very stressful.

Now let me tell you about the fun part of our trip. While all this sad and stressful news was unfolding, we actually had a great time visiting Valerie.  Valerie was a wonderful host inviting us to stay as her guest until our ship was to leave Sydney.  What was to be a three day visit had now turned into a two week visit.

Our last night in Perth we were so excited as we watched the baby joey come out of its mom’s pouch and hop around the driveway. WOW!

Our time with Valerie was like being at really fun summer camp with all your friends.  Valerie was our camp counselor keeping our spirits high with her boundless energy, taking us out on shopping trips, visiting several very nice restaurants and introducing us to two special people in her life; her son Richard and her friend Richard.  So not to be confused when talking, we had to make sure we prefaced with, “your son Richard or your friend Richard”.  Very funny!

Randy, Richard, Valerie, Sue and Doug.

Valerie’s son Richard visited a few times and came along with us to a couple of restaurants and her friend Richard invited us to lunch at his beautiful home in the hills of Waroona. This trip was fun as we had to take a train to Waroona.  As we rolled along, I was struck by how similar the landscape was to southern California.  Lovely.

 

What made this trip so wonderfully fun was waking up each morning to the sights and sounds of the a small pink and grey cockatoos called galah, very noisy magpies, brown and gold pigeons walking around Val’s driveway while a little creature called a bandicoot scurried from its home around the driveway looking for food.

But what was absolutely the most wonderful sight of all were the almost daily visits from groups of kangaroos. Most consistent with their visits were a mom, dad and a baby joey that hung out of its mom’s pouch.  To say that I was awestruck by this sight is an immense understatement.

We celebrated Val’s birthday our last night in Perth. We had so much fun here.

We eventually received an alert that our cruise had been canceled and we needed to make arrangements to return to the states.  Oh, my.  The trip home was uneventful and surprising.  While on the plane, we were told that we were on the last American Airlines plane out of Australia.  We were so happy to be going home.

Me, finally getting some sleep on the flight from Los Angeles to Orlando. I was so tired. I think there were under 50 people on the plane. I was just glad I was on my way home!

We finally made it home, threw our luggage into the house, quickly ran to the grocery store for supplies and settled in for a two-week self-confinement.

I will always treasure the fond memories we brought back with us of our time in Perth and the deepening friendship forged with our friend Valerie.

Train station at Waroona.

Enjoy,

Mary

A look back at 2019

The Windmills of Mykonos, Greece

“To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward.”                                                                  ~Margaret Fairless Barber, The Roadmender

As I sit here, I realize that it has been quite a while since my fingers gently tap danced across the keyboard.   But, as I sat at my computer fondly remembering the past year I thought I would put words to paper and share some wonderful highlights of our passage through 2019.  All my highlights for last year involved wonderful travel to many different places and, best of all, spending time with family and friends that I hold most dear.

Beautiful island of Santorini

In order to highlight the past year properly, I first needed to set my mind adrift to the spring of 2018. That spring, Randy, me and our friends, Doug and Sue decided to ‘make a run’ to reach pinnacle status in Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines’ Crown and Anchor Society.  We sat one warm afternoon in Sue and Doug’s cabin, and with calendars in hand, calculated how many cruises we would have to achieve to reach the magic number of 700 points.

And then, it began.  Each time we arrived on another ship we would make our way down to the Next Cruise office to see where we would cruise next.  I must admit, it was all very exciting.

Doug and Randy enjoyed seeing so many classic cars as we toured around Cuba.

Glendalough Monastic Site

The remainder of 2018 found us traveling on various Royal ships including the Oasis, Majesty, Brilliance, Rhapsody and Symphony of the seas.  We traveled to the Caribbean, Cuba, Naples, Croatia, Greek Isles, Ireland, Iceland, and Canada, lovely cruise along the New England coastline and a transatlantic that took us to the Azores.  I must admit that there were times when I felt as though I was caught up in a perpetual whirlwind.

Traveling through the Panama Canal with friends–Dick, Charmaine, Bob and Lucille.

