We arrived in the port of Antigua after a rocky, stormy night. Skies were beautiful and sunny. We were here in 2013 for a land vacation, staying at the Keyona Beach Resort. This is a lovely, couples only, boutique resort with amazing food and service. During that vacation we spent a bit of time exploring the island.

I missed sunrise but took this snap shortly thereafter.

Here are some pics as we sailed in.

We made short work of breakfast and headed into town.

At 9:30 am the sun was super strong, and it was a very humid 81 degrees.

As I travel along a “minimalist” road in the sunset of my life, I often recite this mantra “If you don’t shop; you won’t buy”. I’ve spent the years since retiring in December of 2013, purging my belongings. I’ve reduced my clothing from 4 large closets down to 1.5 closets. (And I still have too many items) and I’ve emptied countless drawers and cabinets. A while back I read an article with the title: “Your children do not want your things.” This article resonated with me and spurred me on in my efforts to reduce my belongings. Like some converts to this minimalist lifestyle, I’m self-congratulatory; bordering on smug about my choice. After 8 days at sea and no tours planned, we decided to walk off the ship and …and …what? Look…as in- “I’m just going to look”.

Well, sad to report – I experienced a relapse. After visiting several shops we returned to the very first one that we’d stopped in. Making a long story short, I threw my mantra to the wind and shopped.

Timmy, who has not embraced minimalism, was actively complicit in my regression. Actually, I lay the entire episode at his feet. He was  after all, the only person on our team in possession of a credit card. He also egged me on by saying things like “that’s a very nice color” and “that top will go nicely with both black and white pants.” Anyway here is the enabler with Meryl and her assistant.

This band was super, greeting folks as they disembarked…we noted that most folks had a jivey bounce in their steps. Us too.

Back on board we salved our collective guilt with a nice lunch in Marketplace.

I spent the afternoon reading and updating the blog on the pool deck. Timmy napped.

Shortly before sail away I headed to the promenade deck for a few laps. The clouds were beautiful.

I joined Timmy on our balcony for sunset.

We met up with friends in the Palm Court before dinner for refreshments. Enjoyed a lovely dinner and a reprise of James Fox singing Billy Joel hits.