Turks and Caicos

THE BEACH!  THE TURQUOISE BLUE WATER!  This is what we have been waiting for.  Warm gentle breeze....ah.  Nope, it was really blowing so hard that the captain could not put the ship on the dock, so we anchored out.  The temperature was a balmy 81 degrees with partly cloudy skies.  Both Michael and I had excursions scheduled, but due to the windy conditions, his was canceled.

Turks and Caicos consist of a group of 30 islands, and the 20,000 inhabitants are clustered on just eight of them.  The largest is Grand Turk (where we landed) and is all of six miles long and just over a mile wide (and I saw every inch of it). Christopher Columbus first landed here in 1492.  Grand Turk was first colonized in 1681 by Bermudians, who set up the salt industry.  You can still see evidence of this industry, which ended in the 20th century, by the various salt ponds scattered throughout the island.  The name of the island comes from a species of cactus on the island, Turk's Head Cactus intortus, which is the national flower.  Grand Turk gained international attention in 1962 when John Glenn's Friendship 7 Mercury spaceship landed in the vicinity of Grand Turk (there is a replica of the space capsule on display at the airport).  Today, Grand Turk's attraction is diving and snorkeling due to a large network of coral reefs, and in particular, the reef called the Wall, which drops 7,000 feet straight down. Today, the economic base derives from tourism, diving and fishing.  Citizens of this country are considered British citizens and can have a UK passport in addition to one from Turks and Caicos.

We tendered to a cruise ship version of shopping, where the usual suspects resided:  Diamonds International and Tanzanite International, all clustered around in a colorful village setting.  My tour was a "safari" on a 25 passenger open truck.  We covered every inch of the island, driving through downtown where we were supposed to see famous Bermudian-style architecture, historic old churches and old stuff.  What I saw was a shabby, rustic island where donkeys and horses roamed the streets freely, crapping anywhere and everywhere.  There were no resorts that I could see, just some old vintage hotels on the water.  

The highest point on the island is 121 feet.  From this altitude, you could see both sides of the island.  There were a lot of churches, and bad roads.  They were constructing a very nice sidewalk that ran for quite a distance, but it seemed to go nowhere.  The donkeys certainly liked it.  We stopped by the lighthouse (yawn).  My favorite stop was at a small lagoon where we were able to walk around and gather shells or coral.  The guide says, "take plenty, we have enough."  OMG, there were so many conch shells, large ones to be collected.  I found one that was in pretty decent shape.  There was coral by the bucket full.  I love hunting for shells.  

Upon my return to the ship, I met up with Michael and had lunch (never miss a meal, you don't know when you will eat again [dripping sarcasm].  Michael's poor knee was hurting him, but the beautiful water beckoned.  With a quick change into bathsuits, we tendered to shore and only had to walk a very short distance to the beach.  We went right into the water.  Oh, how delicious it was.  The bottom was sandy, the water warm, the swells were gentle.  Oh it was magnificent!  Upon shriveling up, it was time to dry off by laying in a lounge chair.  Hey, Serenity, come back and pick us us in about a week.   

Regretfully, we went back to the ship, showered, had cocktails, dinner ..... and then I was done in.  I needed sleep so badly as I have had a hard time sleeping since leaving home.  I skipped the show and went to bed.  Are you feeling sorry for me yet????

Charleston. SC

Here's a place I have always wanted to see, and we finally got here.  We were blessed with incredible weather today, warm and sunny, but not too much humidity.  The ship docked right downtown, only two blocks away.  Knees have always been an issue for one Walker or the other.  My knees are working just fine; poor Michael........he is now suffering.  He visited the ortho doc just before we left and was told there was nothing to do for him.  Now he is in constant pain and limping along.  Stubborn guy refuses to see the ship doctor or go to a clinic or ER on shore.  I KNOW what he is going through.

Historic Charleston was founded in 1670 and is located on a peninsula between the Ashley and Cooper Rivers.  It is named for King Charles II of England.  Hoping to establish a colony in the area known today as Port Royal, Governor William Sayle, a British colonist, established the city on the peninsula after he got tired of tromping around in the woods and the Indians suggested this was a much better place.  Cotton, rice and indigo were the major commodities exported from the seaport.  At the entrance to the harbor lies an island where Fort Sumter is located.  As you remember from school history, Fort Sumter was where the first shot was fired to start the civil war. 

