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News: Updated 5/14/2008Be sure to browse all the way down to my pictures from the Renaissance Festival on 3/9/2008. I had entered some photos in the Renaissance Festival photo contest and wanted judging to be complete before adding them to my website. The results are in: I won three of the five winning photos this year! My 2008 photos are The Harpist, Moonie, and The Falconer.
Also, don't miss my photos from Key West, also taken back in March.
Finally, I've added photos from Brooke and Heath's wedding. There are two albums: one for the best and one for the rest. Be sure to check both out.
Happy Browsing!!!
Lazy Webmaster Announcement:
1) A picture is worth 1000 words.
2) I really don't have the time to keep this site up to date.
Given that, I'm just posting a list of links to photos that I've put up on the web for your enjoyment. You get the value of hundreds of thousands of words and I just have to add a link from time to time, so we both win!
Check back often, there will be new and updated photos added here all the time.
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An assortment of some of my favorite photographs
I, your lazy webmaster, created this album just for you, my lazy visitor. In this album you'll find a constantly updated small assortment of some of my favorite pictures. Unlike all of the following albums which are trip or event specific, there's no particular rhyme nor reason to this collection. It's just a one-stop sampler pack for those who do not have the time or inclination to explore the more detailed collections.
I hope you enjoy the photos.
by Jeff, your Webmaster/Photographer/Narrator
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Mazel Tov Claudia and Eli
What a wedding!!! Claudia and Eli, you make an amazing couple. Your wedding was a blast - what a perfect beginning of a life that is sure to be full of fun and love. It was great seeing old friends and making new ones; thanks for deciding to get married so that we could all get together and party! :)
I've uploaded a quick batch of photos, I hope you and all of our friends enjoy them. Check back in a month or so and I hope to have the rest uploaded - a lack of both time and space are preventing me from loading the rest. Take this batch as a "nosh" and come back for the rest later!
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Happy 50th Anniversary
We were happy to join Phyllis and Sidney in their celebration of 50 years of marriage. So few couples ever reach this milestone; it is a pleasure to see a couple still happily in love and devoted to each other after half of a century.
Here's to the next 50 years!!!
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Brooke and Heath's wedding
Our family is going wedding crazy this year! Not to be outdone by his sister who got married in February, our nephew Heath got hitched too. I had the honor of being one of Heath's groomsmen so this was a really special experience for me. Still, I managed to repeat my previous role as "Uncle Camera" (except during the actual ceremony), so I hope you enjoy these photos. I picked some of the better ones for this album; friends, family, and other crazies may be interested in additional photos that can be found here.
Heath, Brooke: Thanks for making me a part of your wedding and a part of your life. Sharon and I wish you a lifetime of love, health, and happiness!
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Passover 2008 in Sunny South Florida
For the first time ever, our family is all together here in South Florida to celebrate the holiday of Passover. There are a few of us missing, and we miss them very much, but I know they would be overjoyed to see all of us here together. Somehow, I know they're with us this year and every year.
More photos will be posted soon; check here again for the links.
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Back on the Freedom again, Western Caribbean
Just 10 long weeks after my January cruise on the Carnvial Freedom, I'm back on board for a jaunt around the Western Caribbean. Cruising with my friends Steve and Jayne, I had planned a bunch of SCUBA dives but the weather didn't cooperate. Other than that, the cruise was fun, the food was superb, and I'm already working on planning the next Carnival cruise!
Our first port was in Cozumel, but the harbor was closed and all water activities had to be cancelled due to very rough seas. After finding out that my dive was cancelled, I quickly formulated a backup plan and we visited Tulum like a local. No tours, no groups, just hop off the ship, walk to the ferry, and board a bus heading down the right road. We got to Tulum easily (and for only $3), and the return trip was the same.
On Grand Cayman we still had very rough seas. To Carnival's credit, they managed to change the tender location at the last minute so that we wouldn't have to miss the port. Most water activities were cancelled, but the advanced dive group was allowed to dive the South Wall. The first dive had the wall starting at about 85 feet so bottom time and scenery was limited - not much to photograph. Oh well, there'll be another dive there soon. The second dive was at a series of coral arches and while the sea life wasn't abundant, the natural coral formations were very interesting and provided for a good dive.
In our rainy, muddy day in Jamaica I decided to try zip lining, as if diving in rough seas wasn't enough adventure. After the fear of the first traversal, I enjoyed the second one only to be greeted by a vertical free-fall for the third. It's a good thing that it's virtually impossible to chicken out, because after that it was really fun. I'd do it again, but this time I'd bring a fanny pack and a small camera. Hanging 80 feet up in the air by a rope is not the right place for anything that isn't attached to your body, so I'm sorry for the iPhone photos - it's all I had with me.
