Cruise Recap Part 1

And so we return, back to the real world, no more Diamond lounge, no one to cook us Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. No more nightly Friends of Dorothy gatherings in the champagne bar, which I will truly miss. Indra and Adi and Mariya will also be missed along with Julian who was always there at dinner to refill my wine glass.

The trip was relaxing and busy, hot and sunny, occasionally rainy, but most of all Fun. There were the Gays and the Straights, the young and old and everything in between. Since we were without any connections to the outside world, I will attempt to recap as best I can now and hope I don’t miss anything. Not that there is really all that much to report on, like I said, there was a lot of relaxing.

The easiest recap I can do is our nightly dinner in the dining room. We were at a table for 13, with most nights at least 2 people missing over the entire 7 nights. We had North Carolina, New Jersey, Texas, Puerto Rico, Connecticut, and Calgary all covered between us. NC was a nice older couple, avid cruisers like us as we also saw them in the Diamond Lounge every night. Puerto Rico only joined us 2 times during the cruise as they felt a little out of touch since the Wife spoke practically no English so they really had trouble following conversation.  New Jersey was a middle-aged couple and were an absolute delight to chat with and occasionally we saw them around the ship. Texas was a cute couple with a 9 month old whom they left home for the first time. They are your typical late 20’s former teacher/lawyer family who like to drink, socialize, and sky dive. Calgary was Mom and Daughter and the daughters’ boyfriend. The sweetest family ever! We truly enjoyed dining with them every night.

Since we were Diamond Members with Royal Caribbean we had access to a lounge, The Vortex on deck 13, for free nightly drinks, the Hubby had Red Wine all week and I drank Champagne. The 2 Bartenders (Indra and Adi mentioned earlier) both from Indonesia, kept our glasses full and were both really funny guys. Surprisingly the Diamond Lounge never had more than 12-15 people in attendance every night.  The lounge was available to us from 5-8 but since we always left at 6:30, full glass in hand, to meet up with the Gays.

The gaggle of Gays, or The Friends Of Dorothy as the meeting is usually called for those in the know, convened nightly at the Champagne Bar. This is the first of our 15 cruises that other Gays actually showed up to the FOD meeting on the first night and we all kept coming back. Matt and John from Atlanta, Don and Ed from New York and Florida, and Tracer and Tony from Orlando rounded out the nightly gathering. We pretty much took over this small part of the Champagne Bar and enjoyed drinks and fabulous company until we all had to head to dinner at 8:45. This was the best group of Gays we have ever met on a cruise and would totally hang out with them any day of the week. Actually Ed and Don when in NY are not that from us so we hope to get together with them sometime.

Well that about wraps up the generic cruise stuff. I will leave this post for now and recap the ports in another post. This was written in the San Juan airport while we await our flight home. Once we get the pictures off the phones and the camera I will work on some additional posts. I have some video from our Ziplining adventure in St Kitts and some good sunset pictures.

Lunch – Puerto Rican Style

So the day started super early. Yes that alarm is set for AM. Vacation is the only reason I will ever willing get up at that hour.

The view from the plane mid morning made the getting up at 3:15 just bearable. The hubby unfortunately was stuck in the middle seat next to Mr Flatulence, for 4 hours. We couldn’t get off the plane fast enough when we finally landed.

The Hubby and I were surprised at how quickly we were able to retrieve our baggage and then get a taxi to the hotel.

This was the first trip we have had to find accommodations other than an Employee Rate Room at a Marriott Family hotel. Since Mom is no longer working we lost that little perk. So to the internet I went stumbled upon Booking.com. This is in no way a sales pitch for them but I must say so far I am impressed.

My biggest fear was getting to The At Wind Chimes Boutique Hotel and the front desk telling me there was no reservation. That fear was quickly waylaid and the lovely gentleman that checked us in even allowed us to go to our room 3 hours prior to standard check in. The room I booked was billed as a deluxe room and either a City view or a balcony. We ended up with a Balcony which was fine for us. It is an out of the way corner of the “resort” with a Bar at the bottom of the stairs. Perfect for us for one night.

This is the room with the King Size bed.

Once we were all checked in and settled, the mission before us was to find lunch. We had a couple places in mind from Yelp! but when we actually found them we weren’t impressed. So we walked some more and came across

La Tasca De Yiyo

What a gem and literally around the corner from the hotel, which worked out good cause once we finished lunch and headed out a storm was moving in, thunder and all, so we headed back to the room to wait it out. And Nap.

We started our vacation off right with a drink and cheers to our 15th Anniversary (8 months late), and the start of what will be our 15th cruise. The hubby had a local beer and I had a Rum Punch.

