are we on vacation again?

Key West was HOT! Too hot for me. We didn't have much time to begin with. We got into port around 11 and we didn't get off until almost noon. We pulled into the cost guard pier, so we weren't really near anything, and we weren't allowed to roam around anyway. They had a shuttle running the length of the pier and it actually brought us all the way to old town for free. Key West is a little too touristy for me, too many people, too many stores and way too expensive. We had a small ice cream and frozen key lime pie for $12 yikes! We had to be back on board by 4 to see Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.... it was well worth it. They put on an excellent show with a mix of new and old music, and man, they can still rock! They brought the house down with "I love rock and roll" and "crimson and clover". I felt like I was reliving my childhood. Our headliner show isn't until 10pm so we attended some other venues. First we saw Olivia Lane, very young,...

It's definitely been a fun ride. Yesterday was a day at sea and we tried the specialty Mexican restaurant. We don't really have to do that again. It wasn't that good, it was kind of like buffet food that was just presented better. Then we went to the cover all bingo, man is that slow 💤. We watched some of a Q&A with Melissa Etheridge that was hosted poolside. Ok, it's way too hot to do much by the pool, so we didn't stay long. Last night was our night to see Melissa Etheridge in the main theater, wow does she put on a great show. She had some survivors from the Pulse nightclub massacre, it was very moving. She has a song called Pulse about it and the proceeds have gone to help the victims. After the show we roamed around for a bit, but it was late and I was tired, so off to bed. Today was a day in Cozumel. We took a taxi to the Paradise Beach. It was nice. The taxi was $15 each way and it's $3 to get onto the beach and you have to spend at leas...

Kind of on a whim we bought tickets for the first Melissa Etheridge cruise. It's on Royal Caribbean's Brillance of the Seas. Our sail away party was an up close and personal ME concert. It was pretty cool. My only complaint was that it was on the pool deck, so it was very sunny and hot, not my best weather. I had to keep walking away to get out of the sun. She played for almost two hours, and she seemed to be having more fun than her fans. She brought other bands with her who are playing at various venues around the ship. There are a few headliners and for those events we have different colored cards depending on which show we are supposed to go to. Our card is gold which is for the late show, which starts at 10pm.... I think I need a nap! Everybody has My Time dining and it seems like only one dining room is open, I guess the ship isn't full. So far it's been fun. We saw an ABBA tribute band last night, nothing like a little Mamma Mia to get you out of your...

Today is Sunday morning and we've been on vacation since Wednesday. Orlando is always fun, if not a little overwhelming. Wednesday we flew through LGA, so it took us a little longer than usual, but we went to lunch at bone fish (I think) with relatives, it was fun. The place we are leaving today is called Fantasy World and it's in Kissimmee. It's very nice and has a couple of pools, two water slides and a lazy river. We only used it Wednesday night, fun! Today we are heading to Clearwater. After we booked the timeshare we found a cruise out of Tampa, so we needed another buffer day, hence, Clearwater. Well the cruise we are taking is a chartered cruise on Royal Caribbean that is featuring Melissa Etheridge! This should be fun. So Jimmy came down for one overnight and we got to see my other brother too... Let's see what the rest of the trip brings! brian

Ok, so since we live near a beach it probably shouldn't be such a draw, but it still is. We ate lunch at Backwaters on Sand Key. The best I can say about it is location, location, location. We ate outside, which is not usually my first choice, but the ocean water was kissing the edge of the deck, how could we resist? We both had sandwiches, I had a fried chicken with house made chips and he had fried grouper with cole slaw. It was okay. Probably about par with a Chili's or TGI Friday's. From there we went to Sand Key Park.... this is a must see. There's plenty of parking for $5, lots of bathrooms and at least one place to rent an umbrella on the beach. The beach is beautiful and clean, but no shade whatsoever, so if you are a ginger like me you might feel like the wicked witch after her encounter with a bucket of water. There's also another part with fishing piers. We weren't fishing, but it was an awesome place to take pictures. We saw pelicans and ...

