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

[Arzeena]

12 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Did you ever go to the Bubble Room? That’s one of my all time favorite restaurants.

I have been there! enjoyed it a lot!

[Arzeena]

10 hours ago, ownedbypets said:

Baileys General Store?  I grew up in Ft Myers and my family had condos on Captiva. I have family and friends that still live there, including my daughter.

I too have family that lived there. Their homes are now vacation homes and they live a little inland now. Mention of Bubble room and Cheeburger brought back great memories.

[Ocean Boy]

Heading over to Martha's Vineyard for the day. For those of you who are unfamiliar, an island off the coast of Massachusetts and the largest of the New England islands. It is where the movie Jaws was filmed.

 

The second beautiful day of this three day weekend. The boat ride should be really nice.

[Arzeena]

10 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Heading over to Martha's Vineyard for the day. For those of you who are unfamiliar, an island off the coast of Massachusetts and the largest of the New England islands. It is where the movie Jaws was filmed.

 

The second beautiful day of this three day weekend. The boat ride should be really nice.

Enjoy your day! Hope to see some pictures.

[Ocean Boy]

Interestingly, since the last time I did this trip the ferry line has switched over to Starlink for internet service. It is VERY fast right now.

[Keksie]

12 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

@ReneeFLL beautiful orchid photos Renee.  I wish I had a green thumb but unfortunately mine is more of a black thumb, I kill pretty much everything.  Do you have a specific room for yours or can they be kept around the house?

@dani negreanu thank you for sharing the cheesecake recipe!  I love the idea of Greek yogurt to make it lighter and also the pistachio topping. 
We’ve been busy getting the yard and pool area ready for summer. My big project was to recover some patio cushions that had seen better days. We shopped around at Lowe’s, Home Depot, the local porch and patio store as well as Wayfair and could mir find any we liked in the right size. The interior’s cushion was still in good shape so because I have a sewing machine and some skills I took on the challenge.  I found some outdoor fabric at Joann Fabrics.  I successfully recovered a chair about 10 years ago so figured, how hard could this be?   Well let me tell you, the next time these cushions need recovering we will just buy a new patio set LOL.  They were an absolute b*%#*.   

That looks fabulous.  You did a great job.

[bobmacliberty]

11 hours ago, Luckynana said:

We stayed in Palm Coast on our way to Naples for years!  Now we take I-10 across to 75.  Jim's had it with I-4.

 

I've learned the secret to driving on I-4...Sun Pass and the Express Lane.  Life changing, for only a few bucks.  I don't think I'd drive I-4 without it.

[bobmacliberty]

8 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

I watched a great documentary about my past tonight. On HBO is a great documentary about Donna Summer. I can’t tell you how many times I danced to her songs at a disco. If you got HBO watch this. She was an incredible singer, songwriter and performer.

 

 

 

Nothing at all like Donna Summer, but I also watched a fascinating documentary recently called The Codebreaker.  It's about a woman named Elizebeth Smith Friedman, who was one of the greatest cryptographers in US history, but who remained almost completely unknown throughout her life (and even well into her death).  What she endured just because she was a woman, and what she accomplished despite that, amazed me.  Much of what she did was considered top secret and was not declassified until 2008.

 

 

[josumello]

43 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Interestingly, since the last time I did this trip the ferry line has switched over to Starlink for internet service. It is VERY fast right now.

Fast ferry or steamship authority? I would guess fast ferry. 

Thanks. 

[Arzeena]

47 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I've learned the secret to driving on I-4...Sun Pass and the Express Lane.  Life changing, for only a few bucks.  I don't think I'd drive I-4 without it.

We agree 100%. Uni and express lanes.
 

Edited May 28, 2023 by Arzeena

[akcruz]

56 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Nothing at all like Donna Summer, but I also watched a fascinating documentary recently called The Codebreaker.  It's about a woman named Elizebeth Smith Friedman, who was one of the greatest cryptographers in US history, but who remained almost completely unknown throughout her life (and even well into her death).  What she endured just because she was a woman, and what she accomplished despite that, amazed me.  Much of what she did was considered top secret and was not declassified until 2008.