2019 started with a bucket list cruise through the Panama Canal that was just amazing.  We cruise first from Miami to San Diego and then turned around and made our way back to Miami.  The cruise was a wonderful one with stops in Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico.  Making this trip even more special was traveling with friends and neighbors, Bob and Lucille and a lovely couple we met on the Symphony, Dick and Charmaine.

Fun visit with Mickey, Vilma and Jim while docked in San Diego.

On our turnaround day in San Diego, we were able to connect with long-time friends Jim, Vilma and Mickey.  They picked us up at the pier and whisked away for a wonderful lunch at the Garage.  It is always good to reconnect with friends that live so far away.

We finally reached our goal May 2019.  When we made our plans, we decided to choose the Harmony of the seas to be recognized as Pinnacle.  We also decided to stay on the ship the first week to receive our recognition, the second week to see what being Pinnacle was all about and the third week to just enjoy our new status.  Wonderful!

By the time we boarded the Harmony of the seas on May 5, 2019 we were all very excited knowing that this was the culmination of endless planning, packing, unpacking and doing endless loads of laundry.  But, oh my, what a wonderful feeling it was to walk up to stand with Captain Johnny and members of his staff to receive recognition for our efforts.  While receiving the recognition from the ship what made this wonderful highlight was sharing it with our wonderful friends, Doug and Sue.  The journey with these two lovely people is a memory I will forever keep in my heart.

We only had two weeks before heading off for our next adventure.  June found us making a trip to west coast to attend our granddaughter Lauren’s high school graduation.  It was so nice to see how much she had grown and how excited she was to be attending college in the fall.  We were doubly excited about this visit because our granddaughter Fiona would be home from college for summer break.  This was truly a wonderful visit that ended with a home cooked meal with the family.  We left for the airport hoping it would not be so long before seeing them again.

Lake George

We normally stay home during the summer months but not this year.  Doug and Sue had invited us up to Lake George, New York to stay with them for a week.  Doug and Sue were originally from this area and travel up each year to spend time with their children and grandchildren.  Randy and I had been to Lake George many times attending the annual Americade motorcycle rally visiting the town, traveling the winding roads and cruising on the lake.

Spent several wonderful days cruising up and down the lake. Wonderful!

Of course, we had to stop at Martha’s one day to enjoy beyond yummy cones of deliciousness!

This time, however, Doug and Sue wanted to show us ‘their’ Lake George.  We walked around the village, drove around the lake seeing where they lived with their family, ate at some of their favorite restaurants and enjoyed several visits to Martha’s for soft serve ice cream.  An especially fun memory was the time spent with Doug and Sue on the lake on their fun inboard-outboard bowrider.

Fort William Henry-Lake George, NY

The Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island.

We were excited once again when August arrived.  The year before, Doug, Sue, Randy and I made plans to take a cruise of the Great Lakes.  Up to this point, we had only cruised on ships that carried over 2,000+ passengers.  On this trip we would be cruising on a much smaller ship with under 200 passengers.

The Victory I is the ship with the blue hull. Lovely ship.

We started our trip with two-night stop in Chicago.  A wonderful highlight of this trip was learning that our friends, Vilma, Jim, Mickey and Betty would be joining us for dinner the night of our arrival.  The eight of us all cruised together several years ago and had not all been together since.  Vilma and Jim were on a road trip from California, Mickey lives in Chicago and her sister Betty drove over from Indiana.  What a wonderful evening of hugs, kisses, constant chatter and laughter.  “What a wonderful way to start our journey on the lakes,” I thought to myself as I slowly looked at the faces of my friends.

Chicago skyline as we left port to explore the Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes cruise was just amazing.  We boarded the Victory I in Chicago and spent the next two weeks stopping in ports on both the American and Canadian side of the lakes.  Ports included Mackinac Island, Sault Ste. Marie, Little Current, Manitoulin Island, Canada, Detroit, Michigan, Cleveland, Ohio, Port Colborne (Niagara Falls) and Toronto.

Enjoy a little time off the ship at Margarittaville in Jamaica

The fall found us back on cruise ships visiting the Caribbean and a transatlantic cruise with three stops in the Canary Islands.  We cruise in the Caribbean quite a bit and never get tired of it.  I love looking out at the beautiful, translucent turquoise waters, hearing the lively beat of the music and the delicious flavors of the food.