Today was our last day in Ireland for this go around.  Of course it was another fun filled and packed day.  We started by going back to the airport because our wifi stopped working so we had to pick up another one.  It was also a good test run for our run to the airport tomorrow.  It took us about 25 minutes, not too bad.  From there we drove to Doolin to take the ferry under the Cliffs of Moher.  I think we took the wrong ferry, or at least not the one we had been researching.  It was still good.  It's such a beautiful place.  From there we had lunch at a roadside stop.  We kept driving until we weren't near any more tour buses.  The day didn't end there.  We went to the Aillwee cave and saw a bird of prey show then toured the cave.  My only complaint there is that the stores close at the same time as the last cave tour... No shopping for us!  But, still not done.  We drove around the Burren some more and saw th...

So we left the timeshare today and went north, not all the way north, but north of where we were.  We're staying in Ennis tonight and tomorrow, then unfortunately we are leaving Sunday.  We drove from Killarney towards Doolin via the Shannon ferry.  We picked it up in Tarbert and got off in Kilrush for €18.  It's a very short trip, about 20 minutes.  It was fun. We drove along the Wild Irish way a little further and went to the Cliffs of Moher.  Beautiful, but a LOT of walking.  It was €6 each to get in.  We went to the Hotel Woodstock where we're staying for the next two nights.  It's a very nice place, the restaurant was excellent.  They have a 3 course dinner for €25 each, it was yummy.  Well, time for bed.

This is becoming a trend.  We wake with no set plans and wing it from there.  We got another late start and our initial plan was to drive about 2 hours east, but we got waylaid with the prospects of something shiny when we drove through Kenmare.  There was some kind of market going on down town so we stopped and hung around for a while.  There was a flyer for derreen garden, so we decided to check it out.  A shop keeper told us it was about a half hour drive, and in about 1 1/2 hours we finally found it.  It was well worth the trip.  The gardens were first planted in the 1600's and have been cared for ever since.  If you like rhododendrons this is like Mecca.  There are many varieties and colors, and they grow as big as trees!  Just gorgeous!  They even have about 20 fairy houses, we didn't see any fairies though. On the way back we found a Mexican restaurant in Killarney, called Casita Mexicana. It was actually pretty good.  T...

Yes, we spent another day in the car.  Today we drove the Ring of Kerry and saw all the sites we could fit into a very long day.  It's a good thing Tracey likes to drive!  We started at the Kerry bog village and saw a couple of very old Irish wolfhounds, some ponies and some chickens.  The story of the people during the famine is interesting too. The sightseeing was different since we were in a cloud embankment, but it gave a kind of peaceful and eerie feel to the day. We stopped at one of the road side stores that had a heritage trail, it was very interesting.  A transatlantic cable was run from that town across the Atlantic to connect half the world in the 1800's.  It's amazing how far technology has come.  We even stopped at a bakery and had chocolate chip cookies before returning to Killarney for supper and bed.  Another great day.

We got a later start today, which probably wasn't a good idea, but no crying over spilled milk.  Speaking of which, Bubba spilled about a 1/2 a cup of coffee all down the front of himself.  Then of course it was the road's fault or the cover's fault. Since it's not the first time it has happened, maybe he should think about where to lay the blame, but I digress....  We drove a lot again today.  We didn't really have much of a plan other than to go south. We ended up driving through Killarney National Park again. We saw a LOT of sheep, a goat and even a red deer.  It is a beautiful park.  We drove a little ways on a road that may have been a walking path. Still not sure, but when the pavement went away, we turned around.  Again, beautiful!  At the other end of the park we followed the signs for the ring of bearra.  I think we lost it at some point, but the scenery was beautiful. At the end we even came to an oyster farm, I never saw one before...

As usual we started the day with no plan. We woke up early, maybe because of the 14 hour nap the night before, but we were up around 8 which is very early for me.  With no plans, we poked around for a few hours and then decided to go to Killarney National Park.  We got a little lost, but we rented a wifi hot spot from the car company for €10 a day so my iPhone Maps saved the day.  After we parked we started to walk towards the Abbey.  A jaunty driver stopped us and asked if we would rather take the jauning cart, so for €40 total he took the three of us to the manor house and the waterfall and then back again. It was fun and the horse (patches) looked happy.  From there we went to Dingle.  We went to an art center (An Diseart) that was once a church and has beautiful stained glass windows by Harry Clarke from the 1920's. The room was still set up as a chapel, but I don't know if that was just a prop.  We ate at a place called the diner.  It had exc...