Based on the reccomendation of our waiter (who happened to live in the Bronx until he was 17) we ordered the Fried Plantains appetizer. WOW were these delicious, crispy, and super garlicky.

For the main course we decided to order 2 very different things and share. The restaurant touts itself as Cuban/Puerto Rican so we ordered what they call the Cuban Dish. It was delicious Fried Pork, a Tamale, Sweet Onions, Rice, and the only thing on the plate we didn’t care for Cassava.

Of course you can’t come to Puerto Rico and NOT have Mofongo, a smashed plantain dish served with a multitude of meat choices. Again based off the waiters suggestion, and again he didn’t disappoint us, we opted for the Shredded Beef.

All in all it’s been a good start to our vacation. We are here for the night so Dinner will be the next adventure. Then tomorrow we will grab breakfast, a taxi, and head over to the cruise terminal to begin that leg of our journey.

Bon Voyage

This is my “I’m off work for the next 11 Days” and “I’m leaving for vacation tomorrow” Face.

Don’t miss me too much. I’ll have a full report when I get back.

Happy Birthday TMI Questions

1. Do you enjoy celebrating your birthday (forgetting about the getting older part)? Yes, whether it is a few friends for dinner, or just the hubby and I, big or small, celebrations are always in order.

2. What’s your sign and is it accurate? Taurus – Practical, artistic, stable and trustworthy, the Taurus are loyal and dedicated in their work and relationships alike. They also are generous, humane and loyal individuals, and love to maintain and nurture their friendships and relationships with a genuine tender care. On the flip side, though, the Bulls can be indecisive, possessive, prejudiced and stubborn.

Most of this does describe me, especially the maintaining and nurturing friendships, unless you cross me or do something to warrant the opposite.

3. What’s your Chinese zodiac sign and is it accurate? Dragon – Dragons symbolize such character traits as dominance and ambition. Dragons prefer to live by their own rules and if left on their own, are usually successful. They’re driven, unafraid of challenges, and willing to take risks. They’re passionate in all they do and they do things in grand fashion. Unfortunately, this passion and enthusiasm can leave Dragons feeling exhausted and interestingly, unfulfilled.

Yup, especially the my own rules part.

4. What was your best birthday? 2007 – Transatlantic cruise from Galveston Texas to Barcelona Spain. A small group of guys we met on the cruise got together and we played Mini Golf in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean somewhere.

5. What was your worst birthday? Can’t really think of a worst birthday.

6. What has been your best age so far? 21. The age I was when I met my hubby.

7. Birthday cake? Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate.

Bonus – Is birthday sex expected, a present or a rarity? Do you get spanked? Expected No, but all the better if it does happen. Really depends on what day of the week it falls and the plans we have. No spankings.

March, Eat, Play

This week had them all and in that particular order.

Last Wednesdays was what usually ends up being the shortest parade of the season. This little town called South Salem, NY has the distinction of that honor. Just under 3/4 of a mile (I tracked it). Below is some video my Girlfriend was able to get of us at the end of the parade. So now you can see what I do when I say March and Play.

Saturday night was Gayme Night, but this was a special one because it was the 4th Anniversary of Gayme Night. The our friends decided back in June when we were talking about it that this year they wanted to do a Pot Luck again. The Hubby slaved away at the smoker and brought his delicious Pulled Pork, while I went the dessert route and made

Maple Bourbon Ice Cream, one version with Candied Bacon and one version with Dulce De Leche.

I got these cute cupcake papers from a friend of mine and they worked perfectly for transport and presentation of the Ice Cream.

Aren’t they cute!

Since it was Gayme Night I of course had to wear a fun T-Shirt.

We played everyone’s favorite game Cards Against Humanity.

The winning answer to this was “The Boners of the Elderly”

Sunday was chores day, I started with the Breakfast and Lunch food prep for the week then moved out to mow the lawn. Although I still used the bagger it wasn’t as bad as it has been a few other times this summer. I will most likely end up doing it again once more before we leave on vacation. After chores we ran out and did a bit of shopping for some groceries and some clothes for our trip.

 Monday night we ended up meeting some friends for an impromptu night out of dinner and drinks.

And now the best part of the week we have finally hit the Single Digits in the “days” part of the countdown until the cruise. I. CAN’T. WAIT!

Selfie Sunday

So Jim over at Jim’s Stuff has decided to start Selfie Sunday Posts. So I take the occasional self pic, especially on Lawn Mowing day, so I figured I would join in.

 

Coming up Short

Honestly, it’s a combination of short on words and short on time. The muses must have taken a trip without me, although we had a fun weekend wine touring 2 weeks ago, the words just haven’t been able to be put out there to recap it.

