Whew..................

Christmas and the weeks leading up to it were great.  There was a lot of time with family and friends which is really what it's all about.  I was so appreciative of being able to spend a bit of time with both of my brothers down on AMI.  Although I wasn't able to see Jan we did talk for a while on Christmas morning which is a tradition and always very special.  I also really enjoyed a trip to Tampa to spend the afternoon with a very special Aunt and Uncle (Pat and Thomas) and cousins (Darlene and Tommy).  Unlike Beth's family which is huge, my side of the family is pretty small.  We spent a lot of time with the Ball family growing up, camping at Vogel State Park, visiting their house in Ocala or them coming to the big city of Mulberry.  Darlene is close to my age and Tommy is close behind so even though we lived a few hours apart we kind of grew up together and had some great times.  I look forward to seeing them again soon!
Beth and some of her friends have had a Christmas eve luncheon every year for the past 30 years.  It's organized by her best friend from the "Mulberry" years, Lori.  This year there was another fella attending so I tagged along.  Growing up in Mulberry everyone knew everyone (and knew their business) so I knew all the attendees and it was great seeing them.
Christmas day was the traditional.  Waking up at the Eason's in Plant City, presents exchanged, a big breakfast by Cindy and then lunch with her extended family.  "Extended family" is the beach house gang that is on AMI for two weeks every summer.  The main difference is instead of two weeks to enjoy everyone it's condensed into a few hours.  I guess it's similar to speed dating only it's speed visiting.  Thanks to the Henson family for hosting it at their beautiful house on the Manatee River.
Of course the highlight of the day was the kids.  Beth and I started it with Ben in Florida and ended the day at Sarah, Joey and SBJ's house in San Rafael which is just north of San Francisco.  It was a long but great day!
Today is our 6th day here and we've enjoyed visiting with them and taking care of SBJ.  A couple of days we took Sarah to work in Sonoma and did a couple of great hikes on some trails just outside of town.  Yesterday morning we enjoyed a great hike with Sarah along the San Francisco bay.  It was a "strenuous" trail with a few pretty steep climbs but the views from the top were magnificent.  Looking out over three bridges, including the Bay and Golden Gate Bridge with the city of San Francisco in the background was worth the effort.  Not only were we rewarded with great views from the top but the way back was mostly flat and along the waterfront which was really appreciated. The afternoon was spent at the Oakland Zoo.  James loves the animals and really got a kick out of all of them.
Now about that SBJ.  He's around 18 months old now.  He's as cute as he can be and is continuing to develop a fun and funny personality.  He smiles 99.9% of the time and makes some of the funniest expressions you can imagine.
One other thing about him, he can flat out wear out his Mimi and Poppy!   He's the human version of the Energizer Bunny and we love it!

At the Oakland Zoo

Look Ma, it's San Francisco in the distance

In the leaves at Sonoma Plaza

Mimi showing James the ducks.....and keeping him from jumping in the water

He fumbled a few times but he shows some potential

Loving his Ice Cream Cone

Hiking above the clouds in Sonoma.......actually it was just low lying fog

Trick riding his cool bike he got from Uncle Ben

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Tucker’s........and Cousin Eddie !

Looking back, looking ahead...........

