February 21-28 – Our last week of winter vacation was spent in Florida. Because neither of us had been south the Key West, we decided to do a three day trip to ‘the Keys’, which turned out to be most interesting. Accommodation is very expensive in this neck of the woods, so the first night in Marathon was spent in a budget motel…not our usual standard. It’s only redeeming feature was that the TV service included the golf channel! Lucy’s, next door, was a great place for breakfast and lunch.

A visit and tour of the Turtle Hospital was very interesting. Turtles throughout Florida have contracted the papilloma virus which causes ugly growths both internally and externally. If they can catch them early enough the external ones can be surgically removed with laser and the turtle can be rehabilitated. If not, the virus often spreads to the turtle’s internal organs which eventually causes death. Of course, there are many other dangers lurking for turtles including boat propellers and plastic fishing line. Some of the turtles have what they call “bubble butt” caused by an injury to their shell that results in air pockets under the shell. This prevents the turtle from being able to dive for food. These turtles can’t be rehabilitated since the only treatment is to velcro weights (back end of this turtle) to the shell to counteract the buoyancy caused by the bubble. The weights often have to be changed as the turtle grows.

Key West is a delightful little place similar to Niagara on the Lake in the summer. It was absolutely buzzing with a cruise ship in port each day we were there, lots of street entertainers, a sundown celebration in Mallory Square each evening, and restaurants and pubs on every corner….and lots in between! It has the largest collection of wooden houses in North America, and while one would think that given it’s maritime climate, humidity would be a problem, they suggested on our tour that most of the wood was reclaimed from old sailing ships. Given that the builders were mariners, they built the houses without the use of nails so that rust and rot would not be a problem. The only concession, given a big fire in the late 1800s, is that every building in Key West must be metal…no shingles allowed.

 

Our accommodation was in a B&B called the Pilot House and we highly recommend it as a reasonably priced option given that it is in walking distance of just about everything. During the two days we were there, we toured both Hemingway’s home and the Truman Little White House.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last three days of our vacation were spent at Lantana, a nondescript town wedged between upscale Boca Raton, Del Mar and West Palm Springs. Our only reason for staying there was that it was a reasonable driving distance to the Honda Classic PGA tournament that we attended on the Thursday. Friday was spent running last minute errands, including checking out why my computer had died and trying out the bank machine to ensure funds were available from our new US – US$ account. The latter effort was a follow-up to one of the most difficult, time-consuming banking transactions we’ve ever participated in!

Arrived home safely to find two elves (J&S) visiting for the night – thinking that we weren’t returning until the next day. Should always read mom’s emails Jenn!

February 7-10
Since there isn’t reasonably priced and reliable internet on the ship, I decided to just write the blog as we go along and upload it to WordPress later when we arrive back in Florida. I can understand not having internet at sea but I would think it should be reasonably simple to provide it when docked in port. Everyone is running around town seeing if they can find a hot spot! I found a Starbucks this morning and downloaded my messages, responded to the three most urgent and then ran to catch our bus. Enough of that!
Our cruise has gone very well so far. After the obligatory safety drill, we pulled out of San Diego just as the sun was setting. The first two days were spent sailing from there to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. There are always lots of things to do on the ship – cooking classes, kitchen tours, eating, walking, swimming, sleeping, and reading a good book. We’ve done all of this and more. The entertainment crew is excellent and we were treated to two great musical shows the first two nights. Last night was a comedian – Deryck Cameron from Los Angeles. He’s a big black guy and was very funny; no bad words, no off-colour jokes and best of all, Rob Ford even made it into his show.
Today we did the Taste of Mexico tour which included a walking tour of Puerto Vallarta and then a visit to a real Mexican restaurant where they taught us (hands on!) how to make salsa, guacamole, tostados and enchiladas. Of course we got to eat the things we made and were presented with a cooking certificate at the end. I always thought of Puerto Vallarta as a big place, but in fact it is quite small and has really only become a tourist destination since the filming of Night of the Iguana. The walking tour included the obligatory stop at the Opal Shop, but I don’t think any of us bought anything. They were certainly prepared though with almost as many salespeople as tourists.

 

 

Dinner tonight was a most fascinating experience. George and I chose open seating so that we can meet other people. Our dinner companions tonight were the protestant (Episcopalian) pastor and his wife (a paralegal), and a Jewish lawyer & his wife from Montreal. So much for never talking religion or politics at the dinner table! The conversation just flowed and we were all disappointed when it was time to leave.
February 11-12
Wednesday was another day at sea as we sailed from Puerto Vallarta to Huatulco. We spent a quiet day listening to the port talks for Guatemala and Nicaragua, doing a bit of laundry, reading and eating. The entertainment was Juan Carlos Pablo, a Cuban classical pianist. He put on an excellent program including many favourites (the Typewriter Song and the Flight of the Bumblebee) and one or two of his own compositions. His commentary was quite humourous and added to the presentation.

