Spring Break projects

Since we ran out of money, our spring break plans were a no go.  I decided to make a giant list of things that needed to be done around the house.

1.  Paint John's old childhood cabinet to put in utility room-I did this using paint leftover from the house and tied it to the colors I just did in the utility room.

2.  Redo the shelves and paint the dryer pipe-I used red spray paint on the pipe, and scrapbook paper on the shelves.

3.  Make a message board for family-I used an old frame from Grandma's house.  Inserted scrapbook paper where you normally put a photo.  Got some dry erase markers and some flowers.  Put it all together and wow a message board.

4.  Make new curtains for kitchen-I found some great fabric in Indianapolis at Wal-mart.  One was $1 per yard the other $3 per yard

5.  Install new kitchen sink-proved to be more difficult than we thought because the people we bought our house from (the flippers as I call them) cut the hole out themselves.  It was not straight and it was odd shaped....that may be why they used a mobile home sink (you can have one of these free in my garage).  It was a 5 inch deep double pan sink, and I have hated it every day for 7.5 years.  Now I have a 8.5 inch deep sink!

6.  For my birthday last year, I bought the lumber and my dad donated his skills to build me some bookcases.  That was last July, and I was just now painting them.

7.  Paint the back door-I wanted to paint the inside of the panels on the door leading to the garage.  I also wanted to paint a saying on there.

8.  Paint kitchen trashcan-we had the nastiest can in the world.  A blue can that they sell at Wal-mart.  (why do they make all the cans blue or white and just nasty?)  I painted it with Rustoleum black paint for plastics.  It is like a new can and fits the color scheme of my room.

9.  Use the left over transformation kit and paint the bath cabinet


Hope you enjoy the photos of my week of projects.  

Spring Break Goals

I tend to be more productive if I have a list.  I tend to hold myself accountable when I share that list.  I have a week off starting today and I have some things that I MUST accomplish on this week off.  Today I am going to share this list with you.  What?  I know I can't believe I won't be on a cruise ship either, but no the cruise is later, a staycation is first.  These items are above my usual daily cleaning chores. (Maybe I should post them, yes there is a daily list)

1.  Make 50 cards
2.  Submit at least 40 of those designs
3.  Fix the cracks in the driveway
4.  Reseal the driveway
5.  Stain the deck
6.  Clean the windows in my house
7.  Possibly paint the utility room (still thinking about this one)
8.  Day trip to Nashville
9.  Fix crack in sidewalk
10.  Weed the flower bed (possibly raise it---this depends on funding)
11.  Fix lattice on deck
12.  Try to take apart or fix basketball goal
13.  Having any work needed done on vehicles
14.  Clean the carpets
15.  Clean out the garage and storeroom (this won't take long because I keep them tidy all ready)
16.  Clean out Trevor's closet and toy box


things I wanted to do but finished all ready
1.  Cleaned out hall closet
2.  Weeded the herbs
3.  Worked on the bed frame
4.  Cleaned all the bathroom and kitchen walls
5.  Cleaned behind washer, dryer, fridge and stove
6.  Reorganized the store room shelves
7.  Cleaned out hall closet
8.  Reorganized my closet


Have a great productive spring break, I know I will. 

You expect me to put my clothes in there????

Generally, I think that cruise ships are BRILLIANT in taking a space/corner/nook and creating a storage place. You may see a shelf with a large angle on it but it will be perfect to hold your snorkeling gear.  You may find a drawer in a place you never thought could hold anything, but it ends up being the exact fit for your makeup bag.  As with any hotel, you will have a  closet and maybe 2 if you are lucky.  We generally end up with 2 (YAY!!!).  This last cruise on board the Carnival Dream was no exception, but I did have a HUGE problem with one of them.


A closet has a bar that goes from left to right and you use this bar to hold your hangers, correct?  I have seen many closets in my life and only ONCE did I see one that did NOT fit this description.

Here is a photo of a typical cruise ship cabin closet.....you will notice it is exactly like your home closet only smaller.  











Now for the closet, I mentioned.  This closet features a "stacked" design.  This design yields a frustrated woman because you cannot access your clothing in the manner you are used to.  Hence the woman, "gifting" this funky closet to the menfolk in her life. Hey, she that unpacks the clothes gets to choose where the clothes go.  That is the law!.

I imagine this closet would not have been such a bother to me had it been wider and not contained the life vests.  I did manage to shove the life vests on the shelf, but then we lost that space for shoe storage. 

Branson MO April 2011

Our first trip to Branson in 11 years!!! The city has changed in so many ways. 76 is still there, but they have added additional roads to help with the traffic problems. There are at least 2 Wal-mart stores, one Target (no fair) and a massive scrapbook store. All in a town with 6,000 residents! We arrived in the off-peak season, which really is a perfect time to visit. Everyone is super nice, there are NO crowds, and it is not too hot.

Everything started with us checking into our timeshare, Gold Crowne Resorts. You can’t check in at the property, you have to check in about 5 minutes away and then drive to the resort. That was a bit strange, but it worked. We walked into the timeshare (we had 2 days left of the week the family owns, and we had to pay for the 3^rd night) and were greeted with a much smaller version than what we had when we purchased the getaway timeshare room in October. You walk in and there is the living room and kitchen together. The laundry is in a closet right behind the table, and the vacuum is stored in a closet adjacent to the laundry closet. Then you have a bathroom with a walk-in shower (no tub L ). It is a fairly large bathroom, and we set this up to be the bathroom for the kids. You then walked down the tiniest of hallways and there was the master bedroom with a very tiny tiny tiny toilet room, a sink in the bedroom and a bathtub in the bedroom. I had to pay more to get a jet tub, the timeshare that the family owns does not come with the jet tub. We also had a balcony overlooking some of the strip in our bedroom. The tub was not clean enough for me, so that had to be taken care of, but overall the room was clean. I would not want to spend a week in this room as the kitchen is almost nonexistent; there was not even a silverware drawer. Maybe I was spoiled with the getaway room in Oct (but that did cost me quite a bit of money).

