Sunshine-n-Wine

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...

  Rutherford Hill Having a milestone birthday in 2020 is a bitch!  We had two cruises cancelled this year due to COVID-19, so when it came time to figure out how to replace my birthday cruise in October, we chose Napa.  Because... duh.  We visited many repeat wineries where we are wine club members so I will not re-iterate those again; rather, I will add the new-to-us ones in this blog post. For those who haven't travelled here since COVID-19 started, here's a couple things that were different on this trip: All tastings were by appointment only, no more than 6 to a group All tastings were conducted outside with no tours It was HOT but the smoke from the Glass Fire was gone Restaurants were still at 25% indoor capacity, with almost all offering takeout or outdoor seating Masks required all the time except when sitting for a tasting and eating In Lodi, all tastings were done in a flight format.  VERY different than what we have seen anywhere in wine country, thank...

Because the hubs was working at a location just outside of Portland, OR, we decided to take full advantage and spend a beautiful weekend tasting our way around Willamette Valley.  If you have been to Sonoma, you will find that Willamette is similar although still more farm-like with a definite trend in moving toward the commercial for some wineries.  Sad but understandable.  My advice is this - if you have been wanting to go, go now while there are still many small wineries, where you stand a good chance of spending some time with the owners and wine makers. Here is a short rundown of the wineries only. Bryn Mawr Vineyards boasts a new tasting room with a great views.  The wine maker is a woman (yay girl power) who making some some very nice small-batch wines.  Included with our tasting, which we shared, was a small dish of cheese and animal crackers.  Cheese goes well with wine, animal crackers do not.  We were both a bit baffled by the choice....

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...