VOLUNTEERS, HIGHWAY DRIVING, AND CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

Wednesday-Thursday, February 8, 9, 2017

Towne Place Suites by Marriott

Dade City, Florida to Mooresville, North Carolina

89 F to 45 F, sunny

Wednesday

Since Mary Lou and three of her TRR friends go to Daystar Hope Center in Dade City to volunteer in the used clothing sales section on Wednesdays, I joined them for their two hour shift. It was sort of like a small Salvation Army or a Goodwill store. Our job today was to sort the ladies’ and children’s clothing, making sure there were no spots, tears, or holes. We also arranged the clothing neatly according to color, with all the hangers going in the same direction. The task was not difficult. I observed that there were many women in the Center with their little children, looking for clothes. I felt it was important that the clothing looked well-arranged and neat—these people were worthy of thoughtfulness. I do volunteer work at home, but I have never worked in a store like this. One could purchase three tops for $1.50. Jeans, dresses, and other pants were $2 each. I am glad that I did this today—I think it is important to respect those who may not have what I am blessed with.

Mary Lou, Martha (NY), Barbara (NJ), Marilyn (OH), and I went to lunch at the Garden Restaurant afterwards to celebrate Barbara’s 75^th birthday. It does not take much to get to know the residents of TRR and they have become quite dear to us. I was amused at their conversation as they spoke of a friend who is looking for a permanent home in central Florida, somewhere it is quiet after 8 p.m. when most of them go to bed. I am not in that spot yet. Neither is TK.

While I was “working,” TK was packing the truck for Thursday’s departure. We had dinner at Coyote Rojas again, a Mexican restaurant almost as good at Torero’s in Erie. The rest of the day was spent in conversation on the patio enjoying the 79 F weather with Mary Lou and Scorchy---we took one last look at the TRR gardens with azaleas in full bloom, cacti blossoms almost out, and poinsettias still a beautiful red.

Thursday

We left TRR by 8 a.m. There is not much to say about being in a truck on the highway for 12 hours---the people who cut in front of you, the lack of turning signals, those who stay in the left lane so one has to pass on the right, the zoomers, the sloths. Most of the time TK is patient, but not all the time. I give him a lot of credit for his driving skills!

I have never driven this Chevy Avalanche. The only time he let me drive his last Avalanche on a Florida trip was when I left my wallet in a fast food restaurant in South Carolina and did not realize the loss until 3 hours down the road. I had to drive the three hours back to the restaurant, and then all the way “forward” to where I realized my error and THEN on to Williamsburg, Virginia, arriving at midnight—that was about an 8 hour mistake. I am much more conscious of what I do with my wallet now. [Note: I do not think I exaggerated about this, but I did not check the blog from about 4 or 5 years ago when that happened.]

Most importantly, my wallet was turned in and safe and sound!! I was very lucky!

At least there was no rain today, because we have experienced very heavy rains in the past when we were driving home. Charlotte is the worst area on I-77-no matter what time of day there is always heavy traffic and today was no exception. There is a bypass now, I-485, but that offered no relief today. Someone, perhaps the aforementioned driver, gets very frustrated at stop and go traffic. We always try to stop north of Charlotte for the night on the FL to PA trip so the morning is a little easier. We hope to be home by tomorrow evening. West Virginia is always unpredictable, but TK thinks the weather will be OK.

We were both very tired tonight. Our hotel was not surrounded by restaurants so we ended up in Hangar 33, a bar/restaurant that was not too far from the hotel. It was definitely a bar with gals and guys in their 40s. While we were eating our burgers and fries, a disc jockey got started and was distributing papers to patrons. When he got to our table he didn’t say, “What are you old people doing here?” He asked, “Do you know what music bingo is? We are playing a game.” I thought that was so sweet. We were accepted right off! TK told him we would be leaving soon as we were travelers. Darn! They were playing for $30 in gift certificates!

I hope to put more photos in the blog when I get home—that sketchy Internet slowed me down.

Safe travels tomorrow!

SPONGES IN TARPON SPRINGS!

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Dade City, Florida (Travelers Rest Resort)

79 F, sunny

Another beautiful day! TK and I decided to take a ride to Tarpon Springs, about an hour away from TRR. This was our 4^th visit—we enjoyed taking Randy, Coleen, and B2 there a few years ago when we were in Disney World. Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the U.S. mostly because Greek immigrants arrived to work in the sponge industry here in the early late 1890s.  

I decided that I wanted to purchase deep water yellow sponges harvested here in Tarpon Springs to share with my writing group—What are sponges? According to http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/porifera/poriferalh.html, sponges come in an incredible variety of colors and an amazing array of shapes. They are predominantly marine and can be found at all latitudes beneath the world's oceans, and from the intertidal to the deep-sea. Generally, they are stationary, though it has been shown that some are able to move slowly (up to 4 mm per day).

The person working in the shop told me that sponges are animals and they lay eggs. The sponge population in the Tarpon Springs area is healthy and there are more sponges now than when harvesting began over 100 years ago. But, the youngest sponge diver is about 45 years old, and there is only one sponge company in the area now.

This web site http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/sg095 had the most interesting sponge facts: 

·         Bath sponges may be the first non-edible product harvested from the sea.

