Tag Archives: Travel

Cruise 2026: Lessons Learned

Kenn and I looked at our cruise as an experiment of sorts. Is this something we would like to do again? Why or why not? Periodically throughout our trip Kenn would ask, “So, what have we learned today?”

The most important lessons we learned are:

  • We need a room with a view. Neither of us would do well with an interior room.
  • Paying for the package that includes all tips is a must.
  • The “unlimited beverage” package would be better if it included water. Instead, we took advantage of the “special” offered the first full day aboard and purchased 12 bottles of water for the low, low price of only $20.🙄 Neither of us are big drinkers but we did make some use of our unlimited beverage plan. We spent a couple of hours every evening on deck twelve near the outdoor bar where there was plenty of seating and windows overlooking the ocean. Kenn’s favorite drink of the trip was a Mudslide, which was basically an alcoholic dessert.😂 I had never had prosecco, so I tried a peach bellini; it turns out, I am not a fan. I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise since I’m not a fan of wine in general. I tend to prefer a drink with rum or tequila. (The rum based Bahama Mama was my favorite.)
  • There were several complimentary restaurants onboard, but the others required additional money. Our cruise package included a credit toward one of the non-complimentary restaurants which we put toward a meal at the Italian restaurant, La Cucina. The food was good but nothing to write home about. I did get to try panna cotta for the first time and it was delicious. (I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of it.) It might be nice to try a cruise line where all of the restaurants are complimentary. (Such cruise lines do exist.)
  • The biggest, and most important, lesson we learned is that we will never be avid cruisers. No, it wasn’t bad, but for us, the destination is the most important part of the trip. Our road trips take longer, but give us longer at our chosen destinations and we can make side trips on the fly. This is not to say that we will never take another cruise, just that cruises will always be the exception, not the rule.

With the last point in mind, a cruise to Alaska is still very much on our bucket list; we think a cruise will give us the best opportunity to see the most scenery. We’ll probably take a one-way cruise from Seattle so we can disembark and spend a few days visiting friends who moved to Alaska. Of course this means that we’ll have to fly back to Seattle – and neither of us enjoy flying – but, you do what you gotta do.

Later this year we’re planning to take a train trip to see how we like traveling by rail. Have you traveled by train?

Cruise 2026: Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas

The second (and last) stop on our cruise was Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas. Great Stirrup Cay is a private island owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines. Normally, this sort of “destination” island wouldn’t appeal to me; my fair-skinned self isn’t made for basking in the sun or floating in the lagoon, even with sunscreen. However, there was one activity on the island that we couldn’t pass up. Well, that I couldn’t pass up: Stingray City & Swimming Pigs on Treasure Island. I was sold on this cruise as soon as I learned about the pigs. Kenn, being the sweetie that he is, agreed. Norwegian only offers this specific cruise twice a year; we were on the last one for the year.

The pier at Great Stirrup Cay is only large enough for one ship, so the Star dropped anchor away from the island and passengers were “tendered” to the island on smaller boats. Specific instructions were provided for how and when to arrive for tendering. As per normal, the actual process was… disorganized. Our excursion to Treasure Island was scheduled for 11am, and since we were supposed to allow thirty minutes for tendering, it was important for us to be among the first to tender. (There really needs to be a better term, LOL.) In spite of the confusion, we made it onto the first boat so we were in the queue for our excursion in plenty of time. Whew!

Our group had a bit of a hike to the dock where we took even smaller boats to Treasure Island. Once on the island, we were given the instructions for how to behave around the animals before being allowed to proceed to the interaction areas. Staff was on hand to work with everyone individually to limit any issues. Of course, we had to sign waivers; where animals are involved, accidents can happen. Example: I got stepped on by an adult pig. No harm was intended, the pig simply wanted some apple. Did it hurt? Yep. Swim shoes don’t provide much protection from pig hooves. But, I was fine; not even a bruise. We were not allowed to take phones into the animal areas so there were plenty of staff with cameras recording everything. Yes, that meant we had to pay extra for photos, but I was fine with that. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, braces yourselves. Photo dump incoming!

Posing with Gigi
Baby pig snuggles
Feeding the pigs

Which would you prefer: swimming with the pigs or interacting with the stingrays?

Cruisin’ Together

Kenn and I have long had a cruise to Alaska on our bucket list. Cruise-savvy friends pointed out that, if we haven’t been on a cruise before, we’d probably want to start with something shorter to make sure we actually enjoy cruising before signing up for something lasting seven to ten days. Good point! Kenn has never been on a cruise and I’ve only been on one – when I was twelve. We looked into cruises and discussed several options. At Christmas, we pulled the trigger and booked a four day cruise. We departed Tampa, Florida onboard the Norwegian Star on March 12th and made stops in Key West and Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas before returning to Tampa on March 16th. I’ll write separate posts for our shore excursions.

