J & P: One if by Land, Two if by Sea!

We are so sick. It has been a few days since our return from the lands of warm breezes and we are experiencing some major karmic payback as a truly horrible flu has claimed Team Helios. From our bed, in our jammie's, here is a report from happier times.

By Land,
Our journey took us south to the great state of Florida. As you may know, James' home state is nicknamed the "Sunshine State". We took a lovely picture as we started our trip.


I'm beginning to think it has something to do with us.

After traveling at 5 knots by water for days on end, it was interesting to go for nine hours at speeds upwards of 80 MPH. This is fun. Maybe a speed boat would be better for us?
....Blasphemy says she!

Finally, we reached our second home, Disney World. On Main Street USA, we found a mode of transportation that is actually slower then sailing.

.
Horse Carriage.


Of course, it did come with it's own quartet.

Call me silly, but everything seems to be better at Disney. We wandered around the place; ate a little, drank a little, saw some dwarf's, you know the usual. I figured that since we were off the boat for a while I would pick up a few things that we could use when we are sailing.


First, I needed a sword. Damn thing was stuck.


Always good to have a little protection from pirates.

The characters that you see at Disney can vary wildly. For instance, these two seem to pop up everywhere we go.

Sleepy and Happy. :-)

No, it was Bob and Ann, fresh from south Florida and looking for the magic. Bob did find a great job opportunity for his retirement years.


Bwana Bob's. Need a bracelet?

Later that day we went down to the pool and relaxed. I have to say that when Bob lets his ponytail down he really lets it down.


He took that blanket everywhere.

The week came to a close and we enjoyed our time with Bob and Ann. We had a nice dinner and the next morning we parted ways. They were off to breakfast with family and we were off to the islands. Carnival cruise lines here we come.

By Sea,
We got to Port Canaveral and boarded our new ride. Our ship was the Sensation. We found a ticket on-line for a crazy low price so we could not resist. We had the cheapest cabin on board. Even with bunk beds we felt that we had a great deal. I don't want to say it was no frills, but when they woke me up at midnight, I thought it was for the buffet.


Buffet my butt. Man that was hot.

But I think Pat got the worst deal with the entertainers.


All the college drama classes really paid off.

The first stop was Freeport. After a short van ride to the beach, we had finally made it to the Bahamas. We got a drink, put our toes in the sand and watched the tourist run amok. If you thought that black socks and sandals were a myth, you would be wrong. But to be fair, my feet do tend to get burned. :-) We stayed on the beach about an hour and managed to resist the temptation of a nice Bob Marley shirt on the way back to the ship.

We sailed at 1600 and headed for Nassau. We were to arrive in the morning and stay overnight. We arrived at sunrise and after I got the coal dust out from under my nails we went ashore searching for Elvis. If you ever go to Nassau, take the local buses called Jitneys. They cost a dollar and they are full of interesting locals. Just happy people on island time. Maybe they have a good idea here?

The view from the top deck of the ship is always nice in Nassau. The place that we went to last time we were here was blown away by one of the hurricanes, so we hit the pool and did some sun bathing.


An old America's Cup Yacht


We scoped out this hotel for our next port visit. It was quite nice.


I have always loved this house across from the Ship docks.

As you can see, the Bahamas are as beautiful as ever. We had a great time and the ship was an interesting mix of folks from all walks of life. They say that the people on a cruise ship fit into three categories:

The Newly Wed
The Over Feed
The Nearly Dead.
Not sure where we fit in but we did eat a lot. :-)

We even went to an auction on board and bought a nice water color by Linda LeKinff. She is a french artist that is still alive and painting in Paris.


One Single Rose

Now if we just had a place to hang it we would be in business. We may need to buy a gallery if this keeps up.

That brings us to a close for now. Our next adventure will start in February when we backpack Europe. We are starting in Germany and ending in France. Just a couple of kids seeing the world before they start their lives. Kids with gray hair, but kids none the less. Oh, and Elvis still seems to be keeping one step ahead of us. But we're trying.

Cheers,

J & P

Pat and Jim: Life in the Carolinas

Hey Y'all. It has been a long 10 days since our last post. We have slid into a much easier mode of life here in rural North Carolina. The new year finds us at Sandy and Dan's house with the opportunity to catch up on our daytime television, plan trips, paint, read and of course, play golf.

Here are a few tips we have learned in the last week:
* If Maury, Montel or anyone with a Judge in front of their name sends you an invitation to appear on their show. For the love of all things holy, do not go, it will not be good news.
* Do not start watching the series "Battlestar Galactica" in the afternoon. You will regain consciousness two days later wondering if Gaius Baltar really is a Cylon.
* And don't get me started on the bad effects of 6 back-to-back Iron Chef America shows.

Other important milestones since our last entry:
* The movers came and delivered the household goods shipment. We unpacked a mountain of stuff and started settling into our temporary garage apartment. Send a note if you need any cardboard boxes.
* The Raymarine folks are coming out next week to take away the autopilot course computer for a complete factory evaluation and exorcism. We think that may solve our problems. Light a candle.
* We have planned two trips to keep ourselves busy during this layup. Our land yacht "Old Blue" is gassed up and ready for our first trip down the concrete Intercoastal Highway known as I-95. When things change we find that a little time at the Magic Kingdom will fix just about anything. Yes, Pat and Jim are headed to Disney. Call the media.
* Kevin came to visit from Virginia and we had a nice round of golf. The courses here are in terrific shape and we both shot just a little under par. Then we solved world peace and got Cher to do a final concert tour. Needless to say, if I am going to be ready for the Senior's Tour in 8 years I had better practice. Then we had a great meal and debated the problems of the world in the living room by the fire. Next morning Kevin slipped away under the cover of darkness to return to the land of 2 hour commutes and monuments. Nice to see you Kev.
* That reminds me, Jim did manage to turn 42 years old on New Years Eve and we celebrated by being asleep when the ball dropped. I guess that Paris Hilton club scene is going to have to get along without us. Sorry Paris, kiss kiss...

We hit the road on Saturday and are looking forward to seeing Mickey and the gang again. My mom will be happy to see us and I believe Bob and Ann are going to do another Harpoon Missile vacation strike on Orlando. You two are the king and queen of jet setting.

So you are almost up to date with all our plans and schemes. We will take many pictures and do lots of posts when we get a decent signal. This life in the country can be hell on an Internet connection. We also felt that a change in the blog title would be appropriate. When life gives you lemons, you just have to make Eggs Benedict. See what watching too much Iron Chef will do to you?

Cheers,

P & J