Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[aussielozzie18]

4 hours ago, Husky1987 said:

So my brother and I did a thing this weekend. 
 

After my Dad passed, my wife and I took my Mom to Ireland in 2015, where we spread Dad’s ashes at the Rock of Cashel, Gougane Barra, Connor Pass, and the Cliffs of Moher.  They traveled to Ireland 6-7 times and loved going to that magical country.  In the years since I promised Mom that when the time came, we’d spread her ashes in the same spots.  Mom was 1/4 Irish, but anyone who knows anything knows that means she may as well have been 99%.  
 

So Thursday evening, my brother and I jumped on a red eye from Seattle to Dublin.  Hopped in a rental car, and spent two days driving through Ireland to spread Mom’s ashes.  We gave her some beautiful views of her favorite place on earth.

 

Now on a plane headed back to Seattle.  But we did it.  Mom and Dad are together forever in Ireland.  She’s home.

 

Condolences to you on the passing of both your parents.  Such a beautiful thing you and your brother did together, to bring your parents back together in such a beautiful country.

[aussielozzie18]

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

@grapau27 I LOVE your funnies, every single time.

[Keksie]

I made it through the Biltmore with no prob!ems.  beautiful and so interesting.  Then we walked all the gardens since so much was blooming.  We did drive to the bass pond.  Maybe tomorrow we will walk some of the trails.  Also walked around the village for a bit.  It was a very lovely day.

[bobmacliberty]

1 hour ago, helen haywood said:

Unbelievably windy here today!!

 

I tried going to the driving range.  The wind was blowing so hard at times that I had a hard time keeping my balance.  Some debris in the road and a tree blown over on the south end of the island.

[Keksie]

[helen haywood]

@bobmacliberty DH took one look at the forecast and decided today was not the day to go to his gun club!

[mo&fran]

48 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I tried going to the driving range.  The wind was blowing so hard at times that I had a hard time keeping my balance.  Some debris in the road and a tree blown over on the south end of the island.

After our front passed through, we has a lot of strong west wind. Airport was measuring 27, but I don't know if that was gusts or sustained.

[George C]

This was our first time in this ball park 

it has a retractable roof which really is nice since we normally are over 100 degrees for a good part of the summer. It is across the street from where cowboys play.

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by George C

[BonTexasNY]

16 minutes ago, George C said:

This was our first time in this ball park 

it has a retractable roof which really is nice since we normally are over 100 degrees for a good part of the summer. It is across the street from where cowboys play.

 

Did the Rangers play today?  Not the same Rangers that HB4 saw today. 😉

 

Have you been to The Star complex in Frisco, Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters?  It's where the Cowboys practice.  We've been to quite a few restaurants. 

 

Just a small note of info.  The AT&T stadium where the Cowboys play, seats over 80,000. Over 100,000 with standing room.  That has to be one major traffic jam at the end of a game.

[FromSea2ShiningSea]

For the past 52 years, Church on the Beach has held church services every Sunday, rain or shine, right in the backyard on the beach of the hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[George C]

11 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

Did the Rangers play today?  Not the same Rangers that HB4 saw today. 😉

 

Have you been to The Star complex in Frisco, Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters?  It's where the Cowboys practice.  We've been to quite a few restaurants. 

 

Just a small note of info.  The AT&T stadium where the Cowboys play, seats over 80,000. Over 100,000 with standing room.  That has to be one major traffic jam at the end of a game.

Rangers beat the Yankees 15-2 this afternoon, I have no interest in anything about the Dallas Cowboys, I liked cowboys before the current owner bought them and fired Tom Landry .

[Ozark_Kid]

6 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Same as flying from Boston to Rome. What model plane are you flying on?

737 max. 

[QueSeraSera]

20 minutes ago, George C said:

Rangers beat the Yankees 15-2 this afternoon

Sounds like poor sportsmanship to me, wish professional sports included some accounting for not running up the score.  Would be a good model for our kids and grandkids.

Speaking of grandkids, this is Karen introducing our Midwestern youngest grand daughter to the ocean for the first time last summer

 

 

[HBE4]

28 minutes ago, George C said:

Rangers beat the Yankees 15-2 this afternoon, I have no interest in anything about the Dallas Cowboys, I liked cowboys before the current owner bought them and fired Tom Landry .

 

Good day for the home team, bad day for the Yankees. Lot of players, including Judge,  on the injured list.  

 

The pitcher, Nestor Cortes, was a pleasant surprise last year. Came out of nowhere & baffled a lot of the opposing hitters. I guess they finally figured out his secret  

 

[Ocean Boy]

20 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

737 max. 

Hmmm, 6 hours on a 737. I flew once from Boston to London on a half empty B777. It was one on the best flights I ever had.

 

It will be fine though if you are in an exit row with just two seats.

[voyager70]

8 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Hmmm, 6 hours on a 737. I flew once from Boston to London on a half empty B777. It was one on the best flights I ever had.

Any flight over 5 hours on a single-aisle plane is torture. United used to use a 757 for some of their Newark to Western Europe routes. I once flew r/t from EWR to Barcelona on a 757. Awful. They’ve since switched to a wide body plane for those routes fortunately.

[George C]

Saturday night we went to our favorite upscale restaurant table13 which has live music every night, our favorite singer Melani Skybell was playing, she normally is a solo act but had a really good bass player and drummer, she has several videos on YouTube. She learned one of my favorite Dylan songs and plays it for me every time 

 

[BonTexasNY]

2 hours ago, George C said:

Rangers beat the Yankees 15-2 this afternoon, I have no interest in anything about the Dallas Cowboys, I liked cowboys before the current owner bought them and fired Tom Landry .

