Memorable Vacations and First Snow

What's your most memorable vacation?  It's really hard to say for me.  They have all  been good and that makes it hard to narrow down.  That is partially because the worst moment of vacation is better than the best moment working.  That's just a fact.  I know they say that about fishing.  But if you think about it, fishing and vacation are sort of the same.  Both are times spent in quiet contemplation... except of course while you are catching a great big fish or zip lining through a jungle.

I used to love the family vacations we all took together.  The bulk of those memories occurred in the backseat of a Ford, be it Fairlane, LTD or Granada.  Most of them while driving through Colorado.  No matter where we went, I always remember the parts when we were driving through Colorado.  I guess it's just a memorable state.  I have a friend who amazingly enough is able to remember back to when she was two.  I can't do that.  I am challenged to remember things I did yesterday.  I don't remember much from when I was four that wasn't recorded on Dad's 8mm movie camera and played over and over again throughout my childhood forever embedding it in my memory.  If it wasn't for that 8mm camera I probably wouldn't have any memories of one of the best vacations of my life.

When I was four we lived in Alvin, Texas.  Robbie, Ronnie and I had never seen snow and I guess Mom and Dad decided to pack us all up in the Ford Fairlane for a November vacation to Colorado in search of snow. For those of you who weren't fortunate enough to experience the beauty of the 8mm movie camera, I'll explain.  There was no sound.  So your Dad would stand in front of you with the camera running and you would stand at attention as though you were being photographed by a still camera and then he would say, "Do something!"  Your first response was to wave at the camera and say "Hi!!!"  Then he would say, "They can't hear you...." and you would start making faces.  My parents have reels and reels of 8mm film and about 40% of it is me and my brothers waving and then jumping around and making faces.  Anytime my Dad was on the screen, it means my Mom was filming and you can read Dad's lips in the footage saying "There's no film in the camera" over and over again just to mess with Mom.

So anyway, on this memorable vacation in November of 1967, they packed us and our coats and the 8mm movie camera up and we went off in search of snow.  There are movies of snow on the side of the mountains as we drove along in the car.  I suppose Mom filmed that as Dad drove which is really funny to me since she never wants to watch home movies because she says they give her motion sickness.  Seriously?  Maybe if she hadn't filmed from a moving car, this wouldn't be a problem.  But anyway, we finally stopped at a roadside park and we were all excited to get out of the car and play in snow for the first time.  Apparently, Dad got out first and turned the camera on to film all of us getting out of the car.  Robbie, my older brother, who would have just been turning 7 at the time got out with his arms sort of stuck out in the air.  He was wearing a bomber jacket and one of that hats with the flaps that come down over your ears.  After a minute Mom walked over to him and took his jacket off, turned it right side up and put it back on him.  He had put it on upside down with the collar around his waist in his excitement at seeing snow.  The whole family always gets a big kick out of that part of the movie.

I have to say that my parents were very attractive in this home movie.  Mom was really skinny and wore pencil capris's and a really cute winter white "leather looking" car jacket.  I say "leather looking" because it was the 60's we were in a Ford Fairlane and there is no doubt in my mind that Mom would not have spent the money for a real leather jacket.  But I would love to have that jacket now if I could pull it off like she did.  She had platinum blond hair and was really cute.  The incident with Robbie's jacket was really the only thing of any interest that took place at that first stop.

Later in the movie, we stopped to play in snow.  Once again, we all piled out of the back of the Fairlane in the movie and then the "fun" commenced.  There was a snowball fight.  For those of you who really know me, I was even less coordinated at age 4 than I am now, if you can believe it.  In the movie I am wearing a really cute little houndstooth coat with black fur trim that buttoned up.  I have a black fur muffler that goes around my neck and you put your hands in to keep them warm.  I was precious... right up until my dad threw a snowball that hit me right smack in the face.  Then I was a crying, screaming, bundle of 4 year old anger the likes of which no one wants to get locked up in a car with.  In the home movie, I was red and crying with a wet face (the snowball had disintegrated on impact and the cold, wet remnants had slid down my face into my coat).  Perhaps this was the moment when I initially discovered that I HATE to be cold and vacations are best if taken in a tropical climate.  To make me stop crying, my parents told me to hit Dad with a snowball, but again, I had no coordination, so I couldn't throw a snowball and hit the broadside of a barn, much less my Dad.  So finally, he bent down and I sort of rubbed a snowball in his face and everything was better.

The next footage on the 8mm film is of Ronnie attempting to walk on ice.  I must tell you that there are few things better than taking a 3 year old who has barely mastered the art of walking on a flat surface in warm dry Alvin, Texas and sticking him on a sheet of ice and watching him walk.  The footage of Ronnie walking in Colorado could entertain you for hours.  But to his credit, he never gave up.  Each time his feet slipped out from under him and he wound up on his back he immediately got up and tried again.  At times, if the fall didn't make you laugh out loud, the effort he put into trying to get back up and falling again numerous times will.  All of these years later, it is still one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

Those highlights that were filmed on the movie camera are really about all I remember of the trip.  But they were great.  That trip, even though I was cold and probably whiny the entire time, is still one of my best vacation memories.  VHS cameras were not invented until much later and my Dad never got one until I was an adult so, we don't have talking home videos of us as kids.  All of ours are silent which probably makes the memories better.  After all, who wants to hear a screaming 4 year old whine about the melted snow sliding down her front?  Not me!

Top Ten Places to "Get Away From It All"

Getting away from it all.... that's the trick, right?  It's what we all strive to do on a regular basis.  Maybe the hardest part of getting away from it all isn't in the "getting away" part, but in figuring out what "it all" is.  For you "it all" might entail a tedious 60 hour a week job that becomes an 80 hour a week job if you count the hours of sleep that you lose over it each week.  To another person, it might mean the constant arguing with kids to get homework done, take baths and get in bed in a timely manner with somewhat clean teeth.  For yet other people perhaps "it all" is simply the constant motion and noise of a big city.

Regardless of what you are attempting to "get away" from, there is probably an ideal location in which you can escape.  For me, my ideal escape must have warm weather and salt water in the mix.  But maybe your get away is the slope of a snow covered mountain.  I haven't done a top ten list in a few weeks and I know that there has been a lot of clamoring for more of my top ten insight.  I know, you people starve for my knowledge.  So here are my thoughts....

10.)  Whistler, BC Canada - I don't care how warm and sunny the Caribbean is, just look at a few pictures on the Whistler tourism website and your troubles will begin to melt away.  Seriously, the picture below looks like one of those village scenes you display on your fireplace mantel at Christmas time.  How could you not want to be a part of that little Christmas village?  You can't!