Thursday morning we arrived in Huatulco, Mexico, a return trip for me since Barb and I were here some 20 years ago for a week. Wow, what a change! The restaurant – Ver del Mar – down at the beach, that we visited while waiting for a guide to return us to our hotel, is still there. The beachside church is still there, as well, although it is now a permanent building. The pier is new, as is a lagoon for small boats and all the stores surrounding the beach. The Mueva Hotel (one of only two resorts) where we stayed is gone but there are now 5 five-star hotels and 24 four-star hotels in Huatulco. We found it to be a very friendly, clean city and our guide said it is now the best place to come in Mexico – virtually no crime, and still quite undeveloped (ie – no Walmart or Sams Club as in Puerto Vallarta).

Our tour today was called Tropical Flowers and Fruit Extravaganza. We drove up into the mountains about 35 minutes to an organic farm called Hagia Sofia. It is being developed by a man from Lebanon and includes tropical flowers from all over the world and fruit trees of every description. While not all the plants were in bloom – the best time to visit is November and December after the rainy season – there was enough colour for us to enjoy the walking tour. Many of the trees were just developing their next crop including mango, limes, papaya, avocados, and others. When we returned to the entrance area, two Mexican women had quesadillas ready for us and we were also able to sample mango and jackfruit from the farm. Our guide, Omar, lived in Toronto for 11 years working as a framer in the construction industry. He spoke excellent English and took us on a little side trip so we could see the harbour area from above.

The entertainer tonight was Colleen Williamson, a soprano, who sang tunes from old-time musicals. She did a great job considering we are experiencing our first “rough” seas – normal in this area – and standing still requires great effort. We should be through this area soon and the captain reports that calm seas should return by midnight.

February 13
Because of the delay in leaving Mexico (getting clearance from the authorities) and the rough seas, we were quite late arriving in Guatemala. The port is at Puerto Quuetzal, which is actually the cargo port, but there is nothing within about a 90-minute drive. We went by bus to the colonial capital of Antigua and arrived just before 1pm. Since we hadn’t had lunch, George and I went to the old convent which is now a very nice restaurant. Mother would have approved of the lovely white table cloths!

We hired a local guide, Monolo, to provide a walking tour of the city and visited a number of sites including the Arch of Santa Catalina, La Merced Church and Monastery, El Carmen Crafts Market and St. Charles University. Antigua was the second capital during colonial (Spanish rule) times but was destroyed in the 1800s by an earthquake. We also visited a Jade Museum, which was quite interesting. My two favourites were the lilac and light green jade colours. Unfortunately, we had both left the Visa card in the room safe – so alas no purchases! It was dark when we arrived back at the ship and we were both pretty tired.

February 14
Saturday morning we docked in Corinto, Nicaragua. This too is the cargo port, so again we had a fairly long drive to reach the tourist area. Originally, we were scheduled to visit a school where the children were going to play musical instruments and perform for us. The tour was cancelled because the teachers were away on retreat, so we decided to have a light day and just do a four hour tour. The tour took us to Leon, another colonial town, which we toured with our guide, Bosco. We visited the second largest/busiest cathedral in the country and climbed 53 stairs to the roof where we had a panoramic view of the city. After a quick drink in a local restaurant, we boarded the bus to return to the ship. In both cases – Guatemala and Nicaragua – the long bus drives allowed us to learn a lot about the two countries. Both are relatively new to the tourist industry and are very keen to encourage visitors to return.

 

 

February 15
Sunday morning, after church service, we docked in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Although we’d been in Costa Rica a number of years ago, this port is quite a bit south of where we stayed so the territory was all new. We decided to go to a botanical garden up in the mountains called Pura Vida – good life. Our guide was a young woman, Katryn, just newly married, who did an excellent job of keeping the thirteen of us engaged in conversation when our van experienced a flat tire along the way. It took about 45 minutes for the van driver to get the lug nuts off and get the new tire in place. We all stayed in the van with the air conditioning on while he sweated away outside. We gave him a round of applause when he returned to the van. The gardens, again a private sanctuary, were quite beautiful and the view of the bay below was stunning. After returning to the ship we enjoyed a barbeque-dinner around the pool with two women from BC.

February 16
Monday was a day at sea so I registered for a cooking class in the Culinary Arts Centre. There were only six of us that showed up (six paid but didn’t come!) so we worked in pairs on three different dishes. At least two of them George and I can use in future for our gourmet dinners. After we were done, they treated us to lunch in the Pinnacle Grill, where we were served the three different dishes – made in the ship’s kitchen. Guests are not allowed to eat anything made in the Culinary Art Centre. The entertainer on Monday night was Den West, a string player from Nashville. During the course of 45 minutes he played six different stringed instruments including guitars, banjo and Hawaiian steel guitar. Quite a talent!

