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globaloscillations · 3 years ago

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Reflections on St. Maarten

Some months ago Kristen came to me with a conversation that started something along the lines of "hey I don't want you to be mad and if you are we can cancel but I booked us a long weekend in St. Maarten at a resort." Of course I was skeptical as is my default state particularly since Omicron hadn't really ebbed any at the time of that conversation. We kept it on the books with a we'll wait and see approach. The New England winter months ticked by and we found ourselves in March heading for the island of St. Maarten. As I write this we are heading back to New England but I wanted to share some impressions.

For context, it was my first time in St. Maarten and the Caribbean in general. It was also my first encounter with "island life" beyond the version manufactured by an American company not to be named here. As a long time aviation geek I'd always kind of hoped to make it to the famous Maho Beach at the end of the runway of SXM where the planes fly right in. Unfortunately I didn't make it for the 747 which stopped visiting the island in 2016 when KLM retired the aircraft as so many airlines have sadly done.

Our journey started Thursday morning at 1:30am to make a 5:00am flight to Fort Lauderdale and then a connection to St. Maarten. Needless to say we arrived a little punchy. We deplaned via a ramp as the jetways were damaged in hurricane Irma the effects of which are still being felt in a lot of places here. Then it was on to a somewhat intimidating customs line but a couple of the public health officers took it upon themselves to check health declarations in the line a batch at a time and this sped things up dramatically so they were the MVPs of that experience. After grabbing our bag it was a quick and relatively easy taxi ride to our resort which was very near the airport and consequently Maho Beach. After failing at a nap due to the excitement of being in a new place we admitted defeat and decided to explore the resort some.

This feels like a good time for some thoughts on the resort. As mentioned it was at the Maho Beach end of the runway. We had an 8th floor room with an ocean view balcony and within a few minutes of arriving were watching planes come right in from it. The room was nice, no complaints about it really other than a bed that isn't our own. It isn't our thing but there's a huge pool to chill by all day and many do. The grounds and resort were all very well maintained and clean. The resort was an "all-inclusive." The theme of this trip was live and learn, having not been here before we decided to just feel things out. I think ultimately what we decided for us is that the all-inclusive isn't really our thing. I suspect for families with kids it is probably a real money saver. It was nice to not pay for some drinks and meals but you can see how they get to the all-inclusive with portion sizes that are frankly a little comical at times. Overall I guess I'd say it wasn't bad but is probably one of those things that sounds better on paper than is in reality. For us we could probably have explored more and even with eating out things are noticeably cheaper here we'd probably still have had a reasonably frugal trip. After having a few drinks by the ocean we walked over to the resort's pub and I found the local SXM Lager on draft. I drank a good bit of Carib, Miller Lite and Heineken (it is the Dutch side after all) but one thing I did chafe at a bit as a beer nerd is draft beer is few and far between. No doubt the logistics of transporting kegs plays a factor. We walked around the entertainment district some but by then we're ready to crash so headed back to the hotel for the night.

Friday's main goal was plane spotting at the beach. We set out for the beach and settled in at the Driftwood bar which is on the opposite side of the beach as the famous Sunset Bar but a lot more of a chill local vibe. I headed out to the beach for the first 767 of the day unaware that they would get some 737s and 320s out ahead of it and ended up having a bit of the sand blasted experience which I had no real desire to repeat. For most of the rest of the day we sat at our table and I would monitor Flight Aware and the scanner and run out to snap some photos of anything interesting with the DSLR. We'll see how well the strategy worked once I get a chance to look at the pictures. Even if there aren't any great ones it was a fun day. I think because of the scanner I eventually had people coming up to me and asking what was coming or when the next big one was. Aside from the plane spotting itself what I really enjoy about Maho Beach is that it turns basically everyone into an aviation nerd for at least a few minutes. In between planes we talked to whoever sat at the table next to us first were some crew from a yacht docked at the island and then some island veterans introducing their first timer friends to the Maho experience. Somewhere around 4 the last few 330s from Europe had rolled in and we packed up. The plane spotting on Maho Beach box was definitively checked.

Friday's secondary goal was craft beer. I'm not going to go to a place and not seek out the local microbrewery. We approached one of the cabbies outside our hotel. How I imagined that would go is "oh sure no problem." What actually happened is the guy was like look there is no brewery there but I know a good place so we'll try your Google Maps directions and when we get there and there is no brewery I'll take you to the place I know. So off we go me directing the cab driver with Google Maps. Despite my insistence I'd seen the place on Instagram he was unconvinced we would find anything at the destination. As it turned out his insistence was based on having lived in the area at one point for many years. To his surprise and my satisfaction we arrived at the island's microbrewery. It was for sure a local's place no tourist was likely to stumble upon unless they were feeling adventurous. Despite that they made us feel as welcome as the many local regulars that were enjoying themselves. It was like so many breweries I've been to a converted industrial space with some makeshift tables that could have been as at home in Massachusetts. The beer was solid. They had a nice chili beer with some heat to it that was probably my favorite. All in all it'll make for good memories and we got to see a bit of the local flavor and if you're not doing that when traveling why are you traveling really?

