The Last Days at Sea........for now

Royal Caribbean has several levels of "achievement", which pretty much says how tenured you are at the cruising experience. You start out on your first and subsequent four cruises with "Gold" status. That's generally accompanied by learning that the least expensive trips are by taking an inside cabin. Basically, it's a dark cave, with a bathroom so small that you hardly can change your mind, let alone your socks.

After starting off "on the cheap", by my sixth cruise I decided that now I was "Platinum" level, I should at least try an outside cabin. The distinction, other than a higher daily cost, was a window [portholes were further down in the bowels of the ship]. My wife really liked the cabin with a window, but on cruise number 7 I fell back into my default setting (cheap) and went to an inside cabin for a four day cruise. Big Mistake, and when momma ain't happy, nobody's happy. On cruise number 8, I found jewelry would cure almost anything provided I would NEVER again select an inside cabin.

Cruise number 9 (for me, 7 for my wife) was going to be our longest together in a confined space. I threw caution to the winds, and purchased a balcony cabin. This was also the first time we were not on either deck 4 or deck 5, in fact we moved up to deck 7 in one swell foop. She loved the balcony, and I did too. We'll go back to an outside cabin for cruise number 10 (already planned) but that will be a short cruise just to wrack up the last point necessary to reach "Diamond" status. Now, the nice thing about being a "Diamond" is that whenever you go on a sister cruise line, you'll automatically be treated to their equal level of accommodation and services. Since we got terrycloth robes at Platinum, I'm expecting a silk kimono at least. We also get more "on board ship credits", and you'd be surprised just how much they sell on board.

How does this get us to the picture above? Well, Royal Caribbean has cut "deals" with select merchants in each port of call. One of them is Diamonds International, and to get you into their stores, they give you a free charm for your (first cruise) free charm bracelet. Now we've collected a number of these charms, even though my wife hardly ever wears the bracelet - except into their stores. On Grand Cayman, we walked in and naturally the charm is free.....but, at the back of the store. You must walk past all the show cases of "sparkling" rings, earrings, drops, pendants, etc. to get there. Diamonds International has a line of jewelry trademarked "Circle of Light" and one ring in particular drew my dearest in. Adding insult to potential injury, once out of the case, it slipped on her finger perfectly. The Royal Caribbean "ambassador" was also in the store, where they offered an "additional $100 discount" for passengers. The ring in question had 1.01 carets, with the primary stone being .59 caret, circled by smaller stones. It was magnificent, and "only" $2,750 - their "best price". Fortunately, my wife does not easily spend my money, so despite the come on and encouragement by the lovely blond saleslady [she was Polish of all things, on a Caribbean island], we left with the understanding that they'd hold that price (even if the RCCL "ambassador" was not present later) for the rest of the day.

Much as I often complain, and who doesn't after 38 years of marriage, my wife is truly my better half. We went down the street, and found a purse we'd seen on an earlier cruise. It was only sold in this one shop and during the last cruise they didn't have the size she wanted. I had set aside the money specifically for this purchase, and they had her color and size. On the way back to the ship, we found a second Diamonds International store, with the same ring but a smaller stone for less money - but the stone looked out of proportion for the setting. I did learn a bit more about size, clarity, color and we looked in perhaps six shops before finding what you see in the picture. The shop was NOT affiliated with the cruise line, and we got more carets for less cash, and a really unique and contemporary design. So, momma ended up VERY happy, and when momma is happy EVERYBODY is happy. I need one more cruise (10) to reach Diamond - she did it in 7. This ends my travelogue of five nations in ten days, on a happy note shared by all.

Oh, one final note or two - when we departed, we left from Terminal F, and parked in the garage at Terminal G (the closest). When we returned, nobody on the ship made an announcement that we were coming into Terminal C. The closest garage to it was across from Terminal D, and I went lugging our suitcases down there to find "oh shit, somebody stole the Corvette". So, I marched back across the wide street to where a Miami Dade Sheriff's Deputy was parked. Meanwhile, three other families descended on the garage to find their cars not where they left them - and simultaneously also remembered the terminal garage was not OUR garage. I went back to the deputy, and begged a ride down to the correct garage where I found my car exactly where I left it. So I came in a Corvette, and briefly left in the back seat of a police car.