·         One of the first drugs for successfully treating cancer, cytosine arabinoside, was isolated from a Caribbean sponge, Cryptotheca cripta.

·         It is thought that some sponges live for a very long time, perhaps over 100 years.

·         Sponges are remarkable pumping "machines." In general, considering the different types of sponges there are, sponges can pump 10,000 times their own size (volume) in water in one day. A sponge the size of a gallon milk container could pump enough water to fill a residential small size swimming pool within one day.

·         Recent Sea Grant research has shown that shallow-water sponge populations in the Keys are much more dynamic than previously thought to be.

·         On average there are approximately 13 sponges to the pound.

·         Because of their sessile nature, biologists once considered sponges to be plants. However, sponges are indeed a part of the animal kingdom, but they are very much different than the types of animals that are familiar to most people. Actually, in many ways, sponges can be considered to be a colony of single-celled organisms that work together in a coordinated fashion to survive.

Okay, I got a little carried away with sponges, but this is the first time I decided to really take a good look at what they really were! I thought it was interesting that unlike manmade sponges, these sponges do not harbor bacteria.

The little shops in this small village are very attractive and inviting. TK is the most patient husband ever. He lets me wander in and out of shops to my heart’s content, thank goodness. I especially liked a spice shop, the boutiques, the rock shop (same person I saw yesterday at Webster Flea Market with mounted bats, lizards, and bugs, he helped me add to my brother’s collection), all the sponge shops, and a jewelry shop where all the jewelry was made of carved vegetable ivory — I know about this South American tagua nut because buttons were made of this material before plastic in the 1880s.

Finally, and most important of all, we had lunch at Hellas Greek Restaurant and Bakery—our very favorite Greek restaurant!! We started with an appetizer, Saganaki, which is a strong sort of mozzarella cheese served flaming. Fabulous! We both chose Pastitsio as our entrée, a ziti macaroni layered with ground beef and a tomato sauce and topped with the creamiest of cheese flavored with a smidge of nutmeg—a Greek version of lasagna and my favorite Greek dish, accompanied by sweet peas in a tomato sauce and rice.  We decided to take our Baklava and Kataifa (looks like shredded wheat) home to share…hahaha.

Our appetizer, Saganaki--I was not quick enough with the camera to get the flaming part! 

 It is eaten with bread

TK demonstrates.

Our Pastitsio

We really enjoyed this warm and sunny day!

FROM COCONUTS TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA: A VISIT TO WEBSTER WESTSIDE FLEA MARKET!

Monday, February 6, 2017

Dade City, Florida (Travelers Rest Resort)

Mid 70s, sunny

Early this sunny, dewy morning TK and I headed to Webster West Side Flea Market about 45 minutes away in Webster, Florida.  According to the website, it has been the place to find everything imaginable for the past 50 years!  There are thirty five acres of open air markets with produce, flowers, bakery items, jewelry, plants, boutique items, furniture, musical instruments, electronics, hardware/tools, pet supplies, crafts, and clothing—just to name a few things. Webster, open every Monday rain or shine, is especially known for great deals on good quality antiques and collectibles as a primary source for the old and unique. Today it was open from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m.

So what did we see? What did we buy? First, I was quite surprised to see what looked to be advertised as medical marijuana. I did not really study the situation, and I do not know if it were really so, but the packages looked the part. I also saw rifles for sale and small working cannons. Mounted lizards, bats, and beetles were intriguing and I heard the vendor say that he orders the specimens from South American and then prepares them for selling.

However, I was more interested in any World War I items (there were none), handmade American Girl clothes, crocheted necklaces, and watches. Perhaps that is what I purchasedJ. TK bought kettle corn and deep fried pretzels.

Together we purchased a flat of strawberries, fresh from Plant City, Florida. Can you imagine fresh strawberries in January? We finished our shopping at Webster—in four hours I racked up 4.5 miles on my Fitbit!

We had lunch/dinner at Sunrise Restaurant where we have eaten before—they have my favorite fries (coated).

On the way back to TRR we stopped at Publix in Zephyrhills for whipped cream and shell cakes for strawberry shortcake. While looking for the little cakes I asked a young man stocking the shelves if he knew where they were. It turned out he was from Germany and had only been in this country for four weeks. He had no idea what strawberry shortcake was! We had a delightful conversation and when we found the little cakes I showed him the picture on the front.

Encounters like this have really made me consciously think of the many nameless people who come into our lives every day, like our dear servers on the ship, wait staff in a restaurant, the cashier at a gas station, those people behind the scenes like the cooks or the even the people who wash the dishes. Every day I depend on so many nameless people who I may never meet or I meet for a brief moment in time. I must value the network of people who enrich my life.

After our excursion today, we returned to TRR. The drive along the back roads is very interesting—orange groves, beef cattle, horses, an assortment of shotgun houses, bungalows, and estates, palm trees, barbed wire fences. I have reported before that George Steinbrenner of NY Yankees fame had a plantation very near TRR that his sons now own and I believe are trying to sell. Contractors/builders are trying to buy the land in this area for more Florida 55+ communities. The farmers are giving in little by little---and every year we are here there are more developments being built. The infrastructure is amazing—TK is always commenting on how nice the road system is.

