Beachside Bob

The Mall of America

2012-02-10T14:26:00.000-05:00

I know it’s been awhile since I wrote last. Summer came to an end and it was time for fantasy football season. I become a little obsessed during football season. It’s not without reward however. Over the past four years, I’ve played in two money leagues each year and finished in first place twice, second place four times and third place once. That means I’ve finished in the top 3 seven times in eight opportunities. I'm not bragging, just justifying my obsession...

Anyways, I started this blog with the intention of keeping up with it; at least on a weekly basis. So please forgive my absence. I did do some traveling during football season. I made two trips up to Minnesota to visit family; one in September and one over the Christmas holiday. For the purposes of this blog, I’ll focus on the Christmas trip since I pretty much stayed in the same place, did the same things and saw the same people on both trips.

I grew up in Minnesota. I had a good childhood with good schools and year round sports. Minnesota is a scenic state with good people. I’ve travelled through over 30 of our 50 states and I can honestly say that Minneapolis is one of the cleaner cities I’ve visited.

Minnesota's motto is the "land of 10,000 lakes" and believe me there are a bunch of them. Some of the inner city lakes are extremely nice; Lake Nokomis, Lake Harriet and the largest of the three, Lake Calhoun. What's really nice is each of these three lakes has a sidewalk that goes all around the entire lake and it’s nice to take an evening or weekend stroll around any one of them and watch all the people.

These days, when I travel to Minneapolis, I try to stay near the Mall of America. It's just convenient and it's a nice area. The past few times, I’ve stayed at Country Inn and Suites, located directly across the street from the mall. This is great if you only came to see the mall and didn’t rent a car. You can literally walk across the street to get to the mall and adjacent to the hotel is a TGI Friday’s. There are more and less expensive options, but they really don’t get any more convenient than this.

I’ll let you in on a secret when it comes to renting a car in Minneapolis. There are rental agencies located right at the airport (MSP), but unlike places such as Orlando or Los Angeles, your car selection is limited. After years of frustration and one time getting stuck in a Subaru Outback of all things, I searched and found a local car dealer that rents to visitors in addition to their service customers.

If you’re planning to visit Minneapolis, search for Walser Car Rental on the Internet and you’ll find a website that allows you to rent the exact car you want. You no longer have to put up with the term “or similar” when renting a car. You will pick the exact car you want to drive. Walser has BMW, Mercedes, Buick, Cadillac and a number of more affordable options as well. They are off the airport property, but they'll pick you up and drop you off. I’ve used them twice now to rent a BMW 535xi and it’s really the way to go.

When I'm in Minnesota, I always take a trip over to the Mall of America and this trip was no different. It was two days before Christmas so the mall was especially crowded, but I got there right when they opened and it was great until the afternoon. Other times of the year, it’s not bad at all, but at Christmas it can be amazingly busy, just like any mall near your home might be.

If you’ve never been to the Mall of America and you enjoy shopping, you’re missing out on one of those things you should do before you die. Breezing through, it’s a full day experience. For a heavy shopper, it could take two full days. I’m not a heavy shopper, but there’s enough variety to keep my interest and there are things you just don’t find elsewhere.

Being from Minnesota, I always stop into the Vikings Locker Room store and see what’s new. In other parts of the mall, you’re likely to see Green Bay Packers items and foam cheese heads. As a former season ticket holder, I always viewed the rivalry with the Packers a friendly one.

If you have your kids with you, they’re going to want to go through Nickelodeon Universe, which is the indoor theme park complete with a roller coaster, a log flume and other rides and games. As a good example of the kind of things you’ll find at the mall and likely nowhere else, I came across a Peep’s store while I was there.

Up on the fourth level, there’s a large movie theater complex. Down on first level in what they call the rotunda, there’s almost always something going on. There have been exhibitions, fashion shows, kids events, sports figures and celebrity appearances to name a few of the things you might find happening.

Probably my favorite aspect of the mall is the number of bars and restaurants located throughout. In addition to numerous food courts, there’s Twin Cities Diner, Rain Forest Café, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Ruby Tuesday, Buffalo Wild Wings, Hooters, Famous Dave’s BBQ, Tony Roma’s and many, many others. One of my personal favorites; Tucci Bennuch. Tucci Bennuch is an Italian restaurant located on first floor and my favorite dish there is the baked spaghetti.

No matter how you spend your time, there’s a lot to see and do.

I didn’t make it into downtown Minneapolis or St Paul on this trip, nor did I get a chance to visit any of the more scenic places such as lakes, Minnehaha Falls, Taylor’s Falls, the Redwing area or the north shore of Lake Superior. I’ve traveled throughout Minnesota and believe me, there are some nice areas where you can get away from people and enjoy the quiet of the outdoors. Hopefully I’ll make it back there in the future and be able to share some of those things with you. It's on my bucket list.

One more place that I’d like to tell you about is Joe Senser’s Sports Bar in Bloomington. It’s a few miles down the freeway from the Mall of America and funny enough, it’s actually right next door to the Walser car dealer where I pick up my rental car. If you are someone who enjoys a good sports bar, I’d recommend a stop at Senser’s. I don’t come across too many sports bars that I think are done well, but this is one of them. The interior is laid out nicely with two large bars, tables and very large projection screens which line the walls around the entire interior. The food is good and the portions are large.

I always enjoy visiting Minnesota, especially in the summer time. The weather during this trip wasn’t bad at all for being the last part of December. Daytime temps were abnormally high, between the upper 30’s to mid 40’s and there was no snow on the ground. If you’re reading this and thinking you might want to visit at Christmas time, plan on snow, daytime highs in the teens and night time lows around zero. It's cold. Then again, you’re going to go from your heated hotel, to your heated car, then into the heated mall, so maybe it’s not such a big deal...

That being said.... for me, there's nothing like the beach...

Another weekend in St Pete...

2011-07-26T10:50:00.000-04:00

I received a call from my daughter who said she and her friend were going to fly down from their home up north to visit me. As part of the trip, they said they wanted to spend some time on the beach, so I booked us a couple of nights in St Pete. I picked the Sirata Resort again this time. What can I say, I like the place…

Being unemployed, or temporarily “retired” for the past few months, I sometimes wonder if I should be at home watching television instead of traveling, but the world could end tomorrow and look at all the life and laughs I would have missed out on had I been sitting there on the sofa all that time. 2012 is just next year you know… What if the world really does end? I can’t sit still that long anyways, I get antsy. I have to be out and about. I have to be around people. The way I view it; I prefer to live for today and have faith in tomorrow.

The four of us rolled into town on Friday morning. It was my daughter Wendy, her friend Jen and a buddy of mine Bill and myself. We did the usual stop at the grocery store for drinks and snacks, then it was on to the hotel for check in. Sometimes rooms are available earlier in the day and this was one of those times, so we were able to get settled early on. Afterwards, we wandered over to Crabby Bill’s for an early lunch. Crabby‘s is only a few doors down from the Sirata.

The opportunity to have a nice view of the beach overtook any sense of wisdom we each had and it led us to sit outside in the heat and sun. After telling each other “it’s hot out here” a number of times over and over, we finally got over it and shut up. There were umbrellas to help block out some of the sun shining on us, but it’s was still warm. We had a nice lunch and I enjoyed my blackened Mahi sandwich while gazing over at the beach.

After lunch, we went back to the hotel and stopped at Harry’s Beach bar to get a drink. The bartender named Paris was there once again and she was her usual efficient and funny self. Bill enjoyed giving her a hard time.