The bed slept fine, outlets were in abundance (this is usually a complaint and the reason I travel with an extension cord), and the lighting was pleasing. Overall, I would give the room 4 out of 5.

The first night we decided to hit the strip and see what we could get into. We found a pizza hut and ate there and went shopping at Target to get some essentials (including PUFFS). We hit the sack early because we all were a bit tired from the drive. When we wake, we are heading to Silver Dollar City.

SILVER DOLLAR CITY

I had pre-purchased tickets so this was NO big deal at all. We entered the park and started on the way. I really wanted the potato and onions meal, but once again this was not to be (funny I have thought about it for 11 years), but we did see the glass blower and rode quite a few things. The rides are MUCH better than the rides at Holiday World. Hands down!!! The drinks are a tad overpriced, but then all parks can’t have free soft drinks like Holiday World. The park is very clean. I never saw litter on the ground and I was looking. There were no long lines for any of the rides and most rides had NO lines. The staff was very friendly and easy to have a conversation with, but then I also noticed that most of the staff were older people, I would say past retirement age. All the staff was clean shaven and dress nicely. A very family friendly environment.

We stayed until they closed and then headed to eat at Fall Creek Steak. The restaurant was very appealing to the eye, tons of memorabilia and old signs. Our server, James was very attentive and apologetic when my order was messed up. I had the catfish and would recommend it. It was a large piece of fish with a cornmeal type breading. No strings in the fish just a large piece of white catfish. It was a bit expensive but we were finding out, nothing was cheap on the food budget. We would generally spend approx $50 on each meal.

TITANIC

This was the one thing I was looking most forward to. We arrived 1 day before the 99^th anniversary commemorating the maiden voyage. You may not bring any cameras and your phones must be off. There is a staff member in each area so there is NO way you could have a phone out for a photo. The story is that you are buying a ticket on the Titanic and will be given a boarding pass with you passenger name on it. It will also feature a brief history of your character. You will immediately board the ship. You get to see every class and what things would look like. Starting in 3^rd class you will see even a ticket from the actual sailing and many other one of a kind memorabilia. There are many sad points on the tour; the first is here in 3^rd class. A man died in the water and they found him, they took off his wedding ring and his family preserved it for many years and this ring is on display for you to view. It was sad to think they took this off his body after he died in the frozen Atlantic. I will tell you another sad tale later.

You will see a 3^rd class cabin and then you turn the corner and there it is the Grand Staircase. It looks exactly like it did on the Titanic, which means it looks just like it did in the movie, which means you can visualize Jack walking down to greet Rose before dinner. This was the part where I wish that I could have had my camera. The architecture is extraordinary. I have been on many ships in my days, but the craftsmanship is just not quite like this. A ship in these days is flashy and neon. Princess is classier, but it pales in comparison with this staircase.

Walk up the staircase and you will see a replica of Mr. John Jacob Astor’s room. He was the richest man in America at the time of his death and this room is evidence of some of that wealth. You will also see artifacts that can’t have a value they are so precious!!! A deck chair, letters from passengers, mirrors, jewelry, books, and good luck charms….all that belonged to passengers. This is indeed a once in a lifetime chance…think about it, this stuff will be 100 years old next April!!!!

The next room is the bridge (wheelhouse); you can turn the wheel and pretend you are EG Smith navigating this mammoth on its first and last sailing. Then hang a left and walk out onto an actual deck. The stars are in the sky, and it is dark, but you can barely make out an iceberg on the horizon. Now, it is time for impact! You will see 3 decks that are angled just like they would have been that night as the ship was sinking. It is very hard to stand on the deck angled at 45 degrees, give it a try. Next, to the deck are photos of the passengers. I had seen some of them in studying the ship, but this was an extensive collection of photos. Some were labeled the only photo in existence of such and such. I found my passenger and she was a pretty lady, I did not yet know her fate.

The next room is the room where Dr. Bob Ballard found the remains. I remember this day vividly in my own mind. I had always wondered about the wreckage since I had first heard of the ship and when Dr. Ballard discovered it I was so happy. It was nice to see all the maps and photos of the discovery.

Here is where you experience more sadness….I mean you are sucked into the experience of the thrill of all the artifacts that you forget the death until you enter the recovery room. There you see photos of bodies being removed, bodies in coffins, and the sailors labeling bodies with a number because they have no names and stripping their bodies of jewelry and placing it in bags that correspond with the body number. It was very strange to see the dead bodies of the people, they were bloated and misshapen. You also see letters by the White Star Line wanting money to send the body home; otherwise, they would bury them at sea. The one guy they show was poor his family wanted his body, but could not afford to have it sent home so he was buried at sea.