9.)  Hawk's Cay Resort on Duck Key - Ummmm.... It's in the Keys.  Do you really need to hear more?  Okay then, how about this....  Not only do they have an exceptional conventional hotel and spa but the property also includes villas that you can rent by the week in which you have your own private pool just in case your "get away" does not include sharing chlorine with others.

8.)  Wild Dunes, South Carolina - I know what you are thinking... Who's taken over Susan's travel blog???!?!  But I'm still here.  Today's top ten list includes a little something for everyone.  Are you a golfer? Then perhaps you'll be interested in this top rated South Carolina golf course just 30 minutes from Charleston which incidentally is considered to be the the birthplace of golf in America.  There are only two words to describe this place - Beautiful and Peaceful!

7.)  San Juan Islands, Washington - On the day that I visited the San Juan Islands I had left my purse containing my credit cards, drivers license, money and lipstick in a Starbucks in Lynnwood and did not get it back until late that evening and STILL it was one of the most relaxing days of my life.  I'm just saying, this is a laid back part of the world.  In my mind, it would be the perfect place to rent a house for a week and forget that the rest of the world even exists.

Downtown Friday Harbor

6.)  Grand Wailea - Maui, Hawaii - Maui was voted "best island in the world" by Conde Naste readers for the 17th time this year.  The readers of the Maui News voted the Grand Wailea the best Resort, Restaurant and Resort Spa of 2012 which I guess means that the Grand Wailea is quite simply the BEST.  I haven't been there, but with all of those "bests" how can you possibly go wrong?

5.)  Santorini Island, Greece - Now, this is my idea of an island get away.  In fact, if I went there I'm not sure I would ever want to get back to here.  The Santorini 360 degree view on this site will show you everything you would need to know before booking your trip to paradise.

4.)  Blue Hole of Belize - Okay, you don't have to say it.  It is a hole in the water.  You can't stay there.  I understand that.  But there are a myriad of places on land near the Blue Hole where you can stay so that you can dive at the Blue Hole.  Just look at the picture below and tell me you don't want to experience this!  I dare you!

3.)  Overwater Bungalows in Bora Bora - Hey!  I didn't say these "get aways" were affordable, I said they were away and they are.  WAAAAAY away!!!!  How many times have you dreamed of going to a place like the one in the picture below?  Just imagine walking down those steps and into the crystal clear waters of the South Pacific.  You know you want it....

2.)  Christmas European River Cruise - What better way to get away from the hustle and bustle of a commercial American Christmas than by floating down the Danube in the luxury cabin of a riverboat as you stop in various cities to enjoy centuries old churches and villages?  I'm in!

1.)  Sugar Ridge - Jolly Harbour, Antigua - I have only two words for you.... All Inclusive.

I hope you have enjoyed my Top Ten Places to Get Away From It All.  I know I enjoyed looking them up on the internet.  Whether you agree with the order that I have placed them in or not, you must agree that any of them would be a welcome vacation.  Have a great Thursday!

Ahhhh... Grand Cayman!

Everything is set for my January cruise except that the wine package has not been purchased yet.  I think that will be done today though.  Then it is just a waiting game.  This is when the waiting gets tough.  When there is nothing left to do but think about how wonderful it will be the time really starts to drag.

Last night I dreamed that we had boarded the ship and gone to our cabin.  Our luggage had already been delivered to the cabin, so my travel buddy, Jenny unpacked and put all of her things away and slid her suitcase under her bed.  Then she left the room and I began to unpack and opened the closet door to discover that previous guests had left clothes, shoes and evening bags in the closet and there was no room for me to unpack.  But instead of calling the cabin steward to have it all removed, I started going through  and trying it all on looking for shoes that matched.  The worst part was that none of the shoes had their mates.  Just a single shoe from each pair was left behind except one cheap looking pair of size 9 shoes.  In the dream, I actually tried them on my size 6 feet just to be sure they wouldn't fit.

I'm not sure what all of this means except that the next 53 days will be VERY long.  When anticipating a vacation, I become consumed by it.  I can't help it.  I now have 53 days ahead of me in which I can spend each waking moment trying to decide how to spend my time in Grand Cayman.  You see, Jenny and I booked excursions for each stop except Grand Cayman.  We did this for several reasons but the outcome is that I now get to research and plan a full day in Grand Cayman.  I have been there a number of times.  On all but one visit there, I had excursions booked prior to leaving the ship.  The one time I was there with no excursion planned, I was traveling alone and had decided it was the place I would just wing it.  I am so glad that I did.  I enjoyed a wonderful lunch on a balcony overlooking the tender boat drop off.  The pictures below were taken from my table at lunch.

Okay, granted, the cranes do nothing for the view.  But this photo was taken 6 years ago, so they have probably been moved since.  Following lunch, I shopped.  I'll just tell you that lunch was the least expensive hour of the entire day.  I bought everything from rum to pendants and earrings.  Yes, you read that correctly, pendants... plural.  You see, I made the mistake of going to the shopping lecture during the day at sea before arriving in Grand Cayman in which the shopping guide talked about black coral which is only found in a limited number of places with the Cayman Islands being one of them.  She also talked about the shops where you could buy coin pendants.  Jewelry shopping is never a good idea if you don't have someone with you to talk you out of your purchases.  The coin that I purchased was minted in the 1400's in Genoa, Italy which is the birthplace of Christopher Columbus.  I got a certificate of authenticity for it.  And yes, I drank the kool-aid.

I like Grand Cayman because it is one of those Caribbean islands where they drive on the wrong side of the road and English is the first language of the citizens.  It is also very pretty and there are a lot of neat things to do there.  On previous visits to Grand Cayman, I have gone to Hell, visited the Turtle Farm and been out to Sting Ray City.

 Hell is pictured to the left.  It is a small town outside of Georgetown that has a post office and a store and behind the post office and store, you see the rock formation in the photo.  The tour operator told us that they are not sure how the rock formation came to exist but the belief is that it was an old reef that came to be above water due to an earthquake or some other natural occurrence.  Whatever the case, it is a bed of grayish colored rock that you cannot touch.  You walk on a boardwalk above it and take your pictures.  The attraction is apparently in buying a post card and mailing it from the post office so that it is post marked from Hell.  I mailed one to myself.  Oh, the town was named Hell because when it was discovered by some Brit, he called it that because the rock is very jagged and cuts you if you touch it and he thought that this must be what Hell was like.

The Turtle Farm is one of my favorite things in Grand Cayman.  The photo to the right is my mom holding a yearling at the Turtle Farm.  They let you do that.  From what I understand, now you are also able to swim with the turtles in one of the tanks.  When we were there, this was not an option.  Some of the turtles are enormous.  I'm not sure why I like turtles so much, but I do and so I think this is a very cool place.  They also have iguanas and parrots at the turtle farm in case you want to see them up close.  Or you can walk through the tourist market in Georgetown and see parrots and iguanas at random stalls.

