Adventure Logan

This past week (March 1-8) we went on a cruise with Mary and Bob Daniels to the Western Caribbean. Mary and I were actually celebrating our 65th birthdays together so we split the difference and did it now (after her August 9 birthday and before my March 19 one). Of course, our birthdays were just great excuses for a trip! We travelled on the MS Ryndam of the Holland America line which holds about 1200 people.

 Our ship!

Dave and Bob find a bar with sport channel.

Mary and I find the mats in the elevators!

First night on board

Sailing under the Skyway Bridge is a really neat experience.

Last week several cruise ships were stranded because of sea fog and couldn’t get in through here for over 24 hours!

Arriving in first port – Key West

We did lots of walking in Key West and since we had all been there before we opted not to do a tour. Bob suggested we visit Jimmy Buffett’s first bar and have a margarita – which we did! Don’t you just love the blender that they use to serve it!

Everywhere you go in Key West there are these rooster/hens and chicks – once a source of food, eggs and ill-fated recruits for the now illegal practice of cock fighting. But slowly, as bigger grocery stores came to the island and made chicken and eggs easily available – and cock fighting was outlawed – the local nests were undisturbed, and the chicken population increased. 

Some of the interesting properties just north of Mallory Square

Here I am at Mile 0 – still nursing that frozen margarita!

On the sailing day between Key West and the Honduras we were invited to a Mariner Luncheon with the Captain. About 100 attended but they poured about 50 more glasses of champagne so we were happy to oblige when they wanted to pass out the extras.

Arriving in the Honduras

Waiting to go on the tour of Trujillo

And it was a great tour and soooooooooooooo hot I even had a drink of water.

Statue of Christopher Columbus

Great sign at the bar in Trujillo

After the we returned from the tour we had a late lunch at the Dutch Tea in the dining room – I had wanted to do this on the Panama trip but never managed to get around to doing it.

I said that I was going to try room service on this cruise and I did several times – the first time was later one evening when I needed a little something and had a cheese and cracker tray delivered. What a way to go!

Our port call in Guatemala.

Family playing for us

Dancing and Playing traditional music

Formal Night #1

We woke early on Thursday for our fourth and last port of call  Costa Maya – and I was eating room service breakfast when an announcement came over the PA to say that we were experiencing issues with two of the main engines and that the port of call had to be cancelled. To say that we were disappointed is an understatement since it was where we had booked a tour of the Mayan ruins. But as I said to the guy whining in the elevator – There could have been a worse announcement – ABANDON SHIP – so we sucked it up. I figure that Dave still owes me that tour so I will negotiate a trip next year.

Since there was no port visit they arranged several other things for us to do on board. One was a tour of the kitchens – huge area  on deck 7 with lots of dishes and plenty of food prep and cleaning going on.

There was lots of time for sun bathing and swimming.

Formal night 2 – more champagne – this time as a sorry from the Captain about missing the port call.

I noticed a seeing eye dog with his Master and wondered about where the dog would use the facilities – toward the end of the week we noticed a box with a few sods on the promenade deck and the mystery was solved.

We were very impressed with the staff  especially with Edy who was our waiter in the dining room each evening. Here were are with him on the last night which was International Night.

The last night is a busy one with packing and getting things ready for luggage pickup at midnight. So we got things ready and I had all our stuff organized and ready to go. In the morning I ordered room service and was getting dressed when I realized that I had accidentally packed my capris. There were several moments of pure panic as my mind raced to figure what I was going to wear off the ship. Dave was enjoying every moment of it and could hardly contain himself. I was pretty much figuring that I would have to wear my pyjamas when Dave went next door to see if Mary had anything to spare. Thank God she had a pair of spare capris and all was saved. I think Dave was quite disappointed that I didn’t have to wear the PJs.

If you have not been on a cruise, I highly recommend it. The food and the service are superior, the ports are interesting, and it is the best bang for your travel dollar when you think of what the cost covers.

We have been busy the last week or so. Last weekend the beaches here were the busiest I have seen in all the years we have been here. To find a parking spot we went to one of the beaches where there is always room in the lot – not that day – we ended up parking on grass. For those of you who have been here, you know the road that passes in front of the all the beaches from Service to Caspersan Beach – that had cars parked on both sides all the way down.

