RCI Enchantment Cruise - Cape Canaveral, Camp Holly Airpboat Ride, Atlantis, Bahamas

Day 3

First day in port – Cape Canaveral, FL. We have been to Orlando and Disney multiple times before so we’ve decided to go on an airboat ride. As soon as we dock I call around to a few airboat places and while most of them are all booked I finally reach Camp Holley and they tell me they are pretty open and leave as soon as a boat fills up.

Our plan is to rent a car so that we can be free to roam. About an hour later we have our car, which appears to be a refurbished police car with a bench seat in the front (as opposed to two separate seats). A quick check on my phone and I discover that kids can ride on the front seat in FL so Victor is super excited when we tell him he can sit in between us on the front seat.

We arrive at Camp Holley after about 30 minutes and check in. As we wait for a few more guests to fill the boat we chat with the owners, hard-core alligator chaser straight out of the Discovery channel special. They tell us stories of how as teenagers they used to hide in the trees and shoot at alligators in the swamp. They treat us with some boiled peanuts (which taste much better than they sound) and very soon we board one of the airboats and get a set of large headphones to clock the sound of the motor.

The boat moves slowly at first and then quickly picks up speed and we are flying through the swamp. The weather is perfect and even though I hate roller coasters I love the swift motion of the boat. Victor is wedged between Chris and I and I can tell he is loving every minute. We quickly slow down and pull next to a small alligator lounging in the mud.

After that we see various birds and a few other smaller alligators before stopping a few feet away from a large one half submerged in the water.

On the way back we zoom through the swamp and back in the car we all agree that this was definitely a one of a kind experience.

 

After a quick lunch we decide to drive to Orlando and visit Victor’s favorite mini-gold course, the Winter-Summerland in Disney World. The course is separated in two sections, each incorporating many of the favorite Disney characters and Christmas favorites are playing throughout the course. At each hole there is a “magic trick” when your ball gets in – a fridge door opens, a snowman sprays you with water and even Santa makes an appearance. The course is not easy but is do-able for kids 5+ and have a great time playing it a few times. Even though we have played it so many times before it’s still a family favorite.

It is getting dark when we are done and we make a quick stop at Joe’s Crab Shack for dinner. Joes’ is located right next to the entrance for downtown Disney, had a lovely playground connected to the restaurant and a lovely outdoor seating area. It is a bit chilly outside but after some Alaskan crabs, lobsters and fish sticks we all call it a day. The drive back to Cape Canaveral is uneventful; we return our rental and get back on the ship at 9:30 pm, 30 minutes before the ship’s departure.

Day 4 – Nassau, Bahamas

We sleep in late today and when we wake up we see the ship trying to enter the port. The winds are so strong that each time the captain makes an approach he has to turn back. Finally after about 30 minutes of trying wen enter the harbor and we all get dressed to go outside.

We are meeting the rest of our group to go to Atlantis and stroll around as we expect it will be too chilly for the beach. The minute I walk out of the ship I realize that it must be 50 degrees outside. The winds are strong and chilly and all of the locals are saying this is by far the coldest day of the year. Great! I quickly turn around and go back to the cabin to get our warmest clothes and even put on my leather boots.

We take a cab to Atlantis, the sprawling resort that we have seen on TV but  never actually been to. It boasts something like 15 different resorts within it, a water park, many pools, lazy rivers, and a famous acquarium. We get inside only to realize that as guests we are not allowed to go pretty much anywhere without paying a fee. The acquarium costs $30+ per person (we have several large acquariums in the DC area so it’s not worth the money), it’s too cold for any of the water adventures (and a daily pass for the water park costs $100 per person), and the casino is not kid-friendly at all. Even some of the restaurants are off-limits unless you are staying at the resort.

We walk around the inside a bit but everyone is quickly bored. In all honesty, Atlantis is like a cheaper version of a Vegas hotel and unfortunately fails to impress me. Back to the ship we just found a cozy lounge and let the kids play while the adults had some strong warm-up drinks.

That night there was a disco party taking over the atrium of the ship and that was probably the highlight of the night entertainment on this cruise. Everyone, kids and adults, loved dancing to the oldies and some of us even got a little crazy but a good time was had by all.