Next, you learn the fate of your passenger. I am happy to say that all of our family survived. Trevor was a fireman and he swam to a free boat. I am sure Hannah, John and I were all in lifeboats as we were all women. Trevor also had a first-class dog, and his dog perished….little Frou Frou, you know all the dogs were supposed to stay in 3^rd class decks but Frou Frou was so cute, she was allowed to stay with her master in the master’s first class suite. There were only 10 dogs on board, but sadly they all perished.

We bought some souvenirs and then headed to Golden Corral for a big meal. Then a game of mini golf…where I lost.

Branson, we had a great time, thinking about season passes next year. Even without Grandpa’s room, we could stay a couple of days in a motel/cabin/whatever and go to Silver Dollar City. It was a lot of fun!!!

my favorite cruise tips

There are many things that "they" don't tell you when you book a cruise. There are also many things that this seasoned cruiser has picked up over the years that end up being my life savers for the week in a 156 square foot cabin.

1. Duct tape--will fix ANYTHING that is broken (hems, suitcases, shoes...etc..)

2. An extension cord or a power strip-the cabin will come with ONE maybe two if you are lucky outlets...this is a must do for cell phones, laptops, alarm clocks, electric razors, hair dryers...

3. Alarm clock-your room won't come with this and if you have an inside cabin, you will LONG to know the time.

4. Night light-again for inside cabins. You can't leave the bathroom door open, as you are sailing it will rock back and forth making noise. If you need light at all you had better take a light.

5. Ziploc bags-perfect for anything that might leak, wet bathing suits on the way home and I keep one in my camera bag. I cut a hole big enough for my camera lens and I have semi water resist way to still take pictures. Especially handy on a whale watching excursion.

6. Sea sickness-if you get motion sickness to consider a midship cabin. Less rocking! If you like the waves book a forward cabin (I LOVE them!!!) Aft tend to feel the roar of the engines.

7. Post it- I leave NOTES on my cabin door and usually a balloon...this helps find your cabin in a long hall full of cabin doors and makes you unique.

8. Address cards-Handy to give out in case you find a tablemate or a crew member you want to stay in touch with...I use this tip A LOT!!!

9. Hand Sanitizer-I don't generally use the stuff, but in foreign countries, it is sometimes hard to find soap and water. Most of the ships will require you to use the stuff before you enter dining halls.

10. Hangers-I bring hangers to hang up our clothes. The closet will not have enough drawer space or hangers. Bring your own and you solve the not enough drawer space problems. I leave them at the end of the cruise for the next guest. Sometimes I have been lucky to be the recipient of another guest that left their hangers. LOVELY!

11. Travel journal-you may want to jot down things. If you are that type of person bring a notebook so you don't forget a thing.

12. Dollar bills-perfect for tipping room steward for room service (food is free but it is nice to tip), tipping a cab driver, or a porter

13. Highlighter-perfect for marking your daily map so that you won't miss the things you want to do. Also good for keeping up with shops you want to visit and grading trivia contest papers.

14. Don't be afraid to make friends-there are some great people on cruise ships, say hello. On the other hand, these people don't know you, you want to wear your speedo, ok go for it (I promise I will be snickering at you).

15. Insulated cup-get a cheap one...use it to fill with tea or water so you can take to the decks or to your room. Most cruise lines have them for sale if you forget to bring one....then you have a ship souvenir with the logo.

16. Ship map-I always at least glance at it before I leave. Find your room, the dining room and the main lobby. This will help make things easier on you. You probably will "get lost", but that is half the fun.

17. Don't forget to look for an abandoned bar/lounge/area during the daytime if you just want to read and watch the water out of the sun (or if it is raining). I like to draw and write in these areas.

18. Don't forget to shop on board. Specials last one day so if you see one you like and it is the special of the day, get it!!! Scarves, purses, and costume jewelry are usually $10 and a great deal. Some ships offer "outlet" days on a day at sea. Watch your ship newspaper for details. It is usually last seasons style but who at home will know?

19. If you drink alot of sodas purchase a soda card. A can of soda alone will cost you about $5.75, a soda card about $25 for a week. A much better deal. Coffee, water, tea, lemonade and sometimes fruit punch are free. You may bring sodas and water from home. I always do, just don't overdo it. I have seen people get on board with a 12pk of sodas with no issues.

20. Consider booking excursions before your cruise. The purser and excursion desks are nightmares. I avoid them whenever possible. Book before you go and you are guaranteed a spot. Alaska ones sell out.


For those interested, I don't mind sharing my packing list. Email me and I will send it out to you. Please let me know if you want Caribbean or Alaska, word or pdf. champion.am@gmail.com or werthechampions@bellsouth.net