So here goes nothing.

Grapehounds 2013 was another successful trip. The doggies had just as good a time as we did, well maybe we enjoyed it more because of the wine. Guess I will do my best to sum up what we did, besides eat and drink, and drink, and drink.

Thursday was the travel day to start the trip and then the following Monday was the travel day to end the the trip. Both days we stopped in this cute town in NY called Owego for lunch. Last year we found this fancy little Mexican Restaurant called Las Chicas Taqueria, and when planning this years trip I knew a stop was in order.

On the way up we both had Tacos as we only wanted a light lunch, and on the way home The Hubby opted for the Burrito and I went with the Enchiladas. Both were just as good as the tacos.

Thursday night the Host Winery for the Welcome Reception was Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards. We have grown to enjoy this vineyard and every year I look forward to getting a Brambleberry Slush. They take 2 of their red Wines, Red Cat and Brambleberry Wine and turn them into the most delicious frozen wine drinks imaginable. I was good and only had 2 and even reused my cup. After we checked in, got our goodie bag, and visited with some people, we headed back to drop the pups off at the hotel and grab some dinner.  We finally decided to try a new BBQ place that opened up in an old Firehouse in downtown Watkins Glen. We sat outside and filled up on some pretty good food.

Friday was the first full day of Winery hopping and tastings. We started at the Host Winery for the weekend Atwater Estates. They are one of our favorites and this year as always this didn’t disappoint. We did some shopping at the vendors, then headed into the tasting room for the first round. From here on out we had already decided that our game plan was to start at the furthest winery up the lake and work our way back towards home base (which we considered the hotel room), and we would go as long Sandy would allow us to keep her out.

We managed to make it to 4 more wineries, King’s Vineyard, Standing Stone, Bagley’s Poplar Ridge, and Sheldrake Point, which was the first of 2 new wineries this year, before we called it a day and headed back to the room to freshen up for dinner. Dinner was extra special because not only were we going to a fabulous place, Dano’s Heuriger on Seneca, but we were meeting the famous Podcaster Toppie Smellie from the Smellcast. He lives in the area where we were spending the weekend so I naturally reached out and planned a dinner date for the 3 of us. He is funny, charming, and just an all around nice guy. After dinner we parted ways and headed back to the hotel for a good nights sleep so we could do it all over again on Saturday.

The biggest challenge to where we stay for our winery weekend is finding places to eat breakfast. This year we found a new Diner to try to start our Saturday called The Crossing Diner. The place is right out of Small Town USA. It seems like everyone knew everyone and the the train motif was kinda cute. The food was delicious which just added to the small town feel.

Saturday along with the wineries we were to visit we also made a trip a few towns over to Sunset Creamery to the 2nd Annual Finger Lakes Cheese Festival. Last year it was close to the hotel, and a good effort for the first year. This year the size nearly tripled for those with booths. We picked up some cheese, checked out the booths, then headed on out for more wine.

From the Cheese festival we headed back over to pick up where we left off on the side of the lake we were on Friday and hit the last 3 that were on our list, Hector Wine Company, JR Dill, and the only non winery on the list Finger Lakes Distilling. The first year we went on this trip we made the mistake of starting at the Distillery, and learned very quickly not to do that again. Shots Anyone?! So with the right side of the lake finished we headed over to the left side of the lake (which is the side our hotel is on) and started up at the top and hit 2 more Wineries Earle Estates Meadery and Seneca Shores. At this point a rain storm had moved in so it was back to the hotel for a nap before dinner.

Dinner Saturday was on the beach patio of Seneca Harbor Station, I made the reservation for those of us from our local Greyhound group to just get together and have dinner and catch up. All was well there with the dogs and the beach and food, until the rain started. Thankfully we were just about done so we proceeded to get the bill paid and the dogs to the cars before the downpour hit. The hubby and I headed over for some ice cream before heading back to the hotel.

Sunday we decided would be our Fancy Breakfast day. There is a winery that also has an Inn with a restaurant on the property called Veraisons. We had a wonderful breakfast there last year and wanted to go back again this year. The Hubby splurged for the French Toast and I ordered an omelet with Andouille Sausage. Once breakfast on the patio overlooking the vineyards, watching it rain, was complete it was onward and upward to start the final day of winery hopping.

The first stop was the 2nd of the 2 new wineries for this year Bella Angelo. They are a new winery in that they just renovated and opened the tasting rooms a few months ago. After we finished there we hit 7 more wineries, some with the dogs and some without as the others were not participants in the Grapehounds weekend. We hit Lakewood Vineyards (which is one of our absolute favorites), Fulkerson Winery (Sunday host winery for Grapehounds), Fruit Yard winery, Miles Wine Cellars, Magnus Ridge, Rock Stream Vineyards, and finally Hickory Hollow.

