2017 Aug. 3 night trip to Lake Lure, North Carolina

Aug. 22-25 trip to Lake Lure with Ken:

After spending 2 nights here last month with Angie and Faith, I was excited to pick up another 3 nights here for Ken and me.


8-22-17  To Lake Lure


8-23-17  off to some waterfalls, the Pisgah Mountains, and the Biltmore


8-24-17 Hickory Nut Falls and kicking around Lake Lure


8-25-17 scenic ride back to Atlanta


Lake Lure is appropriately named---it keeps luring us back!   I'm sure this will be one of our go to places for a short get away from Atlanta!  Such a beautiful area and beautiful ride there!


 

2017-July girls' weekend to N. Carolina

2017 July 21-23: girls' weekend to North Carolina!

Since I had a $500 gift certificate to use at the Biltmore Estate, I decided it would be fun to take the "girls" out for a weekend trip.  So we decided to go to the nearest Wyndham resort to the Biltmore for a weekend and go to the Biltmore for one of those days.  Turned out to be great decision!  Angie had bragged about theWyndham Fairfield Mountain Resort at Lake Lure, N. Carolina every since she and Josh went there last year.   She was right---it's a pretty awesome place!  And it was only about a 3 1/2 hour ride for Angie and me; about 2 1/2 hours for Faith.  But it's a gorgeous ride, so the time went fast.  Not just the ride, but the whole weekend!

7-21-17 Lake Lure and Wyndham Fairfield Mountain resort

7-22-17 A day at the Biltmore!

7-23-17 boat ride on Lake Lure

It was a great weekend.  Only spent about $350 of the $500, so maybe there will be another girls' trip including the Biltmore in the not too distant future!

Wyndham Fairfield Mountain Resort, Lake Lure, NC: 7-21-17 --- 1 bedroom suite

 Odd floor plan!  The suite is 2 levels.  The lower level has the bedroom and mini kitchen with a window into the bathroom. 

the bedroom

bedroom towards kitchn

steps leading to the door

entryway

looking down on the bedroom/kitchen/bathroom

The entryroom with fold out couch.

the marina

swimming area

putt putt

nice beach

not bad for a lake

 

2017 May S Florida

2017 May South Florida 10 night trip:

Since we had airfare credit with Southwest to use before June 9th, we decided to use it to go to South Florida for 10 days.  I was able to pick up 2 nights at the Wyndham Royal Vista and 9 (one overlapping Royal Vista) at the Palm Aire.  It was great going back and playing tourist in the area we lived for a year.

 Day 1 -- travel day : May 13, 2017

Wyndham Royal Vista---2 bedroom deluxe, rm 8814

Day 2---Mother's Day at Butterfly World and the beach  :  May 14, 2017

Wyndham Palm Aire---2 bedroom deluxe, rm 975

Day 3---move to Palm Aire and birding at Wakodahatchee  :  May 15, 2017

Day 4---Happy Birthday to me in Naples  :  May 16, 2017

Day 5----birding at Green Cay Wetlands  : May 17, 2017

Day 6---Flamingo Gardens  : May 18, 2017

Day 7---Loxahatchee wetlands : May 19, 2017

Day 8---the beach, Wakodahatchee, and Green Cay--Yea! :  May 20, 2017

Day 9---the Everglades

Day 10---The beach and Wakodahatchee one last time! 

Day 11-time to go home 

It was another great "vacation"---almost felt like a "stayvacation"!  Went to our favorite spots---the beach, birding parks, restaurants...  .    Only problem was that time went by too quickly.

2017 Feb. 4-11 Orlando trip:

What do you do in Orlando if you don't go to the theme parks????

Feb. 4---the drive down to Orlando from Atlanta, by way of Silver Springs State Park in Florida.
             

Orange Lake Resort --- Where we stayed while on vacation:
         

Feb. 5 --- finding the birds:
              

Feb. 6 --- hanging around the resort:
 

Feb. 7th ---   Harry P Leu Gardens:

            and  Part 2, on to Disney Springs:


Feb. 8th --- to Merritt Island and the Cape Canaveral Sea Shore:


Feb. 9th --- the ever popular Lakefront Park!


Feb. 10th --- Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens

             and (part 2) Apopka Lake wildlife area:


Feb. 11th --- back to Atlanta by way of Providence Canyon State Park in Georgia:


Would I have liked to have gone to some of the theme parks---yes, but Ken isn't a fan.  So it's nice to know we can still go to Orlando and have a great time!
         

2016 Dec. 4-14 Koningsdam 10 nt cruise (Half moon cay, Grand Turk, Amber Cove, Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba):

On our last cruise (2015 Nov. cruise) we signed up for the future cruise bonus.  The Koningsdam is the newest ship in the HAL fleet and was going on a route we wanted to do.  Didn't know if we'd like being on such a big ship, but it turned out to be great.  We met a lot of interesting people, ate a lot of great food, visited several interesting ports, enjoyed the entertainment; everything would have been perfect----if it hadn't stormed all day in Bonaire.  Oh well, there's always next time!

We tend to base most of our cruises (and most of our land vacations) around beaches and snorkeling.  This one was no exception.  In fact I chose this specific itinerary because it went to Bonaire and Curacao again, plus a couple new ports for us---Amber Cove and Aruba.

Instead of making a ridiculously long blog, I'm supplying links to the ship, ports, and sea days individually---and the 4 days pre-cruise mini S. Florida vacation.  

11-30-16  back to our old stomping grounds in South Florida!
12-1-16  back to the beach!!!
12-2-16 Mounts gardens in West Palm Beach:
12-3-16  Wakodahatchee and Green Cay! 

Now---on to the cruise!

The Koningsdam

Dec. 4---embarkation day

Dec. 5---Half Moon Cay

Dec. 6---Grand Turk

Dec. 7---Amber Cove

Dec. 8---1st sea day

Dec. 9---Bonaire

Dec. 10---Curacao

Dec. 11---Aruba

Dec. 12-14---sea days and disembarkation

I'd read a lot of complaints about the Koningsdam---no library, walking was hard on the promenade deck, lines were bad in Lido, not enough elevators,  more places to nickel and dime you, and more that I can't think of right now, but none of that bothered us.  We loved the Koningsdam.  But then, we've loved every ship we've been on.  This one was different from the other HAL ships, but I kind of liked that.  Shows they're trying to grow with the times.  I especially loved the digital daily Navigators, the Lido movies, the New York Deli, and the World Stage.  I wouldn't hesitate to cruise on the Koningsdam again.

2016 Sept. 20-23 quickie trip to Margaritaville, St. Thomas!

What do you do after 4 weeks in Hawaii and about 18 hours of travel to get home?  Rest for a couple days then fly to St. Thomas for 3 nights!!! 

Click on the links to see our fun!

Where we stayed--- Wyndham Margaritaville

Sept. 20th--- travel day and settling in to our 3 bedroom Presidential Reserve unit!

Sept. 21st--- ferry to St. John for some fantastic snorkeling, then back to St Thomas for some more!

Sept. 22nd--- snorkeling Cowpet bay and Secret Beach

Sept. 23rd--- snorkeling Bolongo bay and time to go home--- again!

What a great time I had!!!  May have to do more of these little short trips, too!!!