Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - Potions Theme and Swiss cheese on toast with basil

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date!  The theme is 'Potions' and here is my ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").  

For the Dinner Date, I am sharing my Swiss Cheese on toast breakfast, I added a few leaves of basil from my potted plant and it added a gourmet touch, nice flavour!  

Swiss Cheese on toast with basil

basil plant

Wednesday Memes

 

Florida Memories - Part 3

  Back in Miami, my sister who lives here these had organized meetups with old friends and family members.

That first day we went to lunch in a Cuban restaurant.  Someone pointed out that Miami's population is very Cuban now.  In fact that all the people in that restaurant were Cuban except us.

It might have been the same night we went to a seafood restaurant to have crab.  The garlic/butter sauces were salty but we love seafood.

We noticed a Canadian TD Bank ATM in a Walgreen's store, nice to see.

Many of the chocolates in that Walgreens are from South America as pictured.  

The next day we were off to the Florida Keys to visit another cousin's new beach house.

Florida Keys

The next day we were off to visit another cousin's farm.  On the way, we stopped at a Kentucky Fried Chicken/Taco Bell outlet for a meal.  We tried their funnel fries, so delicious.  My American sisters did not like it interestingly, but the Canadians did.  They don't have that in Canada.

My cousin's farm was full of mango, avocado, lichee and many other trees dripping with fresh fruit.  His 82 year old dad put a ladder up a tree and used a fruit picker to help us retrieve avocados and mangoes.  Unfortunately we could only bring a few home due to luggage weight restrictions.

The next day it was time for us to return home.  It was a fun trip, full of activity, albeit tiring.  I am glad we had this reunion.

Florida Memories - Part 2

 On the ship, we paid for a few specialty restaurant meals.  This one came with alcohol pairings but we declined that option, but it included this delicious cocktail called 'Saint Peter's Spritzer' containing an elderflower liqueur, aperol and prosecco.  

Cocktail Starter

This was followed by a sample appetizer platter which featured offerings from their other specialty restaurants.

appetizers

Next came

Tuna Tartare

Then

Marscapone cheese risotto with crab meat

The main course:

Filet mignon with spicy jumbo shrimp

Fried cheesecake dessert

The included meals in other restaurants were equally delicious:

lamb shank

They have made changes on the cruise ships, lobster used to be an unlimited option but since Covid, when there was a lobster shortage.  Since then, they only offer one serving of the included lobster entree and you have to pay $16.99 for additional lobster courses.  It seems fair and less wasteful.  

lobster

One night we went to a bar where they had a dance class.  One of the sisters treated to these delicious non alcoholic daquiris.

Lime and Strawberry non alcoholic daquiris

We also attended many included shows after dinner.  It was non stop activity.  We even had midnight pizza in the central promenade some nights.  Yes, we ate a lot, that's what we do!  We also spent a lot of time hiding ducks that I spoke of in the Part 1 post.

The staff is very hard working, 10 hour days.  They are away from home 7 months of the year.  After 20 years of service they get substantial benefits and many are long serving employees from countries like India and the Philippines.  The ships provide a lot of working opportunity for talented actors and dancers too. 

Florida memories Part 3 continues tomorrow!

My Florida Vacation Memories - Part 1

Welcome to October!

Linking today's post to Gillena's Sunday Smiles.  There are many smiles in the photos below.

Arriving in Miami in late August, we started our holiday off with a wonderful live concert by Earth Wind and Fire and Lionel Ritchie.  My sister who lives in Miami organized a group of 22 that night.

Earth Wind and Fire group

Lionel Ritchie

The next morning we were off on our Royal Caribbean Eastern Caribbean Cruise.  This is the balcony room I shared with one of my sisters.  You can see my sleep machine I had set up.  The other 2 were in another suite.

 Our steward would leave these cute towel animals for us every day.

It is a huge ship as pictured below.  On our first day at sea, we had participated in some activities organized by an online cruise group.  We joined the slot pull, the cabin crawl and the duck hunt.  The duck hunt is a fun activity that lasted the whole week.  The online group leaders were giving out gifts they made, I chose this 4" 3D lobster. 

   

4" 3D Lobster

It cost US$20 to join the slot pull.  It garnered 38 people.  So we gathered around a slot machine in the casino on board and each person got 2 spins.  The highest score determined the payout, we each won $6!  It was fun.  

The cabin crawl involved volunteers showing the different styles of their cabins.  We had about 22 volunteers, it was interesting to see what the different styles of cabins offered, obviously there is a price range too.  I liked the one bedroom suite with its kitchen suite, like a small home.  There was a 2 level crown suite as well.  One of the more economical cabins faced the inside of the ship, it offered a bird's eye view of all the activities taking place aboard.

The duck hunt is a fun new activity happening on the cruise ships these days.  People purchase small rubber ducks and hide them in planter pots, stairwells, anywhere you like.  Both adults and kids enjoy the hunt and post their discoveries.  This little duck was cleverly hidden on the 8th floor wall.

Our first stop was Coco Cay Island in the Bahamas.  It is Royal Caribbean's private beach.

Then we were off to St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands.  From there we took a ferry excursion to  beautiful Trunk Bay beach on St. John island where we did some snorkelling.  A sister was using this new waterproof case for her phone while snorkelling but it leaked and that was the end of her phone.  That may have happened in St John. 

Back on St. Thomas we took a taxi to the downtown area where we did some tax free shopping.  Their taxi prices are government controlled fixed fares.  This protects both parties.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship

We went on a catamaran excursion at St Maarten, one of the stops.  This is where I lost my prescription sunglasses after stupidly entering the water with them on.  I got bashed by a huge wave as I swam out to the beach.  Apparently the water is not usually so rough.  

Interestingly, a sister mentioned after the fact that our 2 excursions were both labelled strenuous!  I must have just read the basic descriptions.  Her daughter thought we were being so adventurous in a good way.  We all do enjoy snorkelling.

Back on St Maarten, a sister had a friend who lives on the island.  She kindly picked us up and drove us around the Dutch part of the island, we stopped off for lunch at a restaurant.  Oh, I had stupidly forgotten to wear my seabands (to prevent seasickness).  I did not seem to need them on the big Cruise ship, but the catamaran was rocky that day so I was feeling pretty nauseous.  Needless to say, I was not able to eat much for a few hours after getting off the boat.  But luckily I was back to normal by the time we returned to the big Cruise ship.  

Catamaran

Blue Moon on the Cruise ship

Sunrise on our balcony

Here is a flow rider surfing video I took on the ship, one of many activities available

They had a fun parade on the ship

We enjoyed this flash mob dance party on the ship, anyone is welcome to join

Stay tuned for part 2 of my Florida vacation memories tomorrow!

Hopeful Advances

I had some good news last week, my friend who is fighting cancer reported that she is cancer free! Initially she was treated back in the spring of 2022 with chemotherapy for lung cancer only to discover that fall that it had spread to her brain and adrenal gland. Soon after that, her brain lesions were treated successfully with gamma knife therapy. Now she has been told that the tumour on her adrenal gland is gone thanks to experimental immunotherapy which almost killed her. She will have to have regular scans going forward of course. I must say they are making such hopeful advances in cancer treatment today.

And yes, we are at the end of September!  Here is a fun meme to start October:

Friday Art - Wedding Card

 Welcome to Friday Art!  Daughter L asked me to make this wedding card for her good friend who got married last month.

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and to Gillena's Art For Fun Friday.