I also learned one additional thing - when you get off the cruise ship, you'll enter a warehouse where rows and rows of luggage are lined up. There is also a police officer with a dog walking down those endless rows. Should the dog stop at YOUR bag..................pray that he lifts his leg.

My favorite island, Part 4

This (below) is actually dead coral, in an area of Grand Cayman Island that once was under the sea.

Over time, the land rose (these islands are created that way, you know) and the sea drained away.

Ancient mariners, and of course the ubiquitous Pirates of the Caribbean, decided that this is what Hell must look like, and hence the name stuck.
This area is over an acre in size, and this photograph only captures a small part of the landscape (which was once a vibrantly colored seascape).

My stop in Hell coincided with my mother's 90th birthday. Suffice to say, I wasn't thinking about that when we booked this cruise. My mistake, big time.

Now, I doubt that many people understand my sense of humor, but you've got to agree that the irony of this situation comes through loud and clear. I suspect for the next 20 years she'll be holding a grudge that I didn't come to see her on her 90th, and had I shown up later with such a lame excuse as "I was on a cruise" she'd probably tell me to "go to Hell". Anticipating that, I decided to beat her to the punch and I even sent her a postcard from Hell, discovered to be near Georgetown, Grand Cayman Island. I have yet to talk to her following my return to Florida. Frankly, I'm afraid of the woman. Wouldn't you be?

Oh, this photo has not been altered - I really do have sexy looking legs for a 62 year old, and I even still have my hair. Following this Kodak Moment stop, and time to purchase and send a postcard, I mounted my bike and quickly made like a bat out of hell to return to the ship.

My favorite island, Part 3

OK - for starters I've "stretched this photo" to better fit the space. I am NOT that chubby as it would appear. Neither is my little friend, a Green Sea Turtle, who when turned away from the water calms down long enough to snap his picture. Rub him on the underside of his head, and he'll actually fall asleep. Rub me on the underside of my chin, and you'll just find I forgot to shave.

Green Sea Turtles are native to the green sea, but can be found in blue seas, high seas, and occasionally even middle C. You'll all remember "Happy Together" by The Turtles, right? On that sour note, I'll move on.

Our guide at the Turtle Farm informed us that 90% of the turtles were raised for domestic consumption. Cayman Islanders love to eat turtle, but these are now protected species, so they cannot eat those caught in the wild. Ten percent of the turtles on this breeding farm are released into the wild, with GPS chips for tracking. A small number of Kemp's Ridley sea turtles are also bred here, all of whom are released into the neighboring sea. The Kemp's Ridley is considered critically endangered and grow only to just under 100 pounds.

The Green can often grow to 700 pounds, and several of this size in the breeding pens reached this weight. Females have short tails, males have long tails, but on formal night a white dinner jacket can be substituted for white tie and tails. Oh, the green name comes from the color of fat underneath their shell. For the record, no turtles were injured in the making of this blog.

Oh yes, the young man who flipped his bike suffered only road rash, which the Jeep driver treated from the first aid kit on board. I told him, just like in NASCAR, "rubbin is racing". His much older friend probably didn't find me funny, as he seemed very upset over this accident which came from following too close. My spouse and I have learned to ride far apart when on bicycles - gravel does not discriminate when you wipe out, and at our age bruises develop quickly.

My favorite island, Part 2

Apparently, Pirates are really big news in the Caribbean, as you tend to see them everywhere. So, naturally one gets out the camera and observes another Kodak moment.

This was at the Rum Cake Factory, however I didn't see much in the way of heavy machinery other than the pump station (seen in the background) next door. I did see a lot of rum cake, and of course I could not resist tasting many samples of the rum cake. Interestingly, I discovered that on this "shore excursion" there was to be found another "freebie" - rum cake samples.

