It was a good week!.

March, apparently, came in like a lamb, so of course had to leave like a lion. Monday brought about 15 cms/6 inches of snow. With my bum knee, D chose to do the shovelling on her own. She went out four times throughout the day, clearing as much as possible as it fell. I was very appreciative of her efforts. (And know Doug, it wasn't an April Fool's joke.)

Before much of the snow had fallen, we dropped Eli at school and then on to pick up a few groceries and her prescriptions at the pharmacy. On the way back to the house she snapped the first photo I posted this Wordless Wednesday. The highway between here and the next town over (NTO) was a mess according to the teachers who had travelled in that morning. Visibility was low and even here in town it wasn't great. 

Tuesday morning, though, we woke to sunshine. Just last week the photo I posted on Wednesday, the snow around the firepit had started to disappear. In this week's photo, it's nearly covered. Melting did occur throughout the day and continued the rest of the week and the fire pit is once again visible. 

When I'd picked up groceries last week, I'd bought a small 12 pound turkey on sale (Easter pricing I assume); at $2.49/lb. it was a good deal. On Tuesday I cooked it up and we got mounds of meat from that bird - two dinner plates full! After a turkey dinner that evening, D made up fried rice and turkey for the next evening, and we packed up several packages for lunch meat and other meals. I also boiled up the carcass for broth. I'm planning to make up some soup, but we'll also use some of it as a treat for the cats. They do like broth over their food too! #spoiled cats - not in the least. :p

After dropping Eli off after lunch, we headed over to the thrift and discount store. I have not heard anything about volunteering at the thrift store as yet, but I'm not in any hurry. D picked up some toddler jackets for her friend S, who is expecting her first boy in August. They range in size from 12-24 months, so it will be awhile before S can use them. But the jackets were barely worn, and at $3 for 4 pieces (a t-shirt was added), she couldn't go wrong. She also found a pair of dress boots for herself.

I certainly didn't need anything and for a change, I didn't buy anything. Since we had time before picking up Eli (he attends until 2 p.m.) we stopped at the local hardware store. Besides some garden seeds, I purchased a Christmas gift for Eli. He truly enjoys Lego, and there was a set marked down 40%. It will stay in the closet until the fall, when I'll wrap it up before I head south for the winter. 

Both D and I had gone through our clothing items and had a couple of bags to donate, along with some household items including two casual art pieces, a sun lamp, and a small vacuum. We decided to drive over to the NTO to Value Village on Wednesday. I also needed to buy a keyboard for my laptop as it has a bad habit of not allowing me to type w and s. Oddly, enough while I was writing this post, that sticky problem never happened. A quick stop at Dollarama (my daughter's favorite store) and at Walmart for a few sale items, we were on our way home in time to unload the car before Eli was finished school for the day. He stays for lunch on Wednesday as his "Big Brother" hangs out with him at lunch. N is currently in Grade 11 so the two will have another year before he heads off to university.

I spent Thursday morning prepping and doing a bit of cooking. Baked pasta with meat sauce was on the menu for dinner so I pre-cooked the pasta, and put together the meat sauce using spicy Italian sausage and some leftover tomato basil soup. An easy meal! I also mixed ground beef and pork together for hamburger patties for the freezer, and baked a meatloaf. In addition, I got the turkey broth into freezer bags, and a small jar for the fridge. 

The men's World curling continued through the week. Thursday was the last two round robin draws. The Canadian team had lost two games earlier in the week but were in the playoffs, in third place. To go ahead in the standings, they needed to win both games and get a little help from the Czechia, who would need a win over Scotland. The day ended with Canada in 3rd place, which meant they would play in the qualifier on Friday morning against Italy. 

It was a tight game, but Canada prevailed and went on to face Scotland in the semi-final in the afternoon. The teams were tied up after 5 ends with 5 to go. Matt Dunstone, the Canadian skip had not been playing his best and my nerves were on edge. But in the final ends he and the team came together and pulled ahead of Scotland. On to the gold medal game! They will face Niklas Edin of Sweden. Edin has won the championship seven times in his career, so will be a formidable opponent. In fact Canada lost to Sweden earlier in the week. I'll still be cheering....Go Canada Go! 