First stop on Saturday was the COVID test for return to the US (honestly I'm not sure why we haven't dropped this requirement yet but hey) they were setup across the street from the resort in a mall that isn't really being used and the process was quick and relatively painless. As we were in a short line we joked about how tragic a positive test and being forced to stay would be (sadly lol we got our emails about an hour later confirming our negative status). Otherwise Saturday's plan was a lot more chill and come what may. We walked over to a local market and I got a coffee and a proper size croissant. One thing you notice quickly is people are interested, I think genuinely, in where you're from, if it is your first time on the island, etc. And they always hope (know?) you'll be back. From there we meandered across the beach over to the Sunset Bar area. Things weren't really up and running so we walked around to the back of one of the other restaurants and found a seat by the turquoise water and rocks and watched sailboats and whatever else happened by for a while. Eventually we made it over to the Sunset Bar and it was definitely a different experience from that side of the beach it is clearly closer to the runway and you kind of feel the planes more. I snapped a few pictures with my phone and took a few with a plane or two as I was wearing my Sandpiper Air shirt. One thing I appreciated as well is they had a beer or two that wasn't the standards of the region. I checked in my Dutch Blonde as I had seen many do on Untappd. Pro-tip which their website doesn't really mention is they do a breakfast menu from 8am to about 10 or 11am. After a few beers we returned to our previous venue now open and had some lunch. We then made our way back across a now crowded Maho Beach and stopped to snap a selfie or two with planes.

Back at the resort we chilled on the balcony for a few which isn't something I've ever done a ton but with the view it's hard not to want to just sit there and appreciate it. Eventually we made our way down to the pool bar which had a swim up component, a novelty to my knowledge not found in the more risk averse United States. It's another thing you notice and are reminded of when you travel how risk averse and overly cautious we can be back at home. St. Maarten is by no means a free for all but it also doesn't get too overly worried about things that don't really matter and kind of lets people take responsibility for their wise or poor choices. After freshening up from the pool we hit one of the resort restaurants. The premise is they bring you a super heated Lava rock and you cook your own meal on it. There's a salad, main, side and dessert to choose from. I'm not trying to be overly picky but I ordered what was billed as Prime Rib and well. The champagne was a nice way to close things out and the cheesecake was good if tiny. All in all it was a concept that read a little better than it was executed.

As we so often do on the final night we tried to find some live music. We eventually ended up at a pub called the Hole in the Wall listening to a guy and his guitar and generally vibing despite a huge group of bros that wandered in and took over the pool table area at the back. A short time after we sat down the guy playing struck up Rocketman which felt pretty serendipitous. We stayed for the second of three sets but decided to do the responsible thing and call it at that point with travel coming the next day.

So here we are at the airport awaiting a non-stop flight back to a frigid Massachusetts, though warm weather is coming. JetBlue had us here about an hour before baggage check even opened. Aside from that, navigating the process wasn't too cumbersome. It will be nice when they get the airport reconstruction done. The terminal took a beating during Irma but the renderings look like a significant improvement. Of course a lot of the traffic here is charter or private jet and their SUV picks them up at the plane so. I'd be lying if I wasn't a tad envious of that.

Overall it's been a good trip. Not long enough but I get the strong impression no trip here ever is. It is a rare trip where I don't end up looking forward to getting back to New England. Of course there is the fantasy of oh move down here and just get on island time permanently but of course when you're in it is an easy one to get swept up by. The sandy beaches and turquoise water that go on forever obscure any list of cons to such a scenario just over the horizon. What I can say for now is I've enjoyed my time here drinking light beers that don't give you a hangover, wearing shorts again, watching planes and expanding my definition for what chill can mean. There is a definite "bubble" effect. I look forward to getting out and exploring a bit more on the next trip, perhaps the French side. I know the stress of home and work and life will soon return but with any luck maybe with a better appreciation that good times are out there obscured by all those things just beyond the next horizon.

(I posted a few photos for context here so head to the top-level for those.)

-Justin

#travel #sxm

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travelingnaturalista · 6 years ago

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Traveling between both islands. The water taxi waa directly across from the airport. Luckily we booked during Carnival and was able to enjoy the excitement on the island. They had a band and DJ while serving rum punch as we arrived. Very friendly and relaxing. (at St. Maarten) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzA-LWgHyEK/?igshid=1bwgqlywz8i0j

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rentacar2018-blog · 6 years ago

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soualigatours · 1 year ago

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Reliable Car Rental & Tour Services of Soualiga Tours in SXM

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#Reliable Car Rental #Tour Services of Soualiga Tours in SXM

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stmaartentoursandtaxi · 5 months ago

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Book Luxury Car Rentals with Speks Transportation Services

Are you planning to spend your vacation in St Maarten? To make your vacation easier, we have brought luxury car rental services with a big collection of luxurious vehicles. Book a taxi St. Maarten to explore nearby attractions and other things such as restaurants, resorts, hotels, concerts, and much more. We are providing four tours for the exploration of this island such as the Circle Island…

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actiontaxiservice · 2 months ago

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theladyjstyle · 7 years ago

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Adventure of the Seas Live Blog - Day 1 - Embarkation Day

Pre Cruise

Since this cruise sailed out of San Juan, I decided to fly in the day before. My flight from Tampa, Florida to San Juan was a little over three hours. Once I landed I went out to the taxi line, which was very organized.

