• Cruising Lingo
    Travel

    Cruising Lingo

    June 1, 2010 - By 

    While writing the FAQ page, I realized that before I started cruising a lot of the cruise lingo were words I didn’t know. You may find this helpful when reading my entries about cruising. bow: front section of the ship bridge: section of the ship where the captain & crew navigate and steer the ship cabin: passenger room onboard the ship: also called a stateroom cabin steward: person who cleans the cabin cruise director: head of the ship’s entertainment staff debark: to leave the ship and go ashore deck: each level (floor) of the ship embark: to go on the…

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    Celebrity Century {7 Day Eastern Caribbean} Part 2

    May 3, 2010 - By 

    Read Part 1 June 5, 2003: Thursday Thursday was a day of relaxation and recuperation from our several days off ship. We slept in, ate lunch in the dining room, relaxed poolside, and enjoyed some onboard activities. That evening was the Dinner Menu 2nd formal night followed by the show, Las Vegas-Then and Now. June 6, 2003: Friday Friday was a quick day in Nassau, Bahamas, arriving about 2:30. It was still plenty of time to get in an excursion and some site-seeing. We did the Nassau & Paradise Island Tour. The show that evening was Steve Moris and Dale…

  • Travel

    Celebrity Century {7 Day Eastern Caribbean} Part 1

    April 22, 2010 - By 

    This travel talk will be in 2 parts. This first post will include Friday through Wednesday. This was our first Eastern Caribbean Cruise and our first 7 day cruise. We absolutely love the Eastern Caribbean. Mountains and Oceans…Amazing! May 30, 2003: FridayWe flew to Fort Lauderdale on Friday evening. Here’s Rob at FLL watching for our hotel shuttle, which by the way never showed up. We ended up taking a taxi, which Sheraton reimbursed us for along with a $25 hotel credit. We stayed at the Sheraton near the airport and cruise terminal. May 31, 2003: SaturdayWe got up and…

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    Road Trip {Jackson, MS}

    April 12, 2010 - By 

    This past weekend we drove to Clinton, MS, after a cub scouting event. We didn’t get out of town till nearly 9 pm, so we got in about 1:30 am. We had to rise and shine very early for Drew’s first game which started at 8, meaning he had to be there at 7:15 and it was about a 30 minute drive into Jackson. We stayed with one of Rob’s cousins and her hubby. We haven’t seen them in quite some time, so it was great to see them. Rob’s Aunt and Uncle and Dad and Step Mom drove over…

  • Cruise Talk {4 Day Western Caribbean} Carnival Sensation
    Travel

    Carnival Sensation {4 Day Western Caribbean}

    March 31, 2010 - By 

    Writing my last post about cruising definitely got me anxious to write about our 2nd cruise. Although, there wasn’t a whole lot of writing to do, since Rob had written most of that up after we got back. As for this post, I’ll be writing all this from memory using the assistance of the Carnival Capers [I saved], my pictures, and the internet to help me remember some of the details. Anyway, we went on our 2nd cruise in November 2002 with Rob’s Mom and Step Dad, Alice and David. It was their first cruise. We enjoyed showing them the…

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    Fun on the Carnival Jubilee

    March 26, 2010 - By 

    In 2001, Rob and I wanted to do something for spring break and we had thought about cruising. Although, we didn’t know much about it. We had some information we’d heard from various sources. In January, we decided to go visit a travel agency and see what kind of info we could get. We ended up at Adventure Travel with an agent named Sue, who could not have been a better source. She is a cruisin’ queen, with lots of personal experience. She knew all the ins and outs of cruising. After talking with her for over an hour, we…

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    Soccer Tourney 2009::Gulfport, MS

    October 3, 2009 - By 

    Last weekend we went to Gulfport, MS for a soccer tourney. We chose to stay at some condos across from the beach called Sienna on the Coast with some friends who have a son on the Drew’s team. We had a good time. Nice, clean, new condos with all the essentials. The beach is not really even worth calling a beach, but I did get some cool bird pics, which I’ll share later. We enjoyed cooking breakfast and eating lunch at the condo, not having to spend money of food. We did enjoy dinner with the team at Blow Fly…

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    Lake Martin Fun

    July 3, 2009 - By 

    Lake Martin is a beautiful lake located in about 40 miles from Alabama’s capital, Montgomery and about 100 miles from Alabama’s biggest city, Birmingham.

