• Travel

    Carnival Horizon 2022 – Afternoon in Aruba

    April 19, 2022 - By 

    Today I’m sharing my final post about Aruba for this cruise and there is still a lot to cover so its gonna be long. 🙂 After leaving Arikok National Park, it was time to plug my phone into the radio so we could follow along with the app I had purchased and listen to descriptions of places to drive by or stop at. We have used the GyPSy Guide app before while traveling and loved it. However they don’t have one for Aruba, so after some research we decided on the Action Tour Guide Aruba (The Full tour). For this…

  • Travel

    Carnival Horizon 2022 – Arikok National Park

    April 16, 2022 - By 

    Who knew I’d be writing so many posts about Aruba, but I really just think breaking our day down into smaller chunks make for better posts. I hope you agree! So today I’m sharing about the time we spent in Arikok National Park, Aruba. We came through the SouthEast entrance Vader Piet. 12°27’58.122″ N 69°53’33.612″ W (Just a reminder some of the pictures will have GPS coordinates that link to that location on Google Maps in case you want to go to that spot on future travels. If one of the pictures doesn’t have coordinates after it, it means its…

  • Travel

    Carnival Horizon 2022 – Pet Cemetery on Aruba Beach

    April 14, 2022 - By 

    I’m continuing on with details of our day in Aruba. After leaving our lunch spot, we passed Baby Beach. 12°24’55.848″ N 69°52’57.264″ W Not too far from there as we continued along the coast we happened across a huge Pet Cemetery. Around 1924, Lago Oil & Transport Co. was building Lago Colony now known as Seroe Colorado for their employees of the oil refinery in San Nicholas, the people started burying their pets here in this secluded place. Through the years the burying of pets has continued and it now stretches almost a mile long. (source) 12°25’15.642″ N 69°52’19.662″ W…

  • Travel

    Carnival Horizon 2022 – Lunch in Aruba

    April 13, 2022 - By 

    We ended up stopping for lunch at the Rum Reef Bar & Grill. (On Google Maps) This is a modern, clean building located on Baby Beach with beautiful views as well as an infinity pool. View from our table. Rob’s step dad, David, ordered the Monkey Juice (Dark Rum, White Rum, Crème de Banana, ½ Banana, Baileys, Coco Lopez) and then Rob and I decided to share one. It was so yummy! The special of the day was the Mahi Mahi. I got the platter. Rob got the Mahi Mahi sandwich. Really fresh and delish! Click to menu and prices…

  • Travel

    Carnival Horizon 2022 – Morning in Aruba

    April 12, 2022 - By 

    I am so excited to be talking about our first port of call on our cruise. Aruba!! As I wrote this post, I realized there was just too many details and pictures to share so I’m breaking it down into multiple posts. Let’s jump on in. We were scheduled to arrive at the port in Aruba at 9am. However we arrive and were cleared a little early. The four of us soon had eaten breakfast and were ready about the time they announced we could disembark. We had rented a jeep for the day. Rob had done lots of research…

  • Travel

    Carnival Horizon – Time on the Ship

    April 8, 2022 - By 

    Happy Thursday, everyone! Today I’m continuing my posts about our cruise that we took last month. If you missed our misadventures getting to Miami you can read about that here>>>>Getting to Miami. Today I’m sharing about the time while on the ship, including embarkation day, evenings after being at port, and of course, the fun days at sea. Here’s a few details on the cruise: Carnival Horizon 8 Day Itinerary Miami > 2 Days at Sea > Aruba > Bonaire > La Romana > Amber Cove > Day at Sea > Miami Cabin 2220 (Port hole) My in laws (Alice…

  • Travel

    Carnival Horizon 2022 – Getting to Miami

    April 1, 2022 - By 

    Today I’m starting my series on our Cruise that we recently just got back from. It’s been several years since we’ve cruise and we were so excited to go cruising this last Christmas, but then we cancelled. When we got the email about the deals happening, we just couldn’t pass them up. Let’s jump into this adventure…that almost didn’t happen. Friday, we worked and I ended up going home before lunch because I had a few things left to pack and wanted to get some things done around the house before leaving for 10 days. I had become concerned that…

  • Life - Travel

    The Cruise that Never Happened

    December 30, 2021 - By 

    Back in November, Rob and I were bouncing ideas around about what to do with our 2 weeks off at Christmas. A trip to Texas or Baton Rouge to see family? A trip to the beach or the mountains? A cruise? Me: “a cruise? yes please!” After some research we found the one we wanted to book. We bounced the idea around with our family and we read about the fact we’d have to sometimes wear masks inside. Ok, yeah. We can handle that. Our rule of thumb is if we can get a cruise for less than $100/day per…

  • Travel

    North Georgia Mountain Trip 2021

    July 20, 2021 - By 

    The Wednesday before the 4th of July Rob and I got off work, loaded up the car, and we along with Alex made our way up to the North Georgia Mountains for a few days. Traffic was frustrating for the 1st hour or so. They skies were gorgeous though. We stayed in a cabin in Ellijay, GA. (rental info) We loved all the outdoor seating with outdoor speakers as well as all the outside activities; bumper pool table, darts, hook and ring, etc. My favorite were the hammock chairs and now I totally want some at home, just not sure…

  • Travel

    Atlanta Getaway 2015

    May 18, 2021 - By 

    If you’ve read most of my travel posts recently you know with COVID and us not traveling much, it’s given me the opportunity to go back through my photos and find all the travels I never got to write about. Today I’m going waaay back. Rob used to attend a conference every fall in Atlanta. I would go too even though Atlanta’s not far. It was always such a nice getaway. A good break for me. Day 1 We left Sunday after church and headed up to Atlanta. We stopped at The Varsity for a late lunch before getting to…