They have flat rates for where you want to go, plus an extra $1 per bag. I also liked that they handed you a slip with the total for the ride prior to getting in the taxi to my hotel.

The hotel I stayed in was called the Hyatt House, which they also have another hotel across the street called the Hyatt Place. I booked a studio king and it reminded me of the grand suites on board the cruise ships.

The room had a kitchen where you could cook a full meal. I also liked the large walk in shower in the bathroom. All around this hotel is a nice option for a pre-cruise stay in San Juan.

For my afternoon in San Juan I was using Uber to get around to old San Juan. The average ride was between $4-$5 to and from my hotel. I met a friend and was just explored the streets and dashed into a few local bars. Of course we had to try a few local mojito’s to see who made the best.

Boarding Day

No matter how many times I cruise, I can never sleep in past 6AM the day of the cruise. I naturally woke up early and decided to get ready for the day and go explore old San Juan more. Since Uber was so easy to get around (and so cheap) I went over around 7AM. I just got lost in the streets like you would on a port day, but the streets were all empty.

At 9AM the forts open and I went over with a small group of friends to explore. The entry fee is $7 per person and that covers you in both forts for 24 hours. We only spent 30-45 minutes here since cruise time was approaching.

Around 10AM we took an Uber back to our hotels and packed up for our cruise. I was really glad I woke up early and went out to see more of San Juan; it’s such a beautiful island.

Embarkation

I took an Uber once again from my hotel to the cruise terminal Pan American ($3). Once we arrived everything from the outside seem like a standard boarding process. We entered and I saw them doing a lot of work, like painting and installing new check-in counters.

I received my card and now we had nothing to do but wait. However, in this terminal they only had around 100 chairs. The boarding was delayed until noon, so we just stood around waiting. As more passengers arrived we began to get a little crowed.

Right at noon we boarded and we were officially on vacation. We boarded on deck 1, crossed the crew I-95 and jumped on an elevator up to the pool deck.

My first impressions of Adventure of the Seas, is she looks outstanding. I actually think she looks a lot more updated than the Navigator (other than the old champagne bar still here).

Cabin

For my cabin I’m trying a promenade room on deck 7, room #7295. This is the first time I’ve stayed in a cabin of this type, so I was a little excited to try something new. I like all the new décor in the cabin; the brand new carpet looks great.

As far as the cabin itself, it is plenty big enough for one or two people. The only downside to this cabin is seeing people right across the promenade. I learned that the hard way coming out of the shower, oh well…

Evening on board

Tonight we had reservations at Chops Grill at 7PM for a party of 12. We had planned to keep dinner moving fast for our 8:30PM sailaway. But with a table our size, that just didn’t happen. The service was a little slow, but we were a very large group.

They kept the wine flowing so it turned into a great evening with friends. For the sides they just brought everything out for us to share family style. The price was $35 per person plus 18%, unless you bought it online in a cruise planner sale/bogo.

We decided to take our dessert to go and take it up to my friend’s cabin staying in a Grande suite. I had also received some bottles of champagne and wine in the cabin, so we just turned it into a little mini-cabin party.

This cruise we had a facebook group that was the most active online pre-cruise group I’ve ever seen. We had scheduled a few events during the cruise and tonight was our pub meet-up. I couldn’t believe how many people showed up, we almost over took the pub. I met a lot of great people I’ve been talking with over the past few months.

My final stop tonight was the schooner bar to see Billy Pardo play the piano. He was the same person we had on the Harmony group cruise in September, so it was fun to reconnect with him. The night time entertainment on this ship is outstanding, both the pub and schooner bar singers are great!

I almost made it to midnight and decided to call it a night. I knew tomorrow we have a full day in St. Maarten, so I wanted to get a few hours of sleep.

Category:

Adventure of the Seas Live Blog

https://ift.tt/2IetVmn

#cruise #Royal Caribbean Blog

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jojunietours · 3 years ago

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#st maarten island tours

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deladane · 7 years ago

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Day 8: Wednesday, March 8 ~ Antigua

(Eddy’s pronunciation: ant – IG – you – ah*)

*I haven’t really mentioned much about the Cruise Director Eddy. He was very funny and we really enjoyed him as our CD. One of his shticks is that he mispronounced the name of all of our ports. We didn’t really catch on to it at first, so neither of us remembers how he pronounced St. Maarten, but when we heard him say Antigua, we caught on. Part of what made it so funny was that he is from Wales and does have an accent, so between his normal accent and his mispronunciation of these island names, we couldn’t help but chuckle. I’ll include Eddy’s version of the island names for all the rest of our ports. Emphasis is on the capitalized syllable.

Antigua was one of the ports on this itinerary that I was most looking forward to (along with the 3 ABC islands, of course!) because it was the only new port for the first week of the cruise. Antigua is famous for having 365 beaches- one for every day of the year. I briefly considered using today as a beach day, but then decided against it because we were using St. Maarten and Barbados as beach days and I wanted something more adventurous for today. Antigua Adventures receives a 5 star rating on Trip Advisor, and also gets great reviews on Cruise Critic. We decided to book their Eco Tour, which would take us out on a boat for 6 hours, including stops for snorkeling, hiking, a visit to Hell’s Gate Island, and lunch on the beach. They offer a 10% discount if you pay a deposit online with a credit card, so I paid $23.50 per person online and was instructed to pay the remaining $80 per person in cash in US dollars on the day of our tour.