That evening, we made the short jaunt up the road to Sea Hags. I think I’ve mentioned this place in previous posts. They have great food and that’s the main reason I like going there. They are also right on the water overlooking a small marina and if you get the right table, you have a nice little view of the boats, the water and the setting sun while you enjoy dinner.

That evening, we went for a walk up the beach to Jimmy B’s beach bar, which was not too far. It’s a popular place. They had a live band playing and the four of us hung out, chatted and enjoyed the music. I have yet to stop there during the day to see what it‘s like, but at night it’s usually a hopping place.

It was funny that no matter where we went over the weekend, people couldn’t help but look at us. The four of us were just looking to have a nice relaxing weekend at the beach with some sun, some drinks and some laughs, but by the look on some of their faces, I don’t think that’s what our voyeurs had going on inside their minds. What they saw was these two older guys dressed like beach bums walking around with these two good looking girls who were half our age and dressed like they were ready to go out. It got old after awhile, but it would have been interesting to hear some of the conversations.

After walking into a few places and seeing reactions by some individuals, we decided to have some fun with it. As we interacted with people, we told stories of meeting the girls at 7-11, or on Internet dating sites or even Craig‘s list. The girls joined right in to help elaborate on our stories. After we got the reaction we were looking for, we would give in and tell the truth. It was good for some laughs, but as soon as the younger guys heard I was her dad and there was nothing funny going on here, they were like flies on a cow pie. We left at least one time because the flies were getting bad. There‘s a lesson here; “don’t judge a book by it’s cover“.

The next morning it was out to the beach for some sun. We signed up for a couple of beach cabanas and enjoyed laying around in the sun. The Gulf water is warm this time of year, so it’s very easy to walk out into it and stand shoulder deep and just gaze back toward the beach and people watch. It’s like bath water.

After a few hours in the water and the sun, it was back down the beach to Crabby Bill’s for lunch. Three of us had burgers. I’ve since come to the conclusion that Crabby Bill’s specialty is not burgers, so in the future, I’ll be going back to the Mahi sandwich and fries. Not knocking, just saying…

Jen was the only one who didn’t order a burger. She went with the crawfish. It was a plateful of orange, creepy looking little things with legs and they had these dark, beady little eyes that seemed to be staring up at us. My daughter was a little grossed out and I tried not to watch, but Jen relentlessly tore the little guys apart and ate their insides. I guess some people like that sort of thing and she said it was good. We were completely happy to take her word for it.

All in all, we all had a nice weekend together and as always, it was way too short for our liking. Unfortunately it was time to check out and make the journey back home and the next morning the girls boarded their flight and made their way back north. It’s sad that life goes by so quick and that our time with some of the people in our lives is so fleeting. It’s so easy to take both time and the people around us for granted. Unfortunately, as much as we wish, we can never get those moments back…

The quiet island of St Maarten/St Martin…

2011-07-07T14:13:00.003-04:00

I have to say, one of my favorite islands in the Caribbean is the island of St Maarten/St Martin. Most people know it as the island that is half Dutch and half French. The two countries seem to coexist better than most neighbors. There is no border crossing, just a simple sign on the side of the road. After arriving in the morning, I'm always antsy to get on land and start enjoying our visit.

I have visited this island three times now, each as part of a cruise experience. Once via Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas with my brother and his wife, once via the Caribbean Princess with our friends Kim and John and once via the Carnival Glory with our friends Chad, Cindy, Jimmie, Angela, Mark, Susan, Shannon and Jason. The water here is amazing...

Your ship docks adjacent to downtown Philipsburg. There is taxi service at the dock and plenty of drivers willing to take you anywhere you’d like to go.

One of my favorite places in St Maarten is the Holland House Hotel, or specifically the bar at the Holland House hotel. It’s an open air bar with beautiful flowers growing on the trees in the back. Each time we have visited the island, we make it a point to stop there for a Miami Vice. It is one of the best I’ve had.

On the one side of the hotel is the beach. It's nice to stroll along the boardwalk and stop into the little bars and shops that dot the shortline. From this point you can see your ship docked across Great Bay.

On the inland side of the hotel, you can walk directly onto the streets where all the shops are. If you’re expecting Rodeo Drive you’re going to be disappointed, but if you enjoy exploring local island culture and enjoy the atmosphere that these places bring, you’ll enjoy this place.

There are a couple of places in St Martin (the French side of the island) that I really enjoy. World famous Orient beach is one of them. The water is great and there are little beach bars dotted along the shoreline.

The beach is famous for it’s nude portion. Walk out onto the beach and turn right and you’ll run into it eventually. No need to be self conscious here, there are all shapes and sizes and everyone is just acting themselves, sleeping or relaxing in the sun and playing in the water. On one visit, we walked all the way down to the far end of the beach to a brick building where there was a little bar. We stood there having a drink at the bar alongside our naked counterparts as if it was completely normal.

Another part of St Martin I enjoy is Marigot. It’s a nice little town along the waterside with a number of shops and restaurants. It’s a very nice area and if nothing else, a nice place to just wander and window shop. Beyond Marigot, there is the Turtle farm and the Rum Cake factory, typical tourist stops if you’re so inclined. There are even little cigar stands where you can pick up a Cuban cigar if you like. I tried one and couldn’t tell the difference between that and any other cigar so I guess I’ll stick with my old standard; La Gloria Cubana Cedros from the Dominican Republic…

On one of our trips to St Martin there were ten of us traveling as a group and we chose to do an island tour together. We all piled into this large window van and set off to do a run around the island before being dropped at Orient Beach. The most memorable part of that tour for me was when the van got a flat tire and we had to stop until the driver’s son could make it there to help fix it.

Lucky for us, the tire went flat right in front of Maho Beach, which is also adjacent to the airport runway. If you look it up on YouTube you can watch the planes landing and taking off from the Princess Juliana International Airport. Pretty amazing…

We not only got to walk on the beach and watch the planes come in for landings right above our heads, but we also got to have a drink at the Sunset Beach bar which was right on the water. One of the best things about the Sunset Beach bar is that they have an ongoing special:

Life, living and the meaning of it all…

2011-06-23T10:26:00.000-04:00

I don’t know what you believe, but I tend to believe you only get one shot at life. What’s beyond our lives here on earth has been debated and fought over for centuries. No one really knows. With so many religions all over the world and so many of them willing to fight and eliminate those who don’t believe the same way they believe, how can any of them possibly be right? If you’re looking at the big picture, a global picture, how do you take any of it seriously?

We hope there’s more to all this in the end; some profess there is and they make a living at it on television and in the churches, some truly believe in it and allow their beliefs to guide and to some degree take over their lives, and then there are some simply deny it or don‘t believe in religion at all. I guess I’m stuck out in left field somewhere; one of those who for now simply hopes that there’s more to all this.

There's only been one instance where I’ve felt certain about the after life and it was something I can't explain. It wasn't long after my mother in law passed away from cancer. My wife wasn’t home at the time. It was morning and I was laying face down on the bed, arms around my pillow which is the way I like to sleep. I was awake and I felt the corner of the bed by my feet sag as if someone sat down. What’s odd is I tried to move to look around and see who was there, but I couldn’t.

I tried moving my head to see and I tried turning over and getting up, but I was for lack of a better word, paralyzed. I could lift my head up off the bed, but I couldn’t turn it. I sensed that it was my wife’s mother sitting at the edge of the bed. There were no voices and nothing other than the feeling of the bed sagging as if someone sat down and the feeling of another person sitting there with me.

I can’t prove any of this and I have explanation as to how or why it happened. All I know is that everything inside of me tells me that it was my mother in law and she came to pay me a visit. What does it mean? I have no idea.