Why I love cruising

1. The Ships---Big beautiful floating cities. And they are gorgeous!! Especially those newer ones.
2. Food---I love to eat! Love to try new foods and my family doesn't...a perfect chance for me to try stuff and not lose any money if I don't like it. Man, if I don't like it, they will bring me a replacement for free.
3. Formal or not so formal---I love to dress up for a 5-course meal! I love portraits. Well, there are also times when I want to slum it and a cruise will allow me to do that too.
4. Location---you go to bed in one country and wake up in another and no extra travel or hotel fees.
5. Ocean (At sea days)---Look out around you and all you see are waves, dolphins and if you are lucky whales. (and you might see Cuban guard boats if you sail in the right area of the world)
6. Broadway (or better) styled shows---We have seen people use the silks, ice skate and blow us away with their vocal talent. Once we even saw "The Beatles".
7. Floating shopping malls---I love the shops!! Sales on watches, scarves, trinkets, ammolite, tanzanite, rhodolite, and sterling silver. Discounts on designer bags and most ships seem to have a $10 store.
8. Empty bars/lounges---places that are secluded and quiet during the day, a great place to read or sketch. I love this part of my day!
9. Classes---Craft classes, scrapbook sessions, napkin folding, name that tune, TRIVIA (I shall win here)....yep, I am there!!!
10. Chocolates on my pillow---that part needs no more added to the description, but I get equally excited by tomorrows capers newspaper.
11. Naturalist---I have only had these on my Alaskan cruises but they are so wonderful, so informative, and willing to answer my questions.
12. Included---I love that after I pay the ticket price and other than the shopping, really I am out no more money except tips. Especially when I got to Alaska and book my excursions from home through the same company the cruise ships use. Saved a ton of money.
13. Midnight buffets---yeah, if I can stay up, I love them. However, they don't come every night like they used to :(
14. Artwork---I love looking at the various artworks on the ships. some have millions of dollars worth of art on board.
15. Photographic moments---there are usually so many that I can fill up an entire 8gb card
16. Omelet stations---one of my favorite parts of getting out of bed early. A fresh cooked, made to order an omelet. I like the one with tomatoes, cheese, mushrooms, onions, peppers, and bacon. YUMMY!!!
17. Vanilla---gotta go to Mexico to get the vanilla for my famous cookies.
18. 12 hours in a fjord---yep, I will sit there the entire 12 hours just to see those great glaciers.
19. Cruise Directors/Shopping Experts---they make me laugh, they are crazy, and often highly entertaining.
20. Hot tubs---oh yeah, love me some hot tub, especially when the air is 39 degrees outside. AHHHHHHH!!!

Florida 2010

Florida 2010

I was a tad nervous about this whole trip…problems at work, Grandpa sick, and a timeshare. We had never booked a timeshare. I read the reviews online and some were good, a free great, and many BAD ones. I had already decided that I would throw a fit if needed. When we approached the resort exit, it was easy to tell that it was NOT in the tourist district…PLUS 1 for the Tiki’s. It was 8 miles from I 4 and 6 miles from the Disney West gate. NICE! We had a brand new super Target and 2 Publix and not a lot of tourists.

The resort looked inviting on the outside, you had the little Tiki Gods holding up the sign and very landscaped lawns. When I entered the lobby, it was spread out and open. This was a tad confusing, I went to the “check-in” desk but because I was with a timeshare I had to go to an additional check-in desk. I got my room key and the girl sent me down the counter to our “resort guide”. She wanted to get me Disney tickets cheap. All I had to do was listen to a vacation club talk. NOPE!!! I am not doing what I said. “I own the timeshare, I am in and don’t need anything else” She continued to offer me more things for 1 hour or 30 minutes of my time and I said, “NO, I am going to my room” and that was the end. It was not as high pressured as I expected.

We drove around to our unit the 1200 unit that I had read good reviews about online. Our room was 12331F. We opened the door and were knocked out by a very FISHY smell. YUCK! I got out the air freshener fast! We had one bedroom, one bath, a pullout sofa, a kitchen, a dining room, and laundry. We also had a bonus foyer, which was nice to store stuff. The room was clean (YAY) and stocked well. There was a vacuum, dishes, laundry detergent, dish detergent, a dishwasher; a living room….it was nice.

Everything in the unit worked fine except the front AV jacks on the tv, but we could plug the Wii into the back AV jacks. There were NOT enough blankets supplied and the sheets for the couch are NOT fitted so they do not stay on well. I will bring sheets next time.

Now for the water park…well, it was NOT what I expected. The site says “five water slides”, I assumed they were “water slides” because it did not say anything about being Kiddie slides. They were kiddie slides L. And the site said that there was a wave pool. The wave pool was one corner of a pool and it just had jets L. Not fun! The lobby pool was nice. Zero gravity pool, hot tub and very uncrowded! This is where we spent pool time. We never ventured onto the tennis courts, basketball courts or the golf course….NO TIME!!

What did we do? Monday is was Disney….well, EPCOT to be exact. EPCOT is the favorite park so it was a no brainer. We did our touring plan and had a marvelous day. We first fast passed Soarin’ then rode Test Track, Mission Space, Universe of Energy and then back to Soarin. Here we saw the Heath gang. Our baseball coach, Steve Shelby (my touring plan buddy) and all their families. It was fun to sit next to Steve on Soarin’. This was in the first hour! We fast passed Soarin again, rode Living with the Land and then headed over to Journey into imagination and the Living Seas. After that, we could relax a bit and just take it easy. We decided to eat. Hannah and I ate at Sunshine Seasons (my favorite ala cart place at WDW) and the boys ate at Electric Umbrella. My salad was superb as always. I always get the salad grown at EPCOT and the tuna salad…YUMMY! Hannah always gets the chicken leg and mashed potatoes.

After lunch, we headed over to World Showcase. Trevor was going to do a Kidcot mask because he has never done one (have no idea why). We got over to France and entered the Kidcot station and low and behold who was there but Mark and Grant Eyer. We spent a little time with the guys and joined up with Heidi and waited for Marie. After that, Mark decided to kill my son J and then we had to get back to ride Soarin again. This was designed as a break for my family who don’t really like the countries, they only go to humor me. After that, we started where we left off….France. As we approached America, the Kool and the Gang concert was about to start. ………… Yeah, we watched it…our kids were bored to death, but we knew all the words. It was very cool and I got great photos of drunken ladies dancing in the aisles and with the band.

