Aruba

Having not been out of the country for quite some time, my honeymoon was the perfect opportunity to satisfy my wanderlust. We could not have chosen a better place for our honeymoon than Aruba!

Lodging
We stayed for a week at the Tamarijn Aruba All Inclusive. After a short taxi ride ($25 standard taxi fare) from the airport, we were checked in quickly and all amenities were explained. All the rooms are located right on the water, we were on the second floor with a balcony. The room was nice, small but enough room to move about. The bathroom was nice, and the room was cleaned daily. The resort was quite, clean, and well, perfect! =)

Our balcony

The Tamarijn includes unlimited food and drinks at 9 restaurants and 7 bars. Our favorites were the Red Parrot, Paparazzi, and Pizza per Tutti. There were 2 bars at the pool and the Bunker Bar right outside our room. The staff were all very friendly.

Dinner at the Red Parrot.

View from Bunker Bar.

Honeymoon Package at Divi
The Divi resorts have a free package for honeymooners who bring along their marriage certificate. This includes a bottle of champagne, two t-shirts, and a dinner on the beach. The dinner was good, but the service here was our only negative experience. There is a section of tables set up for the honeymoon package, right in middle of dinner the servers decided that it would be okay to set up a table right in the middle for a party of 6. They had better seats than Nick and I. What is the purpose of promising us an "upgraded" dinner on the beach just for honeymooners if you are going to sit anybody there? The food was good and we got some good pictures, but seating that family there was rude.

Activities
Our activities outside the resort were:
 Aruba Aloe Factory and Museum. We had a wonderful tour guide who explained the history of the aloe industry in Aruba, the process of making their products, and took us on a tour of the factory. We enjoyed our visit and bought some amazing products!

Aloe fields next to the factory

Phillip's Animal Garden. This is a must-see! Phillip's is a nonprofit animal sanctuary. Visitors pay $10 and get a bag of animal food (carrots and food pellets). A staff member takes you around the garden and talks about all the animals. If you ask nicely, they even let you hold some of the animals.

Meet "empty bag", because he doesn't go away until your bag of food is empty! This little guy followed us around the entire time! So cute!

I got to hold a baby goat. <3

"Empty bag" eating plants

SNUBA through De Palm Tours. This was a bit more money than we planned to spend, but completely worth it! We paid $84 each for the Palm Pleasure Snorkel Adventure, and added the SNUBA for $41. The bus picked us up from our hotel and took us right to the De Palm pier. The boat takes you to 3 sites: Catalina Bay, Arashi Reef, and the Antilla shipwreck. Snorkeling is available at all three sites, and the SNUBA can be done at any one spot of your choice. The instructor was fantastic. I was a bit nervous, having never even snorkeled before SNUBA was a bit nerve wracking, but the instructor kept checking that I was okay and assured me that I could go to the surface at any time and he would make sure nothing happened. Lunch and an open bar are included on the boat. If you add the SNUBA package it includes a flash drive with pictures taken underwater by the SNUBA instructor.

I would highly recommend all of these activities and staying at the Divi Tamarijn.

Front Royal, Virginia

     Having enjoyed our first trip to a B&B in June, Nick and I decided it was time for another weekend getaway. We chose Front Royal because it was only two hours away, and had a wine loop. The drive from Ellicott City to Front Royal via I-70 and US-340 was enjoyable, and especially pretty through Harpers Ferry, WV.
We decided to start the Blue Ridge Whiskey Wine Loop as soon as we got to the area.



     We followed the loop counterclockwise. Glen Manor Vineyards was pretty and had friendly staff, though they hesitated to believe I was old enough to drink. All the wines were quite nice, and had we thought ahead we would have brought a picnic lunch to sit on the grounds with a glass of wine. I do recommend this winery, it would be a great place to picnic and enjoy the scenery. You can see the vineyards on the hills in the distance and the staff gave a great account of the Winery's history.

     After the first winery we decided to stop in Luray and grab lunch at Aritisans Grill.   Nick ordered the "Porter", a fried oysters sandwich, while I got the "Homer", a Barbeque pork sandwich. We really enjoyed our lunch. Luray is a beautiful little town and worth a stop for lunch.

     The next stop on the loop is Wisteria Farm and Vineyard. Though we enjoyed the wine, I would not have minded skipping this place altogether. It was a 45 minute drive from Glen Manor and 30 minutes away from our next stop, which was Copper Fox. I was also not impressed with the staff. One lady was a little more rude about not believing I was over 21, we didn't get as much history of the place, and it was not as inviting as the other wineries we've been to.

