Riviera Dunes Marina, Palmetto, Florida – October 1 – October 6, 2015
I visited with Dad and then we drove to Palmetto on Thursday. We ate dinner with friends, Bill and Ruth, at the Blu Mangrove Restaurant here in the marina and took advantage of their supper special of twin lobster tails.
We spent most of the day Friday at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. We stopped and visited with our son and his family for a couple of hours on the way home and then went to the Riverside Café for supper where we ran into Bill and Ruth who joined us. I talked to my brother in Ocala who told me that Dad would probably be transferred to a rehab center on Monday.
On Saturday we ran errands, returning to the boat in time to see the FSU football game on TV (we won). Then we met our friends, Ken and Jackie for supper at Carabas Restaurant in Bradenton.
After church on Sunday, we went to friends, Deborah and Richard Ross, to watch the Buccaneers vs Carolina football game on TV. We enjoyed the Bloody Mary’s and Mimosa’s along with lots of good snacks. The party broke up at half time with many of the couples moving on to the Taste of Manatee at Sutton Park in Palmetto, but Rick and I returned to the boat and both took a nap.
Monday morning, we went over to JP’s to try on our formal wear that we had left stored in one of his closets. We got everything picked out and ready to pack, but decided to leave them there until Friday. We leave on our cruise on Saturday. Then, I dropped Rick off at the boat while I went to get a haircut. My brother called just before 9 pm saying that he just got Dad settled at the Ocala Health and Rehabilitation Center.
On Tuesday, 10/6, we met Bill and Ruth for lunch at Jaxx Sports Bar and Grille in Palmetto (http://www.jaxxplaybook.com/ ), then took a dip in the pool. We received an e-mail from Tucker Rolle on Compass Cay. He said that the hurricane was far south. They think the winds of hurricane Joaquin were only around 40 mph on Compass Cay and everyone and everything was OK. We picked Vanessa up at 6:00 to go to the yacht club for supper (a special night out with her grandparents).
Wednesday-Thursday 10/7 & 10/8 – Ocala National Forest
We drove to Ocala on Wednesday morning. I dropped Rick off at the cabin and I went in to the rehab center to see Dad for a couple of hours. On Thursday, I went in to see Dad in the morning. Then, Rick and I drove over to his mother’s in Ormond Beach to spend the afternoon with her and his brother, Edward. We ate an early supper with them and returned to the forest.
Palmetto, Florida – Riviera Dunes Marina
Friday, 10/9/15 – After seeing Dad for a short visit in the morning, we drove back to Palmetto. Later, Bill and Ruth picked us up and we went to St. Petersburg to help Christy Messer celebrate her birthday. We had a nice supper at Stillwater Tavern and then went to the St. Petersburg Yacht Club for after dinner drinks and dancing.
Cruise on Carnival Sunshine – October 10 – 18, 2015
On Saturday we drove to Port Canaveral to board the Carnival Sunshine. When we got into our room, Rick called room service to order a bottle of rum and a bottle of vodka. We will use the soft drinks in our mini-fridge as mixers thereby saving (we think) over ordering all of our drinks from the bars. The Sunshine was the Destiny before it was refurbished and renamed a few years ago. The Lido deck had two bars flanking the pool with two hot tubs on one end and food stations, including Guy’s Big Burgers, at the other end. There is a giant movie screen over the food stations allowing you to sit in the pool or hot tub to watch a movie every night. We went to the spa for a tour and raffle drawing. We went to the Sunset dining room for supper where we were assigned to Table number 106 which is a table for 10; but there were only 6 of us there this evening. June and Mike were rom Alabama, near Montgomery; and, Lisa and Robert were from Orlando. Both of the women were nurses, so they had a lot to talk about. Everyone was interested in our stories about the Bahamas. During the dinner conversation, we learned that we had all cruised a lot and that we were all celebrating anniversaries (which is probably why they seated us together.) We returned to the room in time to see FSU beat UM.
Sunday, 10/11 – This was a day at sea. We enjoyed coffee on the balcony before going down to the dining room for brunch. Then, we moved to the main showroom to hear a talk by the cruise director, Jaimee Dee, about shore excursions, followed by a talk by the “shopper” on board, Frank, about where to shop in the four ports of call for our cruise. After his talk, we went to his desk to receive some VIP cards which will give us a discount at various stores where we expressed an interest in shopping. We spent the afternoon in the room and on our balcony. We ordered sandwiches from room service mid-afternoon. We met the Captain and crew at 7:15 and had lobster and prime rib for the first “elegant” night dinner. We spent a little time in the casino after dinner.
