The Cruise

I'd hoped to have a lot of pictures to share, but unfortunately--true story--the HH fell in the river while hiking in the Dominican Republic.  Luckily, the camera was the only casualty:)
I LOVED the Dominican Republic.  As you can see it's quite beautiful.  If you have never been, think Jurassic Park.  It's actually where JP was filmed.  The people there are very self-sufficient.  Much of the healing is holistic.  They have plants for just about everything, including cancer prevention. The average age is ninety to a hundred.  They build homes from trees that fall.  Using the tree itself for the house and the fronds/leaves for the roof.  If you are after particular leaves for healing and the plant doesn't grow in your backyard you just walk into the forest and pluck it.
We did a hike--where the HH fell--to a natural water fall in the rain forest and, for me, it was the high light of the trip.  We crossed several streams and low rivers, and on the hike our guide pointed out the different plants, which ones were medicinal and which ones could blind you.  It was fascinating.
On the tour, I got to chatting with another woman and found out she lives in Lake Norman which is about fifteen miles from us. Small world.  Trite but true:)
When we returned to the bus we were treated to rum punch and snacks.

Dominican Republic

We also went to Grand Turk.  I was really excited about this port of call because Love, Lattes and Angel takes place in a small island in the Caicos. It was more desolate than I had anticipated.  A lot of folks opted for the beaches and I imagine if we'd done that instead of the tour we would have had a different perspective. As you can see the beach is quite beautiful.

Grand Turk

 The cruise itself was great.  We had a lovely suite and were wined and dined. They'd been told it was our 40th and almost every night something different was waiting when we got back to the cabin: champagne, gourmet fruit basket, chocolate covered strawberries, desserts, etc.

  And the food--OMG. There were a variety of places you could eat.  For the most part we hit the buffet. They always had delicious vegetarian fare so I was happy. There were windows all around the dining room so you could watch the sea while you ate. Ice cream, tea, coffee and pizza were available twenty-four/seven.
They had different shows you could attend in the evenings and a 'dive-in' movie that showed nightly on the upper deck, with free popcorn.
Also on one of the upper decks you could walk laps which we did most days. One day it was so windy the HH was afraid his hearing aids would get blown away, so that day we gave it up. But for the most part the weather was wondrous.

If I got up in the middle of the night, the first couple of nights at home,  I'd think  I was still in the boat and would be swaying from side to side when I walked.  Guess I still had my sea legs:)