Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[lenquixote66]

8 hours ago, Coralc said:

 

My mom never learned how to swim, so she wanted to make sure I did. Started swim lessons around age 5. 

 

Funny quick story. We were having a swim instructor organized back stroke race down the length of the pool. All the moms used to sit on the bleachers. I thought I started off well, but it seemed like I backstroked for a long time. I finally heard my mom calling me, and I opened my eyes, and I was only midway down the pool. 

 

Apparently, I had been making big circles in the center of the pool, while everyone else had already finished. 

My children and grandchildren are all very good swimmers.

[lenquixote66]

7 hours ago, grapau27 said:

I'm so sorry to hear that Lenny.

Did you break any bones?

I fell down the stairs at home when I was very young and fractured my wrist.

Toby’s father died from falling down a flight of steps in his house.

I fractured a wrist each time that I fell down an escalator.

[lenquixote66]

7 hours ago, sgmn said:

It's very easy to book car hire in Halifax.  The offices are close to where the ships dock. That's what we did last time. You can then drive to Peggy's Cove, it's easy to park there or in the opposite direction there are some nice sights. The titanic museum is interesting too 

I have been to the Titanic museum several times.I highly recommend a visit .

[BonTexasNY]

14 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Good morning from wet & soggy Sydney.  Spent yesterday raking all the leaves and doing loads and loads of washing to dry in the sun as we have another week of rain ahead of us.

Was looking forward to a family catch up at Dads this morning but woke up to a RATS photo from DS.  He has tested positive so decided to be cautious and not be around Dad myself.  Now we have a delicious red velvet cake for just the three of us to consume.

Wish I could come over and help you eat that yummy cake!

14 hours ago, Luckynana said:

With all of this talk about swimming,  I just wanted to add that our granddaughter Ava is a Lifeguard at one of the Jersey Shore Beaches, and she made a "save" on her first day on the job.  Two kids were caught in an undertow, and Ava and another lifeguard were able to get them safely back onshore.😊

Way to go Ava!

13 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Not sure what my dear friend is doing tonight. I guess I should check my voice mail.

Word leaked out that your friend got engaged.  I'm sure she'll have you participate in the wedding planning! 😉

[lenquixote66]

4 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

I agree. Back in the 1970's & even 1980's, I used to love Dunkin Donuts.  Back when each location made their own. I still remember the old commercial of the baker getting up in the wee hours of the morning (the middle of the night for most of us) and shuffling off to the store muttering "Time to make the donuts" over and over.  If I was lucky, I'd be in the store  when a new batch came out. Coffee was real good back then as well.

 

Not sure when they switched to factory made donuts but the quality has declined. So did the coffee which now resembles hot water with a hint of coffee flavor. To be fair, it's been years - maybe decades - since i last had DD coffee so maybe it's gotten better again?

 

A couple of years ago, they removed "Donuts" from their name and now are just "Dunkin".  No longer just about the donuts, I guess.

The area that I live in has a Dunkin Donuts.Every morning ,7 days a week a group of elderly men go there for conversation and probably donuts.One of my neighbors is a member of the group.Several years ago he invited me to come one day.Nobody ate donuts,we all had muffins and coffee.

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Tonight I  watched No Time to Die, the most recent Daniel Craig James Bond movie.  I think I did really well to have avoided the spoilers.  Thought it was very well done.

I recall vividly the first James Bond movie I saw,Dr.No.The movie theater was full,not one empty seat.It was so different from any movie that I previously saw.

[grapau27]

19 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

Toby’s father died from falling down a flight of steps in his house.

I fractured a wrist each time that I fell down an escalator.

I'm so sorry for Toby and her father.

That must have been heartbreaking for her and you.

[mafig]

13 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Dramatic way to start her first day of lifeguarding.  Well done to Ava.  

My nephew was a volunteer lifeguard at one of our Sydney beaches for several years.  In the off season, he would work at the local pools.  It was worrying how many parents would leave their kids unattended at the pool for several hours while they popped off to the shops.  Absolutely against the rules but they still did it.

 

Whenever I read about life guards I am reminded of a Ronald Reagan story.  He was a lifeguard in his youth,  with many recorded saves.  When he was in the last stages of Alzheimer's, he did not remember being President of the United States, but he remembered he was once a life guard.😥

 

We had a swimming pool in our high school.  It was a requirement of graduation that we had to pass a swimming test.

