Wednesday, 3 February, 2016 – Clearwater to Halifax, Charlottetown
Off to the airport – Tampa airport is perhaps the most comfortable that we have seen anywhere. There are comfortable arm chairs, 110v and USB plugs everywhere as well as bar tables and chairs with outlets for comfortable typing on your computer. From Tampa to Toronto and then home.
Anyway, we were to arrive in Charlottetown at 0006h in the morning (after midnight) when the pilot came on the PA and said that we would be landing in Halifax in 20 minutes. The 20 minutes was right, but the airport wrong - kind of disturbing when the pilot doesn't know where he is going! Everybody was looking at each other puzzled. A couple minutes later, he came on the PA and said that he forgot to tell us that Charlottetown was having snow and freezing rain and it was too dangerous to land and the runways were not clear. We ended up refueling in Halifax and sat on the runway until 0210h and the weather had moved off the Island and they salted the runways. We got in at 0230h and home at 0300h! The good news being we grabbed one of the 3 taxis that they send out to the airport for 100 or so people!
Saturday, 6 February 2016
Tuesday, 2 February, 2016 – Clearwater
Tuesday, 2 February, 2016 – Clearwater
Today we took a drive along the Gulf Coast Islands mostly for the scenery and for the nostalgia of our trip of 20 years ago, stopping to walk on the sand. Although it was still beautiful, the traffic was bumper to bumper, crawling around at 30 km/h.
Today we took a drive along the Gulf Coast Islands mostly for the scenery and for the nostalgia of our trip of 20 years ago, stopping to walk on the sand. Although it was still beautiful, the traffic was bumper to bumper, crawling around at 30 km/h.
Monday, 1 February, 2016 – Tampa & Ybor City
Monday, 1 February, 2016 – Tampa & Ybor City
We visited with Don & Betty Patterson who were staying in Ybor City, going out for lunch and then to a café where we just sat and chatted catching up on what has been happening. That evening we decided on a different take for dinner and went to Pete & Shorty's a neighbourhood pub.
We visited with Don & Betty Patterson who were staying in Ybor City, going out for lunch and then to a café where we just sat and chatted catching up on what has been happening. That evening we decided on a different take for dinner and went to Pete & Shorty's a neighbourhood pub.
Sunday, 31 January, 2016 – Tampa - Clearwater
Sunday, 31 January, 2016 – Tampa - Clearwater
After disembarking around 0930h, we picked up our car and drove out to Tarpon Springs, a Greek fishing village 46 km from Tampa. This village was settled by Greeks at the beginning of the previous century, who were sponge divers and came to Florida to harvest the sponges that grow in the area. We had lunch at “Rusty Bellies” which catches, serves and sells its own seafood. Greek is still spoken in the streets and many signs are bilingual, with some also including Spanish. We visited here about 20 years ago with the kids.
That evening we went to Villa Bellini Restaurant for dinner. I had the Saccottini Ciro which is imported pouch-shaped fresh pasta filled with ricotta cheese and black truffles in a light cream sauce with mushrooms. Delicious, but ridiculously rich! Gail had the Cannelloni Tampa Cannelloni filled with chopped spinach, chicken, roasted garlic, mozzarella, ontina, armigiano and ricotta cheeses, topped with a armigiano cream sauce.
After disembarking around 0930h, we picked up our car and drove out to Tarpon Springs, a Greek fishing village 46 km from Tampa. This village was settled by Greeks at the beginning of the previous century, who were sponge divers and came to Florida to harvest the sponges that grow in the area. We had lunch at “Rusty Bellies” which catches, serves and sells its own seafood. Greek is still spoken in the streets and many signs are bilingual, with some also including Spanish. We visited here about 20 years ago with the kids.
That evening we went to Villa Bellini Restaurant for dinner. I had the Saccottini Ciro which is imported pouch-shaped fresh pasta filled with ricotta cheese and black truffles in a light cream sauce with mushrooms. Delicious, but ridiculously rich! Gail had the Cannelloni Tampa Cannelloni filled with chopped spinach, chicken, roasted garlic, mozzarella, ontina, armigiano and ricotta cheeses, topped with a armigiano cream sauce.
Friday, 29 January, 2016 – Pirates of the Caribbean aka Bankers of the Caymans
Friday, 29 January, 2016 – Pirates of the Caribbean aka Bankers of the Caymans
All along I had been planning to say that the reason for the cruise was to visit our money in the Caymans.
We awoke to the rocking and groaning of the ship as it battled high seas. The captain said that the stern of the ship almost came out of the water. There was no way to safely anchor, so we turned into the waves steamed on to Tampa at a reduced speed. This resulted in two lazy sea days rather than the one we had been anticipating. And, to reiterate what we have always said, you can never be bored on ship. There are always several activities going on at the same time. Our complaint is that we never have enough time to do everything we want to do! Deck circuits and gym time also cut into activity time although sometime you think it is a losing battle. Actually it is when you consider the food intake!
All along I had been planning to say that the reason for the cruise was to visit our money in the Caymans.
We awoke to the rocking and groaning of the ship as it battled high seas. The captain said that the stern of the ship almost came out of the water. There was no way to safely anchor, so we turned into the waves steamed on to Tampa at a reduced speed. This resulted in two lazy sea days rather than the one we had been anticipating. And, to reiterate what we have always said, you can never be bored on ship. There are always several activities going on at the same time. Our complaint is that we never have enough time to do everything we want to do! Deck circuits and gym time also cut into activity time although sometime you think it is a losing battle. Actually it is when you consider the food intake!
Thursday, 28 January, 2016 – Ochos Rios, Jamaica, maaaan….
Thursday, 28
January, 2016 – Ochos Rios, Jamaica, maaaan….
We took a took a tour which included a chairlift called the Rainforest Sky Explorer which soars above the rainforest to the top of Mystic Mountain. From there, Ted took the famous bobsled run, 1000 metres, curves at 90 degrees and full throttle all the way, clocking in at 48 km/h. Taking advice from the pit guy, Ted put his hat on backwards and it stayed on – unfortunately, the same could not be said for his sun glasses that are probably still in the rainforest! (or being sold to other tourists) After the run, the pit guy said that with the speed I was doing, I could have hit 80 km/h on a rainy day!
We then checked out the gift shop (there is always a gift shop) and the hummingbird sanctuary which is home to some 48 species of hummingbirds.
Then it was back to the chairlift and off to Dunn's River Falls – the famous falls that descends 55 m over 183 m. It was featured in the James Bond Movie “Dr. No”. The movie included the well-known scene of Ursula Andress walking out on Dunn’s River beach. Ursula was not there, but there were quite a few good stand-ins.(:-) Ted climbed the falls – somewhere a bit over an hour in a human chain. Fortunately, the chain was not very good – chain means everyone falls over if one person falls. You must wear water shoes to ensure grip and be fairly agile. The waterfalls is surprisingly swift, although I could not find out the speed. There are pools in several places which are a metre or less in depth which give you a bit of respite in 26+C water! Take that PEI!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)