Lanzarote, Canary Islands

The Canary Islands were fascinating.  What I found so fascinating about these islands was just how different they all were.  One reminded me of a moonscape, the second seemed rich with farmland and the third, reminded us of Hawaii. The biggest highlight of this any many other transatlantic we have taken is the amount of time spent at sea.  Randy and I both love to sit on the balcony looking out at the sea that changes colors from deep, deep navy blue to the most brilliant royal blue.  Amazing, just amazing!

Hyatt Coconut Plantation-Bonita Springs

We had been spending so much time on cruise ships for the past couple of years that we missed opportunities to spend Thanksgiving at our timeshare in Bonita Springs, Florida.  In yet another frenetic move, we disembarked from the Canary Islands cruise, picked up Doug and Sue’s car from the airport and drove down to Bonita for the week.  This turned out to be a wonderful decision.

We quite literally did nothing except a little Christmas shopping, rest and laze around the pool.  Thanksgiving day was just beautiful.  The sky was clear and a beautiful shade of blue and the air warm.  We had planned on ordering a turkey sandwich from a local store or the pool bar but instead decided to dine on chicken tacos and a tropical drink.  Perfect menu for a perfect Thanksgiving day!

Thanksgiving over, we made our way back to the port and re-boarded the Rhapsody of the seas for a week-long cruise to the Western Caribbean.  We all opted to just kick back and enjoy the ship.  This cruise was wonderful and put us all in a Christmas frame of mind as we watched the ship being decorated for the holiday.

Home for the holidays with family. Wonderful!

It was a good choice we made to just relax on our last cruise as we only had a couple of weeks to prepare for our journey north to spend the Christmas holiday with the family. It is always wonderful to spend time with Jennifer, Kevin, Madalyn, Derek, Kristine and Brian.  Of course, I cannot forget the newest grandpets, Monte, Link. We enjoyed very much visiting both families, enjoying their Christmas trees and festivities.

We celebrated New Year’s eve at home watching the ball drop in Times Square on the television.  We sat and watched the ball slowly descending we looked at each other and said, “It was a very good year indeed!”

Ponta Delgada City Gates – Azores

Enjoy,

Mary

The last few days of our Panama Canal trip filled with fun and relaxation

 

The last few days of our cruise we stopped in Colon, Panama, Cartagena, Colombia, shared a celebratory occasion with friends and just kicking back and relaxing.

When we docked in Colon, Panama.  I woke up to an overcast sky, warm air and temperatures predicted to rise to 86°.

We spent a hot and humid day in Colon with Bob, Lucille, Dick and Charmaine on our westward cruise through the canal.  We spent a little time walking around the port popping in and out of several shops and eventually enjoying a little food and very cold bottles of beer at restaurant on the pier.

This time, I decided to spend one last day in the cabin and getting well.  Randy and Bob decided to go on shore for a bit.  I asked Randy to pick up a Panama Canal magnet for our daughter Kristine while there.  Charmaine, Dick and Lucille decided to participate in the general knowledge morning trivia game in the Safari Lounge.

Randy and Bob did go on shore and spend a little time looking here and there and eventually purchased some tee shirts and a magnet.

By the time Randy returned, I was feeling a bit better and said that I would like to go ashore for a walk.  We returned to the restaurant we visited the week before, found two lovely chairs outside with the ship in the background and a wonderful breeze.  We share our table with a lovely couple from the ship.  The couple was the first officer and his fiancé.  We learned that he was from Croatia and she was from Colombia.  We chatted for a bit before returning to the ship.

We joined our friends in the Safari Lounge for cocktails, enjoyed a delicious dinner in the dining room and returned to the lounge for an after dinner drink with Bob and Lucille.  We were sitting and enjoying a cocktail when approached by the loyalty ambassador with happy news for Bob and Lucille; they had reached the Diamond Plus level.  He presented them with their new pins.  Well, of course, that required a photo to mark the occasion.

I think I had reached my limit of energy so returned to the cabin.  Our next port-of-call is Cartagena, Colombia.

We rose early to a foggy start to the day.  After a quick breakfast we made our way down to meet up with our friends to play the morning general knowledge trivia game.