  • Read about a 7 Day Eastern Caribbean Cruise abroad the Carnival Triumph. So much fun!
    Travel

    Carnival Triumph {7 Day Eastern Caribbean}

    June 26, 2009 - By 

    Back in March of 2008, Rob and I ventured out for our 6th cruise. It was very different from the previous 5 because we didn’t feel pressured to do everything or stick to a serious schedule. We just did what we wanted to and enjoyed it. We stayed up late most nights dancing the night away or singing along in the piano bar. Most cruises we push ourselves so hard during the day and we’re usually so exhausted it’s nearly impossible to stay up late. Something else that was different is that we left our house early Saturday, the day…

  • Travel

    Soccer Tourney 2009::Peachtree City, GA

    May 5, 2009 - By 

    Last weekend we were in Peachtree City for a soccer tournament. I actually didn’t go up there till Saturday afternoon, because I was photographing a horse show. I was able to make it for the swim party and watched the game on Sunday. The kids had a blast in the pool even though the adults thought the water was way too cold to even think about getting in! Surfin’ Blowing up an intertube Scooter

  • Orange Beach, AL
    Travel

    Orange Beach, AL

    April 9, 2009 - By 

    We left Friday around noon and headed to Orange Beach for some fun and soccer. We didn’t get far before we had to stop because the truck was over-heating. Luckily we were close enough to Montgomery that we could turn around and find a place to go. We ended up at a car repair place in downtown thanks to AAA, which is a whole entry unto itself! We were able to walk to Daisy’s Diner. Great little place and lots of food for the money. Our stop in Montgomery set us back about 3 hours, but ended up in Orange…

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    Soccer Tourney 2008::Atlanta, GA

    November 22, 2008 - By 

    Last night we came up to my in-laws near Atlanta. We visited with them and had dinner. We spent the night and got up this morning and drove to Tucker, Ga for the Triumph Cup Tournament. Drew had a rough day and it was pretty cold. After the game this evening we went to Northlake Mall for a quick snack and then back to the hotel. We had delivery from Golden Sun and watched football. One game tomorrow before lunch and we’re headed home. I need to get busy editing from the last photo session I did and get that…

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    Gatlinburg {Spring Break 2008}

    June 7, 2008 - By 

    We enjoyed a short trip to Gatlinburg. We stayed at the Edgewater Hotel. We spent a time in Ober Gatlinburg, at the Ripley’s Believe It Not Museum, and way above the city in the Space Needle. See more pics here.

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    Early Anniversary Trip 2007::Charleston, SC & Savannah, GA

    August 28, 2007 - By 

    This has been sitting in my draft box for too long. Just decided to go ahead and publish it. Please excuse any typos! Columbia, SC Wednesday 7/25- Left at 5:00 and headed to Columbia, SC. Stayed at the Sleep Inn Thursday 7/26 – Drove through Irmo, where we saw where Rob lived with his Dad and he was even able to find the house. Stopped at Carolina Cider Co. and got Peach Butter and 2 different types of cider. Yum! Drove through University of South Carolina. Drove to Charleston, SC and went straight to the Cannonboro Inn, Room #2 Lunch…

  • Atlanta Weekend with the Family
    Travel

    Atlanta Weekend with the Family

    June 23, 2007 - By 

    I haven’t had a chance to write about last weekend. We headed up to Atlanta for the weekend. We stayed at The Westin Peachtree Plaza, which was lovely. The views from our room were awesome! We stayed really busy and got tons of walking in. Drew enjoyed playing in the Olympic rings of water at Centennial Park, while Alex moped after getting 16 drops of water on him. Here’s Drew standing in front of the Olympic rings. The tall cylindrical building in the background is our hotel, where we stayed. It was too bad I didn’t lose a couple pounds,…

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    Weekend in Midtown, Atlanta

    November 6, 2005 - By 

    Friday night after dropping the kids off at the in-laws’, Rob took me to the very charming Dante’s Down the Hatch. They are a fondue restaurant that has a setting created to look like a ship tied to a wharf. You pay more to be on the ship, because that’s where you hear and see the live jazz. Rob had reservations to be on the ship, which was really nice and romantic. We had a one sided booth that looked over the ship. The inside of the restuarant is just amazing. There is water under the ship and that’s the…

  • Travel

    The Trek to Tampa

    October 13, 2005 - By 

    Alright, I’m going to try and get caught up with my cruise stories. The first one consists of me, Drew, and Alex(the 3 of us) in the back seat of the Explorer. I was back there with them since Nick, Rob’s brother, was going with us. Both on the way to Tampa AND on the way back, my kids and I had some serious “bonding” time. If you’d like to call it that! 6-7 hours sitting hip to hip and hip to car seat is tedious, mind boggling, and priceless. Drew got all his make up work done, which was…

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    Cruise…Cancelled

    September 5, 2005 - By 

    Well, we just found out that our cruise that is supposed to leave in 33 days was cancelled. They are using the Sensation, which was the ship we were going out on and 2 other ships for hurricane relief. Sooo…we’re trying to decide whether to just save that money for another vacation or book another cruise during that time. We’ve got several options, so we’ll probably end up rebooking out of Tampa or Jacksonville. It’s pretty much like starting over. After putting a lot of thought into our first choice and now having to do it all again. But I’m…

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    We’re home…

    July 11, 2005 - By 

    Sheesh! We are home finally! I’m exhausted. I’m in the process of unpacking, washing, cleaning, going through mail, and the list goes on! Here’s a couple pics from our trip! First, here’s my new hair do! Thank you, Aunt Janet! Here’s my Mom with Drew Here’s the highest temp we saw while driving through Austin! The entire trip was SO hot! Our car thermostat said 110 degrees! And here’s a quick story. While on the way to San Antonio, we stopped in Waco and went to the Dr. Pepper museum. Right before we left we went to the bathroom and…