Santa Is Alive And Well And Is Living On The Outer Banks of North Carolina

Tonight I donned my Santa outfit and we boarded our sleigh, also known as a Toyota RAV4 and we headed over to our Granddaughters place.
As it turned out, Savannah had just woke up to prior to Santa arriving and wasn't quite her usual bubbly self.
Santa dropped of Savannah's Christmas gifts and re-boarded his sleigh for the long journey back to the North Pole.
Below are some photos and videos of Santa's adventures tonight:

Santa in his sleigh heading off to Savannah's house

 Savannah just before Santa arrives

Santa delivering the goodies

A Day Of Holiday Baking

Yesterday was Sunday and Veronica was off of work. We decided to take advantage of her day off and did some holiday baking.
I made my "crack cookies". Why are they called "crack cookies you ask? Because once you eat just one of them, you are addicted and must eat more.
Veronica made some cupcakes and something she calls "puppy chow mix", which is chocolate and assorted Chex cereal mixed with melted white chocolate coating the cereal.
When we were done with our baking we evenly separated  all of the goodies and gift wrapped/boxed it all, so that we could give it to our local friends.
It was a fun day baking along side Veronica.
Here are some photos of the baking and finished goodies.

Below are the "crack" cookies 

And here I am playing Chef du Jour

Below is the "puppy chow" Chex mix 

Veronica and I proudly showing off her cupcakes

This 2013 Holiday Season

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving has already passed and it will be Christmas before you know it.
We had a rather subdued but delicious Thanksgiving. We decided not to have Turkey. Instead we found a really tasty already prepared honey ham. We had previously tried a Kentucky Legend brand ham and really liked it so we decided to have one for Thanksgiving and let me tell you it did not disappoint. They have several types..Double Smoked, Honey Baked, Original, Gluten Free, Sugar Cured and one that you can add glaze to.  Some are already pre-sliced and other styles come whole. Here is a picture of the label on the ham:

Along with the ham we had mashed potatoes, some vegetables and some yeast rolls. It was a great meal and one of the best parts was that we were able to keep the dirty dishes down to a minimum.
We are going low key and easy this Christmas too. Because things have been so hectic since we got back from our vacation, we decided to get a small almost identical life like tree...also known as a fake tree. This tree is only about 4 foot tall but it does have the colored lights already attached. Pop the top portion into the bottom section, spread the branches out to make it look presentable and plug it in. We did add a few mini bulbs and some stringed beads for garland. It will work for this year. Next year we can go all out on the decorations.
Only thing left is to do a little shopping and most of that will be done from the comfort of my computer chair and with a little help from my keyboard and the internet.
There is no way I will be attempting to do any shopping at our local Walmart or any other stores. It is pure lunacy out there. If you don't believe me then just go to YouTube and type in Black Friday Walmart. Make sure you put on your football helmet for protection and grab yourself a nice cold one and some popcorn...let the craziness and festivities commence!

A Few Videos From Our Vacation

Here are a few videos that we took while we were on vacation:

While walking around Venice we came upon this crew that was filming for a movie

Venice Canal

A Bell Tower In Koper, Slovenia

We ran into some rough seas and high winds while we were in Corfu, Greece

Famous Italian inlaid wood making factory-Gargiulo & Jannuzzi

Leaving Mykonos, Greece

Sights from the Amalfi Coast and Amalfi itself

Day #14 Shuttle to Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino International Airport.....Time To Head Home

Here are some photos as we are flying away from the area of Rome. A while later we flew over part of the Alps and I could not resist taking some photos. These photos wrap up our 3 day Venice Pre- Cruise and our 2013 Med 14 Day Cruise.

  

Day #13 Naples Italy - Excursion To Sorrento Then Solerno And Then The Amalfi Coast

Today we had to get up early because we had a full day excursion planned. Today were were going by bus to Sorrento where we would have some time to walk around and explore the city briefly. We also would be stopping by and seeing a demonstration of how inlaid woodworking is done. For this we would be visiting the showrooms of a famous Ita;lian company that has been in the inlaid furniture making business since 1852- A. Gargiulo & Jannuzzi. We were also going to have lunch in Sorrento. After that we would be driving to Solerno where we would be boarding a boat and taking an approximately 45 minute boat ride down the Amalfi coast seeing several coastal towns and stopping at Amalfi for a visit before returning to Solerno by boat. Once back in Solerno we would stop off on the way back to Naples at a cameo making factory. Due to heavy traffic we did not get back to the ship until later than expected. We had a lot to get done that night.  We had to start packing up our luggage, we still had to eat dinner and then there was a show we wanted to see. It ended up being a rather long day but one won't soon forget. How often does a person get to take a boat ride up and down the Amalfi coast and see coastal towns like Positano, Minori and Amalfi itself.
Here are some photos from our full days worth of traveling:

On our way from Naples to Sorrento

Mt. Vesuvius in the background

More views of Mt. Vesuvius

More views of Mt. Vesuvious

Coming into Sorrento

This is a small open air car wash

Demonstration given at the inlaid woodworking  "factory"

They had an absolutely beautiful store. Everything was handmade 

Saw quite a few of these...nothing but a long row of motorcycles and motor scooters

  

More views of us coming into Soreento along with additional vies of Mt. Vesuvious

  

  

  

This is where we ate lunch at in Sorrento

Before the fork hit the plate there was a thin slice of chicken with some cheese on it, some potatoes and of course carots

Of course this was the best part of lunch...desert...some type of tasty gilato

Mt. Vesuvious with a cloud of haze

Heading to Solerno for our boat ride up the Amalfi Coast

On our way up the Amalfi Coast. Could not have asked for better weather

  

  

  

We passed several small villages on our way up the coast  

  

Arriving in Amalfi

   

Time to head back to Solerno

On our way back to Naples and the pier where our ship is docked

 We had quite a welcome awaiting us

 Here we are in front of the cameo factory that we stopped at on our way back to the ship

JC Sanchez welcoming us back aboard the NCL Jade