Monday, 10/12 – This was our second day at sea. Rick ordered breakfast from room service. We went to a gemstone talk and then to brunch. After brunch, I went to the spa for a “bamboo” massage. After the massage, I rested in our room. We went to the show at 7:15 which spilled out into the atrium at 8:00. We went to supper for “late seating” at 8:15. Tonight there were eight of us at the dinner table, as we had added Ruth Ann and Dick. After supper we went to the Piano Bar.
Tuesday, 10/13 – After breakfast in the Sunrise Dining room, we went into Philipsburg, St. Maarten, the Dutch side of the island. We had been told that this was the best of our four ports in which to shop.
Our first stop was at Diamonds International. We couldn’t saw a sign to the VIP lounge so we went in there and got a couple of complimentary, very good, rum punches. We went to Ballerina Jewelers and Majesty Jewelers. Here, Rick bought a birthday gift for our son and a really nice Tanzanite ring for me for our anniversary. We crossed Front Street to go to the Del Sol store, where everything changes color when exposed to the sun. Rick bought a pair of polarized sunglasses with a lifetime guarantee and a smaller version for our youngest granddaughter. I bought a Minnie Mouse t-shirt for Emma and some color-changing nail polish for her sister, Vanessa. We also received a free tote-bag here which we immediately put to use. At Kay’s Fine Jewelry, we purchased a reversible omega. (My previous one, purchased in Philipsburg, was stolen in 2011.) A slide came with the omega and Rick bought me a pair of earrings to match. We returned to the ship, had lunch in the Italian restaurant, and then went to the Serenity area on deck 14 (adults only) to enjoy a dip in the hot tub along with the view.
We celebrated our 43rd wedding anniversary with dinner at the 555o Fahrenheit Steak House. I had a shrimp cocktail while Rick ate escargot followed by lobster bisque. We both skipped salad to make room for the 9 ounce filet minion (the smallest steak offered) along with some delicious wasabi mashed potatoes and creamed spinach. Rick ordered assorted cheeses for desert and I had a chocolate sampler which included four small selections of chocolate desert.
Then, the restaurant surprised us by presenting us with another desert (with a candle) of tiramisu. It was a very nice dinner.
Wednesday, 10/14 – The ship docked at 7 am in St. Kitts. Originally, the excursion we booked was to start with a 45-minute ferry ride from St. Kitts to Nevis (about 2 miles away.) But, we were notified the day before that there was some problem with that boat, so we would be taking a bus to another dock and then a short ten-minute boat ride to Nevis. Our bus driver, Winston, of Kantours, was very entertaining and told us a lot of facts about both St. Kitts and its sister island, Nevis. St. Kitts is 68 square miles. We headed south through beautiful country. Sometimes the Atlantic was on one side of the road with the Caribbean on the other. We learned that on both St. Kitts and Nevis, there are more monkeys than people. Once on Nevis, we left the dock in another van/taxi. There were only six of us in the van being driven by Al. Our first stop was at a church that was built hundreds of years ago so that the slaves would have a place to worship.
Next we stopped at the Nisbet Plantation Beach Club. Built in 1778, the Great House has been restored and is now used as a restaurant and bar for this beautiful beach resort. Nisbet was the maiden name of the wife of Admiral Nelson.
There are small yellow villas scattered along a wide lawn that stretches down to a picture-perfect beach lined with coconuts palms.
We arrived in the capital, Charlestown, where we stopped to see the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the U.S. Treasury (featured on our $10 bill).
Next, we spent a short time in the Nevis Bath Springs. These are hot mineral springs. They have built a covered tiled area where people take about 4 steps down into the spring water. The guide had us stand on the first step for a short while so that we could get accustomed to the heat on our feet and ankles. Then she dipped up the water into a gourd and poured it on our backs and heads! Then, she invited us to continue down the steps into the pool. Surprisingly, it felt really good and not as hot as we first thought. After that, we went to Pinney’s Beach where we ate lunch at the “Lime Bar.” We had a choice of BBQ chicken or broiled grouper along with Nevetian rice and salad with 2 complimentary rum punches (included in the cost of our excursion). After lunch, we walked down to the beach (on the Caribbean side) to enjoy the water and the lounge chairs under the umbrella for a couple of hours. We returned to the ship around 3:00 to find a complimentary plate of chocolate covered strawberries from the cruise director, Jaimee, for our anniversary.