The only thing I can think of is the night she passed away in the hospital, I stepped into the room to say goodbye to her and I remember looking her in the eye and promising her that I’d take care of her daughter. Maybe she came to check on me, maybe she came to say thank you, maybe it was more like ‘Hey, I’m watching you’, I don’t know... but I do know that I’m confident it happened and I didn’t dream it.
That’s one thing that makes me think there might be something more to all this life after death stuff. For the time being however, I really enjoy life and living, so that’s what I’m going to do.

Around the age of 30 I think I started to become a little more self aware and I started trying to live by the golden rule, which meant treating those around me the way I’d like to be treated. Sometimes its easier said than done, but if there’s any guiding principle in life, I believe that’s probably a good one.

An acquaintance told me once that I was going to hell because I hadn’t pledged my life to his church. This person wasn’t exactly the nicest person I’ve ever met. He has actually said some absolutely terrible things to people who didn‘t act or respond they way he wanted them to, so I had to take his theory with a grain of salt. I’ll gamble on my own theory of trying to treat people right. If pledging yourself to a church gets you in heaven, but along the way you can treat people like crap before you get there, then what‘s heaven going to be like?

Maybe I didn’t always know what I believed and maybe I didn’t always appreciate what life was about, but at this point, I know that it is fleeting. I know, to put it simply, that just like a bug on the sidewalk it can be cruelly taken away at anytime.

Not to be dramatic and certainly not to create sympathy, but I’ll share with you that I’ve experienced two near misses with death and made it through both of them. (I’ll write more about them one of these days) Maybe you're heard when people die they lose all control of their bodily functions and some of them see a bright white light? Well, it all happened to me, however I can't say it was a white light. Things didn't go dark, like when you close your eyes to sleep, they went white and I then I went down. I don't know what all that means, but I think of myself as fortunate not only because I’m still here, but because those experiences changed me. They changed my outlook, mostly for the better, but depending on your perspective, you might also say some for the worse.

When I say worse, I mean I’m more apt to say the hell with it and do or say something that some might view as reckless or too blunt which I may not have said or done before. I’m less likely to keep my feelings and thoughts to myself. That can have it’s good and bad points. I don't think I'm mean or anything like that, I'm just honest. Some people are so timid or politically correct they have a hard time with it.

My thing is, I believe I only have so much time and I want to make the best of it and not have any regrets. There have been times when I’ve been told I should slow down or rest and my response has been, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead”. Probably a foolish way to think, but I’m not going to give up ‘living’ just because I’m getting older. Yes, I can be stubborn.

No matter how hard you try, you can’t eliminate every bad habit, every negative thought, every inconsiderate thing you might say or do, but you can make an effort. Like I said, I try.

I believe that no matter how old you are, no matter where you are in life, you should live life the way you want to live it. There’s a balancing act when living your life however. Some fools take this thought to the extreme and hurt people along the way, whether criminally, financially or emotionally as they live their life. They are selfish and take advantage of people; taking and taking and never giving back. Obviously that’s not where I was heading with that thought.

If it’s your dream to travel the world, then do the things you need to do to lead to that outcome. If it’s your dream to build a family in the suburbs then you need to do the things that will lead to that outcome. If your dream is as simple as taking your family to Disneyworld, then do the things that will lead to that outcome. I believe we are in control of our outcomes. Every decision we make has an outcome. Nobody is going to hand it to you and it may not be easy, but in the same respect, the only person that can ever really stop you from achieving something is yourself.

Everyone has a different level of achievement that makes them happy and a different level of what they can be satisfied with in life and some of those achievements involve decisions that are difficult. Some people can’t bring themselves to step over the edge and actually do what they say they‘ve always wanted to do. They don’t take action.

While I haven’t achieved fame or fortune, I’ve achieved a great many of my younger dreams and desires. Along the way there were difficult decisions I made. Not everyone would make the same decisions. I’ve left a very good paying job, I’ve moved away from friends and family (knowing I’m hurting them and myself in the process) and I’ve sold everything I owned in my process of starting over.

Sometimes I feel selfish for some of my decisions. Sometimes I look back and think about what I gave up, but I pursued the life I wanted and for the most part and I‘m happy with life. It probably went against what my parents wanted or thought was best, against what my kids may have wanted and against what friends may have felt was right and to this day I’ll tell you that leaving and pursuing the life I wanted is still the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I miss my parents and the others I left behind...

Thinking about it now is difficult and it still hurts today, but since I was a child, I grew up saying I wanted to live in a warmer climate; a place where it was summer all year round. I also wanted to travel. I was serious. One day I saw an opportunity and I stepped through that door. That was about 12 years ago. I’ve traveled and experienced a lot since that day and I’ve met a lot of people along the way. There’s more that I want to accomplish; places I want to go, things I’ve yet to experience and people I’ve yet to meet. I look forward to it all.

Funny, I feel like I’m rambling... Maybe I’m just writing this to try and justify past decisions to myself, or maybe I’ve offered some level of encouragement or insight to those who might have dreams of their own. Or maybe I‘m just being too introspective after listening to music on YouTube? In any event, this is what was on my mind today so thanks for listening. Now go live your life… I’m definitely going to. I’ll be at the beach this weekend and I will fill you in on it next week!!! : )

Dream life...

2011-06-21T09:21:00.000-04:00

I don’t understand why I can remember a dream when I first wake up in the morning and by later in the day that same memory is gone. When I was a teenager I kept a diary of my dreams. It was always cool to go back and read about them or see how many times I would have the same dream over and over. That always puzzled me; how we can dream the same exact dream more than once.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve wondered if I could direct my own dreams. I’ve wondered if I could create another life at night when I was sleeping. How cool would that be? I might actually look forward to going to bed at night instead of staying up watching comedy reruns on television until I can’t keep my eyes open any longer.

What if we could lead two separate lives within our life through our dreams? I’m not saying have another spouse and family in your dream life, although I’m sure there are some who would. What I had in mind was more like, what if I could travel the world at night in my dreams? What if I could live in another country, be a race car driver, be an air force pilot, or simply fly around the world on my own, just me, no airplane.

Those are some of the best dreams. When I can just jump up and soar into the air and then land on the edge of a building and look down. When I’m on the edge of a building now and I look down I get an uneasy feeling and I also wonder inside what it would be like to jump, so I stay away from the edge. In my dreams however, I’m right there enjoying it. If you believe in reincarnation, maybe that means I was an eagle or a hawk in a previous life? Probably not a parakeet since I’m sitting on the edge of a skyscraper.

So what about it? I’ve actually had dreams that have picked up where they left off the last time I was sleeping, but it’s been intermittent and unpredictable. I’ve tried to make it happen, but I’ve never been able to do it. It’s frustrating because it seems like I should be able to make this happen. For some reason, my mind goes where it wants to go.

What’s also odd is that if I see an alligator during the day, whether in real life or on television, I will dream about alligators at night. They are always mean and out to get me or who ever is with me at the time. I’ve had alligators come through the screen patio and break through the sliding glass door to come after me. I’ve ran from them in the woods, I’ve climbed up really tall hills with a bunch of people trying to get away from a really big one and I actually had an alligator eat my brother once. I don’t know why this is. I’ve never had a run in with an alligator that would have caused all this, but when I have a bad dream, it usually involves them.

A common dream I have is that I can fly. I have no idea what drives that one. I’d be happy if I could go to bed at night and look forward to flying, but unlike the alligators, I haven’t figured out how to make that happen. Like I said, I’d go to bed at a decent time if I could.

