Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[island lady]

Yesterday much better weather.  Decided to get out and enjoy while we still could ahead of this storm.  

 

Did the waterfront boardwalk walk in Bucksport ME, enjoyed views over the water with the pretty bridge over the Penobscot river, and Fort Knox (now a state park) across the way.  Bucky enjoyed touring the Marina, dreaming of his days as a sail boat captain/owner, and then I spotted this cute little waterfront restaurant for lunch.  🙂  

 

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by island lady

[jagsfan]

13 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Ever taken a cruise up the river to "the gate"?

I’ve done the boat from Westminster Pier to Hampton Court several times. I love it 

Never to the Tower and Traitors’ Gate,  though. 

[bobmacliberty]

Best wishes to everyone impacted by Ida.  We just talked to our niece who lives very close to where the tornado touched down outside of Philly.  Very scary.

[island lady]

This little gal comes to visit us everyday on the deck during happy hour.  I am helping her to stock her pantry for the coming winter.  😉  She is very tame and will sit at my feet and beg if her seed offering runs low.  😄   Chubby cheeks full of seed, she races off to deposit her load, and then right back again for another cheek stuffing.  I asked her if she wanted a shopping bag...she declined.  

 

 

 

 

[bobmacliberty]

6 minutes ago, jagsfan said:

I’ve done the boat from Westminster Pier to Hampton Court several times. I love it 

Never to the Tower and Traitors’ Gate,  though. 

 

I've gone both directions between the Tower pier and the Westminster pier.  It's an enjoyable cruise with a guide providing some history, and also an easy way to get across town.

[jagsfan]

2 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Ouch!!  Sorry to hear you had to have that procedure.  😞 

 

 I would say replace all beverage choices with the beer.  😄  

 

I drink a lot of water all day and night...and visit the little girls room quite often as result.  😉 

 

Though I also drink a glass of low calorie Cranberry juice in the morning (to replace heavy sugar OJ). With the tea, water,  juice, and happy hour wine...yeah, it cleans me out pretty good I guess. 🤭  So far so good and no kidney stones....so far anyway.  😮 

I was very surprised when I had my first kidney stone episode that cranberries contain calcium. I was told to stay away from cranberries and cranberry juice!

So it’s good for the kidneys, till it forms kidney stones!

[island lady]

4 minutes ago, jagsfan said:

I was very surprised when I had my first kidney stone episode that cranberries contain calcium. I was told to stay away from cranberries and cranberry juice!

So it’s good for the kidneys, till it forms kidney stones!

 

Wow...very strange.  😮 

 

Oh well...I like Cranberry juice in the morning (better than the OJ that lifts my blood sugar)...and gulp my calcium pills with it.  😉 

[jagsfan]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

Day 2 of golf was at the Payne's Valley course...the star of the show.  There is still a lot of construction happening in the area, both around the course and with what looks like both cottages for rent (stay and play) and houses to live in.  Even so, it's a pretty special experience.

 

 

The thing that gets a lot of attention, and rightly so, is the 19th hole.  For those not familiar with golf, a course usually has 18 holes.  Sometimes, there will be an extra 19th hole, which is usually a short par 3 hole.  It's fun for breaking ties and some last minute "closest to the pin" bets.  In fact, the matched played on TV last year ended in a tie after 18 and the Woods/Thomas team won when Justin Thomas hit his shot on 19 closer than the others.

 

Short video on the creation of the hole:

https://www.pgatour.com/video/2020/09/29/creation-of-the-19th-hole-at-payne-s-valley.html

 

 

 

What I didn't expect was the 10 minute golf cart ride back to the clubhouse that was almost like a Disney ride through rocks, streams, bridges, waterfalls, and caves.  You could see how they were creating more areas for waterfalls with man made rocks to control water flow and edges for new waterfalls.  When fully complete, this will be truly spectacular.

 

 

 

Here's a YouTube video that someone else captured of the whole drive to the clubhouse.  If you don't want to watch the whole thing, fast forward to about the 3:45 mark to see when the path goes through a cave with waterfalls.  That's the point where I thought...Disney.

