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PHOTO BY J. LARRY GOLFER PHOTOGRAPHY

ABOVE: Lake Barcroft is home to many members of the Easy Breezy travel group. LEFT: Lucie Seward in Bar Harbor, Maine PHOTO COURTESY OF LUCIE AND TED SEWARD

TRAVEL, continued from 11 to 2,000 travelers with a crew of more than 700.The luxury ocean liner offers a theater, bars, restaurants, entertainment, swimming pools, a hot tub, a casino and more. The cruise made traveling, well, easy breezy. “Some of our people need help traveling,” said Cromley. “None of us really want to drive to destinations either or deal with airports and hotels. This way, it’s so much easier.” For Cromley, though, the high point of the trip was a sunrise. “I fulfilled a lifelong dream,” she said. “I saw not one, but two, emerald green flashes at a dawn sunrise over the north Atlantic.” Cromley has lived in Lake Barcroft for more than 50 years. She said she didn’t actually create the group, but she is the brains of the outfit, stirring up interest with flyers and recruiting Meyer to handle bookings. “It all started because I had been on previous cruises as a couple, and we envied the happy, laughing groups of friends,” she said. “So I decided to try to put together FairfaxTimes.com

a ‘table for eight.’ We ended up with two tables for eight.” “Easy Breezy” came from her son’s beach house of the same name in Cape Hatteras off North Carolina. This September, she plans to get Lake Barcroft residents and others together for a trip on the Potomac River on the Odyssey, a large riverboat that sails from the Gangplank Marina on the Washington, D.C., waterfront and offers scenic views of monuments, as well as brunch, lunch, dinner and dancing and live music. In January 2015, Easy Breezy is headed out of Port of Baltimore to Bermuda on another cruise. Lake Barcroft Village is a nonprofit organization established to allow senior residents of the community to age in place with a variety of support services and programs. The concept of “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” is a national movement, and the village helps members with errands, transportation, household maintenance and other services. As part of the social, cultural and educational aspect of Lake Barcroft, Cromley said her travel group is an important part of the village’s mission.

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July 2014 | Fairfax County Times SENIORS

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