Scenes From The Bravura Trip

Anne & TJ on the Bravura

The four girls

The actual adults (I don't count as an adult)

Captain Bob points the way

Torie hanging out

The Cistern

Heading back

One of the Dogs

We Owned The Day

Yesterday was a full-day sail on the Bravura, a large sailboat that we chartered for the day.  It was great -- a crew of two and the eight of us. 

The day got off to a slow start, as there was no wind.  We headed under engine power the whole way out to Cooper Island.  Toni was getting seasick, but managed not to barf.  Once we tied up off Cooper's Island, she felt a lot better.  The highlight of the trip over was spotting a sea turtle just outside of Yacht Harbour Marina.

I got to skipper the dingy for the day, although TJ did get to run it for a roundtrip.  I first dropped off the girls for snorkeling by the Cistern, a rock formation sticking out of the channel.  As I returned with Anne and TJ, the girls were fighting hard against the current -- they had gone out to the side of the Cistern, and could barely get back.  It was so strong that Maddy had to take a float back out to Toni (the only non-USA swimmer of the group).  So we learned from their mistake and stayed to the north of the Cistern, where the current wasn't very strong.

The snorkeling was great -- lots of beautiful coral and fish.  Some of the girls saw a squid, while I saw a tightly packed cluster of black fish with purple edging.  The school was moving as a pack, with little room between -- very different than the solo behavior of all the other fish I saw.  There had to be 150 fish tightly packed in a small confined diamond like space.  Carol stayed on board the Bravura and talked with Captain Bob.

After hauling ourselves back onto the dingy (no easy feat for big guys like TJ and I), we headed back and had a gourmet  meal on the boat.  The website advertised that the lunch was quite good, and it lived up to its billing --  first course was cold pumpkin soup, followed by a great salad and then mango jerk chicken on rice.  Washed down with a couple beers, it was quite good.  

From the boat, I spotted a very large (six foot) fish that we determined was not a shark.  Instead, I noted it is a BAF -- "big ass fish."  Somehow the name stuck with the teenagers.  We also saw schools of thousands of little silvery fish (aka lunch for the big fish).

I jumped off the side of the boat, and then we headed on the dingy to the Island beach.  Carly swam all the way in (and back).  The beach was sleepy and very relaxing.  When we got back to the boat, we spent some time jumping off the side, which was probably the second most fun part of the day.

The most fun came when we headed back to Virgin Gorda.  The wind had picked up, so they unfurled the sails and we cruised back under wind power.  It was nice going slicing through the water, enjoying the sun.  (The only downer was that we got some sunburn from enjoying it too much).  It took nearly two hours to get back, but it was so enjoyable the time flew by.

It was great having our own boat for the day, and well worth the price of admission.

Scenes from Our Private Beach

 Torie kayaking

Torie and Glen

Maddy chillaxing

Palm trees in the breeze

The rope bed was a popular

way to relax

 

Scenes from Old San Juan

At the cemetery by the sea

El Morro and kites

At the park outside of El Morro

Ditto

Torie and Maddy at

Coach Lombardi's house.

The bell of a chapel

by the sea.

Photos from the first day at BVI

Our villa

TJ in the water

Handing on the seawall -- Torie,

Maddy, Toni, and Carly

Maddy on the wall

TJ chilling at our beach

Glen and Carol at Coco Maya

Go to Heaven for a Quiet Afternoon

For lunch, we drove to the opposite end of the island to eat at Hog Heaven, an outdoor barb-e-que joint perched on the cliffs high above Leverick Bay, Bitter End, Neckar Island (owner by Sir Richard Branson), and various other islands.  The number of boats in the views of the clear blue water is countless.  If Coco Maya is the prettiest setting for a restaurant I've ever been, then Hog Heaven is in position 1a. 

The food and service were both good, and then we headed back to the Villa.  At some point, I've got to video the villa and hopefully post it, although I'm having no luck posting video on the blog. 

We spent a relatively lazy afternoon on the beach, alternatively sunning ourselves, shading ourselves (we are all whites with pale skin and want to avoid burns -- Maddy tans the best of the bunch), swimming, and sea kayaking.  Torie and I threw the football around a bit, although she throws such a strong tight spiral that it hurts to catch many of her throws.

I went out pretty far out on the sea kayak, include a point where the reefs rise (tide was low too, which didn't help my cause).  I scraped bottom a couple of times before coming to a halt on some coral.  I tried to gently work my way off, before dumping myself out of the boat.  I clambered back in, trying to not to damage the coral.  I made it back to shore without incident.