 

 

 

Fascinating woman, I read the book, long, didn't know there was a documentary.  Will have to watch.

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Nothing at all like Donna Summer, but I also watched a fascinating documentary recently called The Codebreaker.  It's about a woman named Elizebeth Smith Friedman, who was one of the greatest cryptographers in US history, but who remained almost completely unknown throughout her life (and even well into her death).  What she endured just because she was a woman, and what she accomplished despite that, amazed me.  Much of what she did was considered top secret and was not declassified until 2008.

 

 

I will add that to my list. I love documentaries. Thank you Bob.

[Ocean Boy]

47 minutes ago, josumello said:

Fast ferry or steamship authority? I would guess fast ferry. 

Thanks. 

Seastreak fast ferry from New Bedford.

[Luckynana]

This is Ms.Lola!

[Ocean Boy]

1 minute ago, Luckynana said:

This is Ms.Lola!

Awesome! I've been waiting for pictures!

[George C]

Having a great time in New York City, my brother and his wife and daughter are staying at same hotel plus over 20 others from Ft Myer, my brother runs a theater there and every year brings them up to see broadway plays and they show them around town. Two of my best boyhood friends came up to meet us had a great time . We went to see the play “ Some like it hot” another excellent Tony nominated show , problem was I couldn’t fit in the seat , I am 6’4” with one very bad knee , sat there for a few minutes and I realized no way I could sit through even the first act, my wife talked to a usher and explained our situation, he told us to wait and he would see if he could do anything, we then was told to go see someone else and she put us in a private box that could sit about 6 , so we had plenty of room . Stopped at swing 46 a dance club because one of my cousins was playing drums there , he told us this was his third gig of the day . Only disappoint was stopping at juniors for a pastrami sandwich at little after midnight, I normally like the food there but not last night. Today we will see “funny girl”. They did move us to there largest suite yesterday which is what we booked. 

[Luckynana]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Heading over to Martha's Vineyard for the day. For those of you who are unfamiliar, an island off the coast of Massachusetts and the largest of the New England islands. It is where the movie Jaws was filmed.

 

The second beautiful day of this three day weekend. The boat ride should be really nice.

I've only been to Martha's Vineyard once, many years ago.  Beautiful Island.  Enjoy your day there!

[Luckynana]

2 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I've learned the secret to driving on I-4...Sun Pass and the Express Lane.  Life changing, for only a few bucks.  I don't think I'd drive I-4 without it.

I'm not aware of the Express Lane.  It's been several years since traveling along I-4.  We do use the Express Lane when traveling along I-95 in Virginia.  That is, when it's open in the direction that we are traveling.  It was not open for our trip home last month.  Traveling through Va. was a total nightmare, adding at least 3 hours more to our trip.

[Luckynana]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

Awesome! I've been waiting for pictures!

Thanks, OB.  My daughter helped me to post Lola's pictures.  Lola is so good, well mannered, and obedient.  She makes everyone so happy!

[Luckynana]

@Momof3gurlzGreat job on your chair cushion.  Beautiful pattern!

[Luckynana]

@George C  What a great, happy, fun-filled whirlwind you are having in NYC!  Enjoy Funny Girl.  I saw that play on Broadway over 50 years ago.  I believe the actress was Mimi Hines who played the part of Funny Girl.  You really did luck out with the weather!  The forecast originally was going to be rain, which is typical for Memorial Day weekend.  Many a barbeque was held inside over the years due to a damp and rainy day.

[HBE4]

Reading the posts about The Bubble Room is bringing back memories from my college days. Nothing to do with the restaurant in Fort Myers but , **ahem**, the very first "Gentleman's club" I went to called Bubbles.  Let's just say it was a bit on the low-end and while I did appreciate the exotic dancers at the time, it was really the cheap drinks & cheap cover charge that brought us back over and over.

