Tag: Panama Canal

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Blogging Driving Food Geography Home Travel

My Neighborhood Is Like A Cruise Ship

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. I did not visit Arcadia Florida last Thursday as I hinted that I may at the end of last week’s edition. I may visit today.

Last Thursday I stayed home and enjoyed a “day off”. Thursday is usually the only day of the week when I don’t have regularly-scheduled events – whether it’s neighborhood, museum, or church – morning, afternoon, or evening. So Thursdays are generally reserved as days of productivity at home (unless I embark on a local road-trip).

A friend of mine recently asked when I’m going on my next cruise (which would be my 25TH since 1991). I have no plans for such a cruise. I have no desires to go on a cruise. I’m settling-in to my retirement lifestyle, and I love what each new day brings. I’m physically and socially active like never before. (Not even close to my longtime Homestead lifestyle).

Besides – my neighborhood is as close to a cruise ship as I can get. We have 248 condos and villas surrounding a big mostly manmade half-mile-long lake in the middle. Each condo and villa has a spectacular elevated view of the lake. The condos and villas are like the cabins and suites on a cruise ship, and we’ve all got views of the sea. My lanai is like a very nice large balcony. I walk around the sidewalk that runs 1.1 miles alongside the lake, and it’s like walking alongside the perimeter of a cruise ship on a low deck with the cool breeze bouncing off the water and onto my face. Our clubhouse is like the small entertainment venue onboard where a lot of the fun events occur – including of course BINGO !

And our wide variety of daily, weekly, and monthly fun events that do occur – including the occasional meals and parties – resemble those of a cruise. I like our Cruise Director. I’m part of her “Fun Squad”.

I can’t imagine spending a couple thousand dollars on a 7 or 8-day Caribbean cruise when I’ve got my forever home that resembles the nicest balcony cabin I’ve ever occupied.

So if I embark on that shore excursion today to Arcadia Florida – then I’ll write about it – next #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Animals Blogging Driving Food Geography Holidays Travel

From Texas To Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Exactly 16 years ago here on my blog – I wrote about my road-trip westward from the Jacksonville Florida area (specifically Fleming Island in Clay County) to the Dallas Texas area (specifically Allen in Collin County).

This was a very unique road-trip. It was a relocation road-trip for my parents. After a dozen years of living at 3 different homes in and around the Jacksonville area – they moved to the Dallas area to be close to my younger brother and his wife. My dad had Lou Gehrig’s Disease at the time, and it would ultimately end his life the following year in 2010.

The moving truck had already come and gone – headed to Texas. All that was left was to drive from Homestead to Fleming Island, pick-up my parents and their cat Pumpkin, and head west. And so that’s what I did. I left Homestead shortly before 4:30 AM on that Tuesday, and I drove about 375 miles to my parents’ home (which was deeded over to me). They got in my mom’s car, and I drove her car. We drove about 345 miles westward along I-10 on that first day, and we made it to Milton Florida (just east of Pensacola). We ate Dinner at a fancy Mexican restaurant called La Hacienda. (It’s still there today.)

We got back on the road again on Wednesday morning. We made it another 415 miles – straight into the heart of Louisiana. You know – timing is everything – and we hadn’t planned on it – but we got mixed in with very heavy traffic coming out of New Orleans. It was Ash Wednesday – the day after Mardi Gras. Thousands of tourists were heading north out of New Orleans. I remember us eating Lunch at IHOP, and it was jam-packed. I also remember us missing National Pancake Day at IHOP by exactly one day.

We stayed at a hotel in Alexandria – near their airport. Their airport used to be England Air Force Base for 50 years until 1992.

Incidentally – Pumpkin the cat – who didn’t care too much for me – stayed with me in my hotel room for both nights. (We stayed at pet-friendly hotels.) Pumpkin was completely terrified during the trip – especially in the hotel rooms. It was quite the chore chasing that big heavy cat out from underneath the bed.

On the 3RD day (Thursday) we arrived at my brother’s and sister-in-law’s house in Allen Texas. It was about 1,075 miles in my mom’s car. It was the first and last time I ever drove that car.

Meanwhile – my own car was still sitting in Florida on my parents’ former driveway. I flew back to Jacksonville International Airport on that Saturday. I then took a taxi back to my car some 35 miles away. I then drove 375 miles back home to Homestead – arriving late at night.

You think I have such a great memory from exactly 16 years ago ? Not so much. Most of these facts were copied and pasted from that blog post that I originally wrote.

I think I’m driving to Arcadia Florida today. If I am then I’ll let you know how it went – next #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Geography Travel

Panama Canal

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Exactly 15 years ago today in 2010 I was on the final day at sea of an 8-day Carnival Freedom cruise to and from Central America. It was my 9TH Carnival cruise (out of 16), and my 14TH cruise overall (out of 24).

This cruise ship (Carnival Freedom) was special to me in that I sailed it from Rome Italy (Civitavecchia) – through the Mediterranean – and across the Atlantic over to Miami Florida for its inaugural homecoming cruise in late-October / early-November 2007. In other words – I was on the cruise that brought it to the U.S.A. for the first time ever. It was – and still is – my favorite (and longest) cruise ever.