The villas do a midweek cocktail hour on the beach for guests, so we sat around in the chairs, enjoying some drinks and snacks like conch fritters, shrimp, cheese, and a crab thingie.

Carol and I had a massage on our balcony -- quite a view as the sun was going down.  Then, Chefs Mimi and Neptune prepared a lobster dinner (steak for Maddy and Torie) for us at the villa.  Having a massage followed by a private chef is quite decadent and quite enjoyable.  The soup course was pumpkin potato, which was very tasty.  The chicken satay with peanut sauce made a great appetizer, and then the lobster was amazing.  The coconut cake with ice cream for dessert was okay, although it was the weakest course of the meal.  With the dinner, we enjoyed first a Duckhorn Merlot (the official wine of the Stapleton family) and the La Confession 2005 Bordeaux.  Smuggling the wine in was a brilliant idea -- I'm pretty sure it was Carol's plan.

Afterwards, we did our traditional gather by the pool, as TJ and some of the girls swam.  I couldn't make it past 9:30 again, so I went to bed early.  The others weren't up much later.

Time for breakfast and the boat. . .so I will try to add more photos later or tomorrow.

The Baths

Taking William's advice, we changed our schedule to head to the Baths in the morning instead of the afternoon.  That was a good decision, because around 11:30am, as a cruise ship group descended upon it, the Baths became busier than Grand Central Station.

It's a stunning national park.  Giant boulders, some as big as small houses, are strewn on top of each and spill down to the water.  That creates natural pools, as the water rushes in -- but because it is not the ocean, we were safe climbing around and going into the pools.  Carly led the way climbing the rocks, while Torie, Maddy, and I weren't far behind.  Anne, TJ, and Toni explored a little, but not too much.  Carol drew the short straw of guarding the valuables and taking the photos, but I don't think she minded too much.

The rock scramble proved to be quite a good workout -- and quite tiring too.  We really had to work to maintain control on the slippery rocks that required wedging in or balancing (not a strong suit of mine) to make it up the next rock.  My regret is that I didn't have the camera with me, although it would have been banged up -- would not have been practical.

Once we hit the dead end -- no way up, we slid into the water and swam around the rocks.  All around us, large ugly black crabs scuttled on the rocks.  Outside of the baths, there were dozens of anchored boats, bringing their dingies closer to the Baths before swimming into the beautiful beach.  At $3 per person, it was a bargain excursion for us.

I found a rock that we could climb from the water, and I jumped off it a couple of times, and Maddy jumped as well.  We found other climbable, jumpable rocks.  Eventually we came back to the beach and set off on the next great adventure.

We took the overly popular trail through the caves to Devil's Bay.  It was great -- except for the back-ups as people were both going and coming back.  There were tight squeezes, ladders, rope climbs on slippery sandy rocks, and even a magazine shoot going on in one of the cave's pools.  Once we finally reached the other side, we promptly set out to swim and try to climb rocks.  Carly gave her parents some consternation by not staying with the group (Torie, Maddy, and I) so they had go searching for her.  She was trying to climb a rock.

All in all a great time, even if we had to set up road blocks on the way back so we could get through the choke points.  By the time we got back, Carol's position had been overrun by smoking Europeans.  We rescued her from her beleagured situation and a hasty retreat from the maddening crowds.

BVI Bullet Points

It's morning now. . .one of my favorite times of the day here. . .first, I open up the house and the tradewinds cool it.  There's a five panel nine foot high glass doors that fold open, and two large doors on either side by the kitchen table.  No need for airconditioning in the main living area. . .so we keep the doors open until closing time at bed. . .which I haven't been able to stay up for the last two nights. . .the fun in the sun takes it out of me.

The sun comes up over the mountain. . .slowly lighting up the channel. . .then the beach. . .then the palms. . .and then the gardens. . .then the pool.  It's really beautiful to watch.  And, in the background, ships of various sizes (usually big) go past the perfectly framed view.

Maddy gave me mini wireless speakers for Christmas. . .using it a lot here in the main house for my BVI playlist. . .a lot of Kenny Chesney. . .Beach Boys. . .Jimmy Buffet. . .ZBB. . .and less of the outlaw stuff I tend to favor.