Photo credit: Steve took most of the photos of me with his new camera - thanks! This is the first cruise that my wife didn't complain about there not being any pictures of me! |
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Weekend in Key West
Well, it was crisis time. It had been almost a month since my last cruise, and I still had almost a month to go until the next one. The quick trip up to Cape Canaveral for the space shuttle just whetted my appetite for a road trip. To cure a bit of cabin fever, we decided to take a quick weekend jaunt to Key West. This southernmost island of the America has always been a great spot for fun and photos, with beautiful sunsets, idyllic beaches, colorful people, and great nightlife. A few fantastic meals and a memory card full of photos provided the cure for my restlessness!
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Night launch of the space shuttle Endeavor
These are photos from my first space shuttle launch. Even though I'm a space enthusiast and I've lived in Florida most of my life, I had never taken the time to drive up for a launch. It was a great experience, not at all what I expected. Instead of the anticipated roar and rumble, the actual event was one of almost subdued grace, representative of man's quest for the stars. The crowd wasn't like one at a Disney park or sporting event; they were quiet, courteous, and overtly respectful of each other and the event they were about to witness. It truly was a magical experience that I'm thankful to have had the chance to cherish in my lifetime.
That said, please realize that these photos were taken from about ten miles away from the launch site using just a hand-held 450mm equivalent lens. The Shuttle went out of view after 24 seconds due to the low, heavy cloud cover that was really like a blanket of fog. The last photo in the sequence shows the rocket's glow just as the Shuttle was engulfed by the clouds. After that, I have a bunch of photos of totally black sky - the clouds were so thick that not even a hint of the Shuttle's blast can be seen.
NASA's official photos might be better (ok, they are), but they have a few advantages (equipment, experience, location, location, location...). To me, these photos are perfect, because they're mine!
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Another great Renaissance Festival
A favorite activity of ours for the past decade or so has been to spend a weekend at the Renaissance Festival. I love the festival for its colorful characters, humorous entertainment, and interesting animal acts. This year, I went with a bit of a mission - I wanted to take some photos that I could enter into their photo contest and hopefully win another prize like I did back in 2002. I'm happy to say that the judges liked some of my photos and I managed to win three of the top five spots for this year's festival! Photos aside, this year was one of the best years in recent memory, especially the evening finale that ran late to take advantage of the first day of daylight savings time.
Note that this album includes some of my favorite photos from prior years as well as the ones I took for 2008.
My 2008 winning photos: The Harpist, Moonie, and The Falconer
My 2002 winning photo: The Minstrel
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Happy Birthday Jeff !!!
Getting older can be fun! Well, at least for a day. My wife Sharon and our friend Steve decided to throw me a birthday party and they did one heck of a job planning a good one. Thanks everyone for coming to the celebration and helping me enjoy my journey over that darn hill.
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A luxurious return to Walt Disney World
After a year's hiatus, we returned to MickeyLand in style. As part of my month-long birthday celebration (at least that's what it seems like - thanks guys), we stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge. While the rooms are basic Disney, the resort's ambience is great. We stayed in a Savannah View room, so we were able to take a lot of photos right from the balcony. Our area of the resort seemed to feature mostly Ankole-Watusi Cattle so I'm a bit overdosed on future steak (OK, that was cruel). We could also spot Grant’s zebras, giraffes, and various other critters as they walked around. Our room was right next to the zebra pen, so it was interesting watching how the Disney animal handlers released the animals one by one over a period of time so that there would always be something walking around in the view of the guests. I do wish they had some of the "celebrity" animals around the lodge, but I suppose they really don't want to take the chance of a lion or tiger wandering into the lobby.
Disney food, as always, was a highlight. The California Grill continues to be my favorite "special" spot, while Boma at the AK Lodge is still my favorite restaurant for unusual food. I was treated to dinner and got to try on some wine (inside joke) at Emeril's; while it was good, we all felt that the Disney food and ambience was better. Thanks for showing my waistline a good time, guys!
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| Hannah and Paul's wedding
We had the pleasure of being part of the wedding of our niece, Hannah, and our new nephew Paul.
