Dragon boat update. While Saturday was a beautiful day, it was a windy day and for anyone who has ever been in a Dragon boat can tell you, that's not good. After one boat on the very first race sank the organizers dropped the teams from 20 people to 16 and removed the dragon head and tails from the boats, all due to the chop. Our team, "Wreck Ashore" made a great showing and though we did not win any of our races, we never finished last (or sank). This was a great event, we ate, drank, got sun burned and raised alot of money for Habitat for Humanity which by the way has repaired over 80 homes locally due to flooding from Hurricane Wilma. If you ever have the chance to participate in one of these races, I highly recommend you do it. Just remember to stretch.
Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there.

Thought this was a pretty cool negative image of the moon I took several months ago. Julie bought me a refractor telescope for christmas and while experimenting I decided to place my digital camera to the lens and start snapping. While not perfect, I am working on and soon hope to have a page full of images. Check out C & J Everyday for images.

Today, myself and nineteen other "Wreckers" participated in a practice session for our Dragon boat race on Saturday the 13th. The event is held to help raise money for Habitat for Humanity. Our team, "Wreck Ashore" is competing against Draggin' As in a 400 meter race. Todays practice run was tiring but I'm going into the weekend confident we'll take the cup. Check out C & J Everyday for photos.

Julie and Sabrina dawned hardhats for a recent visit to the soon to be completed Poinciana Elementary School. Construction will have taken just over a year, with a completion date set for July 28, 2006. Monroe County is in the process of replacing all the schools probably finishing within ten years. I will say I am going to miss my old elementary school.

In addition to visiting Dubrovnik and Greece last July, we also spent time in Italy as well. This trip was nearly interrrupted by one of the first hurricanes of the season. Instead of leaving from Key West airport, we left from Miami International in an effort to not loose any time on a trip I had spent months planning. We arrived in Rome and ran to catch our next plane, which left in less than an hour . Good thing we went carry-on only and didn't bother with checked bags. We knew we'd be on a tight schedule. After running through Rome airport, we finally got to our terminal and caught the flight out to Naples. We were in Naples last year, and we had no intentions of staying there. So, once at he Naples airport, we ran to catch the next available bus out. We were headed to the Amalfi Coast! We caught a bus to Sorrento, then changed buses to take us the rest of the way. It took 3 hours from the time we left Naples airport until we finally pulled into the city of Amalfi. I thought the bus ride was amazing, with lots of hairpin turns all the time on the side of high cliffs over looking the water below. While I was sight seeing, poor Clinton was getting sicker by the moment. He said that it would be different if he was the one who was driving. I personally felt better about the bus driver taking us as he was used to these driving conditions and all. Besides, I remember reading in a travel book that these drivers of the Amalfi Coast are either good, or dead. In all actuality, we could have taken a ferry right from Naples with a 90 minute journey, but hind-sight is 20/20- they tell me. While in this part of southern Italy we stayed in Amalfi, but visited the Isle of Capri, Positano, and Ravello. Positano was probably the prettiest in my opinion, but also pricier than Amalfi. We loved our hotel room with high ceilings and a balcony that open up to the pier. After a good night's sleep, we rented a boat to explore the coast on our own. We paid for the boat in cash and left no identity. Amazing, because in America you need to sign so may waivers and leave so much in case of damage. We had so much fun cruising around on our own. The waters of the Mediterranean (more specifically, the Gulf of Salerno) were deep blue and clear. However, too cold to swim for long periods. We had lunch in Positano at a restaurant I saw on the travel channel called Chez Black. The seafood in this region was so tasty! The next day we took a boat tour that took us to the Emerald Grotto in Amalfi and then to the Isle of Capri. Unfortnately, the waters were too rough to go into the Blue Grotto. I was disappoined, but we spent a few hours in Capri. We hiked about 45 minutes from the marina to Capri town. It was a rough climb with sets of stairs that seemed only to lead to more sets! Once there I noticed that there were lots of elderly and out of shape tourists walking around. We then noticed the funicular train that took people up. Actually though, the views of the landscape while hiking were the best part of this island. Every book I read made this place out to be spectacular. Both Clinton and I thought that it was another over-priced tourist trap. There were not many local stores, but instead Prada and stores along that line. Wouldn't you know, I did not have a spare 850 euro to spend on a purse! Instead of the cruise, we perhaps would have been better to take a trip to see the Greek ruins of Paestum. This will be something we will need to catch on the next trip. On our last night we went to the city above Amalfi, called Ravello to have dinner and then walk around. This city was beautiful, too. We saw a lot of it that night, but contemplated returning the next day before leaving the area for Rome. On our last morning, we checked out of the hotel, but left our luggage. I didn't feel comfortable leaving out travel documents (passports, train and plane tickets) in an unsecured area. So, we took them with us. We could have left everthing in the room, but I was not sure if we' d make it back on time to check out. It was a hot day and we could have rented some chairs and an umbrella and relaxed at the beach before leaving. That would have been the better choice... hind sight is 20/20. We took the bus to Ravello. While getting off the bus, we neglected to take the backpack with all of our travel documents. This was something Clinton realized while we were waiting to catch the bus back to Amalfi- it had been hours (I stand corrected, 35 minutes)! To make matters even worse, a police officer rode by to tell us that there would be no more buses as the transit system was striking all across Italy! We got his attention and explained our terrifying situation in severely broken Italian. He told us to wait where we were and he would ride to Amalfi to see if a green backpack had been turned in. It seemed like an eternity of blinking back tears, as I was imagining our vacation- that took months to plan so meticulously unraveling. The flight passes were nonrefundable and non redeamable! The officer came back and told us to go to the bus staion in Amalfi, they could help us there. Since buses were no longer an option, we had to take a cab. The bus was 1 euro each. The cab fare was 30 euro! Once in Amalfi, we went to the bus station and explained again to another official what had happened. After more waiting, a miracle happened. Clinton went with a driver and came back holding the backpack. I am sure Clinton thanked him and left him a good tip. To our relief, everything was in there untouched. To think that we could have had a relaxing morning at the beach...That was an agonizing few hours but a great story we will not soon forget! Enjoy the photos of Italy 2005 to the right. Caio!

