December Sea Day

Good morning,

I am sure that image above looks pretty much like other sea day images I have uploaded in the last few months, but there is a big difference.  I have to explain the difference since I can't let you experience it.  It is much cooler in December down here in the Caribbean than it is July and August.

As I walked around the deck, I felt very comfy in a long sleeve t-shirt.

It is just so pretty here that I love spending as much time outside as possible.

 These images were taken while walking around the Promenade Deck, Deck 4.

 This is the sea foam along side the ship.  I just love all the shades of blue.

 

 The day before these images were taken we were supposed to stop at Royal Caribbean's private island, Coco Cay, in the Bahamas, but the weather was too windy to safely tender. 

 So, we had two sea days out here in this beautiful weather South of the Bahamas.  That wasn't a problem for me!  I just love this weather and being out here.

Tomorrow our Port of Call is St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.

Very best,

Lois

Check out more great water images on Watery Wednesday.

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 Wild Sea Turtle Box Swarovski Crystals Hawaiian Green Loggerhead Flatback Hawksbill Box Brown Ocean Tortoise Figurine Certificate of Authenticity

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Poinsettias at Sea

Good morning,

Freedom of the Seas is all decked out for Christmas and even more decorations are being set up as I took these images.  These are all live flowers and make such a fantastic impression when displayed in rows and groups.

These white...

...and red poinsettias line the lighted bridge on the Royal Promenade.

 There are also live poinsettias on every deck, in every hallway, in every venue of the ship.

Just gorgeous!

Very best,
Lois

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 15 inch High Red Potted Christmas Poinsettia Plant

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Christmas and Hanukkah Aboard Freedom of the Seas

Good morning!

We are here!  We are aboard Freedom of the Seas and will celebrate the holidays here.  The decorations are just out of this world and I'll be featuring more of them in the next few days.

There is such a wonderful atmosphere of holiday happiness and joy on board!

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season wherever you are and that you'll stop back for more images of this beautiful season at sea.

Very best,
Lois

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 Merona® Women's Holiday Ornament Cardigan Sweater - Red M

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St. Augustine, FL to Viero, FL - Road Trip and Car Wash

Good morning,

This day we awoke in St. Augustine, Florida, to finish our journey to Viero, Florida, where we will spend our last night before going on board Freedom of the Seas tomorrow morning. 

We arrived a little early at our Hampton Inn and our room wasn't quite ready so we walked through the parking lot to Bob Evans for lunch.  As we crossed the back lot of Bob Evans, we passed a group of high school boys with parents and coaches in the middle of a car wash fund raiser.  We had our lunch, then on the way back made the management decision that our car needed washing.

How could we possibly pass up a $5 hand wash?

We pulled into line and watched the vehicle ahead of us get the initial wash.  A parent or teacher who took our $5 told us the kids were a high school lacrosse team washing cars to earn money for uniforms. 

The young men were a riot!  They danced and played as they washed cars.  The obviously knew some of the customers.

While in line the mascot from out on the highway waving to potential customers came back for a break.  How could you miss this?  How could you not help this group earn money for uniforms?

 Here comes the man with the soapy sponge...

 ...while someone else is in charge of the power washer.

 This how it looks from the inside...

 ...of our soapy car.  :)

 These young folks worked very hard...

 ...to earn $5 per car.

 And then, when washing was complete...

 ..."please pull forward" for the rinse...

 ...then detail...

 ...towel dry.

 As we pulled out and called, "Thank you!" the "Thank YOU!" was called back to us.  We drove around Bob Evans back to our Hampton Inn next door and saw there was plenty more car wash business lined up.

Now for a good night's sleep.  Tomorrow morning we will again go down to the sea to board Freedom of the Seas at Port Canaveral.  I so look forward to Christmas aboard Freedom of the Seas.  I'll surely have pictures of Christmas at Sea to share with you here soon.

