End of Cruise

-
It's disembarkation day! The night before, my room steward looked at the one suitcase outside my room and recommended that I do express disembark, i.e. just take it with me instead. I thought that was a good idea since I wanted get off early to pick up Millie (my minivan) at the Airport Hilton. I had a 5 hour drive to St. Augustine and wanted to check into the Faver-Dykes Campground before it got dark. I got up very early in the morning to get breakfast, went up to the top deck to see the ship entering the Miami cruise terminal. It was pretty cool.
Had a great breakfast from the Windjammer buffet, caught the sunrise on my phone by the time I finished eating. Went back to get my luggage and got off the ship. Disembarking was pretty straightforward. I saw the transfer buses to the airport, but I knew that I need to wait a while for others to get out before the first bus moved out. At the last minute, I decided to take a taxi straight to the hotel, so that I could get a head start. Turned out to be a good call, since it took me longer than 5 hours to get to St. Augustine as I had to stopped at Walmart to stock up on supplies for camping.

P.S. Had a great cruise with a great group of cruise mates from Singles Travel International (STI). Kudos to CJ who made sure that we all had a good time, organized fun activities (loved that "two truths and a lie" ice breaker), reserved seating for our meals and fixed issues when needed. This will not be my last trip with STI!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Indiana Dunes National Park: Kemil Beach, West Beach and Diana of the Dunes

-
Image
After breakfast in my campsite, I packed up Millie and headed for the Indiana Dunes National Park's visitor center to get information on what to do and see. I discovered that the park's sights and landmarks stretch over several miles between the towns of Gary and Michigan City. On the way, I stopped by Kemil Beach which included the "futuristic" homes that were built for the 1933 Chicago World Fair. The houses were not open for tours, but there were displays describing them. The photo below is one of the homes. Starting with the western edge of the NP at West Beach, I hiked the Diana's Dune and the succession trail that ended at the shore of Lake Michigan and back to the parking lot. Unfortunately, I did not take the photo to show that I successfully completed the Diana of the Dunes Dare . Also stopped to admire a panne, i.e. a "lake" created by a blowout in a dune that was just outside of the bath house at West Beach. Took a break f...
Read more

Jockey's Ridge State Park, NC

-
Image
The morning was warmer and less windy than the previous evening. I decided to stopy by Jockey's Ridge State Park, NC which was just down the road after I checked out of the Cape Hatteras Oregon Inlet Campground at 7:30 am. I was so glad I did! Jockey's Ridge is the "tallest natural sand dune system in the eastern United States". I got there just as the park opened, and followed the well marked trail to the sand dunes. It was a pretty surreal landscape and took me about an hour to hike over the dunes towards the water (Roanoke Sound). After a refreshing hike which was much needed after being cooped up in the minivan all evening, I drove south towards Myrtle Beach State Park, SC. It rained almost all the way. Got to the park about 5:30 pm; most of the campsites were occupied. I had reserved a site with electricity and water, and was able to get power into the van via an external extension cord. The rain let up a little to allow me to heat up some soup with the gas...
Read more

Driving to Lake Bistineau State Park, LA

-
Image
The predicted downpour came around 4 am, and I woke up to a very wet campground. I was very glad to have reserved an improved campsite at Fontainebleau after all! Drove out to my next campground, stopping for breakfast at Panera Bread in Covington. Lake Bistineau State Park in Doyline, LA is in a rather remote area. I was on county or rather parish roads most of the way, very little traffic. Quite disturbing to see that the sides of the roads were littered with trash, plastic bags, cups, bottles, cans, etc. It was a rather gloomy day, finally got to the park about 4 pm. Small campground, the lake had been drained so the water level was low. Lots of insects flying around, although they went away as the temperature went down in the evening. I expect that it will be pretty bad later in the season. Photos above are the views from my campsite. Cooked boudin (Cajun sausage with pork and rice) for dinner, ate them with a side of steamed broccoli. Stayed in the minivan because of th...
Read more