So far, seen a dead duck and a badly wounded chicken on the roads here. . .apparently the chicken was crossing the road. . .trying to get to the other side. . .eventually died.  Roads aren't that safe for man nor beast!

Today's sailboat day. . .heading out on the Sail Bravura soon. . .the weather back home has been miserbly cold. . .not just Monday's snow. . .but rain and cold. . .so sorry we're here and not there!  Not.

Paradise Found

 

The view from the villa, sunset Monday.

Climbing the rocks at Coco Maya

Scenes from Castillo de San Cristóbal in San Juan

Toni and Maddy

Windy!

Not barbarians, but women at the gate.  Toni,

Maddy, Carol, Torie, Anne, & Carly

I'm in a photo!

An iconic shot.

Scenes from a San Juan Beach

Torie, Maddy, Toni frolicking in the allegedly

 

dangerous surf

Okay, this would be dangerous

Anne learned that Pina Coladas were

invented in Old San Juan

Driving In Virgin Gorda

You would think that driving on an island as small as Virgin Gorda would not be much of an adventure, but then you would be wrong.  First, the steering wheel is on the left side (the correct side as we Americans would note), but you also drive on the left side.  Occasionally the girls and Carol have to remind me to keep to the left – and right turns are strange. 

But it’s more than that – the open air cab drivers and workers drive their trucks at unusually high rates of speed.  The roads dip, climb and provide plenty of blind turns – especially outside of Spanish Town, heading either North toward Hog Heaven or back on the south side from Leverick Bay.  Coming back yesterday, there was a concrete truck taking up 80% of the road, which leaves very little for the Tahoe to make it past.

It’s like driving in Europe or something!

 

This Place is Too Perfect. But We'll Deal With It

Woke up early Tuesday morning and watched the sunrise while sitting on our deck.  Well, not really a sunrise – we face west, and, as we all learned, the sun continues to pretty rise in the east.  But, as the sun rose over the mountain, it was pretty to watch the water, palm trees, and gardens go from shade to sunshine.

The view isn’t any less spectacular the second day.  As Anne called it – it’s too perfect.  The islands, including the mountains of Tortola, across the channel.  The palm trees, framing the view from the villa.  The pool reflecting the palm trees.  The brilliantly bright blue water.  The sailboats lazily circumnavigating the channel.  The occasional powerboat zipping through.  The small plane, that causes us to shout “Da Plane, boss, da plane!”  Carol noted that Corona blew it – this beach is where they should film their ads.

Torie and I hit the sea kayaks early, going north around the rocky point to Plum Tree bay.  Coming back, the wind was blowing full force – it was quite a workout for my upper body, particularly the arms.  Oh, I almost left this part out – when I first pushed off from the beach, I went a little ways and flipped the kayak.  Not sure how or why, but I dragged it back to shore and reloaded.  It’s a short one – just 11.5 feet, so the stability isn’t as good as I’m used to.  Also, Torie kicked my butt getting back.  I felt like I was sailing back into the wind.

The rest of the morning was spent hanging at the beach.  The people from the other two villas had gone somewhere for the morning, so we had the place to ourselves.  We hung out on the very comfortable lounge chairs, hung out on the rope bed, went into the water for quite a while, and just relaxed. 

After lunch (leftover pork tenderloin that was still excellent), the two families went their separate ways on road trips exploring the island.  The road to the north climbs up higher and higher, affording spectacular views of Leverick Bay and Bitter End Yacht Club.  We passed goats in the road and chickens in the yard, and stopped for the occasional photo of the views.

The Stapletons stopped at Leverick Bay Yacht Club for lunch and TJ recommends the Mahi Mahi.  After a stop for additional provisioning at the grocery store, we got some ice cream and headed back.  We spent more time at the beach, before Carol and I came up for our massages.  While at the beach, Maddy and I kayaked to the south, down into Pond Bay.  There were a number of yachts anchored to take advantage of the beautiful sandy beaches.  Most of the yachts were from Puerto Rico.  We beached the kayaks and did some shelling and deep water wading.  Definitely have to go back.

Unfortunately, the masseuses went to the wrong place, so we had to postpone.  I spent some time talking to William Matthews, a Virginian who runs the place.

We then headed to Coco Maya for dinner, complete with drinks on the comfy beach chairs.  Carol and I split the lobster/mango tacos and the curried shrimp.  The Stapletons treated us to dinner, and TJ nicely sprung for two bottles of Williams-Selyem Pinot. 