When Kool was over we once again trekked on through the countries…..not much happened until Mexico where we got to eat some very good tacos. Well, it depends on who you ask. I thought they were good Hannah hated them.

We ended the day by the boys watching Illuminations and the girls running back to do Test Track one more time! It was an amazing ride and worth the running across the park that Hannah and I did to get there.

DAYTONA

Once everyone got moving we got into the car and headed over to Daytona. It was a nice quiet ride across I 4. And it was quiet in Daytona. We got on A1A and headed down the strip. It was nice to look around at everything as we have not been able to go to Daytona since 2005. We found the hotel that John and I stayed in on our honeymoon, and low and behold it is STILL a dump!!! We found a real gem on the strip, something that was NOT there the last time we were there….Sloppy Joe’s. Now, this takes us back to Key West. Yep, we ate there. I had the famous Sloppy Joe….yummy and I had to school my daughter on who “Papa” was. She had never heard of Hemingway. What are the schools teaching children, no Hemingway? That is an issue for later. We traveled back to Orlando and a good nights sleep, tomorrow is Universal Studios.

Universal Studios

Well, I was a bit nervous about this too. I remember last time we went to Universal is was roller coasters and I don't do coasters. Not at all, but I was excited that Trevor would get to see Harry Potter. That is exciting anyway because that part of the park just opened in June so Trevor would be one of the first people to go there.

It was very easy to get him a pass for the lines. I just went to guest service and they took care of him quickly. That is always nice. It did not matter in most instances. I had read that Spiderman was one of the greatest rides on the planet, so we headed there first. WOW!!!WOW!!!WOW!!! This was a little bit of wonderful. It is a simulator, part 3-D, part live action, part animation, all thrills! It had real flames, real water, Spidey would talk to us like he was in the car with us. What is happening is you get in this car and are traveling through town. Spiderman is with you and Doc Oct grabs your car and shakes you trying to kill you. What happens next is that a bunch of villains begin to bother your car and Spidey has to save you. And succeed he does.

Next we just walked about a bit and saw a place to eat lunch. We got the all you can eat package and planned to take advantage of it. We stopped for the first meal in the cartoon type restaurant. It was just OK! We did get this large bottle of coke that we could refill and that was very nice.

WE kept walking and around a bend we saw this giant castle. Yep, that's it HOgwarts. It was so lovely. I have always loved castles so it was exciting in that aspect but that is about all. As you are walking around towards the castles you enter Hogsmeade. It is like a throw back to olden times and I loved it instantly. The town was snow covered and a snowman greeted you as you entered the city gates. WE went inside Honeydukes, and it was sort of cool. The kids liked it but they knew what all the stuff was and I did not. There were butterbeer carts everywhere but I have no idea what that is at this point in time. No, I have not ever read the books and never cared to. There was the HOgwarts train and a conductor standing outside. The kids had their photo made in front of it and it was very cool. We sent John over to the Dragon's Challenge because I heard it was fun for roller coaster folks. So we went into Diagon Alley to watch John on the coaster. We did not know if he was on fire or ice, but I am telling you I was scared. I knew that the coasters were 12 inches apart from each other when you were in the middle of the ride and the riders were upside down. John got a little woozy...not good. But then we climbed the hill and headed to Hogwarts. I wanted so badly to go inside this castle and here we go. We showed Trevor's pass and they let us right in. We climbed some stairs and got into the ride line. OH MY GOSH, this ride was the best thing I have ever done. I had no idea what any of it meant. I have since studied Harry and read the books so now I know that Argog, the dementors, and he who must not be named. It was so good, that we got back in line to ride it again. We got right back in line and got on the ride within minutes. It was just as thrilling the second time and actually I wanted to ride it again, but John got sick. Very sick!!! While we were waiting for him to get better we rode the Flight of the Hippogriph. That was a family friendly coaster and not bad at all for someone like me that doses not like coasters.

We took at break and ate lunch in Dr Seuss, this was way better than the last place that we ate.

After lunch we headed to Poseidon. I have no idea what movie this is from but the show was very interesting. I enjoyed it.

After this we headed back to Harry. The wait was 80 minutes but we got right on. After that we headed to the old Universal. WE did the Twister, which is just like it was in 97 and a bit dated. We did the Simpsons (I hated it but everyone else liked it), Men in Black (we did this twice it was so fun), Jaws (I loved Trevor's reaction), ET (just as cool as I remember), and we ate dinner. That's all for today folks.

The next morning Grandpa called with problems but we decided we could not get home in time so we carried on waiting for news on him. We rode the Harry Potter ride again (I think 2 or 3 more times), the Nick show (nice), Shrek (nice except that you have to stand). I met Lucy and Ricky and Marliyn Monroe while everyone else did the Terminator show. We rode the spiderman a couple more times and I think that we did the DR Suess train this day too. All in all, Universal was great and hooked me on the HP bandwagon.

We left Fl early before we were scheduled because we felt we needed to get home for Grandpa, but it was a great trip and I want to go again.