In between the draws, D (mostly) and I put together a new cabinet for our office/craft room. We both have a lot of craft material and equipment. Since we'd moved in, the printer had sat on top of an old end table the next door neighbour had given us. While it held the paper for the printer, it wasn't useful as storage and took up a fair amount of floor space. I had ordered the cabinet shortly after I returned, and it arrived on Thursday. After some false starts and a few blue words, we managed to put it together in a couple of hours...with a few breaks to separate corners.

That sparked a sorting and tidying frenzy. Several bags of donations were separated from the items we know we will use in the future. A number of items were also tossed in the garbage and the space in the cabinet was filled. I went back to watch the second game, while D kept on sorting her vinyl and paper scraps. I'm thrilled with the progress and hopeful that I'll be able to get at my sewing machine and catch up on some mending projects soon.

Today, I'll be watching both the bronze and gold medal games, while working on one of my knitting projects. It is nearing completion and I hope to have a photo next week of the finished project. D and Eli are planning a trip to the local theater for "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie". 

Finally, while there is potentially more snow in the forecast for later this week, we are definitely seeing melting. Hooray!

Have a great week ahead, everyone!

To Christmas and beyond!

Is anyone ever really ready for Christmas? I thought I was, but I didn't count on my daughter's list of things to do. For a number of years she has put together gift bags for young children or donated to the Food Bank, sometimes both. This year she decided her gift would be to make Christmas special for the four children next door. If you recall, they live with their father, who is pretty much useless as far as I can tell. Their mom left around Christmas last year and has been living apart from the family since then. We did see her there a couple of times in the summer but D says she hasn't been back recently.

In any event, D feels/knows that Eli is a very fortunate child and the children next door are not. She made up t-shirts for them ($ store tees) with transfers she purchased from Temu. We went through the craft room and found a number of items that we aren't using that kids would enjoy. In addition, D had a number of toys in the "gift" closet - she picks these items up throughout the year, usually at a deep discount and tucks them away. Sometimes they are gifts for friend's birthdays, occasionally as a reward for Eli, and often for the Christmas donations. Then she and I picked up a few other items to add to the children's gift, including a game for all four to play, toiletries, tiaras for the girls and colouring books or pad of paper. She even made fairy wands for the youngest twin girls. Can you imagine the excitement the children felt?

In addition, she went through the pantry and selected some items for a couple of meals. The school social worker dropped of a box of food for Christmas dinner but they would need more to get through the holiday season. D did a lot of baking this year, and put together a container for our other next door neighbours as well. 

I'm not sure I've mentioned R & K before. They are an older First Nations couple and absolutely wonderful neighbours. They take care of the yard (unlike the previous tenants) and R brought over blueberries and strawberries during the summer. D made blueberry jam from the latter, and we used that to fill the mini cheesecakes, so good! Since the recent snow fall, he has come over and shovelled the front sidewalk and he even cleared out the space where D keeps the garbage and recycling bins. They are often away as R is an elder and provides his knowledge and support to various bands. K is very quiet, and I haven't had a chance to chat with her yet but she always has a smile on her face. 

On Christmas Eve day, I wrapped gifts for the children - each got a personally curated box, the game was wrapped separately, and the craft items were divided into two containers based on age. I also baked a package of gingerbread, D and I filled thumbprint cookies and mini cheesecakes, and she baked a batch of buns and French bread. Half of the buns went to the family next door. By mid-afternoon we had the containers filled and we took a break before delivering the goodies to the neighbours on both sides.

It was closing on dusk when we finished our deliveries, so we hopped in the car and went out to look at the Christmas lights. For a small community, there were a lot of homes lit up for the season. There were two in particular, that rivalled anything I've seen in the city. No photos as I was driving and D was busy oohing and aahing over the lights. 

Christmas morning arrived, ready or not! D and I had a couple of hours of quiet time before one excited boy woke up. He removed everything from his stocking - it was so heavy, it had to be set up on the table as the hanger couldn't hold it. After a quick breakfast we moved onto the gifts under the tree. The kid got what he really wanted - a VR (virtual reality) headset. It took a couple of hours to get it set up and there was a bit of grumbling but he was happily playing before lunch.

Meanwhile I had a chat with my brother and texted back and forth with my son and his girlfriend. Everyone seemed pleased with their gifts including Sage. :) 

The rest of the day was pretty quiet. D and I watched a couple of episodes of The Floor. If you haven't watched it, it is quite interesting...some categories are easier than others but there is some real strategy to the play. I had an afternoon nap, then D and I decided we'd had a big enough lunch and Christmas dinner could wait until Boxing Day. Why not? Eli continued to play on his devices and D and I watched a couple more episodes before bedtime.

