Sunshine-n-Wine

The great adventure of 2024 was a trip with our friends to Europe.  This post will not follow my regular pattern for travel posts, and we used a travel agent to arrange our trains and hotels Rail Bookers, but it should be helpful if you are planning a trip to these countries. Our travel agent was Pam from  Unwindwithbliss.com. Preparation German Language Learning Duo Lingo - I primarily used this app because it was convenient to do during my walks with the dog.  That said, if I’d been really serious about learning the language, I would use another option to supplement Duo. I spent about 7 months prepping with Duo Lingo, and while I am able to pick up on bits and pieces, I don’t feel that comfortable speaking it in general - only words and a couple short phrases. Rocket Languages - I accessed this through our public library and downloaded an app.  I didn’t use it much and regret not doing so as they use native speakers and not the weird AI generated voices of Duo Ling...

I have always wanted to visit Boston and Salem, so we FINALLY made it happen this August.  Visiting at the end of August, doing a lot of the tourist-y stuff during the week is definitely the way to go.  The crowds were low Wednesday, Thursday, and most of Friday (the beginning of the Labor Day weekend). Hotel We stayed at the Boston Marriott at Long Wharf .  It’s not a cheap place to stay, but the location is fantastic if you are here to see the historical places in Boston.  It’s across the street from Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall and next to the New England aquarium and harbor cruises.  The Blue Line from the airport drops off at the hotel, as well as all of the tour trolley stops.  Walking into the North End/Little Italy is also very easy. Food I don’t even know where to start here, so I guess I’ll go chronologically.  I knew that I wanted 1) a lobster roll, 2) clam chowder, and 3) cannoli.  Check, check, and check!  Note, for Wednesday - Fri...

If you've ever booked a cruise during the pandemic, you know how frustrating it can be.  In 2019, we booked our Alaska cruise for May 2021. Well, May 2022 was our make-up cruise for the cancelled 2021 sailing.  Better late than never, right? Dawes Glacier - Endicott Arm Pre-cruise First, I’ll hit our pre-cruise stay in Seattle.  We hailed a Lyft from the airport ($50 + tip).  You need to cross the sky bridge and go down one level until you see the green barriers.  The signage was actually great, but several escalators to get there were on the fritz.  Our Lyft dropped us at the Fairfield Inn & Suites near the Space Needle.  The hotel seems newly updated and the front desk staff were very friendly and helpful. For dinner, we took the advice of the front desk staff and visited Thomas Street Warehouse .  The prices are actually really great for downtown, and they have a cool cocktail menu.  In the morning, we grabbed breakfast tacos at Jack’s...

This trip was much slower-paced than our usual sojourns to wine country because we took hubby’s parents and aunt with us.  It was also March, which is the earliest we’ve ever visited.  While green, the bud break hadn’t started and the evenings were quite chilly.     We flew into Sacramento and stayed at our favorite winery, The Terraces .     View from The Terraces in the morning.  Check out the hot air balloons! Two of the three days were repeats for us as they are all wine clubs we have so you can find detailed reviews in some of my previous Napa and Sonoma blog posts.  They included DeLoach, Campana Ranch, Buena Vista, Raymond, Pope Valley, and The Terraces.     The three new-to-us wineries were: Artesa is located in the Carneros region with fantastic views of the north side of the bay on a clear day and boasting of biodynamic processes.  They have some interesting varietals, and we really enjoyed our tasting.  I do want to...

What is a year without a second trip out to wine country?  Honestly, this was an add-on trip for me as the hubs actually scheduled this for work.  We brought another couple with us so I could have some travel buddies - bonus that it was also an early birthday trip for one of them.  Too bad it rained the ENTIRE time so no great photo opportunities.  I love this area in the Fall, so at the very least, I was able to enjoy the brilliant leaf colors. I don't blog non-travel related things so I want to add a note here.  I started a very part-time gig (like no more than 10 hours per week) at my local wine and liquor store.  We are reviewing current inventory and looking to revamp our offerings, so I turned this into a quasi work trip for me.  I'll be sure to tag the ones that were more of an industry visit as they may not fully represent a normal experience. Also, the COVID visit to Willamette required two new things (to me): reservations and proof-of-vaccina...

After three cancelled cruises thanks to this thing called a pandemic, we booked a couple months out for a 4-day cruise on the Carnival Magic from Port Canaveral, Thursday - Monday.   Good price and easy for us to get to from central Florida.   We purchased the beverage package for this trip since we were planning to stay on the ship most of the time. Parking A very rare occasion, we parked at the port for easy in and out.   Usually we’d book off-site for about half the price, but I didn’t want to deal with a shuttle.   Turns out that the port wasn’t busy – at all! – and the parking was so easy!   Not a bit of traffic, plenty of parking, and a VERY short walk to the ship.   Definitely worth it this time.   We paid at the end of the trip at self-pay kiosk. Room We booked cabin 7347, because if we got quarantined for any reason, I wasn’t about to have an interior room.   Our cabin was a perfect location. Close to an elevator and stairwell, mi...