Bloodyknee Beach

February 28, 2023

The U.S. Virgin Islands are known for duty-free shopping and beautiful beaches. We chose the beautiful beaches. Our little adventure involved taking a ferry from Crown Bay cruise port, west of Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas, the main island, to Cruz Bay on the island of St. John, to the east of St. Thomas. It was about 30 minutes on our fast-ish ferry.

The plan was to go to Virgin Islands National Park, which is right next to the dock in Cruz Bay. The National Park takes up about half of St. John. From the park HQ we would hike to Honeymoon Beach - it’s not accessible by road. 

We would have 3 hours before we had to catch our “ferry” back to Crown Bay. It wasn’t a public ferry. It was a boat hired by our ship’s tour office to take passengers directly from the ship to Cruz Bay. Most of the passengers were booked on some sort of trolley tour once we got to St. John. A handful of us were doing the “on your own” tour, which means we were only getting transportation to St. John and back. There is a public ferry, but it leaves from Red Hook, which is about 10 miles from Crown Bay.

Our ferry left a little late because some of our fellow passengers can’t tell time. When we go to Cruz Bay, the ferry captain told us he was leaving in 2 hours and 15 minutes. If we weren’t onboard by then, we could take the public ferry, said the captain, pointing to the appropriate dock. I interpreted this to mean we should try to get back in about 2 hours to allow for contingencies. And just like that, our time on St. John went from 3 hours to 2 hours.

We ducked into the National Park HQ building, grabbed a map (it wasn’t very good), and hit the trail. 

Near the start of the trail

We saw some interesting plants

It’s not a terribly difficult trail, but it is quite rocky - which I had forgotten when I decided to wear Tevas.

The trail had very minimal signage and absolutely no indication of distances. However, we set out in good faith toward Honeymoon Beach. 

We were rewarded with beautiful vistas of the sea and nearby islands.

Finally we came to a side trail (with no sign), which we thought went to Salomon Beach. We thought we might be 5 or 10 minutes from the turnoff to Honeymoon Beach so we decided to keep going.

Not long thereafter, Ken tripped on a root or a rock and down he went. I was horrified because he fell on a very rocky stretch of trail and there was no one around.

Near where it happened

Fortunately, he was able to get up by himself and he didn’t seem to have any broken bones or bad sprains, though he was scraped and bruised and bloodied.

We could see a side trail with a sign not far ahead so we decided to go there and see what the sign said. It was a second trail to Salomon Beach. At this point we had been walking about 40 minutes, so we knew we wouldn’t have time to go any farther. We took the side trail. It was a rough climb down to the beach and it took 5 or 10 minutes. At the end of the trail, we found ourselves on a concrete ledge about 3 feet above the beach. (Who would make a trail like that?) It was not easy getting down onto the beach. But worth it — it was a lovely little beach. There were 2 or 3 families there.

We got down and then Ken was able to clean himself up a bit with some antiseptic wipes he had in his backpack, but he didn’t want to go into the salty water.

This is how it looked after Ken had cleaned up his wounds. His left leg was already noticeably swollen.

I waded in just to cool off. The bottom was a bit rocky and dropped off sharply. I didn’t want to push our luck, so I stayed in the shallow part. Apparently, there is a coral reef here.

All too soon, it was time to start back to the dock. We left via the first side trail, so we didn’t have to climb up to that 3-foot high ledge. 

Gorgeous scenery and vibrant colors on the way back

Almost back

The return was slightly faster due to more downhill travel, and we got back 15 minutes early, so we had just enough time to go to Irie Pops to get some bland overpriced popsicles. (Irie, pronounced eye’-ree, is a Jamaican Patois word meaning “good” or “nice.”) I will say that the Irie Pops were so cold that they did not start to melt or drip until we were almost done eating them. I don’t know how that was achieved.

We sat on a bench eating our pops and it was so pleasant that we almost missed the ferry, but we didn’t.

And that, my friends, is the end of our adventure in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

We did not see Jessica Jane, the Magician. I just couldn’t tolerate the couple who sat down next to us at the last minute. The woman talked non-stop during the beginning of the show and I couldn’t take it. The lights were out, the show had begun, and she just didn’t get it. 😡 We have seen a lot of magicians on cruises. They are all the same. It’s not worth having to endure such rudeness.

Today’s color is olivine. Yes, it’s a type of rock. Yes, we saw a lot of it during our hike. 