The strawberry shortcake was delicious and tonight I am writing from the TRR library with very good Wi-Fi service!

Finally, I forgot to mention that a few days ago I finally found rocks! For my brother! He lost some J

ON THE GO!

Friday-Sunday, February 3-5, 2017  

Dade City, Florida (Travelers Rest Resort)

Mid 70s, sunny

We have kept busy, but Wi-Fi access has been very limited. It seems that in this corridor of TRR, the Wi-Fi access is not very good, even with boosters. It is a source of much contention in the park. We are doing ordinary things anyway, so we can shorten up the blog for those people who have to take a test on it when we return home. J

On Friday TK and I went to Wiregrass Mall in Wesley Chapel. It is a very nice mall that reminds me somewhat of the shopping center in Cleveland, Beachwood Place, but with palm trees and no snow. We had lunch at GrillSmith, a burger for me and a meatloaf sandwich for TK. From their Facebook page, “The heart and soul of one man goes into every GrillSmith meal we prepare. That man is the GrillSmith. Just as a goldsmith perfects his craft, the GrillSmith has spent years perfecting the artistry of the grill, shucking the confines of convention, and giving traditional recipes a modern twist.” The service was spectacular too!

Erie County was being celebrated on Saturday at the Elks Club in Zephyrhills.  About 70 people enjoyed a nice dinner and camaderie. Mary Lou and Scorchy knew a lot of people, including Carmie Hogan Munsch and her brother Dick Hogan (he taught at Strong Vincent) and Scorchy’s Erie golf partner Dick Comstock.  TK knew the Hogans and a few others. Each person introduced himself and where he/she graduated. I was the only grad of Union City Area High School. Most were Tech, SV, Erie East, and Harborcreek grads, aged 55- 86. This celebration is held every year.

Today we went to the ham and turkey dinner at Sacred Heart Catholic Church just around the corner from TRR. TRR residents truly support this church and the dinner was packed with people, a great fundraiser for them.

After dinner Mary Lou knew her brother would drive her to the Villages about an hour north of TRR. She had always wanted to see this “city” with a population of 157,000, described as “America's premier Active Adult Retirement Community located in sunny central Florida (in Sumter County, Florida, United States. It shares its name with a broader master-planned age-restricted community that spreads into portions of Lake and Marion counties).” The complex is huge and we saw only a small portion. The Welcome Center was closed despite saying it was open from 1-5 p.m. on Sundays, so we could not take a look at any homes.  I will say the homes that we did see were situated very very close together.

We encountered another couple trying to look at homes who already lived in the Villages—they told us to look into Del Webb Stone Creek/Spruce Creek-they wished that was where they had bought. TK and I visited DDIL Denise’s grandparents who live in there in the Del Webb complex several years ago. Anyway, we enjoyed the ride! http://www.thevillages.com/

Both B1 and B2 had dances last night and I loved seeing their beautiful photos on Facebook! B2 went to a Father-Daughter Dance at Frewsburg Elementary. B1 went to a Villa-Prep dance. We miss our family very much!

Note to Donna and Lawrence: Some day we will have a TB competition!!

SHOPPING WONDERLAND AND PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL!!

Wednesday, Thursday, February 1, 2, 2017    

Dade City, Florida (Travelers Rest Resort)

Wednesday: mid 70s, sunny

Thursday: mid 70s, sunny

Wednesday: TK, Mary Lou, and I headed to Tampa Bay Outlet Mall. This is a beautiful outlet mall with palm trees and well-kept grounds, but it is not as big as the one in Ft. Myers. No Chicos. Christopher Banks is finally getting a foothold in Florida and the store here was nice. However, I did not purchase much at all.

After returning to TRR to pick up Scorchy after his golfing, we went to Dan’s Clam Stand in Crystal River for dinner. Their special today was 10 colossal shrimp and one side for $12.50. I can vouch that the shrimp was the biggest I have ever seen and eating 10 was near impossible. Super delicious!

Thursday: Phil, the Ground Hog, saw his shadow in Punxsutawney today and it is another warm sunny day here in Dade City! We walked to Busch Hall for the morning coffee presentation—today a travel agent talked about cruises. The Park has planned a trip to Biltmore, a Princess cruise from San Francisco to Hawaii, and a transatlantic cruise to Barcelona. Apparently 20-40 people cruise with the TRR tours! 

After Mary Lou’s garden club work we are going to nearby San Antonio for antique shops we have not been to before and lunch at the new Mexican restaurant in Dade City.

The Coyote Rojo Mexican Restaurant was excellent and was as good as our favorite Torero’s in Erie—cheese enchiladas, rice, and beans. Pollo Asada for TK-grilled chicken with soft tacos.

Today was also the weekly Cabana Get Together—everyone gives a can of food to the hosts and during the day they make soup to share. Today’s hosts live across the street from Mary Lou—a retired Chicago firefighter and his wife. Obviously I could not eat a thing, but it was fun catching up with people we have met before. About sixty people attended.  Scorchy and Mary Lou live in the "cabana area" where everyone has an extra building, which usually has a full bath, a living room and sofa that can be made into a bed,  and/or a dining area.  

