Day Four~Day at Sea

One of the things we enjoyed about the cruise was what we encountered all day long on the last day, or the day "at sea". There was something to do all day long and we did not have to do any of the work involved. We were able to show up and just enjoy it. While it is not how I'd want to travel, or even want to live all the time-it was nice to be able to do that for this time period. It really was so nice to let someone else worry about all the ins and out of how to make it all work.



We ended up doing many of the shows and contests while we were on the ship and we thought they were enjoyable overall. My only complaint at all, in fact, was one of the shows where there was far too much skin showing for my tastes. It didn't add to the beautiful dancing for me, it just made it seem more cheap. Beyond that, I thought it was very family friendly and even though some of it was silly, it was fun.



Case in point: the Belly Flop Contest! First off, I have to share a picture of the cruise director Marc who made all things fun, even more fun. He was what I want to call a cutie patootie but most guys hate that so I will instead say he was gifted with a charismatic personality. He was really witty and seemed to love his job and love people. And he had an adorable foreign accent to boot.



Back to the Belly Flop Contest. Picture lots of people on the pool deck watching six poor souls provide entertainment for the rest of us.



They had to stand up and tell us about themselves.



Provide a little dancing:



And then leap into the air and do a belly flop.



Mr Tony, the dive instructor was the last contestant. No, I don't think that was his name but he reminded me of Tony on Seinfeld. So he became Mr. Tony to us.



He was also the winner!



You know how when you are in high school and engaged in the silliest of things, that you think are the most important things because well, they are in your world. When you are there adults look at you and sigh and say, enjoy it while it lasts because once you grow up you won't be able to spend your days like that? You kind of do get to do that all over again when you are on a cruise. You truly do get to spend all day long doing silly, meaningless but fun things....because that is all there is to do there. And while a steady diet of that would be nauseating to me, a vacation sized dose of it was just what the doctor ordered.



Living the life at sea and already thinking of how we can get the kids to join our next cruise!

Turbulent Sunrise

I woke early this morning to shoot my first sunset on Lake Superior in over a month. There had been a good wind blowing all night long, which meant there would be some nice waves to shoot. I actually wasn't sure if the sun would even show or not. It was pretty cloudy when I left the house, but not long after arriving at this location the sun came out from behind the clouds and gave me some nice color and some great light.

Swimming With the Manatees

Finally A Sidewalk

When we bought this house there was a small covered concrete pad right in front of the door. For 10 years we have been wanting to add a walkway out to the edge of the garage that rans from the door along side the house. Last month we decided to do it. First we set 2x4 boards in place to hold the wet concrete in place. Thensince we hadsome large pieces of New Mexico travertine stone, also known as New Mexico marble (not as hard as true marble) wedecided to set5 pieces of it in 2 of the sections we made. The section nearest the door only got 3 pieces. First we mixed the concrete in the mixer, then poured it in, then smoothed it out, laid in the stone, and smoothed it out again. Lots of hard work. But finally it is out to the edge of the garage. We are planning to do anothersection and then go across the front of the garage. Wonder how long that will take?

Cumberland Island :: The Beach

The trail meanders through the dunes, alternating between a sandy path and boardwalk. A small forest of scrubby trees and brush seems to create a barrier for the shifting sands of the dunes inhibiting their movement and helping to prevent them from encroaching further inland.

The tide was out so there was a large expanse of beach showing. The group of people off to the south was the first and last group I saw walking along the seashore that day. The building in the distance on the right side of the photo is a pulp mill on neighboring Amelia Island. It is the only “blemish” on an otherwise beautiful and distant horizon.

I had been walking along the hard-packed beach for over an hour and in that time had seen only two other people. Now, I was alone on the beach, listening to the surf moving in and out, watching the clouds go by, and being amused by the Sandpipers that scurried to and fro around the edge of the surf, occasionally stopping to grab a little something to eat.

There was hardly any wind and the sun came out for a short time then disappeared behind a thick layer of clouds. The warmth from the brief appearance of the sun was quite welcome though it was comfortable otherwise, especially with the four layers of clothing I wore. Not too cold, if you kept moving.

I noticed a portion of a large tree lying along the outer edge of the beach, near the dunes, and went to investigate. I don't know if the tree had drifted in from the ocean or what but all of the bark had been removed and only stumps remained where branches had been. Conveniently, one end made a very nice seat with two of the stumps creating a nice backrest. It was early afternoon so I sat down to eat my lunch.

Every so often the sun would pop out for a few minutes, brightening the day. To the north patches of blue sky occasionally appeared through the clouds.

But to the south there was a thick layer of clouds, which would eventually block out the sun for the remainder of the day, but not before providing a wonderful palette of blues and grays, along with some marvelous reflections.

The clouds reflected in the thin layer of water coating the sand appears to be steam rising from the surface, giving the beach that “other world” look.

A delicate white feather provides contrast against the gray, wet sand. Shells and other debris left by nature also “littered” the beach. I saw no man-made trash on the Island, so people seem to be heeding the call to “take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints.”

To be continued . . .

Weekend Trip with Friends

This weekend we took a trip to the Orlando area so we could visit Capone's. We visited this place once before with a group of pickleball friends. The time Nick and Tonyia organized the trip, and they did a great job. We got a package deal with dinner, the show, a hotel and a shuttle bus there and back.



We were able to ride up with one of our favorite couples, Art and Hedy. We got up there in plenty of time to sit and visit some beforehand. Here we all are waiting for the shuttle bus.



At Capone's, we ordered drinks and visited for a bit and then headed down to eat. They offer a buffet of Italian foods and the food is very good.



Here's Art and Hedy with "Fingers"!



The best part of this place is definitely the show. The show is a lot of dancing and singing and some improv and audience participation. For example, Nick was able to participate by lending a seat to one of the actresses.





My favorite part was when Todd was persuaded to participate. He was a bit reluctant to begin with. I think he was taught that women are like animals, if you don't make eye contact then they'll leave you alone.





He was such a trooper though. He not only went on stage, he danced the Charleston for us!



We had so much fun laughing and talking with our friends and enjoying the show together!






I am hoping we have more trips like this during the winter months here together!

Metropolitan

The weather here has been awful since I've returned from Vienna. So while I've used my bicycle to get where I need to go, the long "welcome home" ride I fantasized about does not seem to be in the cards. Stretches like this remind me to take advantage of good weather whenever possible, and so I offer these photos from one of the nicer cycling days we had at the beginning of the month.



These photos were taken in front of the Metropolitan Storage Warehouse in Cambridge, Mass., which is a local landmark of sorts and has been functioning since 1917.



We do not usually have a good reason to visit this area, but I was intrigued by the Vassar Street bike path controversy that I had read about on Chic Cyclist and I wanted to show it to the Co-Habitant. To summarise, the Vassar Street path is criticised because it is "European style" - running mostly on the sidewalk and therefore conflicting with both pedestrian traffic and with the cars that frequently pull in and out of the various parking lots that cross the path. Compared to what I had been expecting, the path is actually not so bad in person. In fact, it is set up like a typical bike path in Vienna. The main issue is that cyclists must keep to a fairly low speed in order to ride on the path safely during peak traffic times - and Americans are simply not used to cycling at such low speeds and continue to ride at a brisk pace.



I am not certain what my stance is on the Vassar Street critique; it is a complicated issue. But I do enjoy cycling through the MIT/ Cambridgeport neighborhood during non-traffic hours. When these streets are empty, I feel that the personalities of all the warehouses and industrial sites and contemporary constructions really come out, and the abandoned urban landscape becomes "communicative". Is it all in my head? Maybe so. But that does not make the experience any less interesting.