Archive for "Travel"
Pre-Cruise in Miami
Posted on April 21, 2018 by Ching under Travel.
Brian and I weren’t sure if we were going to get him the unlimited alcoholic beverage package on the ship so our first stop in Miami was the Publix down the street from our hotel. We got Brian two bottles of his favorite wine, Apothic Red, to take aboard the ship. The rules stated only two bottles of wine per stateroom but they weren’t being very strict so I probably could have taken two more bottles of wine myself too. Although, as it turns out, we didn’t need them because Brian ended up getting the unlimited drink package on the ship.
After we completed our wine mission, the next order of business was to get something to eat. We were both starving and we hadn’t eaten lunch yet. We knew we wanted to have dinner in South Beach because I wanted to show Brian the beach while we were there. He’d never been to Miami before. I got to check it out when I was in Florida on a work trip a couple of years ago. We had dinner at Larios on the Beach (Gloria Estefan’s restaurant) and then walked across the street to dip our toes in the ocean. Anyway, I thought he would find it interesting.
We didn’t have a specific restaurant in mind so we had our Lyft (Lyft prices were half what Uber was charging so we decided to use Lyft the entire time we were in Florida, with the exception of our ride from the airport to the hotel because taxis were more convenient and readily available at the airport) drop us off at CJ’s Crab Shack. We walked up and down the strip. Everyone had some kind of happy hour special they were promoting. In the end, we ended up walking back to CJ’s because they had crabs (which I was craving) and a nice patio area for people-watching.
Brian had a really interesting way of describing South Beach. He said it’s a lot like Vegas but more naked. LOL. It’s true. There were people milling about everywhere, walking up and down the sidewalk and even the streets. The cars could barely move in Ocean Drive. I can’t imagine having to drive in that mayhem on a regular basis. (This is why we didn’t bother renting a car. Neither of us wanted to drive.)
The people weren’t your average people either. Most were really fit and, though some were not as fit, everyone was overflowing with self-confidence. Many people didn’t bother with coverups. They just walked up and down in their bikinis or speedos with no shirt, sarong, or any kind of coverup. Which isn’t too unusual if your swimsuit is covering all of your butt, but some people were wearing dental floss. These people were not shy at all.
As for me, I just watched in amusement as people walked by — some clothed, some not fully clothed — while drinking my 40 oz. Miami Vice drink in a CJ’s Crab Shack souvenir tumbler. We watched this one guy clad only in a pair of very tiny, very tight swim trunks walk up and down. He was upset about something, but I couldn’t make out enough of the conversation to figure out what. Something about not being able to check into their hotel because he didn’t have his credit card. Anyway, a little bit later, he’s back and unloading bags off the back of a car stopped in the middle of Ocean Drive traffic.
“That explains why he’s walking around naked,” I told Brian. “He didn’t have his luggage.” We both busted up laughing. Walking around naked is so South Beach!
Here’s a picture of Brian’s food. He’s not much for seafood.
This is mine. Gotta eat crab when you’re at a crab shack!
The crab photographed well but it was kind of dry. I’ve gotten spoiled of late since I’ve been eating crab at Jax Fish House and Oyster Bar in Kansas City and they have pretty good crab there.
We wanted an excuse to linger and continue people watching so we ordered this giant dessert. Well, truthfully, it’s because I have no will power and I love chocolate cake. It was pretty good.
Brian helped a little bit but I ate most of it.
While we were eating, this guy parked his very gold car next to us. It was a huge hit. I lost count of how many people stopped to take pictures and selfies with it. Apparently, gold is the new black. It’s huge in South Beach.
After eating all of that food, we were so stuffed that we decided to walk it off at the beach. There were a ton of people there.
This panoramic photo doesn’t do it justice.