Christine arranged for a private tour and the four of us met our guide, Susan Lee (843-424-4721), at the pier.  What a tour we had.  This woman never stopped talking about the history of Charleston, formally called Charles Town.  There was so much that it was hard to take it all in.  We started with a brief drive through downtown, and then a drive out to see the Drayton Hall Plantation (circa 1738), the oldest UNRESTORED plantation house in America.  It is renowned for its Palladian inspired architecture and built along the Ashley River. It was passed through seven generations before passing to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1974.  There is a swamp here! And, there are alligators in it!  There are gardens!  These plantations are expensive to maintain and that is why the families donate them to historic trusts.

Before we started our tour, we had to spray ourselves with bug spray. Hurricane Mathew left lots of water, and with the high temperatures, mosquitoes were looking for a free lunch. 

We also listened to a presentation on slavery.  It was very fascinating.  Not all slaves (or enslaved peoples as the docent called them) were abused or worked in the fields.  They were craftsmen, often sent abroad to learn a trade because maintenance was expensive and ongoing giving the harsh weather conditions (I would NOT like to be here in July).  Most owners gave the slaves time off on Sunday for worship.  In addition, punishment was given out but not so much that it would keep a slave from working.  What a sad part of our history.

We toured the Drayton house, which stands as is.  Nothing has been done to refurbish the house, just some structural reinforcements for safety.  The paint on the walls is original, the windows are original; there is no furniture in it.  One of the interesting items was the staircase built into the walls for the slave to carry things up and down from the basement.  One had to have careful footing especially when carrying food up from the kitchen,  which was located in the basement.  

We also toured the grounds of Middleton Plantation and Magnolia Plantation.  We thevn had a driving tour of the historic city.  Upon our return to the ship, we had lunch and then ventured out to the market, which was given to the city by the Pinckney family in perpetuity for the sole purpose of selling goods as long as they didn't sell slaves.   

Baltimore

It only takes about 4 hours to drive from New York City to Baltimore.  It took us a day and a half by ship. 

Looking out the window while playing bridge, you could barely tell that we were moving.  We cruised 120 miles up the Chesapeake Bay to arrive at the commercial port during the wee hours of the morning. It felt good to sleep in and know that we didn't have a schedule to keep for the morning.  Besides, I wasn't in a big hurry to get off the ship as Baltimore wasn't high on my bucket list, but I needed to pick up a few items that we didn't pack due to weight and bulk. I also wanted some Halloween decorations for the bridge room. 

I have been on the ship for two days and I feel my pants getting tighter. I promised myself that I am going to eat light. And that actually happened today until dinner [sigh]. I am going to get a handle on this before it turns into a big problem.  Tomorrow the gym!  I am taking the stairs instead of the elevator, but found that going down was bothering my knees. Going up is ok. I logged over 10,000 steps today. Does that count as a good workout?

Unfortunately, we have limited Wi-Fi time so I am not able to do much research on places we will be visiting. Michael threw away the information brochure on Baltimore before I could write anything about what we saw, which wasn't much.  The day's events were not exciting nor interesting, and there wasn't even a good story to make up. We took the shuttle from the ship to the visitor center at the inner harbor, went to CVS to make our purchases, and then walked around the inner harbor, which has been nicely renovated. It was too early for lunch (posted prices were outrageous).  We saw the USS Constitution, the oldest war ship still afloat; a submarine, and an old coast guard ship. I wanted to go to the aquarium, but Michael was not interested.  I can picture the inner harbor on a warm summer day, crowds walking about, shopping and enjoying a leisurely meal at the many eateries.  Today, there were dark, heavy grey clouds threatening rain and we finished our walk about just as it started to rain.

 

 

 

 

We returned to the ship, changed clothes (no jeans allowed while working), had lunch, and even got to play in a very small three table game.  Yes, today was a work day even though we were in port.  Michael and I got to play bridge together, the first time in 6 months!  This was the highlight of my day.  We had a 70% game, coming in first!  That is awesome to you non-bridge folks.  

We had dinner with Barry and Christine; I had crab cakes, which weren't very good -- so disappointed, went to the show and saw a very funny comedian,  and then time for bed. 