My, Oh My! We participated in the “Chef’s Dinner” for supper tonight. We have done this on two other Carnival ships and always enjoyed it. We met at the lobby bar where we were greeted by a hostess for our evening. She asked is we wanted champagne. For those of you who know me, you know that “Yes!” was a no-brainer answer for me. At 6:15, our hostess gave each of the 16 guests a glass of champagne and asked us to follow her. We walked through the Sunset dining room into the “galley” on the 3rd floor. There, we were greeted by a sous chef (next level under the head chef). While he told us about the working of the galley, we sipped our champagne and enjoyed 3 appetizers: Mango Sphere on Rosemary Biscuit; Salmon Tartar Coronets; and Beef Carpaccio on air pillow with Chocolate Bacon and Apple Ribbons. Next, we went to the pastry prep area of the galley where we met the pastry chef. He showed us how they make their most popular desert, Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. Later we received the recipe. Ingredients for 4 servings: 6 oz. dark chocolate, 6 oz. butter, 4 eggs, 1.5 oz. sugar & 2 oz. flour. Those are all of the ingredients. I’ll leave the rest of the recipe to your imagination. The recipe that we received was autographed by the chef. We met the chef when we moved from the galley to the 4th floor into a private room in the Steak House. After each of us introduced ourselves, we had: Beef blanket with Spiced Grape Tea followed by a crab salad stack, Duck Textures and Two Tomato/Basil Bisque. We took a break at this point in the dinner so everyone could stand up and move around. After we resumed our seats, we were entertained by an on-board magician who usually works in the various dining rooms on the ship. We finished up with courses of Sea Bass, and Wagyu Beef and a then combination of Pastry Chef Selections including: Sea Salt Praline Chocolate, Raspberry Mojito, Key Lime Cake, Apricot Vanilla Gel, Citrus Cream and Mascarpone Cheese. At the end of the meal, we were presented with the menu wrapped in a brown ribbon, sealed with a star anise. We were also given a picture of the group that was taken when we first went into the dining area as well as the recipe for Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. Also, those who just didn’t have room for desert were offered a plate to take the deserts back to their room. This is not for everyone, but we felt it was work the $75/pp charge.
Thursday 10/15 – The ship arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico, before sunrise and was cleared by customs around 7:30. We walked the cobblestone streets 3 blocks to the left of the dock and 3 blocks uphill to find the corner of Calle Tetuan and Calle Tanca to find the shopping area. While shopping, we received free charms and free sangria and entered a raffle.
On our way back to the ship, we stopped for a mojito. While sitting at the bar, the bartender made up a pitcher of sangria and gave us a sample. So, we left there with a sangria “to go” which we finished before we got back on the ship. We rested in our room and out on our balcony in the afternoon and then got ready for the second “elegant night” on the cruise. We went to the show about ½ hour before its scheduled start and got a very good seat on the second row. The show was enjoyable and interactive with a Studio 54 theme. The featured selections for dinner included: escargot, chateaubriand and Baked Alaska. After dinner, we went to the casino for a while. I played roulette – starting with $100 and leaving with $140. I am very happy anytime I walk away from the casino with more money that I started with.
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Friday, 10/16 – Grand Turk, in the Turks and Caicos, has a shopping area at the foot of the pier.
There are a number of shops here, but only six hat Carnival recommends. There are over 100 Diamonds International shops. Some years ago, they started a promotion to encourage people to come into their store at every port. You present them with a card that you go on board the ship and they give you a free charm bracelet. Then you buy the first charm for the bracelet for $5. Thereafter, all of your charms are free. I have collected charms from so many places that I have joined together three bracelets to make a “DI” necklace. When we walked into the shop this morning, Sunny, the saleman’s eyes popped. He asked me to take off the necklace and we counted 17 charms. He could not believe that I didn’t have one from Grand Turk. Then he told me that the charms were across the way at the Tanzanite International store. (The two stores are associated.) When all was said and done, I had my free charm, some Christmas presents and an extremely nice Tanzanite bracelet. When we left the store we walked over to Margaritaville which has (reported) the largest pool in the Caribbean. But, with 2,500 people from the Carnival Sunshine and 3,500 from the Carnival Breeze (also in port today), we couldn’t find a place to sit down. So, we returned to the ship, had some lunch, went to the hot tub on the Serenity Deck and then returned to our room to read on our deck. We had received a card in our cabin acknowledging our anniversary and inviting us to come to one of two of the specialty eateries on the ship: Cucina del Capitano or Ji Ji Asian Kitchen for supper. By presenting the card, they would waive the normal $15/pp charge. We made reservations for tonight. As there were only two of us at the table, they served everything family style so that we could share everything. We had pot stickers and egg rolls; sweet and sour shrimp and Wagyu beef; along with both fried rice and steamed rice. Desert was a fried wonton and a caramelized crepe for each of us.