The Walled City

February 27, 2023

We arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico today, at 3:30 pm. The ship will stay here until 10:00 pm. That’s a little bit of an unusual time to be in port. We decided to eat dinner on the ship — it’s already paid for — so we just stayed on board and relaxed while the ship emptied out. We will be returning to San Juan in 8 days and we will do some sightseeing then.

We started our day in the café. It wasn’t Paris - it was more like Alaska.

 Here are some photos Ken took during the sail-in. The entrance to the harbor is dominated by the Spanish-built Castillo San Felipe del Morro, also known as “El Morro.”  According to the National Park Service, construction began in 1539, but the fort was not completed until 1790.

El Morro sits on the right in this photo, as we sail toward the entrance to the harbor.

These colorful houses perch on a hillside to the left of El Morro in the photo above. Here is a closer view of them. This neighborhood, or barrio, is called La Perla. Not surprisingly, it started out in the 18th century as the location for a slaughterhouse and housing for slaves.

As we sailed around the point, we could see how El Morro still dominates the entrance t the harbor.

Below you can see the red gate known as La Puerta de San Juan, the only remaining original gate in the city wall. The gate is 16 feet tall and 20 feet thick. There is a walkway along the outside of the wall.

The Paseo de la Princesa ends at Fuente Raíces, or the Roots Fountain, representing the Taino, African, and European heritage of Puerto Rico.

In the foreground is the US Coast Guard station. Four white US cutters are on the left and two gray Canadian cutters are on the right. In the rear are two cruise ships.

In the evening we went to see Ryan Story, a guitarist and singer. His show was called “Infinity - Rock of the 80’s.” He was backed up by four musicians from the ship’s orchestra. He was a good singer and it was an energetic, loud show.

Today’s color is crimson, for the Gate of San Juan. 

 

To the Apex

February 25-26, 2023

On Saturday we boarded the Celebrity Apex. By the time we had finished the boarding process and made our way to our stateroom, I had forgotten my intention to photograph our room before it got cluttered up with our stuff. I’ll try to do it before the end of the cruise.

View of Port Everglades area from our balcony on the Apex. Open drawbridge in center, Sky Princess on left.

Apex is one of the newer and larger Celebrity ships. It belongs to the “Edge Class,” which means it has one of those giant orange platforms on the side that can move up and down. So, that’s where I will start.

The platform is called the “Magic Carpet.” While sailing it is usually kept at Level 14. But it is moved down to Level 4 or 5 in the evening. Its primary function is as a bar, though dinner is occasionally served there. It can also be used for boarding tenders when the ship is not docked. Passengers are not permitted to ride on it when it is moving.

It’s a pretty cool place for a drink. There are glass panels about 4 feet high around three sides and it is open to the air above that, so you really feel like you are on a balcony. It is much nicer than I expected it to be.

The yellow circle indicates our stateroom. You can see the Magic Carpet on the starboard side. The angle from which this photo was taken seems to have caused a bit of foreshortening, which makes the Magic Carpet look much smaller than it is.

The ship is stunning. The design is very contemporary and innovative, but also (usually) relaxing. The colors are calming and there are lots of plants. We managed to get a few good shots on embarkation day before the ship got too full of people.

There are some “cabanas” right alongside the space the Magic Carpet occupies when it is on 14. This area makes me feel like I’m inside a shark’s mouth - so maybe not relaxing, but definitely interesting.

One of the things you need to do shortly after your initial boarding is check in at your muster station - the place you are supposed to go to in the event of an emergency. On the way to ours, we passed through a weird mirrored passageway with bizarre sculptures and ethereal music.

Crew members waited outside our muster station to check us in. I had to make an extra effort to suppress the urge to stroke those ostrich feathers.

Eden is a multi-level space in the back of the ship. It includes a bar, a cafe, a restaurant, a dance floor and a music venue. It’s got a lot of places where you can just sit and watch the ocean. Or you can face inward and feel like you are in a garden.

The figure looking into Eden through a window is an art installation

Evening Activities

On the first evening we went to see a comedian named Corey Rodriguez. He was very good at capturing the silly things couples do - for example, when a husband falls asleep watching TV, then wakes up and denies having been asleep.

On the second evening we went to a production show called Tree of Life. It had singing and dancing and some acrobatics. It was underwhelming, IMHO.