We're about to put this one in the books.  2017 was a great one. There were lots of new adventures as well as revisiting some of our favorite places. 
We rang in 2017 with Sarah, Joey and Sweet Baby James.  Within a few days we were on the way to Barcelona for a couple of back to back cruises.  We hit some of  those old favorites in Spain, Italy and France as well as visited two new countries, Malta and Morocco.   A few months later we drove on the opposite side of the road across much of  the UK and Ireland.  Then there was an Alaskan Cruise, which seems to be coming an annual event.  After Alaska we covered a fair bit of Western Canada from Vancouver to Banff.   We took full advantage of Canada's 150th Anniversary which gave us free admission to all of Canada's National Parks. They have some really nice ones!
Summer was mostly in Florida, but we did escape the heat spending twelve nights in the great city of Chicago.  They really appreciate summer up there (the current temperature as I am writing this is 31).  There were free concerts and festivals all over town.  We also caught Jimmy Buffet & Huey Lewis, James Taylor & Bonnie Raitt, Chicago and the Doobie Brothers, the Cubs and White Sox. 
Late summer was the Canadian Maritimes (Eastern Canada).  Very different from Western Canada but equally amazing, especially the Bay of Fundy and it's 50 foot tidal changes, which were amazing to see.
We capped off our overseas adventures with the India, Nepal and Dubai (UAE) trip.  Three very different countries.  They were all new ones for us, all amazing and all hard to describe for very different reasons (especially India).
Mid year Sarah, Joey and James gave us a new reason to visit the San Francisco area when they relocated to San Rafael.  It is conveniently located just north of San Francisco and south of wine country (Napa and Sonoma).  Of course there were also a few great visits with Ben in Texas which we always enjoy.  These allowed us to catch up with friends and former colleagues as well.
When not traveling it was such a privilege for us to spend time in Florida helping out with Beth's mom (NaNa).   This is where we are now (current temperature @ 9:00 AM is 71).  She's so darn funny and witty.   Also, whatever trash talking I do to her while playing rummy she throws right back at me, usually while beating me to a pulp.
Ben flew in last night so we have him with us until Christmas evening.  He'll be heading back to Texas and we'll be heading to California for a second Christmas celebration.  The second one will be with Sarah, Joey and SBJ.  I wonder who will be the "star of the show" for that one!
There are a couple of adventures already on the books for 2018.  From California we fly to Miami for a 14 day Southern Caribbean Cruise.  Mid February through Mid March we'll be in Arizona and Utah and April we'll be in the Azores (Portuguese Islands) for three weeks.  Ben, Sarah and James are scheduled to visit us here in Florida in March which will be extra special.  We only wish Joey could join us but he'll be holding down the fort in California.
I wanted to attach a few pictures to this blog and opted to select one picture from each of the five new countries we visited this year.  One thing we continue to find is that wherever we roam the overwhelming majority of people are good, kind folks who just want to enjoy life with their families and friends.  Evil tends to rear it's ugly head every now and then.  Hopefully kindness will always prevail.

Malta

Morocco

India

Nepal

Dubai-UAE

 

Capturing the spirit of the season one festive event at a time!

Decorations, music, Christmas parades, they all go together to get us into the spirit of the season.  We've got the mantle around NaNa's fireplace nicely decorated.  We've whipped out a couple of nice renditions of some traditional carols.  They have all been sung in our best voices.  The ones that would make fingernails on a chalkboard sound like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. 
To really get us into the holiday spirit there were a few events on the island this weekend that we were looking forward to attending.  Well............here it is Sunday night.  Sometimes things go as planned, sometimes they don't.
It started Friday afternoon when the City of Anna Maria (one of the three small cities that make up Anna Maria Island) was hosting a Holiday Carols in the Park event.   It was scheduled from 4:00-6:00 at a fairly new park on the bay side of the island.  We arrived a few minutes early, took our seats and waited, and waited some more and then a little bit more.  Santa, who it was advertised was going to "fly in" actually walked across the street after being delivered by a county sheriff.  There was music alright, however it was coming from an i-pad plugged into a speaker system.  The chairs for the "live choir" sat empty.  The good mayor kept assuring us that the choir would be there soon but after 45 minutes we gave up.   At least we had a glass of egg nog and a sugar cookie before we packed it in.
No worries, two more days and two more events.  Up Saturday morning was the annual island Christmas Parade.  We've witnessed this spectacle before.  It's typically a float or two, the local group of fun loving citizens dressed as pirates, a bunch of decorated golf carts, trucks and of course Santa bringing up the rear.  Unfortunately the chilly, windy and drizzly weather kept a lot of the participants away.  The parade which usually lasts about 15-20 minutes came and went in about 7 minutes.  We did get a bunch of colorful Mardi Gras style beads without having to lift our shirts a single time.
No worries, one more day and one more event.  I had read in the local newspaper that the Anna Maria Island Orchestra and Chorus were having a concert titled "The Many Moods of Christmas" at one of the local churches.  This one sounded like a "can't miss event".  It also sounded a little high tone so I put on not only my nicest pair of jeans but also a pair of socks.   We pulled into the busy parking lot full of anticipation.  The ad in the paper conveniently left out one little tidbit of information.  Tickets for this extravaganza were $25 each.  We're three retired people!  We don't carry around large sums of money like that on a regular basis.  To the best of my knowledge this was the first time any of the three of us have been denied admission to church (not really the churches fault in this case).
So...........here we are, it's Sunday night. We've had a bunch of laughs about all three of these attempts to capture the spirit of the season.  I think we've done it.  After all it wouldn't be Christmas without a lot of laughter! 

