Tag Archives: tours

The Tour Begins

Posted on by | 6 Comments

It was still raining, windy and cold but the Navel Museum was open. The young man in charge was kind enough to let me wait inside. Admission to the museum is free. I didn’t go downstairs to see all of the exhibits, I didn’t want to miss my tour, but I looked over the items on display in the main lobby.

There was a bronze statue of a family reunion, a model of the Yorktown and etchings  on the walls about other ships including the Coral Sea. My brother served on the Coral Sea and I think my brother -in – law may have served on the Yorktown. It sounds too familiar to not have a family connection.

The memorial itself wasn’t turned on because of the cold. I think there are a series of fountains. I’m told they bring in the water from “All of the seven seas” and have a huge ceremony with the admirals and top chiefs of staff when they turn  them on. Washington does like it’s pomp and circumstance.

More people began to arrive while I waited and all were welcomed into the nice warm, dry lobby. Finally at about 9:45 a nice young man with a clipboard arrived to check us all in.

The bus was parked about 2 blocks away so we all hiked up the street. Our tour guide was a super nice lady named Joey. The bus driver was Tony. Joey explained that tours never leave from the Capitol building on Sunday because there is always something going on that closes the streets. She just shook her head when I told her that I was first told to go to the Capitol Building, then the Naval Memorial and finally the text with the address for the memorial that never came.

While we waited for any stragglers the other guests began to talk about what they were promised. Even though we were all on the same trip, everyone has been given different expectations. My tour was supposed to be 10 am to 2 pm to see the  Cherry Blossoms. (I expected that to change since there weren’t any cherry blossoms) Others said their tours were 10 am to 1 pm and still another group was 10 am to 3:30 pm with a break for lunch and a boat ride on the Potomac.

Poor Joey had to straighten out the mess and keep everyone happy! She promised to work it all out while we were doing the first part of the tour. Her job looks like fun except for the part where she has to straighten out the “back office” mess. That would make me very grumpy!

Finally the fellow with the clip board found the last of the group and herded them to the bus. We were ready to start out.

Aloha From Hawaii

Posted on by

No I’m not there yet but I did get a call.

Yes a nice surprise. The phone rang and caller ID said Diamond Resorts. That’s my time share so I grabbed the phone before it could go to voice mail. As I gasped out a Hello I heard a man’s voice call out “Aloha”.

SURFER AT PEAHI (JAWS), MAUI, HAWAII.

That got my attention.

It was a combination confirmation call and orientation, not that I remember everything he told me. He gave me so much information. We confirmed check in times,  talked about the facilities, tours and events, what I had in mind for the vacation, everything.  It wasn’t a short call but it was very pleasant.

Oh and we talked about the weather. I mentioned it looked like they were getting a lot of rain. He laughed. He said the weather reports always show rain because at any given time its raining someplace on the island. Right now he says its mostly 70-80, low humidity and sunny. If it does rain, its warm and no lightening so just keep on with what we’re doing!

100_0210-copy

Nice touch Diamond Resorts. Mahalo!

Current Weather Conditions

A few passing clouds. Low 71F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph.

Cheers to Gatlinburg

Posted on by

Like I always say I learn so much from my friends and readers. One of the comments on my post in Facebook was from a friend of mine who currently lives in Atlanta , Ga. He’s been a wonderful host when I visited that city and has a wealth of knowledge about many of the southern states.

Here’s his comment : Love the the mtns in spring. Gatlin now has moonshine and whisky tasting stores too

I saw the listing for the moonshine and whiskey distilleries.  Let’s start with the Moonshine Distillery . They aren’t backwoods hillbillies anymore. They have a web page.

OLE SMOKY DISTILLERY

The Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery, “The Holler”, is America’s most visited distillery and  produces all of our signature flavors. 

os_getAJar

A visit to Ole Smoky Distillery is the true moonshine experience. As you approach the 
 entrance, the distinct smell of cooking and fermenting grains takes over your senses. Here, you’ll see authentic-working moonshine stills and take in the entire process – from beginning to end. Our distillers like to visit with folks. They’ll be glad to answer your   questions about the history and lore of moonshining in East Tennessee.

os_distilleryImage

After you see, smell and hear about the process, treat yourself to a free taste of our   homegrown shine!

Choose from samples of our Original Unaged Corn Whiskey, White Lightnin’, Moonshine Cherries,   Blackberry, Our World famous “Apple Pie”, Strawberry, Peach and Lemon drop.   We also offer seasonal and special flavors that aren’t available in package stores. You’ll be able   to buy plenty of moonshine and Ole Smoky merchandise to take home with you.