On Boxing Day, D was up early. I was not - an afternoon nap and late bedtime the day prior contributed to less sleep than I needed. After I was up and alert, we un-decorated the house. Normally, I would leave the decorations until after New Years but D had to do all of the decorating on her own and said she didn't want me to leave this task to her. There was a bit of Boxing Day shopping done - she found a bag for the tree storage. I found a couple of couch cushions and some gift tags, a small wreath, and toilet paper and paper towels. D also picked up items for her gift closet, and chocolate for next Christmas. 

Back at the house we fixed our Christmas dinner for lunch. Air-fryer chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and corn filled our plates. It would have been peas and carrots but Eli ate the last of those. It was a bit of a beige plate...but something my Dad would have appreciated.

The rest of the afternoon was spent puttering and watching a few more episodes of The Floor. At some point we took a break from television and put the trees away.

The two trees easily fit into the storage bag. It looks like we could use it to move a body or two as well. :) It's even on wheels.

Today, D will do laundry and I'll pack my backpack, as we are planning to drive into the city on Sunday. I'll be staying with my son and his g/f for a few days before I fly south. We are expecting some snow during the day- I'll help shovel and D plans to try out her new snowblower. 

I hope you all had a wonderful day, with time to relax. Have a great week ahead everyone!

Foul weather, good food, fun, and big news!

We got rain! We got too much rain! Saturday afternoon, evening and overnight into Sunday, we had 60 millimeters of rain. That's just lightly less than 2 1/2 inches of rain in less than 24 hours. Then on Sunday night into Monday morning, we had another 10 millimeters of rain, about about 4/10ths of an inch of rain. D and I were kept busy emptying the overflow from the rain barrels on Saturday until I belatedly came up with the idea of opening the taps on both barrels. They each have a small hose on them, so we tucked those into extra pieces of downspout and laid the pipe so that the water flowed towards the lilies and the lawn. It meant the water barrels are no longer full, but old Mother Nature has done a good job of watering. So much so, that several of my tomatoes split before I could pick them!

Speaking of tomatoes we used the first batch, along with a green pepper, onion, garlic and Italian seasoning to make homemade tomato sauce. I did add the last tablespoon or so of tomato paste at the end to thicken the sauce slightly. The recipe made enough sauce for 3-4 meals. We used a portion on Sunday night to make baked pasta (fusilli) for dinner. I don't consider myself much of a cook, but it was sooo good.

After school on Monday was equine therapy for Eli. As it was very wet, his therapist had him assist in building a step for Rocky, the Shetland pony to step over. That meant he got to use a drill! He came home very excited to tell me about it. They also made a trek out to see the pigs, who are no longer piglets but should be ready to be bacon in the spring. Eli doesn't know this and I, for one, am not telling him. 

Tuesday we did a bit of meal prep. While D made a batch of her pizza dough (including parmesan and dried parsley), I boiled up a pot of potatoes for pierogi filling - these were mashed up with ricotta and old cheddar cheese, and onions cooked in butter until soft. The filling was put away in the fridge for a few days*. Meanwhile D cooked vegetable stir fry for Eli. It's a food he can always be counted on to eat. It will keep for a few days and he'll eat for lunch or dinner. I wanted to use up some of the latest batch of tomatoes but wanted something fresh. Salsa it was with tomatoes, corn, yellow pepper, red onion, lime, coriander, and chili flakes. It went well with chips for a pre-bedtime snack. But first, dinner that evening, used a portion of the pizza dough, with leftover air-fried chicken, yellow pepper, and red onion, and mozza-cheddar cheese using bacon ranch dressing as the pizza sauce. Very yummy!

Wednesday morning, I used the remainder of the second picking of tomatoes to make up a pot of tomato soup. It was good, but I think I put too much garlic in it. In the afternoon, I headed over to the library for Knit and Natter. There were only four of us (two were the librarians) but we had a good visit, and I learned how to use a pom-pom maker properly. The woman who brought the supplies even gave me one of the pom-pom makers as she has no use for them. Very kind of her!

