This is the category that defines normal everyday blog entries that appear on the front page of the site.
We’re on board the Norwegian star at the port of Miami. This was by far the easiest boarding we’ve ever done on a cruise ship. We dropped our luggage off this morning at 11 AM and took car rental car back to the airport. We then boarded a shuttle bus and came back to the cruise terminal. Once back at the cruise terminal it only took 20 minutes to board the ship including check in.
Today we’re scheduled to board the Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Star for an Atlantic Crossing re-positioning cruise. we’re in Miami at the moment and will leave here at around 5:00 PM.
Our first stop will be several days from now in the Azores, a small island group in the Atlantic Ocean east of Portugal. From there we’ll stop in England, Estonia, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Russia, and Finland, but not in that order. From there we’ll leave the ship and travel to London where we’ll pick up a car and drive up to Scotland.
Internet is both expensive and slow aboard the ship, but we’ll post as often as we can about what we find. Once we’re back on dry land, we should be able to put up new articles about our brief stops on the cruise and of course the great things we’re hoping to see in Scotland too.
In the red rocks of Utah, almost everyone has seen the famous Delicate Arch of Arches National Park. While most people haven’t actually walked up to it in person, they’ve at least seen it on the Utah State license plates. The walk up to Delicate Arch is three miles round trip, and is a bit more than some people want to tackle.
There’s another arch that attracts a lot of attention too, and it’s just ½ mile round trip from the closest parking area. That’s Mesa Arch. Mesa Arch is located in the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park. It’s popularity probably comes from the extreme red glow it seems to emanate, and the close proximity for viewing when you arrive. You can almost reach out and touch it, but not quite. Continue reading →
Last month (November, 2013), we made a quick cruise to the Caribbean on one of the Norwegian Cruise Lines ships, the Norwegian Dawn. It’s one of their older ships, but we had a purpose in mind. First, we have never sailed with NCL before and we’re planning an Atlantic crossing next May with them. Since the Atlantic crossing represents a reasonably big expenditure on our part, we wanted to see if they were up to it. Continue reading →
We don’t follow the British Royals as closely as some, and don’t even know much about them, but when you do visit England, and you happen to spend some time looking over the palaces and castles, it’s hard not to be totally awed by the experience. Continue reading →
Not long ago we posted a note about the Gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian. We thought it was a lot of fun to see, and kind of unique. And while it is unique by most standards, it turns out that it isn’t alone in the Disney scheme of things. There are others, and have been for some time.
Today we want to show you the Gingerbread Carousel, presented by the chefs and engineers at the Yacht and Beach Club resort Hotels. Like the gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian, this tradition has been around for fourteen years and is an amazing piece of confection to see. Located in the lobby of the Beach Club, this rotating gingerbread delight includes 2013 pieces of gingerbread, 14 hidden Mickeys, and displays images of the “Fab Five”, which is Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto. If you visit this display, take a moment and see how many of the hidden Mickeys and Fab Five you can spot.
A complete list of ingredients showing what it takes to create the Gingerbread Carousel at Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resort. It’s impressive to watch the team of chefs at work. Photo by Donald Fink.
Each year at the Walt Disney World Resort a transition takes place around the holidays. Main Street at the Magic Kingdom first decorates in a Halloween theme then changes over to Christmas. Decorations go up all around all the parks and hotels. Continue reading →
This weekend was another hit at Downtown Disney. It was time for the annual Festival of the Masters art show. Judging from the lack of parking on Saturday, it was one of the more popular events on the year. Of course, there’s a lot of construction in progress as Disney creates Disney Springs and that’s sure to have contributed to some of the parking situation, but Downtown was certainly busy.
We were impressed with the high quality of all of the art. Ranging from paintings of nearly every type, to photography, sculptures, and jewelry, there was something for nearly everyone. We’re photographers, and we saw everything from classic canvas prints to the new glass mounted panoramas.
The event was held for three days, Friday, November 8, 2013 through Sunday, November 11th, and with the volume of artists displaying, from Cirque Du Soleil on the West Side all the way to Earl of Sandwich in the Marketplace, it would have been difficult to see everything.
If you’re a local, or if you’re here during the Festival next year, it might be worth a visit to see this incredible art; maybe pick up a piece for home.