Saturday, 10/17 – Today we were at-sea. It was raining when we woke up, but the rain didn’t last long, although it remained overcast most of the day. Carnival’s Sunshine boats that it has more eating choices than any other ship in the line. We have enjoyed eating breakfast in the dining room almost every day. On sea days, the dining room stays open all morning for brunch. After eating, we went to the shops which were all having sales. Rick bought an Olympus camera to replace the one we bought any years ago in St. Martin. The new one can be used underwater as well. I spent a little time in the casino while Rick watched part of the FSU vs Louisville football game in the EA Sports Bar. (FSU won.) We skipped lunch, choosing to go to tea at 3:00 where we enjoyed a couple of cups of tea along with scones and clotted cream, cucumber sandwiches and other “goodies”. This was followed by a VIP cocktail party for passengers that have reached platinum or gold level due to the number of Carnival cruises they have taken.
Sunday, 10/18 – We got off the ship around 10:00 a.m. and drove to the Ocala National Forrest.
Ocala National Forrest – Sunday, October 18, 2015 – October 21, 2015
On Sunday, I dropped Rick off and went to the rehab center. When I arrived they told me that Dad was not there. He had been sent back to the hospital on Thursday, 10/15. He had a reaction to the strong antibiotic that he had been prescribed from his hospital stay; this also affected his kidneys to the point of possible renal failure. He needed a blood transfusion. I went to the hospital and found my brother, Rick, sitting with Dad. Rick left to go back home and I stayed with Dad a little longer.
Monday, 10/19/15. The kidney doctor came in and told me that Dad’s Creatin level had reduced from 3.1 when he came in to 1.4 today. The kidney doc would not need to see him anymore. The general practitioner said that Dad’s sodium level was a little high, but he expected it to come down enough for Dad to be released tomorrow. The infectious disease doc said that cultures showed the infection in his blood (MRSA) had cleared and he no longer needed IV antibiotic.
Tuesday, 10/20/15. The general practitioner said Dad’s sodium level was still a little high, but he would release him today since he was going to a rehab center where they could monitor his sodium level. Physical therapist could not get Dad out of bed. She said that her report would say that he definitely needed physical therapy in a rehab center. Case Worker called and said that she was working on getting him transferred back to the Ocala Health Rehabilitation Center. At 6:00 p.m. she called back saying Ocala Health Rehab wanted him back but didn’t have a bed for him. She asked me for an alternative. At 8:00 no transfer today.
Wednesday, 10/21/15. This morning, the case worker from Ocala Health Rehab stopped by Dad’s hospital room. She said that they were waiting for approval from his supplemental insurance. At 4:30 she called again to say that she had received the approval from the insurance company and Dad would definitely be transported today. She told me to go home and have supper with my husband and come to see Dad in Room 23 in the morning. That is exactly what I did.
Palmetto- 10/22/15 through 10/27/15
Thursday, 10/22/15 – I went in to the rehab center to see Dad. He seemed lucid although he didn’t know how he got there. I met the nurse’s aide, physical therapists and a speech therapist named Carole. She said that she had been working with him before he had to go back to the hospital and had been very encouraged by his progress. It is her hope that the continuous feeding can be interrupted for a few hours every day and that he might be able to start drinking a little bit of water as long as he has a very clean mouth. She said that it is possible that he can regain the strength in his throat and have the feeding tube removed and begin to eat normally again. Her estimate of the soonest this might come about was another month from now. I left there and drove back to the cabin to pick up Rick. We drove back to the boat in Palmetto and I went to bed with a head cold. I guess I got while sitting with Dad in the hospital.