Good Looking Mantle!

Anna Maria Island Christmas Parade
You can rent this cart (minus the decorations) simply call 877-778-7264
https://gulfcoastcart.com/call-to-reserve/  

Come on now, seriously??????

I've always taken great pride in being a Native Floridian.  We lived three years in North Carolina right after we were married and spent 23 years in the great state of Texas. However if someone asks where are you from, I say Florida.  Most folks who end up here are from somewhere else.  More often than not they've migrated down from up north somewhere where winter starts in mid-November and goes until around Memorial Day.  They're mostly good folks although they do have a tendency to want to tell us how they did it up north.
We Floridian's can be a quirky bunch.  One of the things that we can really get quirky about is the weather.  We tend to deal with hurricanes, pop up thunderstorms, oppressive summer heat and humidity fairly well.  What we don't handle so well are cold fronts.  We tend to lose our minds.  It's kind of like it's our God given right to have every day from December through March to be in the mid-70's.  When it gets a little nippy things get a little strange.
The same cold front that brought snow to Texas and other places in the deep south is passing through Florida today.  It's windy, drizzling a bit and the temperature is hovering around 60 degrees.  Not a great day but not exactly Minnesota weather.............unless you watch the local news.
The cold front is the lead story with headlines such as "Bay Area Residents Brace for Cold Front".  We were particularly amused to learn that they are opening Cold Weather Shelters.  Yes, it's cooler than usual but were talking overnight lows around 50 degrees, come on now!

The reporter was standing in front of this bank sign doing a story on the opening of Cold Weather Shelters. 

Merry Christmas from coast to coast!

Sandman on AMI- It lasted about a week before an exceptionally high tide got it.



Sweet Baby James and his new buddy at the Oakland Zoo Lights

Island Time..........

It's a great time of the year to be on AMI.  Less crowded, lower temperatures and the sunsets remain spectacular!
Yesterday afternoon I was out on the paddleboard.  One of my favorite places to paddle is up close to the mangroves behind the Key Royale Golf Course.  There are always plenty of fish and birds to spot.  Frequently I'll also see dolphins, rays and occasionally a manatee or two.  One of the tee boxes for the golf course is just behind the mangroves.  Yesterday's most entertaining action was on this tee.  As I was paddling along I noticed a couple teeing off.  The gentleman was on the tee with the "Weapon of Mass Destruction" aka a driver in his hand.  I looked away to make sure I wasn't going into the mangroves when I heard the familiar sound of the club striking the ball.  That sound was quickly followed by a sound that I am all to familiar with and that was the ball striking a tree.  The lady (I'm assuming wife) said "that was going to be a really good shot until it curved and hit the tree".  I guess I should have taken a closer look at them on the off chance that she turns up missing in the next few days.


Sunset sequence from earlier in the week:

Till death do us part.........

It's been great spending a few days in Texas.  We've had a chance to spend quite a bit of it with Ben and Allie (his sweet lab) as well as catching up with numerous friends.  We had a nice lunch with our good friends Rob and Pam yesterday.  Then they joined us in trying to escape the Toxic Escape at North Texas Jellystone Park (where Ben works).  We failed rather miserably!
It hasn't been all fun and games.  There has been quite a bit of work mixed in as well.  Since the invention of the cell phone we've been with AT&T.  We didn't have any real complaints other than it seemed ridiculously expensive.  However, we did figure out that there was another company (T-Mobile) which was a little less expensive and offered a better international plan.  We divorced AT&T and moved to T-Mobile.  If you've never done a service provider switch and you decide to make one, get ready.  It isn't quite as easy as flipping a switch.  We've spent enough time in the T-Mobile store over the last two days that I think we could be pretty competent members of their sales team.  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that the T-Mobile folks didn't know what they were doing,. They were very nice and gave the impression that they knew what they were doing.  It's just a somewhat complicated process to switch and move everything over.  I think we're done and everything is up and running properly.  Hopefully we don't darken the doors of the T-Mobile store today or anytime in the near future.
As we were finishing up I told my new best friend Adrian (Sales Manager at the store) that unless they really screwed up that I planned on dying (hopefully no time soon) as a T-Mobile customer.  He smiled and assured us that we'd be pleased with their service................hopefully he was right!

