Battle of the Key West Mojitos

When I think of Key West, I think of sunsets, roosters, gingerbread-trimmed cottages, turquoise water and mojitos! I love mojitos and whenever we are in Key West, I sample three or four and end my trip reports with a mojito review. Now, thanks to two Key West rum distilleries, I can make Key West mojitos at home.

Our Vacation at Casita del Crow

Day 43 of our extended vacation started with a beautiful sunrise.

How to Make Bahamian Sky Juice

Nothing says vacation like sipping a cocktail on a tropical beach. Well, you might not be able to get to a beach right now, but you can have a taste of vacation at home.

When I'm in the Bahamas, my favorite cocktail is Sky Juice. I was introduced to Sky Juice when Ron and I were on a tour in Nassau and we stopped at a bar to cool off with some adult beverages. Most people were ordering daiquiris and Bahama Mamas, but I wanted something less fruity. The bartender suggested Sky Juice, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Sky Juice, also called Gully Wash in some parts of the Bahamas, is refreshing, potent, and best of all, it only requires a few ingredients.

You’ll need:
2 cups coconut water
1 cup gin (or white rum)
½ to 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
a dash of nutmeg

That’s it! Mix the ingredients together in a pitcher and chill for a few hours to blend the flavors, then serve over ice.

(Artwork shown above by Bahamian artist, John Paul)

The Best of Nassau

Even though we'll have to settle for trips to Puerto La Yarda and Punta Kitchen for the time being, we can still dream of our favorite destinations and look forward to seeing them again. Ron and I have been to Nassau many times and always find something new to see and do. Here are a few ideas for your next vacation in Nassau.

Cool off with a rum drink (John Watling's Distillery)

My Favorite Souvenirs

The joy of a vacation doesn’t end when you get home. It continues in the memories of the things you saw and did, and the time spent with loved ones. One of the ways I keep those memories alive is by collecting Christmas ornaments from the places I visit. There's the Santa Claus ornament from Jamaica and the framed ornament that my sister Mary and I found in Colonial Williamsburg. This year in the Bahamas I bought a Christmas tree ornament made of wood and sea glass. They are my favorite souvenirs. Whenever I look at my tree, I am reminded of these special trips.

May your Christmas tree be full of happy memories! Merry Christmas!

clockwise from top left: ball from Savannah, Queen's guard from London, Moravian star from Cancun, Christmas tree from Nassau

Top Beaches of the Caribbean

Each year, Trip Advisor publishes their Travelers’ Choice Awards for the top 25 beaches in the world and by region. I love browsing through the lists to see how many of the places we have visited. This year Trip Advisor’s Top Beaches of the Caribbean included several of my own favorites.

Eagle Beach – Aruba
Number 2 on Trip Advisor’s list, Eagle Beach is famous for its two divi divi trees. Divi divi trees in Aruba always point to the southwest, shaped by the trade winds that constantly blow across the island. You can make reservations at Passions on the Beach for a romantic dinner with your feet in the sand.

Top Five Don't-Miss Activities on a Carnival Cruise

Recently, there was a post on Cruise Critic’s Carnival Cruise Line forum asking people to name their top “don’t-miss” activities when cruising with Carnival. (Click here to read the post.) I compiled the results and came up with a list of the top five.

1. The Punchliner Comedy Club
While most cruise lines offer a comedy act or two, Carnival is unique for having an entire club devoted to comedy. There are multiple shows each night, some family friendly and some geared towards adults. Since the club is generally in one of the smaller lounges, you’ll want to arrive early. Seats fill up quickly.

The Key to Happiness - Travel

"We'll always have Paris" - Girls' Trip, June 2011

Have you seen the latest ad from Groupon called “Haves vs. Have-Dones”? I love this ad because I’ve always thought that the most precious gifts are gifts of shared experiences, doing and seeing new things with the ones I love. And it turns out that there is scientific research to back this up. An article by Thomas Gilovich and Amit Kumar titled “We’ll Always Have Paris” shows that people who spend money on experiences (such as a trip or even a visit to a museum) tend to be happier than people who purchase material goods.

One reason for this is adaptation. Material purchases quickly became the new normal and we stop noticing them. On the other hand, we talk about our experiences long after they occur. Experiences stay alive in the stories we tell, and even a less-than-perfect experience can turn into funny family lore. (Remember that insane taxi driver we had on our first trip to Vegas??)

The Best of Key West

Since my sister-mother trip to Virginia got "Joaquin'ed", I am especially looking forward to getting away to Key West next month. Ron and I have gone to Key West by car, ferry, plane and cruise ship, and each trip is a new and fun adventure. Here are a few of the things that I love about Key West.

History and Art

How to Survive a Long Flight

When we were growing up, we flew back and forth from Korea every three or four years. According to my mom, we were well-behaved travelers. Some of the other passengers on our plane may remember differently. :-)  But we were pretty good at keeping ourselves occupied. We made up elaborate schedules of who got the window seats on which legs of the trip. We also each carried our own travel bag, a tote bag filled with crafts, books and toys.

Vacation Inspiration

On Saturday, Ron and I ran in a 5K race. Why? Well, it wasn’t to win this ugly t-shirt, that’s for sure!  :-)  It was because our cruise to the Southern Caribbean is coming up and that means bathing suits, sleeveless tops and dress-up nights. Time to shape up!

This year we decided to go on a cruise instead of staying at an all-inclusive resort so that we could spend some time with Mama and Daddy, who love cruising. We’ve never done a Southern Caribbean itinerary and I'm excited about exploring some new islands. I already went shopping and found my cocktail dress for Formal Night.  Now that's an outfit worth running for.