We learned a few things along the way:

While neither of us had problems with seasickness, I was prepared with Dramamine, acupressure wrist bands, and inhalers just in case. (My daughter-in-law and a couple of the grandkids suffer from carsickness, so I have passed everything on to them.) However, I have now been warned that the Pacific tends to be rougher than the Atlantic, so we shouldn’t skimp on preparations whenever we go to Alaska.😬 Long-lasting patches have been recommended so I’ll add them to our anti-seasickness kit next time around.

We have also agreed that paying for a stateroom with a balcony was worth the extra cost. I don’t think either one of us would have done well without having a view.

Paying for valet parking at Port Tampa Bay was the way to go. We dropped off our car and the parking crew handled getting our luggage to the ship. When we returned, our car was brought to us. Easy-peasy.

“Checking” our luggage the last night of the cruise worked like a charm. It allowed us to disembark without wrestling our luggage through all of the various checkpoints. Our luggage was waiting for us in the baggage claim area, which was the next to the last stop. Also, Kenn’s bright orange suitcase and my bright blue one were easy to find amongst the sea of black and maroon luggage.

While we had no major problems with Norwegian Cruise Lines, our next cruise will probably be on a different line so we can see how things vary.

Have you been on a cruise (or cruises)? What cruise line did you use? Would you recommend it? Why or why not?

Road Trip 2025: Ohio

After West Virginia, we moved on to Ohio for the next leg of our journey. The Cleveland SE KOA Holiday in Streetsboro functioned as our base of operations. Streetsboro (and the surrounding area) was so stinking cute! (This KOA was also the home of the Pig Rock.)

Our first point of interest was Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Unlike some national parks, Cuyahoga Valley is spread out over a wide area. The visitor center we visited was at the trailhead for the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail which is popular among cyclists. Not having travel bikes, we walked a portion of the trail before moving on to the Brandywine Gorge Loop Trail. The Brandywine Gorge Loop Trail is an easy walk. Water levels were low so Brandywine Falls was rather small during our visit. (Pro tip: Waterfalls are directly impacted by the amount of rainfall in the area so, if water levels are low, the falls will be smaller. I know this seems obvious, but people still write reviews complaining about things like that.🙄)

Obligatory photo at the park sign.
Under the bridge behind the visitor’s center.
Brandywine Falls
Awkward selfie at Brandywine Falls.

The “24 hours of A Christmas Story” marathon on TBS/TNT is a Christmas staple at our house. After attending the candlelight Christmas Eve service at church, we go home and begin prepping the monkey bread and pigs-in-a-blanket for Christmas morning; we always have the marathon on while we work. We couldn’t be in the Cleveland area and not visit the House from A Christmas Story. (Tour tickets must be purchased online.) The tour was fun and we were given plenty of time to roam around and take pictures. The tour includes the small museum containing a lot of props from the movie and a wall of fan art. Of course there is also a gift shop where I bought a few stocking stuffers. (The house next door has been turned into the Bumpus House bed and breakfast.)

It’s a major award! (Kenn’s best creepy look.🤣)
Fan art.

Kenn even found a pretty park for us to visit – complete with a “Cleveland” sign perfect for pictures, LOL. It was a nice place to sit and chill for a while. It was also my first view of Lake Erie.

We meet so many wonderful people when we travel. There are always others willing to take photos for us (like the one above) and we do the same for them. Many times this turns into conversations about where everyone is from and where we have traveled, etc. There are plenty of good people in the world.

What are your holiday traditions? Do you watch A Christmas Story?

Road Trip 2025: West Virginia

Our first destination was New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia. I love West Virginia; it’s a beautiful state, totally worthy of its own song. We learn from each trip we take. One of the reasons we start our trips in early-to-mid September is because school is back in session which (usually) means crowds are smaller at high traffic locations such as national parks. (Mount Rushmore and Glacier National Park in July were not for the faint of heart.)

The first step for us is to check out the Visitor’s Center. At the very minimum, we need a stamp and sticker for our National Parks Passport and I’m always on the lookout for interesting stocking stuffers and/or souvenirs. Then we grab a map of the park and determine what we want to see. We decided to check out the scenic outlooks near the visitor’s center followed by a scenic drive.

No selfies in front of New River Gorge National Park’s non-traditional sign.