 

So now you can guess what I'm picturing every time I read about The Bubble Room. 😲

[BonTexasNY]

16 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

 

I've done my best to translate (Google...) and to convert (as I understand, converting has much to do with the ingredient -- so a "cup" of sugar is not as a "cup" of flour...) as much as I could. The yogurt comes in a... bucket like this (600 gr each).

 

 

Drums please... THE recipe --

 

 

Dani’s yogurt and cream cheese cake

Materials for a spring mold with a diameter of 26 cm

For the bottom

*      250 grams of Petit beurre biscuits, coarsely broken

*      100 g soft butter and a little more for greasing the pan

*      3 tablespoons (60 grams) of honey

 

 

For the cake

* 2 buckets (1.2 kg) Greek yogurt 10%

* 3 cups (600 grams) New York cream cheese 30%

* 1 cup (200 grams) of white sugar. I only put 180 grams.

* 3 tablespoons (25 grams) sifted cornflour

* 1 teaspoon of real vanilla extract

* ¼ teaspoon of salt

* 5 eggs (Large)

To serve (optional) 

¼ cup liquid honey

or chopped pistachios

Preparation

1.    The night before baking: Line a large strainer with a diaper cloth and place the strainer over a bowl. Put Greek yogurt and cream cheeses in a cloth and transfer to the refrigerator overnight to drain liquids.

2.    Prepare the cake: Line the bottom of the springform pan with baking paper. Line the sides of the pan with strips of baking paper. You can glue the edges of the paper with a little melted butter.

3.    Grind the Petit beurre biscuits, butter and honey in the food processor to a crumbly mixture, transfer to the pan and press to the bottom in an even layer. Transfer to the freezer for at least half an hour.

4.    Heat an oven to 200 degrees Celsius (400 F?) and place a pan with 2 liters of boiling water at the bottom of the oven.

5.    Transfer the yogurt and cheese mixture to a mixer. Add sugar, cornflour, vanilla extract and salt, and mix at low speed with a guitar hook until a uniform batter is obtained. Quickly add egg after egg and mix briefly until they are incorporated into the mixture. Avoid over mixing.

6.    Pour the batter into the pan, transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 100 degrees Celsius (200 F?) and bake for an hour and 20 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the cake in it for half an hour. Please note: do not open the oven door during baking.

7.    Remove the cake from the oven, cool and transfer to the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days.

8.    Before serving, remove the cake from the pan and sprinkle the pistachios.

* Filtering the cheeses is important! Don't give up on it. If there is no time, you can shorten the duration of the filtration to 6 hours.

* To get a straight and white cake like a swan, be sure to place a pan with boiling water in the bottom of the oven and line the sides of the pan with strips of baking paper. Also, the pan is placed in the lower third of the oven, and not too high, so that the cake does not brown.

 

 

 

@jagsfan   Mimi, the cheesecake is indeed delicious, and the watermelon was excellent. So far, early in the season, we managed to buy very tasty ones.

Dani thank you so much for the recipe but I fear it's more difficult than I can attempt. 

 

I remember a time in Israel when a horse drawn watermelon laden wagon traveled along streets, the driver ringing a bell, shouting "avateeach, matok" (translation, "watermelon, sweet"). A small piece of a chosen watermelon was cut out for the customer to taste before deciding to purchase.  Now, that's service!

 

On another note, all of this "Bubble Room" chat reminds me of Seinfeld's Bubble Boy episode. 😄

 

@George C Continue to enjoy you NY trip!

[dani negreanu]

2 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

Dani thank you so much for the recipe but I fear it's more difficult than I can attempt.

 

Bonnie, look at the recipe again. I promise you it is not difficult at all.

Just drain the yogurt and the cheese for a whole night,

then chop the biscuits for the basis (the "machine" does it....), and

then all the ingredients mixed in the mixer.

15 mins at 200C, 80 mins at 100C, 30 mins left inside the oven. That's it.😘

[Keksie]

2 hours ago, Luckynana said:

This is Ms.Lola!

I love her coloring.  A wonderful addition to the family.