Our final dinner was at Seneca Lodge, we have heard of this place, it’s a rustic Motel with A Frame and Cabin rooms and a restaurant on the grounds. Honestly we would definitely go back there as the food was pretty damn good. I had meatloaf, which was on special for the night, and it came wrapped in surprise Bacon! The hubby liked the place as well but would not order the Duck again. He just didn’t expect a plate to arrive with Half a Duck on it. We again stopped for Ice Cream before heading back to the hotel to relax.

All in all it was a great weekend away, no stress, good food, friendly people, great wines. I wish we could do it every weekend. It seems the words came easier than I thought they would.

There wasn’t much else happening since that weekend. We had a surprise Birthday party Saturday afternoon, which I left early from to go march in a parade, then we spent Sunday afternoon at my youngest brothers house for a small birthday gathering he was throwing for himself. Now it’s back to work, another parade on Weds, Gayme Night (4th Anniversary) on Saturday, oh and the 17 day Countdown to the Cruise!

 

Thursday in Pictures

TMI Answers: Eat! Drink! Be Mary!

EAT! DRINK! BE MARY!

1. Cocktails at brunch: Bloody Mary or Mimosa? Mimosa, I just never had the taste for tomato juice, even with the vodka and horseradish, and don’t get me strarted on the Celery..in a drink indeed.

2. Do you have a favorite food/drink pairing? Not a favorite pairing but a usual drink when we go certain places. Our favorite Asian restaurant no matter what I order to eat I always order the Riesling.

3. Beer? Wine? or Cocktails? Why? Wine or Cocktails, again depending on where I am. Never got the affinity for Beer, I’ve tried some of the Hubby’s but just don’t like it. Cocktails are the staple at our friends monthly Game Night, Wine is usually at home or if we are having a nice dinner with friends.

4. Red wine or white wine? White. Sweeter Whites usually. Although a nice Red Sangria will hit the spot too, Nothing beats sangria in Spain though.

5. Tell me about the hard stuff. Vodka tends to be my go to. Though occasionally I will mix it up with Tequila (mm pina colada) or a Rum and Coke. Sometimes even a Long Island Ice Tea or 3.

6. Cigars? No.

7. When was the last time you were hungover? Worst hangover? Does the middle of the day count as hungover? Spent the morning Drinking at Brunch, then moved on to a Bar, then still had to go bowling that night. I am surprised the ball made it down the lane. Yeah that was a few months ago.

8. Best hangover cure. Sleeping Late, then coffee, and maybe an afternoon Nap.

9. Craziest/baddest thing you did when you had too much? Did you remember it or did your friends inform you? Make it a fun one! It was my Birthday week, we were sailing the High Seas on a Transatlantic Cruise. We stopped in the Azores for the day, and we proceeded to have what I dubbed The Topless Tapas Tour. We drank our way around this cozy town off the coast of Portugal. The Hubby had to help (practically carry) me back to the cruise ship. It was a night at the buffet and an early bedtime for me that day.

BONUS
Are you a cheap date? How many drinks does it take you get you into bed? My Hubby would say I am an expensive date, only because I order the fancy umbrella drinks that tend to cost an arm and a leg. How many to get me in bed…3 if you are good, any more and the sounds from the bed will be snoring.

Magic, Mystery, and Man Flesh

So the fourth has come and gone, the summer holidays are just slipping by. We had a pretty busy and fun week/weekend.  The Hubby’s best friend whom he has known since they were in elementary school made his annual trek up north. Normally he visits Memorial Day week but this year he pushed it back to the Fourth.

He arrived late Tuesday night which worked perfectly as I had a parade and the hubby was picking up our other 4 legged house guest we were watching for the week. Naturally it rained on Tuesday but not until after we were done marching, so instead of getting wet marching some of us got wet looking for the bus.

Wednesday we attended a fireworks show at the local airport/mall. Now we know better than to actually sit in the mall parking lot and watch them. We were about a half mile away in the parking lot of the company my brother works for. It sits right near a lake and I managed to snap this picture right at sunset.

Thursday was a very quiet day. We just relaxed and spent some time in the pool and grilled some steaks.  Friday I had to work, but the hubby took the day off and he and his friend took a day trip to the middle of CT to the Steam Train and River Boat for a few hours of fun, then a trip to IKEA for a few things.