What I do know is that there’s probably a book and a Hollywood movie in all this. The character goes to bed at night and lives a completely separate life from his daytime life. It would be interesting to cause the two worlds to collide somehow. I probably should be writing this book instead of telling you about the idea shouldn’t I?

Hmmm….

Enjoying the sunset in St Pete...

2011-06-14T10:04:00.010-04:00

I’ve always found the gulf coast to be beautiful and my favorite part of Florida. St Petersburg is located just southwest of Tampa and this area has a number of very nice beach areas along the coast leading up into Clearwater.

With my wife being out of town this weekend, I decided to get out and do something so I scheduled a visit to the Sirata Resort in St Pete. We’ve stayed there before and really liked it. It’s more reasonably priced than some of the larger chain hotels along the beach, yet it’s clean, has some nice amenities and the beach area is great. All I have to do is walk out of my room and the beach is right there.

It was a relaxing, beautiful drive over there. I had the top down and ended up getting a little sunburned, but the drive was great. I checked into the Sirata around 2pm. My room wasn’t ready right away, but that was no big deal. I parked the car and walked over to Harry’s beach bar which is located on property. In addition to a very nice breeze, there was a guy playing guitar and singing songs.

While I was sitting there I was thinking how funny and unpredictable life can be. About 2 years ago I was here at the Sirata and I remember at the time, seeing a silver BMW convertible in the parking lot near Harry’s beach bar and I remember pointing it out to my wife and joking with her “that’s what I want that for my birthday“. Two years later, I turn 50 and I’m driving a silver BMW convertible. I’ve always believed in the phrase; “where there’s a will, there’s a way”.

Back to the present… The bartender’s name was Paris. She was cute. I think she said she was around 40, but even so, she was better looking than the Hilton version, and much nicer. I had a couple of Coors Lights and then a Miami Vice, which is a strawberry daquiri mixed with a pina colada.

They call them Lava Flows here at Harry’s. Paris said she makes the best ones, but I sort of got in trouble by saying the best one I ever had was at the Holland House in St Maarten. There’s a little bar on Paradise Island in Nassau that makes a pretty good one also, but hell if I can remember the name of the place.

While I was sitting there listening to the music, a gal walked up and sat down next to me. She later introduced herself and said her name was Stephanie. She was a good looking woman about my age who lived locally and was planning to meet a friend for a drink. We chatted a bit while Old Man by Neil Young played in the background. The musician was pretty good.

Even though I was content sitting there, relaxing and taking in the environment, after a while I got hungry. Just down the road a bit is a place called Sea Hags. I’ve been there a couple of times before and enjoyed it, so I decided to drive over there and wander in and see what was going on.

There was a guy playing guitar and singing in the bar area and I sat down on a bar stool that looked toward the marina. Looking out the window, I kept thinking about the fact that it was such a nice day and all these nice boats were sitting there with nobody on them. What a shame. What were all those boat owners doing today? I’m thinking to myself, ‘get your friends together and get out there and enjoy life‘.

I ordered a beer and a NY strip steak for dinner. I had tried the double pork chop dinner before and it was awesome, but today I really wanted a steak for some reason.

I ended up talking to an older gal who asked me how I liked the steak. She told me she has ovarian cancer and her doctor told her she should eat more red meat. She said she eats mostly fish and really doesn’t have a strong appetite for red meat. We debated a sirloin from Outback vs. my steak and I said I‘d probably go for the sirloin. A nice sirloin is better than a strip steak in my opinion. That being said, I really like Sea Hags. It’s a nice local place and I would recommend it to anyone.

Afterwards I wandered back toward the Sirata and stopped at the store to grab a few snacks for the room before getting back. When I got back, I parked and walked over to Harry’s again. Unfortunately Paris and her coworker were gone by now and a couple of guys were bartending. It was more crowded and I just wasn’t as enamored with it as I had been earlier, so I went for a short walk.

Before I knew it, the sun was setting. I managed to grab a couple of photos before stopping back at Harry’s for one last beer. Then it was back to my room to relax and watch the basketball game. I truly dislike basketball, but I was interested to see if Dallas could beat Miami. It didn’t hurt my feelings when Dallas won the championship that night.

I enjoyed my time in St Pete. I’ve always said I wanted to live on or near the coast one day. Who knows… like the car story earlier, maybe I’ll have another story to tell one day? It’s like I said, you never know where life is going to lead you. I think you have to keep an adventurous spirit and recognize and be open to the changes and opportunities that come your way. I honestly believe the only thing that stops people from doing things is themselves.

Unfortunately, as with any trip, it always seems to be over too soon and before you know it, the experience and the people have passed through your life and all you have left are memories. Thankfully I can still remember some things and amongst it, a sunset on the beach St Pete isn’t a bad thing to remember…

The men’s room wall…

2011-06-08T18:27:00.000-04:00

“Please keep your eyes forward and conversations limited to weather, sports or beer.”

It’s funny how guys are when they’re in the men’s room. Some are overly comfortable chatting to strangers while standing at the urinal and others are completely homophobic. Some don’t use the urinals; they go into the stalls and stand there and wizz in the toilet. I’m not sure why they need to do that? Maybe they’re embarrassed about something? Then again, maybe some have a good reason for it such as a health reason? Unfortunately I’ve noticed that some the guys who do this are extremely inconsiderate because they don’t even lift the toilet seat when they go, so the person who goes in there after them and needs to sit down gets to deal with their mess. Sad huh?

I read once in the New York Times where only 75% of men wash their hands. Another article stated that only 1 in 3 do. Just from my own observations, I think it’s probably around 50%. He might think it’s ok to touch himself then go back to the dinner table, but I bet everyone else in the restaurant would be grossed out knowing he didn’t wash after. Did he touch the door handle going in or out and pick up some germs that way? Did he have germs on his hand from opening the door to the restaurant when the two of you walked in?

I just think it’s a good habit to wash your hands often through out the day. You don’t know what germs you’re picking up. It’s not like you can see them. I think the ladies should check their man’s hands when he gets back from the men’s room. You should be able to tell if he did or not. If nothing else, you will make sure he knows that it’s important to you.

“No matter how beautiful she is, some other guy is tired of putting up with her shit”.

The older a woman becomes, the wiser she becomes. She realizes that there are more important things to bring to the table than just looks; there’s dependability, trust, being a good life partner, to a small degree the ability to cook and to a much larger degree, a steady income.

It’s probably true that most guys think looks are important and most all guys will turn their head when a girl catches their eye, and for that split second they will think to themselves “hmmm“... but, that being said, for most guys, that’s also probably where it ends. If this is going to be a long lasting relationship, they want the attributes I noted in the paragraph above.

The other thing that came to mind was that beauty is also in the eye of the beholder. Every woman is different and every woman is beautiful in some way. It’s a good thing we’re all different and we all see things differently….I saw this phrase decoratively painted on a men’s room wall recently and chuckled to myself thinking; “how true…”. Afterwards I thought it’s probably not fair to lump everyone together and say every beautiful woman is a pain in the ass. I’m betting much of it depends much on age, background and upbringing. Experience tells me that more younger women fit this mold than older ones.

“I know right from wrong, wrong is the fun one...”

I'm taking the fifth…

Sailing in St Croix...

2011-06-05T17:11:00.001-04:00

We had no idea what to expect when we booked our first ever visit to St Croix. We were stopping there as part of a cruise in March 2011 and it would be our first time. A good friend of mine named Tom who was part of the two couples who were traveling with us on this trip suggested we visit Buck Island while we were there.

Tom is a beach enthusiast. He lives in the upper Midwest so he doesn’t have many beaches nearby, but when he and his wife vacation, it nearly always involves some warm spectacular beach location. Being like minded, I went along with his suggestion and after being there, I’m glad I did.

