Dec. 19 – Arrival in Paradise

By on December 31, 2025 in The Pearl
“What a wonderful world this would be if people stopped looking for things that offended them and started looking for things that inspired them.” –Unknown

We enjoyed a slow quiet morning at the inn with breakfast on the porch. After breakfast we watched the kids play in the pool and took a walk before we took a taxi back to the airport. The airport was quiet and there were very few people waiting on flights. Unlike the zoo we saw on Saturday when we all headed home. 
Just as we were boarding our plane to Placencia Kyle and his family were arriving at the airport in Belize City. Soon everyone will be together.

Troy and Arthur wanted Poppy to sit with them.

View from our little plane.

The Placencia Airport.

Leaving the Placencia dock.

Our first look at our private island…The Enclave.

The staff welcomed each new arrival with smiles, cool towels and a tropical drink.

Dixany was waiting with a cold welcome drink and was our bartender while we were on the inland. 

Oscar was ready to make it an adult beverage with some local rum.

The entrance to the common area from the boat dock.

Looking at the common area from the beach.

The common area.

Bar, pool table and kitchen area.

The game room where the kids hung out when it rained.

Our bungalow was called Pelican, each bungalow had a bird’s name.

The view from our patio.

Our amazing room.

Kyle and his family were the second group to arrive on the island.

We had 11 children…5 boys and 6 girls. Ages 2 1/2 to 11. They all entertained themselves very well.

Our first evening was spent catching up, exploring our little island and playing a few group games.

Our chef Alex and his sous chef Marvin. They kept us well fed.

Meals were a great time to enjoy great food and good conversations. It was fun being waited on.

The girl’s table.
Our first sunset in paradise.

Dec. 19 – Arrival in Paradise

By on December 31, 2025 in The Pearl
“What a wonderful world this would be if people stopped looking for things that offended them and started looking for things that inspired them.” –Unknown

We enjoyed a slow quiet morning at the inn with breakfast on the porch. After breakfast we watched the kids play in the pool and took a walk before we took a taxi back to the airport. The airport was quiet and there were very few people waiting on flights. Unlike the zoo we saw on Saturday when we all headed home. 

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

2025 Summary

By on December 30, 2025 in M/V Dirona

We had a memorable start to the year with a fabulous holiday season cruise to South Georgia  to take in the region’s diverse and striking wildlife. Our cruising plans for Dirona had long included a visit there to view Ernest Shackleton’s grave in Grytviken, but we just didn’t get that far south. Snowshoeing at the…

Looking Back at 2025

By on December 30, 2025 in The Pearl

January is always a slow month spent mostly visiting with our Texas family and a few friends. It usually, as it did this year, includes a few days of frozen weather. Not a big problem for us since we are self contained….no water, not electricity…

Looking Back at 2025

By on December 30, 2025 in The Pearl
January is always a slow month spent mostly visiting with our Texas family and a few friends. It usually, as it did this year, includes a few days of frozen weather. Not a big problem for us since we are self contained….no water, not electricity…no problem. Luckily it doesn’t last long.

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

The National Museum of American History in Washington DC – Part 3: “American Enterprise”

By on December 30, 2025 in Kosmos

continued… We moved on to a room called “American Enterprise.” It focused on how the American economy changed throughout the history of the country. An entire wall of the room was covered with photos and short biographies of key people … Continue reading →

Live Music

By on December 29, 2025 in M/V Dirona

We’ve always enjoyed live music and this year an unusually large number of bands we like were touring. Live concerts we saw included: Collective Soul, Eddie Vedder, Shinedown, Bush, The Offspring, and Black Stone Cherry. When Jennifer finally got James to drop his “no musicians over age 70” rule, we also caught great shows by…

Dec. 18 – Belize City

By on December 28, 2025 in The Pearl
“Life’s a journey, not a destination.” -Aerosmith 
We decided to fly into Belize a day ahead of when we were scheduled to arrive at the resort. A few others in our group did the same thing. Being retired gave us that option. Coming on Thursday instead of Friday also gave us more time to relax and saved us some money. The flight from Houston to Belize City was only two and a half hours and everything went smoothly, although customs were a bit more intense than other countries we’ve been to. We’ll fly down to Placencia tomorrow with Milly and her family and meet up with the rest of our group. 

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

The National Museum of American History in Washington DC – Part 2: The Gallery of Numismatics

By on December 28, 2025 in Kosmos

continued… Metal coins were first made in the 7th century BC, originating independently in two different parts of the world: Lydia (now Turkey) and China. In the 5th century BC, India also started making metal coins. The coins from Lydia … Continue reading →

The American History Museum in Washington DC – Part 1

By on December 25, 2025 in Kosmos

Monday, September 29 — After we finished doing school in the morning, we went to lunch at the pizza restaurant that Eric and Keith had gone to last Tuesday. They’d really liked it and wanted Christi to try it. It was … Continue reading →