Moooshine1

I remember my dad making home brew when I was a kid. After the beer he always made some root beer for us underage drinkers. I loved the smell of all that fermenting. I bet I’ll like the smell of the distillery too and I doubt a small taste will hurt me.

The Frenchman Orleans

Posted on by | 2 Comments

Leaving Kansas City to stew for a bit, the next state with an exchange is Louisiana. Now I think if I want to go to Louisiana that I should plan that for the winter or it will be hot and humid! When I talked about visiting Louisiana I mentioned New Orleans and low and behold that’s where the exchange is!

FOR-Frenchmen-Orleans-4

Sure enough the 1 timeshare exchange is in the Frenchman Orleans. The web site describes it as ” Bridging the French Quarter and the Faubourg Marigny, the Frenchmen Hotel is located on Frenchmen near everything: nightspots, hip cafes, and some of the world’s finest restaurants. Just steps away, you’ll find exquisite shopping, museums, and a bunch of excitement! The Frenchmen Hotel is truly the place to   start and  end your days of French Quarter discovery!”

FOR-FrenchmenOrleans-1

That sounds exciting! But then the web site goes on to say they are undergoing renovations. 🙁

FOR-Frenchmen-Orleans

I can think of a few friends that wold love to be in New Orleans during the Mardi Gras so I’m pretty sure I’ll have company on that visit.

FOR-FrenchmenOrleans-2

If I/ we can tear ourselves away from the partying I’d like to visit the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. The Aquarium is located on the edge of the French Quarter, facing the mighty Mississippi River at the foot of Canal St.

aquarium

Not far away Audubon has a Butterfly Garden. Those are always great places to visit.

butterfly

New Orleans also has a Zoo and I always try to visit zoos when I travel. I even visited the Zoo in Hawaii!

New-Orleans-audubon-zoo-leopard

Of course I’d have to visit the swamps and bayou and there  seems to be a ton of tours to chose from.  There are City Tours, Swamp Tours, Cemetery Tours, Ghost Tours and plantation Tours. I want to do them all!

New Orleans

I’ve missed Mardi Gras this year but many of the comments on various travel sites downplay Mardi Gras and recommend Springtime around May.

new-orleans

Something to think about.

Anchorage

Posted on by

As Mr. Roberts would say “It’s a lovely day in the neighborhood.” And that would be very true here in Anchorage. Sunny and warm, a perfect day! We ate breakfast in the hotel. When we were ready to go exploring the doorman pointed us in the right direction. It was just a couple of blocks to the Visitor Center, a sod thatched log cabin right there  on a main street.

Alaska2013 979 copy

Our plan for the day was the Anchorage Zoo. There was a shuttle from the Visitor Center right to the Zoo. We got there just after the shuttle had pulled out so we had about 30-40 minutes to wait. I wandered the street exploring the souvenir shops while Sandy went into the Visitor Center and chatted with the ladies working in there.

Alaska2013 980 copy

Nearby was a Cultural Museum. That would have been interesting if there was more time. The totem poles were different.

Alaska2013 977 copy

One of the stores had a big plush bear in front of it.

Alaska2013 978 copy

Another was called   “Once in a Blue Moose.”  How cute is that !

Alaska2013 985 copy

I loved the Blue Moose totem pole by the door.

Alaska2013 986 copy

Look at that! They have a sign post! The first time I ever saw one of these was in Hawaii. Its a sign post with the distance to other places like North Pole. San Francisco, Seattle, Boston and so on.  It’s always interesting to see what places made it onto a sign like this.

Alaska2013 981 copy

A trolley was offering city tours and if we’d had more time that would have been high on my list of first things to do. Trolley tours at a new location are one of the best ways to get the “lay of the land” but since we were only going to be here one day the zoo was a better choice.

Alaska2013 984 copy

When the Zoo shuttle arrived and we got settled, the driver told us how nice it was to finally get sunshine and warm weather. Like everyone else she said spring had come late this year. Normally the weather we were getting now should have started 2 weeks earlier. Just our luck!

Alaska2013 987 copy

It was about a 20 minute ride to the zoo. We were dropped off right by the entrance. We’d have about 1.5 hours before we’d have to catch the shuttle back so we could get back to the hotel for our shuttle to the airport. The driver said it was a little zoo and that we’d have plenty of time.

Maybe now I’d finally get to see some of the iconic Alaskan animals that had been eluding me.