St Croix is part of the US Virgin Islands which also include St Thomas and St John as well as some other smaller islands. Buck Island is just off the coast of St Croix and was designated a US National Monument by President John F Kennedy in 1961. The island not only hosts an underwater snorkeling trail which is part of the protected area, but there is also Turtle Beach, which was has been named one of the most beautiful beaches in the world by National Geographic.

We went online early on and looked for tour operators that could take us over to Buck Island. There are a few of them, but we settled on Buck Island Charters, which is operated by a father/son team. They run two vessels, one for larger groups and one for private groups up to 6 people. We chartered the smaller private trimaran Dragonfly.

After our ship docked in Christiansted, we found our way to the cab that we had set up ahead of time with the tour operator and made our way over to the part of the island where Dragonfly was docked. On the way there, we asked the driver to stop at a convenience store so we could pick up some drinks and snacks to take along.

When we arrived, we walked up and met Captain Carl, operator of the Dragonfly vessel. He gave us some brief instructions and then we were off sailing out of the small harbor area. We could see Buck Island in the distance, just over a mile or so away.

The sail out to Buck Island was fun. The Dragonfly uses wind power alone so it takes a bit longer to get there, but it’s more environmentally friendly and it’s much quieter. We hopped along the waves, shimmying back and forth left and right across the sea in order to catch the wind correctly.

It seemed like no time at all and we were crossing through a reef area into the shallower, calmer and lighter blue waters just along side the island. Captain Carl navigated over to a mooring area and stopped.

We all got our snorkeling gear together and were soon jumping off the hull into the water. We were using small inflatable life vests to help with our buoyancy.

Captain Carl went on ahead of us and as we snorkeled along the trail, he would dive down and show us the placards that have been permanently placed by the park service to describe what we were seeing. We followed him through the coral formations into little caverns and along side a number of species of fish. I didn’t see anything dangerous, just a lot of small and reasonably sized colorful fish.

After we finished the trail, my wife and I swam back to the boat. Captain Carl took Tom and Nick out beyond the reef where the water drops off into a much deeper area. They said it was neat, but the water was much rougher out there.

Soon we were all back on the Dragonfly and setting sail again. The snorkeling was fun, but tiring and after sailing past the beach earlier, I was eager to explore it. We sailed back through the calm, clear waters near the shoreline and made our way around the point to a nice calm area right up against Turtle Beach.

As soon as the anchor was dropped, people were jumping in and making the very short swim over to the beach. When I finally got over there, I thought to myself it was amazing. We arrived there before any others and had the entire island to ourselves at the time. No footprints on the sand, no noise, no crowds, no trash, just pure white sand, clear calm water and a nice walk on the beach.

We walked down the beach around another point until the beach became too rocky to continue. There were large pieces of driftwood, large conch shells and an amazing view no matter where you looked.

Eventually we made it back over toward the area where the Dragonfly was anchored and went for a little swim then sat on the beach for awhile. I won’t go on and on, but I just can’t say enough about this place. We took a number of photos of the water, the beach, the Dragonfly and each other so we would always remember this place.

Since we only chartered a half day sail, it wasn’t long before it was time to start the sail back to St Croix. Along the way we enjoyed the calm, quiet voyage and spotted a number of large turtles poking their heads out of the water. It was way too soon when we were getting back in the cab and leaving Captain Carl and the Dragonfly behind.

I’m fortunate enough to live in an area where I can explore many, many beaches within a short drive, but I have to say that this has to be one of my favorites, if not my favorite beach so far. While I have to admit, it's nice to have a drink while you're relaxing on the beach, I didn't miss it here. In this place there are no bars, no restaurants and no crowds; just the crystal clear water, the white untouched sand and the quiet of a deserted island…

Turning 50...

2011-06-04T20:11:00.001-04:00

Earlier this year I turned 50. It’s a strange feeling to think of yourself as old. I don’t normally “feel” old. I actually don’t normally feel any different than I did when I was in my 20’s. The problem is, you can only live like you’re still in your 20’s for so long before you get to a point where you have to take a step back. Either your body tells you to take it easy, or your common sense kicks in.

I’m at a point now where my thoughts and my feelings are changing. I’m thinking maybe there’s something to growing old gracefully? Maybe that’s the way it’s supposed to be? Maybe we’re supposed to step aside and let the younger generations take over at some point. It’s difficult to do however...

Nobody wants to succumb to age, but we all eventually do whether we like it or not. When I was in my 20’s, I remember thinking that people in their 30’s and 40’s were old. Now here I am… Fifty. The time went so quick, I find myself now wishing for another 50 years.

Sometimes I think it would be nice to go back to those days in my 20’s and have the body and health that I had back then. On the other hand, I’d hate to give up all the wisdom I’ve gained over the years and go back to the arrogant and inexperienced nature of that age. What’s equally worse is the sense of entitlement that the younger generation has developed since I was young.

I think that’s just something that our ever more passive and litigious society has allowed to develop. When I was younger, I had a healthy respect for those in authority. Society promoted a bit more self responsibility and a bit more self reliance. If you tripped and fell, people said watch where you’re walking. Now they look for who to blame and whether they can gain anything out of assigning that blame.

Also, if you didn’t stay in line, there were consequences. As kids or teenagers, we weren’t a protected class. We weren’t protected by anyone but our parents.

Yes, I’m sure there were some abuses by some parents, but society as an entirety was better off. Over time, in order to protect a few, the majority of society has taken a downturn and has become more irresponsible and less respectful.

I value all that I’ve learned over the years. I value where I am in life. Sure, things could be a lot better in terms of money and health, but then again, they could be a lot worse. I’ve known individuals much younger than I that never made it to 50. I’ve also been fortunate enough to travel quite a bit and personally met and witnessed people who would likely trade places with me in a heartbeat.

Who knows where we go when we’re done here on earth. There are so many religions all over the earth, is any one of them right? Does any one of them know the true answer? I know what I’d like to believe, but the realist in me holds me back. In any event, I think it’s important to value the time you’re given. Make the most of it. I’m thinking don’t accumulate; instead experience.

If there is a gate and if they ask you anything at that gate before passing judgment, it isn’t going to be “How rich were you?“, or “What was your status on earth?”

My guess is it will be more like “How did you spend the time you were given?” “You were given an entire world to explore, did you seek out and experience the world that was created for you?” “You were given the opportunity to meet many people through out your life, did you value those around you, whether you knew them or not, and whether they were different from you or the same?”

I think the bottom line is, were you appreciative and did you value it all, or did you take it for granted. I can tell you, the older I get, the more I value everything.

Overall, life has been good. I’m happy to be here, I’m happy to be able to share with you and I hope to be here another 50...

A long way from home, beautiful Grenada....

2011-05-23T15:11:00.000-04:00

Grenada is a long way from home, but an interesting place to visit. I only wish I would have taken more photos when I was there. At the time, I had no idea I was going to start blogging about travel or anything else for that matter, so I was just going with the flow and enjoying the time.

My wife and I had been there once before in maybe 1996 on our first cruise. At the time, we took the water taxi over to Grand Anse and then briefly walked around town afterwards. We were rookies at the time. Timid and uncomfortable venturing out on our own. Now we just get off the ship and go do our own thing, no worries.

The port had changed a lot since the last time we were there. I don’t remember there being a seawall made of large stones. I seem to remember getting in the water taxi right from a small dock or the beach? It was a long time ago though.

