Sunday, December 12, 2010

Saturday December 11th – On our way home

We awoke bright and early and caught the shuttle to the Ft Lauderdale Airport. We had cut things a bit short, and by the time we cleared a very slow security complete with full body scan – we were headed to Atlanta on Delta Airlines. The first flight was just over an hour, and after another hour layover – we were headed to Seattle.
A little longer flight, then the 2.5 hour drive – taking just enough time to stop at Duty Free. Gotta love Nexus – we were through in 2 minutes.
Home safe and sound and time to get back to reality and planning for Christmas.

Friday December 10, 2010 Final Day in Bahamas

We awoke early to an absolutely beautiful day. The sky was completely blue and the temperature warm. A perfect day to spend in the sun, so that is what we did. Barb started the morning with a bit of a run/walk along the beach and the a couple of roads surrounding the resort.
Then was time for breakfast in the condo, and the rest of the day – or at least until we had to check out – was spent in the sun. Barb went down to the beach went for a swim and then laid on a deck chair while Harry spent the time in the little more shaded deck.
Around 1 PM we went to the dining area/bar and ordered a nice lunch with a beer for Harry and a mango drink for Barb all to the accompaniment of this steel drum player. Then we checked out and headed over to the Port for our trip back to Ft. Lauderdale. It is a beautiful port.
I must say – we were not looking forward to the trip back – given our experience on the way over, but – the weather was much better, and the sailing was smooth. We had fun on deck watching a group of children trying their bodies at the Limbo, then we had a delightful dinner with a lovely couple from Texas we had met at breakfast on the way over.
Then it was time to hit the lounge, have a glass of wine, then onto the Starlight lounge where we could enjoy reading for a while – this didn’t quite work out as there was very loud heavy music playing, so we retreated to the quieter theatre and slept through the last of the movie. We arrived in Ft Lauderdale around 10:30 PM, took a cab to our hotel, then right to bed as we have to be on the shuttle by 5:30.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Thursday December 9, 2010

WE awoke this morning to a beautiful sunrise, so Barb decided to go for a run/walk along the beach, covering close to 6 km on an out and back route. Unfortunately – there were dark clouds looming on the horizon, which soon rolled in making the entire day cloudy, but relatively warm by the evening we had a light rain, but not the cold heavy rain of Vancouver.
As this was not a day to lay in the sun, we decided to take the shuttle into the Port Lucaya Market to peruse the shopping opportunities. We had great fun looking in all the shops, then went over to the Casino. We found one machine that gave us $100 US and only charged us $106 Canadian.
The afternoon we had a delightful time reading, catching up on emails and just relaxing in the Coconut Bar – sampled their local beer – which was just fine, then ended the afternoon with a soak in the hot tub.
Dinner in the local restaurant consisted of Spare Ribs for Harry and mixed seafood for Barb – including Conk (shell fish). A new dish for me – but popular here on the islands. After supper we called to wish Maureen a Happy Birthday over SKYPE.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Wednesday December 8, 2010 -Island Seas Resort

WOW – a warmer day! The first day we were able to take off our jackets. A lovely day in the Bahamas – made even better by our transfer to the Island Seas Resort – a lovely resort on the water. We have a one bedroom unit with cooking facilities – worth the few more dollars we spent to change.
This afternoon, after making arrangements and transferring our bags, we had lunch and then spent a little while in the sun laying on the beach. The sand here is extremely fine white sand – compact enough to allow me to run on the beach tomorrow morning. There are no cars allowed on this beach – except to pick up the jet skies at the end of the day. The water is cool, but I am sure that when we have more time to spend in the sun it will be just right. The resort is located on a lovely bay with not a lot of sellers on the beach as you get in Mexico. We will see what tomorrow brings.
This resort is owned by a developer from Calgary. We learned why most of the banks here are Canadian – apparently – if you own property here in the Bahamas – you can invest tax free – a nice little perk particularly for Canadians.
The locals do not pay any taxes, but wages are around $15,000 to $20,000 per year and the interest on a mortgage is 7%.
We had a discussion with one of our travel agents today – and booked a hotel back in Ft Lauderdale for the evening of the 10th. This will save us from having to camp out in the airport from 10 pm to 6 AM.
At 6 PM the sun set – with a beautiful red hue on the horizon. The end of a very pleasant day in Freeport.
It is really interesting right now listening into the US News and the effects of Wickileaks – and the closure of Visa and MasterCard sites.
Supper time – a lovely restaurant on site – with a gentleman playing electric guitar and singing – very pleasant – with a mix of popular and Christmas music. The dinner was good too, and we can use the wifi in the restaurant.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Tuesday December 7, 2010
Another early chilly morning in Florida. With temperatures hovering around 40 F, we were up and to the Port Everglades by 6 AM to board our ship to the Bahamas. As with so much of this vacation, we got there to discover that neither of the companies that had been involved with us had bothered to book the cruise, so we did that – in order to get to our booked accommodation in Freeport.
Because of the cold weather, the 5 hour trip over was very very rocky, so neither Barbara or Harry had a very good journey. There were a number of activities on the ship, but due to the rockiness – we think only the Casino was at all busy. There was a bingo game with all of 2 participants.
We landed in Freeport around 1:30 and caught a shuttle to our hotel – the Island Palm Resort. It is at best a 2 ½ star hotel with a restaurant and bar, and an outdoor swimming pool (unheated), but very friendly staff. We do however get the opportunity to use the facilities of the Island Sea Resort which is a very upscale resort located on the ocean. We will likely head over there tomorrow.
The rest of today was spent going for a walk around ‘Downtown Freeport’ – where our hotel is located. Lots of empty stores, but most interesting is an RBC – yes Royal Bank of Canada just across the street. This evening will be a quiet time of recovery.
There is lots to do here – from scuba diving to swimming with the dolphins to partying on the beach. We will see what we can do given the temperature. Not sure if swimming with the dolphins is too appealing at 50 F.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Monday December 6, 2010 - Ft Lauderdale

