Emerald Princess Cruise, December 2010, Cruise Itinerary

Route: Eastern Caribbean Voyager

Itinerary and Ports of Call

Click on the map to enlarge it.

Embarkation, Sunday, November 28, 5:00 PM, leave Ft. Lauderdale

Day 1, Monday, November 29, at sea

Day 2, Tuesday, November 30, at sea

Day 3, Wednesday, December 1, 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Kitts tourist info • Nevis tourist info • Port Zante

Day 4, Thursday, December 2, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Barbados
Tourist info • Bridgetown Cruise Terminal

Day 5, Friday, December 3, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, St. Lucia
Tourist info • Cruise Ship Port

Day 6, Saturday, December 4, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Antigua and Barbuda
Tourist info • Antigua Cruise Port

Day 7, Sunday, December 5, 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM, St. Thomas
Tourist info • Havensite Cruise Ship Dock • Crown Bay Dock • Crown Bay Shopping

Day 8, Monday, December 6, at sea

Day 9, Tuesday, December 7, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Princess Cays

Day 10, Wednesday, December 8, Disembarkaction, 7:00 AM, arrive Ft. Lauderdale
Drive home

Emerald Princess Cruise, December 2010, Drive to the Ship

Luke at the Two Tails Ranch, Williston, Florida, celebrating his 26th birthday.

First day, Friday, November 26, drive from Pensacola to Gainesville
We set off heading east on Interstate 10 about 10:30 A.M. after taking the cats to the pet hotel. It was a gray, chilly day with spots of rain, often heavy. Stopped in Chipley for lunch at Skins and Bubba's BBQ. Nice place for BBQ. Then on to Gainesville arriving there just after dark, 340 miles. As always, dinner was at the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store next door. And early to bed. Today's was a long drive for us.

Second day, Saturday,November 27, drive from Gainesville to Ft. Lauderdale
On our way south on Interstate 75 we took a brief detour to Williston to visit the Two Tails Ranch. It is a training, medical, breeding and retirement facility for elephants and exotic felines. It has been there for over 20 years -- owned and operated by Patricia Zerbini, a ninth generation circus performer. The Ranch is a wonderful place; the animals have lots of open space, warm barns in the winter and frequent visitors to watch. Another web site All About Elephants has more information about the Ranch's educational outreach programs.


Luke watching us.

We continued on to Plantation, Florida, just north of Fort Lauderdale. Dinner was at the Plantation location of a small south Florida restaurant chain -- Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine.

Miles so far 680; miles since Gainesville, 340.

Patio Flowers in Florida -- November 2010

Click on the image to enlarge it, then click again to make it even bigger.
Now that the weather is milder the flowers and foliage are looking good in the backyard.

Kitchen Organization

For years I had to rummage around in overcrowded kitchen drawers to find measuring cups and spoons. At last I hung them all on the wall by the cooking prep area.

Joey at 7 months old

Joey up close.


Joey in the bushes looking for geckos to eat.

Birmingham Trip, Day 4

When we see this we are almost home.

An easy drive south from Birmingham, we arrived home mid-afternoon.

Birmingham Trip, Day 3

This morning we drove into Birmingham's downtown to see the sites. It's a very nice looking city with lots of hills.

When we drove near the Virginia Samford Theatre, currently home to "The Drowsy Chaperone," we decided to see where it was so we wouldn't get lost getting there tonight. It's a good thing we did.

The directions say it's on 26th Street just off Highland Avenue. Well, Highland Avenue is a difficult U-shaped street about 2 miles long with at least 10 right-angle turns. And narrow winding parts through lovely neighborhoods and past at least four beautiful city parks. Pretty to look at -- and easy to get lost in, even in the daytime. And we did, but also happened upon a restaurant we had read good things about, Rojo, and decided to eat there before showtime.

Rojo has two menus: Latin American food and American food. It's a busy and happy neighborhood restaurant, part Mexican cantina, part burger place.

The show, part of the Red Mountain Theatre Company's season. was wonderful, a fabulous production in a beautiful theatre.


Saxon Murrell as Man in Chair in "The Drowsy Chaperone" (From the Birmingham News, photo by Brandon Robertson)


History of the Virginia Samson Theatre,
click the image to enlarge.

For some information about "The Drowsy Chaperone" and its history click here.

Birmingham Trip, Day 2

Lunker Lake, Oak Mountain State Park, Pelham, Alabama
(click on the image to enlarge it.)

In the morning we drove to Oak Mountain State Park. It's just a few miles south of Birmingham's city center. A winding road goes right through the middle of the park and on an off-season Wednesday morning we had the whole place to ourselves. The trees were beginning to show some signs of fall foliage and I expect that in early November there's lots of color.

For lunch we followed the advice of a local blogger known as Ginger. Her blog, Deep Fried Kudzu is (mostly) about southern food. She helped guide us to where to eat in Birmingham.

And so we went to Niki's West Steak And Seafood Restaurant. The food was wonderful, meat-and-three, but when we saw the size of the side dishes we had to go for meat-and-two. We loved the food and we loved the sign in the window.


Sign in Niki's Window

Birmingham Trip, Day 1

A month ago we bought tickets to see "The Drowsy Chaperone" in Birmingham, Alabama. It's risky planning anything (especially anything non-refundable) during hurricane season. But we took the chance.

Neither of us had ever been to Birmingham and we had heard a lot about the great restaurants.

So at 11:00 a.m. we headed north on Interstate-65. As we left the house the rain began and by the time we got to the highway, about a mile away, it was a serious down pour. The kind that can't last long. And it didn't. After 15 minutes it went away.

From Pensacola to Birmingham is a 250 mile trip and it took us about 4 hours, not counting breaks and lunch. We stopped to have lunch in Greenville, just south of Montgomery. The last time we were up this way we looked in Georgiana for the Georgiana Family Restaurant where we had eaten before -- great southern country food. But it was now a used car lot. Onward to Greenville where (last time) we discovered The Chef's Table with really good meat-and-three choices.


Courthouse Square, Greenville, Alabama

That was then. Now The Chef's Table is Polka Dots Cafe. It's a coffee house with a limited menu -- it was fine for hungry travelers like us.

A few miles south of Birmingham and about ten miles from our hotel we got caught in a terrible rain storm with thunder and lightning striking next to us. There was heavy traffic and no visibility. We came upon a serious three-car accident that had just happened. The first police car was arriving as we passed by. I was sorry for the people in the accident, but had to be happy we didn't get stopped in the traffic backup that was sure to happen.

Our hotel was on the north side of Birmingham and after driving through two heavy storms getting here we were happy to eat at the Outback Steak House next door. Not a local establishment but certainly a local favorite. It was packed with happy, hungry folks.

A Coaster Post

The prized coaster I picked up last summer at PWM, Portland International Jetport in Maine, is no more. It was from the resturant Shipyard Brewery runs at the airport.

After a year of heavy use the coaster was a mess. It was dirty, puffy, coffee-stained and moldy -- had to throw it out. I should have stolen several of them when I had the chance.

Also I wonder if there might be a coaster this time of year celebrating their Pumpkinhead Ale?