In 2022, we took our first mega-ship cruise, aboard the Norwegian Encore to the Caribbean. We mostly were interested in the technology behind the ship, and had little interest in actually cruising aboard such a huge vessel. We were surprised how much we enjoyed the trip, particularly due to the Haven, Norwegian’s ship-within-a-ship concept. Haven…
The Moses Myers House and Gourmet Grilled Cheese in Norfolk, Virginia
Continued… From Adeline’s room, we moved into the part of the slaves quarters that was above the utility room. The signs said that the Myers had dozens of slaves over the decades, but didn’t say how many slaves the household … Continue reading →
July 15-19 Graham’s Visit
“We share more than a name; we share a lifetime of memories.” –Unknown
Graham was the last of the grands to spend time on the boat. We started with a day at the house before we moved to the boat. It’s been a very hot summer so being at the house gave us a little more comfort and options of things to do. Graham was going to mow for us before we went to the lake, but the heat kept that from happening. He did fit it in before we took him home. The grands like making money…who doesn’t.
It’s a little harder to entertain an eleven year old than a toddler. Eating is a big part of what Graham likes to do. We hit DQ for lunch on our way to the lake, visited Cold Stone Creamery in Ithaca and had KFC on our way back to Lewisburg. They don’t eat a lot of fast food in their family. We don’t either, but sometimes it hits the spot.
We spent one afternoon on the runabout playing in the water and staying cool. Driving the boat and tubing is a fun thing no matter what age you are. Hiking to waterfalls is another thing we like to do, but none of us wanted to put out that much effort in the heat.
Fun on the water.
Wow what a difference six years make.
This boy goes crazy on the tube.
Graham’s craft for his trip was making dueling weapons out of PVC pipe and swimming noodles. I didn’t get a picture of them or of us playing with them.
You can see a few of what he made in this photo.
Cold Stone Creamery
He devoured this chicken. We had a bucket of eight pieces and he ate four…he loved it.
He ended his visit with us by doing a little work.
The Moses Myers House in Norfolk, Virginia
Dawn on Saturday, July 5, 2025 Our plan was to go to historic Ft. Norfolk. There was a marina barbecue from 1300 – 1500 that Eric went to, so we didn’t head out until 1500. When we entered the fort … Continue reading →
Celebrating Independence Day at Historic Fort Monroe — Part 2
Continued… When the tour concluded, Eric and Keith announced they were hungry. They went to a nearby restaurant called The Deadrise, which was over at the marina. The food was good and the portions were huge. Keith, who was not … Continue reading →
Sitka to Juneau via Glacier Bay
The early summer weather in SE Alaska has been a real disappointment. Even SE AK residents are apologizing for the weather rather than dismissing us lower 48ers as “weather wimps”. Fortunately, despite the weather, we got all our chores don…
Sitka to Juneau via Glacier Bay
The early summer weather in SE Alaska has been a real disappointment. Even SE AK residents are apologizing for the weather rather than dismissing us lower 48ers as “weather wimps”. Fortunately, despite the weather, we got all our chores don…
Celebrating Independence Day at Historic Fort Monroe — Part 1
On Friday, July 4, Eric started the day by doing an inventory of spare parts we had onboard. He created a list of spare parts that we need to stock up on. Karen had told us that Fort Monroe was … Continue reading →
July 11-13 Anniversary Weekend
“Don’t make space for stuff, make space for life.” -Courtney Carver
We decided to check out southeastern Pennsylvania for our anniversary this year. We had a gift certificate for the Inn at Whitewing Farm near Kennett Square, so we booked two nights. The inn sits on thirteen acres of a farm that originated in the 1700s. Much of the original farm is now Longwood Gardens. The gardens were developed by the DePont family starting in 1906. Today it’s one of the world’s premier horticultural display gardens.
On our way to the inn we did a little shopping in Lancaster and Kennett Square. Kennett Square is only 15 miles from Wilmington, DE and 25 miles to Philadelphia. This area of Pennsylvania is known as the Brandtwine Valley. It is a gorgeous area filled with beautiful homes and farms.
Kenneth Square
Lancaster has a large Amish community and it’s fun to see the buggies. Even more fun to see them working the fields with horse drawn farm equipment.
The inn has 10 romantic guest rooms and suites. We stayed in the Fat’s Wallow room in the pond house. It was a wonderful choice. We were able to sit by the pond and enjoy our morning coffee and cocktails in the evening.
It also was nice because it’s separated from the rest of the property and was very quick and relaxing.
Our room
Looking across the pond towards the rest of the property.
The owners live in the main house and serve a wonderful breakfast in the hay barn.
We celebrated our 44th anniversary at the Antica Restaurant.
It was the top recommendation from the inn’s owner and it didn’t disappoint. Stan had the pan roasted salmon with basil pesto farro, caramelized cauliflower, broccoli rabe and lemon gremolata. I had the crab & lobster ravioli sautéed with sweet peas and truffle brandy cream sauce. Both were spectacular.
Views after dinner.
This used to be a hay barn…hard to believe.
Our breakfasts were so large and so delicious we didn’t need to have lunch. Fresh fruit, pastries, coffee and a very generous entrée…I’m not a fan of large breakfasts, but this was fantastic.
We spent a whole day at Longwood Gardens and still didn’t see the whole thing. What an impressive place. Longwood Gardens spans 1,100 acres. It includes various gardens, woodlands, and meadows, as well as the conservatory and fountain displays. Each season brings beautiful changes to the garden. Over 500 volunteers and a staff of 70 keep the gardens in pristine condition.
The Italian Water Garden
Looking over the Topiary Garden
The entrance to the east conservatory.
Part of the east conservatory.
Part of the west conservatory.
The waterlily court
The Main Fountain Garden offers 12-minute fountain performances at various times throughout the day, with additional 30-minute spectacular shows on Friday and Saturday evenings. We were lucky to catch one of the performances while we were in the gardens.
Our second night we had another great meal at Sovana Bistro. It was hard to choose what to have for dinner, but we chose salmon and ravioli again this evening. Both were the special of the evening.
On our way home on Sunday we chased covered bridges. I’ll put those in another blog post. We stopped at a fun place along the Pequea Creek called Sickman’s Mill. They offer people a chance to float down the river with a pick up serve. It reminded us of places in New Braunfels. We chose to just sit and relax by the creek while enjoying a little Jimmie Juice.
Sickman’s Mill has been used for a number of things since 1752 including distilling, saw milling, and flour milling. Through its many owners and purposes, the mill has changed and evolved.
Repairs and Errands in Norfolk, Virginia
Sunrise on Tuesday, July 1 On Tuesday morning, Eric went back to the hydraulic store in Portsmouth to exchange the fittings. He found fittings with angles that would work better in the space we had. Upon return, he finished installing … Continue reading →