Congratulations!!! We hope your wedding day was just the first day of many happy and healthy years together! |
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Cruising on the Carnival Freedom, Eastern Caribbean
I started 2008 right with a January cruise on the Carnival Freedom. I picked this ship mainly because of the piano player, Ron Pass. Back in 2006 I met Ron on the Carnival Valor and literally had the time of my life due mainly to a great group of friends that I met in Ron's piano bar on that ship. Ron and the Freedom lived up to the challenge. While it is unlikely that we'll ever repeat the 2006 Valor experience, this cruise was one of the best I've been on. Thanks Ron - see you again soon! |
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Fishing with my cousin Sandy
Sandy's an avid fisherman. I love boating and SCUBA diving, but fishing, well, I've never been able to convince the fish to let me catch them. Sandy convinced me to go out and try and what would you guess - we did pretty good. She caught "a big one", I caught a few little ones, but we had a really fun day and left plenty of fish in the sea for the next guy. Sandy, it was great having you here. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself as much as we enjoyed being with you!
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| The Grand Canyon
As part of my trip to Las Vegas for CES 2008 (the Consumer Electronics Show), I took a day trip to visit the Grand Canyon. I went to the South Rim by bus after crossing over the Hoover Dam. (A few years ago I went to the West Rim of the canyon by plane, but this trip was actually better, even though it was a really long drive). I was treated to a few inches of fallen snow and a truly cold, blustery wind on a beautiful, sunny, "picture-perfect" day. So picture-perfect in fact that I chose to separate these photos out from the rest of the CES photos for your viewing pleasure. You're welcome. |
| CES 2008 (Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas, NV)
The Consumer Electronics Show is the premier exhibition in the United States showcasing new technology. Once again, I had the opportunity to attend this show and see what's in store for us in the near future. Unlike previous years, there weren't any blockbusters this year. Instead, most of the items showcased were improvements on current technology and trends. I did enjoy Panasonic's 150 inch 4x HDTV (I want one) and their future-looking wall-sized interactive display. Regardless, the tricked-out cars are always fun, but now I want a Lamborghini! Blue Man Group was a great show, but the showstopper was a show called "Ice". It's a Russian troupe of acrobats and dancers who perform their feats of graceful balance entirely on ice. They are amazingly skilled and reasonably well choreographed. The fact that they happen to be the most beautiful performers I've ever seen didn't hurt either! This will be THE SHOW to see in a couple of years. Blue Men, watch out! |
| New Year's Eve 2007
It's interesting how cruises can affect your life. Instead of going to Disney World this year we spent New Year's Eve with friends we've made on our past few cruises. Thanks for having us over to welcome in the new year!
Happy 2008 everyone!!! |
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A collection of photos from some holiday parties
We had a great time - thanks for inviting us to your party. If there are any photos that you think I took that you don't see, email me and I'll post or send you the extra stuff.
As you read this, it's way after the holidays, but we still want to wish you and yours the very best of health, wealth, and happiness in the New Year. I'd have said 2008, but at the rate that I actually keep this site up to date, the preceding statement could very well be there for 2009, 2010, ...
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| Emerald Princess, Southern Caribbean
Cruises beget cruises...
We met our friends Rona and Stuart on the Holland America Volendam in November of 2006 (seems ages ago, doesn't it?). We met our friends Tai and Michelle way back in November of 2005 on the Celebrity Century. This year, we decided to all cruise together on the Emerald Princess on a ten day tour of Aruba, Bonaire, Dominica, Grenada, St. Thomas, and Half Moon Cay (HAL's private island). Joining us were some other good friends that we have not had the pleasure of previously cruising with - Ellen and Murray and Steve as well as Michelle's parents. We all had a great time (for the most part) and only one of us left an appendix in St. Thomas (nope, still have mine). There were some great times and a few rough times, building friendships for a lifetime. As for the Emerald Princess, we have mixed reviews - some of our friends thought it was great, while we thought Princess did everything they could to make us look forward to cruising on Carnival. Nothing can beat cruising with a large group of good friends, though - thanks everyone for making this a fun cruise.
I have additional photos available from this cruise; I tried to move shots only some people would be interested in to a separate album. Click here for the additional photos. |
| San Francisco, Wine Country, Yosemite National Park, and Hearst Castle
Sharon and I decided (actually, Sharon decided) that a trip to San Francisco would be a nice break from all of the cruising. She always wanted to go there, so off we went! I'm happy to say that she was right; it turned out to be one of our favorite trips. We stayed at Fisherman's Wharf for a few days, then we went to Muir Woods on our way to stay in Napa Valley. The Hotel La Rose in Santa Rosa is one of the quaintest places we've ever been to.
After that, we drove to Yosemite National Park for what turned out to be the highlight of our trip. While the accomodations at Yosemite Lodge were not up to La Rose's standards, the natural beauty and perfect weather made up for it!