Harry Potter

I finally succumbed to the power of Potter. I shall blame it on Universal Studios Florida. As I entered Hogsmeade, I fell madly in love with the castle and its turrets. The snow everywhere was lovely too. Then there were the town's streets...all lined with excited people pointing here and there. People clamoring for wands, waiting in line (long lines) for butterbeer and pumpkin juice, trying on robes and screaming with excitement over a Griffendorf. I knew what none of this was! I was lost, confused, but excited about the village. We entered a place called Honeydukes...candy as far as I could see, but the meaning was lost on me. We saw the Hogwarts Express (i knew what this was), Diagon Alley, the Dragon's challenge, tons of wands..lost on me. ( I did snap photos like crazy though.) Here we go into the castle. It was dark, damp, and spooky; just what I expect a castle to be...there are moving portraits on the wall...the meaning is lost on me. People are snapping photos like crazy of these portraits, tables, and a talking hat. The hat told us we would be chosen and we follow that choice. We were chosen at that point to enter the ride. Hermione (I knew her name) said count backward from 3 and cast a spell on us...BAM! We flew back and twisted around...WE WERE FLYING! Harry said that Hermione made us fly. Hagrid (I knew this too) asked us if we had seen a dragon and we continued to fly. We passed a scary creature with a skeleton like face, I now know its a dementor. He was very frightening! Then we met a giant spider (Aragog...but I had no clue then), and Hermione told us something then they took our picture. Oh my, there's the loose dragon....and a blonde boy starts teasing Harry about us and then Harry yells about something closing in...we "fly" straight down and save something cause the Hogwarts kids start clapping and a bearded man says we may come back anytime we wish. We took him at his word and got right back in line. We did this 5 or 6 times because it is the best ride EVER! The Flight of the Griffindorf was a family coaster, perfect for someone like me. I rode it twice. Then we saw a musical group and everyone was watching them...we headed for the butterbeer line....$30 later we had 2 butterbeer s and 1 pumpkin juice. We sat under this roof and I fell in love! In the rafters were many owls! All types of owls, barn, screech, horned, grey...oh my! They move and they pooped all over the beams! This was amazing! After experiencing this world, I had to read the books.... I have to say the books have nothing on the real-life Hogsmeade and Hogswarts! I really want to go back!

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Oh how I love thee, but WHY?

There is something about you...yes, on my first visit I could not quite put my finger on what it was, but I have it now! You are rich! Rich in nature! Rich in beauty! Rich in peace! Rich in culture! Rich in shopping! Rich in "gold"! Rich in stories!

There you sit at the head of Lynn Canal, which really is not a canal at all but a natural made fjord. See you start off fooling me from the very beginning. But there you are, I can see you as I approach. There is a distinctive "downtown". Rows of buildings lined up against the street. But still something is different. When I first step onto your land. I look around. There is a mountain will paintings to my right. Paintings of what? Yes, that's it paintings from crew members whose ships docked in your port and advertisements from stores that are probably long gone from your town.

And to the left and straight ahead...there you lie, Skaguay or Skagway as you are called in "modern times". We are here at the mouth of Broadway, walking up your streets heading first to what I see on the left, the Alaska t shirt company. This store, while not rich in Skagway heritage, is rich in savings. I hope to make you my first stop. On the right is the great statue for the Klondikers.

The who? The Klondikers! What's that? They are the people who sought out Alaska during the Gold Rush of the Yukon (1896). The prospective "millionaires" would board a ship and head up Lynn Canal. It was NOT a smooth journey as the canal was full of bergs, fierce winds and they were not really sailing under the best of conditions. The hopefuls landed in Skagway to begin a trek over the mountains. It was to be a 500 mile trek up the mountains into Canada's Yukon territory. While that doesn't sound so bad, it was. The mounted police did not care that you wanted to come to their country to "strike it rich", but they were NOT going to care for you. So each prospector had to carry with him 1,000 pounds of supplies (or a years supply of goods). Yeah, that is typed right ONE THOUSAND POUNDS! "The Golden Staircase" (as it was known) was a constant line of prospectors. If you stepped out of line you would have to wait 15 minutes or so to regain a spot in the trek.

This is art depicting the "Golden Stairs"

This trek proved to be deadly for some (above is pictured Dead Horse Trail) , and not as rewarding for the others. Some decided that there was too much at stake and took up residence in Skagway instead. They sold the supplies needed, opened saloons and brothels, and one guy by the name of Soapy Smith decided to run the place as a mob city. He was crooked, a thief, and just all around NOT a good guy, but a very interesting read...I recommend you read about him.

Back to the future....behind the famous Klondikers is the White Pass and Yukon Railway. This railroad is a narrow gauge train that will parallel the "White Pass Trail" that the Klondikers took. Construction began in 1898 with a goal in mind of making it easier for the prospectors to get into the Yukon territory and up to Dawson City. The WP&YR today is run as a tourist attraction and what an attraction it is. I have been on the railway twice and have learned so much both times. The tour leaves right from the cruise docks. There are many tours that you can choose from. The most popular goes to the summit and back, then there are some that go into Canada and one that will take you into Whitehorse, BC.

The views are spectacular and because you parallel the White Pass trail you will get to see many of the sights seen in Gold Rush days. Like the "trail of 98", "Black Cross Rock", the old depot spots and a bridge that will make you cringe.

This is an amazing trek, the most popular inside passage excursion and well worth the $100 plus you will spend....save your money now!

When you get back to town it is time to explore some more. The Skaguay News depot is a wonderful place to pick up information on the Gold Rush, Klondikers, old newspapers, or even today's paper. There is even a cross stitch store in town! YEAH, I could not believe it either. Check it out! You can get gourmet cupcakes (get them fast when they sell out they close), you can check out Soapy Smith's life, visit tons of jewelry stores....but there are some must dos.