Sting Ray City is a really interesting experience.  When you read about the trips out there, it is described as "swimming with" or "snorkeling with" sting rays.  In my experience, the water at the sand bar is so shallow and there are so many people there that it is really more of a case of standing and wading in the water with sting rays.  Take a look at the picture below taken from our boat and you will see what I mean.

Sting Ray City is far enough from Grand Cayman that you can barely see land once you get out there.  Yet you are on a sand bar so the water is only about hip deep.  There are generally dozens of boats there which each brought dozens of people.  The sting rays come to the sound of the boats arriving because they know they will get fresh squid when a new boat arrives.  The rays do have barbs and they can sting, so you have top be careful to shuffle your feet through the sand rather than picking them up and stepping down.  Some of the ones we saw had a wingspan of 4 feet.  The one in the photo below was probably about 3 feet across.

There is also a rum cake factory you can visit in Grand Cayman and of course, the beaches are terrific.  Seven Mile Beach is one of the most popular beaches in the Caribbean.  I am not sure what we will do on this visit.  We have talked about renting a car and going to Rum Point Beach and maybe visiting the Turtle Farm too.  Jenny has never been there.  So it should be a lot of fun.  I'll let you know what we decide to do.

Oh!  I'll leave you with one more photo today.  This is the view as you come into Georgetown on your ships tender.  I love this view.  The building in the background with the sign that says Landmark is where I had lunch that day I was there alone.  I sat on the left corner of the second floor balcony.  I wish I was there right now.  Have a good day!

A Vacation to Recover from the Holidays?

Trips to spend time with family are precious and must be valued.  But once you are back home with all of the comforts and peace and quiet of your own home, do you sometimes wonder what you were thinking a few weeks ago when you were so looking forward to making that trip?  Holiday trips to spend time with family can be stressful even in the best of situations.  In the worst, we all hear about those family stabbings on the 10:00 o'clock news each year in which an argument broke out over a turkey leg and it wound up in fatalities. I'm not sure what makes us think that any single year might be different than others.  But they usually all turn out about the same way.

I am very fortunate.  I am one of the few people I know who truly enjoys spending time with each member of my family.  Some more than others naturally.  :-)  But I never walk away thinking, if I could only get Goober alone in a dark room full of knives.....  Even though I enjoy spending time with family I still found myself day dreaming during the second half of the Cowboys game about my upcoming cruise.  If you aren't already planning a vacation for late winter or early spring, I don't know how you were able to make it through Thanksgiving and especially that Cowboys game.  It is probably all that saved me.

You see for me, planning the vacation and the anticipation of it are half of the fun.  For months prior to a vacation anytime I am sad or stressed, I just go to my happy place where I imagine standing on deck 4 at muster as the ship pulls away from the dock and all of my troubles are left behind.  It's very therapeutic!  It works the same way with vacations that don't include a cruise ship.  Just imagine yourself turning off all electronic devices as the flight attendant points out the emergency exits and demonstrates the oxygen masks. It's the same thing.  Either way, all of your troubles are centered around your home and office and you are leaving them.

For me on a cruise vacation, I don't actually feel totally relaxed until I walk into my cabin the first time.  That is when all of the worries just turn to liquid and drip away.  I'll never forget the first time my nephew, Matt and I walked into our cabin on Rhapsody of the Seas in July of 2007.  I had booked the cruise late (less than a month prior to sailing) and requested a balcony but we didn't get a cabin assignment until we arrived at the terminal and still didn't know where the cabin was located until we found it on the ship.  It turned out to be on the aft port corner.  It was a large room with a balcony almost as big as the room.  It wrapped around to the side and had lounge chairs as well as a table and chairs.  When we walked in, we both went nuts!!!!  He called his mom immediately and I called my parents to let them know we were in the greatest room ever!  We each spent a LOT of time on that balcony that week.  Here are a few pictures of Matt on that balcony...

 Don't bother asking why all but one of these pictures were taken while we sat at the dock in Galveston either prior to sailing or upon returning.  I can't answer that question.  But they are the only ones I saw that were taken out on the balcony.  I have heard that the rooms with this wrap around balcony were done away with when Royal Caribbean renovated the ships.  If so, I am sorry to hear that.  It was the most fantastic room I have ever had on a ship.  In the picture below you can see that we actually did leave Galveston during this cruise.  You can tell that by how blue the water is that Matt is looking out at.

The photo to the left was taken as we returned to Galveston on the last morning.  I didn't want to leave this balcony.  Matt was probably anxious to get home to his then girlfriend, now wife, Melissa.  I just wanted to stay on that ship and keep anybody else from ever coming back into that cabin claiming it Mine!  All Mine!!!  But we did leave.  I have never found another cabin like that one.  I am sure that cabins like that still exist.  But not for the price of a regular balcony.  They are now probably part of a suite.

On my cruise in January which, by the way, sets sail in 55 days (I have a countdown app on my cell phone) we are staying in cabin 9692.  It is a balcony on the back of the ship.  But it is in the middle of the back.  It was the only aft facing balcony available and it did cost a little more than the other balconies.  But I hope that it will be worth it.  You see I normally end up with port side balconies which is not a problem except that I always wonder what they are looking at on the starboard side of the ship when they wake up in the morning.  With an aft facing balcony, I can turn my head from port to starboard and see what everybody on each side of the ship has seen.  I'll simply be the among last to see it.

My parents will also be on this cruise along with some friends from my childhood and of course my travel buddy who I'll be sharing a room with.  We also found out after booking the cruise that a friend Jenny and I used to work with and her daughter and friend will also be on board.  So, maybe one evening, we will have a big party on our balcony.  If so, I'll take plenty of pictures to post.  Otherwise, you just might see pictures of my travel buddy Jenny out there as we leave and return to Galveston.

Have a great week and if you need a trip to day dream about over the holidays as you spend more time with family, drop me a line!

Top Ten Things to Do in an Airport

With Thanksgiving this week, I am sure that many of you will be traveling to be with friends and family.  Holiday travel can be very tough especially if there are travel delays in airports or if you just have a long layover.  In this day and age of e-readers, smart phones and IPads, at least you no longer have to worry about running out of reading material.  But many of us have reached that point in an airport when you think that you just can't read another sentence.  Then what do you do?  Today's topic is 10 things you can do in an airport when you just can't read another sentence.  So sit back and enjoy!

10.)  Go to an airport bar and sit at the bar and order a drink.  The bartender will usually talk to you if he/she isn't that busy.  If all else fails, you have about an hour to sit and watch their TV before they start giving you dirty looks to give up your seat to someone who might order more than just one drink.

