JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, USA-THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2013

JACKSONVILLE is in the First Coast region of northeast Florida and is centered on the banks of the St. Johns River, about 25 miles south of the Georgia state line and about 340 miles north of Miami.  The JACKSONVILLE BEACHES communities are along the adjacent Atlantic coast.  JACKSONVILLE is the largest city in the state of Florida by population (836,000) and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States.
Don went to THE WORLD GOLF HALL OF FAME in ST. AUGUSTINE, the nation’s oldest city and also holds the distinction of being one of the nation’s most charming.
I was picked up at the ship by my friend, Ann McPherson, whose summer home is in the Broadmoor West Residences with us.  She lives in a lovely home in Ponte Verda which we visited and then had lunch at her Country Club.  A fun day for me.

Ann and John McPherson's home in Ponte Vedra, Florida

Ann in her back yard

View of the #2 hole of SAWGRASS Golf Club from Ann's upper level.

 

               (JOHN'S PUTTING GREEN in the back yard)                              

Lunch with Ann @ her Country Club

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, USA-THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2013

The Campbells boarding our pontoon boat for a cruise

The marsh

Our guide telling us (Don) about the tidal river  ecosystem

The boat captain went fishing

A shrimp

Paula Deen's house and guest house

Enjoying our cruise on the pontoon boat

Back to Crystal Symphony in time for lunch!

SAVANNAH lies on the Savannah River, approximately 20 miles upriver from the Atlantic Ocean.  It is the primary port on the Savannah River and the largest port in the state of Georgia.  It was settled by General James Oglethorpe in 1733.  Today it has a population of 142,000 people.
We chose a Pontoon Cruise of Wilmington Island and the surrounding waterways aboard the Island Explorer.  The exclusive home of wealthy Savannahians were on the waterways and I took photos of Paula Deen’s house.  ( Former Food Network Chef)

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, USA-WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2013

The Market Place

The historic Rainbow Houses

Our driver

Beautiful old homes

Beautiful old homes

The Campbells with the horse drawn carriage

As America’s most beautifully preserved architectural and historic treasure, CHARLESTON is steeped in a 300 year past.  Hundreds of significant and lovingly preserved structures from the colonial and antebellum periods grace the Histroric District’s narrow streets.  The city population today is 659,000.
We enjoyed all of this in a one hour tour with a horse drawn carriage and driver.

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, USA-MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4. 2013

BALTIMORE is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maryland and the 26th largest city in the country.  This deep water port, nestled at the north of the huge Chesapeake Bay is 190 miles from the Atlantic and has always been a busy commercial crossroad and its still one of the principal Atlantic seacoast outlets for coal, grain and spice.
We went on a half-day outing introducing us to this charming city.  We went to the Baltimore World Trade Center, a structure designed by I.M. Pei and is the world’s tallest equilateral five-sided building and went to the 27th floor “Top of the World” Observation Deck.  The views were incredible.
Next was historic FORT HENRY, a star-shaped fort situated at the harbor’s entrance.  It was here, during the War of 1812, that Washington lawyer Francis Scott Key saw the American flag emerge intact in the September dawn after a continuous 25 hour British bombardment.  He was so moved that he wrote the poem, The Defence of Fort McHenry”, which would later become the United States’ national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner.”  We saw a reenactment of the war and then the screen disappeared and we saw the FLAG outside.  It was quite moving.

Our great guide-Chris

Baltimore World Trade Center

View from the 27th flooe

Don

Nancy and Don wirh schooner behind

Historical church

Reenactment of was with Francis Scott Key seeing the American flag and writing The Star Spangled Banner

Fort McHenry and the flag in the background

The actual cannons used in the skirmish

Our  “NEW ENGLAND CLASSIC “ CRUISE from Montreal, P.Q., Canada to New York City, New York, USA ended and we are still on board CRYSTAL SYMPHONY  for the next leg “AMERICA’S FIRST CITIES” CRUISE from New York, New York, USA to Miami, Florida, USA- November 2-November 16, 2013.

Formal night

Don getting ready for formal night

Vice Captain Tonchi

Our table

Butterscotch Pudding

Don with The Bakers

Our table of 12 @ the Formal Dinner

SEA DAY-SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

A delightful day at sea with bridge, lectures, Team Trivia, Bingo and of course, 3 wonderful meals!!  Our first formal dinner was this night and we are at the vice-captain’s table and 9 of our “new best friends”.  Tonci Hladilo is the Vice Captain.

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK-FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2013

A ride on a horse drawn carriage through NYC and Central Park

NYC

Nancy and Don

Central Park

Driver of our carriage

In Central Park

View of New York City from Verandah

NYC is the capital of the world and one of the world’s most famous and exciting cities.  Broadway, Times Square, the Empire State Building and Central Park are just some of the celebrated spectacles this bustling city has to offer. NYC is located halfway between Boston and Washington, D.C. and much of NYC is built on the three islands of Manhattan, Staten Island and Long Island.
We took a horse drawn carriage through Central Park and enjoyed the sights.

Don on our veranda looking at arrival in NYC

The STATUE OF LIBERTY

The Campbells with the Statue of Liberty

The NEW YORK skyline from our verandah

NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND was supposed to be our next port and due to high winds in the vicinity of 60 miles an hour and heavy rain the captain chose to by-pass the port and continue sailing to New York City with a day at sea.  The best part of this was that we docked in New York @ 6:00 PM instead of 8:00 the next morning and had the most INCREDIBLE view of the STATUE OF LIBERTY while sailing into the Harbor @ 5:00 on a bright sunny day.