A tie!

We had a great time with Barb and Al yesterday.  Lunch at Perkins was delicious.  Mark and I each ordered a build-your-own omelette, and I even used Egg Beaters.  Fabulous.  Then we played golf and actually tied with them.  I played terribly as usual, but I still enjoy it.  After the game ended, we strolled over to the Swan and Dolphin area and just sat at a table by the pool talking and talking for hours.  What fun!  Unfortunately, it will be awhile before we can play again, but it sure was fun to catch up on everything yesterday.

Mark has to do grocery shopping today and do a little more work on the taxes.  Then at 3:30 we are heading up to Winter Park to join the HEAL group for dinner at a vegan restaurant.  HEAL stands for Healthy Eating Active Living, and is one of our many clubs here in Solivita.  We haven't done much with them for a long time because we've been so crazy busy, so it will be fun to meet up and have dinner with some of our friends in that group today. 

Tomorrow our friends Dave and Evey will be joining us for a week.  Lots of fun coming up!

Fantasia Mini-Golf with Barb and Al

We have had this "play date" on the calendar for MONTHS, and it's finally here.  Our busy schedule makes it tough to get together with our friends sometimes.  Sigh.  Since we have company from this Friday to next Thursday and then a month-long trip up north, it might be quite a while before we have another play date.

We are meeting at noon at Perkins over by WDW for lunch and then off to play mini-golf at Fantasia Gardens.  It's everybody's favorite course!  Of course, they beat us EVERY TIME, but maybe this will be our day.

Tonight is the premiere of the new season of Survivor, and immediately following is the new season of Amazing Race.  I can't wait.  Those are two of my favorite shows.

Yesterday was another low key day for me.  Except for going out for my mani/pedi, I did nothing but sleep and watch TV.  I'm definitely feeling much perkier today. 

Here is another batch of photos from the Bare Necessities cruise.  This is the last batch in fact.  Enjoy.

Swimming topless at Shell Beach in St. Bart's.  All French beaches are okay topless.

Mark can go topless, too!  LOL!

In the botanical garden on Guadeloupe.

Walking to the Rum Factory on Guadeloupe.

The house used to be the master's house when this sugar cane plantation was a slave plantation.  Now the sugar cane is turned into rum.  Two men and a bunch of machines do the work that used to be done by 40 slaves.

At a beautiful Bougainvillea tree at the rum factory.

The liquid squeezed from the sugar cane is in a vat to ferment.

Kegs of rum.

Next we walked to this waterfall in the National Forest.

Tasting a pomegranate martini (me) and a dirty martini (Mark).

YUK!  We both hated those drinks.

We had a lovely time swimming in Orient Bay at St. Maarten/St. Martin.

Hat night!

I sure got lots of comments on this one.

With our sommelier from the first cruise, Milica.  She came over because she liked my hat.

Sci-Fi night.  Live Long and Prosper.

Need a new battery

My scale needs a new battery.  The thing is over ten years old, with the original battery.  I'm not complaining, but it was really hard yesterday to get it to come on.  I finally made it, and I had lost one pound from Sunday, 272.2.  I'll take it.

I never got around to writing a blog yesterday because we went out early to take Mark to LensCrafters for an eye exam.  Unfortunately, the doctor had still not filled out the paper work to join our insurance.  DOH.  So we walked away and tried VisionWorks down the street. No appointments until March 10. DOH.  Now he is thinking about making an appointment up in Maryland during the month we are up for visiting and Passover.

We ran some other errands and did some grocery shopping, getting home about 1:30.  We were supposed to go visit our new friends Steve and Joyce at the Cove again, but I had not felt real well all day.  By the afternoon, I was feeling pretty bad, light-headed and somewhat out of it.  I had also pulled a little muscle on my right hip when I was making up the bed in the morning, so that was also stressing me as I got in and out of the car and did the errands.  Mark called and cancelled our visit, so I went to bed and slept from 2:30 to 4:15, solid like a rock in the bed.  Crazy.

We had a rehearsal at SOJC at 7:30 that I could not get out of no matter how bad I might feel, so off we went. It was a good rehearsal, and I actually felt a little better by the time we got home.  I feel much better this morning, although my muscle on the right hip is still a bit sore.  I surely did not put much effort into making up the bed today!

All I'm doing today is going to the Cove for a 1 p.m. mani/pedi appointment.  I'll be back by 4ish, and that's all I plan to do.  There will be lots of TV watching today and just resting.  We have a LOT of plans from tomorrow through March 12 when we head north, so I need to take today OFF and just rest.