Cartagena was our first stop on our westward bound transit through the Panama Canal and we took a lovely tour of the city.  This visit, we decided to just catch a local cab and find a nice place to have lunch.

A quick breakfast, trivia game and back to the cabin to prepare for our outing.  We walked around the port until we found a cab that would take up a little run around the city and then on to a nice restaurant for lunch.

 

 

 

 

After a short tour around the city, we disembarked from the cab and were escorted through the old section of town to a restaurant called, Montesacro Resto Bar.

What a lovely restaurant.  The atmosphere was open and very inviting and the aromas filling the air promised a wonderful meal.  Of course, we first had to order our beer and take a ‘beers around the world’ picture for Charmaine. Some ordered Aguila other Aguila Light with everyone enjoying their choice.

My appetite was still a little questionable so I decided to order off the appetizer menu.  I choose the Ensalada Caprese Salad with fresh buffalo mozzarella, tomato, pesto, lettuce and olive oil.  Oh, my, the salad was larger than I expected but oh so delicious!  I ate it all!

 

We enjoyed our lunch and made our way back to the port.  But, before returning to the ship, we decided to spend a little time walking slowly through the lovely animal park right at the port.

 

The Port Oasis Eco Park is filled with macaws, black swans, peacocks, flamingos and so much more.  We stopped here and there enjoying these lovely and colorful birds.  We enjoyed watching the peacocks fanning out their beautiful plumage as we walked by while the flamingos posed with one leg up and heads hidden.  We eventually tore ourselves away and made our way back to the ship.

We spent a lovely evening with our friends and then turned in for a wonderful night’s sleep.

Our first day at sea, I was awaken by a burst of light coming through the drapes.  I grabbed my camera, stepped out onto the balcony to see a perfectly round ball of fire moving quickly into the sky.  The sunrise was just beautiful!  Before long clouds moved across the sky and covered the sun.  I was so glad I had made to rise quickly.  The rest of our day was quiet and relaxing.

Our second day at sea was a bit busier.  The temperatures were also becoming cooler dropping to the upper 70’s which was quite a difference from our transit through the canal.

Up early to finish our progressive trivia game and see where we fell in the standings.  Well, we did fairly well.  All the teams had their score announced.  We sat and listened all the while worried about where we would fall in the standings.  When all was said and done, we ended  up in the middle of the pack much to our relief.

Dark I – Bronze – Hilde Maehlum, Norwegian, 1945

I spent the rest of my day roaming around the ship looking at some of the artwork on display.  I love to do this on ships.  I found a few pieces that I like in particular and took a few pictures.

Dark I (Bronze) The plaque next to the artwork read: “I change between various forms of expression, my basis being a tradition-bound figurative rooting.  My engagement is human being itself, and I concentrate particularly on the head, to which I return in various interpretations.”

Two Negative Forms – Bronze – Hilde Maehlum, Norwegian, 1945

Imprint I – Bronze on slate with gold leaf – Hilde Maehlum, Norwegian, 1945

Two Negative Forms (Bronze) the plaque next to the artwork read: “The sculpture is based on the traditional casting mould.  I’ve split the figure into two negative face parts.  At the same time I invite to a combining, by thought, of the two parts.”

There were other similar pieces around the ship.  I found them very intriguing.

I returned to the cabin to start packing, ran up to the photo shop and purchased a few pictures then down to the casino to use my free coins in the Lucky Pull one-armed bandit.

Then it was off to be with our friends for our last evening together enjoying lively conversations during cocktail time, off to a delicious dinner in the dining room and finally retiring back to the cabin.

We finally arrived back where we started in Miami.  This cruise was just wonderful.  I loved the friends we traveled with, the ports-of-call we stopped in, being able to see our wonderful friends on turnaround day in San Diego and the memories accumulated along the way.

Until I stop by to share another adventure…

Enjoy,

Mary

Eastward bound through the Panama Canal

Yesterday, we were at sea cruising through a sea that was as smooth as glass.  I had a rough night of coughing and was very tired as we prepared for our day.  After a quick breakfast, we made our way down to the Schooner Bar for progressive trivia round 5.  Today’s categories included movies, music and theater.  We actually did fairly well.

