Cruising Buddies

One of the best parts of cruising the world, is the wonderful friends you meet from all parts of the world....It's even more fun, when you get to spend a few days visiting these friends, and experiencing life in a local setting.....We have stayed 2 times in Nottingham, England with a wonderful couple we met on a cruise!



Last week , we drove down to ft. Lauderdale to pick up our 2 cruising buddies from England, to return the favor..They had done a transatlantic cruise from Barcelona Spain to Ft Lauderdale, on the beautiful Liberty of the seas!

We became friends with Steve and Bev on the first Transatlantic cruise we ever did....We almost didn't meet them as the cruise started off horribly, with our passports being stolen in Barcelona.....Thank goodness we had copies, as it only took a few hours for us to taxi to the Embassy and have them replaced.  We boarded the ship the next day, and met them at the lifeboat drill......We laughed so hard at the drill, that the little ole lady in front of us, shushed us and told us to be quiet! It was the beginning of 4 cruises together and one more planned for next fall!
 

 









After we arrived back at the ranch, Steve settled in with a scotch on the rocks, and perused his E-mail

He kept a close eye out for all the alligators we warned him about!

 

This one lays on our banks, so Steve had a reason to worry!

 

 

Bev worked on her I Pad, while we planned the rest of our days....

One of the days they were here, we visited Wall springs. It was a hot spot for the rich and famous to bathe in the early 1900's......it closed in the 1960's, and was restored and turned into a park in 2009...

 

Below is a picture of the bottom of the spring.....

 

It is so beautiful and peaceful here.....just a spot of local COLOR!


Bev celebrating at dinner, when she realized that she was one up on Michael.....a very hard thing to accomplish with all the banter going on between the two of them.....We had lots of laughs comparing how the English pronounce our language....

Before they left, we had a wonderful day in Tarpon springs shopping, while the menfolk sat outside enjoying the local beer.  That evening, We had dinner at Mamas...a wonderful local eatery.  We stuffed ourselves on Greek salad, garlic flavored hummus, Pita breads, and U-peel-em shrimp...We hoisted glasses of Sangria, and toasted to our friendship! After the Sangria, we debated on getting up and doing a Greek dance....Fortunately for the other diners, we settled on shouting Ooopa....as we exited the dining room!

 

 

The next day these Brits.....took off for London on our very own

American Airlines......

So long to our bestest buds from Merry ole England