  • Travel

    Spring Break 2021

    April 20, 2021 - By 

    For Spring Break we usually drive down to Florida to visit with Rob’s Grandparents and take in some Spring Training games. Our old son, Drew and Rob are the real baseball fans of the family. This year with Drew not being able to take off work and knowing that Alex could pretty much care less to go to baseball game and the fact that Sunday of Spring Break was Alex’s birthday, we decided to let him invite a friend and to go to amusements parks. We decided that we would try to attend games within about an hour of Tampa,…

  • Travel

    A Day at SeaWorld – Orlando, Florida

    April 14, 2021 - By 

    Today, I’m continuing to discuss our Spring Break Trip. This is the 3rd full day of our trip. To have an idea on what to do during your Spring Break, see this here. On Tuesday, we got up earlier so we could drive over to Orlando for our day at SeaWorld! When planning the trip, we had originally thought we would have a day at the water park associated with Busch Gardens, Adventure Island. However we looked at the weather for that week and it was going to be lows in the 50s at night and highs in low 70s…

  • Travel

    Busch Gardens – Tampa, FL

    April 2, 2021 - By 

    While in Florida for Spring Break, we did something a little different this year. We let Alex bring a friend and we went to some amusement parks! Alex loves roller coasters, and what better way to spend his 17th birthday than to be at Busch Gardens for almost more than 11 hours! That Sunday they were open 10am-9pm. We got there just a bit after 10am. Let me just say Busch Gardens is NOT Disney. There weren’t many people to help us. If so, then why not check over here to find the best gardening and landscaping services to assist…

  • Travel

    Weekend in North Alabama

    February 23, 2021 - By 

    I’ve been sharing with you the little adventure Rob and I had up to North Alabama. I wanted to pull it all together in one place and include some other details of the trip. Oneonta Friday night, we stopped in Oneonta because I had been looking for places to eat. Swamp Tails looked right up our alley. Family owned Cajun cuisine, yes please! UPDATE: Swamp Tails is now closed 🙁 We started the meal with Boudreaux’s Boudin Balls. Best I’ve had outside of Louisiana. I had the Catfish Plate. Rob had Shrimp Po Boy with a side of Crawfish Etouffee.…

  • Travel

    Natural Bridge Park – Alabama

    February 16, 2021 - By 

    Here we are again for another Travel Tuesday post! We’re continuing to explore a little bit of North Alabama with some time in Huntsville and Cullman. For this post we ventured out to Natural Bridge Park which is about an hour drive from Cullman. County Rd 314 Natural Bridge, AL The Natural Bridge formation, which dates back about 200 million years, is 60 ft (18.3 m) high and 148 feet (45 m) long. It’s composed of sandstone and iron ore, which are both sedimentary rock. This bridge is the longest natural bridge east of the Rocky Mountains in North America.…

  • Travel

    Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, AL

    February 9, 2021 - By 

    Today I’m continuing on with another old travel post. After leaving Huntsville we needed to head home, but wanted to make the most of our day. We drove over to Cullman, AL, which is about an hour south of Huntsville. We have been to Cullman several times, but have never stopped to see the Ave Maria Grotto. If you’re ever in Cullman, this is a must see! 4 acres in an old quarry on the grounds of St. Bernard Abbey covered in 125 miniature reproductions of some of the most famous religious structures in the world like the St. Peter’s…

  • Travel

    Green Mountain Nature Trail in Huntsville, AL

    February 2, 2021 - By 

    Today I’m covering another travel post from my archives that never got written about. Last week I wrote about Two Must-Sees in Huntsville, AL for Taphophiles Today I’m sharing a little about a beautiful park and hiking trail called Green Mountain Nature Trail a.k.a. Madison County Nature Trail. 5000 Nature Trail Rd SE Huntsville, AL 35803 If you enjoy getting out in undisturbed nature this is a spot for you to see if ever in the Huntsville, AL area. The 1.5 mile loop around the 6-acre Sky lake is beautiful and quiet. There are additional side trails that branch from…

  • Travel

    Two Must-Sees in Huntsville, AL for Taphophiles

    January 26, 2021 - By 

    Here we are again for another ‘catch up’ travel post since we’re not traveling much because of COVID. A few years ago Rob and I went up to Huntsville, AL for a wedding. We spent the weekend there and made it into a mini-vacation. While we were there I had a couple spots I wanted to check out because I guess I’m a Taphophile. Admittedly, I had to google ‘nickname for people who love cemeteries’ and found this: In the last few years, I’ve become quite interested in checking out really old or unique cemeteries. When researching what to do…

  • Travel

    After Christmas Getaway 2020

    January 7, 2021 - By 

    The Monday after Christmas we got up and headed out to Inlet Beach near Panama City Beach, FL. We make a little detour on the way down to our favorite sausage store, Conecuh. If you’ve never had Conecuh, you are totally missing out. It is made in Evergreen, AL and I think most of the Southeastern states have stores that carry it. They have a special Christmas Hot sausage that has red and green peppers in it and it is spicy! We got several of those and a few other things. We also got some Conecuh bacon to try since…

  • Travel

    Exploring North Colorado & South Wyoming

    December 15, 2020 - By 

    I’m continuing with my COVID – no travel – catch up on my previous travel posts – post! Ha! If that makes any sense. So in my last travel post, Rob and I drove from Pikes Peak to Avon, Colorado. 39°38’5.53″ N 106°31’28.03″ W – (Map #1) For this post you will find the GPS coordinates that are linked so that you can see the exact location that most pictures are taken. You can also click on the numbers on the interactive map below: On this last full day of this trip we traveled from Avon through Vail, Colorado passing…