TK’s Takes:  Tampa Bay Outlet Mall is his favorite.

BUYING OR NOT BUYING!

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, January 29, 30, 31, 2017           

Ft. Myers to Estero to Dade City, Florida (Travelers Rest Resort)

Sunday: Cool and rainy

Monday: low to mid 60s, cooler, sunny

Tuesday: warming up, sunny!

Sunday: The first highlight was we were able to Facetime with both our dear Erie and our Jamestown families! It was so good to see them and hear what they were doing! Both sons R and B have been following the blog and I know this because they reported back all they knew! I decided I should go a little easier on them. I will create the test for B1 who thought up the idea of a test. J The miracle of technology--

We met up with TK’s sister and BIL Mary Lou and Scorchy and we drove together to a nephew’s home and met up with TK’s brother and SIL, Tom and Carol, to play the traditional game of Trivial Pursuit (4 hours, one game to be precise), the family favorite. We all held our own, but the boys won. It was great to see everyone—we only see TK’s brother once a year now.

Monday: After visiting the mall at Coconut Point (so much great shopping in this area, so little time), TK and I headed to Pinchers, The Marina at Edison Ford, further north in Ft. Myers Beach to meet TK’s buddy from Erie East High School and the EFD (Kevin and Jan) for lunch. This restaurant has such a nice view of a river that flows into the Gulf. The fish and chips lunch was tasty and we enjoyed conversation with old friends.

The trip north to Dade City took a little less than three hours and the cabana at Travelers Rest Resort was warmed up and waiting for  us.  Mary Lou treated us to a slice of kumquat pie and then we were ready to settle in for the evening. It is definitely cooler in this area, but we have a promise of warmer weather coming soon.

Tuesday: The morning coffee seminar at Busch Hall was about crime prevention with Brian MacNeel, a Task Force Florida State Police officer. He covered identity theft, fraud, scams, and other safety issues. Very informative.  After visiting TRR for so many years, we fit right in, we even have name badges!

I am always so amazed at all there is to do here. The list of activities and clubs in the weekly newspaper covers two full 11x17 pages, from Amateur Radio Club to Yoga, including ballroom dance lessons, birding, bowling, garden club, genealogy, all kinds of card games, computer clubs, digital camera classes, golf scrambles, remote control cars, boats, and airplanes, travel club, tennis, horseshoes, quilting, sewing, singing, brass ensemble, wood shop, motorcycle club, painting classes, geocaching, and so many more.

10 a.m. more later

SHOPPING AND MORE SHOPPING

Saturday, January 28, 2017         Sunny / 71 F

Homewood Suites, Ft. Myers, Florida

Less than a month ago we hosted Denise’s brother Jeff and family, Teresa, R, and C, for Christmas and New Year’s and today we visited them for a short while to return some things they left in Erie.  The kids were excited to see us and call us Nana and Poppy. Teresa and Jeff are both teachers in a school system near where they live, in fact, Teresa can see her school from her backyard!

Janie and B1's cousin C--photo taken by his sister R

Janie and B1's cousin R--photo taken by her brother C

From there it was shopping and shopping at Miramar, Costco, and Gulf Coast Mall—so many choices!!

One happy shopper at Miramar Mall!

Miramar Mall

Miramar Mall

Dinner at Carabba’s Italian Grill at Gulf Coast Mall (across the street from our hotel)—way too much food. 

EASY RIDE TO FT. MYERS!

Friday, January 27, 2017         Sunny / 75 F

Disembark ms Oosterdam / Homewood Suites, Ft. Myers, Florida

Sunrise over Tampa today--a sort of homage to Friend MJ who takes lots of Tampa sunset photos!

TK says except for the oil tanks!

Disembarkation was the most low key ever! We ordered room service for 6:30 a.m. By the time we were showered and dressed (passengers were directed to remain in their staterooms until they disembarked or go to the buffet for breakfast), it was time to leave.  No lines, no elevator jam ups, just walk off! Of course we had to find our luggage from last night in the terminal, go through customs and declare souvenirs-we breezed through without a porter. Right outside the terminal we hailed a taxi and we were on our way to the hotel where TK’s truck is by 8:30. We were on the road to Ft. Myers by 9:14 a.m.! Fastest ever!

By the way, Uber ride to the ship from the Mariott= $8. Taxi ride back to the same hotel, $25.

I was ecstatic when TK said he wanted to stop at Fleamasters Fleamarket near North Ft. Myers, the best flea market in my world!  I will admit that before we separated to shop, we had a big glazed donut—world famous and mentioned in previous years’ blogs. I will also admit that we did not share, we each had one. Then off to shop. For four hours. When TK and I met up again I could hardly carry my shopping bag.

This beautiful standard poodle was just one of the MANY dogs shopping today.

After all that work we were hungry so we headed to Millers Ale House for fried shrimp – healthy eating will have to wait till Erie.

At Miller's Ale House, just for DDIL Denise!

We checked into the hotel and took all our luggage to the room so we could sort out the mess and do some wash—three loads to be exact.  I’m tired.