9.)  Make sure the smart phone, IPad, laptop, etc. all have good charges on them.  If not, find a charging station and plug in.

8.)  Are you traveling with small kids who have pent up energy that they need to expend?  Find an out of the way area and have them race one another.  Your fellow travelers will appreciate this.  You could do this for hours.  Please for the love of God, let them get their pent up energy out.

7.)  Balance your check book.  C'mon... seriously, when was the last time you did this.  Now's your chance.

6.)  Call your mother.  You know how she is always complaining that you never call....  well now you have time.

5.)  Pick 5 people out of the crowd and make up names for them and give them imaginary lives.  This can entertain you for hours.  During past flight delays I have been surrounded with people you would not believe!!!  You'd be surprised at how many people in the airport resemble lion tamers and spies.

4.)  Do you have a friend who writes a blog????  Perhaps one concerning her employment status or another concerning her new travel business which isn't quite off the ground yet????  Maybe you could catch up on her past blogs.  They are all out there in cyberspace just waiting to be read.  I know that we are trying to think of things to do since you are tired of reading, but this option is for those of you who are just tired of reading the book that you currently have downloaded.

3.)  Email your friend who has that travel blog and the struggling travel business with specifics on that spring or summer vacation you are thinking about taking.  Heck she is probably sitting in front of her computer right now and can get back to you with options before your flight is ready to leave the airport!

2.)  Find someone in the crowd about your size and age and challenge them to a moving sidewalk race.  I cannot even begin to tell you how entertaining this can be to the entire crowd at your gate.  But please, NO WAGERING!

1.)  Start creating random Top Ten lists.

The Stresses of Sightseeing!

I said that I would write about cruising out of Florida some more today, but I'm a little bored with that, so I thought I would mix it up a little.  If you were seriously looking forward to the additional Florida cruise information, let me know and I'll get back to it tomorrow.  Otherwise, we will take a little break from that topic.  Today what I want to discuss is sightseeing vacations.

In my opinion a sightseeing vacation can almost never be mixed with a relaxing vacation unless there are only a few sights worth seeing where you are going.  Maybe if you went to Ocho Rios for a week in a resort, you could hit the Dunn's River Falls and Bob Marley's house and then have the rest of the week for relaxing.  But my problem is that once I start the sightseeing thing, I can't stop.  For me it is all or nothing.  Once I get started there is really no stopping me until I get on the plane to come back home.  Even then I kick myself in the butt for the next year if there is a single sight that I missed.  

For instance, last year my travel buddy, Jenny and I went to Hawaii.  Our time there consisted of the following....  Immediately after checking into our hotel on the afternoon of the first day, we walked down Waikiki Beach for an hour or two before finding a place to eat, which wound up being the Jimmy Buffett's at the Beachcomber, by the way, that's where we were staying.  By the time we finished dinner it was late and we were tired after a full day of traveling so we called it a night.  The following morning we began exploring and in the next week we visited Hale'iwa, Kawailoa Beach, Waimea, Pu'u O Mahuka Heiau, Sunset Beach, Kawela, every wide spot in the road on Hwy 83 including stopping for multiple views of the Chinaman's Hat at different times of day and night.  

We also stopped at every point of interest on Hwy 72 including the Halona Blowhole and Makapu'u Beach. We hiked the Makapu'u Point trail.  We went up to the Pali Lookout and made two trips to Pearl Harbor, one in the rental car and another on the bus (never count on the bus in Hawaii).  We went to the Paradise Cove Luau.  We spent most of a day getting to and from Hanauma Bay and snorkeling there followed by an evening at the Aloha Festival street party.  We climbed Diamond Head and then had lunch at Duke's on Sunday just because that's the name of a Jimmy Buffett song.  After all of that we made it over to the Big Island for a full day of volcanoes, a black sand beach and beautiful scenery.  

Cramming all of that sightseeing into a week you might think that we couldn't possibly have missed anything, but you would be wrong.  That was more than a year ago and I am still kicking myself in the butt because we didn't make it to Manoa Falls.  If I went at this point after thinking about it for the last year, I would probably be disappointed since I have now built it up so much in my head.  But my point is that I that I don't think I have ever been on a vacation and come away thinking "I couldn't have spent another moment there....  I officially did EVERYTHING".  I'm just not wired that way.  When I leave a location, I want to know it better than the locals know it.  You can't do that in a week!

When we went to Seattle several years ago, I was disappointed that we didn't get to go to Olympic National Park and drive down the coast and make it to Mt. St. Helens.  Now I am aware that this would have all taken several more days than we had available on that trip.  But I still feel that we missed something important.  Read that last sentence again...  "we missed something important..."  Ugh!  We walked all over Seattle. We did the Locks Cruise.  We went whale watching in the San Juan Islands.  We went to Bainbridge Island for a day.  We went to Victoria, BC and visited the Buchart Gardens, had tea at The Empress and walked through Chinatown. Back in Seattle we ate lunch at the Pike Place Market after walking all through it and went to the top of the Space Needle.  We even spent an hour in Nordstroms and I hate shopping and still I feel that I needed another week there so that we could make it to Olympic National Park.

Don't even get me started on all of the things we missed with only one day in Rome!  A person could write an entire encyclopedia of all the things we missed in Rome.  I think if I spent a month there, I would still feel the same way.  Perhaps that is why I am not in a huge hurry to get back there.  I'm just so overwhelmed by all that I would have to do if I went back for a week and all that we would miss if we only had a week, that I can't make myself think about it.  

I think this is what makes your 8th or 9th Caribbean cruise so enjoyable.  I'll be going on a cruise in January to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel.  I have been to all of these places multiple times.  I think I have been to Cozumel 10 or 11 times.  There isn't that much to see there.  In Cozumel, you go to the beach or you snorkel or you do both... end of story.  So, when I get off the ship in Cozumel, I exhale deeply and I am in a state of total relaxation for the entire day.  On this trip, we will do the Dune Buggy, Beach, Snorkel excursion.  I have done this excursion before.  I have also done the same excursion in a Jeep.  But you stop at all the same places and take the exact same route.  I could drive that dune buggy around Cozumel with my eyes closed.  Can I tell you how relaxed I am going to be in Cozumel this time around?  

In Jamaica, we'll be doing a catamaran snorkel excursion.  The most stressful part of that day will probably be when I stand up to do the Macarana on the catamaran as we head back to the ship.  Not that doing the Macarana is stressful, but you know, I'll have to move my mouth and feet at the same time and I have that little coordination problem.  Plus, I'll have had a few rum punches before I stand up. :-)  So, for me, I think you have to choose between a relaxing vacation and a sightseeing vacation.  I love both.  But for me, I don't think they can be combined.

