Spending Christmas in Florida is fun! This is the first time my husband and I have been somewhere warm over the holidays. After savoring a home cooked turkey dinner, we headed out to the hot tub and pool and got a little silly. We talked about past snow skiing trips while enjoying the warm weather.
Not looking so happy here…
Really happy here…
Saturday was a long day, a great day, a fun-filled day! It started with dropping one of my girlfriends off at the airport, followed by a trip to Fort Myers Beach with my remaining friend. We took a walk on the pier and saw men fishing, pelicans resting…
Had to get a close-up…
I think he was thinking, “Look at all of the pretty colors”!
Mullock Creek Marina in Fort Myers, Florida is one of those places only the locals know about. My friend who lives in Fort Myers hooked us up and we had a wonderful afternoon kayaking through an estuary (for those of you who don’t know exactly what that means…”An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea”). It was a steal at $25 for an all day rental. Partly cloudy skies and light winds made for a perfect afternoon.
I took my camera in a large Ziploc bag to protect it. Here are my friends…
Here’s Wayne catching a large Tarpon fishy…
Last night, my husband and my Cousin joined me for some indoor trampoline fun at Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park in Cincinnati, Ohio. As you can see, we loved it. It’s great exercise and a wonderful alternative for an adult instead of going to have a drink! An added bonus…none of us got hurt!
Playing sand volleyball is a great way to get exercise, socialize with friends and have tons of fun! I invited about 100 people to play volleyball at Hahana Beach, a restaurant/bar with outdoor sand volleyball courts, in Cincinnati, Ohio and about 13 showed up yesterday. It was a perfect day for it…with temps in the mid-70’s, low humidity and a beautiful sky with puffy clouds. One of the ladies didn’t want to play so she took a few photos with my camera. She got this great action shot of me jumping for the ball…
I only play volleyball sporadically…on average about once every few years…but after yesterday’s fun I’m definitely playing more often. I like this photo of Cindy after she hit the ball…
Friday was a great time! I went to Newport on the Levee again. There was a “bike rally” for motorcycles, but because of the chance of rain, there weren’t many attendees.
A couple of ladies were holding a snake and they asked if I’d like to hold it. I usually say “YES” to everything!
Last night the sky was filled with swirling masses of swollen colorful clouds waiting to release their rain. I couldn’t stop taking photographs. We went to a place on the Ohio River called the Cabana on the River. I love venues with live music located on the river. Although it was an hour drive, I enjoyed talking with friends, taking lots of photos, and dancing to one of my favorite local bands…Danny Frazier Band!
This bartender is a cutie…
Boating is a fantastic way to enjoy the outdoors and your friends! Saturday I had another fun day in Cincinnati on the Ohio River on my friend April’s boat. She invited four of us women friends and five other boats ended up tying up to us…so we had a party! Here’s Captain April…
Sometimes I get bored with boating, especially if I can’t ski…so I stay entertained by taking photographs and dancing. I really liked this candid shot of Cindy and April. April’s bathing suit is so cool…I love the neon and loopy fabric!
Cincinnati, Ohio has something for everyone! Monday was Opening Day for the Reds Baseball and what a party. My girlfriends and I watched the Findlay Market Parade and then joined the party at The Banks (an area with restaurants and bars on the Ohio River in Downtown, Cincinnati). This is the beautiful fountain at Fountain Square raining blue sky…
I’ve never attended the Findlay Market Parade or festivities for the Reds Baseball Opening Day in Cincinnati…up until Monday! It was tons of fun! The parade winds around Downtown. We were at Fountain Square, where there were booths, music, food and drink! I went with a few girlfriends and wanted to share some of our fun with you. It wasn’t rainy…this photo is of a cool water feature in the Banks area of Downtown Cincinnati.
The evening that our cruise ship left Venice, there was a Masquerade Ball aka Bal Masque. It was fun to see all of the colorful and unusual masks!
Of course, Venice is famous for their masks…
“The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange put on a mask. There can’t be any large-scale revolution until there’s a personal revolution, on an individual level. It’s got to happen inside first.” ~Jim Morrison
Here are some lovely girls!!
My mask was quite simple!
Another cutie!!
Don’t miss Rome tomorrow!!
This morning we hiked at Tent Rocks…as you can see from the photos it was amazing! From Wikipedia:
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, located 40 miles southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico was established as a U.S. National Monument by President Bill Clinton in January 2001.
The area owes its remarkable geology to layers of volcanic rock and ash deposited by a volcanic explosion. Over time, weathering and erosion of these layers has created canyons and tent rocks. The tent rocks themselves are cones of soft pumice and tuff beneath harder caprocks.
A 1.2 mile (1.9 km) recreation trail leads up through a slot canyon to a lookout point where the tent rocks may be viewed from above. A 1.3 mile (2 km) loop trail leads past their base.
Always look up…
It reminded me some of Cappadocia in Turkey. There they call them the fairy chimneys…
I love hiking in beautiful places…it’s one of my most favorite things to do! We went back to our rental to shower and made a healthy lunch of fish, broccoli and salad.
Next on the agenda…Cowgirl Bar & Grill in Santa Fe for a margarita and some chips/salsa. Kathy’s friend…Chris…met us there.
We wanted to dance…so we checked out Evangilo’s, but the band hadn’t started yet. We ended up at La Fonda’s again and the band Soulman Sam was playing. It was so much fun…great band!
We got a late start today…left the rental at 9:45am…had breakfast in Santa Fe at the Zia Diner…nice place…good food! We parked in the free public parking lot situated about 4 blocks away from the “plaza”. The native Indians sell their jewelry/pottery under the portal of the Palace of the Governors Museum. Since I’ve adopted the mind-set of “Collect Experiences…Not Things”, I was a good girl and only bought a shirt and some essential oil lotion on the trip!
This is the oldest house in Santa Fe…we took about 5 minutes and walked through it.
I went into this Cathedral…
There are some outdoor statutes and galleries around the plaza area…
This is the work of Bill Worrell…
a local artist that my traveling companion, Kathy, is friends with. They are his signature “Shamans”!
We were invited to John Farnsworth’s house/studio. We met online through my blog, which I think is pretty cool! He’s also a local artist, who has a great spirit and personality! His home was located only about 5 minutes from where we were staying.
That evening we went dancing at La Fonda…I wasn’t feeling great…probably the drinks in Durango the night before…and the altitude!
Sherry Lachelle Travels 