RCI Enchantment of the Seas - New Year's Cruise from Baltimore

I have to admit that Royal Caribbean has never been my favorite cruise line but we found ourselves with no plans for New Years and I was able to find a great fare on a cruise out of Baltimore so off we go. After I booked our cabin many of our friends decided to join us too and then some friends of friends and pretty soon we had a group of almost 25 going on the cruise. The more the merrier 

We drive to the port on a sunny warm day and are able to quickly check in and get onboard around noon. The port of Baltimore is very easy to navigate and the check-in process if fast and efficient. The rooms are not ready yet so we beeline to the Windjammer Café (aka buffet) and magically find an empty table by the window. The buffet is already overcrowded and pretty soon there is no place to sit. We grab a snack and decide to go register the kids in the kids club.

In our group of 25 we have 7 kids aged 3 to 9 so making sure the kids are having a good time will be very important for everyone’s enjoyment.

I’m surprised to find the kids’ club in a somewhat bare room connected to another larger room in the back. No bright colors, no computers or Wii stations, no little funky chairs and climbing walls. We sign up all the kids, get the bands and by that time the cabins are ready. We have an oceanview cabin on Deck 3 which can be characterized as “nothing special”. We usually sail in balcony cabins but since this is a winter sailing out of Baltimore we were not going to be able to spend much time outside anyway so we decided against it. The décor of the room is a bit drab, it’s definitely an older ship, but there is enough space for our luggage and it’s clean. We move the two beds to one side and lower the mattress from the bunk to the floor so that Victor can sleep there. We call our room attendant but he is nowhere to be found, hmm…

The afternoon is spent exploring the ship which looks fine despite being about 15 years old. The public spaces have definitely been kept up and we like the somewhat intimate atmosphere onboard (the ship only holds about 1200 passengers compared to 3000-4000 that most of the newer ships hold) and we are quickly able to meet up with the rest of our group in the main atrium area.

The little dance floor and bar in the atrium will quickly become our group’s meeting place for the rest of the cruise and I think at the end we all liked how easy it was to find each other on any given day. After the initial hustle and bustle it is time for dinner and since it’s New Year’s Eve everyone is dressed nicely.

We have a table for 8 with some of our friends and our two waiters (both from Turkey) are some of the best I have seen on any ship. They provide constant entertainment for the kids and are always prepared for anything we need. The dinner, while not spectacular, is OK and everyone is wearing festive hats, tiaras and noise-makers. We were told earlier that there will be a kids party in the kids club that night so after dinner all the kids are sent to the club while the adults split into several groups around the ship.

There are several bars and lounges on the Enchantment and all of them are filling up in anticipation of the New Year countdown. The Piano Bar is more subdues, with lots of wood paneling and darker colors and is usually the most quiet of all and not suitable for young kids. At the very back of the ship is a spacious bar which is where all the trivia games and large parties like the Captain’s reception are held. It is a nice space to get a drink and also to let the kids run around in between activities. The Bolero is the nicest lounge as far as décor does and I think it was designed as a Latin/salsa lounge.

Unfortunately, it is Super bowl season so each night this is where they show all the games and the bar becomes more of a rowdy sports bar than a place to dance and relax. The Sky bar is located at the very top of the ship and has the best views onboard. It hosts different functions during the day and late at night turns into a dance club for 18+ (meaning no kids). However, every day at 5 pm they host a Children’s Disco which turns out to be perfect for our kids. They play all the latest Top 40 music, serve cocktails for kids and adults, and don’t mind if the kids go a bit crazy running around. Also, the only other customers at that time are other parents so this becomes our regular “Happy hour” place on each sea day. We also discover an amazing evergreen band that plays most of the time in the atrium and realize they have a devout although small following of a few couples who relentlessly dance each time the band plays (and they play almost all the time).

At 11:30pm the crowd in the Atrium is huge, there is no place to even stand and the noise level is crazy. We decide to get our kids from the club so we can all greet the New Year together and while we expect to find them in the middle of their own party with new friends, find a rather gloomy boring atmosphere in the kids club where all the kids sit on the floor sort of doing nothing. This is a first for us as always Victor loves all the activities in the kids club so we’re glad we picked him up early. We lose our friends in the crowd and then it’s time for the countdown, Happy New Year, hugs and kisses and after that we are off to bed and on to the new year hoping that it will be a good and healthy one.

Day 2

The next day is a sea day and usually one of our favorite days onboard as we get acclimated to the ship and life onboard. We have a bit of a shaky start as we almost miss breakfast. Surprisingly , the buffet is only open until 10 am and after a late night last night we are not in a rush to get up. The buffet is very crowded, as would be the case the entire cruise, the food is nothing special and after that first morning we start to take some fruit and bagels and eat in our cabin.