AB Hall---The Arctic Brotherhood Hall. There are over 10,000 pieces of driftwood nailed to the facade of the building and then have been there since gold rush days. This building will grab your attention FAST!! It was a social place for miners in its hey day, now it is a visitors center.

There is a lovely Russian facade on one of the jewelry stores, and wonderful mouth watering fudge at the Alaskan Fudge Company (wish I could have more of the vanilla glacier fudge).

Walk around more and you will see the National Park (please visit here), Skagway river, and walk off Broadway to see how the locals live. You can visit the market...the market is interesting. The food comes in on a barge and the grocery is stocked. Prices are HIGH! As the week progress, prices go lower as the perishables are starting to go bad. Canned good will escalate in price because folks are running out of fresh food and need to eat. Yeah, that's right the food barge comes in once a week! We were told, as the week progresses you take a chance on only eating canned items if you wait. We saw chopped sirloin for $9.00 per pound.

the cementary is near here too!

Well Skagway, I have covered most of your 7 blocks in just a few short minutes. For those of you given the chance explore this quaint little mining town and all she has to offer. I am sure that you will NOT be disappointed.

The travel list

Everyone knows my zest for travel...the more the merrier. And you all know how I love lists...here are 2 lists that involve travel.

The Places I have been that I loved
1. Bathsheba, Barbados
2.. Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
3. Pikes Peak
4. In the waters around Admiralty Island, Alaska
5. El Morro in San Juan, Puerto Rico
6. Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas
7. Key West, Florida
8. Phillipsburg, St Maartin
9. Skagway, Alaska
10. Washington, D.C. (everything about it thrilled me)
11. Cumberland Falls
12. El Yunque rain forest
13. Chichen Itza
14. Ketchikan, AK
15. St John
16. Mendenhall Glacier
17. Bill Clinton Library
18. The Royal Gorge
19. Charlottsville, Virginia
20. Victoria, Canada
21. The Hermitage
22. Chicago, Illinois
23. Arlington National Cemetary
24. Coke Museum in Atlanta Georgia

25. The Old Mill
26. Great Smokey Mountains National Park



Where I would like to go:
1. Kilauea
2. Mt Saint Helens
3. The Grand Canyon
4.. Denali National Park-June 2015
5. The Grand Tetons
6. Yosemite National Park
7. Glacier National Park
8. Mt Rainier National Park
9. Forks/La Push
10. Mansfield, MO-July 2012
11. Niagara Falls-July 2018
12. Muir Glacier
13. Olympic National Park
14. Aruba-Sept 2014
15. Statue of Liberty National Monument-Oct 2019
16. England

17. A Corner in Winslow Arizona

18. Havana-Oct 2015

Carnival Victory 2004

FOUND IT!!!  My notes on the Carnival Victory....created while on the voyage from Miami to St Maartin in 2004



12Dec 2004

My first glimpse of the ship was from the windows of a Greyhound bus....you know it was just a wonderful looking ship.  You could see the fluke sticking out from the top and it makes you all happy inside.  This ship was going to be fabulous.  It was to be our first balcony cabin....at a price of $2,252.80 for all 4 of us (Grandma, Grandpa, John and me).  Airfare came at a whopping $193 pp from Memphis to Ft Lauderdale.

The Victory is a Triumph class ship....893 feet long and holds 2700 passengers.  She is the perfect size.  Our cabin was perfect as well.  We had of course the standard 4 beds (2 upper and 2 lower  berths), the balcony featured 2 chairs a table and plenty of space to move around.  The door slams every time it closes...BAM!!

This deck was WONDERFUL...a first for me...it featured a tiered look almost like stadium seating.  And the focal point of course is the Carnival water slide.  It is the biggest slide that we have had on a Carnival ship.  It stands at 214 feet long and called the King of the Sea.

There were mosaics throughout the ship...and in walking around I discovered they were made in Italy.  There are crafted in a way that I could only dream of doing.  There was one giant (and I mean giant) mosaic that depicted the Victory ship.  WOW is the only word to describe it.  I think I took about 5 pictures of it the first day that we were onboard.  I even had my photo made next to it.  There were so many mosaics....even the elevators featured them.  The atrium is the most beautiful that I have ever seen too...It is tiffany glass style and just glistens in the lights...it is indeed a marvel.

As soon as the ship left the port and got to a nice cruising speed, I just HAD to go back to the room, lean over the balcony and snap some photos.  I have always wanted to do this.  WE were so close to the water line that I could feel the spray on my face and I could smell the water.  However, this is not always a pleasant odor...so I shall be more careful.  There are tons of dead fish floating around. YUCK!!!

It did not take long to get to San Juan...John and I watched from the balcony...we could see the battlements of El Morro from our cabin.  Now that I enjoyed.  There is a storm brewing which is NOT going to be fun.  I need to call the kids, it is all ready almost dark and this is just going to make it worse.  It looks as though it is a HUGE storm.  Well, we shall soon see, we will be docked within an hour or so.

When we finally got to the terminal there was a RCI ship next to us.  This was the first time that I had seen a RCI ship and my ship was larger than it...ha ha.  This RCI ship was leaving the terminal and heading to the Southern Caribbean...part of me wishes that I could get on that ship.

