Kathy and I are in Melbourne, FL enjoying a few days at the beach with our friends Jo Anne & Brent. I’m trying something a little different (for me) this trip and am planning to act like a tourist and take photos only with my phone. Took this on the beach before the occupants returned. Over-processed in Lightroom Mobile, which I suppose most tourists don’t do. 😉
While in Belize we took a ship tour to the Lamanai Archaeological Reserve, a site consisting of the remains of several Mayan temples and other structures from Mayan times. It was a fascinating tour and I even got to climb one of the pyramids (not this one)! You can get a sense of the size of this temple by finding the worker – about halfway up, just to the right of the stairs – doing restoration work.
This is the last Postcard from our voyages, as Belize was the last port where we got off the ship. We have visited Cozumel numerous times, and while Grand Cayman is very nice, it is another port where the ship does not dock. A “tender port” is where one of the ship’s tenders or a larger boat from shore is needed to get onto the land. In both cases we decided to enjoy a mostly empty ship.
More photos to follow!
We made it home from sunny Florida to gray and cloudy Charlotte yesterday (Saturday) afternoon. I’ve got my photos downloaded and should be able to start on some editing and processing over the next few days. We were gone a while, so there are a few more important things to do as well.
The first stop on our third cruise, aboard Celebrity Apex, was in Key West, FL. We pretty much wandered around looking for photos, and I kind of liked the repetition of all the tables along this pier. I’m certain the scene would be a lot different at sunset, but early in the morning I was able to get the tables and umbrellas all in a line, mostly uninterrupted by tourists!
The Queen Emma Bridge is a pontoon bridge connecting pedestrian traffic between two sections of Willemstad Curacao. The bridge is hinged and opens regularly to enable the passage of oceangoing vessels. On the opposite end from the hinge is a small shelter where an operator controls two diesel engines turning propellers. The propellers are mounted perpendicular to the length of the bridge and allow it to swing parallel to the shore. The process only takes a few minutes to complete, although the bridge can remain open for much longer depending on ship traffic.
The first stop on the second cruise of our Caribbean adventure was the Dutch island of Bonaire. Sorobon Beach is an area popular with windsurfers and sunbathers of all kinds, sizes and shapes. On to Curacao and then Aruba!
Kathy & I are currently “binge cruising,” having just completed the first of three cruises to the Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale. The first cruise, aboard Celebrity Equinox, was a 10-night cruise that visited St. Kitts, Grenada, Martinique, St. Lucia and Antigua. We took tours on all but Grenada, and needless to say I came back with a few photos, which I will likely not look at too much until we get home.
We embark this afternoon aboard the same ship, Celebrity Equinox, on a 9-night cruise that will visit Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba and Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic). On Saturday, February 18 we move to Celebrity Apex for a 7 night cruise to the Western Caribbean. After that we head back to Charlotte to rest and go on diets. 😉
I’ll have some more photos but no specific timetable to posting them. Too many things to do to spend time on the computer. Today was a good day to look at a few because we didn’t have to get off the ship! More later!
Technically ‘Sint Maarten’ since this is on the Dutch side of this multi-national island.
Still working my way through photos, but wanted to keep up a little momentum. 😉
We survived another cruise. Still looking at photos, but here is one from Puerto Plata, in the Dominican Republic.
This girl is following me, and keeps photobombing my pictures…. 😉 She is kinda cute, though…. 😉
Kathy & I decided to escape from the neighborhood for a few days, and what better way to do that than a late-season trip to the beach? I haven’t done a lot of photography, but did manage to get in a little bit off our balcony on Monday evening, and I drug myself out of bed for a little work on Tuesday morning. Nothing spectacular, but a few frames to show for the effort.
Here are a few more bonus shots to show the ‘clouds’ theme:
Kathy and I are in Jersey City, NJ of all places. Headed to Bermuda aboard Celebrity Summit in the morning. This photo is from my phone -I didn’t bring a computer with me, so don’t expect many photos until we return home.
The adventure continues! 🙂