My husband is only working part time, but 90 percent of his work is during the winter. I don't mind his traveling. Truthfully, I know his work keeps him involved enough without taking over his life. It's a good way to retire, if you can pull it off. I probably couldn't. I'm an 'all in' kind of person. And once I retired I was 'all out'! That worked for me. Larry is great at saying 'Sorry, I'm off the clock and on vacation. Deal with it yourself". And then he leaves, to clarify the point.
Once March hits, his work travel comes to a screeching halt and he is ready to..... um..... travel! But this time he travels to places of his choice and none of it is work related.
Well, March is here. His work travel has come to an end for now, so what did we do? We hit the road on our first springtime adventure; something we both love.
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| Our cruise ship, the MS Westerdam, docked in Grand Turk Island |
We booked a cruise and traveled to the Eastern Caribbean. For us a cruise ship in the tropics has little to do with adventure, and everything to do with chillin'. Of course, anyone looking for adventure can book an excursion. The cruise lines always have a variety of guided tours for every ability level, from zip line, or dune buggy rides, to snorkeling the reefs, and taking local cultural tours. But the tropics means warm water, balmy breezes, lots of sunshine and taking it easy, which is exactly what we did on this trip. We had a great time.
Our first stop was at Grand Turk Island in the Caicos.
The view from the ship was beautiful. We watched as small boats arrived and threw out their anchors. Another boat scouting the waters would pick up the people in the boats and ferry them to shore. Since it was early in the morning we decided most of these people were driving their boats to work.
I'm not sure I ever realized that Grand Turk is where John Glenn splashed down from his historic 3-orbit trip around the earth, but the displays there re-educated me.
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| Detailing the recovery of John Glenn and his space capsule |
That time was so long ago. Can you remember how daring that event was? Space travel was new. We had questions about how the human body would respond or react to weightlessness. Would our eyes pop out? Would the digestive system work? After watching Mark Kelly spend a year in space those concerns are very distant, but when John Glenn orbited, they were real. This display reminded me of that.
Whenever we would enter or leave a port we liked to watch the Pilot Boat. A Pilot Boat always accompanies a ship when it is in the harbor. The pilot is a local captain that knows the harbor waters intimately and is tasked to provide safe passage for these huge ships. Our verandah provided a pretty good view of the Pilot transferring between the Pilot Boat and our ship, which was always fun to watch.
Our second stop was San Juan, Puerto Rico. I've wanted to go to Puerto Rico for a long time and this was my first chance. As an American, I admit that I know nothing about it. It has really been on the sidelines of my consciousness, but after working with people from there, I've been curious about this part of the United States. It isn't a state or a colony, but a Territory.
As we came into San Juan we entered through a narrow channel on the other side of this fort. I was amazed to see that the Pilot didn't come on board until after we were through the channel, and when we left he got off before we went through the channel. It wasn't very big, and there was plenty of water moving through it with a strong current! While it looked tricky to me, clearly the channel was defined enough, and we only needed guidance in the protected harbor.
We didn't book an excursion in Puerto Rico, but as we got off the ship we encountered a man who was a true salesmen at heart. He promised us a $10.00 tour for one hour, with four stops; the beach (which are actually few and far between there,), the Capitol, the old fort, and the shopping district. He reasoned that after we were done, we would know enough about the city of San Juan to know what we wanted to go back to see. We joined others in his bus for the best $10.00 tour we have ever had. He was a blast!
Our tour guide, Christopher, had been born in NY to Puerto Rican parents, but grew up in Puerto Rico. He joined the military and was a Marine. He was proud of his island, knew a ton about it and never stopped talking--including with his hands as he drove. When one of the passengers commented on his ability to drive without holding the steering wheel he laughed and said he had been told the only way to shut him up was to tie up his hands. We loved his tour, and miraculously arrived safely back at the ship an hour later.
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| View of the port from the ship |
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| This Hilton Inn was the first one built off the continental US in 1949. |
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| Narrow Streets, Picturesque |
Our visit to the Capitol was brief, but interesting. Did you know that while Puerto Ricans get to vote in the primary elections, they are not allowed to vote in the actual Presidential election, since they are not a full state? I did not know that.