[ownedbypets]

Growing up in FL my parents made sure we could swim before our pool was built. I learned to swim at the Hall of Fame in Ft Lauderdale. At the end of the lessons they let us jump from the high dive platforms and I clearly remember it even though I was only 4 years old. Our kids started swim lessons at 2 years old and our dogs were shown how to get out of the pool, in case of emergency, as soon as the came to live with us. Every cat that we have had has fallen in but gotten out before we even saw them. Just a flash of a soaking wet cat running through the house.

[lenquixote66]

3 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

I'm so sorry for Toby and her father.

That must have been heartbreaking for her and you.

Her father died during the time that we were dating.Toby was 21.It was a very difficult time for her and her sister.

[helen haywood]

When I was a senior in high school (same time as the doughnut disaster) one of the requirements for our swim class was a back dive off the high board. 🥺  I could climb up there…turn around…but I absolutely could not make myself fall backwards into empty air.  Our teacher was a man…and I got out of this mandatory dive by telling him every day for three weeks that it was “that time of the month…”  😉

[lenquixote66]

5 minutes ago, mafig said:

 

Whenever I read about life guards I am reminded of a Ronald Reagan story.  He was a lifeguard in his youth,  with many recorded saves.  When he was in the last stages of Alzheimer's, he did not remember being President of the United States, but he remembered he was once a life guard.😥

 

We had a swimming pool in our high school.  It was a requirement of graduation that we had to pass a swimming test.

The high schools in my area all used the pool in a hotel for their swimming meets .The hotel was many miles away.

 

 

.

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

 

I agree. We have a Olive Garden by our house, the parking lot is always packed. Less than 3 blocks away is a longtime Italian family owned restaurant that serves incredible Italian food that is very reasonable priced. I could never understand why people would eat at OG and not drive a couple blocks down the road and have the real deal.

 

This was our go to Italian Restaurant in NJ. The owner used to walk around the restaurant singing songs in Italian, Really miss this place. The Food was amazing! Half the dishes if you bring up the menu I couldn't even pronounce the name of them. The portions were crazy large. Take out dinners came in an aluminum tray like you see party food comes in, each dinner had almost a pound of pasta.

 

https://tarantellaitalianrestaurant.com/

 

 Lot's of pictures of the dishes here.    https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x89c136ea39f1922d%3A0xd8580ffa930f0a8b!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipO-x1fMezNtCYfaSCZf5kBx7DsjNZRhAU2EgiiA%3Dw213-h160-k-no!5starantellas medford - Google Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipO-x1fMezNtCYfaSCZf5kBx7DsjNZRhAU2EgiiA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiqhZDr1e74AhVMD1kFHYzcAUwQoip6BAhZEAM

 

This is the closest we have here in Virginia taste wise to it, by the restaurant doesn't have the style or flair of the place in NJ.

http://www.salsradford.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/NEW-MENU-SalsRadfordMenu_website.pdf

 

Edited July 10, 2022 by Jimbo

[Sea Dog]

4 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

This was our go to Italian Restaurant in NJ. The owner used to walk around the restaurant singing songs in Italian, Really miss this place. The Food was amazing! Half the dishes if you bring up the menu I couldn't even pronounce the name of them.

 

https://tarantellaitalianrestaurant.com/

 

 Lot's of pictures of the dishes here.    https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x89c136ea39f1922d%3A0xd8580ffa930f0a8b!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipO-x1fMezNtCYfaSCZf5kBx7DsjNZRhAU2EgiiA%3Dw213-h160-k-no!5starantellas medford - Google Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipO-x1fMezNtCYfaSCZf5kBx7DsjNZRhAU2EgiiA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiqhZDr1e74AhVMD1kFHYzcAUwQoip6BAhZEAM

 

Now that's Italian!  The food pics look amazing. If I ever get to that area I need to eat there.

[George C]

13 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

This was our go to Italian Restaurant in NJ. The owner used to walk around the restaurant singing songs in Italian, Really miss this place. The Food was amazing! Half the dishes if you bring up the menu I couldn't even pronounce the name of them. The portions were crazy large. Take out dinners came in an aluminum tray like you see party food comes in, each dinner had almost a pound of pasta.