This stop was perhaps two miles beyond my "free air" stop, if that - we were riding parallel to the seven mile beach, and being extremely careful to stay on the correct side of the road. I cannot use the term right side, as like many other non-U.S. places, they drive on the left here.
We had a very small tour, only three couples. One of the couples perhaps exercised too much zeal in sampling the rum cake, as he proceeded to wipe out after touching wheels turning into the Turtle Farm. At that point, we realized WHY the Jeep following us carried a first aid kit.

My favorite island, Part 1

Scene setting: group of bicycles outside the Rum Cake Factory on Grand Cayman's "7-mile beach".

Action: rest stop from eleven mile bike tour, with stops at the Rum Cake Factory, Turtle Farm, and Hell.

Props: Bicycles, helmets, athletic (and much younger) tour guide.

Story line: We left the ship and boarded a bus and drove several klicks (they use Kilometers here, not miles) into the countryside. Our group was then issued well-used bicycles and helmets. Our guide's bike had an orange flag and he set off in the lead. A second guide followed in a Jeep with first aid supplies, an air tank, and water. I mounted my trusty steed and began to pedal my ass all over the island. Apparently my trusty (or was that rusty) TREK was not quite ready, and at the first rest stop I required more air to be placed in my back tire. However, I did discover the one thing that didn't cost me on Grand Cayman - Air remains free.

A Day on the Ship, A Day in the Sun

This is a view of looking "aft"on the "port" side of Jewel of the Seas. Didn't know I could "speak Navy" eh?
Under that glassy dome to the left of this photo was the Solarium, where Taj Mahal met the Hanging Gardens of Babylon - obviously a Norwegian designer's acid trip gone truly bad. Fortunately, it was the only bad decor decision we experienced.

This was a first for me - on my ninth cruise trip, I decided to cast budget to the winds and booked a balcony room. It was a good decision, and made a difference on this ten day jaunt. After consecutive land tours in Panama and Costa Rica, this was to be an "at sea" day, and I began it with a walk around the 12th deck before the crew put out the chairs and the party goers from the night before staked out their place in the sun. This cruise I partook of the exercise facility often, in what turned out to be a futile effort to hold my weight down. Like the Freshman Fifteen, gained that first year in college, cruises are not good places to lose weight. I managed to "manage" my gain to only three pounds over ten days, so on balance I guess all that deck walking, treadmill walking, and stationary bicycle riding helped a bit.

When not exercising, or eating at the Windjammer buffet, I enjoyed the Art Auctions and got in a modicum of trouble collecting some Emile Bellet, a French artist painting in the style of the Fauvres school. He paints in a vivid colors manner, of "size 4" women without facial expression, to represent all women. Earlier, and better known names, of this style included Matisse and Cezanne. They serve free champagne at these auctions, a reason to go, and once you can get past too much Peter Max and Thomas Kinkade (not my favorites), there are some nice works to contemplate adding to your collection. I did not gamble in the casion, nor play any Bingo, but enjoyed the nightly entertainment a lot. Well, "Tango Buenas Aires" got a bit tiresome after the first 20 minutes, but overall all of the shows were fun, and we enjoyed sharing this cruise with British friends of 20 years. Simon & Ann would join us for dinner every night to share their experiences of the day.

A cruise is meant as a time to get away from telephones, emails, and utility bills. After almost forty years of work, I'm starting to master this "retirement gig", and on my next cruise I'll reach "Diamond" status. On this trip, Elizabeth also reached diamond status, but that tale comes tomorrow to tell as I relate our day in and around Georgetown, Grand Cayman.

Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

Costa Rica is Spanish for "rich coast" and it's riches are its environment and people. Our tour guide told us that his nation was 92% literate, and while this country grew lots of bananas, it was no Banana Republic. American high tech companies like Intel operated large facilities to manufacture delicate electronic products, and the universities were well attended by people from throughout the Americas.

