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Dec. 18 – Belize City

By on December 28, 2025 in The Pearl
“Life’s a journey, not a destination.” -Aerosmith 
We decided to fly into Belize a day ahead of when we were scheduled to arrive at the resort. A few others in our group did the same thing. Being retired gave us that option. Coming on Thursday instead of Friday also gave us more time to relax and saved us some money. The flight from Houston to Belize City was only two and a half hours and everything went smoothly, although customs were a bit more intense than other countries we’ve been to. We’ll fly down to Placencia tomorrow with Milly and her family and meet up with the rest of our group. 

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

Placencia, Belize

By on December 23, 2025 in The Pearl
“Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget” –Unknown

We wandered the streets of Placencia a few afternoons. The town has a lot of  luxury resorts and condominiums, but it has managed to retain its old-world charm. Locals still head out to sea every morning in small boats to bring in the daily catch and visitors can meander along the village’s 4,000-foot long “main street” that is a pedestrian-only sidewalk adorned with little shops, small B&Bs, very local cafes, colorful murals and artwork.

The southeastern coast of Belize is famous for its natural beauty. The Placencia Peninsula measures approximately 19 miles from north to south but is just half a mile wide. It has the look and feel of an island and is often described as the “caye you can drive to.” Between the peninsula and the mainland, Placencia Lagoon is home to manatees and saltwater crocodiles. Offshore, there are dive sites on the coral Belize Barrier Reef. Bad weather kept all of us from exploring the reef.

Alex was our captain that took us back and forth to Placencia.

The Placencia Pier.

Most of the local places looked a lot like this one. We would have spent a little time in one of the beach side establishments, but our island was just better…and all our beer was already paid for.

The kids favorite place to go in Placencia was Tutti Fruitti. They served gelato instead of ice cream and the kids loved it.







The Enclave sits on a private two-acre island just 100 yards from the Placencia Pier.

Dec. 20 – Fun on the Island

By on December 20, 2025 in The Pearl
“The sea lives in every one of us.” –Robert Wyland 

Life on our private island was pretty nice. Anything we wanted or needed the staff took care of. We were pampered all week long. The island was full of iguanas…they liked when the sun came out as much as we did. Graham asked one of the staff if people ate iguanas, when he found out they did, he wanted to try one. The next day we had iguana for lunch. Our chef Alex said he had never cooked iguana before but he cooked it in a stew for us that was surprisingly good. 

We entertained ourselves by eating, drinking, putting together puzzles, playing games, eating, drinking, swimming, snorkeling, paddle boarding, kayaking and more eating and drinking. The kids entertained each other and gave the parents a lot of time to relax. 

In the evening after dark Graham organized games like capture the flag, perimeter, cops and robbers and hide and seek. Even the adults had a great time.

The girls loved taking a ride on the kayaks and paddle boards.
Even the bigger kids just rode…no paddling. 

Paddle board time.

Pool time.
Papa Faj taught the littles how to snorkel.

Corn hole by the pool.

There was a puzzle on the table the whole time we were there.
Bryt and CeCe were the giant Jenga champs.

Lots of card games…the new one being called Sets.

Playing pool was fun for everyone also.
When the kids went to bed the adults played a game called fish bowl.

Just a few of the iguanas on the island.

Iguana stew…the little round things are iguana eggs.
Another pretty sunset.

Dec. 18 – Belize City

By on December 18, 2025 in The Pearl
“Life’s a journey, not a destination.” -Aerosmith 
We decided to fly into Belize a day ahead of when we were scheduled to arrive at the resort. A few others in our group did the same thing. Being retired gave us that option. Coming on Thursday instead of Friday also gave us more time to relax and saved us some money. The flight from Houston to Belize City was only two and a half hours and everything went smoothly, although customs were a bit more intense than other countries we’ve been to. We’ll fly down to Placencia tomorrow with Milly and her family and meet up with the rest of our group. 
We spent our first night in Belize at a cute little B&B called Villa Boscardi. Located between the airport and Belize City. We were joined by Milly and her family. What a fun and relaxing evening we had catching up and enjoying a meal overlooking the water. Milly and our oldest son Kyle have been friends since they were in kindergarten. Milly’s like a daughter to us and now we have two bonus grandchildren.  
Belize Immigrations checked our passports and embarkation information at three separate places…all within 30 yards of each other before we could exact the airport. Leaving the county was just as involved.

This is the first time we have had a car waiting for us. It was fun.

Our little inn was very nice. We had our ow little building by the pool.

The office and kitchen were in the main house along with several more roooms.

We spent the afternoon and evening at Smokeez Seaside Restaurant & Bar. It was about the only thing in the area.

We relaxed and enjoyed a local beer while we waited for Milly and Evan to arrive.

It was great too have Milly join us for this holiday trip.

Dinner at Smokeez.

Stan with his new little friends.