I have no interest in the Cowboys but the complex has great restaurants, parks, etc.

[cruiselvr04]

4 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Lots of stunning walks in Sydney.

1. Ferry to Manly - walk up to North Head then onto Shelley Beach and back to Manly Corso and Manly Wharf.

2. Ferry to Taronga Zoo Wharf and walk to Balmoral Beach.  Bus back to Sydney city.

3.  Ferry to Cremorne Point walk to Taronga Zoo and ferry back to Circular Quay.

4. Ferry to Rose Bay and do The Hermitage Foreshore walk and retraces your steps to return to Rose Bay Wharf for return trip to Circular Quay.

5. Walk from Darling Harbour to Barangaroo, around the Barangaroo foreshore park, past the finger wharves of Walsh Bay, directly under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, along the boardwalk of the Park Hyatt Hotel then walk either in front or behind the OPT (depending if a ship is in) and back to Circular Quay.

6. Walk from Circular Quay to the Opera House, walk right around outside of the Opera House, through the Botanical Gardens, take the Art Gallery NSW exit, explore the brand new Art Gallery (free entry - lots of Aboriginal art work - if interested), exit Art Gallery, walk through The Domain Park, it’s next to the State Library.  Free entry, nice small Gallery upstairs worth a look, then you have a short walk back to Circular Quay.

7. Ferry to Watsons Bay, walk along the beach and then do the headland loop and walk back to the samd ferry wharf for return journey.

 

8. Ferry to Milsons Point, a few steps to the entrance of Luna Park  follow the boardwalk on the outside of Luna Park around to Wendy Whiteley’s Secret Garden.  No charge to wander this beautiful small garden.  Retrace your steps, walk under the Harbour Bridge and there is a nice area on the waterfront directly opposite the Sydney Opera House where you can sit and soak up the stunning views. Take short walk directly back up to Milsons Point Station. Right next to the station entrance is the stairway that leads you up to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, you can then walk across the bridge.  3/4 the way along is the Pylon lookout.  For a small fee, there is a small museum inside and a stunning view from the top of the pylon.  Exit the pylon lookout and it’s a short walk down to The Rocks area and back to Circular Quay.

 

Bondi Beach to Coogee Walk.

 

Royal Botanical Gardens Sydney have a free daily guided walk as well as specific walks for a small fee that are worth doing.

 

Museum of Contemporary Art is located right next to the OPT and is free entry.  Worth a look if that interests you.(there are also paid exhibits).  

 

Have a look at Time Out Sydney online. They promote all the free and paid activities throughout the year in Sydney.

 

Hope that helps 😀

 

 

 

We appreciate you taking the time to write all this out!  I’ve printed it and put in my Australia folder to research more.  

[aussielozzie18]

2 hours ago, QueSeraSera said:

Sounds like poor sportsmanship to me, wish professional sports included some accounting for not running up the score.  Would be a good model for our kids and grandkids.

Speaking of grandkids, this is Karen introducing our Midwestern youngest grand daughter to the ocean for the first time last summer

 

 

This is delightful.  I love seeing kids enjoying the beach for the very first time.

[aussielozzie18]

3 hours ago, George C said:

This was our first time in this ball park 

it has a retractable roof which really is nice since we normally are over 100 degrees for a good part of the summer. It is across the street from where cowboys play.

 

I don’t know how athletes play in that kind of heat.  I am in awe of the tennis players who annually play in the Australian Open in Melbourne in mid summer.  We usually watch with the aircon on full blast at home.

[Coralc]

13 hours ago, mo&fran said:

Having a lot of weather today.  Had a tornado touch down in Palm Beach Gardens, less than a mile from our home yesterday afternoon.  And now, we are under a tornado warning again,

And the rains are here now,   but it is not as dark as it was yesterday.

Wow! They are posting photos of the PBG tornado damage today. That was quite a storm! 

Tornado flips cars, damages homes in coastal Florida city (yahoo.com)

[Ozark_Kid]

4 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Hmmm, 6 hours on a 737. I flew once from Boston to London on a half empty B777. It was one on the best flights I ever had.

 

It will be fine though if you are in an exit row with just two seats.

Not sure why but it ended up being 5 hours and 15 minutes but still long.  Due to needing a Rollator they let us board early.  We got seated in the 2nd row.  Although there were only two empty seats on this flight, one of the empty seats was in our group of 3 seats.  It was nice to have a place to stretch our legs out.  we chose the second row instead of the first so we could keep our carry-ons with us under the seats in front of us.  I am glad we broke it up instead of a long direct flight.

[Ozark_Kid]

We met up with @FromSea2ShiningSea Helen and Marty.  It was great.  I can see us enjoying hanging out on the cruise together.

 

Earlier I noticed it ask by @h20skibum if any of us will do a live.  There is a very very slim chance.  With the challenge I am dealing with I know I would not be able to keep it going as I have in the past.  If we get one going it will be a group effort starting the 1st cruise day. Some will not have the wifi package but will be able to use cellular around the islands.  I think once we get to the at sea days I could start catching up from the solarium.  I will let all y'all 😎know what the gang decides.

[Coralc]

That's okay John. Family Go Boston and RSharpe are doing a live review for your cruise. 😊 There are a lot of live reviews going on this week. Don't worry about it. Pop in when you can! We'd love to hear and see how it is going. 😀