Look What I Stumbled On....

I started out this morning trying to get information on Costa Cruise Lines since what I read yesterday said that they cruise out of Fort Lauderdale.  I don't know if I was reading old information on the Port Everglades website or exactly what he deal was.  But they do not currently have any ships sailing out of Fort Lauderdale.  However, they do currently sale out of Miami which is just minutes away.

You may recall that Costa is the cruise line who owned the ship that ran aground in the Mediterranean last January due to the Captain's negligence killing a number of passengers.  In the days following the accident it was discovered that they had done no muster drill during the cruise, it had been scheduled for the following day, so the passengers did not know where to go.  Reviewing their website today, it would seem that the cruise line is taking precautions to make sure that nothing like this happens on one of their ships again.  They have a video which details the safety precautions they take on board as well as the safety equipment that all of their ships are now equipped with.  It looks like they have launched several new ships in the last year or two which I suppose is necessary when you run your old ones aground and they go adrift off the coast of Egypt.  To the right is a picture of me at muster on a Royal Caribbean ship.... I find that muster is much more productive if you bring along a drink although on my last cruise, they didn't allow you to bring drinks.  Boooo!!!!

I was hoping to find out from Costa's website how big their ships are, but I couldn't really find any passenger capacity information.  What I did find, however was an amazing 18 night repositioning cruise from Miami to Savona, Italy with stops in the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Tortola, St. Maarten, St John's, the Canary Islands, Funchal, Malaga (Spain),  Marseille (France) and finally ending in Savona, Italy.  The price on this cruise starts out at an amazingly low $999 for an inside cabin with the price of a balcony at only $1,699 which they say is a 68% savings from their normal price on a cruise like this!  When broken down for a balcony, you are only paying $94 a night per person.  That is really good.  I'm lead to believe that Costa's ships are much smaller and more luxurious than the Americanized Princess, Carnival and Royal Caribbean ships that we are accustomed to which could make this an extraordinary cruise (assuming that the Captain doesn't get stupid and run the ship aground).  Now I don't see how anyone could take a cruise like that and not spend several days in Italy at the end of it.  So you would either need to be retired or have a ton of vacation time saved up to go on a vacation like this.  But wouldn't it be nice?!?!?! I know a few of you with retired parents and in-laws who this was just made for!  Take a look Costa Repositioning Cruise from Miami.

Now, I'm not suggesting that you throw caution to the wind and go jump on what could be an unsafe ship.  But it does seem like a bargain and with all of the bad publicity that they have had in the last year, it might be the safest time in the lines history to take a Costa Cruise.  This Costa thing has completely gotten me off topic today.  I was hoping to finish telling you about cruising options out of Fort Lauderdale and move on to other Florida ports.  Perhaps tomorrow we can do all of that.  For now, I will let you get on with your day.  Have a great Wednesday and give me a call if you want to send your mother-in-law on that Costa cruise....

More Information for Sailing Out of Fort Lauderdale

Last week we talked about cruise lines sailing in and out of Galveston and then we started talking about those sailing in and out of Port Everglades or Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  There are seven major cruise lines that sail in and out of Port Everglades of which we have hit on two, Royal Caribbean and Princes. In addition to those two lines sailing out of Fort Lauderdale, you can sail on Carnival, Celebrity, Costa Cruise Lines, Crystal Cruises, Cunard and Holland America.  Additionally, there are 5 other lines that sail small ships or yachts out of Fort Lauderdale.  So the possibilities are really endless once you make your way down to south Florida to board a cruise ship.

The following ships are based in Port Everglades year round:  Carnival Freedom, Carnival Miracle, Celebrity Constellation, Celebrity Equinox, Celebrity Solstice,  Coral Princess, Crown Princess, Emerald Princess, Island Princess, Allure of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas, Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Statendam, Westerdam and Zuiderdam.

Carnival has a little something for everyone and the ships that they sail out of Fort Lauderdale are their biggest and best.  They offer what is practically a water park at their main pool for the kids and yet they still have a spa for the grown ups.  If you were to compare cruise ships to amusement parks, while Disney would obviously be the "Disney" of cruise ships, Carnival would be the Six Flags of the cruising industry.  They make it all fun at a good value to the consumer.  Freedom carries 2,974 passengers while Miracle only carries 2,124.  Both ships have a higher guest to crew ratio than Royal Caribbean and Princess but that is to be expected with Carnival being an entry level pricepoint for cruise ships.  They bring other ships into Fort Lauderdale during the winter months.  Like all cruise lines, the prices go up when school is out.  This makes cruises in the two weeks surrounding Christmas very expensive.  Additionally, prices go up during Spring Break.

Celebrity is owned by the same people who own Royal Caribbean.  However, they are a totally different cruise line.  While RCI targets a younger first time cruiser, Celebrity is aimed at the 40 to 60 year old crowd who may not bring the kids with them on the cruise.  If you do take kids, there are programs for them to participate in.  However, the number of kids on a Celebrity cruise is substantially lower than on a Royal Caribbean or Carnival Cruise so there aren't as many kids for yours to hang around with.  The best cruise of my life was on Celebrity Solstice out of Fort Lauderdale.  It was relaxing, luxurious and the stops were heavenly.  I loved it so much that I recommended it to a friend with kids.  They went on the same cruise the following year and switched back to Royal Caribbean after that cruise.  She said it just wasn't the right ship to take kids on.  Now I know that simply having a kids program on board doesn't mean that a cruise line is right for kids.

There are no pools with slides on a Celebrity ship, there are however cabanas.  I'm more of a cabana girl than a slide girl.  On the upper deck instead of a rock climbing wall or Flowrider, there is a grassy area to stroll or lay in the grass under the stars or sit and sip a glass of wine.  The bars are quieter on a Celebrity ship than on a Royal Caribbean or Carnival ship.  However, there is still plenty of fun to be had.  You can still do all the dancing, barhopping and clubbing that your heart desires on a Celebrity ship.  But you won't see a lot of kids in the process.

Crystal is an all inclusive cruise line.  They are totally aimed at baby boomers with some cash to spend.  Inside cabins start at about $2,000 and go up from there.  There are no kids programs, so if you aim to take a kid with you, be aware that entertaining them and keeping a baby boomer from throwing them overboard will be entirely up to you.  The ships are very small and guest to crew ratio is among the smallest in the industry.  So, although you pay quite a lot more to travel onboard a Crystal ship, you will be treated like royalty.

I am going to have to shut down for today, I have a seminar to attend this morning.  So, I will get into other options out of Fort Lauderdale tomorrow and hopefully move on to Miami, Port Canaveral or Tampa.  Have a great Tuesday!