We came back and hung by (or in) the pool – the kids too.  For a while Carly and Torie walked down to the beach, while Toni baked blueberry muffins.  TJ hung in the pool for a good hour and a half, while I was probably in for an hour.  At 10pm, I called it a night, climbing the three stories before sacking out.  The others stayed up to 11:30, howling at the full moon.  Okay, it was calmer than that – they all stayed up and talked.

Today we are off to the Baths.

Jumping for joy at warm weather

Torie, Maddy, Toni, and Carly

First night in Virgin Gorda.

 

Sunset, obviously

Aquamare

Aquamare

We got to the villa – as one of the gents staying in the similar villa next to ours said, “welcome to paradise.”  The place is amazing – it’s like three separate units.  The public part is a gourmet kitchen with two refrigerators, a wine fridge (very convenient given the smuggled wine), a big kitchen table, a round table for eight on the covered patio, all open doors, a big sitting area, high ceilings, and nice sized infinity pool with a beautiful view of Sir Francis Drake channel.

Outside on one side is the entrance to two of the bedrooms.  Maddy and Toni are  sharing one suite, and Carly is in the lower king suite.  All five of the bedrooms have very cool outdoor rain showers (with a roof and plenty of privacy).  It’s like a comfortable shower in the jungle.  The other three king suites are on the other side of the house.  We took the top level, Anne and TJ took the middle level, and Torie is on the bottom level.  All of the suites are huge.

Then we went down to the private beach (shared by the three villas).  Kayaks, snorkeling, views of the islands, nice lounge chairs, an outdoor bed, coolers with cold drinks (water/juice), and towels.  We changed and hit the beach.  Maddy and I snorkeled while Torie kayaked.  Carly and Toni swam.  After my 4:30 conference call, I brought wine down to the beach, and we sat and watched the sun sink slowly, and beautifully, in the west. 

It truly is paradise.

We headed back to the house and hit the pool while the ladies prepped dinner.   TJ and I grilled pork tenderloins for dinner and we had quite the outdoor feast for dinner.  Other than two broken wine glasses, there were no casualties.  The girls went to watch a movie in Torie’s room, and the parents hit the wine and the pool late into the night (okay, 9:30, but it seemed late!).

This is going to be an unusual week for us traveling -- typically we do a ton of stuff each day (hence Julia's nickname of the "Iron Tourist" for me).  Instead, we'll be chilling.  Off to kayak, and maybe I will post some more photos in a bit.

Coco Maya Restaurant for lunch

Coco Maya

This is probably the first blog post I’ve ever written with the name of a restaurant as the title.  But I’ve never been to such an amazing setting for a restaurant.  I thought the cliff side restaurant at Terrenea was stunning, and the hut in the Austrian Alps was perched on the side of the mountain offering views for miles, but Coco Maya, with sweeping views of the other BVIs, including Tortola, tops them all.

We got there early, and the restaurant doesn’t open till noon, so we went to the beach.  Maddy started exploring and climbed some dramatic rocks on the water, so I and then Torie followed.  Maddy climbing the seaside rocks may prove to be a recurring theme, as she did it later in the day as well.

Carol and I both had the lobster mango salad, which combines three pretty good ingredients – you know, lobster, mango, and salad.  Anne, Carly, Toni, Maddy, and Torie all enjoyed their food as well, although the view was the main attraction.  It’s an outdoor restaurant with a swinging bench by the bar (Carly enjoyed that), lounges and comfy chairs on the beach, and a beautiful open-air design.

After a bit of a wait for the aforementioned rental cars, Carol, Anne, Carly and Toni headed off to the grocery store (summary: limited selection, high prices), while Maddy, Torie and I fought with the Tahoe and finally got going.  We headed toward Mahoe Bay (where the villa is located), and ended up driving all the way along the western side of the island.

The drive was stunning – great views, roller coaster up and downs, and the flora and fauna.   After a bit, we headed back to the grocery store and met up with Geno.  He led us to Aquamare Villa 2.

A Wing and A Prayer

Monday morning in San Juan I woke early, too keyed up (for no reason) about getting to Virgin Gorda.  First, there was the case of wine we were smuggling into BVI (the “B” stands for British, which means passports and customs, and forms, and questions).  Secondly, it was a small plane and I was (unnecessarily) worried about logistics.

So, as the sun came up, I headed out to the beach for a nearly hour long walk.  At points I couldn’t get around some concrete abutments blocking the beach, so I had to head inland, past a hospital with a Uno’s pizza and a Starbucks thoughtfully located on the bottom floor.