Here are a few pictures from our second cruise, which was on the same ship in the same room, but with Bare Necessities (clothing optional) and to different islands.  This time we went to Coco Cay in the Bahamas, and then three French Islands: St. Bart's, Gaudaloupe, and St. Martin.  This was our fifth BN cruise, and we are already booked on the same ship next February for number six.

Mark is enjoying some time on his phone in Fort Lauderdale as we transitioned from one cruise to the next.

First full day was at Coco Cay, but the seas were rough so it took hours before the tenders were ready to load people up for the ride to the island. I enjoyed watching the process on deck four for quite awhile.  Also I think Mark did a great job with this photo.  It's one of the few of me that I really like.

Entering Coco Cay

That night was Silver Night, celebrating Bare Necessities 25th anniversary. 

It was also Formal Night for dinner.

Our table mates were wonderful people that we had met two years ago on a previous cruise.

We celebrated Valentine's Day on the cruise.  Mark had this fabulous tray delivered to the stateroom.

The ship was beautifully decorated for Valentine's Day.

Mark dressed in his Mickey and Minnie Valentine's Day tie.

Sunset over the ship.  Gorgeous.

Enjoying  a beautiful sea day on deck four.

Looking at St. Bart's.

We tendered in and walked to Shell Beach.  Fabulous beach!

Back Home.

After two weeks on such a beautiful ship, I have a few comments about being home.  First, this "ship" didn't rock at all last night.  It's a much longer walk to the bathroom from the bed, but this toilet is much quieter and easier to flush.  The shower sure is a LOT bigger, but no one came to make my bed up.  And I had to make my own breakfast.  Where's the buffet?  LOL!

Seriously, it was SO good to be home, even though we loved the cruise.  In fact we booked two more while on board!  LOL!  On the first five night cruise, I booked a 14 night cruise to the southern Caribbean on the Celebrity Eclipse in March of 2016 that will include a LOT of islands we have not done together, including Grenada and St. Lucia, plus Aruba and Curacao, which I also never did before.  They gave us $225 extra onboard credit for booking while on the ship, so that was too good to pass up.  Then on the second nine night cruise, we booked a 10 night cruise on the Celebrity Equinox in March of 2017 to sail with the Herschlers.  I think there is only one new island, but I really don't remember the itinerary.  We took Concierge Class for that one, so we get the free gratuities, free drink package, and $300 onboard credit.  PLUS, we got an ADDITIONAL $300 onboard credit for booking onboard.  We got that for Dave and Evey, as well.  What a deal!  So even though we just took two of the seven cruises, I booked two more, so we STILL have seven cruises booked.  Crazy!  Will this madness ever stop?  I hope not!

As for my weight, I didn't do too badly.  I only gained four pounds in the two weeks, which for me is unbelievable. I left at 269.2 and weighed in this morning at 273.2.  I know those are still shameful weights, but only gaining four pounds in two weeks is still pretty amazing for me.

Today we are going to see the new Disney sport-themed movie, MacFarland USA.  Then we are going to the Cove for the afternoon.  Steve and Joyce from VA, a new couple that we met on the cruise and had dinner with every night, are spending the day at the Cove before heading north.  We plan to hang out with them this afternoon.  This is the first visit to the Cove, and it was their first clothing optional cruise.  They loved it so much that they booked next year's cruise while they were onboard.  We have already booked that one (one of the seven!), so we will see them again.  That's one of the nicest things about these Bare Necessities cruises.  They almost start to feel like family reunions.

Here are some pictures from the first five-night cruise.

Mark is in his favorite sailaway location, where he can watch the show on the deck below as well as get a good view of the port as we move out.

His sailaway drink!

Enjoying the gorilla on deck 11.

Our cabin this time was the Oresky's cabin last time.

First night dinner at the Tuscan Grille.

First port was Key West, always a favorite.

Went to this museum for the first time on this trip.  Very good.

Of course there is Key Lime pie!

My new hat!

We love the Thalassotherapy pool, warm and relaxing.

Waiting to go into dinner on formal night.

We really enjoyed sitting on the back deck watching the wake as we sailed.

Mark's turn in the Thalassotherapy pool, enjoying the rollers.

My new jewelry.  I won the Bella Perlina charm bracelet, and Mark bought me the red coral necklace.

Love my time in the salon getting a mani/pedi.

Enjoying watching some games on the pool deck.

Finally Celebrity has a charity walk, Breast Cancer Research.  Of course, we bought the t-shirts and walked the mile.

Then there was dancing after the walk!  They raised $990 this day.

I read this entire book on the cruise.  Thanks, Cindy, for the book.