Author: Susie

In the old days we called it a cabin. We are forward and have a nice balcony with 2 chairs and a table. Room #8034 if anyone feels like playing our lucky numbers. Dave took us in his truck to the ship as I sat in the back seat giggling over 2 retired FHP partners who rode together for 24 years trying to figure out the exit to the port tunnel. Shades of Laurel and Hardy! When we got onboard (stood in no line … The benefit of being frequent cruisers … Diamond status) I went immediately to book 2 excursions, and I discovered if I booked 5 excursions, we get 15% off! We’ll have to get the 15 % off! We haven’t been to any of the ports between Colon Panama and San Diego so I booked some overviews, Scenic cruises and a train ride! Now we are unpacking .. George Carlin would be proud of us… We move most of our stuff into suitcases and into a tiny stateroom. It’s an engineering fete. I’m hoping to win a massage at the spa after the life boat drill. If anyone wishes to speak to me, I’ll be on the computer package and checking emails and blogging! God bless you all dear friends! Leaving Miami in a few hours!

Chuck and I are about to go on another adventure to places we’ve never been!!! We are boarding the RCCL Jewel in Miami tomorrow, February 25, and I would like to blog about that and give our impressions of the Panama Canal crossing (what we learn about the building of the Panama Canal, and what it’s like to go through it!!!). Then, we will cruise up to San Diego via Cabo San Lucas. In San Diego we will rent a Grand Cherokee Jeep and head out "North East". Our first stop is Kingman Arizona where a friend we met in the pool on our last cruise is hosting the "Chillin on Beale" antique car and art show at Kingman Arizona… after that we will drive over and jump into the Grand Canyon. We hope to take a helicopter tour of the Canyon!!! After that we will travel north to see Bryce and Zion national parks and then, Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore… Hope by the time we get to Yellowstone it is spring…. Otherwise the bag of cold weather gear we have packed will come into good use. Read along with us as we tour doing things we have never done before!!! I’ll try to blog daily! God bless you!!!!

Oh boy! Chuck’s sister Thelma braved I95 into Brooklyn and picked us up yesterday. TRAFFIC assailed us as we drove back to Thelma’s in Waterford, Ct. We met cousins Roberta, Kenneth and Barbara at a restaurant and had several hours of family fun over lobstah and chowdah!!!! and then we spent a quiet evening drinking champagne with Thelma. Up this morning and plugged in the GPS. She said we would arrive in Miami at 515am. We didn’t plan to drive all night just until 330pm when ‘Canes play Seminoles on ESPN. WOW the traffic. We came to stops on expressways in New York, New Jersey and around Washington DC. Finally found a lovely Best Western in Woodbridge, Va. and are in a sweet smelling hotel room watching Miami play football in Tallahassee. My dears. It is good to be home. We have a lot to do in Miami…. I have 112 emails to read and some are regarding insurance and ordering water and electric as our renter moved out of 2061 Coral Way… We will now fix up the house (It needs a lot both inside and out) and try to get a renter or sell it. What a mess the Keys are. God bless us!!!!

Greetings dear readers! I have been dark for a few days as I bought internet on the ship but it did not work well for me…. I did not log off properly and it ate up all my minutes!!!! Anyhow, we have been so busy there has not been time to write!!! Highlights were meeting a Catholic group that celebrates daily Mass and took me and Chuck on a tour to Saint Ann du Beaupre in Quebec where we celebrated Mass and a healing service. I have been asking for health for me as I have had a cough since about June that has only gotten progressively worse,…. I am thinking my bronchials are very angry. Will contact doctor for a visit as soon as we get home Oct 10ish. We walked the streets of Quebec for two days and really enjoyed the beautiful city!!!! Yesterday was an antique car festival both on the lower level and up higher!!!! The streets of Quebec climb UP and UP to what I call a boardwalk and they call the Terrasse! Lovely views of the St Laurence Seaway. As the days have pâssed we have become more and more aware of the damage to our three houses!!!! The renter at the big house 2061 Coral Way moved out and so people we have hired have access to fix the ceiling in the living room that collapsed from wind blown rain. We do not know the extent of roof damage but will be there soon enough to hire a roofer to give us an estimate…. We seem to have power in both houses and the renters are moved into the smaller house where they needed a new water heater as the old one flooded! The porch walls are soggy and collapsing and we have friend Perry from Miami looking at that. As for Miami, there was a roof leak that people staying there discovered and they were able to collect the water in a bucket, put a temporary fix on and our roofer friend Karen Rodman sent a roofer out for the repair! All our dealings have been via text and phone when in port! We arrive New York Oct 6 and will be on I95 headed south on Oct 7. God bless our travels and God bless you!