We woke up to an overcast and cloudy sky as we sailed into Antigua this morning. The temperature felt much warmer and more humid than it had been so far this week, so we crossed our fingers that it wouldn’t rain during our tour! We put the room service breakfast tag on our door last night, and it was delivered promptly at 7am. As I had done yesterday, I requested smoked salmon for our bagels, but when I divided up all of our food, there was no plate with salmon. I just assumed they ran out or forgot or whatever, but it wasn’t a big deal. We took our breakfast out onto the balcony to watch as we sailed into port.

Good morning Antigua!

Just as I finished eating, I heard the phone ring inside the cabin. It was the room service manager calling to check up on us and make sure our breakfast was to our liking. I’m not sure if he does this for all the cabins or if it was because we spoke with him last night during dinner, but I thought it was a nice touch. I told him everything was great, but since he called, I asked if it was okay that we were writing in smoked salmon on the order form. I explained that we had ordered it yesterday and it was delivered, but it was not delivered today so I wasn’t sure if we were allowed to order it. He said that was no problem at all to order the smoked salmon, apologized that it was forgotten with today’s order, and offered to send it up to the cabin right away. I told him not to worry about it since we were already finished eating and needed to leave for our tour soon. He told me to make sure to write down any other special requests when I order room service for the rest of the cruise and he would make sure that we got it. I was quite impressed at the level of service and concern for our happiness. Well done, Celebrity!

We packed up our beach bags and headed off the ship at 8:15am to meet our tour group. We were instructed to meet at 8:45am at a boutique located just a 5 minute walk from the cruise ship, but I always like to give us a little extra time just in case we get lost and to make sure we are not late. These guys were playing the steel drums when we got down to the pier.

When we got to the base of the pier, I immediately saw our meeting spot for the tour. The instructions told us to walk across the wood bridge to the Exotic Antigua Boutique, so it was a relief to see a huge sign on their roof labeling the building so I could see it from right next to the cruise ship.

Now that I saw how close we were to the meeting spot, and since we were still a bit early, we walked past the bridge and continued straight towards the shops. I have never been to this port before and I was curious to check out the port area, but I almost immediately regretted my decision. It wasn’t a particularly pretty port area, and honestly it looked a bit run down.

On top of that, the locals were extremely pushy. Every time we took a step down the street, another vendor approached us trying to get us to go into their store to buy something, or to book their tour or get in their taxi and they would take us to the beach. I answered “No thank you, I already have a tour booked” which is usually enough for the vendors to back off, but they still kept pestering us. I felt very uncomfortable and after just a few minutes, I told DH I had enough and we turned back to go wait at our meeting spot for the tour. That didn’t give me the best first impression of Antigua, but I was hopeful that things would improve once we started our tour.

At 8:40am, we spotted our tour boat, clearly labeled with “Antigua Adventures” painted on the side of the boat. There were already a few people on the boat who were staying at a hotel on the island, and the rest of us boarded after they tied up on the dock.

When I booked the tour, they said there was a maximum of 31 people on the tour, but the guides told us there would only be 22 people on our tour today with 3 guides, so there was lots of space to spread out. The boat had a big canopy over the back half of the boat for shade, and it had a lower level with space to store our bags to keep them dry, as well as a bathroom. Once everyone was settled, the guide came around to collect our money to pay for the tour, and we left the dock promptly at 9am.

We spent the first hour of the tour speeding around the island, making occasional stops so the guides could point out the landmarks along the shoreline. The guides also explained some of the history of Antigua.

This was an old navy fort… if you look closely about a quarter of the way in from the left side, you can see one of the canons still perched on the edge of the cliff.

Antigua has some very expensive, high end houses, so the guides pointed it out as we sped past them.

I think this was at one of the hotels

Our tour was called Eli’s Eco Tour, but the tour company Antigua Adventure also offers an Xtreme 360 tour which circumnavigates the entire island in a much faster speed boat. At some point, that boat sped passed us and everyone looked like they were having a great time. I did notice that the boat looked much more crowded than our boat, so I was happy to be on our slower boat with more space to spread out.

Our first longer stop was at Long Island, which I thought was funny because I was born and raised on Long Island in New York. This section of the island has beautiful turquoise water, soft white sand, and lots of very expensive houses. The guides spent a few minutes explaining about how sea turtles lay their eggs on this beach and the island requires the residents here to help facilitate that process and protect the eggs. Something I found really interesting is that the guide told us that the turtles always return to the beach where they were born to lay their eggs. If a turtle was born here, but then swims over to St. Lucia for a few years, it will swim all the way back to this beach to lay it’s eggs. Crazy!

While we were listening to one guide, one of the other guides served us fruit juice or water, but no rum punch just yet- we had to wait for the end of the day after snorkeling before they would serve the good stuff!

We stayed at Long Island for about 20 minutes, then made the 15-minute journey over to the mangroves. When I went through the mangroves in Puerto Rico and Costa Rica, I spotted lots of interesting animals and birds. These mangroves weren’t quite as exciting and we didn’t spot any animals, but maybe they were just deeper inside and not visible from our boat?