 

https://tarantellaitalianrestaurant.com/

 

 Lot's of pictures of the dishes here.    https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x89c136ea39f1922d%3A0xd8580ffa930f0a8b!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipO-x1fMezNtCYfaSCZf5kBx7DsjNZRhAU2EgiiA%3Dw213-h160-k-no!5starantellas medford - Google Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipO-x1fMezNtCYfaSCZf5kBx7DsjNZRhAU2EgiiA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiqhZDr1e74AhVMD1kFHYzcAUwQoip6BAhZEAM

 

This is the closest we have here in Virginia taste wise to it, by the restaurant doesn't have the style or flair of the place in NJ.

http://www.salsradford.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/NEW-MENU-SalsRadfordMenu_website.pdf

 

Wife made a Caprese salad for our company on July 4th. Next party I will make either baked ziti or lasagna. We use my father’s recipe for sauce. Unfortunately very few Italian restaurants in Dallas has a Italian owner it chef.

[Sunshine3601]

I have a big pot of meatballs, hot and sweet sausage simmering on the stove.  Sauce mixture of homegrown Amish paste tomatoes and 2 cans crushed tomatoes.   Cut up some homegrown peppers, eggplant and zucchini and put in the sauce too!

Off to mow the lawn while that simmers.  

[grapau27]

[Jimbo]

2 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I have a big pot of meatballs, hot and sweet sausage simmering on the stove.  Sauce mixture of homegrown Amish paste tomatoes and 2 cans crushed tomatoes.   Cut up some homegrown peppers, eggplant and zucchini and put in the sauce too!

Off to mow the lawn while that simmers.  

What time should we all be over?

[Jimbo]

18 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

 

Now that's Italian!  The food pics look amazing. If I ever get to that area I need to eat there.

The Virginia Restaurant is about $7 to $10 a dish cheaper though then the NJ, get less pasta with their dishes at Virginia.

[lenquixote66]

18 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

 

Now that's Italian!  The food pics look amazing. If I ever get to that area I need to eat there.

We were there several years ago.A friend living in Georgia was in NJ to visit family members.We drove to NJ to meet him and his wife ,we never met her previously and he suggested the restaurant .The food was great.This was his wife’s first ever time in NJ .

[sgmn]

5 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Thank you for sharing the photos of Gary’s ride @sgmn.  How long are they expecting the ride to take?

They arrived at the Menin Gate an hour ago, the memorial to the thousands of commonwealth soldiers who died in the 1st WW

At 8pm there's a ceremony in Ypres with the last post played as it has every night at 8pm for almost a hundred years. 

After that there's a dinner and large amount of beer and wine drank and tomorrow 60k ride to Dieppe for the ferry back. 

Its,very hot at mo but he's done OK and kept up. Said the average speed was 20mph which meant his electric bike cut out (it cuts out at 16mph) so it didn't help and actually worse as the electric bike was a lot heavier than his road bike. 

Here he is at the gate with his riding buddies

Edited July 10, 2022 by sgmn

[bobmacliberty]

Somewhat disappointing experience last night at the Alloro Bistro, the new Italian restaurant.  I'll write it off to being new and give them another chance, but it will need to be better than last night to break into our restaurant "rotation".  I had fortunately called ahead to see if they have a liquor license yet.  They did not and encouraged me to bring our own wine.  They charged a $10 corking fee.  Not a big deal but seems excessive if they don't have their own wine to sell.  By 7:00 when we sat down, they were out of the 2 most popular meals on the menu, including the Lasagna that I had planned to get, and the Amatriciana that my friend had selected.

 

Micheline and I shared a Caprese Salad appetizer.  It was a plate of sliced tomatoes arranged in a circle with a few leaves of basil in the middle and a nice ball of buffalo mozzarella on top.  We had to ask them to bring out some olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  The taste was good but we thought it strange that it was served "dry".  I ordered the Al Corstacei, a seafood pasta meal.  It was very salty and the seafood was way overcooked.  I couldn't even peel the shells off the shrimp.  Micheline got Gnocchi Al Pesto which was very good.  One of our dinner mates had to return his meal because it was cold, and another waited on her meal for several minutes after the rest of the meals had been served.

 

Right now, I have it as the third best of 3 Italian restaurants on the island.  As I said though, I'll give them another shot in a few weeks when they've been able to work through any start-up issues.  Here's the menu, for those interested:

(20+) Facebook

[h20skibum]

2 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

Word leaked out that your friend got engaged.  I'm sure she'll have you participate in the wedding planning! 😉

Or just crash the wedding, like the wedding crashes thread. 🤣🤣

[Sea Dog]

19 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

We had to ask them to bring out some olive oil and balsamic vinegar

 

That's weird that it was served dry. I've been making them at home and using a balsamic vinegar glaze reduction. It's so good.

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

What time should we all be over?

I just finished mowing the back and sides.  Off to shower, come on over😃