 

 

What a great tribute this course is to one of my favorite golfers. Payne Stewart always had a kind word for the TPC golfers. 
When the news of the plane malfunction and los of consciousness was broadcasted, it was one of those moments you never forget. 
 

[Sea Dog]

8 minutes ago, jagsfan said:

What a great tribute this course is to one of my favorite golfers. Payne Stewart

One of the greats. I did many interviews with him when he would stop in Kansas City. Total class act and so nice. A true gentleman of golf.

[jagsfan]

36 minutes ago, island lady said:

Yesterday much better weather.  Decided to get out and enjoy while we still could ahead of this storm.  

 

Did the waterfront boardwalk walk in Bucksport ME, enjoyed views over the water with the pretty bridge over the Penobscot river, and Fort Knox (now a state park) across the way.  Bucky enjoyed touring the Marina, dreaming of his days as a sail boat captain/owner, and then I spotted this cute little waterfront restaurant for lunch.  🙂  

 

 

I’m sorry y’all missed the old Waldo Hancock bridge. It was quite the experience!

[Arzeena]

1 hour ago, DaniDanielle said:

Basement flooded, first time in years.  Pump going but we need a bigger one.  Can’t complain others have it worse.

You are in my thoughts. Stay safe.

[island lady]

24 minutes ago, jagsfan said:

I’m sorry y’all missed the old Waldo Hancock bridge. It was quite the experience!

 

Saw it.  😉  We have been coming up here for 15 years...still remember it when it was still standing before they tore it down in 2013, ....which was the date I believe.  

 

Though I think this new bridge is quite beautiful.  🙂 

 

Have been back and forth over what they call this new one ...the "Penobscot Narrows" bridge several times already this week.  Going over it again tomorrow for a picnic in Searsport on the river, then again on Saturday on the way to look at another home for sale near Belfast. 

 

This is view when both bridges were still there.  

 

 

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by island lady

[bobmacliberty]

41 minutes ago, jagsfan said:

When the news of the plane malfunction and los of consciousness was broadcasted, it was one of those moments you never forget. 

 

I remember it like it was yesterday.  It was very eerie as they pretty much knew that everyone onboard had succumbed to hypoxia but the plane kept flying on autopilot until it ran out of gas.  They were followed by Air Force jets with lots of speculation about whether or not the plane would be shot down to prevent it from crashing in a populated area.  Very sad.

[Sunshine3601]

3 hours ago, mets07 said:

My husband has been shop-vacuuming water out of our basement for the last 3 hours. This is in Northern New Jersey. The ground is very saturated so it is difficult to make progress.  It is in both unfinished and finished areas of the basement but not completely across the floor. Whether the carpeting in the finished areas will be worth keeping is an unknown at this point. 

 

In any case, considering that at least 14 people have died in New York and New Jersey due to this weather incident, this is nothing. 

 

Sorry to hear about your basement.   I, too, have been there and it's not any fun.    Being you have a basement your probably know this already, but if not, it is best to set up one or two dehumidifiers after you shop vac the water out of the basement.       

Nothing compared to what it sounds like you have.    We had some sitting water near the work bench area of our basement that has a tiled floor so Eric was able to use a big floor squeegie and move the water over to the sump pump it.     He opened the 4 basement windows and set up the dehumidifier in that area before he left for work.      

Like you said, nothing compared to the death, injuries and devastation that a lot of the northeast area is dealing with today.   

[Ocean Boy]

3 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Yes, we did thames river cruise in 2018.   The gate/barrier system is amazing to see in person.    Have you done this?

Yes! I thought it was fantastic. It also gave us time to check out Greenwich and the Royal Greewich Observatory. I have a picture somewhere with my feet on each side of longitude 0 in the east and west hemispheres.

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, jagsfan said:

I’ve done the boat from Westminster Pier to Hampton Court several times. I love it 

Never to the Tower and Traitors’ Gate,  though. 

Have you visited the Tower? I found it fascinating. Henry's armour, as well as his horses armour, are there.