On Sept 22 We left New London Ct, from Thelmas house to the Brooklyn port to board the QM2. All bags were delivered and all put away by 6pm dinner. We have lovely table mates, robes and slippers in our tiny cabin, music in many corners of the ship, good shows, and generally all is good except for the deep longing in my heart to get home and help my friends. We did not get into the first cruise port, Newport, due to winds from Hurricane Jose, but the ride has been very smooth. As alternative to port day in Newport we got 2 lectures on Buddy Holly (wonderful… Left me singing"Peggy Sue" "Everyday" etc.) And a talk on the Vikings… Very historic. Today is Sunday and I am celebrating meeting Connie and Joe from near Lady Lakes and Murphy’s North Carolina. They are with a group with 2 priests and they invited me to daily Mass and talks and to go with them to St Ann Basilica in Quebec! Chuck too. God is good. I’m typing this with beer and clam chowder in Quincy Market! We have a man on site on Big Pine Key who has dried in and covered holes in the 2061 roof…. Miami roof had a threatening leak, but friends saved the day…. Hoping Trudy’s roof (on our small keys house) is OK. Look up. Thank God. God bless you!

With Puerto Rico getting blasted, I feel Narcissistic worrying about my little troubles. Islands are so vulnerable because if hit full on, devastation can be total. Our renters have been down to Big Pine and 2061, the big house" had ceiling damage that indicated more than "just a few roof panels torn". The next day our next door neighbor’s friend texted that he has a "dry in, mold clean up, roofer business" and he will dry us in today. So he is at it probably as we speak. We sent him over to 1963 "Aunt Trudy’s house" as our renter reported the back wall has buckled and windows don’t close … Sand and grit got in. So send the roofer guy over there too. Meanwhile we have friends who are looking for contracting work going down to work on electric connections to house and other issues roofer guy doesn’t handle. Meanwhile we are in the final packing mode to go on New England cruise starting tomorrow. I tried to cancel but it’s too late and we would lose full price paid… Throwing away $4500 just doesn’t fit into our world view. Besides there’s no room at my house! I have Keys friends and renters in 2 rooms and friend Karen Skipp in third room while she works temporarily in Miami. So, there’s no room at Chez Peabody "the Lake house" for the Peabodys. Hope the Keys electric and water sewer issues are resolved before we get home October 10. God bless you!;

Darn it… We just got video from a friend… Both Keys houses had downstairs blown out and in the case of the big house… empty. Chuck had cleared a lot of stuff out of the downstairs recently but he left an air compressor and a generator that are gone. All the walls are gone on downstairs and some of the eaves are gone on the underside of the roof. We do not know about the integrity of anything…. Hope A/C is OK and don’t know if electric can be connected…. wires all over the place … Oh well…

Meanwhile we spent 3 beautiful days in the berkshires and visited Norman Rockwell museum, Berkshire Gardens, Edith Wharton home and gardens called The Mount, and the Clark gallery up in Williamstown. We spent 2 days at a Founders festival in Lee a sweet small town. It is a beautiful place! God bless America.

Not rubble. The house next to us at 2016 Coral Way was badly damaged … We have photos and it reminds me of Hurricane Georges… Our dock is gone and the stairway down the back to the water is chewed up. Some of the roof panels are chewed up. Hurricane Irma acted like a buzz saw. We have not seen the 1963 house (Trudy’s) except from satellite and it looks pretty good. We have a friend who was living at 2061 downstairs and stayed there… but we can’t speak with him…. no cell service down there. But the downstairs shutters at both houses seem to be open…. God bless you Wayne!

Meanwhile we have visited Katie Alberte and eaten great meals in Ossining and Tarrytown, seen beautiful gardens and lovely small towns. We are now in the Berkshires at a Founders festival in Lee near Stockbridge and Great Barrington. Last night was "A Taste of Lee" on Main street with about 600 citizens strolling past vendors and musicians! Fireworks at 8pm ended the evening. We ended the evening with some great clam chowder and a lovely wine. Today is a town parade at Lee and then the Norman Rockwell museum and Botanical Gardens in Stockbridge. God bless you.

Cruising the internet today, I looked for the photo of the eyewall I saw on the TV set on the weather channel, but I can’t find it… It showed the eyewall and under it was I guess superimposed a map of the keys and we could run up to the TV and say "there’s Big Pine Key…" but the bottom half or the south east side of the eye wall was gone and I saw only blue beautiful blue…. I am sure and I believe it is the hand of God that this storm was lessened in intensity as it hit the Keys. We might lose a lot of property, but, I am certain it lessened and I thank God for that. I pray those who stayed behind all lived as the flooding and winds were awful. Who can withstand being out in a surge of say 15 feet? We don’t know as we have never stayed, although Chuck did stay in our bigger Keys house during Hurricane Rita and he said the house shook like it was coming apart. Very scary. So I hope everyone is OK and we wait…. for NOAA to get the photos of the island done and we can look at our houses. God bless us!!!

There was no good place for Irma to turn to… By the time she set her eye on little vulnerable Big Pine Key… The turn options were Houston or the extremely fragile Gulf coast east of Louisiana … Oh the options were awful so Big Pine Key and Cudjo Key took it for the team. Emergency Management reports can be found on keysweekly.com. At this point the government is inspecting roads and bridges, airports, water, electric, cellular (nothing is working). We are in a wait mode still visiting cousin Carol in Ohio. My whole family is affected. Family in Jacksonville, la Grange Georgia, and of course our Miami and Big Pine Key houses. Thank God for our friends in Miami who took such good care of us. So far everyone is OK. God bless you.