As soon as the game was over, I returned to the cabin.  I had come to the conclusion that I needed to practice self-confinement until I could get my cough under control.  I spent the rest of the day in the cabin sometimes sleeping restlessly and others trying to eat the little food offerings Randy would bring.  I had no appetite at all although I did eye the delicious strawberries that were delivered courtesy of the Crown and Anchor Society to our cabin but in the end did not eat.

Love this towel animal!

As evening rolled around, I encouraged Randy to spend the evening with our friends and he did.

Gatún Lake

It seemed just like yesterday that we were traveling eastward through this wonder of man’s ingenuity. We spent almost the entire day out on deck as we entered one lock after another until we reached the Pacific Ocean.  The entire experience was just wonderful and one I will not forget.

Queing up to start our transmit through the Miraflores Locks

A foggy mist hung over the Panama skyline as we made our way to the locks.

But today, I will have to experience this wonderful happening from the comfort of my balcony.  I coughed so much during the night that I pulled a muscle in my back.  Randy was just wonderful spending the day running outside to experience the excitement of transiting through the canal and running back to the cabin to see how I was doing.

The journey begins as we enter the Miraflores Locks.

I looked down at the lock next to our eyes and was amazed at how many medium and small ships they were loading into the lock. Amazing.

When he would return to the cabin, we would compare pictures from his perspective from the front of the ship and mine from the side.  We both captured just how close the ship came to the walls of the locks.  I found this to be amazing. I felt as though I could touch the wall from where I was standing.  I was also amazed to learn that if there are several small ships they load them all into one lock.  I thought that was very efficient indeed.

Randy touching the wall of the lock.

The Panama Canal is 50 miles long and has three sets of double locks.  The construction of the canal started in  1881 and was open for transit in 1914.  The Panama Canal has three sets of double locks.  From the westcoast we would be transiting through the Miraflores, Pedro Miguel and Gatún locks out into the Caribbean Sea.

 

Crossing under the Centennial Bridge.

Quite a few times during the transit the heavens would fill up with threatening skies.

Cruising under the Bridge of the Americas.

We will be cruising under three bridges today.  The first is the Bridge of the Americas, the second is the Centennial Bridge and the third is the Atlantic Bridge.

Randy secured a great spot at the front of the ship and captured great pictures of our transit through the locks.

As we did the westward transit, a certified guide of the Panama Canal spent the day describing our transit, explaining the history of the canal and sharing some human interest stories about the toll the building of this incredible canal system took on those who built it.  Confined to the cabin, I was very happy that the ship was televising the crossing and her commentary on television.

Transiting the canal took all day.  I was so glad that we were able to make this journey.  This was a bucket list adventure for both of us.  Of course, the bonus for us was being able to transit the canal in both the westward and eastward directions.  “Memories, memories,” I thought to myself as we made our way to Colon, Panama and the end of or crossing.

Randy was right up at the bow of the ship and took a picture of his foot to record the moment we passed through the last lock for posterity! Very funny!

Randy eventually returned to the cabin and prepared for the evening.  I decided to stay in for one more evening.  After dinner he returned from the dining room with a wonderful bowl of hot soup and rolls courtesy of our wonderful server.  This time I ate every morsel.

Our next port-of-call is Colon, Panama.

Enjoy,

Mary

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoying a little monkey business in Puntarenas, Costa Rica

After a busy day in Guatemala our ship spent a lovely, relaxing day at sea as we made our way to our next port-of-call, Puntarenas, Costa Rica.  Our day at sea was a hot and humid one with temperatures in in the mid-nineties.

I woke up early this morning with a persistent cough and immediately took measures to try keeping it at bay.  We made our way up to the concierge lounge for a light breakfast and then down to the Schooner Bar to meet our friends and play progressive trivia round 4. After trivia, Randy and I retreated to our cabin for a relaxing day of reading.

Bob, Lucille, Mary, Randy, Charmaine and Dick.

We were enjoying our relaxation so much we almost missed cocktail time.  I looked forward to this activity each day.  We would meet our friends Bob, Lucille, Dick and Charmaine in the Safari Club and spend a wonderful time chatting away and laughing as we shared our day’s experiences, life experiences and things we were looking forward to on our next port-of-call.