It was now March 2011 and this time around we got out and saw a little slice of the island. When we walked off the ship, we wandered up to one of the little tour stands and read about the tours. Then after choosing the tour came the part I never enjoy, which is waiting until the driver fills his vehicle with other people who are interested in the same tour.

Somehow our tour choice got mixed up and we ended up doing what the group wanted to do. In the end we didn’t care. We still had a good time, but it’s one of those little things that annoy me.

We were grouped with another couple and a gentleman who sounded like he was from Texas. He seemed a little slow, or maybe it was just the thick accent. I’m probably being too judgmental, but at the time I felt bad for him because he really seemed to want to talk and talk, but nobody wanted to talk to him. He seemed like a really nice guy and looking back I should have paid him more attention.

We left on our tour in a smaller van with three seats. It was comfortable. The driver was a little odd though. He kept pointing out the trees and fruits that grew on the trees. Every time he saw one, he’d stop and want to talk about the tree. It just seemed odd because seriously, every few seconds we were parked on the side of the road with him telling us about trees.

He told us we were going to be quizzed on it later. I wasn’t going to remember most of what he was telling us without writing it down, so I knew I would flunk. I was also thinking to myself at the time we need to get moving or we’re not going to get to see a thing. I can be fairly impatient.

It was interesting to drive down the small narrow roads. The driver told us that the women were no longer allowed to wash their clothes in the little stream that ran beside the road because a flash flood had occurred when it rained one time and some of them had been surprised and drowned.

The road wound up the hill and past many small houses and buildings and took us to the first stop which was a spice shop. Imagine that… I think every tour emphasized the fact that this was the “spice island”. When we arrived, there was a local gal standing outside the shop in a traditional costume wanting people to take photos with her and tip her. I probably should have done it, she was cute. At the time I didn’t know I’d be writing this for you though…

Inside the shop we were asked to gather around a desk near the front door and this older gentleman told us all about the spices there and he showed us how they use all the parts of the nuts. Again, I don’t remember all that he told us because I was sort of looking out the window at the time, but it was interesting. Now that I’m writing, I’ll have a notebook with me next time.

My wife bought a small sample pack of spice bottles (Tumeric, Cinnamon, Ginger, Clove and Nutmeg) and then we went out to the van. Soon everyone else joined us and we were on our way along the narrow and windy roads to Annandale Falls.

When we arrived, there was an older gentleman playing a guitar and making up the music and lyrics as he went. He was kind of funny and of course he wanted people to tip him. Some people showed him respect and were friendly toward him, some tipped him and some were actually a bit rude to him.

In addition to him, there were a few women dressed up in costume again wanting people to take photos with them and tip them. We proceed past all this and walked down toward the falls. It was a short walk to the viewing area.

While we were there, a couple of local men were cliff jumping and allowing the tourists to take photos of them as they jumped. Again in hopes of being tipped for their performance. One of the locals said a tourist jumped off not long ago and was killed when he didn’t hit the water in the right spot. We snapped a few photos and proceeded back up the trail enjoying the flowers and vegetation as we went.

Soon we were back at the van and ready for the next stop. Before we got in, the guy with the guitar began singing to my wife and I decided to tip him because he made us laugh. I wouldn’t want to have to hustle like that all day for a living, but he actually seemed to be having a good time doing it so more power to him.

Our next stop was Fort Frederick, which is way atop what seemed to be one of, if not the highest point on the island. When we got there, we paid a small fee and went on a walking tour.

There was a guide standing there and we walked up to him and let him tell us all about the fort and it‘s history. Each time we’ve been to Grenada, the locals have made mention of when the United States came and liberated them. It’s an interesting story and much too long to explain on here, but it’s nice to have at least one place in the world where the people are appreciative of us.

After our tour of the fort, we snapped a few photos of the surroundings and the view from the top of the hill. You could see both sides of the island from there as well as our ship.

Soon we were back in the van and on our way down the hillside toward Grand Anse Beach. The driver said we could get out and take a few photos.

If we would have had our swim suits with us, we could have stayed there and grabbed another cab or a water taxi back to the ship, but until our tour was changed by the addition of the others, we weren’t planning to go to a beach so we didn’t pack anything. Once we were there however, I found myself wishing we were better prepared. I would have liked to stick around there for awhile.

Soon it was back in the cab and back to the port. On the way, we saw a number of nice yachts docked in one of the bays. Once back, we walked around the town and through some of the local shops before going back to the ship. We didn’t really buy anything and our time would have been better spent on the beach, but oh well….

Back on the ship, we got a drink and relaxed in the peace and quiet of our aft balcony. There was nobody around so we could just stare off over the ocean, sip our drinks and think about the next time we come back to visit Grenada….

Old San Juan pt 1...

2011-05-16T15:13:00.001-04:00

We flew into San Juan Puerto Rico on a Friday afternoon in early March 2011 aboard jetBlue. The leather seats and personal satellite televisions embedded in the seat backs really make for a nice trip. Turn on a movie and the time just flies by. I sat in a window seat on the way out and snapped a few photos out the window. The windows on the planes aren’t always in the best of shape, but this one was nice and clear. We were somewhere over the Bahamas chain when I snapped the following photo. Maybe someone familiar with the shape of the islands could tell me where this is. It was pretty and the photo doesn’t do it justice.

When we arrived, we wandered downstairs to baggage claim and waited for our luggage. It really wasn’t long a long wait, maybe 20 minutes tops before we grabbed our bags and stepped outside directly into a cab. A short 10 minutes later, we were pulling up to our hotel.

The Sheraton Old San Juan is a nice place for a pre cruise stay. The location can’t be beat. It has a casino, rooftop pool, outdoor restaurant area and an outdoor bar area right along the street. As you might imagine, it’s not the cheapest place in town and the casino didn’t yield a penny to us, but the rooms were nice and it was in an absolutely great location right near the port and in the heart of Old San Juan.

After we checked in, we decide to go for a walk. We ventured up the hill and ended up at Fort San Cristobal. There are two forts; San Cristobal was the closer one and El Morro was another mile down the road, yet in plain view from San Cristobal. The roads here are steep, narrow and many of them are made of cobblestone. Depending on your age and conditioning, a walk up to the fort can wear you out.

The fort is impressive. The rough surf, rugged coastline and high fort walls would make invading this place a tough task. I can’t imagine sailing on one of those old sweaty ships, then having to anchor and make your way to the beach, climb the cliffs and hills as you’re being shot at from one of the sentry boxes above.

The fort offers a lot of interesting photo opportunities.

Adjacent to the fort, down by the seashore, there’s also a very interesting cemetery. Seems odd for it to be so close to the seashore however. Rather than venturing down to it, we stood above and snapped a few photos.

After wandering around the fort, we made our way back toward our hotel. One the way, we stopped into this narrow little bar right off the sidewalk called the Brickhouse. It’s about a block behind our hotel and it bills itself as a sports bar. We had a drink and enjoyed listening to the locals chat about their day and interacting with them. They were following American basketball at the time we were there. Even though old and small, I found it to be friendly and enjoyable. I’d definitely go back.

It wasn’t long and we were sitting outside our hotel and enjoying a Medalla Light beer. If I remember right, they were two for one. We enjoyed sitting there watching the people and the traffic along the waterway and waited there until our friends showed up. We were all boarding a cruise ship the next afternoon for a 7 night vacation and an extra night in Old San Juan was an excellent way to start out the week. Once they arrived, we ventured out for a little while but made it an early evening.

The next morning, I walked out to the rooftop pool to see the cruise ships that had come into port that day. There were two of them sitting over at the dock across the bay disembarking passengers and getting ready for their next round of guests. One of them was ours; Serenade of the Seas. We were all starting to get anxious.