The weather is chilly but calm and we make an attempt to take all the kids to the indoor pool. There, we encounter another road block as it turns out the pool in only open for kids during special times (a few hours a day) and since it’s too cold to use the outside pool we resort to just finding a quiet lounge and letting the kids run around and play. When we finally get to indoor pool we are told we cannot fit our large group in the hot tub as there can only be 8 people in the hot tub at a time. We have never heard that before on a cruise as abandon hopes of using the indoor pool again, too much of a hassle.

Lunch is another hassle as the ship is not for to accommodate so many people eating at one time and the long line for lunch in the dining room weaves through the hallways. The nice thing is that once we are finally inside we can use the salad bar instead of waiting to be served and the salad bar offers a pretty wide variety of salad including steak, shrimp, lots of veggies, cheeses and exotic greens. This would be our lunch for the rest of the cruise as the buffet does not offer anything of interest for either breakfast or lunch. For the rest of the day we relax, hang out in the various lounges, play some trivia games and let the kids hang out together. There is not a whole lot as far as entertainment during the day goes especially for the younger crowd (the older folks end up playing bridge in one of the lounges for most of the cruise) so we make our own entertainment.

Dinner is delicious and the servers do a good job again. At 7pm we send the kids to the kids club but only so we can finish dinner in peace. For the first time on a cruise Victor does not get excited about the club and actually asks us not to go. Every time we visit the kids appear bored and it’s overcrowded, seems that the counselors just gave up and they huddle by the door checking kids in and our without actually making sure the kids are having fun. Most of the evening we just send the lids to the club for an hour or two in the evening while we have dinner and then pick them up to go to a show and then bed. So far this is definitely my least favorite cruise ship so thank god for all of our friends being here so at least we are in good company.

Fallingwater, Kentuck Knob and Laurel Caverns Trip

Fallingwater, Kentuck Knob and Laurel Caverns

My  mom was visiting from Bulgaria for two weeks because Victor just started kindergarden and since it was a long weekend we were thinking of an interesting place to visit for the weekend. We have already been to most of the major sites around DC and my Internet search did not turn up much until a friend mentioned Fallingwater. I had heard about the famous Frank Lloyd Wright house before but always thought it was too far from here so when my Google maps showed it’s only three hours away we were on. Some more online research gave me some ideas for side trips so on Sunday morning we all packed a bag and got in the car.

Fallingwater is in Pennsylvania, near the West Virginia border,  and the dricing through the mountains and small towns was quiet and relaxing. I decided to book our tickets for the visit on my phone because I had heard weekends can get very busy there so imagine my surprise when I discovered that all tickets for that day were sold out and the first availability was the next day at 1:30 pm. Plans had to be changed but it all worked out in the end.

Because of the ticket situation we made our first stop the famous Laurel Caverns. Situated in the Blue Ridge Mountains, not too far from Fallingwater, the cavern is less known than Luray but is quite fascination in and of itself. Devout of any stalactites, stalagmites and other such formations, the cave is a heaven for kids and adventurers. They offer climbing, repelling and spelunking but we stayed with the regular cave tour where we were taken along numerous narrow passages and some completely dark areas to explore the fascinating underground world.

 One of the coolest thing for victor was an area of the cave which is pitch black but lit up by colorful lights which light up by noise. So the group in encouraged to make as much noise as possible until we pass through because the minute the noise level goes down the lights go off.

But perhaps the most unique thing about Laurel Caverns is the mini golf course situated in a man-made cave within the actual cave. The atmosphere inside feels exactly like a cave, with lots of obstacles and dimmed lights. It’s a bit challenging for kids but we all had fun playing a round, even my mom who hadn’t played in 20 years.

This being a pretty rural area which no chain hotels the closest nice hotels I could find were in Morgantown, WV so we headed there.  Not to far from the caverns though we noticed a sign for a local winery and, despite the fact we are not big wine drinkers, decided to take my mom to the winery and let Victor run around the grounds a bit. Well, after missing the tiny sign for the winery and going in circled about a dozen times, we finally arrived only to find out that the winery was booked for a wedding that day. So off we went and after about 15 minutes of driving we saw another sign off the highway for another well known winery.  Well, unfortunately no luck there either because the nice owners of the place gave us a pleasant smile and told us that this being Sunday in Pennsylvania they had closed at 5 pm. Oh, I can’t say I miss that state… Clearly we were not meant to go to a winery that day so we just continued to the hotel (having driven about 10 miles in the exact opposite direction in order to get to the winery).

Finally we arrived at the Fairfield Inn Marriott which was such a hip modern place that pretty much did not suit the surroundings. But in typical rural fashion, there was a Cracker Barrel right across the street from the hotel and a huge shopping plaza right next to it.