On Thursday morning, D and I followed the school bus to the next town over (NTO) as Eli was to participate in a cross country run. Like the track and field days when I was a kid, it wasn't a pleasant day with gray skies threatening rain, but by the time we left NTO the sun was peeking through. Eli ran in the first race, but before that happened the children (and adults who ran with them) did a walk through of the course and a warm-up. His E.A. ran with him, and the pair managed to come in middle of the pack. I'd guess there were about 40 kids running. The fastest three came in way quicker than I would have expected, some of these kids can clearly run!

Before we left NTO, we stopped at Staples so D could purchase a new cellphone. Her old one was "glitching" as Eli would say. At home she was able to transfer data to the new phone but could not get the cellular to connect. She called the mobility provider in the morning, and they advised she would have to visit the store. So off we went to NTO after picking up Eli at lunch time. After she finished at the store, we headed over to one of Eli's favorite parks. As it turned out this was a great idea as the sim card began sending error messages. So back to the store we went where they gave her a new sim. Rather than head home immediately we decided to make a stop at the thrift store...just in case. It was a productive trip as Eli got a couple of Minecraft toys (don't ask me), D found some craft items, and I walked out with a lovely zippered cardigan. 

And the big news? We've known for a couple of years that Eli could read a bit, but lacked confidence. With D's support and direction this summer, the lessons have truly clicked. Not only is he reading in English, but also in French. On Friday as we were driving home from NTO, he was reading aloud to us from the back seat. We're so proud of him and his mom is thrilled that she is raising a reader. 

Have a great week ahead everyone! 

*We finally got around to making the pierogi on Friday evening. I think we made about four dozen and had lots of filling left over. Two bags of pierogis and the container of filling went to the freezer, while my daughter made a plateful for her dinner.  Lazy pierogi casserole will likely be on the menu soon.

Fun in Fort Lauderdale

Warning - another photo heavy post!

I've been to Fort Lauderdale many times, always the day prior to boarding a cruise ship.  I've generally stayed in one particular hotel that has both an airport and cruiseport shuttle.  Nearby is a shopping mall and a Moonlight diner (which I enjoy immensely).  However, I've always left on the disembarkation day so really haven't any time.  My bucket list item for this trip was to be on the beach to wave goodbye to the cruise ships as they sailed out.  Hotels on or near the beach tend to be expensive but I used my Airmiles points to book two nights at the Best Western Plus Oceanside and it cost me only $84 Canadian.  Hooray for points!

As the name implies the hotel is near the beach but not ocean view.  My room was actually on the ground floor and overlooked the pool.  The beach was less than a five minute walk away.  I was pleased with the room and hotel amenities.  They offered a free breakfast, with a wide variety of items to choose from, and also had a lunch and dinner menu.

I had to wait a couple of hours to check-in, but then I was there at 10:30 a.m.  I spent my time by the pool, reading and just enjoying the weather.  Shopping and restaurants were about a 20 minute walk away.  After I settled at the hotel I took a walk on the beach promenade to see what I could find as an option for lunch.  After a bit of back and forth, I chose the restaurant Ocean Bleau for a burger and fries.    

Both were delicious and I couldn't finish it all as the burger was huge!  While I ate indoors, this was the view from my seat in the restaurant.  Lovely!

After lunch it was back to the hotel to relax by the pool before heading back out to the beach for my walk down to the end where the cruise ships sail.  Unfortunately by 4 p.m. the nice weather didn't hold and according to the weather channel a "rare Nor'Easter" was blowing in.  It was a tough walk with the wind blowing towards me, and the sand swirling around  As a result I didn't get as far down the beach as I had wanted...but it still worked out okay.

These are the Point of America's apartments at the side of the channel.  This is what casts a large shadow on the beach (when the sun is shining).

I think you can see how windy it was by the trees and the haze in the air is the sand.

I waited for about 20 minutes, all while being sandblasted, and then there she was!  It is the Crown Princess appearing from behind the apartment block.  

It was such a different perspective and despite the weather I was so excited to be there. 

This photo makes me think the ship is parked on the beach.  You can see I wasn't the only one out to watch her sail-away.  Hardy souls all of us. 

It was bittersweet to watch her sail away.  I had such a marvelous cruise, and hope that those who are on her for the next ten days (they'll have disembarked today I believe) did too.  Though I suspect the waters were a bit rougher at least at the beginning.