From there we traveled on to Hearst Castle and another great hotel in San Simeon, followed by an amazing, breathtakingly beautiful, and unbelieveably slow drive up the Pacific Coast Highway. We spent our final day trying to deplete the west coast of their Dungeness Crab supply at Fisherman's Wharf. |
| Carnival Triumph to Puerto Rico and Grand Turk
This was the first of my "reunion" cruises, traveling with people who I've met on prior cruises. After the great time we had on the Carnival Valor, it was only natural that we would cruise together again. Like the Valor, incredible friends were made while old friends were reunited. The ship was good but something was missing after getting used to the Valor. The party, however, lived up the the challenge and we had an absolutely fantastic cruise! I hadn't been to San Juan since cruising on the Majesty of the Seas in 1996, so I really enjoyed photographing the forts. Next, a trip to Grand Turk gave me the opportunity to visit the site of John Glenn's splashdown after orbiting the Earth. I'm a big John Glenn fan, so this was a real treat for me. All that aside, the piano bar crowd was the highlight of the cruise and it was a great, great party. |
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Quiet Cruising with great new friends on Holland America's Volendam
Looking to repeat the itinerary of the Century as much as possible, we picked the Volendam as a southern Caribbean bound upper-end cruise. I don't complain about many cruise experiences, but the Volendam did not come close to living up to expectations. While the ship was classically elegant and the food was supurb, the lack of activities, poor service, and general lack of "fun" overshadowed everything that was positive. If we had not made some great new Cruise Critic friends (Rona and Stuart) on the first night out, we would have had a very dull cruise. The ship was quiet by 11pm and closed by midnight every day. The "Caribbean Deck Party" had food from 5-7pm, music provided by a string quartet until about 9pm, and then lights out. At least they did make homage to the seagoing tradition of a midnight buffet, but it was on only one night and it was over before 11:30 pm. It must be like the "it's 5:00 somewhere, happy hour starts now" slogan in reverse: "It must be midnight somewhere, I'm tired, let's go to bed". Other advantages of this cruise: the gym has plenty of equipment (most of the ship never gets to the gym), seats are always available at the late show, and even the bad shows can be fun (thanks Rona). Enough said - if you're looking to relax (snooze, become comatose), go HAL, otherwise, stay away. HAL, we'll give you another try in 40 years!
By the way, if you go to Aruba on a Sunday most of the stores are either closed or only open in the morning. Make the most of your day by booking a snorkeling sail on the Jolly Pirates. It is our best memory of this cruise (OK, so there wasn't much competition, but they really are fun - check out the photos).
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| The Most Fun Cruise Ever: Carnival Valor, Eastern Caribbean
I had the time of my life on the Carnival Valor. It was one of the most "fun" cruises I've ever been on, thanks mostly to the best piano player I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.
Ron Pass turned a bunch of strangers into a group of friends while entertaining us with his talent. I can't really explain it, you'll just have to check out the photos and videos from this amazing cruise.
Atlantis is a resort that is truly incredible. Check out "the Dig" when you go - it's a very interesting aquarium and exhibit. I'm not sure I'd stay there at the prices they charge, but it was fun to visit for the day. In St. Marteen the America's Cup racing is one of the most exciting shore excursions that the Caribbean has to offer. I got to man the main sheet and had a blast steering our ship to near-victory (that's what I call 2nd place in a two-ship race). All I can say is you know you've had fun when you get to watch the sunrise as your ship enters your home port and you start wondering "is it daytime already?".
Click here for video from the Carnival Valor |
| Celbrity Century, Exotic Southern Caribbean
I sailed on the Celebrity Century in November 2005. This was a bittersweet cruise - my wife missed the cruise due to her mother's illness so I was traveling solo for the first time. Even with that, I had a great time. The ports were excellent; to this day Curacao is my favorite port, and Aruba has my favorite wreck dive/snorkel in the Caribbean (the Antilla - go with the Jolly Pirates for the best time). Jamaica was great: floating down a river in an inner tube was simultaneously exhilarating and relaxing, while climbing (crawling?) up Dunn's River Falls was challenging, scary, and hilarious all at the same time. Perhaps due in part to the circumstances of this cruise, I made some lifelong cruise friends that I remain in touch with to this day. We even had the opportunity to arrange another cruise together on the Emerald Princess in December 2007. Another thing that was great on this cruise was that it was a Cruise Critic cruise. It was great meeting 50+ people on the first day of the cruise and getting to know some of them well. Even though I was cruising solo for the first time, I never felt alone because of the friendly folks from Cruise Critic. |
| Grand Princess - the 2nd time
Back in 2003 we were on the Grand Princess. We went to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Costa Maya, and, of course, Princess Cay. It's our second repeat of this cruise and while it was still very good, we did notice a decrease in service since Carnival bought Princess. The Carnival Legend actually exceeded the Grand Princess in a number of areas. It's amazing how things change over time.