From the hotel rooftop pool area, I could also see a tall ship docked nearby our hotel. It was available for tours, but unfortunately we didn’t make it over there while it was open. I would have liked to board her and see what it looks like below deck. It’s hard to imagine crossing the ocean in such a thing after sailing on the large cruise ships of today.

Before going over to the terminal, we decided to go have breakfast at a local place called La Bombonera. The restaurant has been featured on the Rachael Ray $40 a day show. They are famous for their Mallorca sandwiches which are grilled and then sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar. I think everyone ordered one but me. I just had a traditional eggs, bacon and toast breakfast. The restaurant is nothing fancy and service was extremely slow, but everyone was happy with their food. Below is a photo of the façade with some of our friends that joined us on the cruise; Casey, Nick and Shannon.

We wandered around Old San Juan for the better part of the morning, once again walking by the forts and up and down the cobblestone streets. It wasn’t long however before the heat began to get to everyone and we decided to head back to the hotel and get ready to wander over to the ship. Part two, which I’ll post later, will tell our night after the cruise in San Juan.

An overnight trip to Cocoa Beach in May...

2011-05-15T19:42:00.001-04:00

Love bugs, ugh… Just the mere thought of them just grosses me out. We were in Cocoa Beach this weekend and the love bugs where at their height. If you’re not familiar with love bugs, they are more of an annoyance than anything. Their not harmful, except to the paint on your car if you don’t get them off right away.

On the way over, we saw a large flock of birds hanging out on the side of the road and as get got closer we realized there was a dead gator on the side of the road and the birds were feasting on it. Yuch… By the size of the gator's back, he was a big one too. I'd hate to be the one who ran into him. My little car would surely be totalled.

By the time we drove into town, the front of our car and our windshield were pasted with bugs. We stopped at the first gas station in town, I went in and bought some glass cleaner and a roll of paper towels and we went to work removing them from the windshield and the front of the car. Yuch.

About 20 minutes later, we were done and back on our way. We pulled into the La Quinta adjacent to the Cocoa Beach Pier and went in to see if a room was ready. It was around 10:20am and she did have a room for us, which was a two queen ocean view facing south toward the pier and the beach, or she said she would upgrade me to a king ocean front, but I’d have to wait until around noon.

I said what the heck and took the upgrade. I figured she might want the two queens for a family and since there were only two of us, she was just doing a little occupancy control. We got back into the car and drove up a couple of blocks to Dunkin Donuts and got a breakfast sandwich. It was food, but neither of us was impressed with it.

Afterwards, we went back to La Quinta, parked the car in my favorite spot at the hotel and then walked next door to the pier. I've stayed there before and really like the location of this place.

The pier wasn’t real busy which was nice. We sat down at the outdoor bar on the pier overlooking the ocean and ordered a drink. There were the love bugs again. Not many of them since it was nice and breezy, but they were there in very small numbers.

After a couple of drinks, we walked over to one of the beach stores and wandered through it. My wife wanted a Cocoa Beach t-shirt since she’s never bought one before. We ended up walking out empty handed, which isn’t a bad thing and walked back to the hotel.

Our room was ready once we got there so we went upstairs and got our swim suits on and went outside. One the way, I stopped at the pool bar and picked up a couple of beers to have out on the beach.

The beach was busy with people. We grabbed two chairs and an umbrella from the rental guy for $15 and went over to hang out and relax. First, we had to chase away a number of love bugs who were lounging in our spot. Yuch again. They are attracted to petroleum products, heat and lighter colors, all of which were present since the lounge chairs were made of plastic.

After an annoying few minutes, we were rid of enough of them to put our towels down on the chairs and sit. I opened a beer and leaned back to relax and watch the people in the water.

After a walk down the beach and back and a brief nap, we decided we’d had enough and went up to the room. As we turned around, we saw some big dark clouds and we knew it was truly time to head in. Rarely has it ever rained when we’ve been at the beach, but we didn’t seem to care at all this time. It was more about getting away and spending some quiet time rather than sunning and partying.

We went up, showered and changed and then left to drive over to Port Canaveral to have an early dinner. The restaurants there can be very crowded at dinner time and we wanted to beat the crowds. If it was going to rain, there would probably be other people with the same idea as us.

There are a number of restaurants in a row right there along the port waterway; Milliken’s Reef, Rusty’s, Fishlips and Grills are the ones I’ve been to in the past. This time we chose Rusty’s, which seems to be the one I lean toward the most for dinner.

Their outdoor dock and patio area is under renovation right now and it looks like it will be nice once it’s complete. We sat inside with a view of the waterway. From our table we could see the Carnival Dream and what I believe to be the Disney Magic. Both of which were busy taking on the last few passengers for the week and getting ready to set sail for 7 nights.

As I was looking over the menu I noticed the phrase, “world famous chicken wings” and I thought what??? Really? Right here in Port Canaveral, right next to all these charter fishing boats, Rusty’s has world famous chicken wings? I somehow doubt it.

My wife had fish and chips and I had a sirloin, which was completely out of character for me. I usually get the blackened grouper, and in hindsight, I should have. So we both had a couple of drinks and soon we were finished with dinner and ready to move on.

Right next door was a place called Baja Tavern and Eats, which I’ve never really noticed before. We decided to walk in and check it out. We walked through the inside and out to and outdoor patio area with a nice large bar and a band playing Jimmy Buffet style music. The place was nothing fancy, but there were two spots at the bar and the band was pretty good.

We both had a couple of drinks and just relaxed mixing with the locals and enjoying the music. While we sat there, the Carnival Dream was setting sail. As she came alongside where we were, most of the people on land started waving to the people on the ship and wishing them a good trip. The people on the ship waved good bye back and there seemed to be some good will going on. I thought to myself, isn’t this the way people should always be?

I also thought to myself, "lucky bastards…"

At some point the bartender said it was the end of her shift and she was leaving, so we decided to cash out and then head back to the hotel. Even though from the vantage at the bar, it looked decent outside, once we walked out the front and looked south, it was still a little gloomy outside. We just made our way back and stayed in the room the rest of the evening watching television and relaxing some more.

The next morning we awoke as the sun was coming up and I snapped a couple of photos out our window. We dressed and went downstairs to the free breakfast which consisted of waffles, eggs (the fake kind) and bacon (the soggy kind). A wiser choice would probably have been some cereal and yogurt and maybe a Danish. Maybe next time…

By the time we were done with breakfast and stepped outside, it was clear blue sky and sunshine. At 71 degrees it was a bit cool yet, but I wasn’t going to complain.

We went up, showered and packed and checked out. Afterwards, we drove down a number of local roads to learn what else was there. I found a sports bar that I’ll visit on a future trip. I don’t remember the name right now, but I’m sure I’ll be back over to Cocoa in a month or so and I’ll check it out then.

We stopped in Ron Jon’s beach shop so my wife could continue looking for a shirt. In comparison to the normal beach store, this is a really nice place and they have some pretty nice stuff. She found a shirt she liked, even though it didn’t say Cocoa Beach on it, and we left. We continued exploring a bit as we headed out of town. Oddly enough, as we're driving through the neighborhoods exploring, we see a full grown Peacock walking across the street. I've only seen these in a zoo so it was strange to see one wandering around a residential street.

Not 5 minutes out of town the windshield was getting plastered again, so we stopped to top off the gas tank and clean the windshield. This was a mistake because as I stated earlier, love bugs are attracted to petroleum, heat and engine exhaust and lighter colors. By the time I had finished putting gas in the car, my car was swarmed and they were all over. Seriously, it was like an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

We jumped in the car and got the heck out of there. I truly love the Cocoa Beach area, but I just have to remember to stay away during the month of May. Despite the bugs, it was still a nice weekend. I've always enjoyed Cocoa and I look forward to returning this summer.

