Brickman, Beaches and Bays!

Barton and I are winding down our trip to the Caribbean and a 7 day cruise. We have had the most awesome time. First of all, this was a cruise we signed up to go on with Jim Brickman. If you don't know who he is then by all means get to know him and his music. He is "America's Romantic Piano" player and composer. We attended two private concerts, a songwriting workshop and a meet and greet. Jim is the most warm and friendly guy to his fans. He is so humble about his musical gift and just a joy to be around and take in his music as well. He was traveling with his friend Chef Jamie Gwen and she did two private cooking "shows" that were so much fun and now we are all inspired to go home and cook food with a Caribbean flair!!! We took tours of 4 different Caribbean Islands. I have to say that I was a little surprised by how "un-tropical" some of the islands were. My favorite island is most definitely St. Thomas. While there we went to Magen's Bay Beach........ABSOLUTELY breathtakingly beautiful. The water is SOOO clean and clear I could see the fish swimming around my feet. We happened to be there on a day when not too many cruise ships were in port, so the beach was "under crowded" and very pleasurable to visit.

The cruiseship we sailed on was "Adventure of the Seas" and believe me it was an adventure! The ship was so beautifully decorated and the service was splendid. The ship is like a city all in one. They serve food 24/7 and I was told the average person gains 12 pounds while cruising. I was trying to be careful to not eat too much and avoid being "average". (I think I did okay, my clothes still fit!) We made some fabulous new friends whom we ate dinner with each night and they were also a part of the Brickman group. We enjoyed each others company very much and may meet up again on another Brickman cruise. There are shows every evening after dinner and they were excellent and we enjoyed each one of them. Some were musical artists--The Nelson Brothers and another guy who was a 13 time winner of "Star Search" (can't think if his name right now) and there were variety shows and comedians as well.

Tomorrow morning we head back to the continental 48! It's been a wonderful vacation with just Barton and I getting some quiet time with each other but we both said today that we are looking forward to going back home and being with our 4 energetic boys.