Dinner was wonderful as always.  We returned to our cabin to relax a bit before turning off the lights. I was still dealing with a cough as I turned out the lights.  As I drifted off to sleep, I found myself hoping that my cough would not get worse.

We woke up early to a bright blue clear skies and temperatures that were already promising to rise into the 90’s.

On our first visit to Puntarenas, we decided to just stay at the port and see what there was to see.  We walked through a lovely handicraft market just at the end of the pier, made our way to a little park, and eventually to a local restaurant for lunch.

Today, we decided to hire a local private van to take us on tour of the area.  Dick and Lucille were both engaged in negotiations and finally we had a car, driver and tour guide and we were off.

Carlos was a very nice man and very informative tour guide.  Our tour began with a short ride around the town.  I was struck by how many buildings were shuttered and abandoned.  I asked Carlos about that and he told us that there had been a big hurricane and many of the residents had moved further away.  “Sad,” I thought.

Then we were off to see the white-faced monkeys or Capuchin monkeys.  The ride to our destination was a long one.  I was fine riding along the major highway but when we pulled off into a, what seemed to be a questionable area, I grew a little concerned.  We saw many run downs buildings, litter in the yards and along the road; it was all very interesting.

Eventually, we pulled into one of the yards alongside a small green building and told to leave the van.  This turned out to be the monkey place where we would be introduced to the white-faced monkeys.  Before we could however, we were asked for additional funds to pay to participate.  We did and all was good.

What fun!  To our delight, there were several of these little monkeys hanging out in the trees just in front of the building.  We learned that these little monkeys live in groups and use jumping as a way to get from tree to tree.  are jumpers.  The people who managed the area gave us bowls of cut bananas and invited us to extend our hands with these little morsels and wait calmly until the monkeys came along.

 

I was amazed at how gently the monkeys plucked the bananas from our hands.  They were so gentle.  Next, Carlos suggested that we turn our backs to the monkeys, extend our arms outward and let the monkeys walk along our back.

Randy took to this idea without hesitation and was beyond delighted.  He extended his hands with a tidbit of banana and to his amazement one of the monkeys jumped onto to his shoulder.

Me, I was a little hesitant to say the least. But, eventually I did.  I will confess that I was not happy that Randy caught me on camera making very funny faces to say the least as these little monkeys walked along one arm, across my back and onto the other arm.  It was quite an experience one that I will remember for a long time.

 

While there we also caught a glimpse of a Central American raccoon.  At first glance, Randy and I both thought the raccoon looked very much like an anteater.

All too soon, we were off again.  This leg of our tour took us to the Tárcoles River to see crocodiles.  As we drove along, Carlos educated us about the country of Costa Rica, its government, economy, people and agriculture.  We enjoyed listening to Carlos and found him to be very knowledgeable, entertaining and very patient answering the myriad questions we asked.

We arrived at a small market next to the bridge and went inside for a quick drink before walking along the bridge.  While there, private tour vans were coming and going and discharging large and small groups to walk along the bridge.  Carlos took the lead and escorted us to the bridge making sure that we were mindful of the pavement.  At the center of the bridge we looked down and saw many large crocodiles.  Some were swimming lazily in the murky river water others were resting on longs and along the shoreline.

View from the Tárcoles River. Beautiful!

While seeing these large reptiles was interesting, I found looking out at the scenery just lovely.  I found myself, not looking down, but at the terrain on the other side of the river.  There you could see cloud covered mountains and lush vegetation as far as the eye could see.   “Beautiful, just beautiful!” I thought to myself and enjoyed a peaceful moment.

By now it was mid-afternoon and the temperature was becoming oppressive and we were hungry.  We suggested to Carlos that we would like to return to town and so, we did.

‘Beers around the world’.

The driver dropped us off at the Restaurant Imperial and, once again, enjoyed a delicious lunch and, yes, bottles of very cold Imperial beer.  And, of course, we had to take a ‘beers around the world’ picture for Charmaine.

We returned to the ship after lunch for a little rest then prepared for our evening activities.  Cocktails, dinner and back to the cabin for a good night’s sleep.

Tomorrow we will be at sea as we make our way to begin our transit through the Panama Canal.

