Sunshine-n-Wine

There is nothing like celebrating a dear friend's milestone birthday in a place he's never been, a place that I love dearly!  In fact, the Hubs and I totaled up the number of visits, and this was big number 8!  Unfortunately, the threat of Hurricane Dorian on Florida threw a wrench into a bit of our initial planning and then extended our trip by a day - we ended up with a bonus day relaxing in northern Sonoma. Wineries Terraces  - As always, the small but mighty crew that runs Terraces reminded us why we keep our membership there.  The wines are all exceptionally drinkable this year, which is a feat because it's rare that you like and appreciate ALL of the wine offered in a tasting.  We stayed there in the guesthouse so we had run of the property and could really enjoy the scenery and nice walks. Terraces - Balsamic House Peju  - Peju is usually pretty solid for a visit, but the wines seemed a bit lacking this year.  I was also turned off a bi...

We were on the Reflection March 2017 when the previews of the brand new and very innovative Celebrity Edge were launched, so we booked.  Four months later, we were informed that our cruise week had been fully chartered, and they gave us the option of either the week before or the week after (locked pricing and extra OBC).  We weren't thrilled, but we'd already put down the deposit and were excited to go.  With all of the OBC combined, we ended up with $800, which we used for two shore excursions, some shopping, a Blendtique class, specialty dining, and extra gratuities.  It was a very busy cruise! The Edge Theater - Pre-Show We reserved parking at our usual place, Park N Go .  We arrived just past noon, and it was a shitshow - cars and people everywhere waiting to board the shuttles.  There were 8 ships leaving Fort Lauderdale, and it was absolutely the busiest we have ever seen it.  From now on, we will continue to try to get there around our us...

We booked this trip with another couple.  He works in the alcohol distribution industry so we had the unique opportunity to get up close and personal at a couple wineries, denoted with *. We flew into Sacramento non-stop on Southwest - yay for non--stop!!  Very easy airport to fly into and out of, and the traffic isn't nearly as bad as coming into SFO. Zinfandel grapes just before Harvest at Storybook Mountain. Lodging Years ago, we stayed at Villa Murialdo with other friends, so we knew how convenient it is to downtown Napa.  We booked the 2-bed, 2-bath option - Unit A.  It's updated and VERY clean and well-stocked.  I would 100% stay here again. There are 2 parking spots in the driveway per unit, so there is no need to fight for parking.  It's a very short walk to the River Inn and Vintage Sweet Shop if you are looking at a map. Here is the review our travel partner submitted to VRBO: "For starters, Keith was an excellent host! Before we left ...

Confession, we stayed on the ship while at Nassau, so this is really more a recap of the ship itself.  This was a last-minute 3-day cruise out of Port Canaveral, but it put me at Platinum status on Carnival - yay! Parking I reserved a parking spot at Park Port Canaveral again for this cruise.  Great service as usual and VERY easy to get to from 528/A1A. The Ship We had an interior room (8290) mid-ship, which was convenient to getting around the ship.  It's a standard Carnival interior so nothing special to share about it. The food in the main dining room follows the American Feast menus, and there was no lobster option on elegant night.  The main dining room breakfast on regular days has vastly improved with the American Feast concept, and Sea Day Brunch has remained the same as on all ships.  Our meals were all great, no matter where we ate. The Cruise Director on this ship is Chris "Donkey" Salazar - one of the best CD's I've experienced.  V...

For our 10-year wedding anniversary, we wanted something special, and thankfully we have friends who are more than happy to tag along for another Italy adventure. Transportation & Logistics United Airlines - Open Jaw booking through Chase Sapphire Reserve. We upgraded our seats on the overseas legs to Economy Plus for the extra leg room.        Orlando - Newark - Malpensa (Milan)        Venice - Newark - Orlando From Milan airport to Torino: We didn’t purchase the SADEM bus tickets beforehand. We landed at 8:10AM and caught the 9:05 bus from Terminal 1. To buy your tickets at the airport Terminal 1 (€22 pp), go to the airport bus ticket counter inside next to Door 8 after leaving baggage. Then walk outside and down to the bus pick-up (to the left). Our bus picked up on the dot from Stop 4. There is a screen when you exit to the bus area that lists the parking spot numbers for each bus. The bus ride is 2 hours on a no-frills bus, but...

Back on Celebrity!  We booked this trip on our cruise last March so that we could take advantage of the extra On Board Credit (OBC) and then transferred our reservation to CruCon the next week.  CruCon always gives us loyalty benefits and whatever promotion they happen to be running - usually around a national holiday.  We booked again with the Go Best package of amenities (wifi, $300 OBC, premium drink package, and pre-paid gratuities).  Due to a series of inconveniences with embarkation and all the promos, we had $700 OBC to spend - yippy!! We left out of Ft Lauderdale and again parked at Park-n-Go .  Another positive experience there. Room Stateroom 6172 has an obstructed-view balcony and is virtually the same as our cabin last year.  Perfect for us.  Plenty of space, mid-ship, and close to many of the places we went most.  Very quiet.  Amenities include: bathrobes, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and bar soap. Food (and Bars) Ma...

We were forced to change our trip to Napa at the last minute (like a day and a half before we were supposed to fly out) due to the wicked (and unpredictable) wildfires.  We headed to Willamette Valley again instead, since we weren't flying from home and had our wine luggage with us.  It's beautiful there in the fall, although chilly, and we weren't packed for that.  Before flying out, I stopped off to get us each a long-sleeved shirt and myself a water resistant long jacket. The wineries marked with * are on my highly recommend list Lodging Stacey's Loft from AirBnB - so glad it was available last minute.  $341 total for three nights.  Here's the review I left: We booked very last minute (like 2 days out), and I'm so happy that Stacey's loft was available. We used her place as our home base for Willamette Valley wine tasting, and it was amazing! Very clean, updated, quiet & private, well-appointed, stocked with snacks, good wifi, lots of channels ...