Today was the beginning of the next leg of our journey – on to Ft. Lauderdale and then the Bahamas. As with the majority of our trip – the day started out sunny but cool. The Floridians say this is very abnormal for them - the coolest in 100 years..
Anyway – we checked out of our hotel, gassed up the car and headed onto I 4 West, journeyed for about 10 miles, then took the Florida Turnpyke. We went through the exit that indicated the Turnpyke, and got about ½ way up the ramp when a State Patrol whizzed by us – only to get about 100 Yds, then reverse and go back past us – then changed direction again proceeded to the next turning area about 150 yards further up the exit and proceeded the opposite direction. We had not been speeding, but it was a relief to have him heading the opposite direction. Shortly thereafter we noticed a toll booth – actually – it was a pick up a ticket booth – to be turned in at some distance down the turnpike or when we reached our destination – whichever came first – so much for toll free!
Anyway – no need to complain – the road was a divided highway – 5 lanes wide each way with a maximum speed of 70 MPH (110 KPH). About every 20 miles or so is a comfort station with a variety of food services, clean washrooms and a gas station. There was also a place for trucks to wash their windows. Very convenient. Part way we saw one really scary thing, a truck carrying cars was on fire on the road - fortunately going the other way. There was thick black smoke for several miles, so he must have been on fire for some time.

We stopped mid morning and had a breakfast sandwich from the Earl of Sandwich – and the most awful coffee I have ever been served. Never did finish that. Just outside of Ft Lauderdale – we paid our toll of $13.25 – not bad, then drove on and checked in at our hotel. They were completely full, so we could not check in until after 3, so we jumped back into the car and headed down A1A to Miami Beach. This ‘highway’ is really an ocean drive – delightfully running through a continuous string of small communities all down the Florida panhandle (or at least that’s what I call it). Around 2 we arrived at Miami Beach – turned left on 5th toward the beach and then back up Ocean Drive until we found a parking spot (not an easy task). We were often fooled by fire hydrants and sets of 3 spots for motorcycles. Finally – between 12th and 13th we found a spot – quickly parked and plugged the meter for $2.00 which got us about a hour and a half.
We found ourselves right across from this delightful Italian Restaurant, so we crossed the street and checked in for a wonderful lunch under an umbrella for shade and a heater to ward off the cold – it was still only 60 F.
After lunch we wandered onto the famous Miami Beach, very sparsly populated today due to the temperature, but some were still bravely sunbathing with the protection of a tent against the wind, and some were even out in the water, though very few. Barb did roll up her pant legs and tried the water out – it was about the same temperature as the air. Harry was not so brave– so he took the pictures.
Shoppers would love this place – everything from Tommy Hilfiger to Versace – all with their own individual stores.
After our venture onto the beach we decided to head back to our hotel – about 40 minutes away on the freeway. We went back to 5th – this time turning right and headed onto I95 North. The view was spectacular! We drove across this magnificent bridge with cruise ships on one side and huge yachts on the other, and the entire horizon filled with tall white skyscrapers. Hanging out the window with the camera, Harry tried to capture some of the sights – while Barb kept her eye on the traffic and the road – still taking an odd glimpse at the horizon. Quite spectacular!
Once we arrived back at the hotel, we checked in, then Barbara set about to return the car. There is an Enterprise lot about 1 KM down the road, so she went there hoping to turn it in there rather than fight her way back to the airport (about 5 KM away) and get back somehow – the hotel said they could pick her up in the shuttle. Fortunately – the close by Enterprise was able to accept the car, and offered a ride back to the hotel which Barbara refused in order to have a nice walk back. Along the way was a grocery store, so she picked up some essentials – like wine, rum and a few chicken wings for supper. We are still full from lunch!
Then – just what was needed – a Laundromat! Remember – it was supposed to be warm here – so we brought bare minimum warm clothes – which are in need of cleaning – so – as I write this blog – I am doing laundry along with an interesting group of others doing the same – at the local Laundromat. At least we will smell better when we get on our cruise ship tomorrow. Hopefully Freeport will be warmer.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Sunday December 5, 2010- Kennedy Space Centre