Friday, October 23, 2015 – We left the boat about 8 am driving to the Moffitt Cancer center. Rick had his blood drawn and then we met with Dr. Tan. Dr. Tan said that he thought that this chemo should be Rick’s last, but to be on the safe side, he wants him to return in 3 weeks for another blood draw and a CT scan. Once the doctor looks at the CT, then he will decide if Rick would benefit from more chemotherapy. If not, he would probably want to see him again in two months for another CT scan. Before we left, they gave Rick appointments for November 13th starting at 7:45 a.m.
Saturday, October 24, 2015 – We took the boat to the wall at the Bradenton Yacht Club to attend a wine tasting tonight. We had a lovely evening, sitting with Past Commodore Joe McClash and his wife, Casey, Past Commodore Evan Guido and his wife, Brittany; and Commodore Mark Berté with his wife Denise.
Sunday, October 25, 2015 – We walked over to Steve and Joy’s house from the yacht club for breakfast with them and the McClash’s. Breakfast turned into brunch. We had a great time visiting with our friends and talking about all the places we have been. We walked back to the boat about 3:30 and I immediately went to bed.
Monday, October 26, 2015 – We took the boat back to the marina in the morning and I spent most of the day in bed again. Rick napped most of the afternoon and then went to bed early.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015 – We returned our suitcases and formal wear to JP’s house and visited with him and Emma for a couple of hours. Then we returned to the boat and rested in the afternoon.
Ocala National Forest – October 27 – October 10, 2015
Wednesday, October 27, 2015 – We drove back to the Ocala on Wednesday morning. Rick stayed at the cabin in the afternoon while I went to visit Dad in the rehab center. While I was there, the speech therapist came in and said that she noticed he had some frustration with physical therapy. She said that she spoke to the therapist on his behalf explaining that she needed to look at him and speak clearly when giving him instructions. She hoped that would help. She also noted that he seemed very sad all the time.
Thursday morning was complete different from Wednesday afternoon. When I arrived, they were just about to start Dad’s therapy. He walked, with a walker, quite a distance from his room to the therapy room and then rode an exercise bike for a continuous 15 minutes. This is the first time I have seen him walk for about six weeks. Then the speech therapist came in and used electrical stimulation on his throat. This helped him to swallow successfully and he was so happy to be able to drink several sips of water. Better yet, the therapist thought that he did so well that with additional stimulation, he might actually be able to eat some pudding by the end of next week. I left Dad around noon and then, Rick and I drove over to Ormond Beach to spend the afternoon visiting with Rick’s mother and brother.
On Friday morning my brother called while I was getting dressed. He said that the rehab center had called him very early to say that Dad had tried several times to get out of bed and the last time, they found him on the floor and he had a skin tear. When I arrived at the center,
Dad had completed his physical therapy and was sitting in a wheel chair waiting to go to see a cardiologist. We talked about his fall and he said that he wanders at night and is not sure where he is. The doctor came in and asked Dad if he would like them to give him Xanax to help him sleep and he agreed. The rehab center had made arrangements for Marion Transport to pick him up and take him to the doctor and I was able to ride on the bus with him. We left the center about an hour before his scheduled appointment. Much to my surprise, they called him in to the exam room before I was able to finish his paperwork. We had a good visit with the doctor who had performed an unsuccessful test on him while he was in the hospital. This doctor’s area of concern was possible infection in Dad’s heart valves. He said everything looked good and he would see him once more in three months. We were done with the doctor before his scheduled appointment time. How often does that happen in a doctor’s office?
Rick dropped me off at the rehab center on Saturday morning while he ran some errands. Dad was in physical therapy, so I sat with him there while he finished up some leg exercises. He was responsive with the therapist, but seemed a little “foggy” to me. They weighed him and told us that his current weight is 142 pounds. He returned to his room and while sitting in the chair talking to me, he fell asleep. I checked with the nurse who said that the doctor had ordered Xanax three times a day, unless he was sleepy. I asked the nurse to hold the afternoon dose and then when I talked to my brother, he said that he would monitor Dad’s reactions closely for the next few days while we were in Palmetto.
Palmetto, October 31, 2015
After a quick visit with Dad Saturday morning, we drove to Palmetto arriving at the boat in time to watch the second half of the FSU vs Syracuse football game. (FSU won). JP said that they had decided not to give out candy, so they did not need for us to come to the house. We met Bill and Ruth for supper at the outside bar of the River Reef and Grille on the Manatee River for supper.
Our journey has been inspired by Joy and Steve Fredrick. You can see more of their story at