Our next stop was at Pelican Island, where we saw tons of pelicans perched up on the hill. There were so many of them, and it was interesting that they all stay close by this one island.

Look closely and you can see lots of pelicans hiding in the bushes.

After leaving Pelican Island, we traveled less than 5 minutes to reach our next destination: Hell’s Gate Island. This was the first time we could get off the boat, and we had the option of snorkeling, swimming in the natural jacuzzi, or going on a hike though a cave and up to the top of the bridge to see the views. The guides explained that we only had about 40 minutes to spend here, so there was only time for us to do one activity. They warned us that the last option was the most adventurous option, so of course that is what we picked to do!

Approaching Hell’s Gate Island

Lots of coral and rocks just below us

That’s the bridge we were climbing up to

As we approached the island, the water was very choppy so I was a bit nervous about swimming over there from the boat. The guides had life vests and pool noodles that we could use to float, so that did make the swimming a little easier, but be careful! There are rocks in the water that come up close to the surface. I was getting tossed around a lot and it was hard to control my direction with the current, and I scrapped my knee on the top of one of the rocks. That scrape is still not fully healed today, over a month later, and I am fairly sure I will end up with a scar on my knee.

Yay! We made it!

The guides were wonderful about helping everyone swim over to the island from the boat. If anyone wasn’t a strong swimmer, the guides were there to help out.

As tough as that swim was, it was totally worth it! The island is really unique. There’s a small patch of soft sand forming a small beach with crystal clear bright blue water washing through the opening in the rocks. That’s the area they referred to as a natural jacuzzi, and I could see it being a lovely place to sit and relax if you don’t want to hike through the cave.

Looking back towards our boat, you can see that the rocks which form the island are very sharp. This natural landform is made of porous limestone rock, and there were lots of sharp jagged edges sticking out. I would definitely recommend wearing water shoes to protect your feet if you are going to take the hike here. We have our own aquasocks, but the guides had little booties for us to borrow if needed.

This photo shows where we entered the cave… do you see the vines hanging down from the top of the bridge? There is a dark opening on the left side towards the bottom of the vines- that’s the cave we walked through.

The guides gave us very specific instructions for how to climb up the rocks, and they pointed out where to turn and how to maneuver safely through the narrow cave opening and up through the middle of the rocks to reach the top.

It was really fun to climb up through the cave, but you need to be careful of your footing and be aware of what is around you. Some parts had a lower ceiling so you had to be careful not to bump your head, and some of the rocks were slippery. I did my best to snap lots of photos, but it wasn’t the greatest lighting conditions in there so I apologize that some of these came out blurry.

The last part was the steepest, but one of the guides stood at the top and told us where to step, and then reached out his hand to help us climb up to the very top.

Looking back down at the water flowing through the middle of the rocks

The views from the top of the island were stunning! It was totally worth the effort to hike up here as we had unobstructed panoramic views of the whole area.

Notice how my hair is blowing all over the place? It was very windy up there so you had to be careful not to lose your footing while gazing out at the views.

When time was almost up, the guides helped us climb across the top of the bridge, and back down to the beach where we started the hike, and then we all swam back to the boat. Hell’s Gate was one of the highlights of this tour. The scenery was amazing and it was such a special experience to see this natural land formation. I was a bit nervous going in because the guides did say it is a challenging hike, but I am so glad I did it and I would highly recommend giving it a try if you take this tour. Yes, it was a little difficult to climb through the narrow spaces, but it was very doable with the help of the guides, and every one of the 15+ people in our group who attempted it was able to complete the hike.

Once everyone was back on the boat, we made another short 5-minute ride to our next stop at Bird Island. The guides mentioned that the islands in Antigua have very simple names (Pelican Island, Bird Island, etc). They pulled the boat into a little alcove with crystal clear aqua blue water and told us it would take them about 15 minutes to set up for lunch so we could do some swimming or walk around on the beach. There was a small boat here when we arrived, but they were just getting ready to leave so we would have the whole island to ourselves.

I liked the name of their boat… Do It Tomorrow

DH decided to go out for a swim

I took a little walk along the beach

This is what happens when I leave DH to hold my camera for a few minutes…

The water was so clear!

Lunch was served buffet style and included pasta salad, BBQ chicken, garden salad, and fried plantains. They also had water, Coke, Coke Zero, beer, and rum punch to drink. All of the food was delicious, and I was very impressed that they served lunch on real plates and with real silverware (ie: not disposable)!

There were a few picnic tables along the beach, and the trees helped provide some shade.

There was more than enough food, and anyone who wanted seconds was welcome to help themselves. When we all had our fill, we cleared our plates and got ready for another little hike along a small trail that climbs up to the top of the hill on Bird Island. Definitely make sure to wear good shoes for this hike. Even though it only takes about 10 minutes to reach the top of the hill, it is steep and slippery in spots so it’s important to have good traction.

This is a map of the island and some of the animals that live here

As expected, the views from the top of the hill were beautiful. We could see the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and many of the islands around Antigua.

I love how this photo came out!