Dish type satellite antennas were legion, and indicated a higher standard of living of most residents. We did not see as many bars on windows, as we had in Columbia and Panama either. Eco-tourism and high technology being the main economic drivers, and no Army to fund, this nation has a lot going for it. It also has a significant American ex-pat community living inexpensively on it's Pacific side. We hope to see that part of Costa Rica in a future trip.

The nation abolished its Army in 1949, and is the longest running democracy in Latin America. It is the third ranked in the world (1st in the Americas) in terms of the Environmental Performance Index - a Columbia University environmental health and ecosystem measurement index. We came ashore at Puerto Limon, the only significant town on the Caribbean coast. While I did know the way to San Jose, this nation's capital, it was 100 kilometers/60 miles distant and we only ventured a short distance into the interior.

On this day, we took a jungle ecology tour where we spotted howler monkeys, three-toed sloths, birds and bats - all in the tree canopy. I'd include pictures, except every critter is so darned high up, you'd be looking at them and still not seeing them. Hence, I chose to picture the colorful plumage of this native combo playing the local version of "Jungle Boogie". While they were no Kool & The Gang, their lyrics were just as simple to "get down" to. The flowers here were just downright beautiful too - Costa Rica definitely is on the list for further inspection at a later time.

Panama Jack's New Canoe Canal

Trade and tourism make up a significant portion of the economy of Panama, and the picture at left exemplifies both. This was our third nation on our recent cruise, and to travel to Panama without looking at the Canal, would be like going to Vegas without throwing a quarter into a slot machine. So, after debarking on the Atlantic side in Colon (named after Christopher Columbus), we took a bus to the train, and rode the 48 miles to the Pacific side where we toured the Miraflores Locks.

Fourteen thousand vessels transit the waterway annually, and at present are limited by width and length of each ship. New locks under construction will expand width from 110 feet wide and 965 feet long, to an expanded 180 feet wide and 1,200 feet long. Those are expected to open in 2015, when the old locks turn 100 years of age. Prior to independence of "the zone", the Republic of Panama created a government institution by the name of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP for Autoridad del Canal de Panama in Spanish) to operate all aspects of the waterway.

The government of Panama took over the waterway officially at noon on December 31, 1999, per a treaty signed twenty-two years earlier by Jimmy Carter. The American military installations were turned over, and many were converted to trade or education facilities. One former Army base became a new Panamanian University, other facilities were sub-let by the new government to industry.

The actual railway across the isthmus was leased to The Panama Canal Railway Company, a joint venture between Kansas City Southern and an American inter-modal terminal operator. They were given 50 year lease, and proceeded to replace the aging trackbed with conventional gauge rail (it was narrow gauge before) and refurbish former AMTRAK cars used by tourists during the day, and one trip of businessmen traveling from Panama City in the west to the Colon Free Trade Zone on the Atlantic coast. At the end of the day, a return trip takes those same buyers back to the more populated Pacific side. Colon is the only significant population center on the Atlantic side - where the rains are heaviest due to the mountains in the center of the country. We would experience that same phenomenon in Costa Rica, where bananas are grown in the east, and most of the population is located alongside the Pacific coast.

So, this day had it all - a ship to the port, a bus to the rail head, a train to the Miraflores locks, and a bus ride and tour of Panama City, with return by bus across the country. The railway does not carry passengers as such - only tourists and those two trips for well-heeled buyers who commute between the capitol and the free trade zone in Colon (which our guide said was the second largest duty free zone in the world). Like Alice's Restaurant, "you can get anything you want" in the acres of warehouses in Colon on the Atlantic side. We settled for T-shirts again. Go figure

Romancing the Stone, Part 2

Old town Cartegena was a mix of old architecture and new shops. Windows displayed the latest fashions, while street vendors sold souvenirs and bottled water. It was HOT and muggy, a far cry from the Florida weather (unseasonably cold this year) we had left in Sarasota.