Enjoy,

Mary

A colorful and tasty day in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

As soon as I walked out onto the balcony this morning I knew it was going to be a very hot day.  The day’s Cruise Compass indicated that the temperature for today would rise to 97° and the air was well on its way to reaching that number.

 

I was up early and enjoyed watching as we cruised into the port as the sun was rising over the horizon.  There was not much activity in the harbor save a few small fishing boats making their way out to sea.

 

We were here just last week and had a wonderful time walking around this lovely port area.  We attended a lovely fashion show, shopped and found a restaurant that we liked and decided to return and have a nice lunch.  Also on the agenda for today was for Dick and Charmaine returning to one of the local vendors to pick up a table cover they had ordered.

Last visit we docked at a commercial port and were transported to the port terminal in what the locals call the ‘chicken bus’. Very funny!

But first, up to the concierge lounge for a light continental breakfast then meet everyone at the elevators and off the ship.  Last week the ship docked at a commercial port.  Evidently, a previous ship had damaged the dock at the marina.  However, this week we would be docking at the marina so no ‘chicken bus’ to enjoy.

Randy and Mary

 

I really do like this port.  First you enter a lovely round open-air building with music playing, full-size cutouts of Mayan men and women from long ago for that just perfect photo opportunity and an information desk to point you in the right direction.

These colorful bracelets were presented to us with an invitation from the Guatemalan people to, “wear the good luck bracelet as a sign of our friendship”. Very nice.

This week, they added something new.  As we entered we were given these lovely handmade woven lucky bracelets to wear.  I put mine on immediately.

As we started our stroll through this lovely area with its open-air market, internet kiosk, restaurants, handicraft market, iguana habitat and jade museum each couple decided to go in a different direction.  Dick and Charmaine to pick up their table cover, Bob and Lucille to browse the markets and Randy and I just popping in and out of each shop we passed.

My favorite stop was at the Jade Museum.  There, in this very small building, was a replica of a skeleton buried under the floor depicting a gentleman buried with a beautiful jade mask and other jewelry.  I did not realize that jade actually comes in many different colors.  There were many samples in the form of necklaces, rings and Mayan masks of different colored jade displayed around the room.

We spent quite a bit of time browsing and reading all about the area and jade and eventually made our way over to purchase a souvenir.  I purchased two glyphs representing our birthdays.  According to the information I read, “A glyph (pronounced GLIHF; from a Greek word meaning carving) is a graphic symbol that provides the appearance or form for a character”.

Randy’s carving was of a crocodile (Imox) which is a sign of, “Earth, abundance and the Sacred Ceiba tree; of the waterlily, fish, the left side of the body, insanity and of sudden movement.  It is the Spiritual Guardian of the seas and of artists.  Those born in IMOX were conceived in AJ and can be artists, psychologists, doctors, environmentalists, physicists or mathematicians.  They are productive, creative and sociable, have ESP, are very cooperative and are nature lovers…”.

My carving was of a coyote (Tz’I’) which is the sign of, “Friendship, authority and the law.  It is the Spiritual Guardian of lawyers and midwives.  Those born in the TZ’I’ were conceived in IQ and are always alert, friendly, brave and sensitive.  They make good lawyers, teachers, auditors, analysts or business people”.

It was so hot all Randy and I could think about was enjoying very cold bottles of Gallo beer.  So, we started to make our way back to the marina and the Pez Vella restaurant.  The restaurant was so perfect.  The restaurant is open-air and had a very nice view of our ship in the background and the marina to our right. We found a table outside and waited until the rest of our little group joined us.

Now, today was a special day for Dick.  Last time we were here he had watched as a gentleman at the next table ate an entire fish leaving only the head and skeleton untouched.  Dick wanted to try his hand at doing the same.  We ordered our lunch and delighted in watching Dick successfully completing his goal.  Well, of course, we had to take pictures!

Sated, we left to take another stroll through the markets.  Everything on display was so colorful.  I had a hard time trying to decide what to choose and so did not buy anything.  Randy decided I needed a small gift and bought me a little group of worry dolls.  Randy thinks I worry too much.  As he handed these pretty little dolls he said, “Now you can let the little dolls worry for you”.  “What a very nice idea I thought,” and proceeded to keep them on my nightstand in the cabin.

