We chose Secrets because we were able to redeem points and get our stay there free. It helped that it was an all inclusive resort (rated as five star) with beautiful views. It is also located not far from a lot of different excursions that we were interested in taking. I’ve never stayed in an all inclusive five star resort, so I didn’t really know … Continue reading Secrets Papagayo, Costa Rica

My husband knows how much I love Christmas lights. He did some research and found out that Branson has some of the best lights in the U.S. so we made plans to visit. We live near an airport with Allegiant and the non stop flights were much cheaper than any other we could find. I love a nonstop flight. We were confined to certain days, … Continue reading Branson, Missouri

We planned a trip to New Mexico because it was the only state that I have not visited. I always thought it would be a neat place to visit and I was right. We arrived in Albuquerque on a very windy day. I saw my first tumbleweed rolling down the road as we drove our rental car out of the airport parking lot. We stopped … Continue reading New Mexico

Our last excursion took us to Pelion, Greece from the port of Volos. Our bus drove up Mt. Pelion to the highest point that they were able (it was quite foggy that day). The drive up was incredible. There were sections that the bus had to back up in order to get around a corner. The tour guide suggested that we try the mountain tea … Continue reading Mediterranean cruise: Volos, Greece

We were supposed to stop in Istanbul, but the day before we were to arrive there was a terrorist bombing in the central market. It was a little scary to think about because we were planning to visit that same area. The captain made an announcement at 10pm that we would be stopping in Izmir instead of Istanbul. Luckily we did not plan an excursion … Continue reading Mediterranean Cruise: Izmir, Turkey

We arrived in Kusadasi at 6am. We were out on our balcony when we heard the call to prayer echo over the water. It was so cool. It was the first time I have visited a country where the majority of people are Muslim. We booked a tour to visit Ephesus and the Terrace Houses. I was a little disappointed that our excursion would not … Continue reading Mediterranean Cruise: Kusadasi, Turkey

Everyone talks about Santorini. It’s the exotic place to go in the summer and you see all kinds of celebrities there. It’s absolutely beautiful. We decided to go on an excursion in Santorini. Our tour took us to a winery and to the towns of Oia and Fira and included a ticket to the cable car down to the port. These islands were formed through … Continue reading Mediterranean Cruise: Santorini, Greece

Our next stop was Olympia, Greece. I’ve never thought much about where they used to hold the first Olympics, but it was a really interesting archeological site to visit. We first had to take a train to get there from the port. There were a few people who yelled at us to take the bus, but we read that they charge three times the amount … Continue reading Mediterranean Cruise: Olympia, Greece

Corfu is not a huge island, but getting around it would have been difficult if we did not buy tickets to the hop on hop off city tour bus. In November the tour bus only follows one of the two routes it does during the regular tourist season, but it was sufficient for us. The first stop we checked out was the Vlacherna monastery. There … Continue reading Mediterranean cruise: Corfu, Greece

I am skipping one of the ports: Naples. We got off the boat only to eat pizza for lunch. We were not a fan of Naples. The port area was full of trash, smelled terrible, and as you walked into the city it did not get any better. There were so many people and we were almost run over quite a few times by both … Continue reading Mediterranean Cruise: Taormina, Sicily, Italy