Cartegena is a coastal city, heavily influenced by the Spanish influence from the days following Christopher Columbus' several trips to the Americas. Those early Europeans were not kind to the local natives, and in addition to "local labor" they imported a number of black slaves to build their cities and forts. It was also a place where "confessions" were enticed by torture, and our tour guide seemed determined to show us every instrument of getting to "the truth". They did it all, and people often confessed to alleged crimes (including being witches) to end the torture. Today we've abolished torture and replaced it with taxes.

At the end of the tour, which focused heavily on the impact of the Spanish Inquisition in the new world, we were treated to a "refreshment break" as part of the tour package. My spouse chose bottled water, but I dared to try the local beer. When the pop top came off in my hand, I took it back to the disbursing agent who clearly was prepared for this apparently routine problem - solved by the old fashioned "church key" bottle and can opener. I would not recommend Columbian beer - but I did find it ironic that after touring more churches than I could count, the event was wrapped up by the use of a church key. South Americans practice their religion in every manner imaginable.

Romancing the Tips

This gentleman was the herald who trumpeted our arrival at the historic fort overlooking the city of Cartegena.

I have no idea of what the uniform he wore represented, but I admired his entrepreneurial spirit. His trumpet playing was redolent of my Herb Alpert C.D., so apparently those music lessons did work out for him, after all.

I had carried ashore a supply of the new $1 coins, and this fellow certainly deserved a symbol of my appreciation of his efforts. If that trumpet gig doesn't work out, he might try for a job in baseball. He caught the coin on "the fly" without missing a note.

His post was mid-way up to the top of the fort, and when we returned he was still there panning for gold, so I threw a second gold coin into his tip jar. Those dollar coins were an inspired idea, as few people I gave them to had ever seen one. Next tour, perhaps monopoly money might work, but I doubt it. The dollar may not be as mighty as it used to be, but it is still sought the world over.

Romancing the Stone, Part 1

A view from the fort, above Cartegena, Columbia, showing a part of that city not seen in the film we've all come to associate with Cartegena.

Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner have been long gone from this area, and our time ashore was limited to a walking tour of the old city, the fort, and a traffic jam of massive proportion.

This is progress, South American style - gridlock and more body shops than one might imagine. Every car we saw had battle scars, yet drivers seemed immune to using caution - which if applied probably meant they'd never leave the driveway. The traffic however seemed to follow one rule - survival of the fittest, and if you could fit, you'd survive. Tour buses were the kings of this jungle, and every single one I saw had scuff marks on their outside mirrors. Drivers apparently were hired on the basis of their testosterone count and display of "machisimo". Motorcycles were abundant, and interestingly the riders all had the license plate numbers displayed prominently on their helmets. Same went for taxi cabs, with their plate numbers, in large print, on the roof of each vehicle. When I think back, I recall an absence of convertibles - apparently the authorities didn't like vehicles they could not monitor from above. Our tour guide said the presence of security bars on windows was one of the prices of becoming a cosmopolitan city. Crime apparently is one of the bigger industries, after tourism, and the Categena of today was nothing like that scribed by romance writer Joan Wilder. We also didn't see any alligators, but did see some alligator boots. Oh, and yes, we bought the obligatory T-shirt, so now we could say "been there, done that, bought the T-shirt".