Cruising from Fort Lauderdale

Now that we're all up to date on Galveston sailings for 2013, let's take a look at Florida.  I'll be perfectly honest.  I won't hit all of them there are just too many.  I might not even hit all of the ports that cruise ships sail from in Florida.  I'm just going to give you the biggest ones.  Today let's just start with a couple of cruise lines out of Fort Lauderdale and see where we go from there.  If you want information on anything that I don't tell you about you all know where you can find me.

Florida is the Mac Daddy of the cruising industry.  Whatever you are looking for you can find there.  Want a 3 day cruise?  Florida's got it.  Looking for a world tour that takes 100 days?  Head to Fort Lauderdale and hop on the Pacific Princess which sets sail January 14, 2014.  The good news is, you still have 14 months to save money and lose weight before that one leaves.  Here's some really exciting news.....  If you book before March 31, 2013 I can get you $1,000 shipboard credit per cabin.  That's because I'm the travel agent who gives.  I don't know about anybody else, but I could go through $1,000 shipboard credit in the first two weeks of that cruise.  I have heard that there are even some 1 day cruises from Florida although I don't really see the point.  If it only lasts one day, I would call it a boat ride and not a cruise.  It usually takes me the entire first day of a cruise just to find my way to my cabin!

This Saturday alone there will be 11 cruise ships in Port Everglades which is the cruise ship terminal in Fort Lauderdale.  They will all leave before the end of the day Saturday.  Sunday 10 more will arrive to off load passengers, load back up and leave before the end of the day.  In two days Port Everglades will sail 21 ships out.  I know what you're thinking.... wait for it.... that's a boat load of people.  (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)  It is actually 21 boat loads of people.  None of those ships sales out with a lot of empty cabins.  The people working the terminals at Port Everglades know what they are doing.  They are the best at off loading and re-loading a ship.  You don't feel as much like cattle going through their operation as you do in Galveston.  With that said, it still involves lines and security checks and waiting.  So be prepared.

RCI's Allure and Oasis of the Seas sail out of Fort Lauderdale.  These are the two largest ships in the industry.  All of the cruise lines are launching new ships to compete with these two monsters but no one has built anything that is even close in amenities or passenger capacity.  Allure is the newest ship in the fleet.  Guest capacity is 5,400 assuming double occupancy.  More than 2,800 crew members are on board to serve those guests.  I have lived in towns with a smaller population than this ship transports each week.  On  board you will find things like a full service spa and fitness center (you know for the sick-o's who want to take care of their bodies during their vacation).  There are 4 pools and 10 whirlpools two of which are cantilevered looking over the ocean.  There are more than 25 dining options including the main dining room and 13 other complimentary options.

During each cruise there is a Broadway show performance.  The casino is more than 16,000 square feet containing 456 slots and 27 gaming tables.  There is an area of the ship called Central Park that has grass and trees and bistros and is literally a park within the ship.  You can zipline down the ship suspended 9 decks in the air on the only zipline at sea.  The ship has two Flowriders which are surfing simulators.  For my sister-in-law there is even a Coach store on board.  There is something for everyone.

I haven't personally been on a Oasis class ship myself.  The largest ship I have been on was a Freedom class ship which is the class just smaller than these.  It only carries 3,634 passengers and has only one Flowrider and no ziplines, (I know, what a let down, right?) but I can tell you that even with more than 5,000 people on board when you include the crew, I never felt like there were a lot of people around.  I sort of expected it to be like a mall at Christmas time and it was nothing like that.  When they built these ships, they really spread things out so that all of the people would never need to be concentrated in any area at one time.

Princess will launch a new ship next June, the Royal Princess which will spend half of the year in Fort Lauderdale.  It will arrive in Fort Lauderdale in October of 2013 and stay through the end of April.  Royal Princess will be making 7 day runs in the Eastern Caribbean with stops in Princess Cays (a Princess exclusive stop), St. Maarten and St. Thomas.  The ship has things like a glass bottom walkway that takes you out over the water.  They have no Flowriders or ziplines because that is not who their customer is. They are a more conservative cruise line, aimed at a slightly more sophisticated crowd.  The ship carries 3,600 passengers and every single outside stateroom has a balcony.  It will certainly be all about luxury.

If you wish to sail on Princess out of Fort Lauderdale before next October, you can do so on the Emerald Princess which carries 3,080 passengers and boasts nearly 900 balconies.  It offers an entire deck of mini-suites.  The thing that I really like about Princess out of Fort Lauderdale is that they do go to their exclusive Princess destination, Princess Cay.  I don't usually get that excited about the exclusive stops that ships make but Princess offers something that other lines don't at their exclusive stop.  They do these shore excursions where you pay by the group so for up to 6 people you can pay one $199 fee and have a private bungalow while you are at Princess Cay that includes a/c, ceiling fan, table and 4 chairs, 2 sun loungers, and a private shower all in a palm grove just behind the beach.  You know, a nice place to go to keep the "riff-raff" out.  For $249 total, they will throw in a "gourmet  picnic lunch" which includes Antipasti, Lobster & Mango Salad, Artisan Cheese board with tropical fruit and fig bread, Island BBQ and a selection of pastries.  So when you get too hot, sweaty and gross out on the beach, you have a nice place to go get out of the sun.

On the exclusive island stops that each cruise line has, there is always food.  It is just like eating at the buffet on board the ship except with sand.  The buffet is free, but the bungalow thing means no standing in line and you get to eat in air conditioning instead of just under a canopy on the beach with 3,000 other people.

Well, after only covering a few ships from a few cruise lines with you today, I can see that we might not get to start talking about Caribbean resorts next week.  We might spend the entire week just covering cruising options out of Florida.  But hey.... we're on island time, so don't worry "mon" we'll get there.... maybe manana.  Have a great weekend and we will talk some more late Monday afternoon.

Up for a Cruise?

Yesterday I talked about a "trip" vs. "vacation".  Let's talk about how you answered those questions yesterday.  Are you interested in relaxing?  Does warm weather sound good to you?  Are you not trying to accommodate children?  Only want to unpack once?  Then you might be interested in a Caribbean vacation in the spring rather than the summer.  Today we'll talk about cruises.  Next week we will touch on resorts.

I personally prefer to take all of my cruises in late fall, winter or early spring.  This accomplishes two things for me.  First rates are lower because kids are in school and there are more cruise ships going to the Caribbean at that time of year.  The second reason is that since I don't have children, on vacation it can be really nice not to be around someone else children.  Now, I am not saying there won't be any kids on a cruise ship if you follow this advice.  But the numbers are greatly diminished.  Most of the kids are either pre-school, home schooled or foreign kids.

