Driving the Skyline Drive

September 18th & 19th

We left Rich & Delia’s early Saturday morning.  Of course, we had to stop at a diner for one last diner breakfast.  As we were leaving Rich’s house, 2 deer came out to say goodbye.

The drive down thru Delaware and Maryland was pretty painless…glad we were doing this on Saturday.  I would hate to see the traffic on a week day.

Shortly after we entered Virginia, we stopped for lunch in Front Royal and then got on Skyline Drive thru the Shenandoah National Park. The drive was beautiful.  I still prefer the Smokies but maybe I am prejudiced! 

We stopped for the night at the Skyland Lodge.  We had a beautiful view of the Shenandoah valley from our room.  We arrived at the lodge before the start of the Tennessee/Florida game so I guess you can figure out how we spent the afternoon.  Sorry to say, Tennessee lost but at least they were competitive. The sunset from our room was gorgeous….

This morning, we continued down Skyline Drive.  We stopped at a winery that had been recommended by some one on Cruise Critic.  The wine was very nice and , of course, we had to purchase a few bottles. 

We stopped in the little town of Floyd, Va for the night.  The Floyd Country Store holds jam sessions for local musicians on Sunday afternoon.  We stopped and watched for a while.  The music was surprisingly good and we enjoyed it.

Tonight will be an early night (what’s new!!!).  Want to get an early start in the morning.  We are anxious to get home and see the “girls”.  I also plan to start an exercise program and a diet ASAP……maybe by putting this in the blog, I will do it!!!!

Arrival in Brooklyn

September 17th

Today ends our cruise.  We were up at 4:30AM to be out on deck for sailing in past the Statue of Liberty.  That is a sight I never get tired of seeing…Unfortunately, it was still dark….but still an awesome sight!!!!

Disembarking went fairly smooth and we were outside waiting for our limo by 9:30AM.  This is the only way to travel…I could get used to this!!!!!

 

The afternoon was spent shopping…LL Bean and Syms.  Again, Delia prepared a great dinner and as we were sitting down to dinner, we were treated to a visit from the neighborhood deer.

  

All in all, a very nice day to end a good cruise.

St. John’s Newfoundland

September 14th

Another overcast day, but no rain, and the temperature was in the 50s with little wind.  We had planned to meet with our friends who are on the Jewel of the Seas but their stop at St. John’s was cancelled due to storms between Iceland and Newfoundland.  Sorry we missed you…Sandy, Del, Liz and Bill.

Ladies from the St. John’s Visitor Center came on the ship and were handing out information regarding this port.  We were able to book a tour to see the Puffins and other sea birds.

In the morning, before we left for our tour, we walked around the town.  It was very interesting and we would have liked to be able to spend more time exploring.

   

Our transport picked us up for our ride to Bay Bulls to board our boat out to the island to see the Puffins.

 

The boat ride was pretty rough and there were a few people that lost their breakfast.  The ride wasn’t as bad as our whale watching tour on Victoria Island…but it was a close second!!!!  We didn’t see many birds and only a few Puffins but it was a good day.

 

When we  returned to St John’s, we found a great Irish Pub!!!!  Good beer, great Fish & Chips (Charlie had a cheeseburger) and a singer singing Irish songs….couldn’t ask for anything more!!!!

Then it was back to the ship.  2 more sea days until Brooklyn. Hate these last few days…packing is no fun.  Even though we don’t buy much, there always seems like more to pack.  

Sea Day

September 12th

After the dinner last night, I did not even want to see food….we really had a great time last night but I certainly couldn’t eat like that very often.

Got in a few sessions of Mah Jongg today. Not really learning any new tricks on this cruise.  These are not “hard core” players.

This afternoon we attended the Maitre D’ Wine Club.  We tasted several VERY SMALL samples of some very good wines.  Unfortunately, they were all out of our price range.  Will check some of them out when we get home.  I assume they should be much cheaper.

Tonight, we went to the Crew Show.  Before the show started, the crew passed out balloons that the passengers blew up and then played with.  It was a lot of fun…felt like a kid!!!

The show was surprisingly good.  Everyone was having a good time.  This show was much more enjoyable than some of the professional shows.

Tomorrow is another sea day and then the Captain’s Circle Cocktail party…never pass up a free drink!!!

The Chef’s Table

September 11th

 

This was a very special evening. This evening was planned to celebrate Phyllis’ and my birthdays.  We were not disappointed!!!  We gathered at the International Cafe at 6:45PM.  We were met by Francisco Ciorfito, Maitre d’Hotel who escorted us to the entrance to the DaVinci dining room where we met Giuseppe Pollara, Executive Chef.  We were outfitted with white jackets for our tour of the galley.  It was interesting to see the workings of the galley at meal time.  It was very organized and calm.  Previously, we had toured the galley on RCCL and this seemed a much smoother operation.

 

At the end of the galley tour, we had appetizers and champagne in the galley.  The Executive Chef explained each appetizer, what it contained and how it was prepared.  Very interesting and very good!!!!

   

It was then on to our special table in the Michelangelo Dining Room.

The food was excellent, as was the wine, and the presentation was special.  Notice the “plate” the dessert was served on.  It is made of sugar and is edible.  I tried to figure out how to save it to bring home but don’t think it would make it.

The night ended at 10:15PM after several aperitifs of Lemoncello…very good!!!  We also received a cookbook(for Charlie), a beautiful red rose(for me) and pictures of the table.  This was a very special night.