Pirates of the caribbean, Part 2

As I returned to the ship, I noticed that Royal Caribbean was as good as its word to help the people of Haiti, as evidenced by these products on the dock awaiting cartage away to the people of the "private island" where in better weather we'd have been in the water, enjoying a lunch on the beach, or perhaps taking advantage of the zip line ride. The island itself has some fairly legitimate "mountains", although nothing like the hills of Tennessee, where I routinely terrorize my wife driving too fast up and down Monteagle. When we arrived, those Haitian hills were shrouded in fog and light rain. The ship was not completely full this trip, with a shade over 1900 passengers where 2200 was the maximum load. As we left Miami, with a first stop at Labadie, we expected to see some evidence of damage from the recent earthquake, but this area was over 100 miles from Port Au Prince, and other than the obvious grinding poverty as evidenced by the persistence of vendors and their hand-me-down fashions, I saw no evidence of a natural disaster, but certainly their nation is a political disaster. The ship set aside a bin to collect passenger's donated clothing, and every day that bin had to be emptied - we were generous in our giving, but the demand clearly would never be met. Haiti clearly was and remains a failed nation-state (says he, the political scientist) and only the people of Haiti can cure two hundred years of corruption and disorder. The hill they must climb is much taller than their fog shrouded mountains. They are a people with strong faith in God - they'll need it.

Pirates of the Caribbean, Part 1

Greetings from sunny, uh, make that wet and windy Labadie, Haiti. Or is it Labadee, Haiti. If T-shirts are the local equivalent of a dictionary, both island spellings appear correct.

On February 14th, I went ashore in a driving rain, my mission to explore this strange land of poverty and misfortune, and perhaps add a small bit of hope to some poor wretch in the form of good old Yankee dollars. Even in the rain, they were laying in wait to ambush my wallet. I never saw it coming.

Have you EVER gone ashore in what has to be considered the 3rd world and found "tourist" prices above incomprehensible? Try an opening gambit of $24 for a cotton T-shirt.....what have these folks been smoking? And foolish me, armed only with my naive innocence and a twenty dollar bill. The picture (notice the raindrop on the lens, lower left) depicts the "Artisan Village", which I later learned was off the "official Royal Caribbean" campus, hence the lair of brigands and thieves (I'd say pirates, but the Somalian version clearly eclipsed this motley crewe). Of course, everybody wanted to take me by the arm and show me their wares, and with few other cruise participants around, I did feel a bit nervous to be honest. Sort of like a black man might feel in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. But I did my best to spend the money and escape with change, however my thoughts of finding Mexico-like prices (where I've been able to find 'two for $10' easily) were dashed. Ultimately, I managed two for $16, but they wouldn't go for 'three for twenty', so back to the ship with two T-shirts, both spelling Labadee/Labadie differently. I shall keep one for myself and send the other to my dear friend of forty years past, who started me on this blog thing. Oh yeah, that was the day I won the "wet T-shirt contest" by default. My wife watched her drowned rat returning on the pier from the shelter of our stateroom balcony - proof that however brave a man can be, a woman is always smarter.

Dinner at the Dumpster

Tonight I was out walking Millie, our brave female beagle (more on that later). After she did her "business", it was my duty to get rid of her doody at the dumpster.

Now, when we go to the dumpster, there is always a chance that we're not the only ones there. These three little friends, whom our German visitors refer to as waschbar ("wash bear"), are nightly denizens of the dumpster.

Of course, we have other names for them, among them bandits, varmints, Procyon lotor (OK, so I'm showing off) and Millie's favorite term "raccoon boys". Millie loves the raccoon boys, especially when they are running in the opposite direction back into the mangrove swamp. She barks and wants to chase them, safe in the knowledge that her Daddy will not let go of the leash, and will remain a good 20 feet away from the escape path. At fifteen feet of the 16 foot leash, she slows down in anticipation of catching the "3 wire" for an arrested landing - like Eastwood said "a man's got to know his limitations" and that goes for man's best friend too. Millie is certainly mine.

Now, the little guys in the picture are not fully grown, and these three seem to enjoy falling in and being unable to get out. I often have to prop up the lid on the dumpster, and then put a stick in the corner so they can climb out. We're pretty careful - it's perhaps not a coincidence that the word in the dictionary preceding Raccoon is Rabies. Millie and Daddy don't mess with Mama Raccoon, but these juvenile coons are like teenagers, just hanging out down at the Food Giant and seeing what new treats are plastic wrapped for them to explore and enjoy.