I am telling you I knew this storm was going to be bad.  As soon as we got off the ship it began to pour and was so black outside.  But I have to call the kids.  Henry and Ina opted not to get off the ship.  I went...I wanted to call and see Old San Juan again.  We saw tons of lightning strikes and we got soaked.  Hey we could see our balcony from the phone booth :)

This was the first time that I had been to San Juan in the evening.  They were decorated for Christmas and I remember the decorations from last time only I did not see them lit up last time.  The large flowers in the park are awesome, but my favorite is the nativity scene made out of rope lights.  There is also the palm tree made out of rope lights, I wish I could take it home. :(

We departed at midnight...there were parties going on all over and San Chrisobel was all lit up and looking beautiful.  When we wake up tomorrow we will be in St Thomas. :)

The 2 ships in port here were the Westerdam (we almost took this ship on this voyage) and the Century (we were on her last October).  This is my favorite port in the Caribbean!  Charlotte Amalie is so lovely the way it sits back in the cove.  We arrived at 8 am and going to depart at 6 pm.  We are going to go to St John.  We have not done that before.  It should be great, but first we do a little shopping.  The giant Longerberger basket still stands in the Havensight shopping district.  Last time we were here there was some hurricane damage, but all looks fine now.   Henry and Ina plan on going into Charlotte Amalie but our tour leaves at 12:15 guess we will catch up later.

Here I sit on Trunk Bay.  We took a ferry over here and saw Michael Jordan's house, Madonna's house, and Alan Alda's home all of  which were  HUGE!  John is doing some snorkeling right now, and I am working on some sketches.  The whole island is a national park thanks to Lawrence Rockefeller, and because of this it is against the law to remove any objects (even a shell) from the park.  Did you know that there is NO running water here? Rain is collected in cisterns and made into drinking water.  The students in middle and high school take a ferry to St Thomas every day to go to school.

We passed a giant termite nest on the way to this beach, you could hear the buzz of the termites...GROSS

When we were on the ferry we passed the point where the Atlantic and the Caribbean meet.  It was very neat.

St Maartin:
First trip...we were told it would be very easy to get to the beach on your own so we gave it a whirl.  When we got off the ship..there were lots of signs to different destinations.  We chose the Orient Beach one.  Henry and Ina could not decide where to go and were going to go with us, but at last minute they headed to town.  Jerry was our guide and took us up the winding streets of St Maartin.  We passed Marigot and entered the french side of the island and there was our beach.  As soon as we got off the ship it began to rain.  We have been plagued with rain this trip.  We found a shelter and I found a palm tree and took a frond off of it.  The ocean was a green with streaks of blue.  The waves were mild and folks were everywhere.  There was a sign on the private side of the beach that said "clothing optional".   Thank goodness most folks kept their clothes on.  Actually I only saw 3 folks that did not.  One guy in the ocean, one guy on a chair and one guy....I call him "ugly naked guy"  that paraded up and down the beach all day.  He was about 80 (no lie) and wore nothing but a bucket hat.  I guess that we were lucky that there were not more because this beach was full, but I was grateful that the times that it rained that none of the naked people tried to get into my shelter.  I am telling you, it rained on and off most of the day. :(

When we got back to Phillipsburg, I headed to do some shopping....shopping here is the best that I have ever seen.  I thought Charlotte Amalie was good....nope I was wrong.  This was the last land we were to see until we hit Miami beach in 2 days.  This is the part I hate.

On the ship:
I now had 2 days left to inspect the ship.  I found a bar that featured Czar Nicholas II and Alexandria in a giant mural.  It was the Caspian Wine and Spirit Bar.  It was always empty and a great place to draw or write.

My favorite hang out was the piano sing along bar.  I could have gone here every night just to hear this guy sing.  His name was Kevin and he was from Texas.  There was standing room only every night.  The women were CRAZY for him...because he was funny, talented, and very entertaining.  The women had a contest, "who could stuff the most dollars in his tip jar".  He loved this game too I am sure.

We found a hot tub that children could NOT get into YES!!! Those kids kept diving in the ones on deck...so we hopped up to the spa and found a hot one there.  Hey, Grandma and Grandpa starting hanging out with us there too.  Grandma would not get in though.  She just sit there.

We took a galley tour and this was the worst that I had ever done.  The matre D' did not explain anything...he just walked us through and walked us out...took about 3 minutes.

This is the last night of the cruise.  I am sitting on the balcony and everyone else is asleep.  I can see the lights of Miami up ahead and I am very sad that I shall be leaving this wonderful room soon.

Here we are in Miami...I took one last walk out onto the balcony before we exited the room, and all I saw was the terminal....whoo hoo.  This was the last chance to get Ina out onto the balcony...can you believe that we have been here a week and she has not been out ONCE?  We are upstairs for one last omelet.  How many have I had this week?  5-6?  probably.  We are on ship transfers so I bet we will be one of the last because they take you by flights and our flight is a long time away (tomorrow). 


We spent $432 on board...what did I buy?  $98 in shore excursions....internet cafe stuff...transfers....and tips seems to be the most that I spent on stuff.  Pretty good, I would say.

We checked into our hotel and walked over to Bennigan's to eat a little lunch.  Our room was nasty...NASTY.....NNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAASSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTYYYYYYYYY!  There were little bugs everywhere.  I did NOT want to stay here!  John knew this and took me for a walk.  We walked around Miami found an office depot, a chicken joint, a dog track (the one that was featured in the opening credits of Miami Vice), an abandoned flight school (Baker), an airport, and a bill board for a tournament on 4 Jan 2005 for the FedEx Orange Bowl.

It was a wonderful cruise.


Copied from my 2004 notebook on 26 Feb 2010