Beautiful Barbados

I'm so excited!  Just over six years ago Susan M, one of my Cushie friends, invited me on a cruise to Bermuda. I was delighted and excited to go. Then I found out I had kidney cancer and had to bow out at the last minute - the cruise embarked the day I left the hospital. My surgeon said that there was no way I could postpone my surgery for another 5 or so days so someone else went in my place.

So, that was it for my first (and only!) Bermuda cruise.

Then in 2008, I heard from my friend again, asking me if I wanted to do the cruise then! Of course, I said yes… She said she was celebrating and upgraded the whole cruise to the Western Caribbean. We had a superior balcony stateroom and I could wear some of the clothes I got for the non-cruise.

You can read all about our 2008 cruise here: http://www.cushingsonline.com/cruise/cruise.htm and see a slideshow of pictures at http://www.cushingsonline.com/cruise/cruise.html

Last year, September of 2011, we went on a land trip to Gloucester, MA.  Blog posts and pictures for that trip start here http://maryoutandabout.posterous.com/last-trip-for-awhile.

I was at work today when I saw Susan's name pop up on my cellphone and knew she wanted to go on another trip.  As soon as I got in my car, I listened to her message.  YES!  Another cruise!

We talked on the phone and decided on this trip:

Then, Susan booked the cruise and called back to say it was even cheaper than we thought it would be.  Major WooHoo.  And, we have the all-important balcony.

A few more from the Gulf of Maine

Where we're headed. Whales guaranteed. More later - hopefully!

Since I was in bed at 9, I woke up at 6 AM - unheard of! Finally, I stopped trying to get back to sleep and started checking email and message boards. Susan woke up and we started planning our day.

There was an Essex River Cruise leaving a 1 and we decided to get on it.

The captain gave a wonderful narration of the islands, wildlife and the estuary itself.

The word “estuary” is derived from the Latin word aestuarium meaning tidal inlet of the sea, which in itself is derived from the term aestus, meaning tide. There have been many definitions proposed to describe an estuary. The most widely accepted definition is: “a semi-enclosed coastal body of water, which has a free connection with the open sea, and within which sea water is measurably diluted with freshwater derived from drainage.

Check out this video of our trip that someone posted oh YouTube;

See all the pictures here: https://picasaweb.google.com/111010152758124757139/EssexRiver

After the cruise we decided to wander around the little seaside town of Rockport. Lots of neat shops. We went into the candy shop and didn't come out empty handed...

Since I was in bed at 9, I woke up at 6 AM - unheard of! Finally, I stopped trying to get back to sleep and started checking email and message boards. Susan woke up and we started planning our day.

There was an Essex River Cruise leaving a 1 and we decided to get on it.

The captain gave a wonderful narration of the islands, wildlife and the estuary itself.

The word “estuary” is derived from the Latin word aestuarium meaning tidal inlet of the sea, which in itself is derived from the term aestus, meaning tide. There have been many definitions proposed to describe an estuary. The most widely accepted definition is: “a semi-enclosed coastal body of water, which has a free connection with the open sea, and within which sea water is measurably diluted with freshwater derived from drainage.

Check out this video of our trip that someone posted oh YouTube;

See all the pictures here: https://picasaweb.google.com/111010152758124757139/EssexRiver

After the cruise we decided to wander around the little seaside town of Rockport. Lots of neat shops. We went into the candy shop and didn't come out empty handed...