In the mornings, when there's plenty of light, I'll often pick up Millie and hold her in the crook of my arm, so she's level with the top of the dumpster. She'll stare at the little guys, and they'll stare back. Sometimes they'll make little raccoon sounds, but Millie (the courageous) won't utter a whimper. After the appropriate stand-off, we'll back off and put Millie on the ground. The bandits will jump from the dumpster onto the board fence surrounding the dumpster, and then scurry down and run out the back side. At this point, Millie has found her voice again, and gives them a hearty beagle bark good-bye.

These are the rituals of the ordinary beagle and her extraordinary Daddy, or is it the other way around?

Life's a Beach, and then you move to one

How would you describe the style of architecture to the left? Bland? Boring? Banal? Well, according to Webster, it does "lack originality or freshness" so I guess banal wins the day. I call it Canadian Modern, since it was built in 1991 by a developer who decided to build condos around his surplus cedar wood windows.

You see, this guy had the window franchise for Pella of Canada, and a warehouse full of windows that nobody was buying. So he put them on a truck and headed south, built about fifty of these structures near a beach in Florida, and then marketed them to his countrymen as a vacation rental property. There are still perhaps a dozen Canadians owning a unit here, plus another group of British owners, and of course we also have Germans to round out our international flavor. On select days, you'll hear a modicum of Spanish speaking, if you can hear over their lawnmowers and leaf blowers.

What attracted this United Nations of ownership is the proximity of the beach, a mere half mile walking distance on average. It's a bit more for me, but then again I'm only two minutes walk from Sarasota Bay and the Inter-coastal Waterway. In fact, if I look out that second story window on the left, I can see water. This is known as a "partial water view". Should I look out the opposite window, I cannot see the Gulf of Mexico - only about a quarter mile of mangrove trees and the back sides of more condos near the pool. The picture on the right shows the entire 34 acre complex - my place is within that circle of homes near the bay. Across the bay is Bradenton.

In 2003, we decided to take the plunge and invest in a Florida vacation home, but had a budget to consider. We also had a daughter at Florida State University, who would be most happy to have a weekend retreat for sun and study. Our expectations of what we could buy for our dollars were unrealistic, and we looked at several other islands before stumbling upon the condo above. This condo is a LOT nicer on the inside - featuring nine and a half foot ceilings and plenty of sunlight through those windows and the sliding glass lanai doors on the main level. The day we saw it, we made an offer on it. We think we got a deal, paying just over 250K on an island where most properties fetch seven figures to start. We felt pretty good when prices for identical units spiked at $505,000 in 2005. Recent sales at $340K and $370K give us some comfort, as we're still maintaining a paper profit, but of course lately there are also a few bank owned properties we expect to sell for what we paid seven years ago, so "easy come, easy go". The real estate people who say "now's the time to buy" probably have a point - all across Florida.

Still, for what we paid, we are quite happy - 1500 square feet, a one-and-three-quarters car garage (we still get the Vette and the Z-4 inside with a few inches to spare), two bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, and a second floor washer/dryer closet. But we're not counting the improvements - we wish that Canadian built these AFTER Hurricane Andrew came ashore in 1992 and caused the state to adopt a much tougher building code. So, after we bought, we put in NEW windows - the kind that will withstand 140 mph winds, and we replaced all that cedar with James Hardie Plank - looks like wood, but a cement composite with a 50 year warranty. So bring on the bugs, the wind, the rain, and whatever else nature can throw - we're quite ready to ride out any storm. We've updated the inside as well, and when the cold wind blows in Missouri we're down here enjoying the................wait a minute, why is it cold down here too? We set a record a week or so ago - 34 degrees in Manatee County. Where's all that global warming Fat Albert promised us?

Now, if you're really curious you can go to www.cedarstennisresort.com and see pictures of the Junior Olympic size pool, the nature trail, the tennis clubhouse, etc. Rentals are reasonable (for a Florida island anyway) and we're always happy to see friends from the frozen north - just don't bring any wooden windows or wooden nickels with you.