Thursday, March 31, 2011

Now where would I rather be?

No contest!







- Posted from my iPhone

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

I'd Rather be in . . .









- Posted from my iPhone

Monday, March 28, 2011

It's Raining, It's Pouring

It's pouring out now.  It's 11:00 AM and this is the first rain we've had since we left home on Feb. 27th.  Lucky for us, we decided to take an early morning walk.  We started out around 8:00 AM and walked the beach for a mile and a half where we saw an exit at the public beach on Casuarina Rd.  We then walked back along the street, past the Estate Section of Delray Beach.  

If you want to check out what's for sale in the area, and there is a lot, check out this website, your sure to find something to your liking.  http://www.premierestateproperties.com/real-estate-delray-beach.aspx?xclear=1
This is the house that we picked up a brochure out in front Web Reference/MLS # R3025614 | Offered At $19.95 Million USD
and then I found this one Web Reference/MLS # R3146327 | Offered At $23.95 Million USD which must be next door.
 

While we walked along the beach there were a lot of man-of-war that had come in with the tide.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Dinner with the neigbors and guests

Michael, Doris and Tom left today.  Doris and Tom to Boston and Michael to Singapore.  Mary and Alan invited us to dinner with their guests and also invited their neighbors who had guests from Germany. We had a German dinner in their honor and wonderful conversation.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Salsa

Michael made a delicious salsa that he served with chicken and black beans and rice.
The ingredients were pineapple, tomato, cilantro, onion, green peppers and orange juice.



- Posted from my iPhone

Orlando in Review - March 20-25

From Kissimmee we went down the road to the Sheraton Vistana in Orlando.  We pretty much hung out at the resort since we had already done the malls and flea markets.  
 

We went to my favorite Florida store - Publix

This is a view of the pool
Don't I look cute in my cervical collar that I was wearing because of my neck pain?  I have to stop knitting for hours on end while we're on long car rides.
Another pool view
This is a sunrise
Larry took a dip in the smaller adult pool
And I relaxed on a hammock

There were a lot of restful opportunities
On Friday we packed up the car again and headed to Delray Beach.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Highlights of our Week in Kissimmee - March 13-20

While we were in Kissimmee which is only a stones throw from Orlando we saw everything there except the theme parks.
We went to Old Town which is probably much more exciting at night than during the day when it was practically deserted.


Another day we went to the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival and this was Larry's favorite piece - can't imagine why.  (See his work at www.lvs3d.com)
Saturday night we saw the Super Moon and

Sunday we were moving to the Sheraton Vistana so we went to Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine and then to the Orlando Mall again which was right next door since we had time to kill and we ran into Bonnie and Bob.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Lazy Day

My neck pain was back again today.  It actually got bad last night and had me up during the night doing some stretching.  We didn't get up until 9:00 AM, a record for us, and then spent till 12:30 doing stuff indoors.  I did my Yoga and my neck was feeling better and then we went outdoors and I sat by the pool and my neck went downhill.  I did the Yoga streches again and took a hot shower and it's a little better.  I just can't spend hours in the car knitting or crocheting with my head in that bent over position.  It's just murder on my neck.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Sports Day

Well we probably overdid it today.  We played tennis in the morning, but not a lot.  It's been a year since we played since Larry has a bone spur on his foot and he took a break to allow it to heel.  Then in the afternoon we went to Kissimmee Oaks to play golf.  And before playing we hit balls on the driving range.  I played nine holes.  To help Larry get his 18 in I graciously decided to stop after 9 :)  but even with that we had some pokey people in front of us and we passed players on a par 5 and then hole 17.




On the way home we stopped at a Publix which was so much nicer than the one near our place.  The one near us is older and has the weirdest layout of things in the store.
Once home we had a vodka and tonic on the deck and wound up just eating appetizers for dinner followed by a bowl of popcorn. 

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Mall Day

Next to Disney World, the Orlando Premium Outlet Mall must be the biggest attraction.




- Posted from my iPhone

Kissimmee

Our first week in Orlando we're staying at the Star Island Resort in Kissimmee.  They're having college tennis tournaments going on here.  This is one of many areas where they are playing this week so even though there are a lot of tennis courts available we never can find an empty one.
This is a view of the pool area.  It's a very nice resort and this is the place where we discovered the best Edy's ice cream,  Mocha Almond Fudge.  We also found it later on at the store, for a limited time but it was never as fudgy as the commercial brand.

Monday, March 14, 2011

No More Cruise Food



Back to healthy eating. Somehow or other when I weighed myself this morning I gained 7 pounds. YIKES!!

