WELCOME TO MY TRAVEL BLOG

I have always enjoyed traveling, even if it meant sleeping in a tent when I was younger. I prefer hotels and cruise cabins now, but the motivation is the same...an adventure waiting to happen. Sometimes you will find me traveling with my husband and/or family. Sometimes I will travel alone, and sometimes I will travel with friends. I hope you find it entertaining to keep up to date with me as I explore the world around me. Warning...I like to take pictures of food so don't read if you're hungry. More adventures await...see ya soon...Amy.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Kauai: Helicopters and the East Shore

We got up super early to drive to the airport to take Danny and Andy to meet their helicopter tour. They had a scheduled tour with Blue Hawaiian. We were hoping it wouldn't rain and the rain held off until they came back. They received a safety briefing and seat assignments before they boarded. While they were flying, Laurie and I found a Starbucks. When we came back to pick them up, it was pouring rain. The guys said the tour was amazing! They actually looked rather stunned lol. We had lots of time before our flight and really wanted to check out the North Shore. It was raining so much that we did not even stop at the first couple of beaches. The highlight of what we saw on the North Shore was beautiful Anini Beach and nearby Hanalei. We ate lunch in Hanalei and this turned out to be one of Andy's favorite places. We had our first Shave Ice at Jo Jo's. It was huge and delicious. We also discovered that the Chickens love Shave Ice. We saw a beautiful view of Hanalei Valley, what a Taro Field looks like and stopped at the lovely green Waioli Church. We stopped at Kahalahala beach after figuring out how to walk down to it through a jungle path. This was the beach where one of the scenes from South Pacific was filmed. It was gorgeous! We stopped at Lumaha'i beach and saw the Kilauea Lighthouse. We also stopped at Moloa'a Beach where the pilot for Gilligan's Island was filmed as well as Haena Beach. We thought the beaches on the North Shore were so beautiful and we were thankful that the rain lifted so we could see them. We stopped at Wailua Falls where Andy bought some baked goods from a little lady parked at the viewpoint. We also saw Opaeka'a Falls before stopping for a quick lunch and then heading to the airport to fly back to Maui. Once again we were blessed with uneventful travel. We went straight to our hotel, the Royal Lahaina and took some time to unpack and settle in before leaving for dinner.

Monday, November 18, 2019

Kauai: Waimea Canyon

This morning we woke up to blue skies!! Kauai is known for lots of rain which is why it is such a lush and green island. Andy and Laurie took a sunrise walk on the beach while we were still sleeping! We got an early start today as we were going to Waimea Canyon with lots of viewpoint stops. We stopped at Bear Bread on the way to get some mid morning breakfast and a sack lunch for later. We don't know if it is always this way, but the service in this place was soooo slow! We were glad to finally get our lunches and be on our way! We stopped at several viewpoints with each one more breathtaking than the last. We enjoyed our picnic lunch on the way back down from the Canyon. As we arrived back down from all of the winding roads, we stopped at Lapperts in Hanapepe before going to Salt Pond Park Beach. This beach looked like a wonderful beach to swim and snorkel but we didn't have time to do that today. We then went to Glass Beach where the "sand" is actually ground pieces of sea glass. I was lucky enough to find several pieces large enough to keep. We then went back to the condo to change into our swimsuits and go to Poipu Beach. There were a lot of people our swimming and snorkeling today. We saw one Hawaiian Monk Seal laying on the beach. They are protected in Hawaii and the area around the seal had been roped off. Danny and Laurie made their way out to a little island and found a huge sea turtle resting on the island. Andy and I sat in chairs and enjoyed watching the chickens run around on the beach. Chickens are everywhere here in Kauai. We came back to the condo to shower and watch the sunset and then went to Koloa and ate supper at Garden Island Grill. I even found a Dole Whip there in an ice cream shop next door.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Kauai: Arrival Day

We woke up today after a super restful sleep at Mama's Fish House Inn. We shared a 2 bedroom bungalow with the Bristers. The beach was steps outside the door. Andy and Laurie were up earlier than we were and had already made a trip to the beach to see and hear the waves. Danny and I showered and dressed and went to check it out ourselves. I am always so enthralled with the tropical plants and flowers in Hawaii. After revisited the beach, we gathered our belongings and ate some of the delicious banana bread and fruit that was provided by Mamas. We left for the airport stopping along the way for a more substantial breakfast at the McDonalds in Walmart near the airport. Our flight to Kauai was on time and uneventful thank goodness!. We rented a car at the airport and made our way to our rental property in Poipu. We stopped along the way at Walmart to pick up a few supplies and snacks. We are sharing a 2 bedroom condo with Andy and Laurie and found the rental property without issue. Danny and I took a walk down the road to the Sheraton to check out their beach while Andy napped and Laurie unpacked. As we headed back to the condo, we saw Andy and Laurie walking the opposite direction. We caught up to them to head to Baby Beach because the sun was starting to set. We had read that it was a nice place to watch the sunset. Baby Beach is very small and well protected from the surf by a little volcanic barrier. The sunset was hidden behind a cloud so we drove back to our condo and watched the sunset from the porch. Our condo actually is a really nice place to watch the sunset. People actually drive to the area and sit on the wall across the road to watch it. We ate dinner at Keoki's and shared a Hula Pie for dessert!