Say hello to Sophie. The newest, oldest member of the Curry automobile fleet. Sophie is a 1980, Limited Edition MGB, built in the UK. When I first mentioned to Julie that I wanted to buy the MG last week, she bit her tongue and assumed that this, like many other I want to's, would pass. So when the vehicle was dropped off Saturday morning I asked Julie if she would like to go for a ride. She said yes. So after 30 minutes of cruising she turned to me and said, "you know, at first I didn't think we needed this, now I know we need it." That was the answer I was hoping for. Well, Sophie has some, although very little rust, the turn signals work at there leisure and the radio doesn't work. Sophie, however only has 52,000 miles (we put 75 on this weekend), has had one owner and has had regular maintenance and waxing. We are looking forward to enjoying many years with Sophie, hopefully she feels the same.

Last July, we took a trip abroad stating in Italy and then making our way to Croatia and Greece before heading back home. After a few nights in southern Italy, we took a train to Rome and hopped a plane for a 1 hour flight to Dubrovnik, Croatia. Many people think that all of Croatia is still war-torn from the war with Serbia back in the EARLY 90'S. However, it is emerging again as a popular destination for travelers all over the world. Being our first trip to Croatia, we settled on spending time just in Dubrovnik, as we had read about it already and had seen so many beautiful pictures. Flying into Dubrovnik was amazing. We got awesome views from the air of the walled city. These old walls date back to the 1300's. Although 70% of the city was bombed in the war, UNESCO has declared a World Heritage sight and has restored the city almost entirely. The old city was beautiful and full of friendly locals. One of our favorites was a woman who invited us to eat at her cafe our first night. When we asked her what she would tell people on vacation to do, she said to eat, drink, make love and go to the beach. So, that sounded good to us. We took a cruise around the Elafiti Islands where we hiked to a medieval church over 800 years old. Annual services are still held there for dedicated church goers as it is a 55 minute hike up hill with unsure footing. That night, we ate in the cloister of a church. Clinton found this to be remarkable, as up to that point he had battled many demons in cloisters while playing video games. Although I found the local cuisine to be tasty, Clinton found it to be very heavy. We wanted to swim, but the waters of the Adriatic were too cold for south Floridians- and this was mid- July! On our last night in Dubrovnik, we went sea kayaking at sunset. Again, amazing. There are other places we would like to see on the Dalmatian Coast, but that will need to be for another trip. It is no wonder why Dubrovnik is called the Jewel of the Adriatic. Centuries ago, it was a center for ship building and admired by many including Richard the Lion heart on his return from his third Crusade. Clinton and I are admirers as well. If you would like to see photographs of our trip, please click on the Dubrovnik link to your right.

Last July, we took a trip of mythological proportions to Greece and two fascinating Greek islands. We also spent minimal time in Athens, enough to visit the Acropolis to see the Parthenon and the ancient agora. We then ferried to Hydra, an island 90 minutes off of Athens in the Saronic Gulf. The amazing thing about Hydra is that the only motor vehicles are 3 garbage trucks. The only modes of transportation are pedestrian traffic and donkeys. It was a beautiful, quaint island. The next adventure we had in Greece took us by plane to the island of Santorini. Our hotel was right on the caldera in the village of Firostefani. While in Santorini, we walked the volcano, swam to the hot springs, visited the ancient ruins of Akrotiri, and rented an ATV instead of a rental car to explore the island on our own. Our exploration on ATV took us to Red Beach. Although we were told Greece would not be a good place to spend a lot of time, both Clinton and I beg to differ. We enjoyed our time there so much, and thought the prices of food were cheap in comparison to other countires we have been to. We pay more for a lousy gyro at Miami Subs than the real deal in Greece! Italy is a great place to visit, but Greece was awesome! As there is so much more to see there, we plan to go back and show this awesome place to our daughter to be- the lucky gal she is! To view photos of Greece click on the C & J Vacations link.