After completing our selfie attempts at the overlook nearest the bridge, we noticed people walking on the girders under the bridge. My first thought was, “What are those idiots doing?” We then realized they appeared to be wearing safety harnesses which were attached to an overhead cable. So, these weren’t just random people being careless. It turns out there is a company named Bridge Walk just before the entrance to the park. Per their website, “Bridge Walk offers guided tours of the New River Gorge Bridge from the catwalk 25’ beneath the Bridge.” If you are brave enough to do it, I’ll wish you well and wave goodbye as you begin your journey; this girl is not a fan of heights and my feet are staying firmly on the ground.

It was a beautiful day to spend at a beautiful park.

When we finished up at New River Gorge, we made the twenty mile drive to Babcock State Park. The scenery at the park was gorgeous; I’m sure when the fall colors arrive it edges into spectacular. (Water levels were really low during our visit.)

The grist mill is still functional, but wasn’t running the day we were there.

Next stop: Ohio!

Have you been to either of the places featured here?

National Parks Passport

Kenn and I travel primarily to see parts of the country we haven’t seen before. While we’re seeing the sights, we also make it a point to visit any national parks, national monuments, etc. along our route. A few years ago I discovered the existence of National Parks Passports and gifted Kenn one. The “passport” is just a fun way to document the parks that you’ve visited. The book is broken out by area of the country and within each section each page gives spaces for the official cancellation and a regional stamp (decal) for the location.

Each park has “cancellation” stamps for the location. The stamp includes the date, name of the park, and the location (state, town). The stamps are usually located at the visitor’s center, but not always. At the Flight 93 memorial in Pennsylvania, the stamps were located at the memorial plaza instead of the visitor’s center. While the stamps are free, the decals (or regional stamps) are not. There are usually a variety of these decals to choose from and they are less than five dollars.

There are also a couple of handy accessories for the passport books. The first is stampable sticker sets. Each of the stampable stickers is round and just the right size for a cancellation stamp. These stickers come in handy if you forget your passport; you can just stamp the sticker, then place the sticker in your book later. As I’ve learned, they also come in handy when the cancellation stamp is incomplete or illegible as sometimes happens when there is too little (or too much) ink on the stamp. In those instances, I just stamp one of the stickers and place it over the original stamp. Problem solved.

The second helpful accessory is the expander pack which provides extra pages that can be added to the passport book. When we took our trip out west in 2023 we quickly filled up the section for that area, so it was nice to be able to add a couple of pages. Of course, the passport book is rather small so there are only so many pages that can be added. I’m not sure what we’ll do when we can no longer add pages. Maybe we’ll just pick up a second passport.

As one of the perks to turning 62 last year, Kenn gifted me with a Lifetime America the Beautiful pass. Now, rather than needing an annual pass to the national parks, we’re good for life! There are some national monuments, etc. that don’t accept any of the parks passes (I’m looking at you Mt. Rushmore), but they are few and far between. If you plan to visit several parks, monuments, etc. in the course of a year, an annual pass is your best bet. At only a few dollars more for a lifetime pass, it is definitely a steal once you hit the right age.

Now, we have an excuse to go back to the parks we visited before getting a passport to collect the stamps from those. I don’t consider that a hardship, LOL. Any other national park “collectors” out there?🙋‍♀️

Road Trip 20205: A Summary

I thought I’d do a quick summary of our trip before getting into detailed posts. After all, all I had to do was copy and paste most of the info from a FB post. What was I thinking? This is WordPress – it doesn’t do easy. Instead, it converted every individual line of the copied text into a separate paragraph. Ugh. It probably would have been simpler to re-type everything rather than fix the resulting mess, but I’m hard-headed so I did things the hard way. Anyhoo, here is the promised summary:

Trip Length: Twenty-five days and 4,505 miles

States Visited:

  • North Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Virginia
  • West Virginia
  • Ohio
  • Indiana
  • Michigan
  • Wisconsin
  • Minnesota
  • Illinois
  • Kentucky
All of the states we have visited with our camper.

Places visited:

  • New River Gorge National Park
  • Babcock State Park (West Virginia)
  • Cuyahoga Valley National Park
  • The House from A Christmas Story
  • Indiana Dunes National Park
  • Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
  • Castle Rock (St. Ignace, Michigan)
  • Mackinac Island
  • Tahquamenon Falls State Park (Upper Peninsula of Michigan)
  • Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
  • Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
  • Atomic Antiques (Madison, Wisconsin)
  • The Bronze Fonz (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
  • The Kaskaskia Dragon (Vandalia, Illinois)

Great Lakes:

  • Erie
  • Michigan
  • Huron
  • Superior

We’re only missing Lake Ontario!

I’ll break the future posts out by state, assuming I survive grooming (aka shaving) Kota, our long-haired cat. Wish me luck!