The rotunda itself was beautiful.The artwork on the dome inside was created with over 5 million pieces of mosaic tile and depicted scenes from the island's history.
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| Capitol Building |
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| The mosaic dome inside the Capitol |
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| Capitol Rotunda |
Nine American presidents have visited Puerto Rico since it became a US territory. The most recent was Barack Obama. In honor of their visits, the territory has erected statues outside the Capitol building.
After our stop at the Capitol, we went through Old San Juan to the point where we had a good view of the Castillo San Felipe and the Old San Juan cemetery, the burial site of many of Puerto Rico's most important citizens.
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| Old San Juan Cemetery |
The
cemetery and the
fort were really interesting places and are on the "Must See" itineraries of many visitors.
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Castillo San Felipe del Morro
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| Shopping area |
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| This used to be a prison. If it looks nice now, it's because it has been reborn as a Casino! |
Our third port of call was St. Thomas. St. Thomas is an unincorporated territory of the US. It is part of the US Virgin Islands. I get rather confused here about all the national logistics, but I am learning the difference between the British Virgin Islands and the American Virgin Islands. It was originally settled by the Danish, but the United States purchased it in 1917. It has an interesting history, but we were ready to just enjoy the port and the shops there. It is a beautiful island, and one we would like to go back to.
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| Iguana's greeted us at the port. |
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| Larry waits for me in the shopping district |
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| The harbor was dotted with lots of sailboats. |
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| A Great Example of Business PR! |
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| Port Gateway |
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The gray object in the center is a cistern, used to catch and store rain water.
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We left St. Thomas with just two days left on our trip. The next day was at sea, before we stopped at Half Moon Cay, a privately owned island in the Bahamas (by Holland America Cruise Lines) for a true beach day. Half Moon Cay is a tiny island, well managed by staff that is ferried in from nearby islands. They offered several opportunities from horse back riding and hiking to hanging out at the beach. The crew from the ship got to come on shore just to provide us with a terrific lunch. I'm not sure if they were grateful for a day off the ship, or if this was just another day at work for them.
The island itself is uninhabited and maintained as a nature preserve. It was a great way to end the cruise.
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| Big Boat, Little Boat |
While we sat on the beach we could see the crew carrying out some sort of exercise on the ship. We could see the little tug next to the ship and water spraying out from the ship. Perhaps a fire drill?? I don't know. But the picture was cute!
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| Lush paths directed us from the beach to the lunch site. |
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| Tram Stop: For those who had difficulty walking a tram gave them a lift. |
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| Which Way is Home? or better yet, Which Way to the Rest Rooms?? |
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| The view from the Tender as we headed back to the ship shows beautiful beaches and gorgeous water. |
There are lots of things that make a cruise fun, from the activities on the ship and on shore, to the amazingly warm and friendly staff. I love getting to know our dining room waiters and our room stewards. My favorite part is coming back to the room from dinner knowing the stewards have been there, our room has been readied for the evening, and looking to see what kind of "towel" animal they have put on the bed. The first night we had a cute sea turtle on our bed.
Our steward was very talented and creative when folding towels. On our last night he left us the best one, a monkey hanging from a 'tree branch'.
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| Agus, our room steward and the monkey he left in our room. |
Another part of cruise life are the evening shows and the variety of entertainment venues, from a piano bar to a rocking blues band, classical violinist, or karaoke. The Holland America shows are outstanding. We had a wonderful pianist, an amazing ventriloquist, and a comedian, named Fred Klatt who was the funniest person I have ever heard, hands down. From the minute he walked on the stage until he walked off no one stopped laughing.
8 days. 7 nights. 4 ports. The bluest of blue waters. Sun. Breezes. I can come up with several 'favorite' things about cruising. But perhaps my most favorite is just boarding the ship, because I know I'm in for a week (or more) of a terrific experience.
Now that we are home from the cruise, Life with Larry is about to continue with the biggest Travel Trip of all. We are gearing up. Stay tuned.