We found a little friend in the bushes

On the way back down the hill, we walked passed another beach on the opposite side of the island

After the hike, we all climbed back on the boat and motored about 5 minutes off the shore of Bird Island to the coral reef to go snorkeling. The guides divided the group into 2 groups- the beginners stayed close to the boat, and the advanced group went out further from the boat with one of the guides. We went with the advanced group and had no trouble keeping up with the guide despite the choppy current. Unfortunately, all of the heavy winds really churned up the water so visibility was limited. We saw lots of rocks and coral, but not many fish. I thought the snorkeling here was okay, but not great.

The guide dove down to the ocean floor and came back with a surprise… a conch shell! This was the first time I have seen one of these while snorkeling!

He handed it to me to get a closer look…

That was the highlight of today’s snorkeling trip! It was also around the spot where we turned around to swim back towards the boat. Swimming out was against the current, so the rest of the time we just floated and let the current gradually drift us back towards the boat.

I was out in the water snorkeling for about 20 minutes. When I got back to the boat, the guides were ready and waiting with a special treat. They served us fresh baked banana bread, water, fruit juice, and very strong rum punch. The rum punch was so strong that I actually asked for a cup with half punch and half fruit juice to dilute it to make it more drinkable haha The snack was much-needed after all that swimming!

After that, we made the 45-minute journey back to the cruise port.

We docked back in front of the Exotic Antigua Boutique at 2:45pm. Overall, I enjoyed the tour and thought the guides did a great job. Antigua is a beautiful island, especially as seen from the water, but I would definitely recommend doing some research and picking a tour in advance. The locals at the port are incredibly pushy and I would not recommend trying to book a tour right there when you arrive, nor would I recommend spending too much time walking around the port area. Our itinerary had many islands that are better for shopping where you don’t have to deal with the pushy locals. Sorry Antigua, but you were not my favorite island of this cruise.

We thanked our guides and went straight back to the ship, happy to find our afternoon cheese plate waiting for us in the cabin.

Yay! We finally got real crackers instead of saltines! Call me crazy, but it really did make the cheese taste better. After some quick showers, we headed down to the Gastro Bar because DH wanted to try some new beers (and we kind of needed a break from the Martini Bar lol) DH had a beer and I tried some champagne.

We could see a beautiful sunset through the windows, so we went up to the outside deck on deck 5 to get a better look. This is what cruising is all about!

Such a perfect night to lounge on an outside deck, watching the sun set over the ocean with some drinks.

At 7pm, we went down to the MDR for dinner. Here is tonight’s menu:

My favorite treat on cruises is escargot. I never eat this any other time besides on a cruise, so I love that Celebrity offers it as an every day appetizer. I ordered this many times over our 2 week cruise, but I’ll only post the photo this one time.

Spiced Duck Rillettes

Celebrity Signature Crab Cake

Penne Primavera

Oven Roasted Chicken Saltimbocca (this was the only dish from the entire cruise which I thought was a miss… it just wasn’t what I expected and I didn’t really enjoy it. We had planned to share the penne but I ended up eating most of it on my own.)

Dessert Menu

I don’t have a photo of the dessert but I am fairly certain that I ordered the Apple Tart. After dinner, we went upstairs to watch a few minutes of the evening hot glass show. We never got to do this on our 2016 cruise, but I really liked seeing the shows at night. The hot glass seems to glow brighter at night, and it was much cooler watching the show in the evening air instead of in the daytime sun. We only had a few minutes to watch the show because we needed to get to the main theater by 9pm, but it was worth it to see them make one piece.

Tonight’s featured performer was Savannah Smith, backed by the Eclipse Orchestra. She is a singer and performer in Las Vegas and she put on a wonderful, entertaining show. She sings songs by the famous female divas, and her voice is very strong. We really enjoyed it.

After the show, we went straight back to the cabin, tired from a busy day in Antigua but looking forward to tomorrow in St. Lucia!

Step Tracker Daily Total: 4367 steps; 1.671 miles

#Celebrity Eclipse Cruise 2018 #celebritycruises #celebrityeclipse #cruise #vacation #travel #antigua

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fadingfartconnoisseur · 7 years ago

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My Best Travel Moments of 2017

Last year, I wrote that 2016 turned out to be a lot worse than I expected. And not only because of the election. It was a rough year in many ways.

2017 has been a lot better, thankfully. A better business year, a better personal year, even in spite of all the fears ushered in by this new political era. And while my travels were significantly more dialed down than past years, I felt like my travel itch was fully scratched. I’m especially happy that so many domestic destinations now have budgets for campaigns — a few years ago, it seemed like the only paid work to be had was in Europe.

This year I didn’t go as far as usual — my travels were concentrated in the US, Caribbean, and Europe, though I did travel to seven new countries (St. Kitts and Nevis, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Estonia, and Russia).

These are the moments that brought me the most joy.

Standing above the ghost town of Pripyat, Ukraine

Visiting Chernobyl was one of the most moving experiences I’ve had during my travels. But while visiting Chernobyl and the plant itself was interesting, the most fascinating part of the trip was visiting the ghost town of Pripyat.

In the 31 years since the Chernobyl disaster, the forest has reclaimed the city. Giant trees now push up against every building. It’s so dense, you often don’t realize that you’re right in front of a building until your guide points it out to you.

