Sunshine-n-Wine

Following our weekend in Seattle, we spent a day and a half in downtown Portland. Transportation We had booked Amtrak tickets ahead of time for $63 total, and the scenic train ride took about 4 hours. Hotel Portland Marriott City Center   This hotel is in the best location!  Very central, close to Pioneer Square, Mother's, Blue Star Donuts, etc. Restaurants Jake's Famous Crawfish -  This bar and restaurant has been around for a very long time, and many of the old fictures are still in use or on display.  Good food and nice place to stop for happy hour.  It apparently gets crazy busy for dinner, so happy hour might be your best bet to try it out if you don't want to wait. Clyde Common - I kind of wish that we'd tried this place out for dinner because happy hour wasn't that enticing.  OK food and drink specials. Mother's Bistro -  Oh. So. Good!  Happy hour is simply wonderful, and we ordered several different special drinks and item...

On the hunt for great Pinot Noir, we spent 3 full days exploring several Willamette Valley AVA's.  I can unequivocally say that WV is far less commercial and pretentious than Napa (which we sill love) and the tasting prices reflect this.  The wines are still in the $25-75 range for most, so in that respect, it is similar to California.  What you will find, though, is that the people are super nice and love what they do.  A lot of the wineries started as farms, and you will drive through farm fields everywhere you go. It's beautiful.  And picturesque. And hilly - very curvy and hilly - so share your tastings!  Most of the tasting guides did ask us if we wanted to share, which implies that it's common practice in WV. Transportation We booked Amtrak from Seattle to Portland ahead of time, and the cost was $63 for both of us. Much cheaper than flying!  There was free wifi on the train and pretty views, so the almost 4 hour ride didn't seem so bad. Lod...

Disclaimer - we LOVE happy hour because we can try a bunch of different things rather than just two full meals. The weather in Seattle in June is totally bipolar.  They had a heat wave in the 90s a week before we visited, and then our weekend required some creative layering to keep out the chill.  And be prepared for rain.  At least, like Florida, you see the sheets first and can gain some advanced notice. Hotel Renaissance Seattle Hotel  - my absolute favorite part about this hotel was the beautiful club lounge that had a Starbucks custom coffee machine available throughout the day.  Sweet!  The breakfasts were great, and the snacks in the evening were nice, too.  Great views of the city from the club floor.  The hotel sits atop a hill at the corner of 6th and Madison, so although it's not far from most places, expect to tackle some hills.  It's not as bad as San Fran, but there are some steep hills that all go down toward the water. ...

They say that the first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem.  Well, sorry, but this is one addiction I'm OK keeping!  In fact, now that we've gone mainly paleo, wine is my ONLY vice, and Napa remains a favorite vacation destination! *Remember to check your Winery Finder app for discounts and BOGO's at different wineries when you are driving around! Rental Home We were finally able to take advantage of our wine club membership with The Terraces and rented one of their houses for three nights with four other people.  The two houses are only available for rent by wine club members, so most people probably wouldn't even realize they have guest homes on property.  We loved the location because it was much further north than where we've stayed in the past - on Silverado Trail a quarter mile south of Zinfandel Lane. View Coming in from the driveway to the right side of the house. The house is beautifully nestled among the vineyard and has a hu...

For my Spring Break this year, I had suggested a week cruise with a beverage package on either Celebrity or Princess, but the hubs wanted to do something we hadn't done in long time - an all-inclusive resort.  We also had not been to Jamaica in about 10 years.  I agreed.  After much research, I chose Couples Negril for their inclusions and great reviews.  We spent 5 amazing days there and met some really fantastic people!  Here is the write-up: Transportation We used points on Southwest to fly direct from Orlando to Montego Bay.  We made it, but it was a clusterfuck of epic porportions.  Here are the things we learned the hard way when flying Southwest internationally: CALL well ahead of the check-in time to make sure that the passport information for ALL members in your party is correct and complete.  Their website will NOT help with this part beforehand. Addendum to the first bullet: make sure the information is good for BOTH ways.  ...

We started planning this enormously intimidating trip a year and a half out.  There is so much information to include that I also started setting up this post way early.  I'm a planner deep into my bones. Cruise transportation Public buses between the train station and port are €2, not €1 as stated on the Cruise Critic forums. Buses run very sporadically so you will need to plan on standing around waiting for a while. The shuttle runs far more frequently from port gate to the check-in area but still plan a little extra time.  Also, hold onto your bus tickets if you don't validate on the way there. They didn't check or ask for ours so we used them on the ride back. We self-debarked with our luggage at 6:30am and got to the train station at 7:30. Our train left at 10. Next time I would book an earlier train. The Ship We booked Rhapsody of the Seas, 9-nights out of Rome, because of the excellent itinerary.  We booked the cheapest inside cabin (Category Q) b...

We spent 3 days in Rome and 3 days in Venice pre- and post-cruise.  Here is the breakdown of cities, transportation, apartment rentals, food, sites/museums, etc. Trains and Transportation FCO airport to Rome: We used RomeCabs for a private transfer to our apartment. Great service and highly recommend. €55 total + tip Getting around Rome: We bought a RomaPass , which allows free rides on public transportation during the period of activation. We didn't swipe our cards at all, though, and the drivers didn't enforce it. We paid for the cards but others may have been riding free. Train Travel: We pre-booked travel via  Trenitilia .  Be sure to book as soon as the dates become and be ready to buy the tickets at that moment.  Do not back out to the previous page, open in another browser, or think too long.  The price would literally go up a couple times within a few minutes because I was bumbling around the website.  So my advice is get on before your dat...