I turned around after the ship was further out to see and headed back to the hotel.

My hotel was back of the buildings in the gap between the ones in the foreground and the ones further back.  It was a lot further down the beach than I expected, but walking back was easier then the walk out because the wind blew me that way! There were still people on the beach but it was mostly hotel staff picking up the chairs, beach towels and any other debris.

I spent the rest of the evening relaxing and reading in my room.


The following morning after a great breakfast, I headed back out towards the shopping area.  It was raining off and on, though still warm, but the promenade was closed.  I was disappointed as I would have liked to have walked along the beach.  However, that disappointed turned to surprise when I came across this:
Who knew there were river boats in Fort Lauderdale?  Not me!  I walked for about 45 minutes before I turned back (with a stop at a CVS for a bottle of water and snacks for the plane).  As I came up to the pier, I noticed there were people getting on board so I stopped at the ticket office to find out about the cruise.  The ticket taker told me this was a river cruise, the cost was $25, but they had a later cruise at 1:30 that was 3 hours in length and would visit their private island with a wildlife sanctuary with a cost of $33US.  She mentioned there were options to buy lunch on the island as well.  I was sold!

I went back to the hotel, dropped off my bag and read by the pool for a bit.  I would note, I chose to do so because there was a sign reading "No outside food or drink allowed".  That turned out not to be true but what did I know?  As I was walking back to the pier, I was drenched in a brief downpour.  I was glad to have my rain jacket but even it was soggy.  It was okay though because after purchasing my ticket and while standing in line the sun came out again and I was dry by the time we boarded.  

Along the way one of the crew kept us informed as to the history of the houses we were seeing.  I can't recall what we were told about any of them.  In any event, it was interesting, and the stories were often funny.

I'll let the photos tell most of my story.

I thought this might be a fun way to do a river cruise.  Maybe next time.














There were several bridges that opened as we sailed through.


Check out the fruit on this tree.  I should mention every house we passed had a least one boat in front of it.



We arrived at the island after about an hour of cruising down the river.  The feature exhibit was the alligators. There were three of them chilling out in the pit. 

(The third one is behind the one that is peeping out of the water).  

The handler climbed into the pit, dragged the one that was laying in the sun over and began his show.  I lost interest at that point. I'll be honest I don't like seeing any animals man-handled.  I just don't understand how that can be entertaining.

Besides there were enough other creatures and beautiful flowers to keep me moving.

 The sign reads "Caution, I bite!"

Later the alligator handler came out of the pit to show off this baby alligator.  One could, if so inclined, have a photo taken with it for $5.  the proceeds go to the sanctuary.

I chose not to do so, instead I purchased my lunch, a simple hot dog and drink and sat watching people feed the peacocks.  Unfortunately they were givings bits of their hamburger or hotdog buns - not likely an appropriate food.

As you likely tell, the weather was sunny while we were on the island.  That held true for most of the return cruise. 

I particularly liked the look of this property.  What a lovely spot to sit and watch the marine traffic!

We were told this tower has 24 carat gold on it...I would doubt that as I suspect someone would find a way to steal it.  

It was owned (or perhaps is) by an extremely wealthy long time resident of Fort Lauderdale whose name escapes me.  If memory serves, it was part of a large compound containing two large guest houses, a huge shed that purportedly held the lawn mower, and the main house...which was humongous!

Just as we reached the channel where we would turn towards the pier, it began to rain again.  The bridge you see in this photo, I believe is the one at I had pictured in the shots from the cruise ship...just the opposite side.

When we reached the pier it was pouring rain, so I got drenched once again as I walked back to the hotel.  After changing clothes, I hung the wet items to dry in front of the a/c unit.  It was still raining so I read for a hour or so before I went to dinner in the hotel.  I didn't want to walk the 20 minutes in the weather again.

As I was waiting for my dinner, a couple were looking for a table, and as I was at a four top, I offered to share.  We had a wonderful chat (though I've forgotten their names already) as they were sailing the following day.  They had driven from Galveston, Texas, a few days prior and had spent some time with family in another part of Florida before making their way to Fort Lauderdale for their cruise.  

The rest of the evening I spent repacking the suitcase and carry-on.  I needed an early night because I had to head to the airport by 4:30 in the morning for my 7 a.m. flight to Toronto.  After a 3 1/2 layover in TO, I was on my home to Regina arriving at 3:30 p.m. local time.  It felt good to be home, and best of all there was very little snow left!