It was Earl’s birthday on February 2 so we had cake last Friday at the restaurant. He even got sparklers!

Liz and I hosted this month’s red hat lunch at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant. Liz made all the ladies a peppermint patty treat and I made each a fridge magnet calendar on coaster sized cardboard – made with Red Hat Paper and gems. We were pleased to be joined by Marilyn, Judy, Peggy, Mae and Paulette.

When I got home, I realized that there was no picture of me – so I took my first selfie ever!

I received flowers this morning and tonight we celebrated Valentine’s Day at the Munroe’s. Each of us contributed a side, salad, appetizer, or dessert as well as our own steak. The guys did a great job of cooking for us and we had a super time with the gang. It was cool today but that beautiful sun and clear sky are wonderful.

Last night we went to a dinner theatre at the Ramada Hotel – not what we would call dinner theatre since really it only is called that because there was a dinner and a show. Although it wasn’t a traditional show, we had a good time with the gang. The dinner was followed by a musical show featuring 3 musicians who performed pieces by about 9 different artists. They dressed the parts and did a great job on some and good on others.

Of course, I got into trouble right out of the gate by suggesting that Dave not wear his usual Friday red (support the troops). Since the girls were dressing up, I said that the guys would probably dress up a little too – NOT – so the only military guy in the group was dressed in white.

After the show we were reluctant to end the night so we headed to the Dairy Queen for ice cream! Life is Good!

The park hosts lots of events during the peak season and state dinners are part of that. This week we attended the annual Kentucky dinner and had a great time. Many residents here hail from that state so it is always well organized and the prizes are good too! The entertainment was their rendition of  “Let’s Make a Deal” and included Dave giving his shirt up for a large box (which was empty).

They even had placemats printed showing the hometowns of the residents – and used those names as the table names. They draw table names to see who goes first to the buffet. The main meal was Kentucky fried chicken breast, mashed potatoes and biscuits – and the residents brought sides and desserts. There was a huge selection of cold and hot dishes and many desserts to choose from.

Liz and Karen

Daniel and Earl

Peggy and Marilyn

Dave and Danny

 Marilyn, Carol and Liz

It seems like just yesterday when we had New Year’s Eve! Time flies when you are having fun! We have been to the beach several times and that is always a GREAT day in my books. A young boy built this moat just down from where we were sitting – and had a ball doing do. Once he left the tide came in and worked its magic on his creation.

I usually take crackers or something similar to the beach – this day I took Goldfish and inherited a new best friend who spent a lot of time standing next to me. Of course, I know not to feed the wildlife but it was tempting.

On Wednesday we were invited to dinner and theater with the Munroes and Rick and Norma Shalansky from Calgary/Largo. So we were off to the Venice Theatre to see the Buddy Holly Story – great music for sure – 4 standing ovations (which is an accomplishment here since most of the audience were seniors/super seniors like us and those old knees aren’t what they used to be. Thankfully they didn’t make us wait between them and just popped into the next ovation before we sat down again – LOL!)

You know you have been somewhere a long time when you have to start replacing items you bought new when you moved in. With the exception of the dishwasher which has been replaced already, most things have lasted until now. Today Dave purchased a new BBQ – the other had literally died. I took these pictures of him putting it together and he said that there was something missing. I thought he meant a cruical part. He laughed and said “a 24 of beer” – referencing the typical amount of beer he and a buddy would drink when putting together BBQs in the old days when we were at Land of Evangeline Campground. It had always been a standing joke – that and the bag of  pieces that they always had when they were finished.

Yes, it did come with 2 side pieces but we opted to leave one off because of space!