Oh to be enlightened..........

Our 6 days in New York have passed by quickly.  I guess it would be fair to say they've gone by faster than a "New York Minute".  We've got some packing to do this morning.  Then we'll have a few hours to get in a little more roaming around before heading to the airport.  New York today, Texas tonight!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Minute
Christmas is really busting out around here.  Thursday night Macy's debuted their Christmas window decorations.  We were enjoying the Carole King play that evening but we did get a chance to see them yesterday morning.  As always they are very creative and festive. 
Something else that seems to be a tradition for us when we're in New York is eating at the Westway Diner.  This is just a simple diner located on 9th Avenue between 43rd and 44th street.  It was originally recommended to us by a bellman at a hotel a few years ago.  Good food at a reasonable price that is out of the tourist traps of Times Square.  One thing we had not realized before is that the diner has a pretty significant place in TV history.  Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David met there to discuss doing a TV show about nothing.  That show turned out to be Seinfeld which obviously had a pretty good run.
 http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/features/2430/
Every Friday from 4:00-8:00 the Museum of Modern Art has "Free Friday".  Not being ones to turn down a chance to further enlighten ourselves for free, we certainly weren't going to pass up this opportunity.  We've entertained and amused ourselves in "Modern Art" galleries all over the place.  Earlier in the week we were in the Metropolitan Art Museum surrounded by some of the classics by some of the heavy hitters such as Van Gough, Monet and Matisse.  While there were works by some of these and others in the Modern Art Museum (Van Gough's Starry Night, Picasso, Monet) it also contains works by lesser known artists.  I've always heard that "art is in the eye of the beholder" and I guess that's true.  I stared at some of those pieces for a while trying to find meaning and understanding.  I guess I'm just not enlightened enough because I usually switch my attention to watching those around me trying to find enlightenment......................they usually look like they are struggling as well!
https://www.moma.org/

Empire State Building getting in the Christmas Spirit

So nice to see it only from the outside!

One of the Macy's windows

Modern Art....................

Modern Art 2.0

Modern Art 3.0.........it was called "Drawing Without Paper".  I think "Wire Hanging On A Wall" might be more appropriate!

Elton John's boots on display at the Modern Art Museum

NYC at sunrise today from our hotel room

  

Woody Allen, John Lennon and Us.....................

Three nights (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) and three Broadway plays.  We're just a few short blocks off Broadway so taking in a few plays while we were here was on the agenda.  We had already seen many of the long running shows such as Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Miss Saigon, Cats and Les Miserables (very long).  We weren't going to blow the budget on tickets to Hamilton or Springsteen on Broadway so we opted for three popular musicals.  So here's my stab at being a Broadway Critic.
A Bronx Tale-This was billed as "West Side Story meets the Jersey Boys" which is very accurate.  It was the story of a young man (Calogero who was nicknamed C) growing up in an Italian neighborhood in the Bronx.  It had the requisite mafia type figure (Jimmy) who was the protector of the neighborhood.  Pretty much anything and everything that happened in the neighborhood went through him.  He took C under his wings and taught him the ropes as he grew up.  There was crime, forbidden love (C fell for a young African American girl), battles between good and evil.  Most everyone lived happily ever after although there were a few funerals and the love thing just didn't work out.  Maybe we were tired from all that we had done that day but it didn't reach out and grab either one of us.  The story was pretty predictable, the energy seemed low and we just didn't completely connect.  Very good but not great.............C+.
https://abronxtalethemusical.com/
The Book of Mormon- This musical has been out for several years now and won a number of Tony awards.  It's the story of two young Mormon boys and their two year mission assignment.  Their buddies get assignments like France, Japan and other desirable locations around the globe.  These two aren't so fortunate and get assigned to Uganda.  The good folks of Uganda are dealing with poverty, war, Aids and much more.  Initially they aren't buying what the missionaries are selling.  When they do start to listen the story gets lost in translation and lies.  It could be viewed as irreverent, explicit and it's very funny.  It was written by the guys who gave us "South Park" which should tell you all you need to know.  Great song and dance numbers and dialogue throughout the fast paced high energy show.........A-
http://bookofmormonbroadway.com/tickets
Beautiful-The Carole King Story- Obviously this is the story of Carole King, her life and music.  I've always been a fan of her music and knew that in addition to songs that she sung that she wrote many more for other artists.  What I didn't realize was just how many songs she had written (many of them with her first husband).  Among songs she wrote for others were "Take Good Care of My Baby", "The Locomotion", "One Fine Day", "Pleasant Valley Sunday", You've Got a Friend" and a whole bunch more.  Her signature album, Tapestry has sold over 25 million copies and remained on the charts for nearly six years.  It was a great inside look at one of the all time great singer/songwriters................A++
https://beautifulonbroadway.com/
Yesterday was a nice sunny day with temperatures a little warmer than they had been so of course we were out roaming around.  We headed north up 10th avenue towards 80th street where we planned to cut over and through Central Park to the Metropolitan Art Museum.  As we were walking along we were looking for a barbershop since I was in need of a haircut.  We ran across a place called the Amsterdam Barber Shop.  It wasn't busy so we ducked in for a quick cut.  The guy who cut my hair shared with me that the shop had been in that location for 103 years.  It was near the swanky apartments and condos along Central Park and had it's fair share of celebrity clients.  John Lennon lived a couple of blocks away and used to pop in for a trim.  Woody Allen still shows up there occasionally and yesterday it was me....................not a fancy place with a big price tag, just a pretty cool barbershop complete with a hot towel scalp massage at the end.  There was a female barber in there so Beth got in on the fun and got her haircut as well................her's looks great.....................mine, well not much to work with!