Then came the grand finale. We climbed eight floors up to the top of an apartment building and looked across the landscape. Only then did we realize how close the buildings were to each other, and we were able to make out the edges of a town.

Only then did everything coalesce for me. This was once an actual town with everything you could possibly need. It was like the place where I grew up. And it was abandoned in the blink of an eye. What an incredible place to visit.

READ MORE: What’s It Like to Tour Chernobyl Today?

Witnessing the Hemingway Lookalike Contest in Key West

I have a big list of festivals I’ve wanted to experience for years, and one of them is the Hemingway lookalike contest for Hemingway Days in Key West. How hilarious is this? All these men dressed up as Hemingway were so hardcore about it!

This is a serious competition, to become one of the “papas.” Nobody half-assed it — they had elaborate costumes and one-liners. My favorite competitor, a gentleman from Denmark, said that he chose to enter because, “I got off the plane and the immigration officer said, ‘Welcome to Florida, Mr. Hemingway.'”

Hanging out with all those Hemingways in a place as fun and rollicking as Key West? Amazing. I enjoyed that contest so much, I came SO close to spending $1000 out of pocket so I could stay two days longer. Financial sense won out, but I need to return and catch the whole competition.

I even picked out my favorite sexy Hemingway. And no, it wasn’t the one Young Hemingway that was a finalist. Translation: I am old.

READ MORE: A Sizzling Summer Trip to the Florida Keys

Meeting My Feminist Heroes

This past spring I ended up meeting two of my favorite feminist icons within a few days of each other! First, I went to a book reading by Lindy West, whose book Shrill was one of my favorite reads of 2016 (and who is now a New York Times columnist — I’m so thrilled for her!).

Soon after, my friend Amy invited me last-minute to an event promoting reproductive rights and Dr. Willie Parker’s book Life Code. The featured speaker? The legendary Gloria Steinem.

I had to tell her what she meant to me. After the event finished, I went up to her, introduced myself, and told her about the work I was doing to equalize the playing field in the travel blogging industry. “I’m continuing your work,” I told her. “No,” she gently corrected me. “You’re continuing your work and I support you.” How amazing is that?

(Though I have to say that the funniest thing was that Olivia Wilde was there, wearing a mini backpack that was partially unzipped, and Amy zipped it up while saying, “Hey, Olivia, just letting you know your bag’s open and I’m zipping it for you!”)

The Smoothest Arrival in Vilnius, Lithuania

Sometimes the best moments are born out of the worst. Minsk was a struggle for me — it was a large and incomprehensible city with a severe language barrier and almost no wifi. Plus, I nearly had a disaster when I had to get a last-minute flight out when I learned my visa-free terms wouldn’t let me leave by train.

But then I landed in Vilnius and it was all so mellifluous.

I got on actual, working wifi at the airport. I went outside and found a taxi driver. In perfect English, he welcomed me to Lithuania and told me what the estimated cost would be, then assured me he would be using a meter. The ride was smooth; he played great dance music. I got to my apartment rental and let myself in using the key codes, no meetup with the host necessary.

It was late, but I went out for a walk and sat down at an outdoor French cafe, sipping a glass of wine and giggling at the kilted Scottish football fans surrounding me. It was a return to order and beauty that I had been missing for days. All the stress of Belarus melted away in an instant.

Doing Bertie Bots Roulette at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter with Cailin

I love doing Facebook Lives for you guys, but this one was probably the best idea and the funniest result. Bertie Bots Jelly Beans were an invention in the Harry Potter novels that was actually brought to real life! You can get them everywhere, but Cailin and I definitely had to try them at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando.

They look like Jelly Belly beans. Some flavors are normal: marshmallow, cinnamon, banana. And some flavors are outlandish: soap, booger, earwax. So what did we do? Bertie Botts Roulette! We would try the flavors without knowing and act accordingly!

Good flavors were a relief; bad flavors were horrific. But I think we held it together until we got the VOMIT flavored beans! We were shrieking, running away, cracking up everyone around us. If I never have a vomit-flavored jelly bean again, it will be too soon.

Hiking with Llamas in Vail, Colorado

This is probably the single best activity I did this year. Colorado is a brilliant destination for hiking, but it gets even better when you get to bring llamas along! Paragon Guides offers a variety of excursions through the mountains surrounding Vail. I went on a guided hike outside the town of Minturn that included a picnic lunch.

We were given two llamas named Kareem and Bailey. Bailey loved to eat blueberries; Kareem actually sneezed in my face, to the laughter of everyone present. Llamas really are sweet animals. They had the softest fur, they were fairly obedient (assuming they weren’t going to town on a mound of grass at the time), and they made beautiful companions on Instagram!

I also want to give a shout-out to my guide Paul, who was incredible kind, friendly, and personable. Having a great guide makes a wonderful tour even better. I felt like I left the tour with a new friend.

READ MORE: Vail, Colorado, Might Be Better in the Summer!

Rocking Out at the Air Guitar World Championships in Oulu, Finland

This is another festival I’ve yearned to experience for years, long since before I became a travel blogger. The Air Guitar World Championships take place every August in Oulu, Finland, a small city on the Arctic Circle, and people from around the world compete for the title. When my friends at Visit Finland asked me if I wanted to come back for another summer visit, I immediately asked if I could come for the festival. Wish granted!