TK’s Takes: Traffic good around here (Ft. Myers) even though others say it’s bad—the infrastructure is outstanding. Gas is cheaper here too, he paid $2.27/gallon today.

SAILING SLOWLY BACK TO TAMPA

Thursday, January 26, 2017         Sunny / 73 F

At Sea / ms Oosterdam

This morning I am writing from the balcony as I overlook the vast sea and listen to the gentle waves that reflect a gentle sun. The Oosterdam sails slowly back to Tampa and I am truly enjoying the time to reflect and read and write.  This cruise has totally erased the “madness” of the Getaway cruise last January/February, so peaceful, so accommodating.

We definitely miss our dear family, but this is sure easier than facing ice and snow every day. Even if Erie has had some thaws, I would be wearing layers and layers of shirts and leggings and pants and thick downy coats, and boots, peaking out my upstairs balcony onto a snow covered street and a driveway that my car slides down when I leave. Instead, I can wear a swimsuit on a balcony on the sea. Our peaceful getaway!

The everyday routine has been getting up at 7 or 7:30 a.m. with coffee, croissants, and fresh fruit. On sea days I have enjoyed the balcony while TK swims. Our daily “guide,” On Location, reports the schedule for the day.  There is Mass every day, a fitness class, sales in the shops, seminars on jewelry-watches-bamboo-ports-shopping in the ports depending on the day, card and bridge player meetups, spa seminars, ping pong challenges, cooking shows with the chefs, trivia games, afternoon teas, dance classes, movies, art auctions, and the Windows 10 classes, all scheduled in varying forms every day.

On this ship there is a “music walk” each day at Lincoln Center, today’s options are the violinists, “Fresh Perspectives,” and “French Connection.” Three different performances.

The Billboard Onboard venue has “Hot Country,” Piano Celebration,” and “All Request” scheduled today. The “BB King’s Blues Club” features BB King’s all stars today.   Usually there is a show on the Main Stage twice a day (the singers/dancers/the comedian/the “Five O Clock Somewhere duo”) twice an evening but today’s show will be done once at 3 p.m. A recent movie is shown in the movie theater four times a day. After it is shown onscreen, guests can access the movie in their staterooms. (e.g. Sully, Criminal Intelligence, the Jason Bourne movie)

You can see that we have plenty of choices of things to do, but we have done very little!

We have not tried any of the specialty restaurants aboard, Pinnacle (steak and seafood--$10 pp lunch; $35/ pp dinner) and Canaletto (Italian--$15/pp).

The Vista is the 2 floor main dining room where we have eaten every evening. Dive In is the hamburger, hotdog, and chicken sandwich restaurant at the pool—where I like the burgers and fries just a little too much.

The Lido Market is the breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffet—I have only sat with TK there, but every day there is a carving station with turkey, pork, or beef. On this ship the servers handle all the food and give the guests what they want, so it is a buffet, but controlled. One can eat as much as one wants, but I think this is for health reasons. Other offerings at the Lido include Asian cuisine, Italian pasta bar, and all the accompaniments with all of the above, vegetables, breads, fruits, desserts, ice cream, pizza of all sorts, and on and on.  There is food for gluten free, vegans, and vegetarians, too.

Hold on, the sea is calling me!

Large black pelican soaring by our balcony

I listened to the sea and read until TK returned to the room—pelicans were circling the ship, and a large black one was most unusual. Probably freighters and other ships toss food to them and they follow ships.

The last Windows 10 class covered Movie Maker. Hopefully I will remember at least some of what I have learned! While I was studying in class TK was packing. When I returned I decided to pack after dinner—long ago I said packing was not going to take a day away from the fun.

After the best genuine mushroom soup, the prime rib at dinner was absolutely great! The Baked Alaska was tasty too.  It’s a good thing dinner was so good because we got really attached to Mariyadi and Haris.

A new take on Baked Alaska

Haris, Janie, Mariyadi in the Oosterdam dining room

We returned to the room and I was in for some heavy duty packing. The room was a mess and I did not exactly throw things into any suitcase, but it was not pretty. We had to put four of the suitcases outside the room for the porters to carry off the ship in the morning.  It is very important to make sure one keeps the clothes one needs for the next day in the room. I almost packed all of my shoes, but thankfully I remembered to check for them.

Four suitcases ready to be placed in the hall outside stateroom's door

We really enjoyed this cruise. Sometimes it is a good thing to be among the youngest on the ship!

TK’s Takes: Room service was good. He did not see many sea birds or fish, except for a few flying fish. The bath towels were as big as beach towels. We had very good weather. There were so many electrical outlets and USB charging ports [generally speaking there is one outlet in the room with the right voltage for Americans and he has to bring an extension cord for his C-Pap machine]

He also told me that water started sprinkling on the pool deck—he knew just what it was, but people were scrambling to get out of the “rain.” Because of his service and job in the U.S. Navy, he knew they were cleaning the smoke stacks.  He was very talkative while I was packing tonight!

TENDER GRAND CAYMAN

Wednesday, January 25, 2017         Sunny / 73 F

George Town, Grand Cayman (480 miles south of Miami) / ms Oosterdam

Grand Cayman’s population is 37,716 according to HAL literature.