Very best,

Lois

Ed note:  Since we are traveling again, my posts are running a few days behind so that I can get to an Internet connection with enough band width to upload images and get pages with images to load.  I take pictures and write every day in Dreamweaver, then upload the posts a few days later when I get the needed Internet connection.  I do have email 24/7 and am thankful for that.  :)   -LAE

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Royal Caribbean Inflatible Ship - Sku 588797-1

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Columbia, SC to St. Augustine, FL - Road trip

 Good morning,

Today we awoke in Columbia, South Carolina, had breakfast at our Hampton Inn, and began our journey to St. Augustine, Florida.  If you've been reading this blog for any period of time you know we like road trips.

We stopped at a South Carolina rest stop, above, and I got a kick out of the many signs.   Above we were warned there are no pets allowed inside the building.  Not a problem, our canine athletes are back in Ohio with daughter Catherine.

At this time of the year, there were no flowers to pick.

And, here is the international sign for "Sit!  Stay!", right?  ;)  Or, maybe it is a sign to canines to walk your humans over there to the left?

Today and yesterday we saw plenty of officers of the law out patrolling the highways and catching those who don't follow the rules. 

We moved into Georgia where the land is flat and there are many, many rivers and creeks in the lowlands.  As we crossed bridges and I tried to get pictures of the water, I got about three fourths of each picture of the guard rail along the highway.  This picture is cropped to get rid of all that concrete. 

We are in the land of Spanish Moss, just West of Savannah, Georgia.  Some trees are covered;  some trees have none at all.

This is another of those areas that is recovering after a fire.

 Here pine trees have been planted in this field of trees that thrived at a different time.

 More Spanish Moss...

 ...creates artistic scenes on branches of dead trees.

 Here we are entering the Sunshine State and the sun greeted us at the border.

 There is still some Fall color here in Northern Florida in December.

 We crossed the bridge at Jacksonville...

 ...and I grabbed an image of the city by shooting in front of My Honey who was driving.

 Soon we were in St.Augustine where we shopped awhile at the huge outlet malls there, had dinner at Cracker Barrel, then retired to our Hampton Inn just at the time warm cookies and coffee were being served in the lobby.

Tomorrow we will make the final leg of our journey to Port Canaveral. 

Very best,
Lois

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A Guide to Historic St. Augustine, Florida 

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Cincinnati, OH to Columbia, SC - Road Trip

Good morning,

Yes, we are on the road again and will soon be back at sea.  These images are of the first leg of our road trip from Cincinnati to Port Canaveral. 

The image above is the new entrance to Xavier University.  Since we literally live around the corner, we have watched the building progress on the campus.  The new entrance is just beautiful.

We started South...

...through downtown Cincinnati....

...and a couple of hours later stopped for brunch in Kentucky.

This trip I was delighted to be able to get pictures of the Kentucky quilt patterns on barns.

I had to do a lot of cropping, but the patterns are visible.

 

 Those images were taken as we were sailing along at 70 mph.

The story behind the Kentucky Quilt Patterns is here.

It has been cold in Kentucky and there was ice frozen on the rocks beside the road. 

We were absolutely delighted to see the State of Tennessee celebrates Christmas.  This image was taken in the new Welcome Center on I75 South.  So beautiful!

 And, here we are approaching the Blue Ridge Mountains again. 

 We had driven from Ohio, through Kentucky and Tennessee, now through North Carolina to South Carolina.

 Here we are passing under the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We had toured the Parkway very recently (pictures here.)

 And, I'll leave you today with an image of the evening sky.  All day had been overcast with what My Honey called "snow clouds." Those clouds cleared just at the end of the day for this beautiful view.

We enjoyed a dinner at the Texas Road House and spent the night in Columbia, South Carolina.

Tomorrow we will travel to St. Augustine, Florida.  I hope you'll join us. :)

Very best,
Lois

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 Columbia, South Carolina: A Postcard History (Postcard History Series)

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