So ends my final journey for this year (at least at this point I have nothing else planned).  It was another wonderful trip, filled with fun experiences and great people. 

Hope you've enjoyed the photos and stories.  I'll be back soon with an update on the preparations underway to get the house ready for sale...and all the other boring stuff that happens in my average life.  Have a great day everyone!

Return to St. Kitts, Barbados, and Antigua

Since I visited these three ports in January, there aren't a huge number of photos to share with you.  Instead, I tried to find something different from the past to focus on.

Our first port was St. Kitts.  On my last visit I took a tour to Fairview Gardens and Romney Manor.  This time I stuck around the port area, which I've never really visited due to having a tour booked.  It never left much time for wandering the port.

This time I stayed on board the ship for most of the morning.  There was no rush to meet a tour group, and most of my fellow passengers were already off and gone, or off and back on the ship.  I prefer to avoid crowds when I can! 

As we arrived in St. Kitts, I noted the construction of another pier in progress.  Based on the potential length of it, I presume it will be another pier for cruise ships.  These islands rely on tourist dollars to survive so it is understandable.  However, port days were there are several ships in port tend to be gong shows.  I suspect the locals go home exhausted after a day of dealing with us!

So this was the barge bring out supplies (and I believe that cone shaped thing is for cement mixing).  Does that look sea-worthy to you?  It sure didn't to me but these guys didn't seem too concerned.  The block of whatever is on the front was lifted by the crane and moved to the rear of the barge.  Then it left again, so perhaps this wasn't supplies for the pier at all.  I didn't stay to see what happened next. 
While I was up on deck 16 observing the workers, the Carnival ship arrived alongside.  

It is always amazing to me how the ship's captain/crew and the pilot brings these large ships into dock so easily.  They do have the use of the thrusters which move the ship sideways but still!



Once the Carnival ship was in place and tied up, we were cleared the leave the ship again.  As you might expect no one is allowed on the dock while the other ship is moving.  I headed out and wandered around the shopping area for a bit, before heading out of that area to the local craft market.  While there were a few things that were interesting, I didn't buy anything here.  Oh, wait a minute I did too.  I had met a couple on the ship from Courtenay, B.C.  I saw Catherine at the port and she told me she was looking for one of the embroidered badges of the St Kitts and Nevis flag.  I spotted one in Joe Piranha's store so picked it up for her.  It took me a few days to deliver it as I didn't see her again for a bit.

*********
Barbados was cloudy and rainy for most of the day.  I had thought I might take a taxi over to Carlisle Bay to spend the day on the beach but changed my plans based on the weather.  My next choice was to take a taxi over to the downtown area for a walk.

After walking through the shops to the exit doors to the outside, the skies opened up.  Okay, scuttle the second option too!  The shops were just opening then, so I wandered about and checked a few items out.  But again, there was nothing I needed nor wanted so that was the end of my day on Barbados.  

Instead I spent the day hanging by the outdoor pool when it wasn't raining, relaxing and reading under the overhang when it was, and just enjoying the quiet of the ship.

We left early in the afternoon, just 3:30, and I was out with my camera to capture a few photos.  It would have been so nice to spend the day at the beach but it wasn't meant to be this trip.

The port in Barbados is in an industrial area.  There was lots of activity going on, and I found it interesting to watch this equipment move the rail cars about.  

I didn't watch long enough to determine if they were on loading or off loading the cars onto the freighter.  

*******
Antigua is one of my favorite islands, probably because the port is right in the heart of St. John.  You won't see any photos of the church this time though it is one of my favorite spots.  A couple I met on the ship, Judy and Terry took a walk up to see it on my recommendation.  Unfortunately it isn't open for viewing as the reconstruction continues.  However, they were happy to have seen it as they weren't aware of it.

 We arrived in Antigua around 7 a.m., and for a change I was up and was able to watch the pilot arrive to guide the ship into port.  

No sunrise photo, though, as I wasn't awake early enough for that!

It seemed the island was waking up along with me, as it was quiet and there weren't very many vehicles or even marine traffic at this time of the day.  

Just off the island were several freighters (or perhaps tanker ships...I not sure).  These were still anchored in the same area when we left. 