I am the Queen of the Storage Bin and Dave is so understanding of my need to decorate etc. but that always results in a little too much stuff to fit comfortably in our beach house. So this year he recognized that all the fun Christmas decor was going to mean that storage was needed – he does embrace the theory of “happy wife – happy life” – so he suggested that we get a second garden shed. I silently calculated just how many bins a new one could accomodate. We checked out Craigs List (like Kijiji) and found a 5 foot square one. We bought it, loaded all the parts into the MacIntyre’s Prius and dragged them home. Since it was Christmas week, we put off assembling it until December 29th. Early that morning Doug and Dave began the process of power washing the pieces and putting them together. Dave came into the trailer at some point to tell me he thought that there were missing parts and then reported in a little later to assure me that he was right. So one wall was missing and it was up to me to FIX the problem. My first attempt was to call Rubbermaid and see if I could get the parts. It was discontinued so that didn’t work.  To make a long story short, I called the seller and within a day he arrived here. I think he thought Dave didn’t know how to assemble it but when he came he discovered that one whole wall was indeed missing. He went home to see if he could find the missing pieces but wasn’t lucky so he came back and took it away and refunded our money. I was very disappointed but decided to check out Craig’s list again. Wow! We found another one which retails at Lowe’s for $700 and got it on New Year’s Day for $400. So now we have a great new shed and all of my bins, our luggage and other gear are in it. It is a little frightening that there is still spare room – hopefully I will not feel the urge to fill it.

Dave working on assembly

Earl trapped on the inside!

Danny, Doug and Dave putting it into place.

Do you see all that spare space!!

It is hard to imagine that 15 years have passed since that really unusual New Years in 1999-2000 when we were so worried about what was going to happen. Dave reminded me today that he was on restricted leave that year and had to be within 2 hours of the ship. Well time does fly and here we are in the year 2015 – we send each of you best wishes for a Happy New Year. This evening we headed over to the Gallants for a party. It was about 18 degrees C and we spent the night on their patio.

For those of you who have been asking for beach pictures this is your lucky day. This morning we went to Altheas for brunch with the Munroes and Sanfords. On the way home the gals stopped to check out the 50% sale at Goodwill – I got a great Relic purse for  $2.50. We headed for the beach by Sharkey’s and were thrilled with the high temps (about 80 at 2 PM – and still 75 now at 6 PM). I think there were more people at the beach today than the busiest days in April and May – first it was a Sunday and it was just after Christmas. There were more kids and young families than we ever see.

 I love watching the paddleboarders – if I were younger, could swim and didn’t have a pair of shot knees I would love to do this!

I couldn’t resist leaving my footprint in the sand as I left today – thank heavens that there are still over 4 months left so that the beach days aren’t limited. It still amazes us that the beach is “ours” the same way that we consider Sharkeys “our neighbourhood bar”.

Dave and I would like to wish all our family and friends a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We hope that you are all well and enjoying the season.

We had a very enjoyable Christmas Day here in sunny Florida. Dave golfed early in the morning (so he was super happy) and returned home to have a little nap (his chair was moved out into the patio so we could set up the large dining table).

 While he napped, I started with my favourite task – setting and decorating the dining table.

There were 5 of these small centerpieces that I made about a week ago.

It wouldn’t be me if I didn’t whip out the glue gun and add some magic to the table. So I actually glued ribbon to the 4 candle sticks after I had already started setting.  My tables are often a work in progress.

The little silver bell name holders were ones I bought about 25 years ago. They are actually just pastic bell tree ornaments that Dave sawed slots into for placecards. I never would let them go – so here they are in Venice still going strong all these years later.

Dave worked on the peeling of veggies and stuffing of the turkey. He can do those so quickly it boggles my mind. While he did that, I set up the serving warmers and buffet area. Then he got to unveil the cooked bird!

We were thrilled to have 12 for dinner – our most memorable Christmases have been ones with large numbers. The gang gathered at 5 and we sat for dinner at 6:30. There were lots of laughs and lots of wine. Hours later we were still together having many laughs and planning our preemptive strikes on the stores for Boxing Day (although they do not call it that here).

Christmas Eve we headed out to the Chinese Buffet for supper where we ate from their huge selection of dishes. Following that we headed to the Munroe’s for our gift exchange. We actually drew names in July when we were all together in Dartmouth and agreed to buy a $20 gift. It was lots of fun and we enjoyed seeing what each of us got.

Tree at the Munroe’s

The gifts await opening!

 The guys awaiting the opening of gifts

Marilyn found these Christmas dogs who resemble the real one, Cooper!