Sporting our new haircuts outside the Amsterdam Barbershop

Fall Leaves in Central Park



Beth caught this picture of the sun reflecting off this building with clouds as a backdrop

I haven't put a picture of Sweet Baby James on here lately.  He got caught red handed with the cake frosting............the evidence is on his face!

 

New York Free (or almost free) Stuff

We've been enjoying roaming the streets of New York for a few days now.  It's always a fun place to visit with endless things to experience.  It's been a little chilly this week with the highs running in the 40's, but not too bad.  After all, it is getting to be that time of the year.  The seasons are changing and in some ways it's the "calm before the storm" around here.  The bleachers are being set up and a week from today the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will be kicking off the holiday season.  The Christmas Tree has been installed in Rockefeller Center.  It's currently covered in scaffolding (quite a site) as well as workers busy trimming it.  The Ice Skating Rinks in Central Park, Bryant Park and Rockefeller Center are open (nope, those days are over).  The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular has opened at Radio City.  We've seen it before so seeing it again prior to Thanksgiving just doesn't seem right.  We've been here several times between Thanksgiving and Christmas and it's a pretty special time of the year.  It's been fun watching the preparation.
We didn't get a chance to do much walking in India and Nepal.  Too many people. cows, pigs and other animals (and their poop) to dodge.  We've made up for lost time the last two days.  We've easily covered over 30 miles on foot, again showing why no one really wants to travel with us.  We've crisscrossed from the east side to the west side, up as far as around 98th Street on the upper side and as far south as you can go (Battery Park) on the lower side.  Heck, we even walked across the Brooklyn Bridge which spans the East River from Lower Manhattan to .............Brooklyn, of course.
It's a great walking city that offers so many opportunities and experiences for little or no money.  Here are some of my recommendations if you're ever in the neighborhood:
Central Park-It can be seen by Horse and Buggy, Pedicab, Rented Bikes or on foot.  However you choose to explore this massive park, dive right in and explore it.  We tend to stay south of the park but like walking whatever path we happen to want to take with no particular destination in mind, although we often end up walking around The Reservoir which occupies a good portion of the upper/middle section.  Don't forget to check out the apartments and condo's along the East and West side.  This is where the big bucks live.   There is also the Metropolitan Art Museum on the East Side and the American Museum of Natural History on the West Side.  We had been to the Art Museum before.  This time we spent several hours in the Natural History Museum absorbing knowledge until our brains were full.  Both are excellent, and while they have a suggested entry free of around $20 it is strictly a "donation" so you can pay what you want.  Seems like most folks pay around $5 per person.
http://www.centralparknyc.org/
https://www.metmuseum.org/
https://www.amnh.org/
The High Line- This is a section of an elevated train line on the west side between 34th Street and the Meatpacking District.  It was scheduled for demolition but thankfully was turned in to an elevated walk way that is around a mile and a half in length.  It offers great views of the skyline as well as the Hudson River without the hassle of traffic and red lights.
http://www.thehighline.org/visit
The Brooklyn Bridge-This was a new experience for us yesterday. There is a walkway across the bridge that allows pedestrians and bikers to cross between lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.  It's an easy walk and it looked like some of the neighborhood just across the bridge in Brooklyn would have been fun to explore.  Our legs were starting to wear out and we still had a long walk back to the hotel so we decided to save them for another day.
http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/walking-the-brooklyn-bridge/
Of course all of these areas are connected by sidewalks.  One of our favorite ways to get from upper to lower Manhattan is the west side along the river.  There's a great walkway with parks and green spaces.   There is also plenty of action on the water with boats, ships, ferries, and water taxis to keep you entertained along the way.
Staten Island Ferry-This ferry is free and runs from the Battery Park area in lower Manhattan to Staten Island.  It's a five mile/25 minute journey that runs every thirty minutes, 24 hours a day.  You get great views of the skyline as well as the Statue of Liberty.  When you get to Staten Island you can explore the parks and neighborhoods or simply get off the ferry, walk into the terminal and catch the same ferry back.  This was also a new experience for us.
http://www.siferry.com/
Cheap Eats- Surprisingly eating in NY can be pretty affordable.  The first rule of thumb in my opinion is to get out of the tourist areas, especially Times Square.  This trip we're staying in the Hells Kitchen area (west side around 48th street).  There are plenty of great restaurants that are affordable and every block seems to have a couple of "pizza by the slice" places.  Five bucks will get you two huge slices of pizza and a coke at most of these places.  Also no trip to New York would be complete without a little "street meat".  A hot dog or Italian sausage will set you back a couple of bucks and is probably good for your immune system as well!
https://www.eater.com/2015/7/10/8924449/halal-cart-street-food-meat-nyc-cheap-eats

