In February, 2024, we were able to take a delightful Celebrity Cruise out of Fort Lauderdale. This was our first Edge class Celebrity Cruise and the itinerary from Fort Lauderdale included Honduras, Belize, Cozumel in Mexico and Grand Cayman. I…
The Neon Museum in Las Vegas basically stepping into a time capsule of the city’s colorful past. The Neon Boneyard • The heart of the museum is the Neon Boneyard, an outdoor lot filled with retired neon signs from famous…
With so many ways to enjoy your leisure time, a cruise might be the answer you seek. Of course, all your decisions should be based on what you want out of life and very importantly, out of your vacation time. With vacation time scarce and precious for most of us, getting the largest desired impact from the experience should be top of mind.
The 101 Hotel in Reykjavik advertises itself as a sleek boutique hotel set in a former office block on a busy corner of downtown. It was a perfect location for three days of sightseeing in and around Reykjavik and was within walking distance of several prominent must-do sights and also close to many restaurants, bars and shops.
we chose to book The Retreat Spa at the Blue Lagoon rather than a general admission ticket. The Retreat Spa reservation allowed access to all areas of the Blue Lagoon included in the general admission, plus several other amenities including the ability to have a quiet lunch at the Spa Restaurant. For us, given that this was our first full day after an overnight flight and desiring to truly make this a rejuvenating experience ahead of touring Iceland and Norway for two weeks, the more extravagant choice of the Retreat Spa was well worth it.
We had the good fortune to charter "The Entertainer", which is a Sea Ray SLX 400 available to guests staying at the Four Seasons Ko Olina. Skippered by two talented and knowledgable team mates, the trip was fantastic and exceeded all expectations for our foray into dolphin and whale watching. It helped that the seas were very calm on the day we went out, and that is was very much the right season for whale watching.
The Ko Olina area is a development about 30 minutes from Honolulu airport and houses several resorts, including the Four Seasons, Disney's Aulani and Marriott's Ko Olina Beach Club. It is built around three man-made lagoons that provide for easy ocean access and swimming, in an area where surf usually makes ocean access a challenge.
An annual festive exhibit worth a visit is the Bellevue Botanical Garden D'Lights. Held outside, pretty much rain or shine, the lighted exhibit covers a portion of the botanical gardens and showcase creative constructions of gardens, animals, landscapes and some whimsical elements as well. A walkable loop with some mild inclines and declines can be covered in less than an hour and will leave everyone in a holiday mood.
We had the pleasure of sailing out of Seattle's Pier 66 in August 2021 onboard the beautiful Celebrity Cruise Millennium. For sail away, we positioned a camera on the aft deck and recorded our departure. Here is the beautiful Seattle skyline as we depart, condensed to a sixty second segment. Please enjoy.
Sailing by Point Defiance in the South Puget Sound will usually yield a view of masses of harbor seals. This is especially true as the evening gets near and the seals huddle together on the beach for the night. The waters around Point Defiance create significant tidal movement and are good feeding environment for the seals, making for abundant opportunities for sightings.