We spent the morning in the room just chillin' and doing laundry.  Then we finally took showers, got dressed and went out for a walk around the grounds.  Came back, had lunch and I went to the pool and Larry watched some college tennis matches that are being played here.


Look at this carrot, doesn't it look like a boot?

- Posted from my iPhone

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Off to Kissimmee

We stayed at a Day's Inn in Walterboro, SC last night. We got there around 6:00 and after checking in went to a Subway for a footlong, half for dinner and the other half for lunch in the car. A far cry from the dinners we had on the cruise.
Stopped at a rest area in Geogia just before exit 38 on I-95 and noticed trees in bloom.




It's 3:00 pm and we're in Orlando about 20 minutes from our destination. It's 77 degrees, the sky is a pale blue with not a puff of white anywhere. A perfect day.

We're staying at th Star Island Resort & Club and knew nothing about it when I booked, but were delightfully surprised at how nice it is.
http://www.star-island.com/

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Can't always believe the weather man

I had taken these screen shots of the forecast for the different places where we were going to be, before we left. Even when we were on the ship, most of the forecasts were for cloudy and chance of rain, but every day turned out to be beautiful.
  

We're Back

8:02 and we're in the Van to go to our car. And then we're off to Florida. Next time I'm packing half of what I think I need because carting it is painful.


Had to make an emergency stop at a Toyota dealer because our tire air valve was stuck and air was leaking. We drove right in to service and fixed in no time plus the guy who helped us checked all the tires. Too bad we had just stopped to put air in but it was because the tore pressure light went on that we stopped for air in the first place and realized we had a problem.

3:50 - leaving SC Welcome Center
- Posted from my iPhone

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Day 10 - At Sea

This was the first day of three that we were going to have at sea on the way back to Baltimore.  We had breakfast and then went to sit outside.  I lost my camera and haven't a clue how I could have done that.
I had it at the first place we sat, took a few pictures, put the camera in my bag and left it there and went to the room because I left my cell phone down there and needed it to listen to my book.  Larry stayed up on the deck.
When I came back we moved to the stern of the boat where it wasn't so windy.
Lesley and Pat were up there and when we left to go to lunch we walked past where they were having the belly flop contest.  I dug into my bag to get the camera to take pictures and it wasn't there.
I went back and looked in the places I was and couldn't find it.
Then I went to Guest Services to see if they had it and left my name since it hadn't been turned in.  

It was a dress up night again and we got in line for pictures when Larry said he would go over and check at Guest Services for my camera.  YEA!!  they had it, along with a case of mine that had a bunch of pens and even some address labels.  I was so HAPPY!!  I was going crazy trying to figure out how I could have lost it.  









 Our evening towel.


Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Day 9 - Tortola

We sat at breakfast till late with Lesley and Pat and then took a taxi ride to Cane Garden Beach.  The taxi, open air bus, was so slow we thought we would have to push it up the hills.  But it was a beautiful day at the beach.



We took a different taxi home and it actually only took the 20 minutes the first driver said it would.
I broke my favorite pair of $10 sunglasses as we got back on the ship.
After we got back we went for a snack and then up to Deck 10.
I walked for 30 minutes then we pulled out of port.  We went to the show at 6:15, before dinner.   There was a singer,  Kenny James who had won Star Search 13 times in 1985.



We played Quest after dinner, which is sort of like a scavenger hunt but takes place right there in the room with whatever you've got.  The funniest part was the 70+ woman who donated her whole set of false teeth and bra to her team for different requests.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Day 8 - St Marteen

We went to breakfast early today and then I went up to deck 10 to see what the weather conditions were up there because I wanted to walk.  With the sun out it was really hot so I was able to wear my bathing suit top and did 45 minutes of walking.  I need to work off some of the food I've been eating.  We had a tour scheduled for 12:30 that took us through the Dutch and French sides of St Marteen.




Came back to ship to sit out in sun for awhile but it got cloudy after being sunny all afternoon.

The drink of the day was a Margarita and I had one before and after dinner.  We started getting them at the bar on Deck 4.

The evening entertainment was a great piano player.
There was a 70s party after dinner.

And this was our towel guy for the night.


Sunday, March 6, 2011

Day 7 - St Thomas

We went on a morning tour of the island and got dropped off in the shopping area.

A view of Megan's Bay 

Larry bought me a reversible omega necklace with two pendants and two bracelets.


We checked the liquour prices in stores and found really good deals on scotch and the cruise ship matched them.
I purchased a cookbook that the chef personalized.
There was a Mentalist for entertainment who changed the time on a watch a girl from the audience was holding.
Did things with a married couple where what he did to the husband the wife also thought he did it to her.
There was a dance party and buffet on the pool deck after our show and lots of ice sculptures and creative fruits and veggies.