February 17
Tuesday was our big day of going through the Panama Canel. We were up at 5:45am to see the sunrise from the upper deck, enjoy a Panama Roll (a specialty of Holland America) and watch as we began our 48-mile trip through the canal. We arrived at the first lock about 7:30am. They brought a commentator on board, which was very helpful to understand what we were seeing and how the locks actually work. When you realize that the canal is over 100 years old and much of the infrastructure is still the same (and working!), it really is an engineering marvel. Because it was a very hot, sunny day, we spent most of our morning on deck 6 which afforded us loungers in the shade and an eye-level view of what was happening at each lock. A medical evacuation from our ship delayed us by about 45 minutes at the second lock. In the afternoon, we camped out in our stateroom and watched much of the proceedings on our television, in between naps. The entertainment tonight was Noche Caliente, a high-energy, colourful musical production with a Latin American theme.

February 18
Today, Wednesday, was George’s birthday and we have avoided balloons on the door! Our port-of-call was Cartagena, Columbia. We chose not to do any of the shore excursions since the reviews were not very complimentary. We spent mostly a quiet day doing laundry and spending time by the pool while the majority of people were ashore. I went out for a walk to the welcome centre to see the animal sanctuary and take pictures of the birds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the evening, we had dinner at the Pinnacle Grill – a steakhouse that had been transformed to be a replica of La Cirque in New York. It turned out to be a four-course meal which included a Chateaubriand that was probably the best we had ever tasted. George declared his meat absolutely perfect! They brought a birthday cake and the waiters sang happy birthday, but we arranged for the cake to be kept for tomorrow at lunch since we didn’t want to miss the desert included on the menu. In fact, desert was delayed for 15 minutes because my chocolate soufflé didn’t turn out and cook had to make another one! Because dinner took longer than normal, we skipped the entertainment and just went back to our stateroom.

February 19 – 21
Thursday and Friday were sea-days. George participated in a 5km walk to raise funds for cancer research while I went to a cooking demonstration by the Executive Chef who is retiring. He has been with Holland America for 23 years and was reduced to tears when his whole team joined him on stage for a few minutes at the beginning of the show. His able assistant was a young Aussie who did many of the other demonstrations earlier in the cruise. They were quite a fun team with lots of kibitzing about, which helped to lighten the mood after the tearful start.

It really is amazing how time passes so quickly, even when you aren’t doing much. It often felt like we were heading off to another meal having just eaten the last one!

The entertainment on Thursday evening was probably the best of the cruise. It was a classical musical production by two of the regular entertainers who just happen to be engaged. His name is Jonathan Bragg, a wonderful tenor from Dallas. Her name is Emily West, a soprano from Calgary. We’re not sure if they knew each other before signing on with Holland America or not but their obvious romantic relationship definitely added to the presentation. Their rendition of Oh Danny Boy reduced me to tears and others mentioned similar reactions to some of the Italian love songs. The standing ovation went on for many minutes at the end and I heard the next day that a number of people went back for the second show.

The entertainment on Friday was in two parts. In the afternoon the Filipino crew did their show and in the evening Dancing With the Stars at Sea took centre stage. Each day the stars (entertainment crew) taught a different dance and then six people were chosen or volunteered to be contestants on the show in the evening to perform one dance with one of the stars. It really was great fun – especially the judges commentary – with the youngest contestant winning first prize and representing the Veendam at a Holland America-wide contest at Disneyland later this year. She has a chance to win a Grand Cruise!

Well, Saturday has come all to soon and it is hard to believe that it was two weeks ago that we began this journey. It’s been wonderful and relaxing, and we’ve met so many interesting people. Due to heavy seas and strong winds we were three hours late arriving in Fort Lauderdale so it was early afternoon before we disembarked. We’re now in a hotel in Florida City ready to begin the last leg of our journey to the Keys and then back to the north side of Fort Lauderdale to see our golf buddies again.

There’s not much to report on our travels today (Thursday) since they were pretty much a repeat of yesterday – desert, lush valleys and mountainous terrain. Our route took us to Palm Springs, a popular winter tourist destination given that the sun shines here on average 360 days of the year and it is usually warmer than the coastal area. Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indian Wells and Palm Desert Hot Springs are four communities carved out of the desert – almost like an oasis. You travel from one community to the next, seamlessly, although there are some distinctions mostly in the types of shops and how many gated communities there are. Palm Springs is for the rich and famous!