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Maui: Travel and Arrival Day

What a day today has been! We had hoped for uneventful travel but that was not the case. The Brister traveled from Monroe, LA and we traveled from Huntsville, AL. We met each other in Dallas with time to spare to board our flight. Once the plane was boarded we were told that there was a problem with a latch and they were calling in someone to repair it. They said they were told it was an easy fix and wouldn't take long. After sitting on the plane for quite awhile, we were told that it was not able to be repaired and we were to leave the plane and go to another gate to catch a different plane. Once we hurried to that gate, we discovered that plane wasn't scheduled to fly for 3 hours. We went to a lounge with the Brister, ate lunch and relaxed before boarding the next plane. Once we boarded that plane we were told that the food and beverages had not been loaded and we would have to wait for that. That took an hour! So 4 hours later we were finally able to take off. We had scheduled a dinner at Mama's Fish House where we were also going to be staying the night. We moved it back a couple of times, but we finally arrived for dinner around 9 p.m.! Dinner was delicious but we sure were tired! We are looking forward to tomorrow when we fly to Kauai!

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Kauai: North Shore

Today was the day we chose to visit the North Shore. It was raining so much that we did not even stop at the first couple of beaches. One of the highlights of what we saw on the North Shore was beautiful Anini Beach and nearby Hanalei. We ate lunch in Hanalei and this turned out to be one of Andy's favorite places. We had our first Shave Ice at Jo Jo's. It was huge and delicious. We also discovered that the Chickens love Shave Ice, haha.  We saw a beautiful view of Hanalei Valley, what a Taro Field looks like and stopped at the lovely green Waioli Church. We stopped at Kahalahala beach after figuring out how to walk down to it through a jungle path. This was the beach where one of the scenes from South Pacific was filmed. It was gorgeous! We stopped at Lumaha'i beach and saw the Kilauea Lighthouse. We also stopped at Moloa'a Beach where the pilot for Gilligan's Island was filmed as well as Haena Beach. We thought the beaches on the North Shore were so beautiful and we were thankful that the rain lifted so we could see them. We arrived back to the condo in time to see the sunset from our balcony.

Monday, June 17, 2019

Ireland 2019: Irish National Stud & Dromoland Castle Hotel

It's a little sad that the tour is coming to an end, but we were super excited about spending the night in a real castle! But first we traveled by tour bus to the Irish National Stud. This is where the "equine royalty" of stud horses live as well as where young aspiring stud horses also live. We had a fascinating tour telling us about the stud program and introducing us to the horses as we walked in the farm. It is a beautiful place to tour and very informative! Another intriguing part of the farm is St. Fiachra's Garden and the miniature Japanese Garden. We spent a good amount of time here marveling at all of the little details of the Japanese Garden. We ate a quick lunch there before boarding the bus for Dromoland Castle. The present castle was completed in 1835, but it was purchased and converted into a 5 star hotel in 1962. I was stunned when we drove up. There was a storm moving in so we quickly took some pictures of the exterior and hiked on the surrounding grounds. When the rain started, I took advantage of their beautiful spa for a massage and then joined Travis and Danny for a pre-dinner glass of wine in a room equivalent to a "drawing room". Our dinner was quite a fancy event in the castle at their Michelin starred restaurant, Earl of Thomond. It was so delicious and one of our touring party, Sandy's mother, crocheted crowns for all of the ladies to wear. This was a fabulous way to end the tour and I'm not sure we would have ever done this had we not been on the tour. Tomorrow we head home and this is a trip we will always remember!

Sunday, June 16, 2019

Ireland 2019: Dublin and Glasneven Cemetery

We started our day bright and early with a trip to Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin. Glasnevin is Ireland's largest cemetery. We were given a tour highlighting some of the more interesting people buried there. We then boarded the tour bus for a ride into the heart of Dublin so that we could decide what tours we would like to take or just tour on our own. Some of the group toured the Guinness museum, some toured the heritage museum, some toured the Whiskey museum, but we just decided to tour ourselves. The last time we were in Dublin we took a Hop On Hop Off bus tour and I really wanted to see the churches we were shown. We ate lunch first at a cute little Pub named Darkey Kelly's. They had delicious fish and chips and a chocolate mousse made with Guinness that was fabulous!!!! Danny and I walked all over the center of Dublin touring the churches and seeing the Ha'Penney bridge. After touring ourselves, we took the subway train back to Dun Longhaire and caught up with Travis and Christy at McLoughlin's Bar for a drink before dinner. We met Christy's sister Tracey for dinner in Dun Longhaire at Bistro Le Monde. Our dinner was delicious!! We had a very comfortable night at the hotel.