People were so creative with their costumes and personalities! From the French goofball who performed to “Foux du Fafa” to the hardcore fifteen-year-old Japanese sumo character, to the women who were rocking out in the male-dominated environment, I enjoyed watching and cheering from the audience!

It’s crazy, but even better than the competition was hanging out with everyone at the after-parties. As you can imagine, the kind of people who compete in air guitar are a bit crazy to begin with, and they were a LOT of fun to party with! I had only slept an hour the night before, but somehow I kept going until 5:00 AM…

READ MORE: Finland in the Summer: Quirky, Isolated, and Pretty

Watching Planes Take Off on Maho Beach, St. Maarten

I had always heard that watching planes land just steps from Maho Beach on St. Maarten was a crazy and memorable experience. But this surpassed my expectations. Of course the photo opportunities were excellent — particularly when big KLM planes landed — but it was just a rush to enjoy this unique activity.

Even better was feeling the rush when the planes took off, blasting hot air straight into the beach. It was like the end of the world — a crazy wind tunnel, sand flying everywhere, and the huge noise. I loved it.

There are two things you need to know, though. First, the airport on St. Maarten was severely damaged after Hurricane Irma, as was Maho Beach, so we will have to stay tuned and see if things will be repaired. But before the hurricane, a woman was killed watching planes take off. She was holding on to the fence in front of the pavement. St. Maarten’s police believe this to be the first fatality related to watching the planes, though many people have injured themselves before.

Please be careful. The safest thing to do is to stay out of the planes’ path altogether and just watch and take photos from the nearby cafes. If you do choose to stand in the path, which is still a risk, you should be on the sand, not the pavement.

High-End Coffee in Tallinn, Estonia

My daily coffee break is sacred — both while traveling and on the road. It’s a time for me to pause, reflect, go back into my introvert’s mind, and get a hit of caffeine to refuel me. I’ve discovered so many great coffeeshops on the road, but my favorite was The Living Room in Tallinn.

The Living Room is a cozy cafe just outside the Old Town, which makes it much more of a local place than a tourist place. It’s warm and cozy. They have several different varieties of coffees from around the world, complete with tasting notes. They can prepare the coffee in many different ways. I chose an Ethiopian blend that burst with berry and pepper flavors, and they prepared it in what looked like a beaker on a hot plate! SO good.

I might as well give shout-outs to my favorite new independent coffeeshops from this year: The Blue Cup in Kiev, Peddler Coffee in Philadelphia (get the lavender latte!), Panther Coffee in Miami, Tybean Coffee on Tybee Island, Double D’s in Asheville, Andante in Helsinki, Coffee Fox in Savannah (get the horchata latte!), Artichoke in Bucharest, and Utopia in Minsk.

Getting Glamorous and Hanging with Celebs in Las Vegas

On the first night my three friends and I were together in Las Vegas, we got glammed up with makeup and hair and went to see Ray Romano and David Spade perform stand-up. Why go see that show? The Romanos are close friends of one of my friend’s families (in fact, we first met Ray 15 years ago, right after graduating from high school). Thanks to those connections, we were offered free tickets to the show and got to hang out with both Ray and David in the green room afterward!

I don’t like being starstruck — I like chatting with celebrities as normal people. But after talking to David Spade for a few minutes about regular things, I had to say something — Tommy Boy is my favorite movie. “Oh, and my dad and I must have watched Tommy Boy a hundred times,” I added.

“Thanks,” he replied. “I can’t hear that too many times. And thank your dad, too.”

The Entire Meal at Cúrate in Asheville, North Carolina

I ate extremely well in Asheville — far better than one would expect in a city of its size. But the single best meal was my first one: Cúrate, a Spanish tapas bar that blew my socks off so hard, I swear they were singed afterwards.

I told the waiter to bring me whatever he thought the best dishes were, and boy, did he deliver. Perfect jamon iberico. Crostini with morcilla sausage. Cold almond and garlic soup. Roasted pork and mushrooms that were excellent on their own but positively sang when served together. For dessert, delicately fried eggplant served with rosemary ice cream, and a gin and tonic meringue.

And for booze, it was all about the white vermouth with a twist of lemon. I think I have a new favorite drink.

READ MORE: 14 Reasons Why I’m Smitten With Asheville, North Carolina

An Unexpected Boston Sports Booze Cruise in Key West

Cailin and I had a press pass that gave us admission to several different sunset cruises in Key West, so we grabbed some tickets. As we walked onto the boat, I noticed a few things: everyone was already several drinks in, and most of them seemed to be Boston sports fans celebrating the Patriots’ latest Super Bowl win — or, you know, just being typical New Englandahs.

As a Bostonian, I found this hilarious. Oh, my hometown accents. Oh, my hometown sports fandom. I also happened to be wearing my red white and blue dress that matched the Red Sox and Patriots gear! I had to get a picture with everyone, in between toasts to Tom Brady!

They were also a lot of fun and promptly took me and Cailin under their wings. After the cruise, we ended up at an Irish pub (I mean, it’s Boston people — where else would you end up?!) where we entered a Guinness chugging contest. Oh, Key West. You are one crazy place.

READ MORE: Key West, You Are My New Favorite

What were your favorite travel moments of this year?

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