Last night we set our clocks back to EST so our extra hour of sleep was helpful when we heard the room service knock at 7 a.m. with fresh strong coffee. Grand Cayman is very conscious of the environment and its coral reefs, so all cruise ships must tender ashore and the Oosterdam uses its life boats to do so. We were on the first tender at 8 a.m., but we did not realize the sea’s chop and wind conditions meant the tenders were going to take us to Spot Marina instead of George Town. Only two cruise ships were able to tender off George Town and two were at this marina.

After getting off the tender, we had to take a van taxi to George Town with 14 other people, each paying $5 a piece one way. Roundabouts, ambulances, and morning traffic slowed down the process so it took an hour to get to our destination. We observed villas, resorts, gas stations, bougainvillea blossoming, lush vegetation, shortcuts, and windy roads we probably would never have seen.

Our favorite memory of this island is when we went snorkeling with the sting rays at Sting Ray City-an area where sting rays congregate, mostly because tours have been feeding them for years. TK is like a fish and was a rescue diver on the Erie FD, so he is a great swimmer and loves the water. I am not a swimmer and mostly like looking at water, but I can snorkel until I realize what I was doing. I had convinced myself that the sting rays were going to be just like horses as they approached. The tour guide told us to cup the food in our hand and let them approach. Easier said than done. Fortunately, the warm water was only chest high so I did not have to think about that. When I saw the sting rays approaching, most as big as the top of a card table or larger, I started to almost panic. But, my better sense came through, and anything for a photo—I actually gently held the one that approached me. We have two photos, the panic and the model.  Once was enough and I returned to the tour boat, but TK played and played. There is an exhibit of sting rays at the National Aquarium in Baltimore called “Wings on Water.” They are absolutely beautiful as they glide in the sea.

We had no purpose today, just walking around George Town. We especially like the Guy Harvey shop—he is a scientist/artist and his worthy mission is to preserve the oceans and the environment.  All the usual shops are here as well as the colorful souvenir shops. We always take a little tour of Margaritaville which has a swimming pool on the 2^nd floor!!

To return to the ship, TK very wisely hailed a van taxi with air conditioning. Another thing we are particular about is making certain we do not have to sit on fold down seats. Anyone reading this blog knows that TK and I are not tiny people. It did not take long for 16 people to fill the van and off we went.

About 5 minutes down the road, the driver stopped to put air in his tires. The air pump did not work. In my mind I wondered just how deflated the tire was, why was he taking on passengers in such a situation, and would the crowded van be a problem on the side of the road? In another 10 minutes the driver stopped at a brand new gas station/Burger King for air and this one worked. No worries! Thank goodness for air conditioning! Chickens roam all over the islands and Key West, by the way, and a rooster was strutting at the gas station and almost became a casualty while we watched helplessly.

The rooster is a survivor! 

The return to the ship only took about 25 minutes—we had those great burgers and my favorite kind of fries. TK went to the pool and I read on our deck the rest of the afternoon while Grand Cayman watched me. I could see the tenders going back and forth with passengers. We only had 4 ½ hours at this port. I watched the tenders lifted on board with a system of pulleys.

The view from our balcony--Grand Cayman in the background, the ship's llifeboat/tender

Lifeboat #16 is pulled aboard near our balcony

Tonight was another “Gala Dinner” and we enjoyed another evening with Mariyadi and Haris. Since the menu was given to us for a souvenir, I will be specific about our choices tonight. There were six entrée choices, including surf and turf, basil crusted veal rack with morels, Asian-style rotisserie duck, mushroom ravioli, pan-seared sea bass, walnut and cheese –crusted eggplant piccata.

Our choices:

Appetizer:   Papaya with a Rainbow of Fruit, banana liquer, coconut shavings—Janie;

Seafood Cocktail, crab leg, jumbo prawns, scallops, mussel, and shrimp---TK.

Soups and Salads: Apple, Pear, and Cucumber Salad, frisee, dried cherries, bleu cheese, crouton—TK.

Entrée: Surf and Turf, filet mignon, lobster tail, herb garlic butter, porcini basmati rice, sautéed vegetables (carrots and asparagus)—Janie and TK.

Desserts: Almond and Orange Cake, poppy seeds, cream cheese frosting—Janie;

Warm Flourless Chocolate Cake, molten chocolate center, whipped cream, assortment of berries---TK.

The filet mignon and lobster was very good.

After dinner we went to the movie theater to see Central Intelligence starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jason Bateman, and Melissa McCarthy. It was funny, but I think it would make a good firehouse movie.

           

What a great surprise in our room tonight!!!

TK’s Takes: Another town with free Wi-Fi almost everywhere. [To be fair, I think Erie has free Wi-Fi downtown-Janie]  The weather has been great. HAL has not said anything about the disembarkation process on Friday. The officers and crew seem pretty laid back, not many announcements—we did not even know that we would not be near downtown George Town today, but in the marina further away. The ship is quiet, more so than any other ship we have been on.

AT SEA MAKING FRIENDS!

