Halloween Horror Nights – HHN28 – Universal Studios (Orlando, Florida)

I love zombies, vampires, werewolves, sci-fi and so Halloween season is fun… especially, living near a theme park known for movie-making. Without traffic, Universal Studios is about a 45 minute to 1 hour drive. The cool, breeze evening 71°F made for a comfortable event. Here’s the haunted houses we enjoyed this year and why it pays to buy an Express Pass.

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Walking Photo Tour through Gumbalimba Park (Roatan, Honduras)

Not only a great opportunity for wildlife photography but a chance to pet animals while walking through a beautiful botanical garden on a beach-front park preservation at 20-acre Gumbalimba Park. Our tour wasn’t an official photo walk, but I created my own photo scavenger hunt as the park features white faced capuchin monkeys, exotic birds and other indigenous island animals. Enjoy a glimpse of the park through our photo walk. Read More

Royal Caribbean – Allure of the Seas: Things to Do on Sea Days

You can do as much or as little as you want on a sea day from soaking in the sun at the pool, attend a trivia gathering at one of the pubs, learn line dancing, take a sushi making class… but we like being active so here’s some of the fun aboard Allure of the Seas. Read More

Historic & Culinary “Must-Eat” Tastings Walking Tour (Nassau, Bahamas)

Our first port stop on our 7-night Royal Caribbean Caribbean cruise, was to Nassau. Originally, I was supposed to jump on this food tour with mom on her 80th birthday cruise. Hurricane Irma changed our plans. Thoughtfully, Murray Sweeting gave us a credit & allowed us to reschedule – even 1yr later! Read More

Airbnb: Belle Vista Hotel – John’s Pass (Madeira Beach, Florida)

Friends we made on our recent Caribbean cruise… and whom we adventured together Snorkeling to the Antilla Ghost Shipwreck in Aruba… brought their boat to John’s Pass and extended us an invite. They found a rental property a few steps away from John’s Pass Village and Boardwalk which had its own boat dock (for an extra fee). It’s always great to discover another area only an hour’s drive away from home. If interested in a coastal vacation in the Tampa area, this is a great spot. Read More

Why Visit Lion Country Safari (West Palm Beach, Florida)?

We heard about this Drive-Thru Safari Adventure from our stay at La Quinta Inn where we had stayed prior to our cruise. This morning, we disembarked our 11-night Southern Caribbean Cruise, from Port Everglades, with Royal Caribbean and had this last hurrah in mind instead of a straight ~ 4-hour drive back home. We’ve been to other wildlife parks but we heard that there’s more than just the drive-through safari to enjoy. After the drive, we could exploration other attractions on our two feet like animal feeding experiences, rides, water sprayground, and more. Read More

Aruba Sailing and Snorkeling to the Antilla Ghost Shipwreck

Our port excursion today takes us touring Aruba with Aruba Watersports Center with their Sailing & Snorkel Trip. We made “pending” reservations this very morning as Carol and Robert, friends we made from the cruise, recommended the adventure. Fellow cruisers, Cindy and Michael, also hoped to jump on the same tour so we all disembark together. Read More

A Gradual, Sloping and Uncrowded Descent Dive in Curacao (Willemstad, Curaçao)

Our port excursion today takes us under the sea in Curacao with The Dive Bus as we’ve scheduled a guided, single tank dive at their home reef, “Pierbaai.” This dive was to refresh our skills in scuba as we’d hoped to dive at our next port stop – Aruba – that boasts the largest shipwreck in the Caribbean. Personally, I dived alittle deeper than expected at 22m / 72ft but my dive buddy kept me safe. Enjoy the video!

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