Later in the morning, I wandered off the ship and took a walk through the shopping area, and local market.  I ran into Judy and Terry and joined them at a small cafe for a rum punch.  It was delicious and cold but I would never have more than one.  The locals pour with a heavy hand.    

Perhaps it was the rum but I actually made a purchase in Antigua.  There was a woman's clothing shop near the pier and I decided to take a look.  I found a lovely linen top and a necklace for myself.  The top was tied in a ball which made me think it would be great for travelling.  It does wrinkle but after a bit of hanging most of the wrinkles are gone.  I didn't wear it on the ship, as I wanted to wash it first but did get some use of the necklace as it has different colored beads so goes with pretty much anything.

All in all, I had three nice days at these islands.  While there was nothing truly exciting to report I was able to spend the day enjoying the weather, even the rain as it was warm, and doing as little or as much as I wanted.  

********
I was asked in a comment on yesterday's post about the food on the ship.  This was my 8th cruise with Princess and my third on the Crown Princess.  I would that over time the variety and availability of certain dishes have decreased.  For example, Fred was quite vocal about the lack of escargots (ick!) and I missed the goat cheese souffle I've enjoyed in the past.    But overall, the quality and presentation of the food is still very good.  I had several pasta dishes, one with farfalle that was lick the plate good, that I really enjoyed.  I tried the beef wellington for the first time and was pleased with the dish.  And the desserts cannot be faulted - I stuck with the sugar free most of the time but did enjoy the floating islands (meringue in a cream sauce) one evening.  

The buffet on the Crown is also smaller than the larger ships so has a bit less variety but still offered lots of options including gluten free for those who wanted it.  I generally had my breakfast and lunch there, there were the standard options for breakfast, while lunch I generally had a large salad and a bun.  Overall I'd say the food was as good and often better than other cruise lines.  However, having said that, I know that others might not have similar tastes to mine.  No matter what, I enjoy not having to prepare, clear and clean up the meals!

New Orleans - Day 2

Guess what we did on our second day on New Orleans?  It's pretty obvious...we visited the St. Louis Cemetery #1.  K had booked our tickets in advance through "Save our Cemeteries" and we met the tour guide Tony at a nearby coffee shop about 9:30 in the morning.  This turned out to be a great choice as we had arrived far too early and wandered over to the information centre a couple of blocks away.  They were also offering tours...we observed that the woman doing the tour completed three tours in the time we did ours.  

This photo above it the plaque on the tomb of what is believed to be the last resting place of Marie Laveau.  

"Marie Laveau was a famous and powerful voodoo priestess who lived in New Orleans in the 19th century. Renowned in life and revered in death, some say she continues to work her magic from beyond the grave. Laveau, a hairdresser by trade, was the most famous and purportedly the most powerful of the city’s voodoo practitioners. She sold charms and pouches of gris gris (some combination of herbs, oils, stones, bones, hair, nails, and grave dirt), told fortunes and gave advice to New Orleans residents of every social strata." atlasobscura.com

This is the most famous tomb in the cemetery and Tony ensured we went there first.  He gave us an explanation of voodoo and hoodoo.  Voodoo is actually a religion while hoodoo is a form of folk magic originating in West Africa and mostly practiced today in the Southern United States.

He indicated that there are other tombs that are believed to hold her remains, which he called faux Laveau's.  Later in our tour we visited one of these.

The tombs were in various states of disrepair.  Tony explained that if the family purchased perpetual care, the cemetery caretakers cared for the grave site, if not it was the families responsibility.

This particular one was in decent shape, and was partially fenced in.  Tony indicated this was to keep the spirits in.

We also learned that the graves are built above ground not because of the potential of flooding as most of us thought, but due to the theory that illness would make its way into ground water and thus spread to others.  

Under each of the tombs was a cave (he used a different word), about 12 feet deep.  After a year, the coffin was removed from the tomb and destroyed (again due to potential disease) and the remains dropped into the hole.  As a result many people would be buried in these family tombs over the years.

Here Tony is explaining to us the process of repairing one of the tombs.  As he noted, most are made of brick, and then stuccoed over.  The heat and humidity in New Orleans damages both.  

The Save our Cemeteries group fund raise, partially through tours, in order to repair some of the tombs that have no apparent family to do so.
The group doesn't do the work themselves, but contract it out to specific companies who specialize in this work.  It was cool, with a bit of rain, so no work was being performed that day.