I was glad to be working from home Friday because it sure seemed like I was the only one working, I heard from 2 customers and that was all before noon. I did manage a quick float in the pool on my lunch hour. Once the the Hubby and his friend got home we had a quick drink then headed to one of our favorite English Pubs for dinner. We really enjoy this place but were a little disappointed with the service and food Friday Night, it just wasn’t what we were used to.

The weather post Tuesday Night was Fabulous for the rest of the week. There was Heat and Humidity and Sunshine! This was a good thing as we had a Pool party to attend to celebrate the Birthdays of the Hosts and just to celebrate the Summer.

This is the pool of our friends. I had a lovely time just floating on a mat in the middle of it all. Our friend didn’t come with us so we bid our hosts adieu and headed home for dinner and  relaxing.

Our friends go all out and tend to hire some help for their parties. The Summer help is pictured above, it was nice of him to pour my wine for me. *first part of man flesh from the title

We had planned on Sunday to spend the day in NYC and hopefully catch a show if things worked out. We got up early and drove the hour to Times Square found a place to park and wandered over to the TKTS booth to see what was available.  I watched the TKTS app from my phone all week to get an idea of what might be on the list.

There was one show at the top of my list that I really wanted to see, it had been on the boards all week, and of course we get in line and the show isn’t on the boards. So I do some poking and look to see what we can do and find on the website that the theater offers rush tickets, which are a block of tickets for $37, once the box office opens. So we head over to the Music Box Theater to get in line and wait and see what we can get.

There were no Rush tickets left by the time we got to the door way to the box office lobby, but they still had some full price tickets for the Mezzanine left, a quick huddle and we had our tickets to see Best Musical Revival Tony Award winner Pippin.This was the view while I waited in line for an hour and a half, mostly in the sun.

Now not knowing the full story of Pippin and only seeing a snippet of it from the Tony’s, I didn’t know what to expect. I knew the Revival took a different spin with the presentation, a circus theme a la Cirque Du Soleil. The show was FABULOUS! I loved it, the story, the music, the acting, the acrobatics, the man flesh *second part of man flesh from the title.

“PIPPIN tells the story of a young prince on a death-defying journey to find meaning in his existence. Will he choose a happy but simple life? Or will he risk everything for a singular flash of glory?” – from the website.

Now I know quite a few people have been gaga over Patina Miller (The Player) and Andrea Martin (Berthe) and I must say that their performances did not disappoint at all. They were both captivating in their roles. The opening scene with Patina and the Company was outstanding and really captured what the show was to include per the circus theme. For this performance Pippin was played by the understudy and not the usual actor, but honestly if I didn’t know that ahead of time I never would have known. He seemed flawless in his singing and in the few circus stunts he was a part of. I would definitely say this is a show to see and would go so far as to say I would totally see this a 2nd time if friends wanted to make a group of it.

So now to backtrack, in between buying the tickets and seeing the show we had to squeeze in lunch. We didn’t have far to go as right across the street from the Theater is Juniors, known for their Cheesecake. We sat at the counter as there was no wait for those seats and had a very cute bartender/waiter Peter.

I am a sucker for a Reuben and ordered the

Combo Rueben – Corned Beef & Pastrami, Grilled Sauerkraut and Swiss on Rye

The Hubby was adventurous and ordered what was my second choice

SOMETHING DIFFERENT – Brisket of Beef on Potato Pancakes with Au Jus or Country Gravy and Apple Sauce.

No trip to Juniors would be complete without having some of their Most Fabulous Cheesecake. The problem was between the 3 of us we were kinda stuffed, so we decided to share 2 slices between us.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CHEESECAKE

RED VELVET CHEESECAKE

After lunch we still had about and hour and a half to before the show so we did the touristy thing and wandered Times Square. We hit Toy’s R Us and the M&M Store and did some people watching.

After the show we met up at with our friends Craig and Todd for a drink (or 2) and some good conversation. Since they are city dwellers we asked them to recommend a place for us for dinner before we headed home. The Hubby finally settled on The Delta Grill. It has a nice Louisiana feel to it (complete with lack of air movement) and a pretty good Menu.

We were still a little bit full from lunch, even after all the walking, so we settled on a pretty light meal. The Hubby and I both ordered a cup of the Chicken and Smoked Pork Andouille Gumbo, The Hubby had a side of Fried Okra Served with a creole mustard dipping sauce with his, and I had Jambalaya Wontons with mine. Our friend ordered the Jambalaya knowing he would only eat some and have the rest for lunch on Monday while we were at work.

That about catches you all up with the busy week. There are 2 parades this weekend, one Friday and one Saturday, along with Gayme Night Saturday Night.