On our return home I did a little research about the dolls and learned that, “Worry dolls (also called trouble dolls; in Spanish, Muñeca quitapena) are small, hand-made dolls that originate from Guatemala. According to legend, Guatemalan children tell their worries to the Worry Dolls, placing them under their pillow when they go to bed at night. By morning the dolls have gifted them with the wisdom and knowledge to eliminate their worries.”  These little colorful dolls now are permanently perched on my desk where I spend a great deal of time.

We eventually made our way back to the ship and a lovely evening of companionship with our friends, lively talk, cool refreshments and a delicious dinner.

Tomorrow we will be at sea again before reaching our next port-of-call, Puntarenas, Costa Rica.

Enjoy,

Mary

Two lovely days at sea as we make our way back to Panama Canal

Having a great visit in Puerto Vallarta with Lucille, Bob, Dick, Charmaine and Randy.

When last I wrote, I mentioned that I would share several cruises that we took last year.  We experienced an amazing cruise through the Panama Canal on the Jewel of the seas.  Cruising through the canal was a bucket list item for Randy and me both.  We actually did a back-to-back cruise through the canal starting with a western bound cruise from Miami, Florida to San Diego, California with ports-of-call in Cartagena, Colombia, Colon, Panama, Panama Canal, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala, Manzanilla, Mexico, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

When I last shared this cruise, we had arrived in San Diego and started our return trip to Miami revisiting many of the ports along the way.  We made stops in Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta.   Today, I will begin with the rest of our eastward bound cruise through the Panama Canal.

Last sight of the arch as we slowly cruise out into the Pacific making our way to our next port-pf-call.

After our wonderful stops at Cabo San Lucas, and Puerto Vallarta, it was nice to kick back and relax a couple of days at sea.  As I have mentioned before, I find sea days to be exhilarating and calming all at once.

Our first day after leaving Puerto Vallarta was exhilarating to say the least.  The sky was clear, the sea was calm and we had a relaxed day ahead.

Randy and I had both settled down in the cabin after spending a fun day doing things around the ship.  Randy was on the balcony. All of a sudden, he called to me to grab my camera and come out onto the balcony.  I did and, oh my, I was so glad I did.  As we cruised along I spotted several dolphins gliding along beside the ship.

I watched in amazement as these beautiful creatures glided through the water then leaped high into the air, spin around and then dive back down into the blue waters of the sea. They seemed so playful.  I must tell you it was not easy trying to capture this moment in time as they were so fast.  I spent the rest of my day reliving these moments and, to tell the truth, as I am sitting here, I can close my eyes and still see them.  Eventually, they dipped down into the sea and did not resurface.  “What a lovely moment,” I thought to myself and spent the rest of the day smiling.

Our second day at sea, I woke up to a morning sky filled with the potential for rain.  As the day wore on the sea became choppy with 4-6’ waves and a chill wind filled the air.

We had a full day starting with a game of progressive trivia with Dick, Charmaine, Bob and Lucille.  Today’s topic was sports.  We did not fare well.  I consoled myself with the idea that, “There is always tomorrow”.

The rest of our day was filled with wonderful company, delicious food and enjoying a very entertaining evening in the theater. We started this lovely round of enjoyment attending a luncheon with several ships’ officers.  All the items on the menu sounded delicious.  I choose a Caesar salad to start, the Surf and Turf for my entrée and, to round off my meal, the White Chocolate and Orange Flan. The entire meal from start to finish was delicious!

Later that afternoon we were invited to attend a Top Tier party.  This is a party held for members of the Crown and Anchor Society from platinum and above tier guests to thank them for their loyalty to the cruise line.  We always look forward to this event as we learn new and wonderful things about Royal Caribbean, are introduced to the captain and several of his senior staff and are introduced to Crown and Anchor Society members who have reached new levels in their cruising.

Then off to dinner where we ate yet another delicious meal at Giovanni’s.  We ended our evening attending the night’s entertainment in the theater.   Our entertainer for the evening was juggler Albert Lucas.  It really was a wonderfully entertaining show.

It was a wonderful two days at sea and now we are off to our next port-of-call, Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala.

Enjoy,

Mary