But before I tell you about that, I must mention that before we returned here to Bushnell, to the SKP Park where we left our RV, we had been staying at the North Fort Myers Elks Lodge. It was near the home of an old friend of ours, Alma Montgomery. Her husband, Leon, died about 2 years ago, and we hadn't seen her for about 4 years. She is 86 now and looking good, although she does have some health problems with her heart. Here is a picture of Alma and Elaine:
She has always been an excellent knitter and enjoys it a lot. She showed us some of her latest creations:
The panda that she made now adorns our bed - Thank you, Alma! We had a couple of nice meals with her, and also did some shopping together. It is always such a joy to visit old friends and find them doing so well. Besides seeing Alma, we also had more visiting time with Bob & Nancy Colbert in Punta Gorda. And Bob arranged for us to have our RV professionally washed and waxed which will keep it protected for another 6 months or so. I usually do this when we are at Park Sierra, but we won't be back there for another 6 months or so.
So we managed to get packed last weekend, left our RV at the SKP park, and drove down to Miami in our car early Monday morning. We met the guys at their condo, where we left our car, and then we all took a taxi to the port. The ship we went on was the Majesty of the Seas, one of the smaller ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet. Here are a few pictures from the deck: 1) Martin, Elaine & Mary On a Jet Ski
2) Roger, Martin & Elaine On The Top Deck
From the top of the ship, in the Miami cruise port, there are fantastic views of downtown, as well as all the way to Miami Beach, and all the bodies of water with lots of boats and yachts in them:
On this cruise, we decided we didn't want to eat in the dining room for dinner so we ate in the Windjammer each evening. Usually we went there after a couple of glasses of wine in the Viking Crown Lounge, because we all are Diamond members or above and between 5 and 8, it was complementary. Here is a picture of the 4 of us in the Windjammer, at dinner:
Our first port was Nassau, in the Bahamas. We all worked out in the gym on the ship in the morning, and then later walked all the way to Paradise Island, which is where the Atlantis Casino is located. To get there we had to walk over a tall bridge, and here is a picture from there of us with the casino in the background:
By the time we got near the casino, everyone was hot, so we stopped for a beer. Here are three friends drinking some of the local beer:
Next we explored the Atlantis, which has an awesome display of Dale Chihuly glass sculptures and a fantastic and huge aquarium area with hundreds of fish, including immense manta rays. Then we took a small boat around the harbor and back to the ship. In doing so, we passed behind the Majesty and here is a picture of it:
The next day we went ashore at Coco Cay, a private island owned by Royal Caribbean. They have a lot of nice beach areas here with chairs and lounges, etc. and they serve a nice BBQ lunch there. Before we ate, we hiked the 2 mile nature trail:
The third day we were in Key West. It was windy and rained a bit, but we had an enjoyable time anyway, walking around the town and visiting some of the stores and restaurants. Right near the port there is a museum where there are a lot of whimsical sculptures scattered around outside. Here is the first one we saw:
Later we stopped at a store where Elaine and Martin tried on some of the wigs and hats:
Then we all had some conch fritters and beer on the deck of a restaurant:
When we got back to the ship, we did a little time in the pool area:
Friday we arrived back in Miami and our short but wonderful vacation was over. Now there are only 4 days for us to prepare for our flight to Barcelona and the next 2 cruises on our agenda. So, the next time you hear from us, we will be somewhere in Europe and having new experiences on our Mediterranean cruise on Celebrity.
3 comments:
What a great cruise! You guys look terrific. How wonderful that you are traveling with Roger and Martin. They are real studs too! :) As usual, we thoroughly enjoy your postings. Elaine, I had no idea how good you look as a blond! I couldn't stop laughing. We don't appear to have to tell you to have fun. Take care, Linda and Greta
Bon Voyage! Can't wait to hear about the adventures coming around the corner.
Did Elaine buy the blond wig- Vavavoom LOL. You both look fantastic and sounds like you are having a grand time....
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