Tuesday, January 24, 2017      75 F / sunny / calm seas to rough

At Sea/ ms Oosterdam

Today I was resolved to enjoy coffee on the balcony all morning and so I did, almost finishing my book about the Clark family of Virginia, of the Revolutionary War, and Lewis and Clark Expedition. The Caribbean was peaceful, the sun was shining, the balcony had shade, and the temperature was just right.  TK went to the pool, but returned with croissants and a Danish just as I was getting hungry.  I will need to get back into WWI mode when I get home,

I stayed on the balcony until 12:30 when we went to the Captain’s luncheon (by invitation). This was a situation where we could not opt to sit alone, so fortunately we sat with two delightful Canadian couples, one from Ontario on Lake Huron, the other from British Columbia.  No politics! We shared cruise stories, about the Panama Canal, Acapulco, Hawaii, even Egypt. We each received a Delfft Holland America tile as a souvenir.

About the food: Thank goodness our Mariyadi was the server. So I do not appear to be negative, let me ask you how much would you like a fish (Pontano-whatever that is) with its skin still on?  The coconut pie was delicious. More on food later.

After lunch we met a couple from Akron, Denny and Reggie. She is an Ohio state director for DAR and we talked a long time about that. TK and Denny were engaged in conversation about Akron, gas prices, and Longaberger baskets.

After that I hurried to the “Making Windows 10 Your Own” class. I have really learned a lot from Georgia and will be anxious to try all that I have learned on my Desktop at home, even the laptop I have with me—when we have free Wi-Fi!!  I will be so organized, with my own special tiles all named according to my system, my clean desktop (Georgia says nothing should be on the desktop except the recycle bin), and an efficient task bar!!

By now it was time for dinner and a good thing because I was hungry—I really did not eat anything at lunch except the pie. We ordered the shrimp and a spring roll for appetizers—who would like passionfruit jam on their shrimp??? Have you ever tried a spring roll with barbecue sauce? Just asking. Even the strip steak had a sweet sauce on it.   Haris emphasized how much he liked the banana crisp, so I ordered that—it was warm and very good!

Right now we are sitting in the Main Stage auditorium waiting for the show to start—we are actually giving the comedian, Mike Robinson, a chance!! And as it turned out, this comedian was also a ventriloquist.  That meant that we heard about three jokes in 45 minutes. The puppet had his eyes on a man in the front row who turned out to be a police officer. Comedian Mike asked how long he and his wife had been married, the answer was 33 years. Mike said, “That’s not a big deal on Holland America, just look around.” That was funny.  At the end, Mike said he was a politically correct comedian and didn’t use the word dummy, that “Terrence” was a Mannequin-American. As ventriloquists go, he wasn’t bad.

As we were walking out of the theater, we overheard an older man asking another older man how he liked the show. That man replied it wasn’t bad. The first man replied that he liked it a whole lot better than the music show on Wednesday (the Irish and Danish duo)—he said he did not like and could not understand the music.

I will add that we are definitely enjoying this cruise—our suite is phenomenal, the ports we are visiting are favorites on the Caribbean, our dining room servers are perfect, TK is enjoying the pool, and I am really happy with the Windows 10 classes, among other things!

TK’s Take: When he was talking with Denny today, he learned that three people had been taken off the ship already (hopefully nothing dire) and the average age of the passengers is 68 years old. Hmmmm. You can read between the lines here!

Tonight's towel animal--a rabbit with attitude!

WARM AND SUNNY ARUBA!

Monday, January 23, 2017         Sunny /  81 F at 8:30 a.m. which is 7:30 a.m. EST

Last night I forgot to logout of the HAL Internet so I probably lost about 60 minutes. One has to type "Logout.com" into the Internet bar. I am upset with myself, but I am saving a place now for today's blog and will download/upload tomorrow. We are sitting at Starbucks in Aruba right now with free Internet. Aruba is a very pleasant port town, but we are here for only 5 hours so we have to make the best of it!

Blogspot is in a language that I think is Dutch, but fortunately I can understand the tabs well enough.  TK is enjoying a frappuccino (he got up to check the spelling for me) and I have a Chai tea latte. I can see palm trees, the Caribbean Sea, fountains, and a small bridge from our table. There is an little "inlet" in this Renaissance Hotel about 25 feet from where I am sitting and a small boat just picked up some hotel guests to take them to an island off Aruba.  I could probably do a lot of writing just from here!

TK is happy to be at Starbucks in Aruba. Just  behind the trash barrel, 

placed so beautifully, is the little inlet that just picked up passengers. More seem to be waiting. Doesn't TK look like he is in paradise?

Several years ago we went to the Aruba Aloe factory in Aruba and ever since we have been using their sunscreen and hand cream, even ordering online.  At their shop at the Renaissance Hotel Plaza, they mentioned their soap factory was just a free trolley ride away so TK and I hopped on it outside the Plaza. We soon learned that the trolley is a brand new feature in Aruba and very popular. It turned out that the factory was really not far—what wonderful smells of citrus, lavender, cinnamon, and more. Of course we bought some soap—my favorite was the crisp lemon. We walked back to the center city and shopped at the straw market and soon it was time to board the ship. By 1 p.m., our stateroom was still not finished so we sat on the balcony anyway and watched Aruba pass by as we sailed away.

