Ahoy, sailors and holiday fun seekers, and welcome to amazing Croatia! Today our frijoles are fortunate enough to join the Pospisil family as they holiday in this republic of 4.5 million people. Tourism is a major industry in Croatia today, and we're lucky enough to be here just for that purpose - a little rest and relaxation on the Adriatic Sea. What could be better?

So here we are at the boat rental shop in Biograd, where we'd pick up our mode of transportation for the week. The beans liked this little sailboat, but if you think we're cramming the entire family, an entire week's worth of provisions, and the beans "essentials" that they brought along for the ride (pool table, XBox, 36-inch plasma TV, etc.) in this tiny dingy, then we'd better have a chat before we embark.

Fortunately for everyone, the frijoles and their friends the Pospisil family were able to secure us a 38-foot cruising yacht, which was right up our alley. And with a little help from our littlest pal here, the beans even got to take the wheel for a little while. They had a great time sailing the ship - the cool breeze and salty sea air made them feel like they were really captains of a mighty vessel. This worked well until the beans announced that their next stop would be "the second star to the right and straight on until dawn", but since Neverland wasn't on th itinerary, we wisely gave up control of the wheel to Mike. (But don't worry - the beans kept the pirate hat.)

Here the beans check out the Island of Pasman, which will lead us to the outer Cornat Islands. The beans were thankful to put their can on dry land again for at least a little while -- they may have their "sea legs" on, but sometimes they forget to hold them up straight.

Keeping the adventure moving, the beans next stopped by the island of Dugi Otok, which is the biggest island of Zadar's archipelago. Because it normally takes an hour and a half by ferry to get here, most day-tourists pass this beautiful island by, which really is a shame. For those of us lucky enough to have our own yacht, though, it's practically our own private playground.

As you can see, the beans are getting rather spoiled by having a yacht to themselves. Once they get home they'll have to start making a few phone calls to the Trumps to see if they can borrow one of theirs. Heck, The Donald doesn't use it all that much (the wind messes up his 'fro), and we hate seeing it go to waste...

Here on the island of Dugi Otok you'll find Luka Mir, an inland salt lake. You'll also find that the banks of the lake and the surrounding villages are teeming with olive trees, plus there's fishing (of course), hiking areas, and places to just stop and soak in the natural beauty. (Before nap time, of course.)

The beans were hot, so salt water or no, they decided to dive into the lake and cool off. Which begs us to ask the question once again - when will they ever learn that salt water and metal cans don't go hand in hand? Perhaps someday when the rust finally eats through their exterior they'll remember. Until then, the beans did a beautiful backstroke through the cool water. You should've seen it.

Back safely on board the yacht, the beans dried off by laying out in the warm sun and admired the stunning beauty of the area. Who knew that Croatia looked like this? Certainly not me.

Anyway, after relaxing for a while, the beans went off to find the on-board shuffleboard deck. Now, I wouldn't say that the beans are professionals or anything like that when it comes to competitive shuffleboard, and they would never take unfair advantage of a fellow tourist when playing a friendly game, but do you see that sailboat across the way? It's now been renamed the "Black Bean"; that's all I have to say about that.

When the beans stopped here they were told that this is a "goat's refugee", which is something we've certainly never seen before. It looks to be a small house - could it be that this is where Billy Goat Gruff and his cousins like to hang out and play poker? Since we never did see any goats we'll have to assume that they were all inside sleeping off a bender or something. Either that, or they were just waiting for the beans to turn their back so they could ambush them and have one heck of a goat-sized fiesta. Regardless, we're not sticking around to find out, because somebody is going to be really, really cranky with either outcome.

But there you go - a wonderful, eye-opening trip around the Adriatic Sea. The beans can't thank the Pospisil family enough for taking them along on their holiday, and they highly recommend that each and every one of you expand your vacation horizons a little by making a trip to the Croatian islands for yourselves. The beans also suggest the 38-foot yacht; it makes your travel a whole lot more portable than a room at the local inn. Besides, now that the salty old beans know how to tie sailor knots and swab the deck, they'll be glad to be your first mate. Or your special V.I.P. do-nothing-except-laze-about guest. Your choice.