Are you a fan of Nicolas Cage?  If you are, some day in the future you may want to visit the cemetery.

"The empty grave is a stark, nine-foot-tall stone pyramid that stands in obvious contrast to the blockier, above-ground burial sites that have been crumbling away in the cemetery for over two centuries. There is no name on the pyramid yet, but it is emblazoned with the Latin maxim, “Omnia Ab Uno,” which translates to “Everything From One."" - Atlasobscura.com

It was definitely the most unusual tomb we saw in the graveyard!  

I did wonder why a tomb would have a door knocker?

Amidst all the death there were a few wild flowers growing.

The photo below is one of the faux Laveau's.  








Tony explained that the XXX represent a wish made by a follower. The belief is that one must break off a piece of brick from another tomb, spin around three times, scrape three X’s onto the tomb, and do some sort of knocking on the tomb. Then an offering should be left at the tomb and the wish will be granted. X’s that are circled are said to mean that the wish had come true.

The offerings are generally items for hairdressing, including barrettes and elastic bands.  It is, of course, illegal to mark up the grave, and the cemetery now has security cameras in place 24/7.  Those who are caught defacing one of the burial sites is subject to a significant fine.

This was one of the best kept sites in the cemetery.  I have to assume there is still family who tend to it.

We were told this is the oldest site, and has been entirely encapsulated so that one one can get in or out. :)

I don't recall seeing any markings on the grave, but assume like so many others, it was built of brick and contains the remains of several family members.

I don't recall the earliest date on any of the tombs we saw, but the latest date was sometime in 2017.  So obviously these tombs are still available to the families.

While the marker is broken, it has not been replaced, Tony explained, likely due to the significant cost of doing so.

However, it was apparent that someone had visited fairly recently as the small Bible that was left was still in decent shape.

The entire tour was very interesting, we visited more tombs than I've shared photos, and Tony shared the stories that went with them.  In total, we were with him for nearly 90 minutes and he did an excellent job of sharing his knowledge and interest with us.

Once we left the cemetery we wandered back over to the information centre to use the facilities, before heading back towards the river and the French market.  These well maintained homes were a sharp contrast to the tombs in the cemetery!

 Another contrast, buggy pulled by the mule juxtaposed with the modern car.  There were lots of both, most of the carriages were found near Jackson Square, with drivers encouraging the tourists to take a ride while they provided some of the history of the French Quarter.  We chose to walk, but perhaps another time.

I must say, too, the vehicular traffic in the French quarter were incredibly patient with pedestrians and the carriages.  I don't recall once hearing a honking horn.  I guess most drivers are used to sharing the road.

Our next stop was Cafe du Monde, the iconic cafe that offers coffee (with or without chicory) and beignets along with other beverages.

The beignets are hot and fresh and heaped with mounds of powdered sugar.  I chose the coffee with chicory, just to try it, and after the first few sips found it was pretty good.  

After this stop, we also found another cafe, Cafe Beignet near to our hotel.  I won't tell how many beignets we ate during the four days we were in New Orleans....suffice to say we had our fair share!

After our lunch of beignets, we wandered down to the river to check out the Natchez Queen paddle wheeler.  It had just arrived back at the dock and we watched as the passengers disembarked.

There was some talk of taking the river cruise but we decided against and headed back to the hotel to warm up.

Along the way, more music!  The photo doesn't show it, but there was a large crowd gathered listening to the group play.  In the box on the little table were CD's available for sale.

Back at the hotel it was J's turn to nap, and for K and I to catch up with e-mail, some blog reading, and for me, Facebook.  We also spent a good amount of time checking out restaurants in the area for dinner. We settled on Channing Tatum's Saints and Sinners restaurant on Bourbon Street, just a few blocks from the hotel.  (To be honest, everything in the French Quarter was very close to our hotel.)  There is some construction underway on Bourbon Street, that I assume they are attempting to complete by Mardi Gras.  The restaurant wasn't very busy because it was only accessible from the sidewalk.  A young man came running out to us with the menu and we laughed said, we were planning to come here!

I chose the fish tacos that evening, and have no photo evidence as I forgot to take a photo until they were finished.  I can assure you, they were very good.
After our dinner was finished we took a short walk on Bourbon Street before heading back to the hotel.  We knew we'd be up early the next day, as K had rented a car for the day.  More on that tomorrow!