Caribbean Cruise Coming Up!

Here we are looking quite happy with ourselves as we set off to drive to Fort Lauderdale, about 3000 km away. Why you ask? Because we're going on our first cruise since Covid and Jim can't fly anymore. Wish us luck!

Our plan for Day 1 was to drive from Fredericton to Sturbridge, Massachusetts. 774 km...

It was March 12 and, after a very mild winter with little snow, we did have some as we started off.

But it quickly turned to a lovely day with no snow to be found.

Our view from the hotel window...nothing to see here, folks.

Day 2...Sturbridge to Allentown, Pennsylvania was about 400 km. Why did we go so far the first day!?

Yay Connecticut!

Coming into New York...

And feeling slightly boxed in...

Lower deck on the George Washington Bridge linking New Jersey and Manhattan...

And for the life of me, I can't remember where this is, but I liked it. It was probably near a Dunkin' Donuts, which became a favourite stop for coffee and a ham and cheese croissant.

Pennsylvania!

This neat old car was in the hotel parking lot...

It was an uneventful stay and we were off the next day to Ashland, Virginia about 465 km. I can see why we chose lower mileage days. Traffic!

Good morning, Baltimore!

Maryland up next...

I liked this swanky rest stop...

Baltimore Harbor Tunnel...

Very clean...

Lots of lanes of traffic, but it wasn't too crowded.

Jim watching Damian's high school hockey game. Go Thunder!

Day 4 was Ashland to Yemassee, South Carolina. We really wanted to go to Savannah, but close to St. Patrick's Day, the hotel prices were astronomical. Savannah has one of the largest St. Patrick's Day parades in America, right behind New York and Chicago. We had visited Yemassee on one of our winter trips to Savannah, so it seemed familiar.

Early start as we had a big day...700 km.

I apparently just liked this...

And the pattern in the sky...there was a lot of monotony.

The tree balls (as I called them) are actually mistletoe, which grows on deciduous trees, particularly oak.

Do we look lonely? There weren't even any DoorDash restaurants around. I usually do better research than this, but it fit the bill of being close to the highway. Magically, overnight the place filled up and we had lots of friends in the morning.

Day 5...Yemassee to Fort Lauderdale about 800 km. Sheesh...won't be sorry to arrive!

Savannah! We spent 3 winters there and were always excited to see the first sign.

Welcome to Georgia!

And then Florida! Getting there...

You see Spanish moss on many of the trees. Fun because it is neither Spanish nor moss!

16 km to go to our hotel for the night!!

All right, clouds. We are visiting sunny Florida, right?!

That's more like it. We stayed about 25 km from the cruise port.

And we have arrived...3186 km! We both said we wouldn't do that trip again; however, we do have to get home!

Tomorrow it's time to board the Enchanted Princess for a 10 day Caribbean cruise!