After breakfast, the seven of us climbed into a cab and headed to the airport.  As we got to the Sunshine Air counter, the pilot greeted us and said, “good, you are the entire flight, so we can leave early!”  We ended up leaving so early that we got to Virgin Gorda a half hour before we were supposed to leave San Juan!

We checked everything in, including the wine box that the pilot said, “is that your cooler,” to which I hastily replied “yes.” 

There were two other people working, the counter woman and the jack of all trades guy, who took us to security, helped us cut the line (which sounds more impressive than it was – there were three people in line), and led us through normal security.  We then walked to the gate, outside, under the airport, and to a bank of planes that are about the size of our Ford Expedition, but with propellers. 

The pilot greeted us, and put our camera bag and my computer bag into a hold on the wing.

We boarded the plane, and took off pretty much right away after a few pre-flight checks.  We were seven (TJ came later that afternoon), and the plane supposedly seats nine uncomfortably.  We could see Palomino Island and the islands where we stopped near with the catamaran for snorkeling last time we were in Puerto Rico.  I saw the bio bay we kayaked at night.  Carol filled out the passport/customs forms while we flew, and I made jokes about the fuel level and engine fires to Toni, who was sitting ahead of me.  Maddy both slept and turned green, but there weren’t any serious problems.  Carly and Anne did their paperwork.

As we flew past Tortola, Virgin Gorda came into view.  The pilot banked the plane and the dirt strip runway came into view.  We made a hard left, coming in almost sideways to the strip, before a quick right turn and down.  After pictures with the plane, we walked into the two room hut that serves as the immigration, customs, and counters for the 3,300 person island.

Since we arrived early, Geno wasn’t on hand to greet us.  I had alerted William we were leaving early, so we didn’t have to wait long.  The rental cars weren’t ready – we got the last two available on the island, and it showed.  One is a dented Vitara and the other is a scratched Tahoe on which the passenger door won’t open. 

But, first it was a $40 taxi ride (yikes!  Everything is expensive here) into town for lunch at one of the most stunning settings for a restaurant ever.  But, since it’s time for breakfast, I will follow up on this later, and hopefully post some pictures.

 

It's the Spin of the Wheel, It's the Luck of the Draw

Being that we were at a casino, and being that Maddy and Toni are both 18, and being that the minimum age for entry into a casino is 18 in Puerto Rico, I thought it was my job to introduce them to the fun of losing money at the tables.

Alas, all of the tables were full, and the pit boss said the next table to open wouldn’t be till 10pm (it wasn’t even 9pm!).  I’ve never seen a casino not want to take money before, but I suppose there is a first time for everything.  The only table game worth playing is blackjack.  Roulette is for people who are bad at math, I’m in over my head at a poker table (I’ve never played at a casino), and the tricked up card games like Caribbean Stud Poker have bad odds.  I’ve never figured out the craps table, and don’t want to learn now.

So, we found the video poker machines.  Maddy didn’t like losing money (a good mindset to have), but ended up making $2.75, which I benevolently let her keep (hey, it was my $20 that I staked to her – I was happy to get that back unscathed!).  Neither Toni nor Maddy were that excited by it all.  I think they were a bit let down, which is a good thing.  Another time for the tables.  I had tried my best to corrupt them with gambling, but failed.  Que sera.

We had a drink at the bar (Anne, Carol and I; Toni and Maddy had non-alcoholic stuff, of course).  The Latin band playing in the lounge was great, but way too loud.  So we moved to another room where the band was simply loud instead of blasting.  By 9:30 we were done for the night.  We watched a bit of the Duke-Creighton Tourney game, but couldn’t stay awake through the barrage of clanking missed jumpers.

Old San Juan

After a so-so lunch in a beautiful Oceanside restaurant (the food was underwhelming, but at least the service was slow – although the waiter was a good guy), we changed and hit the beach.

The red flag was up, which was, um, a red flag.  The warning notice said the currents were too strong and dangerous, so stay out of the water.  Maddy, Torie, and Toni went into the water anyhow, since there were no lifeguards.  Eventually a hotel employee monitoring the beach blew the whistle and waved them out of the water. 

After a bit, the four of us crossed the hotel property line to the beach where lots of people were in the water, either swimming or boogie boarding.  Many of the waves were huge, but the currents were fine.  None of us had to fight to stay in one place, and nobody bothered anyone at this public beach.  The condo building overlooking the beach was beat up – not sure if it was the wind, salty air, or damage from storms, but it was in bad need of reclamation.