At least it’s a pretty wide beach and, even though there were so many people, there was plenty of room for everyone. Anyway, we walked up and down the beach, not very far. It wasn’t look before Brian had had enough. We both woke up at 2 AM that day for our early flight so we were pooped. I really wanted to join the rest of the Wichita folks for dinner and dancing later that night but we were too exhausted. Brian specially. We decided to just lay low and hang out at our hotel for the rest of the evening and turn in early.
Next time I’ll tell you about boarding and our first day on the cruise. Check back tomorrow. Until then, have a fabulous weekend!
1 Comment
Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay
Posted on April 19, 2018 by Ching under Travel.
I’m so grateful for all of my Marriott points. Brian and I got to stay at a very nice hotel in Florida, close to the Port of Miami, before and after our cruise. It didn’t cost us anything since I had enough points to cover both stays.
Here are some pictures of the room that we got the night before our cruise.
The room itself wasn’t anything fancy but that view was spectacular.
We loved the view so much we had to selfie in front of our window.
Check out this view!
Here’s a view of the marina just outside our hotel.
From our window we could see the Venetian Causeway (closest) and MacArthur Causeway (further one) and the Port of Miami.
The Venetian Causeway is closest to our hotel and is one of the ways you can get to South Beach. Except, sometimes traffic gets really backed up when the bridge (a double-leaf bascule bridge) is open for the larger boats to pass through.
Brian and I did some exploring around the hotel on that first day. Here’s a view of the marina from the hotel terrace.
Oh, and I found a ping pong table but had no one to play with.
We also found a giant connect four game.
And a giant chess board.
It was a pretty quiet Saturday night at the hotel.
Not a soul in sight at the pool.
The hotel gym is on the same level as the pool with a nice view of the marina.
The next morning we woke up to see our ship at the port.
This giant Adirondack chair was on the terrace right outside the hotel restaurant so, of course, we had to take a pic of me in it.
Pictures of our yummy pre-cruise breakfast…
We took some selfies out on the restaurant patio after breakfast before heading up to our room for a quickie Facebook Live video.
We took yet another selfie with our fabulous 31st floor view as the backdrop when we got back to our room. Then we did our Facebook Live.
Here’s the quickie FB Live video from that morning.
When we got back to the Marriott after our cruise we got a room on the 23rd floor. Not as high as our top floor room from before, but it actually had a balcony and better view. We could see bay and city views from our room.
This is a view of the bay.
Here are some pics of the city view.
Here’s the view at night, with the bay on the left and the city on the right.
Here’s a pic of the bay at sunrise.
And the marina beneath our room at sunrise.
Here’s our messy room.
Because of my rewards status, we also got free breakfast in the mornings. Here are some pictures of the nice breakfast buffet at the hotel restaurant each morning.
This is the omelet station where you can also get fresh pancakes and waffles.
I didn’t have pancakes or waffles but I kind of wish I had because I really wanted to try the rum-infused maple syrup.
All sorts of breakfast foods — regular and cheesy potatoes, bacon, sausage etc.
Fruit on the left, cereal bar and breads on the right.
All sorts of breads and pastries.
Fruit and smoked salmon.
My breakfast.
After we ate our breakfast, we got some pics of the beautiful sunrise.
We really enjoyed our stay at the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay. It’s a beautiful hotel and the location is perfect. Next post we’ll tell you about the exploring that we did on our first night in Miami and our visit to South Beach.
3 Comments
Boulevard Brewery Tour
Posted on February 21, 2018 by Ching under Things to Do, Travel.
Brian and I meant to attend the Kansas City Brew Festival but the event sold out before we got our tickets so we ended up going to tour the Boulevard brewery instead. This was our second time doing the brewery tour.
We got there early and picked up four tickets since we were meeting a couple of my college friends there. The main difference between the tour we did last year and the tour this year is that Boulevard is now charging for the tours. They used to be free. Still, $5 is not a bad deal for an hour of entertainment and beer drinking.
I just love how friendly the Boulevard people are. I guess you would be friendly too if you were allowed to drink on the job. LOL.