The 1%

After an informal survey, I have determined that we are among the 1%. That is the 1% (or fewer) of passengers onboard who wear masks. For the crew it is maybe 2%. 

We take our masks off when we are eating/drinking, when we are outdoors, and (of course) when we are in our stateroom. We  eat lunch outdoors every day. (The weather has been great.)

Balconies

We have an aft balcony. Celebrity calls it a “Sunset Balcony.” It is a good-sized balcony, with two loungers, two chairs, and a small table. It is a traditional form of balcony, accessed through a sliding glass door.

Our view

The Edge Class ships have relatively few traditional balconies. Celebrity has come up with a new idea, which they have dubbed the “Infinite Balcony.” Most of the cabins on a ship are found along the sides of the ship, and on the Edge Class ships most of these port and starboard cabins are Infinite Balcony cabins. Essentially, your balcony is inside your cabin. The outside wall is a large window. The top half of the window can slide down and that’s supposed to make you feel like you are on a balcony. I’m not buying it. What I hear is that some people really like these cabins, and some people HATE them. I think I would hate to have one.

Infinite Balcony cabins (above the lifeboats), and another view of the Magic Carpet

Today’s color is orange - a bold color for the bold concept of the Magic Carpet.

Goodnight, Moon!

Unconditional Sarasota

February 22-24, 2023

If there’s one thing we have learned in this post-Covid, post-climate-change world, it’s that travel is more complicated and less predictable than it used to be. When we have an important date with a cruise ship, being late is not an option. We used to arrive the day before a cruise, but after a flight out of Alaska was 4 hours late and we missed our connection, which happened to be the last flight out of Seattle that night, we realized that a relatively minor delay can quickly morph into a delay of two days or more. Now we build in a minimum two-day cushion. Even if we don’t experience delays, we are able to avoid some of the stress of worrying about problems while we travel.

Like this time. Our first flight left 35 minutes late, but we had allowed ourselves a solid 4-hour layover, so our first flight was free of anxiety. Our second flight was on time, and all of our luggage arrived with us. 

You know you are in Florida when there is a fish tank in the terminal, with live fish inside.

Flamingo fun in the terminal

And by the way, our flight from Anchorage to Seattle had an all-female cockpit crew. In other words, the captain and first officer were both women.

Our plan was to spend some time in beautiful Sarasota and environs, where there are malls, outlet malls, good restaurants, and great places to walk. We were able to work on recovering from jet lag at the same time.

We did the Downtown Sarasota volkswalk, following a 6km route that showed off some of the highlights and amenities of Sarasota’s downtown.

I would like to try these — but maybe not in a “downtown”

This whole block was occupied by a modern high-rise/parking garage/restaurant complex, but one little corner of the block retained a historic Spanish-style structure

Mermaid fountain in a pocket park

Burns Square celebrates murals and sidewalk art. Burns Court is a charming little street that would have been easy to miss. It’s tucked away off Burns Square in the shadow of tall commercial buildings. Cute little bungalows from the 1920’s line Burns Court and they are pure nostalgia.

Spanish moss on a tree at the Selby Botanical Garden

Who doesn’t love pelicans?

The Art Deco entrance to Bayfront Park

The highlight of Bayfront Park, in my opinion, is “Unconditional Surrender.” It is one of a series of computer-generated statues created by Seward Johnson, the grandson of Robert Wood Johnson, a co-founder of Johnson & Johnson.

The statue is based on an iconic photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt called “V-J Day inTimes Square.” One of many controversies to  arise in connection with the statue was copyright infringement of the Eisenstaedt photo. Johnson claimed his work was based on an uncopyrighted photo by Victor Jorgensen.

The Jorgensen photo

Other controversies included the accusation that it was kitsch, to concern that it represented a sexual assault. Nonetheless, I liked it a lot. I appreciated the history lesson as well as the art.

<><><><><>

Sarasota is a city that knows what it wants to be. Sarasota is unconditionally committed to public art and to the performing arts. Sarasota is unconditionally committed to interesting public spaces that celebrate the past and the future and challenge the present. Here’s what the city leaders have added to Sarasota’s home page: 

Our vision is to be a world-class community and treasured destination, with enduring natural beauty, charm and diversity.

Yes, Sarasota!

Today’s color is white, to honor all the nurses out there, working so hard to help others.