Um yea, when the bugs are gone….

A day in St John's Antigua...

2011-05-13T13:57:00.001-04:00

We traveled to Antigua as part of a cruise vacation in March 2011 out of San Juan aboard the Serenade of the Seas. This was one of two days on the trip where my wife and I decided we would go off and do our own thing rather than joining our friends. We had no preplanned excursion and our thoughts were to just get off the ship and travel to a beach. I had gone online and looked around ahead of time and many people gave Dickenson Bay Beach a good review so we thought we’d give it a try.

We got off the ship in St John’s and walked down the pier until we came across the taxi stands and said we were two people to go to Dickenson Bay Beach. Luckily we didn’t get stuck waiting on the driver to fill his van with other tourists and he took just the two of us. It was a short ride down the coast and we were there. He dropped us off and we prearranged a time for him to come back and pick us up.

As we walked out to the beach, a local stepped up and asked us if we wanted beach chairs and an umbrella and we said yes. I think we may have paid $12 or $15 for the day which I thought was a good deal based on what we’ve paid in the past. I didn’t try to negotiate with him because I’m just not normally that way. I’m not wealthy and I don’t live in a big house, but no matter what I make, I know that when I get back to the states that I have it better than them so who am I to ask them to take less for what they offer.

We sat down and enjoyed the sun and the view for awhile. Right behind us was a stand that sold drinks and he had my favorite, Coors Light. I got myself a beer and my wife had a juice drink. She seemed relaxed and in the photo looks as if she is taking a nap. I think we both may have napped on the beach that day.

After a bit, we walked up and down the beach. There were Aloe plants growing wild in the hills next to the beach and one of the locals had cut some fresh Aloe and was selling it to sun burnt tourists. We watched him squeeze it out of the plant and rub it on this guys back. The guy looked like he could have been a big cowboy from Texas and you could tell by the look on his face that he was relieved as the local was doing it.

As we walked on the beach, we came across an outdoor restaurant that was out over the water, but it was under repair and wasn’t open. It looked like it would be a nice place to sit and have lunch. Speaking of lunch, it was about this time we started to look forward to our ride back to town and maybe trying some local fare.

After passing the closed restaurant, we came upon a T-shirt shack and a gal who was bound and determined to sell my wife and I a t-shirt. Well, she eventually did. They were only $10 and I’m actually glad she did sell them to us because mine is one of the ones I wear the most back home.

Our driver eventually picked us up at the time he said he would and we went back to town. Our cab drivers name was Glen and he was a nice guy. We chatted along the way and when we got back into town I gave him a nice tip and he seemed surprised at the amount. He said to my wife; “your husband’s a good man!”

We walked back to the ship and put our stuff in our room then came back into town to look for a place to eat. Sure we could have eaten while on the ship, but what fun is that? As you can see the photo looking back toward the pier and the ship, it was convenient to walk around check out the shops.

The buildings are mostly older but they are colorfully painted and they make the area seem more welcoming. Some of the streets and sidewalks were rough shape, but this was a Caribbean island, not some brand new suburban neighborhood. It had character. We felt safe enough, but people sure wanted to sell us stuff.

We wandered around until we came across this place called Hemingways Caribbean Café. It was on the second floor of a building along the street.

I had blackened Mahi and I swear it was the best meal I had the entire cruise vacation. There were two other meals during our entire trip that rivaled my lunch at Hemingways. One was the fish I had a Chateau Mygo in Marigot Bay, St Lucia and the other was the porterhouse steak I had onboard the Serenade of the Seas in Chops Grill. I would definitely recommend a stop at Hemingways if your in St John's.

After lunch we continued walking around the small town of St John’s and I picked up another T-shirt in one of the shops as well as some more sunscreen.

Soon it was time to get back aboard. That’s always a sad time of day, leaving an island that welcomes you so warmly. We truly enjoyed our day on Antigua. And as Glen told us, it’s “an T ga”. The “u“ is silent.

I miss that place and I believe we’ll be back again one day.

Remembering St Lucia...

2011-05-07T17:06:00.009-04:00

It was March 2011 when we arrived in St Lucia aboard the Serenade of the Seas cruise ship which is operated by Royal Caribbean cruise lines. This being approximately our 14^th cruise, we knew to go online ahead of time and set up our plans for the day. We chose to do a private catamaran trip for the day through Chataeu Mygo which is located in Marigot Bay St Lucia.

The catamaran met us in port that morning and we got off the ship and stepped directly right onto the catamaran. Before other people had even figured out what they were going to do in port that day, we were off on our adventure.

We sailed out of the port of Castries south along the St Lucian shoreline. The weather that day toyed between mostly overcast to pockets of blue sky and sunshine, but none of us really cared. We were sailing in the Caribbean Sea on a beautiful catamaran towards the mighty Pitons and that’s really all that mattered in the world at that point. We were with friends Tom and Shannon and Shannon’s sister Casey and her husband Nick.

It took awhile to sail down the coast to the Pitons, but we finally got there and the skipper anchored us and the four of them jumped in the water and swam the 30 yards to shore so they could walk on the beach between the Pitons named Jalousie Beach. All Tom talked about for months and months was making it to that beach and he was finally there. My wife and I sat out on the bow of the catamaran in the netting and took in the view. Next to us there was a snorkeling area and thinking back, I should have jumped in and checked it out. The depth finder on the cat said the water was 70+ feet deep right below us so I think that’s why we didn’t go in. I guess in our minds we wondered what was down there swimming around.

After the four of them got back from the beach, we sailed back up the coast to Marigot Bay. As we left the little bay between the Pitons I watched the depth finder as the water got deeper and deeper. Like Tom and his Jalousie Beach, Marigot Bay is the spot that I most wanted to visit. It’s always looked so nice in the photos that it made me want to see it in real life.

It was a fun ride up the coast as we hit wave after wave and the bow of the catamaran rose and lowered with the sea. By this time everyone had started to feel their drinks. We had our choice of Piton Beer or rum punch the entire time we were on the cat. It was fun bouncing through the waves. We had taken some Bonin before leaving for the day so the rough water didn’t affect us a bit.

Eventually we made it into Marigot Bay which is a nicely protected cove along the shore. The water was extremely calm once inside the bay. We anchored and they ferried us over to the restaurant on a little inflatable dingy. The restaurant’s name was Chateau Mygo. We sat outside waterside and the food was absolutely great. I had some sort of Mahi with rice, noodles, and fries. I could have eaten three plates it was so good.

After lunch there was just enough time to wander down this nice little path behind the restaurant to the small little town along the shore. We shopped a bit and picked up a few t-shirts. There were a number of boats along the dock and for those in the know, there is a Moorings office right there mixed between the shops and they had some really nice charter rentals docked alongside there as well.

Time flew and it wasn’t long and we had to get back to the catamaran. Before we knew it we were sailing out of the bay and back out into the sea to once again bounce along the waves. Tom and Casey were up front yelling and carrying on as they enjoyed the waves. It’s amazing nobody went overboard along the way.

We arrived back into the Port of Castries just in time to get back on the ship and start getting ready for dinner. Next time back, we’ll do a land tour and see more of the island, but we’ll never regret the decision to charter the catamaran for that day. It was an amazing experience all the way around.

Sailing away from the Pitons, from left to right; Tom, Shannon, Casey, Nick, Bob and Pavia.