If you’ve never done the brewery tour, you should. It’s a must in Kansas City!
Now that they’ve built the Beer Hall, there’s plenty of room for people to mill about while waiting for their tour to begin. I heard it used to be super crowded in the pub next to Brew-house 1.
If you do decide to go for a tour, Brian and I recommend getting there early and enjoying some snacks at the upstairs Beer Hall. Our favorite thing to get is their meat and cheese board. This way you have some food in your belly before you start drinking a bunch of beer. Then again, you could start pre-drinking which is what Brian and many others do.
This is where they used to start their tours back in the olden days.
You get to start drinking right off the bat. Much to Brian’s disappointment, I was in a beer drinking mood and actually drank my glass of Pale Ale. On our first our, he got to drink both mine and his. I actually didn’t mind the Pale Ale this time. Not sure if my tastes are changing or I’m just becoming more open-minded about beer.
It was freezing that day so we didn’t spend too much time on the terrace. Our tour guide talked while we were inside and then we just stepped outside briefly for those panoramic views and to take some photos.
Like this one.
And this one.
The tour culminates in more beer drinking. You actually get to pick two beers from the dozen or so they have on tap. The idea is to try flavors you haven’t had before but Brian always ends up getting a glass of Tank 7, which has been his favorite for a long time. Except, he discovered the Irish Ale on this trip and now that’s his most favorite of all the beers that Boulevard offers.
Again, this is a part where Brian usually gets to drink all of my beers but I decided to actually try some beers instead of just getting extra beers for him to drink. I tried Jam Band and Cranberry Orange Radler and I loved both of them! The Cranberry Orange Radler is my absolute favorite, though. It’s very un-beer-like.
As an added bonus, Brian volunteered to be the “caboose” on our tour expecting to get an extra pour at the end (which is the volunteer’s reward is usually) but they were trying to get rid of some six-packs so I ended up getting a free six-pack of Cranberry Orange Radler. They didn’t have any flavors that Brian wanted so I ended up getting the beer I liked instead. Lucky me!
I’ve never been a beer drinker but Boulevard is slowly changing my mind. There are beers out there that I can enjoy after all. Baby steps.
No Comments
Departure Day
Posted on December 24, 2017 by Ching under Travel.
The last day at the resort is always the hardest because it means vacation time is over and it’s time to head back to reality. I really hate this part.
Brian and I stopped by the cafe on the way out for one last frappucino for me.
Here’s a pic of where the cafe is located. Goodbye, paradise!
As we were waiting for our ride to the airport, we ran into two superheroes from the entertainment team. They were on their way out to one of the local schools to read to the kids. Apparently this trip happens every Friday morning. We missed it the last week because Friday was our arrival day and we didn’t get to the resort until almost one o’clock. We missed it again that day because it was time to leave.
I love reading aloud and I love doing volunteer work so this excursion would have been right up my alley. I’ve made a mental note for next time not to arrive or depart on Friday so we can participate. I love that they do this.
Here’s our other butler Jackson seeing us off.
Finally at the airport, I took a pic with the map on the wall depicting the island that we visited: Great Exuma. I never want to forget this place because this has probably the best vacation ever.
The island was beautiful. The resort was beautiful. The people were beautiful. Everything about this trip has been completely fabulous.
Here are a couple of video clips I took to remind me of the island.
This next one is a time-lapse video I created at the Atlanta airport.
The flight home was pretty uneventful. This has probably been our smoothest trip ever (besides flying first class to the Dominican Republic a few years ago). Brian gave us a long layover at the Atlanta airport because he was worried that customs would take forever but they have kiosks now and everything is automated. So even that part went really quick. I think the entire process — deplaning from our Bahamas flight to going through customs to arriving at our terminal — took less than an hour. We really didn’t need the long layover.