This specific cruise (exactly 15 years ago) was special to me in that it included two brand new nations / ports-of-call for me – Limón Costa Rica, and Colón Panama.

Upon arrival in Colón a group of us (who booked the same shore excursion) boarded a coach bus, and we took the 55-mile trek from the Atlantic to the Pacific via the Transisthmian Highway (Pan-American Highway). At one point during the trek southeastward we reached a security checkpoint where we came to a complete stop and allowed armed military police on-board to visually check us to make sure that we were legitimate tourists. They allowed us to continue on our way to Panama City. Once in the big city we got off the coach bus and we boarded a large boat. We enjoyed a breathtaking view of the skyline of Panama City as we entered the Panama Canal. We sailed about half of the Canal, and then we picked up our coach bus for the rest of the trek back to our cruise ship in Colón.

It was a fun day on the Panama Canal, and I’ll remember it forever – despite no photos. (It was shortly before me owning my first smart phone.) Maybe someday I’ll be able to sail the entire Panama Canal on a cruise ship that’s repositioning from one home port to another.

16 years ago – I drove / relocated my parents and their cat Pumpkin over 1,050 miles from Fleming Island (Clay County) Florida to Allen (Collin County) Texas. I’ll look back at that – next #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Animals Driving Holidays Nature Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

From the 13TH through the 21ST of February of 2010 I sailed for 8 days and 8 nights aboard the luxurious Carnival Freedom. It was my 2ND cruise in 28 months on the 110,000 gross ton / 952 foot long ship. I had previously sailed from Rome Italy to Miami Florida on a 14-day Mediterranean / Transatlantic voyage during her maiden journey to the U.S. from Europe in October and November of 2007. The combined 22 days and 22 nights on the Carnival Freedom is the most for me on any single cruise ship in my 19-year sailing history. I’ve also visited more new countries for the first time ever via the Carnival Freedom than via any other cruise ship. In addition to Italy, Spain, and Madeira (Portugal) I can now add Costa Rica and Panama to the list of new countries visited.

I.  Cozumel México – This is my all-time favourite port-of-call for no other reason than the fact that I’ve been there more often (by far) than any other place in the world during my cruising history. It’s like my one-day home away from home once or twice a year. I know what to expect there, and I know where to go there for shopping opportunities galore if I wish. I’ve been there so often that sometimes I don’t even get off of the ship – but this time I did. I actually went on a rare shore excursion this time around to take advantage of some unusually chilly winter weather for the island (cloudy with scattered rain showers and stuck in the 70s). During the 4½-hour sightseeing and shopping tour one of the highlights was a tequila farm and factory. I didn’t partake in the extended taste test of a wide variety of random tequilas inside; however, it was fun to watch the others who did as well as listen to some of their outrageous feedback such as “This tastes like Windex … I LOVE IT !”  Classic stuff – and a fun excursion all around ‘my’ island home of Cozumel.

II.  Limón Costa Rica – Last Wednesday morning I set foot on Costa Rica for the first time ever – just below the 10°N latitude line (about 690 miles north of the equator). It was a rainy and coolish morning (by Costa Rica standards) with temperatures stuck in the 70s. Eventually the sun came out late in the afternoon and it got hot outside. But back in the cool light rain I took a combination bus, boat, and train tour of the eastern lowland countryside. The boat ride on a river was cool, as we eavesdropped on crocodiles napping, sloths just hangin’ around, and abundant monkeys high atop a tree. We actually saw one young monkey fall from the top of a tree and land much further down on some branches and leaves. He was OK, but now he may be alone for the rest of his life. Allegedly (according to our tour guide) once you’ve fallen from a tree you’ve cast disrespect and dishonour amongst your neighbourhood and nobody wants to be seen with you ever again. Harsh dude !

III.  Panama – Early last Thursday morning shortly after sunrise the Carnival Freedom pulled in to the port in downtown Colón along the northern (Caribbean) coast of Panama. 13 busloads of my fellow cruise ship passengers (over 525 of us) were then loaded up and transported southeastward across the country to the Pacific coast. The drive took about 1 hour and 20 minutes along modern highways and tollways guarded by fully-armed Panamanian militia. Once on the Pacific side our 13 busloads got in to 2 ferries (comfortably), as we began our partial transit through the Panama Canal starting with a beautiful view of the downtown skyline of the bustling capital city of Panama. I never really understood how the Panama Canal actually worked until I got to experience it firsthand. It is definitely one of the greatest modern marvels ever made in the history of the world. Incidentally the Pacific side of Panama is nearing the end of a rather severe dry season. It hasn’t rained much on the south side of the country so far in 2010, and that was quite evident as all of the grass was brown and crunchy. It was very hot there – well into the 90s. The north (Caribbean) side of the country was milder, greener, and lusher. The three highlights of this mighty educational day in Panama were no doubt the one-third transit of the Panama Canal, seeing the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans within 90 minutes of each other, and driving by land and sailing by sea right through the great Continental Divide of the Americas.

This was a wonderful vacation at sea and on land way down south that truly exceeded my expectations, and I can’t wait to do it all over again in about 6½-months when I embark on my next great Carnival cruise vacation !