     Based on how much time was spent driving for the second winery, we decided to skip the two "Bonus Excursion" wineries and headed straight to the Copper Fox Distillery. We arrived just in time for a tour. Our tour guide was great and showed us the entire process they use for making Whiskey. They do not offer tastings, but this is worth a stop!

     Gadino Cellars had lovely grounds and great staff! They were friendly and knowledgeable about the wine. It was all enjoyable. Though we only left with a bottle of Luminoso, we did enjoy most of the wines we tasted.

     Though not on the map, Narmada is not far out of the way. It has a wonderful view and a deck with tables. They serve food and even  have a food and wine pairing option for tastings. We only did the wine tasting, but I really enjoyed the uniqueness of all the wine. The owners are Indian and have managed to bring their culture and tastes into Virginia wine. Do not miss this place!

     Rappahannock Cellars had large, beautiful grounds (though at this point, what Virginia winery is not beautiful?), though I found it too busy to enjoy and the person doing our tasting was more concerned about talking to his friends at the end of the table rather than engaging us in conversation. He knew about the wine he was serving, but would tell us about it quickly then disappear to the end of the counter. After pouring our last wine he quickly left. We debated on buying a bottle, but they were just too busy so we paid our fee and left.

     This tour does save the best for last. Chester Gap Cellars was our favorite stop. This is the only winery with such a view that I just had to stop and take a picture, even though I only had my crappy phone camera, which does not do it justice.

      They have a deck with the most wonderful view we had seen all day, though we did not have enough time to enjoy a glass of wine on the deck before they closed. Their staff was friendly, knowledgeable, and just plain fun to be around! The tasting was great, and since it was the end of the day we even got to taste a wine that was not typically offered on the tasting menu.

      All in all it was a great wine loop, though cutting out the second winery and going clockwise from Glen Manor Vineyards might be a good idea.

     After completing the wine loop we headed back into Front Royal to check into the Lackawanna Bed and Breakfast. The ownders, Sandy and Phil were incredibly nice people. Phil use to be a photographer for the National Gallery of Art and showcases his collection of antique cameras in the upstairs hallway. Sandy made a fantastic breakfast and they were both helpful during our visit.

     We stayed in the J. Webster room and were really impressed. The entire house was beautifully decorated and kept clean. Our bed was comfortable and the room included a TV with a DVD and VHS player. Phil had an entire bookcase filled with movies for guests to watch.

     After checking in we drove to downtown Front Royal and had dinner at the Main Street Mill. They had a great menu and the service could not have been quicker. We really enjoyed our steaks and crabcakes! The downtown area was really pretty, but all the shops were closed for the evening so we headed back to the B&B.

     On Sunday morning we went downstairs for breakfast and Sandy had fixed a delicious breakfast of poached eggs, hash, blueberry pancakes and watermelon. They also had coffee, tea, and juice. After breakfast we checked out and headed back to MD.

     Though we were only there for a short visit, I highly recommend the wineries in the area and the Lackawanna B&B. We definitely plan on returning for a longer visit!

Sorry for the lack of photos in this post. I need to get a good camera!

Rock Hall, MD

Ahhh, the beginning of summer on the East Coast! It was definitely time for a getaway on the water, but the Eastern Shore is not friendly to those only wanting to stay one night. After days of searching I finally came across Osprey Point Inn, which is a little pricey but nice and they allowed us to stay only Saturday night. It was a very easy, beautiful 2-hour drive from Columbia.

When we arrived we were allowed to check-in early and grabbed lunch at Bay Wolf restaurant before going to the room. Bay Wolf was a great place for lunch, but Harbor Shack was an even better place for dinner! We had dinner and drinks overlooking the water with the locals.

We spent some time sitting by the pool, drove by the beach - which is about the size of our living room - and returned to our room. Our room was called the "Forward" in the Annex building and included a private balcony with the above view of the sun setting over Baltimore in the distance. It was a very nice room with an incredibly soft bed, two large chairs in front of the tv, comfy robes, and it was very clean. The B&B included cookies and coffee in the room, a wonderful breakfast, a nice pool area, and wonderful staff! I would recommend a weekend getaway to Osprey Point Inn! The only thing about the place I wish was different would be that bikes be available for free!

On our way back Sunday afternoon we stopped by Cassinelli Winery. Though most of their 10 wines are dry, they have 2 sweet wines and a dessert chocolate wine which was not a sweet chocolate wine. The tastings are offered Sat-Sun from 12-5 and costs $6. We also walked away with their "Pole Dancer" Sweet Red and two wine glasses (included with the purchase of a bottle), though their other wines were good.