We had so much fun the first time at Stingray City that we had to do it again. While it didn't have the "wow factor" of a first-time experience, it was still great the second time around. On this trip we also went to the Turtle Farm in Grand Cayman. As you can see from the pictures, we had a blast there. Kinda makes you feel guilty about turtle soup. We also went to hell and back. Hell's overrated. |
| Carnival Legend Panama Canal
Every dedicated cruiser needs to make at least one passage though the Panama Canal, so off we went on the brand-new Carnival Legend with some friends. We didn't have the highest expectations for this ship based on Carnival's reputation and past experiences on the "shuns" (Celebration, Fascination, etc). Talk about exceeding expectations! The food and service were outstanding, the ship was great once you got used to the gaudy decor and all of those greek urns everywhere (the joke was that's where Carnival kept the remains of cremated past guests). The Panama Canal is something you have to do once (just once); it's hard to compare it to Alaska or even some of the prettier spots in the Caribbean, but as an engineering wonder of the world it's truly amazing. Costa Rica was very picturesque at times and very sombering at others - it's sad to see poverty to the extent it exists around the port city of Purto Limon. Belize was nice but not amazing; I'd like to return on a land trip to really explore this area someday in the future. |
| Grand Princess, the first time
This was our first cruise on the Grand Princess. It was appropriately named and was quite grand for it's day. After all of our trips to the Caribbean, this was our first swim at Stingray City. I'm a certified diver, so it always seemed hokey to me. Well, it isn't, and it's a blast! SCUBA equipment would only detract from the experience. Sharon loves snorkeling (she's not certified to dive) and she had a fantastic time. If you've never tried it, try it. Just be prepared for an up-close hug from something that looks too alien to be from this planet. Cozumel was (and still is) the best diving destination around (I'm saying this after a visit to Bonaire). We rented a jeep and drove around the far side of the island. The trip is well worth it. Not much civilization but the coastline is amazing. Costa Maya is (was) a good excuse to stay on ship. 'Nuff said.
Notice the deck party and the buffets on this ship. Those were the days. |
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16 days in Alaska on a Princess CruiseTour
Our best cruise to date was a sea and land tour of Alaska from August 26th through September 11th, 2001 on the Sea Princess. I managed to find the time way back then to really document this trip; in fact, it's the main focus of the web site you're visiting right now. See the
Alaska Cruise page for details and lots of photographs.
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Little pieces of our history:
Prior to the Alaska cruise, we'd been on lots of Caribbean cruises. We hardly remember them all. One day Sharon will find pictures because those were the days before digital (hope you're reading this Bear). Anyway, the most memorable cruise was on the NCL Norway, which was a truly grand old ship, something out of another generation. Built for true transatlantic voyages, she was sleek and designed for the cold north Atlantic, so she had a glass-enclosed, teak floored promenade deck that ran the length of the ship. Every night back then featured a fabulous midnight buffet, the kind of eating extravaganza that would make my arteries go chill with fright these days. Anyway, one night they pulled out all of the stops. The buffet was set up from stem to stern along both sides of the ship. That amounted to approximately two thousand feet of edible creations, all of which were more like works of art than food. I'm glad I'm old enough to remember it, and I hope I find the pictures someday, because we'll never see anything like that again.
Of course, there had to be a beginning. Ours was on the NCL Sunward II for a three night cruise back in 1986 or so. Our fondest memory is of the waiter, patiently waiting for my wife to make a decision about her main course, kindly suggesting (out of exasperation) "Why don't I bring you one of each?". To this day, that statement sets the tone for each floating buffet cruise we go on!
We've been really bad at writing holiday letters for the past few years. I've renamed our 2001 Holiday Letter to our new Generic Holiday Letter for your continued enjoyment. No, I haven't changed it. Just consider it "new and improved"!
Click here for our 2001 Generic Holiday Letter!
Sorry-no 2002 (or 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, or 2007) letter; we were (and will probably continue to be) lazy.
Let us know you've been here by emailing us at
[email protected].
It's been over a decade and we still hold a grudge. See my
top five reasons for never building a house!
This page was last updated sometime on after 5/14/08.
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