Tuesday, 2/23 Sunny, 69 degrees

We are at sea today with lots to do, our deck walk, and some tanning at the pool. We have gotten in the habit of having coffee delivered to our state room each morning, oh the lap of luxury. There is way too many choices for breakfast and lunch at the buffet. We might do a wine tasting or have a Royal Dutch High Tea. There is a cook-off at the Culinary Arts Center, Bingo, and a slot machine tournament. The shows after dinner have been terrific and we love having a before dinner drink listening to a string quartet or a visit to the piano bar. As you can see this is paradise.

Monday, 2/22 We like our Holland America ship, Zuiderdam. It is an older crowd than we have experienced on past cruises; we feel like the young set! Today we were at Half Moon Cay, Bahamas, a private island owned by the cruise line. Because it was cloudy with spots of rain, we decided not to go ashore but enjoy the activities on board. We spent the afternoon reading at the pool. There are two pools, one has a glass domed roof that can be closed when the weather is poor, great idea. We have decided to try and walk 3 laps around the deck twice a day- 2 miles total, so we are not blimps after 10 days of fantastic food.

We arrived in Vero Beach, FL on Friday. It was finally warm! We are in short sleeves. We are visiting Dave's Aunt Helen. Saturday we did a little shopping and in the evening we celebrated Helen's 98th Birthday with other relatives and friends at a very classy restaurant, The Tides. Aunt Helen is amazing, she is as sharp as a tack, walks 1/2 to a mile everyday and remembers everything.

Tomorrow we head to Ft. Lauderdale where we will board our Holland American ship for our cruise. We are excited.

We are in Hilton Head visiting our friends Jeff and Beryl. It is a little warmer. We are out of heavy coats and into fleece. Jeff and Beryl had a golf game so we decided to explore by ourselves. It was too windy to walk on the beach but we visited the lighthouse at the end of the Island, walked around the little shops and then had a great lunch. We are all going out to dinner tonight for fresh fish dinners.

We have been enjoying watching the Olympics on TV.

Tomorrow we are headed to Vero Beach FL and warm

weather, we hope!

Yesterday morning we toured Montpelier, the home of James and Dolley Madison. When we came out of the house, it was snowing! We drove down to Chapel Hill, NC where we are visiting our friends Will and Pat Plattner.

It is still chilly, 36 here, but I did see some daffodils and there are lots of birds.

Tomorrow we drive to Hilton Head and stay for two days with our friends Jeff and Beryl.

Monticello

Our first night was near Harrisburg PA. It seemed strange, the further south we drove the more snow we encountered. It did make for a pretty drive. Today we arrived in Charlottesville, VA early afternoon and visited Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson; very interesting, lots of history. We then visited Ash lawn-Highland the home of President James Monroe. Tomorrow morning we are headed for Montpelier, the home of James and Dolley Madison. What fun.