During these months there are more cruise ships in the Caribbean because all of the ships from Alaska come south or move to other parts of the world.  This allows a lot more ships to concentrate in one area than during other times of the year.  Plus since it's not hurricane season, risks of bad weather are greatly reduced.   Although the major Caribbean sailing ports are all located in Florida, it is becoming more and more common to see sailings out of Galveston and New Orleans which are both easy to drive to from the DFW area or most other parts of Texas.  Cruise lines that will have ships in Galveston in coming months include Carnival which is in Galveston year around.  Royal Caribbean is there every Nov - Apr.  Princess is coming back to Galveston for the first time in a number of years beginning in November they will remain until April as well.  Finally, Disney will bring a ship into Galveston for the first time this year.

I would consider Carnival to be more of a starting price point cruise line.  You can spend as much as you like on Carnival, but if your budget is more limited then Carnival might be for you.  They are sort of marketed as a party ship and they seem to attract a party crowd.  If you are interested in a great nightlife while on board, you are planning to take kids on your cruise or you just want to be with a younger and more lively crowd during your cruise then you will probably really enjoy Carnival.  Carnival sales two ships out of Galveston.  Depending on when you want to go you can either take your cruise on board, Carnival Magic or Carnival Triumph.  If you wish to sail out of Galveston while your kids are out of school at anytime other than Christmas or Spring break, Carnival is going to be your only option.  Pools are geared more toward kids and less for relaxation with slides and bright colors.  You should be aware that anytime school is out in Texas, the prices increase.  So you can reduce the price of your cruise by nearly half simply by going while Texas schools are in session.

As I said, Royal Caribbean has had a ship in Galveston from Nov-Apr for a number of years.  This year Mariner of the Seas will sail out of Galveston.  It is a Voyager Class ship which means it has the ice skating rink and putting greens along with the rock climbing wall that all ships in the fleet have.  This year RCI has added outdoor movie screens to all of their ships for watching movies under the stars which Princess has been doing for a number of years.  Many other updates have been made to RCI as well.  Royal Caribbean's target is between 35 and 55 years of age.  Galveston gets a lot of first time cruisers, so you might see a slightly younger crowd on a cruise out of Galveston than you would out of Fort Lauderdale.  RCI is a step up from Carnival in style and also in price.  RCI has a very extensive kids program that the kids really seem to like so even when there are a lot of kids on board, you may not see much of them since they are pretty occupied most of the day.  Again, during spring break and Christmas break the prices can nearly double.

Princess, will be back in Galveston this year with their ship Caribbean Princess.  Princess is a very traditional cruise line which means you are more likely to see things like champagne fountains on a Princess cruise.  Their target customers are slightly older than RCI's.  So you won't see as many kids on board, or they will be older kids.  That is not to say that kids are unwelcome.  There is also a kids program on Princess, but it is much smaller and less involved than that on RCI.  Princess now has a "Sanctuary" on board every ship which is an adult only pool in addition to the other pools which all allow kids.  They have had Movies Under the Stars for several years with what they have always boasted as the worlds biggest movies screens at sea.  The Princess fleet is always one of the newest and most updated fleets at sea.  If you are looking for an out of this world, traditional cruising experience, Princess is for you.

Also new to Galveston this year is Disney with their ship Disney Magic.  I personally have not been on a Disney cruise but would love to go on one.  From everything I have read, the cabins are more luxurious and the entire experience is more extravagant.  The most amazing thing that I have read about Disney ships is in the bathrooms.  Apparently, cabins have a split bath which means, as you walk into the cabin, there is a bathroom on each side.  One contains the shower and a sink while the other contains a toilet and a sink so that it is possible for two people to get ready at the same time.  If you have never been on a cruise ship before you really have no idea exactly how small a bathroom can be, so I just think this idea is ingenious!  Also, in one of the bathroom mirrors there is a magnifying mirror built in!  Finally, the shower area has a small tub for children to bathe in.  Here's a YouTube video of a tour Disney Bathroom Tour.

Of course, cruising out of Louisiana or Florida to the Caribbean are still options.  The sailings out of Louisiana are actually more limited than the ones out of Galveston, but they do offer NCL cruises which you can't take from Galveston.  Florida, on the other, hand has more cruises available year round than I can go into today.  Tomorrow we will get into Florida cruising options.  Have a great day!

Trip vs. Vacation

It's time to start thinking about vacations for next spring and summer.  There are a lot of questions you must ask yourself when thinking of a new place to travel.  These are what I would consider the most important questions you can ask yourself.

• Do I just want to relax and take it easy?
• Am I interested in seeing new sights?
• Do I want any adventure?
• Would I prefer cool, warm or hot weather?
• Would I like to unpack once and then relax or am I okay with moving to a new hotel once, twice or every night during my vacation?
• Do I need a kid friendly place?
• Do I want to wing it or have everything planned out?

Once you know the answers to most of these questions you are ready to start thinking about locations.  I'll spend the next few weeks going over possibilities that might suit your needs depending on your answers to these questions.  But first I think it is important to establish the difference between a "vacation" and a "trip".  My travel buddy realized the distinction between the two several years ago after we had taken our first two "trips" together and pointed it out to me and I have thought a lot about it since.

You see, a vacation implies relaxation.  During our first journey together we went to Europe and on a Mediterranean cruise.  Now, you might think that since a cruise was involved, a lot of relaxation took place.  But in this instance you would be incorrect.  Our travels began with flying into Barcelona.  We spent the first 4 days in Spain with two days on the Hop On Hop Off bus, or HOHO, continually hopping on and then hopping off at various sights.  We would begin our days at 6 or 7 a.m. and finally make it back to our hotel room for the evening around 10 p.m.  During the days we walked countless miles, traversing hills and such all in search of the next amazing sight.

On our final full day, we felt like we had seen quite a lot of Barcelona so we ventured outside of the city.  But we didn't feel that just visiting one place was enough.  So, we found a tour that took us to Montsserat, Sitges and the Torres Winery.  We slept during the bus ride back to the city.  Anytime that I sleep during a bus ride in a foreign country, I must be exhausted.

Once on the cruise, we had 5 stops in 7 days.  This trip took place in November over Thanksgiving so, for the most part the temperatures were in the 50's and 60's so there was no relaxation time spent on the deck in lounge chairs.  For this cruise, the ship was merely a form of transportation, albeit a lovely form of transportation.  Most of our excursions required that we leave the ship at about 8 a.m.  We were usually back just after dark and had to immediately begin dressing for dinner.  We had one of the best dinner tables on this ship that I have ever been part of, so dinners would last until 10:30 or 11 p.m. when we would all go to the show together and then decided if we wanted to do anything after the show.  What I am saying is that there were no early nights either.

