"mmc" wrote:
"Rosalie B." wrote in message
.. .
Wayne.B wrote:
Hello Rosalie! Where you been?
You mean recently?
My last two cruises were on the big boats. Bob and I took a cruise
through the Panama Canal and back last winter. This URL starts with
our visit to Grand Turk, and links all the way through to Peru and
back
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/a66ee/#TL
This is the start of the visit
We were supposed to get to Grand Turk at noon, but we were coming in during Trivia, so right afterwards I went out and took pictures. I did get some photos of the lighthouse. I was so anxious to get ashore to find out how I could get to the lighthouse itself that I took two rolls and two slices of bread from the buffet.
The Port person said to go to the information desk and ask about a taxi. There was no information desk. We bought hats for ourselves - I lost my good hat in Curacao and left the one with a chin strap to keep it from blowing off that I bought there on our boat. Bob bought a straw one and I bought a fabric one. We saw the little booth (smaller than a reasonable sized science fair project) but there was no one there. We walked out to the taxi stand and they said to go back to the booth and look for someone in a green shirt.
The man (in a cream shirt) eventually came to the booth and he explained that his tour was an hour and included the lighthouse and would be $19 each. A taxi out to the lighthouse and back would be $18 each ($9 each way) So we opted for the tour which would leave in 20 minutes. The tour would have cost $39 each from the ship. I wanted to get Bob something to eat, so we walked over to Margaretaville. I ordered conch soup which I thought would be fast, but Bob ordered a fish sandwich. And it didn't come quickly enough for us so we took it with us.
We walked back to the stand and they gave us wrist bands. I drank my soup (I had to put some ice cubes in it to get it cool enough to drink and I spilled some of it on my dress) and we walked to the bus. I got on and sat by the window in what must have been the smallest seat on the bus. The distance between the back of the seat and the back of the next seat was exactly the distance from my hips to my knees.
Anyway the tour included a narrative by the driver (also the person who sold us the tickets), and he explained about the original salt ponds and how things were after Hurricane Ike (category 4). Apparently the British Navy came in for the recovery and ordered 300 body bags - they didn't have to use any of them. You can see that there is extensive damage to the island, but the roads are cleared now, people are getting their homes back together, and the shops at the dock are about half back in business
We went out to the lighthouse, and Bob took one of the cameras and walked out to the end of the property and took pictures, while I took pictures from between the lighthouse and the bus. Originally there was an admission charge, but there was no one to take the money. Originally there was a refreshment stand, but now there's just a lady with a cooler.
And in June I took my granddaughter on a Baltic cruise. I haven't
finished doing all the ports on this trip yet, but this is the first
port in Estonia and most of the other narratives are linked although
not all have photos.
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/ab5b6/#TL
And I got a cold which turned into bronchitis and I was sick for
about a month. Finally gave in and went to the doctor.