Belize Adventure

By on December 18, 2025 in The Pearl
“Travel as much as you can. As far as you can. As long as you can. Life is not meant to be lived in one place.” -Unknown
We’re off for a little Christmas adventure with family and friends. We’re going to spend the next week on a private island off the town of Planecia in the southern part of Belize. Placencia is one of the most popular destinations in Belize. It’s a charming, low-key fishing village located at the southern tip of the Placencia Peninsula. Bordered on one side by a mangrove-lined lagoon and on the other by the Caribbean Sea. It’s famous for having some of the most beautiful beaches in the country.

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

Belize Adventure

By on December 18, 2025 in The Pearl
“Travel as much as you can. As far as you can. As long as you can. Life is not meant to be lived in one place.” -Unknown
We’re off for a little Christmas adventure with family and friends. We’re going to spend the next week on a private island off the town of Planecia in the southern part of Belize. Placencia is one of the most popular destinations in Belize. It’s a charming, low-key fishing village located at the southern tip of the Placencia Peninsula. Bordered on one side by a mangrove-lined lagoon and on the other by the Caribbean Sea. It’s famous for having some of the most beautiful beaches in the country.

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

Merry Christmas 2025

By on December 14, 2025 in The Pearl
It’s that time of year again when we like to reach out and tell all our friends and family hello and Merry Christmas. We had another great year splitting our time between Texas, New York and our wonderful little home in Lewisburg, PA. We didn’t do any large trips this year, just relaxing weeks on the lake in NY and a week in the Adirondacks in September.  

It’s hard to believe we are getting so old…the thing that makes it the most evident is looking at our grandchildren. All five are excelling in school and becoming interesting and entertaining young people. Our oldest turned 13 this year and our youngest is six.

I hope that all of you have a wonderful holiday season. We look forward to another year and hopefully we are able to cross paths with a few of you soon.

Merry Christmas 2025

By on December 14, 2025 in The Pearl
It’s that time of year again when we like to reach out and tell all our friends and family hello and Merry Christmas. We had another great year splitting our time between Texas, New York and our wonderful little home in Lewisburg, PA. We didn’t do any large trips this year, just relaxing weeks on the lake in NY and a week in the Adirondacks in September.  

It’s hard to believe we are getting so old…the thing that makes it the most evident is looking at our grandchildren. All five are excelling in school and becoming interesting and entertaining young people. Our oldest turned 13 this year and our youngest is six.

I hope that all of you have a wonderful holiday season. We look forward to another year and hopefully we are able to cross paths with a few of you soon.

Fall Updates

By on November 2, 2025 in The Pearl
“As leaves cover the forest floor in a carpet of vibrant rusts, orange and gold, Autumn proves that sometimes death, too, can be a beautiful thing.” – Nikita Gill

Our fall has been busy and it’s hard to believe how fast this year has flown by. There are so many things to keep us busy in this area and we love it. Pennsylvania and New York seem to love fall and there are fall pumpkin stands and festivals everywhere. Here’s a look at some of the things that kept us busy this fall. 

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

Fall Updates

By on November 2, 2025 in The Pearl
“As leaves cover the forest floor in a carpet of vibrant rusts, orange and gold, Autumn proves that sometimes death, too, can be a beautiful thing.” – Nikita Gill

Our fall has been busy and it’s hard to believe how fast this year has flown by. There are so many things to keep us busy in this area and we love it. Pennsylvania and New York seem to love fall and there are fall pumpkin stands and festivals everywhere. Here’s a look at some of the things that kept us busy this fall. 
I decided to break this blog post into categories instead of by date. Our biggest activity in the fall is saying goodbye to The Pearl and getting her ready for the winter. So here are pictures of our last days in Ithaca. They were filled with great sunsets and beautiful temperatures.
We never get tired of watching these balloons
or the full moon.
Our favorite place to eat or just have dessert is The Boatyard Grill.
The gulls are moving in and are happy the boats are leaving.
Stan leaving Ithaca…the end of another great year on the lake.
Our last view from The Pearl…one in the evening the other our last morning on the boat.

Goodbye…we’ll see you in the spring.

We’ve stayed busy all year with family activities and they are the ones we enjoy the most. Going places with the kids and having them come play at the house makes life awesome.
What would fall be without football games?

Campfires and s’mores are even better in the fall.

The kids came over one weekend to enjoy the Woolly Worm Winter Weather Prognostication and Fall Festival. We had fun taking part in family activities, looking through craft booths, listening to music and having lunch in the park.

One afternoon we rode our bikes to Mifflinburg to enjoy their October Fest.

Our yard is beginning to look like fall.

We’re enjoying all the fall squashes…this is butternut squash soup with fresh basil, parmesan cheese and pumpkin seeds on top.
Stan made these poblano rellenos and they were delicious. 
We usually eat at the Boathouse Grill on our last night at the marina, but they were closed so we celebrated the end of the season by going to Elizabeth’s in Lewisburg. It’s a beautiful little restaurant but not as good as the Boatyard.
I had the bistro carbonara pasta and Stan had the fall tasting menu which included chick pea salad, lemon baked trout and cheese cake. We shared the salad and dessert.