Off and Running

I'm reposting this one since the none of the pictures were visible.

Saturday was bittersweet.  We are leaving behind all that is familiar and entering a new phase of our lives.  That was the day that our Grand Adventure began.  The day began drinking coffee in bed as was our usual routine.  Chuck spent quite a few minutes trying to contact Enterprise Rental Cars at the airport to insure that our minivan would be ready for us at noon.  That location is supposed to be opened 27/7, but the calls went to voicemail.  I wanted to get the last load of laundry done and I did manage to get it washed and in the dryer, but didn’t get it folded.  Rip and Kelsey took us to Hartsfield Jackson to get our rental car.  Instead of a Dodge Caravan or Chrysler Town and Country, we got a Chrysler Pacifica.  It was a really nice automobile.  The ride down was great, no problems.  We checked into our hotel and had a Subway sandwich for dinner.  The car had to be turned into Enterprise at the Tampa airport before noon.  Chuck drove it over and caught a shuttle back to the hotel where we took another shuttle from the hotel to the cruise terminal.  We met some wonderful people while standing in line to check into NCL.  Debbie, a British citizen, was born and raised in West Mersea, the site of one of our housesits.  She has given us some great pointers about what to see and do there.

         We visited Key West Monday and took a bike ride with Key Lime Bike Tours.  Captain Craig was a marvelous tour guide.  We both came back a little sunburned (me more so than Chuck) but we learned quite a bit about the history of Key West and had a great time riding bikes.  Thank goodness, Key West is flat! At the end of the trip, we had key lime pie at the Key Lime Pie Shop.  It was amazing.  We also bought Chuck a pair of swim trunks since he forgot to pack his.  We headed back to the Jade, ate a late lunch and too a very long nap, so long, in fact, we missed dinner in the dining room and ended up eating on Deck 12 at the buffet.

Today, Tuesday, we are in Miami.  We’re not going off the ship.  I am sitting on Deck 12 at a table looking at the Miami skyline.  Chuck is in the hot tub, something he really enjoys.  We met a gentleman named Richard Sullivan.  He’s a veteran as is Chuck.  Chuck met him while we were aboard the MSC Davina last September. It’s a long cruise so we’re sure to catch up with him sometime later.  Maybe we’ll see him at dinner one night.

When we leave Miami this afternoon, we will be at sea 6 days before we reach our stop in Portugal.  I probably won’t post again until that time.