Brooklyn Bridge

The Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center being prepared

St Patrick's Cathedral

Central Park-Nice colors this time of year

Lower Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry

From the Staten Island Ferry

 

Good Bye Dubai, Hello New York!

Dubai is now in the rearview mirror.  The fourteen hour flight wasn't too bad all things considered.  It helped that the flight left at 2:30 in the morning.  We stayed busy up until the time of departure and were both able to get a little sleep on the flight.
The last couple of days in Dubai were busy and were dedicated to seeing as much of it as possible.  We did a package deal through a company called Headout.  They seem to be a third party company that sells various tours/experiences in select cities.  We were pleased with them and have even purchased some tickets to three broadway plays through them (I'll let you know how it goes).
The package deal we purchased for Dubai included going up to the 124 & 125 Observation Decks of the Burj Khalifa (worlds tallest building).  The views were great and if you ever find yourself in Dubai it's something I'd recommend.  There was a city tour that included visiting a Spice and Gold Souk (market) in the older section of Dubai and a quick stop at a very nice beach.
If you've ever been to Hawaii you most likely ended up at a luau.  Dubai has it's own version of luau's, they're called Desert Safari's.  It starts with a "Sand Dune Bashing" experience.  You get strapped into a Toyota Land Cruiser for a wild ride through the sand dune desert near Dubai.  It was pretty fun getting slung around but not something that I necessarily need to do again.  After the ride we joined other thrill seekers for dinner and a show under the night sky.  The show included a fire performer as well as a couple of dancers.  One of the dancers was a belly dancer.  She had plenty of assets for her performance.  She also had the magical ability to make her hips and belly go left to right while her breasts went up and down............that's entertainment at it's finest.
Before heading to the airport Saturday night there was one final activity and it was a nice one.  It was a dinner cruise on a Dhow (old style traditional boat).  It was a relaxing evening floating down Dubai Creek taking in the sights and sounds of Old Dubai.
India, Nepal, a quick day trip into Oman and the UAE.  All quite different, all very interesting!

The Gold Souk-Old Dubai

Spice Souk-Great Colors and Smells

We're so excited about our Desert Safari

Our vehicle of terror for the Sand Dune Bashing

Dubai Beach

Along the Dubai Canal Walk near our hotel

The Dubai Canal walk.  Our hotel JW Marriott Marquis are the two towers on the left. 

Our River Cruise Dhow