The final stop on the cruise was Aruba. Aruba is another Dutch island. Where Curacao was well developed for tourists, Aruba was more rugged, but had some spectacular resort beaches. We tok a tour of the island that took us from Oranjestad in the South to the Northern coast. There, we went to a “Natural Rock Bridge” that was a rugged, rocky coast.
This was not at all what I expected, as I have more or less thought, because of all the resorts that it would be mostly hotels and beaches
The third stop was Curacao. We docked in Willemstad. Curacao is a dutch island off the coast of Venezuela. The buildings were all inspired by Dutch tradition. Walking from the ship to town you are forced to walk through an old fort, and this was looking through an opening they used to fire canons from.
In that picture, you can see a bridge going over the inlet. This is a “Swinging” bridge, in that it actually pivots to allow boat traffic to pass by.
The second stop on our cruise was La Romana on the southern side of the Dominican Republic. The tour we took there went to Altos de Chavon, an village/compound of artists. 
This was an amphitheater. We were told that there were regular performances here. There were lots of flowering trees and plants, and there were more butterflies that I an have ever seen before. This is a Gulf Fritillary.
The buildings were all stone and adobe. I was struck by the contrast of materials – wood, stone, adobe, metal – and textures and lines in this wall.
We took a cruise last week. The ship sailed out of Fort Lauderdale, and the first stop was Grand Turk Island. This is a picture of ship from the dock.
It was a small island that didn’t have very much. We took a tour in an open truck-like vehicle. It took us through town and out to the North end of the island. There we visited a “beach.” It wasn’t a swimming beach so much as a rocky inlet. But, the shore was littered with sea shells, and everyone collected them. I got this pic.
From there, we visited a lighthouse.
The lighthouse overlooked a rocky shore. There was a zip line place there, but, I was able to remove most of the clutter in photoshop and ended up with a nice seascape.
My friend’s funeral in Snook was on Wednesday, but I had to drive to Huntsville for a meeting on Friday. I decided to take a different route than I normally do, and I found two places that were worth stopping and getting pictures of.
This was ahold gas station along the road. And, this was an old house in Kosse.
As I was coming into Caldwell in Burleson County, I saw this farm.
I was beginning to think I was on a real lucky streak with all these places, but, in Caldwell, I found this house.
That old oak tree was so spectacular, I had to include it in the picture, but the house itself had such character, I had to get it alone.
With that, I really thought I was done for the day. But, as I was driving through Cameron, I got this last shot.
I was feeling great after my friend’s funeral because I got some new images I really liked, but as I was driving home, I started seeing other things that I really liked.
This was on Hwy 36, and the framing was so perfect, I had to take advantage of it. Then, I used a longer lens to isolate the old car.
A close friend who lived in Snook died. I drove over there to attend the funeral. It was in a small country church outside of town, but to find the church I had to start in town. When I got to the center of Snook, I was glad I threw my cameras in the car. There were buildings there that I new I had to take pictures of. So, after the funeral and reception, I went back into town and got these pictures.
This was an old barn in the center town. Snook obviously had a strong Czech heritage, and it was apparent in the sign on this barn.
This was the old grocery an market in downtown. Then, on the way out of town, I saw this old farm.
After Cozumel, we spent a day at sea before getting back to Galveston. Over the course of the cruise, I was able to get some sunrise/sunset pictures. So, I am going to put them all in this post.
This was from Falmouth Jamaica.
This was at sunrise in George Town Grand Cayman Islands.
as was this
And, as we were preparing to leave George Town, I got this shot.
Our third port of call was Cozumel. I am not sure how many times we have been to Cozumel, but it has been enough that we no longer consider doing any organized excursions. We took a cab into town, walked around, and had lunch at Las Palmeres. I have taken so many pictures in Cozumel over the years, that it is hard to take anything new. But, I tried. As we were about to leave port, I got a couple of shots of Cozumel at night.
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