Blogs from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, North America

We arose early, as usual. We headed out about 7:30am. Today would be a longer day. About 35-40 miles to the anchorage at Lake Sylvia in Ft Lauderdale. Today would bring many bascule bridges (some on a schedule and some "on-demand"). Unfortunately, more were on a schedule that we had difficulty meeting with a slower boat, heavy tides/current and odd schedules. We ended up waiting anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes for a couple of the 21 bridges. Our departure from the anchorage in Lake Worth, took us past Palm Beach inlet. We encountered our first container ship coming into port (many Tropical containers aboard). This area has a LOT of money. I took just a couple shots of the yachts that hung along the waterway! All in all, it was a nice day. We arrived ... read more

Today is the last day of our vacation and this is the last update to the blog. In summary, we had an uneventful day which was just what we wanted. The Crown Princess arrived in Ft Lauderdale’s Everglade’s Cruise Terminal about 5:00 this morning. By 5:30 they were making announcements to have people report to the terminal and begin processing through US Immigration. Except this was a “crew only” announcement. The ship has been away from the US for a long time and the rules (maybe new ones – who knows?) say that all the crew needs to clear US Immigration. Since they were also needed to help passengers with our needs, they had to get ashore early so they could get back to work before we the passengers tried to leave the ship. We got ... read more

It's 72 degrees, and Stasa keeps apologizing for how cold it is. Ha! Stasa made us an amazing breakfast spread of fresh fruit and coffee. We visited with her boyfriend, Esteban, and then we headed to the beach. When we arrived, a breeze was coming off the ocean and really did make it feel kind of chilly. We decided it might not be a good day for a swim after all, and so we went to some of the shops to get beach toys for Grace. We played in the sand. Grace was scared of the water at first, but eventually she ran into the ocean up to her ankles. Ft Lauderdale Beach has a few photo ops for people, including a giant sand snowman and a cute picture frame. So, we might not have been ... read more

Schmoozing, bluesing & cruising with those Darn Dangerous Binkleys Part 1: Dave was not "Dangerous" then. It started about three years ago...getting emails we've got to meet...suggesting we meet at a music festival...somewhere...as long as it's sometime. Was from those darn Binkleys...an American couple that like to travel to Morocco for breakfast...Iceland for brunch...Vienna for lunch...and Napa Valley for wines with salads for crunch. Yet we live in the land of Oz which is NOT another state of USA. There was M.J. a.k.a. Merry Jo...definitely one of the friendliest folk on TB. She contacted me in my first year on TB encouraging me to write stories to go with my photos. And so I checked her out. Yeh...heaps of blogs...heaps of Followers And in all the pics of her...she was hanging off this guy called Dave. ... read more

When we woke up in the middle of the night to severe storms with lots of lighting, thunder and hard rain (and a very scared 6 month old puppy!), we didn't think the first day of our trip was starting off so well. However, at day break the sun was peaking through the clouds and we felt sure that today would be a good one - which, indeed, it was. When I actually woke up, I was filled with an incredible sense of gratitude for many things: 1) that we have the resources to make this trip possible; 2) that Bowen and I are both healthy enough to make this trip together; 3) that my mother (aka Gaga) has recovered so well; and 4) that our kids, grandkids, and extended familes are doing well. The, as ... read more