[lenquixote66]

10 hours ago, grapau27 said:

I hope you are okay Lenny.

Just watched UK early morning news and the floods in New York and New Jersey look horrendous.

The subway was flooded.

Take care and stay safe Lenny and everyone else affected by the rain.

Graham.

 

 

Thank you ,Graham.We are fine as are our children and their families.The only people we know who had a problem was a niece and family.The rain crashed through their windows and they were using everything they had to get the water out of the house.

I stayed up most of the night just in case we had to leave the house.

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, DaniDanielle said:

Basement flooded, first time in years.  Pump going but we need a bigger one.  Can’t complain others have it worse.

Sorry to hear this Marietta.

I hope you get your basement clear of water.

Graham.

 

[lenquixote66]

3 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Lenny,  how are you this morning? 

Was a very scary night with non stop alerts for tornadoes and flooding.  I hope you and your family are well and safe!

I saw news with NYC flooding.  It's a mess everywhere in my area of PA.

Just spoke with my tenant at shore house and all good there.  Doesnt sound like the jersey got anywhere near what we had.  Kinda ironic since it was from a hurricane.

We are fine.We had the same alerts.The only negative was that I had to cancel a doctor appointment for this morning because we would not have been able to get there.Glad that you are okay.

[lenquixote66]

3 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

I've never experienced a tornado but from what I understand,  it sounds like a freight train barreling towards you. Having grown up near very active railroad tracks, I know exactly what a freight train sounds like.

 

Last night, with the heavy rain, winds and slow,  rolling thunderstorms, I thought I heard freight trains a dozen times even though I'm 1/2 hour away from the nearest railroad. The severe weather alerts going off on my phone were not helping either. 

 

We also had alerts.We are also about 1/2 hour to the nearest railroad.

Friends of ours in North Jersey had water in their first floor.My nephew in Westchester lost power and one of my nieces in Westchester had several feet of water in her house.Glad that you are okay too.

[grapau27]

7 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

Thank you ,Graham.We are fine as are our children and their families.The only people we know who had a problem was a niece and family.The rain crashed through their windows and they were using everything they had to get the water out of the house.

I stayed up most of the night just in case we had to leave the house.

That is good news Lenny.

I hope your niece and her family are okay.

[lenquixote66]

4 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Yeah...same here.  Bucky tends to hold this one in his head...should help you replace the Love Boat.  😄 

 

 

 

I have a tape of a tape of a live recording of Hendrix.

[lenquixote66]

4 hours ago, LucasLikesToCruise said:

I remember reading 1984 when I was a Sophomore in HS in 1983 and thinking that I was so glad that we would never live in a world like that.  It seems that good ole George was only off by about 40 years when he titled his book.
Kind of scary that a handful of people get to control the flow of information, whatever it maybe.  

I cannot recall if I read it in HS ,college or both,it was so long ago.

[Sunshine3601]

15 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Yes! I thought it was fantastic. It also gave us time to check out Greenwich and the Royal Greewich Observatory. I have a picture somewhere with my feet on each side of longitude 0 in the east and west hemispheres.

Yes, we also have photos of us on the prime meridian at the Royal Observatory too!    We really enjoyed the Greenwich area and seeing the Cutty Sark too.  We spent almost a full day wondering around the area.   Then we went to a Pub near the Royal Navy College for dinner and were having such a nice time we almost missed the last ferry back to London.   

We spent a full week in London and I cannot wait to go back someday as there is so much more to see and do.

[lenquixote66]

3 hours ago, mets07 said:

My husband has been shop-vacuuming water out of our basement for the last 3 hours. This is in Northern New Jersey. The ground is very saturated so it is difficult to make progress.  It is in both unfinished and finished areas of the basement but not completely across the floor. Whether the carpeting in the finished areas will be worth keeping is an unknown at this point. 

 

In any case, considering that at least 14 people have died in New York and New Jersey due to this weather incident, this is nothing. 

 

Our friends in North Bergen had their entire basement and part of the first floor flooded.We had that many years ago when we lived in Brooklyn and had to get rid of everything.