At dinner each evening Mariyadi tells us stories of his home in Indonesia in a rural area. His wife, two sons, and father in law live there and they do the farming. They have papaya, banana, coconut, and bamboo trees. They use what they can, but the rest is sold at market. He said every 35 days they have 250 coconuts to sell.  He showed us photos of his farm, home, and the rice field on his property. On the farm they have tomatoes that are a small variety, cucumbers, durian (“smelly fruit”), peppers, chickens, and a cow to do the plowing, and so on.  He told us of special desserts, lemper (rolled in a banana leaf) and klepon (flaked or shredded coconut rolled into balls with brown sugar and steamed). I hope to ask our friend Ann from the Philippines if she knows of these delicious sounding dishes.

After dinner TK and I went to tonight’s show on the Main Stage with “Five O’Clock Somewhere,” a duo that the daily news said was “the ultimate musical entertainment experience.”  We usually do not seem to go to shows, but after this one we decided we should!  Bridgette from Denmark and Aaron from Ireland met in London. She was classically trained and he had picked up his musical skills from watching and listening to others, virtually untrained, but a “tinkerer.”

We liked their sound immediately, songs of U2. The ship’s band accompanied them, but they played several instruments, like the piano, electric guitars, and a portable keyboard.  He demonstrated a “loop around.” I am not sure I heard the name correctly, but he would play a sound and then that sound would play in a loop. To demonstrate, he made sounds with the following as an example: briefly flicking a lighter, unrolling a strip of cellophane tape, and strumming the top of a blown up balloon. He captured each sound on the “loop around” and then she sang “You Give Me Fever” or it could just be called “Fever,” an older but popular song accompanied by the loop around, the band, and Aaron on guitar. The song was wonderful.

She sang an old Swedish ballad taught to her by her father—“who can sail without wind, who can row without oars, who can leave friends behind without tears? You can sail without wind, you can row without oars, but you cannot leave friends without tears” Her a cappello voice was fabulous and the song, sung in Swedish, was very powerful. They also played a beautiful rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”  To conclude, the duo performed 22 songs in 6 minutes in a sort of duel, each trying to get more acclamation as the audience recognized the song. I heard songs by Blondie, Eurhythmics, Charlie Daniels, and many more! Their finale was “Hey Jude.” We enjoyed this show very much.

CURACAO HAS REPTILES!

Sunday, January 22, 2017                                78 F / sunny / calm seas

Curacao / ms Oosterdam

The Oosterdam docked  very quietly at Santana Bay, Willemstad, Curacao, at 7:30 a.m., but this morning we were up before the ship arrived and room service gently knocked on our door with our morning coffee and cranberry juice. We sat on the balcony to enjoy the Dutch architecture along with our coffee. [To side step a little, I ask myself on every cruise why on earth cruise lines cannot make a decent cup of coffee. I drink it black and can tolerate strong coffee, but mostly cruise coffee tastes like it was brewed at five times the strength three weeks ago. It would be different if European passengers were prevalent, but most passengers most of the time are American.]

Santana Bay area, Willemstad, Curacao

Yesterday at the port talk, I learned that Curacao’s climate, which is out of the hurricane belt, is desert-like, with little rain. Today was sunny and warm and I notice that we move just a little more slowly in the humidity.

It did not take long to go ashore. We walked to the swinging Queen Emma Bridge, originally built in the 1880s. It is suspended on floating docks and opens and closes for boat traffic about 20 times a day. We were only stranded on the bridge once in the past, but it does not take long to close so walkers can continue on their way. The small downtown area has the usual shops, but today was different—on Sundays the shops can only be open for four hours, by government regulation, and not all the shops were open. Since we have been to all the islands on this cruise several times before, we were not doing any tours. We walked through the fish, vegetable, and fruit markets. All of these items are brought over in small boats from Venezuela.

Swinging suspension bridge in foreground, Willemstad shops in background

We were very happy to discover that the downtown area has free Wi-Fi, so we were able to check phone messages and emails. TK found out that it is 55 F in Erie-oh my. Must be the January thaw. I hope that Brother B is not worrying about the sugar maple sap running!

I finally found some little gifts to bring home—everyone already has enough t-shirts and beach towels. TK bought some more bamboo shirts at Cariloha, his favorite.  After these purchases we walked along the shore to Starbucks (Friend MJ take note!). TK had a latte and I synced my Fitbit.

Janie and a Dutch shoe!

On our return walk, we saw something B2 would love, a lizard larger than I care to cuddle up to, with white dots on its side and two blue feet. It thought it was blending in, but we saw it! A little further up the path I saw a lady taking video of a shrub. When I looked closer, I saw what I consider a GIANT iguana right there among the branches. Even more for B2 to love! As for me, not so much.

Small lizard with blue toes and tail, just for B2

Or maybe B2 would like this one better.

The ship arrived at 7:30 a.m. this morning and is not departing until 11 p.m. At first we thought the ship was staying so long because it was refueling (it was), but actually the sail to Aruba is very short so the ship is just passing time. As I type, I can see the city lights and how they reflect in the water. Paradise. Except for lizards.

TK’s Takes: Free Wi-Fi, now that’s a thought.

Last night's towel animal, a squid!