Bodysurfing in, the huge wave I caught instead caught me, flipping me arse over teakettle so I rode in on my back and feet first.  Nice shot of water up the nose!

After a bit, we checked in to the now ready hotel rooms, changed, and cabbed it into Old San Juan.  Because of the crawling traffic on a Sunday, the cabbie only took us as far as Castle San Cristobal.  Luckily, it was open till 6pm even on Palm Sunday, so we walked around it and got lots of great photos, some of which will be posted here at a later date. 

We left via the upper gate, and followed the city walls.  I think we were able to walk up the hill to El Morro into the blazing sun at a faster rate than traffic was moving (that might be a slight exaggeration, but only slight!)

It was quite an amazing scene when we got to El Morro – the field was packed with a thousand people flying hundreds of kites, picnicking, kids running around.  This is what a park is supposed to be like.  El Morro sits on the spit of land that juts out into the ocean on one side and the bay on the other.  On one side, there is a bleached white cemetery hard by the ocean.  It’s got to be one of the most, if not the most, beautiful settings for a cemetery in all of North America.  After wandering around, taking it all in, and taking photos, we headed back toward Christopher Columbus square.

We hiked past the houses and stores – some were dive bars and crappy little shops, while others were high end restaurants and the finest stores – all crammed together in a very cool city.  There were street festivals going on throughout the city, and the sound of live bands could be heard emanating from various locales.

Even though it is small, walking the entirety of Old San Juan takes some doing.  We were heading for the Parrot Club restaurant, which I recalled being near Columbus Square (turns out it was just a couple of buildings up from the square).  So, as we walked the endless blocks of Fortelezza Street, several of our party were nervous that I didn’t know where we were going or what I was doing.  As they loudly remarked on that, Maddy muttered, “welcome to life with the Iron Tourist,” or something to that effect. 

I, of course, was triumphant when we got there.  Never go against a Bolger when travel is on the line.  The food was great as always. 

Luck is Usually the Residue of Design, But Sometimes It's Just Luck

I love the Branch Rickey saying that "luck is the residue of design."  But, in this case, luck is just luck.  That's why we got to spend the day in Puerto Rico before heading to Virgin Gorda in the BVI. 

Back last year when I booked the villa in the BVI, I thought I was grabbing the Tuesday-Sunday of spring break, because there is always a high school softball spring break tournament (killjoys!).  I tried to fix it when I figured out my mistake, but could not.  So I went ahead and added a free day in San Juan, Puerto Rico using Marriott points.  Carol and I love San Juan and Puerto Rico, and Maddy/Torie are fast becoming big fans (alas, Julia is at UVA). 

Luckily, the softball tourney games were cancelled for today because of the traditional late March snow hitting NOVA.

Our friends, the Stapletons, also added San Juan to their journey down -- except for TJ, who hung an extra with son Jack, who has baseball.

So, after we got to the Marriott hotel and casino, the seven of us had lunch by the beach.   Very nice contrast to the cold March we've  had back home.  The food was okay, but the setting was relaxing. 

After lunch, we changed into our swimsuits and hit the beach.  The beach was redflagged -- no swimming, dangerous currents.  After Maddy, Torie, and Toni got whistled out of the water (no lifeguard, but some employees check the beach), we crossed over the hotel property line and went into the ocean where there were plenty of people (mostly bodyboarding) in the water. 

I've been in the ocean a gazillion times, and, while the waves were huge at times, there was no danger at all.  I'm not sure why these conditions deserved a red flag next door.  The water felt great.  When it was time to go in, I rode a wave in that flipped me upside down AND backwards.  The water up my nose actually felt great, because it wasn't 38 degrees and raining.

Trip Favorites

Wow -- there's only four of us. 

Favorite Shore Excursion
Torie: Sea Kayak
Maddy: Extreme Glacier Trek
Carol: Floatplane to Misty Fjords
Glen: Extreme Glacier Trek

2nd Fav Thing We Did
Torie: Raptor Center
Maddy: Sea Kayaking & Raptor Center
Carol: Whale Watching
Glen: Float Plane to Misty Fjords

Favorite Part of the Ship
Torie: Lido Deck
Maddy: Deck 11 -- top of the ship
Carol: The fourth deck to watch the Hubbard Glacier
Glen: Hanging out in the Explorer's Lounge

Favorite Town:
Torie: Sitka
Maddy: Sitka
Carol: Sitka
Glen: Sitka

Photos from Ketchikan and Victoria

Creek Street, Ketchikan

Sun in Alaska!  But

not for long.