There’s nothing like vacation to inspire me to work out.

Five Spectacular Sunsets

Every few weeks Trip Advisor posts one of their Best Of lists - “10 Breathtaking Beaches”, “10 Jaw Dropping Hotel Pools”. I always scan the articles just in case they mention a place I’ve been (or would like to visit someday). The most recent list was “12 Spots for Sensational Sunsets”. Here is my own list of favorite sunset spots, which includes two of the places on Trip Advisor plus three others.

1. Mallory Square - Key West, Florida
Sunsets in Key West are a cause for celebration. Every night, hundreds of people gather in Mallory Square to watch the jugglers, magicians, animal performers, and oh yeah, the sunset.

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
(Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go”)

The best part about starting a new year is the possibility. There’s a whole year ahead to fill with trips, planning and anticipation. Where should we go this year? What will we see? What new things will we experience?

Ron and I haven’t decided on a destination for our annual Caribbean vacation yet, but we're going on a short cruise in a few weeks. And for Christmas, Jenny gave me, Mary and Mama travel books to London. We’ll be taking a girls’ trip to England in the fall! Lots to look forward to.

So...be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!
(Dr. Suess)

Happy New Year and Happy Travels to all!

What to Include in a Cruise Review

Setting Sail - one of my favorite parts of a cruise

While I was researching for our recent cruise on the Carnival Paradise, I found an interesting question on the Cruise Critic message boards (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1847254). The poster was planning to write a detailed review of her cruise and wanted to know what information we looked for in a review. I was curious about this too so I compiled the responses. Here are the top 5 answers.

1. Pictures, pictures, pictures
Almost everyone agreed that a review can’t have too many pictures. In fact, only one person said she didn’t care about pictures. Karysa, the lone dissenter, said they reminded her of the slide shows she used to endure while visiting relatives as a kid. “I just skip over the pictures mostly and get right to the text.”

Waiting for Spring

Here it is, the end of March, and I haven’t written a single blog. It has been so cold and dreary this month that we haven’t been able to get out and enjoy the outdoors. Usually by this time, the Gulf water is warming up and we’re out on the boat every weekend. I’m longing to put away these sweaters and feel some sunshine on my shoulders. The weatherman is saying it will warm up this weekend, finally.

Come on spring, I’m ready for you!

Kayaks waiting for customers on Dunedin Causeway

Vacation Motivation

Yes, it’s that time again; time to start getting back into bathing suit shape. There’s nothing like an upcoming trip to get me moving!

One way I stay motivated is by wearing a pedometer and trying to put 10,000 steps on it a day. I just bought a new pedometer that resets itself at midnight so I can’t cheat. :-)  I also filled up my iPod with songs that remind me of vacation, songs by Bob Marley, Zac Brown Band, Kenny Chesney (and of course, Gwen Stefani’s "The Sweet Escape").

My favorite vacation song is "I Can See Clearly Now" because it reminds me of our trip to Couples Swept Away in Negril, Jamaica. Negril has one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen – soft white sand and calm, crystal clear turquoise water. The beach is public so it is busy with vendors peddling trinkets, conch shells and Jet Ski rides and musicians playing for tips. One morning two musicians stopped in front of our beach chairs and sang "I Can See Clearly Now". It was the perfect song for a perfect day.

7-Mile Beach, Negril

Look all around, there’s nothing but blue skies
Look straight ahead, there’s nothing but blue skies
It’s gonna be a bright, bright sun-shiny day
("I Can See Clearly Now" by Johnny Nash)

Booked!

Today is one of my favorite days of the year - the day we book our vacation. Having that confirmation number makes it all real.

This time we'll be heading to Sandals Grande Antigua. And now that I know exactly when and where we'll be going, I can start researching in earnest. What is the resort like? What is the country like? What tours should we take? We were in Antigua in 2007 but only for one day while we were on a cruise. What I remember most are the colorful little houses dotting the mountainside. I can't wait to go back to see more of the island and check out another Sandals. So much to look forward to!



St John's, Antigua

 

My Favorite Pictures of 2012

Before we begin another year of traveling, I thought I would share some of my favorite pictures from the past year.

1. Leaving the Port of Tampa on the Jewel of the Seas

How To Read Trip Advisor Traveler Reviews (Without Freaking Out)

One of the best parts of vacation is the planning. I love deciding where to go next and then reading everything I can about the place. But when Ron and I first discovered websites like Trip Advisor, we would worry about every negative review. Then we decided to read the reviews on places we had loved, and guess what. Even our favorites had some bad reviews.  No resort can be everything to everyone. Here are a few tips on using reviews to find a resort that’s right for you.

1. Look for trends:
Don’t get hung up on a single review. If one person says a hotel is noisy, maybe that person was just there on a bad week. But if 100 people say it’s noisy, then you’d better bring ear plugs. Look for common themes that show up over and over and you’ll get a pretty good idea about a hotel’s strengths and weaknesses.

Music to My Ears

My philosophy is that the best way to cure post-trip blues is to book another trip, so we’ve decided to plan a weekend getaway to the RIU Palace Las Americas in Cancun. I was looking at videos about the RIU on YouTube, and in one of the videos I could hear the sounds of cling-cling birds in the background. Instantly, I was back in the Caribbean, eating breakfast at an outdoor table and watching the cling-clings trying to steal packets of sugar. Funny how certain sounds say “vacation”. You’d think it would be the sound of waves on the beach, but for me it’s the squeaks of the cling-cling birds and the tweets of the tree frogs at night.

Cling-cling bird at Sandals Montego Bay