Yes, we are now owners of a dirt house! After selling our house in Maumee in 2014 and living on Day Dreams, our Krogen Trawler for over 8 years we have begun a new adventure. Day Dreams is safe & warm in a heated metal building on dry land in Sandusky, Ohio for the winter. We will live on her from May to October and cruise the Great Lakes. From October to May we will live in our new house. Currently, we are still staying in our apartment downtown St Pete. There are repairs to make on the house which are better done before we move in plus we had to give Camden Pier Apartments 60 day notice.
But first, another cruise to take, this is the one we booked way back pre-COVID that was postponed 2 times. COVID is still going strong, so again we masked while on the ship and dined in our stateroom. Celebrity Equinox took us from Ft Lauderdale to the Caribbean. This ship is older and smaller than the Apex but very nice. Our first day was at sea which we usually enjoy because we tour the ship and find some favorite spots to hang but masking does put a damper on hanging out at any of the bars. Our cabin was in the best location, at the stern of the ship-we love the view, especially because we are spending more time in the cabin. The entertainment was good but the Apex spoiled us because their entertainers were the best we've seen. I went to a Line Dancing Class and a Healthy skin class. On our second day still at sea, we detoured towards Puerto Rico because a crew member needed to be air lifted off the ship and because we were in U.S. waters it was the U.S. Coastguard that assisted in the emergency. The helicopter never landed.
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Our first stop was St Martin, on the Dutch side. The harbor where we docked had a nice boardwalk around a pretty sand beach. We walked around town and on the beach. It was warm enough that we waded into the ocean.
The next day, we stopped in Castries, St Lucia. We walked around the harbor and to the "market" which was a bit scary. We had a lot of locals trying to sell us rides & "stuff". We finally caved and let a guy drive us in his Taxi to the closest beach which was too far to walk. They drive on the opposite side of the car and on the road. The whole area was very congested with cars and people. When we were dropped off at the small beach, we were told there was a Lighthouse up the road. We walked quite a distance uphill to find the Lighthouse closed and unable to even get a view of it. We did hang out on the beach for awhile and again went wading into the ocean. When we returned to the ship, the staff had decorated for Christmas. The decorations looked so pretty and festive.
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Our third stop was Barbados which was clean and felt safer. We walked a bit over a mile to a pretty beach and stopped for a drink at a beach bar. There were lots of Tour Boats in the harbor. We saw more bikes and less cars on this island and the streets were wider and in better shape. I need to make a comment regarding our special arrangement with having dinner in our stateroom on this cruise and last month's cruise. The kitchen staff were excellent! We ordered off the same dinner menu that they offered in the main dining room. We gave them our order over the phone, every evening about 45 minutes before we wanted to eat. Our food would arrive on time, hot and nicely prepared.
Grenada was the next place we docked. We booked an excursion through the cruise line. We were picked up by a van. The streets are very narrow and they drive on the opposite side of the road, of course. We rode up to 1900 feet elevation to their Rain Forest. We hiked with a guide who pointed out Cinnamon, Banana and Nutmeg Trees. Hiked 1.7 miles through Rivers and to the Bamboo Waterfalls. We did see one Monkey on a local's shoulder. That evening on the ship, we attended a Full Moon dance party on the pool deck with live music; we even danced-it was fun.
This was a 10 day cruise with 6 stops. Our fifth stop was to Martinique Island which is French speaking. We had scheduled another excursion to hike in their Tropical Rain forest. This time we were picked up by a nice bus and they drive on the same side of the car and street as the U.S. We rode up to 1,400 feet elevation to a trail along a River with lush foliage and colorful flowers. It was a pretty guided 1.6 mile hike.
Our last stop on this cruise was to Antiqua. It had the nicest shops in town with decent sidewalks. The water in the Harbor was not as pretty as the rest of the islands we have visited. We just walked through the nearby shops. We have enjoyed beautiful weather this whole trip. We did have a bit of rocky seas our first day and last day but that doesn't bother us. Back on the ship, we liked going to the Sunset Bar at the stern & watch the sunset. When we left Antiqua, the Equinox headed back towards Ft Lauderdale which was 1,000 miles away.
Our last 2 days were full days at sea, Doug continued watching the FIFA World Soccer games on the big screen, up on the top deck. Doug didn't worry about wearing a mask because he was outside. It was an outside venue but for the finals, it was crowded bench seating. He had people sitting closely all around him. So close that a woman sitting in front of him, passed out and fell into his lap. He helped her and it took the medical staff 10 minutes to arrive. Obviously, she was ill and should not have been there.
On our day of disembarkation, Doug woke up with a headache & sore throat. By the time we got home, he was feverish, achy and coughing. His throat hurt a lot. We walked across the street from our apartment to CVS and tested him for COVID & Influenza. We performed a COVID home test and both tests were positive. We are sure he caught it while watching soccer with all those people even though he was outside-Darn: we didn't think he needed to mask while outside. We had a FaceTime call with Dr Z and he prescribed steroids, antibiotic and cough medicine. He didn't want to prescribe Paxlovid. Doug gradually improved but his cough lasted most of the month.
I had bought tickets for us to attend a Fever Candlelight Concert @ the Birchwood. I went without Doug. It was a quartet playing Christmas music-I enjoyed it. I walked up to the Rooftop bar to see the Christmas lights in the park. Doug met me while I was walking home.
We met the surveyor for the new fence install, the HVAC guy who checked the duct work under the house, and the Soft Wash team who made the exterior of the house look freshly painted. All the subs we had appointments with showed up: The Painter, ADT Security, flooring, water softener and landscaper. Doug installed a new gutter on the right side of the screen porch. The house has some old termite damage on the exterior and interior so Doug started working on it.
Doug went to Lens Crafters for an exam and new glasses. His pressures were elevated so he was referred to the Eye Institute. On his follow up appointment, his pressures were down from 30 to 20 and the Dr thought the pressures may have been elevated due to the Steroid.
We were supposed to go to Esther's for Christmas Eve/Day but she had to cancel because she came down with COVID. Luckily, I have not caught it yet. So our Christmas was quiet and work related. We spent more time at the house doing chores. Between Christmas and New Year, we were not lonely, because our nephew John & his wife, Christina came to visit. We took a tour boat to Egmont Key for a day with them. On the island is a lighthouse, batteries from Spanish/America War and nice beaches. I felt bad because it was cold some of the days, they were here.
My brother Bob was visiting my brother Tom & his wife Rita in Cape Coral. They drove 2.5 hours to come see us for lunch and a tour of our apartment & house.
Back in Ohio, Hudson & Cheryl were sick @ Christmas, so we all celebrated later & we were with them by Zoom.
For New Year's Eve, we invited Mike and Sue over for dinner. We baked Beef Wellington from Fresh Market. We enjoyed a delicious dinner. After Mike & Sue left, Doug & I went up to the rooftop and sat by the fire pit. There were a bunch of younger people partying. They were all friendly and having a good time. Fireworks were shot off from the water by the Vinoy Park. We could hear the fireworks but not see them because it was too foggy. We went down to our apartment and went out on our balcony and the fog had cleared enough to see the Finale. Happy New Year!