Float planes

On de plane!

Part of Misty Fjords

Notice the mist?

Hence the name!

A good perspective of Misty Fjords

From the catamaran

New Eddystone Rock -- it's

essentially a volcanic plug.

In Victoria

Victoria, by the harbor

Torie makes a friend, at the end.

Last Riffs and Testament

One enduring memory will be of the blue ice chunks floating past us as we cruised (literally!) into Juneau, and then the next day into Disenchantment Bay.  The first chunk I saw I thought must be some cool small boat or something, but then realize there were more, and they were glacial chunks.  The first set made their way down from Mendenhall Glacier. 

Btw, Disenchantment Bay is perhaps the worst name ever.  It should be Enchantment Bay for the beauty.  Yes, I realize the historical context, but it's not much of a sales point when you say -- "and then we went to Disenchantment Bay."  I'm not happy with the name. . .in fact, I'm (wait for it. . .) disenchanted with it.

Alaska is great, but cruising the big ships is not our thing.  The stops were great, but not long enough -- we spent too much time at sea.  After a while, it felt too much like rest and not a vacation.  This does not mean all cruises are bad (we loved the Athens to Istanbul route), just that Alaska is SO big that you spend too much time cruising and not enough time sightseeing/adverturing.  It's also a reminder of what a big state it is.

We're not activities people -- I enjoyed the CPAC sessions that I could attend (I missed a lot because of work), and the Tai Chi lessons (although we only made two).  I also tried two rounds of acupuncture on my bad ankle (jury is out -- short-term relief yes, long-term not really).  We went to various others, but not too many -- not our thing.  The food was good, but not spectacular -- which I understand when cooking for 2,000 people.

There's also a lot of waiting around -- to get into port, to get on a tender, to get cleared to go into port. 

Again, it's a good way to see Alaska I suppose -- it would take quite some time to travel to each area we went to, and the airfare is quite expensive. 

I will give high marks to the shore excursions.  With the Windstar, we didn't do any of their shore excursions.  With the Westerdam, we did four -- whale watching/nature walk by Carol and Torie, extreme glacier trekking by Maddy and I, sea kayaking by all four, and float plane/catamaran by all four.  The excursion operators have their act together really, really well.  And, obviously, the ship has done a great job in offering those -- and lots of other excursions -- to folks.

I guess the point is -- more time on land, and less at sea.  Carol got sick twice -- once from a very rolly Pacific Ocean (understandable -- the seas were rough), and once from what may have been questionable food.  I got the same food thing.  I will point out that we both soldiered on -- Carol felt iffy after Ketchikan, while I felt iffy on Victoria Day.

Yes, I know the folks who run the shore excursions make much of their money from cruise ships -- the towns roll up when the ships aren't in port -- but they were all great, talkative people happy to answer questions, and respectful of their clients.  One tour person I talked with said the cruise ships are great -- working with tour operators rather than bulldozing them.

Salmon for dinner tonight! 

How to remember the five types of salmon?  Thumb for Chum.  Forefinger means Sockeye, because you'll poke with it.  Middle finger is the biggest -- so that's the King,   The ring finger represents silver or gold, but there's only Silver salmon, and the pinkie is for the Pink Salmon.

We traveled by cruise ship.  And helicopter.  And bus.  And shuttle bus.  And minivan.  And float plane.  And catamaran.  And open raft.  And tender.  And sea kayak.  And taxi.  And, of course, foot.

I would have liked a bit more time in Ketchikan.  Oh, and more time in Misty Fjords.  Oh, and another excursion in Juneau.

Okay, we're disappointed in not seeing bears up close, but we can't do everything.  It's not like we would have given up whale watching, extreme glaciering, sea kayaking, or the floatplane trip to Misty Fjords.  Seeing the salmon spawning was magical.  And, we never got tired of whales.  I just wish I could have seen an Orca. 

By the way, it was great seeing a LOT of people really, really enjoy the cruise ship.  Great way for disabled folks to get around, and have dinner with an 87/85 year old couple was amazing.  The girls liked it because I wasn't always force marching them to the next thing (although they'll appreciate it more when they are older.  I think.)