What a great day! It was a little warmer today – but also cloudy, and it had rained overnights. Our plan today was to head out to Kennedy Space Centre, so after Barbara had her run, we headed out on the 45 mile journey east. We thought we would have breakfast along the way, but our stop at Burger King was less than nourishing, so we continued east. Before we got to the space centre we went through a little town and decided that would be a great place to stop after our tour for dinner.
We arrived at the Kennedy Space Centre just after 10:30, and after being checked through security, we boarded a bus for a tour. The first stop was the LC-39 Observation Gantry. Here we got a fairly close-up view of the crawler that transports the shuttle at 1 MPH to the launch site. It is quite a remarkable machine – huge in size, it takes two drivers. We had a film on the development of the space program and got to climb up the observation tower to get a better look at the launch site. We also enjoyed the birds that gathered with the hopes of getting a morsel or two of food.
Then we were back on the bus, headed for the Apollo/Saturn V Centre. Here we first attended a brief show on the moon journey including this look at Command Central, and then got to see the actual Apollo space ship (on its side), then attended a 15 minute video on the Lunar mission and landing. We also got to touch an actual moon rock brought back by the Astronauts.
By now it was close to 2 PM, so we boarded the bus back to the main centre.
At the Centre we attended the IMAX presentation on the Space Station – this 45 minute presentation in 3-D was very well done and very interesting. From there we walked out to get a first hand view of the space shuttle, and managed to take this picture of the Canada Arm in the storage compartment of the shuttle. We then went over to the Shuttle take-off Simulator. This was quite an experience, we were tilted to close to 90 degrees, and shaken and accosted by very loud sounds which we were informed were very close to the actual experience of the Astronauts. It was to say the least – interesting.
We completed our day with another 3-D IMAX presentation on the Hubble Telescope. What a magnificent show – very humbling, and thought provoking. We have no way to comprehend the great expanse of our universe and we thought how lucky we were to be able to see this instrument of exploration. The day brought back memories of the news that has occurred in our lifetime – the high points and the low points of humanity’s attempt to explore worlds beyond our own.
Speaking of exploring – remember those great restaurants we decided to stop at on our way back? Well, following our GPS we set it to return to our hotel, confident that we would pass through the same small town and be able to stop at one of the nice restaurants along the way – WRONG! We found ourselves on the toll highway, and soon were taking the exit to our hotel, so had a great dinner at the Sonesta – thanks to Gloria and a delightful young woman (the restaurant manager) who was born in Quebec – with whom we a great conversation. A fabulous way to end our stay in Orlando.
Tomorrow we head down to Ft. Lauderdale.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Saturday December 4, 2010 - Downtown Disney

Today was the first day we were able to take off our jackets and walk around with just our shirts and shorts. That was – when we stayed in the sun. It was about 70 F at the highest point today, and the sky was blue and the sun warm. Tomorrow should be better – we hope!
After a Starbuck’s coffee in the lobby – we were headed out to Downtown Disney. We parked in the lot at the South end of downtown – in the lot next to Cirque du Soleil, then took a boat to the opposite end of the downtown area by this inflatable balloon ride – right next to the Rain Forest Cafe. We wandered through the Rain Forest Cafe, then through the Christmas store. We then wandered in an out of several toy and other miscellaneous stores – looking at the huge range of merchandise that is offered.
For lunch we stopped at the Earl of Sandwich – had a great lunch, but had to wait in line for over 30 minutes. By the length of the line, I thought it would be a lot more than 30 minutes (there had to be 50 people in the line-up), but they had a great system – which sped up the whole process. Half way through the line, a young lady handed us the short menu, at the end of the line another young lady asked if we had any questions, then we went to a young man who took our order, handed us a light-up coaster, and we joined the pay line. On the way to the cashier – were choices of beverages and desserts. There were four cashiers, then I waited 5 minutes until my coast lit up, and I received our sandwiches. Very efficient. Throughout the day we saw numerous young ladies all decked up with fancy hair, make-up and fancy dresses. Some were celebrating birthdays, and to celebrate - Bibity Bobity Boo - fixes them up.
After lunch we continued our walk through downtown. One of the highlights was the Lego Land – with this Ogopogo made completely out Lego. In the store itself we had a delightful conversation with a delightful woman from Philadelphia.
Another stop was the T-Rex Restaurant - we didn't eat, but really enjoyed the amazing displays of prehistoric animals - all moved constantly!
We walked on to Planet Hollywood wandered all through the numerous movie displays and enjoyed a delightful drink served by very friendly staff.
By now it was cooling off, so we felt we should head out and spend the rest of the afternoon at Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum. Great fun – lots of interesting displays. Then supper at a Chinese Restaurant and back to the hotel to work on this blog and our Christmas letter.
Tomorrow we are off to Cape Kennedy for the day – should be very interesting!