Fred Pamenter had given us two recommendations for restaurants so we found the first – Café des Beaux-Arts and settled on their patio for lunch. We particularly enjoyed the fact that they had to give a phonetic description of how to say their name. I guess there aren’t too many francophones in California. The other restaurant he recommended was a seafood restaurant called Pacifica. We noticed in the CAA travel book that there was also an outlet in Del Mar where we were headed. When we arrived at our hotel we asked the front desk assistant to make a reservation for dinner.  We were surprised by a prime table by the window overlooking the sea (too dark to see!) and the main street of this quaint little town. Great evening!

Today was golf day. We headed off about 10am to Torrey Pines in the hotel shuttle. This is certainly a no-stress way to get back and forth. The driver dropped us off right at the entrance and picked us up in the same spot for the return trip home. As some may know Torrey Pines is actually two public courses – one north and one south. They use both of them the first two days of the tournament but only the larger south course on the last two days. We decided to just walk the south course, which we did starting at the 18th hole and working our way backwards. The views are spectacular with some of the holes very close to the cliffs overlooking the water. As we were standing watching at the third green a hang glider floated by…a bit of a distraction for the golfers, but I guess many of them are used to it. We were surprised at the few public bleachers available and many of the holes did not have good viewing areas for people to even stand around the greens. Corporate America has taken over the PGA, I’m afraid!

Dinner tonight was at a popular Mexican restaurant in the next little town north. It seemed strange since most of the restaurant was below ground in a sort of cave-like setting. The fajitas were good but quite different from what we’re used to.

Off to bed! Tomorrow will be a big day.

In order to avoid Los Angeles and all its busy freeways, we took the long way around – through the San Bernadino valley and across the Mojave dessert. While much of the drive was somewhat boring, we did find some interesting tidbits along the way. Through the valley we saw mile after mile of vineyards and wineries. This is a newly developing wine region of California and will probably rival Napa and Sonoma. Then we passed through hundreds of acres of almond groves – assuming that’s the collective term for a group of almond trees. On both sides of the road for as far as you could see there were neat rows of trees. Having seen all those trees, I don’t understand why almonds are so expensive. The next section was orange trees – so many that you could smell the oranges in the car! Big open spaces taken up with large industry.

There were a few other interesting things about today:

• we passed the corner where James Dean was killed in a car accident in 1955
• we passed Edwards Air Force Base (really in the middle of nowhere)
• we went through the town where Merle Haggard (musician/songwriter) was born
• we kept the tradition of dinner at the Olive Garden at least once while in the US

Sorry, no pictures today. The camera stayed in the car.

Today (Feb 3rd) was a day of winding roads, mountains and seascapes. We began by taking the most crooked street in the world. We’ve now seen the steepest in Dunedin, New Zealand, and travelled the hairpin turns of Lombard Street in San Francisco.

This was followed by about 8 hours of mountainous twisting roads as we made our way south on Highway 1 along the shores of the Pacific. The vistas are spectacular and one can’t help but pull over every few miles to take in the panoramic views.

We did the 17 mile drive around Pebble Beach, checking out Spyglass Hill and the Links at Spanish Bay (two golf clubs used in the AT&T Pro Am). Spanish Bay is right out at the ocean with lots of long grass (maybe sea oats) along the verge. We have Canadian Geese on our golf courses…they had deer! We presume they’re there to keep the grass at a moderate level. We stopped at Pebble Beach Golf Club for a brief visit and were warmly welcomed in to visit the club house. They are setting up for the Pro Am next week, so much of the golf club was off limits. We did take a walk down the road and got to visit the picturesque 17th hole. We stopped to chat with a golfer and decided afterwards it was probably Peter Jacobson.

The road from Pebble Beach down to San Simeon is quite something. Fortunately, there wasn’t much traffic in either direction and the weather was beautiful and sunny. We watched the sun set about 20 miles north of the Hearst Castle and then finished the last few miles in the dark. We would like to have visited the Castle, having seen pictures that David and Suad took on a recent visit, but time just doesn’t permit. Maybe next visit! We stopped in the little town of Morro Bay for dinner. The place was like a ghost town – obviously not their high season. We’ve tried to book at Holiday Inns whenever possible, so as to maximize our points. Tonight’s hotel was just out of San Luis Obispo, but we had to stop twice to ask for directions. I joked with the guy at the desk that it has to rank as the hardest Holiday Inn to find! The directions on their website didn’t include instructions when coming from the north on Highway 1, so it was a bit confusing. We’re now safely ensconced in our room with a fireplace (in California?) and George is sound asleep, having watched the CBC news.

For those who are snowed in, I had hoped to include a little movie of the surf at Pebble Beach, but alas WordPress can’t do that. More research required!