But, since we had it, we took advantage of the opportunity to grab some drinks and a bite to eat at Gordon Biersch. The thing that stood out to me the most is that my drink cost $13. I guess, that wasn’t really much of a surprise considering I’ve traveled a lot and I know that airport food and beverages are a rip off (they kind of have you hostage so what are you going to do, it’s not like you have a choice) but it was particularly shocking coming from a whole week of not having to pay for drinks at all. It was like, “Yep. We are officially back in the real world all right.”
This should be the final installment of my 40th birthday trip. It has been fun reminiscing about this amazing trip with you over the last couple of months. Our next big trip will be the Zumba cruise in April 2018. Until then, may each and every day of our lives be a wonderful adventure.
Links to all the trip recap posts below:
- Arrival at the Resort
- First Meal at the Resort
- First Impressions of Sandals Emerald Bay
- Dinner at Il Cielo
- First Wake Up in Great Exuma
- An Afternoon at the Pool
- Select Vacation Videos
- Surprise Bath
- Dinner at Barefoot by the Sea
- Sunday Funday – Butler Convoy
- Dinner at La Parisienne
- Our Ocean Safari Adventure
- My Birthday Surprise
- Dinner at the Bombay Club
- Red Lane Spa at the Resort
- Breakfast at Il Cielo
- Halloween at the Resort
- Halloween Spooktacular Show
- Our Sailing Adventure
- Resort Photo Shoot
- Dinner at Soy and Kimonos
- White Night Chocolate Party
- Final Day at the Resort
No Comments
Last Full Day at the Resort
Posted on December 23, 2017 by Ching under Travel.
Thursday, November 2, was our final full day at the resort. We decided to keep it laid back and just hang around at the resort. The morning started off with a visit from one of the resorts friendly feline residents.
The cat and Brian look like they’re both giving each other a once over in this photo.
Cat’s like, “Meh.”
This is where the cats live. I was told not to call it a cathouse because that has a negative connotation. Don’t know what else to call it, though.
Anyway, we passed by this house several times to and from the main pool and the cats are never home. They’re usually out roaming around the resort.
Our final day was a good day to relax and just stay on property. We did go down to aquatics to take the hobie cat sailing again.
Brian not only looked legit but he was so much more proficient this time around. We were zigzagging back and forth so we had to come about (turn) several times. No once did he whack his head.
He was quite proud of himself too. LOL.
We hung out at the main pool after sailing and had some fruit delivered to our cabana. Mostly for me. Brian doesn’t really like fruits.
It was craft days so they brought some locals in to teach us a few things like basket-weaving and jewelry-making.
This is Miss Jennifer. She helped me make jewelry for Jenni (my sister whose name is also Jennifer) which I gave to her for her birthday this year.
Here’s a picture of us with our favorite butler Garth.
For our final dinner at the resort, we wanted to do something unconventional so we asked for dinner to be delivered to our villa. We originally had it set up on our patio so we could enjoy the sunset and beach view but Mother Nature wasn’t having any of it. As you can see from the photo, it was super windy.
We ended up relocating our dinner inside our room.
I took pictures of our food but they didn’t make it to Flickr and I’ve deleted them from my phone. Ugh. Brian took one for the team that night. I wanted to have both the red snapper entree and lobster but I didn’t want to look like a glutton and order two entrees so Brian ordered the steak and lobster for dinner. He ate the steak and gave the lobster to me. I ordered the fish entree and had myself a surf and surf.
I had talked up the coconut creme pie so much that Brian decided to order one for himself too, despite the fact that he hates coconut. He doesn’t like the taste or texture. He doesn’t like any of it. He figured he would try it and, worst case scenario, wouldn’t like it and give it to me. He’s knows I will eat it so it wouldn’t go to waste. He didn’t hate it and actually ate the entire pie. That was perhaps the biggest surprise of all.
We had such a great time the entire week and our fabulous butlers took really good care of us, neither of us wanted to leave. Sadly, all good things must come to an end so the next post will be all about departure day.
No Comments