When the ship returned us to Barcelona, we had one more day to cram in any sights that we felt we had missed during our first 4 days and believe it or not, there were places we still needed to visit.  We wound up spending another exhausting day with HOHO passes hitting the last area of the city that we hadn't seen before leaving to come home.  When we got home, and talked a few days later after recovering from our trip we found that we had each lost weight during this voyage.  That is a sure sign that you have been on a "trip" and not a "vacation".

Once we knew that we traveled well together, we planned a trip to Seattle for the following spring.  It turned out to be a "trip" as well.  In less than a week we managed to see all the sights of Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Victoria B.C. and we went whale watching in the San Juan Islands.  It was again, exhausting but wonderful.

Following that trip, Jenny pointed out that we seemed to be doing a lot of "trips" and not many "vacations" so we planned a Caribbean cruise.  While planning our excursions for the first Caribbean cruise we would take together, we were somewhat successful in remembering the desire to relax except in Roatan, Honduras where we did what was called an Eco-Hike.  I've written about the Eco-Hike to Hell before in my other blog, so I'll just post a link to that post in case you haven't read it previously and would like to.  http://reallydontknow-gah.blogspot.com/2012/07/day-one-oh-four-getting-ready.html  Suffice to say, that particular day of the Caribbean cruise was not so relaxing.  On that day we were on a "trip".  But re-boarding the ship it quickly turned back into a "vacation".

Tomorrow, we'll go over a few true "vacation" options for this spring and summer.  Until then, have a great Wednesday!

A Little Texas History Road Trip

I'm making a quick run to Nacogdoches this weekend both to see family and to catch the Lumberjacks game  on Saturday night.  I'm looking forward to it.  Although I am not sure that I could ever live in small town Texas again, it doesn't keep me from wanting to go there for a visit.  There are a lot of really great places to visit in Texas.  You can spend a week or even a month exploring and never leave this wonderful state.  So, let's discuss a few nice small towns to visit in Texas, shall we?

Since I've already brought it up, let's just start with Nacogdoches.  In case you didn't know, Nacogdoches is the oldest town in Texas.  It has a pretty cool history.  There is evidence that there were settlements on the site 10,000 years ago.  It remained a Caddo Indian settlement until the early 19th century.  In 1716 the Spanish established a mission there.  Once they decided that the French were no longer a threat they closed the mission and told all of the settlers to go to San Antonio.  So in 1772 they left.  But many of them didn't want to leave.  So a Spanish tradesman Colonel Gil Y'Barbo, led a group of them back to Nacogdoches.  Later that summer Spain designated it as a pueblo or town thereby making it the first town in Texas.

Although you wouldn't know it by the amount of action it gets on Trip Advisor there are actually a number of  interesting places to visit in Nacogdoches.  Spending a day there you can visit the Old Stone Fort and the Sterne-Hoya House Museum and Library among other historic venues.  One of my favorite things to do in Nacogdoches is to visit the SFA Mast Arboretum which contains azaleas from around the world along with a wealth of other beautiful blooming plants.

While in town be sure to visit Shelley's Bakery Cafe for a truly great small town breakfast or lunch.  Believe me, you will want to go back.  The second weekend in June, Nacogdoches hosts the Texas Blueberry Festival which is an event you wouldn't want to miss.

A trip I have long wanted to take within Texas is steeped with Texas history and fun.  I would start out at the San Jacinto battleground between Houston and Galveston for a little bit of Texas history.  From there I would drive on to Galveston to spend my first night.  While I understand that if you are a beach aficionado you might be somewhat disappointed with the Galveston beaches, it serves the purpose.  It is a beach that you can drive to so let's all just stop the whining about Galveston.  In Galveston there are a huge selection of hotels in all price ranges as well as many things to see and do.  The Strand is a great area.  You can also visit some of the old historic homes located in Galveston or just have some beach time.  My favorite restaurant in Galveston has always been Gaido's.  Give it a try for some really good classic seafood.

When you are ready to leave Galveston, off of 61st St, take FM 3005 about 15 miles to San Luis Pass Rd. Then from there you will take Country Rd. 257 on down to Surfside another 15 miles or so. I have always liked that drive. With no stops it is only about a 45 minute drive. But I suggest you stop at the Pass for photos. Once you are in Surfside, take Hwy 36 to Brazoria and on to Rosenburg. Then at Rosenburg, take Hwy 90 through Hallettsville, Shiner and Gonzales to San Antonio for a little bit of Texas history.  Now, quite frankly, I think you need about 3 days for this portion of the trip.  Because there is just too much to see and do and too much beer to drink to do it all in one day.

In Hallettsville, you will want to see the court house.  They have a number of festivals throughout the year so you should check to see if anything is going on when you are planning to be there.  From Hallettsville, drive on to Shiner.  If you are a beer drinker, I'm just going to go ahead and tell you that you will need to spend a night here.  Shiner is home to the Shiner Brewery.  The tour is fairly short, but you really don't want to miss it.  It is a very small brewery in a town of less than 3,000 people where everyone is friends.  The last time I went on the tour it was conducted by a local man who was semi retired and a life long resident of Shiner.  He came to the brewery  for tours so often (for the free beer tokens) that they finally just put him to work conducting tours.  Year round there are only two tours a day, weekdays only.  During the summer, two additional tours are added.  But again, the brewery is only open on weekdays.

Shiner is also a good home base if you are interested in taking the self conducted Painted Churches tour.  I will caution you that this tour takes a full day if you want to visit all of the churches.  If you want to shorten the tour you can just pick a few of the closest ones.  But it is worth a full day to see these beautiful churches. Go to the Painted Churches website for a map.  To wind down after a long day, visit Antiques, Art and Beer for a tall glass of Shiner in Shiner.  Then head to The Shiner Country Inn for a good nights sleep.  It only has 8 rooms and it isn't much to look at, but I have stayed there multiple times and you really can't beat it.

Leaving Shiner you will need to head to Gonzales one of the most important places in Texas history.  It was at one time the capital of Texas and is the home of the "Come and Take It" cannon.  In 1831 Mexico gave the settlers in the area a cannon to use for protection against Indian attacks.  In 1835 a contingent of Mexican soldiers was sent from San Antonio to take the cannon back due to an outbreak of "settler hostilities".  The Texians under the command of John H. Moore confronted them with a flag they had made that said "Come and take it" and successfully resisted the federal troops in what became knows as the Battle of Gonzales and was the first battle of the Texas Revolution.

Upon leaving Gonzales you can either go to San Antonio or Austin or even both to complete your Texas history trip.  You all know to visit the Alamo in San Antonio and the Capital in Austin, so I won't spend time today telling you all about that.  But there are many great places to see and visit in both cities.  Perhaps on another day we can dig into them.