All in all, it was a very nice weekend for two on Maryland's Eastern Shore. =)

Alaska

For someone who hates the cold, I sure had a great 10 days in Alaska! Nick and I flew to Anchorage to visit his mom, Liz, and had a wonderful time with her. The first thing we did? After sleeping and getting up the energy, we walked just across the street to Baxter Bog. We were very eager to see some Alaskan wildlife, even though that didn't happen the first day, we got some great views of the mountains and nature.

After some more relaxation, and a few episodes of Dexter, we took our first day trip to Talkeetna.

 Talkeetna is a small town with great views of Mt. Mckinley, and happens to be Nick's favorite place to visit while he's in Alaska. We walked around the town and popped into some of the open gift shops. We also walked by the airport...

We then enjoyed some beers from Denali Brewing Company, where we were able to sit outside and enjoy the nice weather before driving back to Anchorage.

Our next day trip was to Seward, which turned out to be my favorite. It was a beautiful, but long, drive with fantastic scenery - though where in Alaska is there not fantastic scenery? Seward won my heart with it's SeaLife Center. It was great to see the seals and sea lions swimming around, but anybody who knows me knows how much I love ducks and other diving birds. The bird room was by far the coolest thing ever. The area was open so the birds, and puffins!, were able to fly around you. Also, when you went downstairs you could see the bottom of the tank where the puffins would often dive for food and you could see them swimming under water.

We enjoyed views of downtown Anchorage from Earthquake park..

...then drove up to Flattop mountain. There was too much snow to actually hike to the top, but we got even more great views of the city.

Our luckiest day for seeing wildlife was when we went to Whittier to take a 26 Glacier Cruise. On this 4-hour cruise we got a hot lunch and saw 2 porpoises, hundreds of sea otters, a few seals, a bear, and an eagle. The best glacier was Surprise glacier. They took the boat right up next to the glacier so everybody was able to get amazing pictures. The crew also took some of the ice out of the water and made glacier margaritas.

We had some amazing day trips, enjoyed great scenery, looked through Nick and Maggie's baby pics,  and watched 3 seasons of Dexter. It was a great vacation, though one last thing is worth mentioning. Liz's cat "Kitty" hated us! She was so mad that we invaded her home for 10 days. She constantly watched us, hissed and tried to attack us, but she was adorable.

Baltimore, MD

So, Nick and I have been living near Baltimore for almost a year, and have just now gotten out for a touristy day! We decided to do a day trip to get the basic tourist sites done. We found parking near Federal Hill Park and walked up the hill. It was a must-see view of the city! This alone made the day worth it.

We took a nice stroll along the water to the other side of the Harbor and bought tickets to get onto the USS Constellation. It was neat to walk all over the ship with an audio tour that tells the ship's history as well as details about almost every aspect of the ship, and a ghost story at the end!

We then walked over the Top of the World! The top of the Baltimore World Trade Center provides a fantastic view of the city, though I did prefer the view from the park. The Baltimore World Trade Center also has a September 11 memorial in front of the building as well as an exhibit on the observation deck.

We ended our day trip with an early dinner at the James Joyce Irish Pub. Pubs always have good drinks, good food, and good service. This was no different. =)

New York City

After spending a wonderful year back in the USA, Nick and I decided to celebrate our first anniversary by spending a weekend in NYC! We booked an early morning bus and a room at The Manhattan at Times Square on gotobus.com for $385. Not too shabby.

We left early on Friday morning and arrived at the hotel at 5:30am. Luckily, they had a room available and we were able to nap for a few hours. The room was fine, definitely not as nice as the website would suggest, but not too bad. They claim to have an "oversize" bathroom in all the rooms, this was not the case. It was a standard bathroom and a room comparable to a Best Western. What is it about cheap hotels that all have the same ugly beige color covering the walls, doors, and curtains?

Though the room was average, we soon found that it was well worth the price because of its location. Located on 7th Avenue and West 51st street, it was right in the middle of all the excitement. Turn right and you're in Times Square, or turn left and hit Carnegie Deli just a few blocks away from Central Park.

After waking up refreshed on Friday morning, we grabbed breakfast at Carnegie Deli. The breakfast was pretty good, but definitely a bit expensive. We did end up leaving with a cheesecake, which I would highly recommend!

Nick and I then headed to the 9/11 memorial. We had to reserve free passes before entering. After picking up the passes we had about an hour before our reserved time. We walked towards Wall Street stopping first at Saint Paul's Chapel. Built in 1764, George Washington worshiped here after his Inauguration. Today, you can go inside the church and see Washington's Presidential pew as well as memorials to 9/11 victims.