We're Off

Emergency Emergency!  We were on schedule to have an uneventful departure to begin our trip. 

The morning started with a 3:30am wake up time. Deborah picked us up at 4:15am for a quick trip to the airport. We waited in line to check our bags for a good 45 minutes (Delta was operating with a skeleton crew until 5am), and then a fast trip through security, where I was X-rayed, fondled and groped. Michael and I were both assigned middle seats so I asked the gate agent if there was a chance to get an aisle seat as I have to get up frequently to stretch my new knee.  Bingo!  At the last moment, I got an aisle seat. The plane pushed back on time. So far so good.

We were sitting on the tarmac waiting to go when the pilot announced there was smoke in the cabin and there had been an electrical fire in the first class cabin OVEN. Not to worry, the fire was quickly extinguished. But back to the gate we had to go. The fire truck was waiting, with lights a blazing. Firemen came aboard to check the cause and damage. The repair crew was there too.  Now I am no snob, but we had to wait for a new oven to be installed. Heaven forbid that first class not get their hot meal, while the cattle in back were lucky to buy a cold snack. The delay cost us an hour, one unnecessary hour sitting in cramped and uncomfortable conditions.  I hate flying.  Check out the one freebie that was offered to us!  Its a good thing I packed our own snacks.   

 

 

We arrived in New York at JFK airport only 45 minutes late.  A representative from Crystal was there at baggage claim waiting for us.  We claimed our bags and went outside to find our limo waiting for us!  Sweet!  We were the only passengers in the limo.  Our driver was gregarious and we had a lovely tour of the Van Wyck expressway going about 15 mile per hour.  He got on and off the expressways, always looking for the best (least amount of traffic) route.  We passed by Michael's old stomping grounds of Forest Hills, drove through Harlem and saw the Apollo Theater and the Cotton Club.  The day was windy and cool, but sunny.  The driver delivered us right to the door of the terminal.  Total elapsed driving time was 1 hour 15 minutes.  New York drivers are fearless.  

We arrived at the ship, checked in and were informed that since we missed the mandatory lifeboat drill, we needed to do it at 8pm.  No matter how many times you have done this, you have to do it each time you board a ship.  We made our way to the same cabin we had last year; uuugggghhh.  Our room is right over the showroom stage, where we get to hear the rehearsals and shows whether we want to or not.  By this time, it was 6pm and we were famished.  Our bags arrived to our room at the same time we did.  Wow!  That has never happened before.  We needed to change out of jeans before heading to the dining room.  We had a nice dinner with enjoyable companions.  

We also saw some old friends!  We were delighted to see our Petra companions, Jay and Carol.  We will catch up with Barry and Christine tomorrow.  After dinner, we got our life jackets and went to the casino to do our lifeboat drill.  Here we are sitting with life jackets ON IN THE CASINO at the very same time people were walking by to go to the show.  Some one asked if we were expecting bad weather; Michael said we were in remedial lifeboat drill school because we flunked first drill.  Ha ha ha.  You gotta laugh at the sight.  

It was early to bed.  It was an exhausting day, but a day that went without too many hitches.

Getting Started

Hello Blog Readers:  The Walkers are on the move again, this time cruising the high seas in the Caribbean for two months.  We depart from New York City on October 25. We will be visiting several places more than one time so we will have plenty of time to see things as well as take in some down time on the beach.  As many of you may recall from my previous blogs, I complained mightily about my painful knees. Hopefully, you will not hear me complaining as I have had a complete knee replacement on my right knee this past April. The left knee is thankful to the right knee for doing it share of the work. I should be able to navigate and get around any obstacles in my way without any pain!

Once again, we are faced with the packing issue.  As you well know, we are not know for packing light.  Our bridge supplies take up at least one full suitcase and Michael vows to pack enough stuff that will fit in only one suitcase.  Ha!  I am not sharing.  We all know that women need several pairs of shoes to match each color group. Seriously, we seem to wear the same favorites over and over, and there are laundry facilities on the ship.

We have been in the midst of remodeling our kitchen after having water damage from a leaking refrigerator valve that caused a lot of damage.  Hopefully, it will be completed before we leave.  Let the packing fun begin.