good morning from chilly North Central Florida where it is 60° at the moment. Brrr 🥶
We had a fun Thanksgiving day at Diane and Kris is home. Cindy and Hailey were there plus Diane’s neighborhood friend Tina. Nancy came with us and added to the fun. We played a couple of games, ate ham, turkey and all the fixings!
Whatta fun time! That’s Hailey up front resetting the picture timer. 😂
GRINCHMAS STRIKES 😂
Good afternoon on this TG-Eve where we’re putting up Christmas lights for the first time on our “new” home! I’m having a blast whereas my grinch has 3 various sized ladder and his drill readied for the task.
Check out his grimace. 😂 Next year we’ll have an easier time of it. I think.
We’ve put 100’ of bright C3’s across the garages, front and peak. Our inflatable Scottie will guard the front entrance. Three projectors will handle the sides of the house as we’re on a corner lot with plenty of wall space! (Maybe a picture once the sun sets tonight.)
Last night’s sunset across the street from us …
Florida is beautiful at this time of year!
This was happy hour yesterday after some grocery shopping at Walmart! It was mobbed!
We forgot a few things at Walmart and come home to our lights on full display!
Our front porch Scottie
Maybe tweaking here and there but overall it’s done.
Now Mark’s cooking up a batch of turkey dinners for Bee & Wyatt. 🎶 The beat goes on …
Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow. 🥰
Good evening! We’re home from Applebee’s burgers with Sue & Wayne. It’s a beautiful evening!
Yesterday I went to our neighborhood holiday music concert. I was amazed at the talent and decorations. It was a nice kickoff to Thanksgiving and the Christmas season.
While I was “being a social butterfly” as Mark said, he was happily puttering about in the attic.
There’s decent headroom in the garage attic so a few pieces of plywood flooring is a good plan. Things like seasonal decor might be stored there eventually.
Waaaa 😠The Cruise is OVER
Jack, Jill, Janny, Mark, me, Tony … at the elevators, ready to go and disembark. What a fantabulous time we have had! The weather was perfect, the seas smooth.
All eight of us at the departure lounge. Four of us have a 5 Hour drive home and four have a three day trip to Taiwan.
Departure was quick and easy. The ship had cleared customs and we all just walked off. We had to take a shuffle over to the parking lot as we didn’t come into the same slip. We were about 2 miles or more away. Port Everglades is now huge.
Back home, Nancy had taken a wonderful care of Belize and Wyatt. We had a white claw together and caught up on the news. Then she was off to a meeting in Tavares and we began unwinding.
Thank you, Nancy, for the new addition to our family. “Just what this house needs” as my dad would say. 😂 It’s so cute and holds the big buddy cookies.
So today Mark is running errands and I’m unpacking the suitcases and doing laundry. It’s great to be home, and we will be back to normal soon.
Yesterday, we arrived in St. Thomas and managed to do a little portside shopping. I have been down with allergy since going in a few shops and a very dirty tour van. I did go to the ships medical and was tested for Covid and the flu. Fortunately, both came back negative. They gave me some medication just to help but said it is allergy based.
Pics from St. Kitt’s … beautiful around the port but poverty ridden elsewhere. According to our driver, the average income is about $200 a month!
Monkeys on leashes are common. The locals have them available at every roadside stop. Of course they charge for pictures with them. Desperation is a plague.
St. Thomas … the nicest of the Virgin Islands (our opinion.
Bad hair days with 85% humidity. 😂
We had dinner in the island dining room last night and helped to celebrate Tony and Janny’s 30th.
Janny likes her “beauty cam” setting … but the app doesn’t cooperate when I touch her phone. 😂 Janny set her phone for me to video the crew singing 🎵 Happy Anniversary. Well, I “pushed” the camera button and the beauty cam went to a commercial. 🙄
Cruising along this morning to Grand Turk … arriving about 1 oclock. (We’ve been enjoying our cabin’s balcony.)
A N T I G U A … a lovely Caribbean island which is not easy to walk around. 😂 Mark says I can trip on a dime. Perhaps it’s true as today I kicked an orange cone out of the way of an obstruction without noticing it. 😂 Sue and Wayne cracked up laughing.
We poked about some shops and supported the shop owners by purchasing a dress and a few sundries. We’re not used to the humidity anymore. (Central Florida is much drier a climate than South Florida was.) After an hour we were ready for air conditioning.
So yesterday … we met up with Fraser & Barb for lunch at the Blue Bitch Bar along the downtown beach. It was so good to see them both!!! Sue, Wayne, Mark and I took a taxi downtown and received very mixed directions on where the restaurant was. After 20 minutes of confusion we bumped into BARB who said … “What a motley crew!” 😂😂😂 We gave her big sweaty hugs.
It was sure hot … and no A/C there. Delicious lunch with cold drinks … so good to catch up with them after 14+ years!
Our cabin door decor 💕
The complex Fraser’s been building in Sint Maarten … they watched our ship leave port last night. Probably the last full year as subtropical island residents.
Lest we forget … on the eleventh day of the eleventh month at the eleventh hour.
I’ve been remiss and occupied so will attempt an overview of the past few days.
November 6th we arrived in Ft Lauderdale and checked out Sue & Wayne’s motorhome/2nd home site. It’s a grand entrance into a unique Class A motorhome park.
We enjoyed seeing the various sites and features of the park. Then Mark and I were off to our hotel room where we met up with Tony & Janny.
We had a good dinner at Sicilian Oven nearby … a beautiful evening in a hard to find location. Siri helped us get lost and provided some serious laughs.
Friday November 7th we boarded Caribbean Princess in Fort Lauderdale in record time and spent the day eating, drinking and unpacking. By 3:30 we left port with a Sailaway party top deck.
Two days were spent at sea with entertainment, good weather and great fun.
The first formal night all 4 couples were together for dinner. Janny & Tony’s friends from Taiwan are (English names) Jack & Jill.
After much goofing about the photographer managed a reasonably good photo of we 4. Lots of laughs!
(More tomorrow…it’s getting late.)
Good morning y’all. Today we’re off to Fort Lauderdale to meet up with our travel mates for tomorrow’s cruise!
Nancy (Saint Nancy) is holding the fort and we know will have fun with Bee & Wy-Guy. (They’re at the door waiting for her!) 🥰
It’s funny how time runs along … 118 days til cruise then next thing you know it’s boarding day!
Sue came by with (their dog sitter) Sue to meet Nancy … backups for each of them.
Loaded up we left home at 9:50 to meet up with the K’s.
Wayne’s treating tonight for Sue’s birthday dinner with the family!
It’s a chilly willy start here in North Central Florida at 49F … and we’re happy for the cooler weather!
Sue’s birthday dinner was at Francescos … a F U N time with the family! Great service and delicious dinners.
Cheers to many more years of celebrating together! ❤️🥂