We continued walking to Wall Street, passing by the Stock Exchange and Federal Hall. You can go inside federal hall and see exhibits that include the bible which was used to swear George Washington into office. Just down the road is Trinity Church which was constructed by the Church of England in 1696. It was later destroyed in a fire, and after being rebuilt the second structure was torn down and rebuilt into a third building in 1846. It is a beautiful church, but there was a service going on so we were not able to walk around or get pictures of the inside.

We headed over the 9/11 memorial site, and after going through airport-like security were able to walk around the beautiful park that now takes the place of the twin towers. At the site of each tower there are now reflecting pools with the names of all the victims carved into bronze around the outside. There is also a park around the pools.

After reflecting and sharing a moment at the memorial, we walked south to Battery Park. We briefly walked around Castle Clinton and along the waterfront. It was a pretty cloudy day, but we were still able to see the Statue of Liberty.

We left the park and took the subway uptown to the New York Public Library Main Building. In the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building they have many exhibits. The "Celebrating 100 Years" exhibit includes the first Gutenberg Bible acquired in the Americas. My favorite part of the exhibit was the display with the original Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals!

For those of you who don't know, Christopher Robin was a real boy! He was A.A. Milne's son. He had gotten the Winnie the Pooh bear (which was originally Edward Bear) on his first birthday. He later got the other animals (excluding Rabbit and Owl, who were made up for the books) and his father teamed up with an artist named Earnest H. Shepard to create the books.

This was just the beginning of the nerdiness =). After leaving the library, and me being excited at having seen the real Winnie the Pooh (which I loved as a child...and might still now), where else would have been the perfect place for both Nick and I? Nowhere better than the Hershey's store! We were both immediately drawn to the Resses Cup corner! We were very tempted to buy one (or two) of everything in that section, but eventually settled on a coffee mug and pint glass, each with a bag of reeses inside! I did get a free resses cup for taking an in-store survey too!

Our child-like excitment continued when we walked across the street to M&M world! The first display we saw fit Nick perfectly, Star Wars M&M candy toys!

We headed back to the hotel just a few blocks away and took a nap before heading out again and going to Discovery Times Square. We went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. We were not allowed to take any photos, and there were a lot of clay pots and information I already knew, but it was really cool to see the actual scrolls at the end of the exhibit. They explained and translated each section that was on display. My favorite to see was the Minor Prophets which were written in Greek.

After the exhibit we took a taxi over to the Primehouse for dinner. It was a really nice place with a great menu. We each got a steak and shared some Truffle Asiago fries. The steaks were pretty good, but I would not recommend those fries! It was a nice atmosphere with good drinks and steak.

Day 2

Saturday morning we woke up, grabbed a quick breakfast at Dunkin Donuts and enjoyed a stroll around Central Park. It was such a peaceful park and was really nice to see the city in the background.

After Central Park we took the subway down to the Empire State building. We got approached by a ticket vendor outside who was selling tickets at about the same prices I remember seeing on the website. Unfortunately, in this impulse buying I forgot to ask about getting to the 102nd floor observation desk and instead we got tickets to the Skyride and 82nd floor observation deck. The vendors are legit, just be sure to know ahead of time what kind of ticket you want.

The Skyride was the worst tourist trap ever!! First there was a presentation of the top 10 things to do in New York...10 things that everybody goes to New York for anyway. Then a presentation about the building, but we were hoping for a bit more history. Then a simulated airplane ride above the city, which jerked way to much and made me sick. I DO NOT recommend the Skyride to anybody who visits New York, it is a waste of money! The only upside to this was that we got to go straight to the elevators and skipped the lines (though If I had been thinking when I bought the tickets, we would have gotten the express tickets anyway). We spent very little time waiting in lines and it was not very crowded on the observation deck.

Just around the corner from the ESB is Korea Town. I was so excited to have a real Korean lunch. We had lunch at Miss Korea. We ordered some marinated short ribs, and Dak Galbi, a dish that I have been craving for the past year. The Dak Galbi was not how I remember it being in Korea, but it was definitely all delicious!! It was a fantastic, authentic Korean lunch. =) I was so happy.

Full of Korean food, we decided to walk it all off to pass by the U.N.

Then over to the Rockefeller center. We went inside the NBC shop and picked up a few souvenirs, and walked around the plaza.

We took a nap and got ready for what would be the best dinner we had ever had! We had reservations at August. It was a small place, but it was so pretty inside. The food was fantastic. We had amazing drinks. Nick ordered a steak with bone marrow, and I had the pork chop. For dessert we had the best Warm Chocolate Cake. The food, the service, and the atmosphere at August were fantastic. I would highly recommend this place for a nice dinner in NYC.

After dinner we grabbed a few drinks at Tonic bar and walked around Times Square before returning to the hotel for our last time. We left Sunday morning feeling very sad to leave, but satisfied that we both had a great time!