As we used to say about Pennsylvania “What else is there to do in this place?” So after a “fine dining” experience in the Cracker Barrel (my mom was so amazed by all the chotchkies they sell in that place that we had to drag her out the door) we of course went to Target to finish the night with some shopping. Not that we don’t have Target here but there really wasn’t much else to do.

Thanks to my handy-dandy new large screen smart phone I was able to research the area and found out there is another house by Frank Lloyd Wright nearby so we decided to go there first. The house is called Kentuck Knob and is mostly famous for the Sculpture Garden surrounding it. So we got tickets only for the garden which was actually a huge meadow that is quite far from the parking lot.

Unfortunately we were very disappointed as most of the “sculptures” were things like a street toilet from 1920s Paris, a huge piece of driftwood, a mountain of small stones and a collection of white pipes.

Probably the most impressive piece was the group of hundreds of red metal flamenco dancers positioned in a huge square. Victor thought it was hilarious to hide between the figures and make us guess where he is.

Quite disappointed with the “garden” we walked down to the parking lot where we saw the only other interesting piece – a giant bird house designed like a mansion with multiple cubby holes for many birds.

I honestly don’t recommend people spend the time visiting Kentuck Knob unless you are an architect or someone with lots of time on your hands.

Fallingwater is only about 15 minute drive from Kentuck Knob but on the way there you pass through a very picturesque village called Ohiopyle which is the starting point of many rafting and kayaking expeditions and is located right on top of a very pretty waterfall. We had some time to spare and stopped to take some amazing photos.

Arriving at Fallingwater, we were ushered to the visitors center and given a group number for the tour. Tours left every ten minutes (if you had a reservation) and there were hundreds of visitors everywhere. Pictures were not allowed anywhere in the house (which I thought was weird) and they were so strict that they inspected everyone’s bag for possible cameras hidden in bags.

THe house was designed and built for the Kaufmann family (department store owners from Pittsburg) who used to own a small cabin near the main road and wanted a private house near the water. At that time (1936) Frank Lloyd Wright was in his 60s and getting ready to retire. The Kaufmanns shared his somewhat quirky visions and let him do pretty much what he wanted so the result was a house on top of a waterfall (literally). The use of nature within the house is amazing – stones from the waterfall are used as walls within the house, all the wood used in the house is gathered from the river and there are amazing views from each of the rooms.

Actually each room has its own terrace.  I have to admit that for its time the house must have been ground-breaking and I loved the minimalist style and the incorporation of water and nature inside the house.

However, by today’s standards the rooms are very small and dark (the husband’s bedroom only has a twin bed and the son’s bedroom is the size of a walk-in closet with a view) and there is something a bit morbid and cold about the house. But the tour was fascinating nevertheless and afterwards we went to the lookout point where we were able to snap the famous photo with the house in the background.

All this architecture left us starving so stopped at a little roadside BBQ joint and me and my mom had the best ribs I’ve ever had while sitting on a huge patio overlooking the mountains. What a great ending to the weekend!

Utah - Arches & Dead Horse Point with Kids, Part 3

Today is canyons day as I figured we can’t travel all the way here and not see at least one of the surrounding canyons. We have a choice between Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands National Park and, considering that it’s the location of the final scene of Thelma & Louise (where they drive their car off the edge in the ultimate expression of female bonding), we decide on Dead Horse Point. It is an easy 30 min drive from Moab and as soon as you drive up the steep road you realize it’s a totally different scenery. The orange colors and formations are gone to be replaced by grayish colors and chopped craggy hills. As we leave the sunny Moab the sky becomes dark and gray and we see huge lightning in front of us that appears to be right on top of the park. When we get to the entrance booth we ask the ranger if it’s going to be safe with all the lightning but she says she got reports that it’s a passing storm so we should be fine.

We get to the Visitor’s Center, which is a very modern glass and wood building with a huge terrace overlooking part of the canyon.

Chris is still very worried about the thunderstorm so we decide not to hike but to just drive around to some of the view points. There is one right next to the Visitor Center and when we get close to the edge I gasp realizing that we are mere feet away from the huge drop. I am clutching Victor, knowing how he tends to just run around, but he seems to be getting it that there is real danger here.

Dead Horse Canyon is also the spot where Tom Cruise was climbing up a rock during the opening scenes of the Mission: Impossible 2 movie when he got a call from his boss with his latest mission while holding on to the cliff with one hand. I keep looking around trying to figure out where exactly where they shot this scene but all the cliffs around us seems so tall and steep that I don’t imagine even the most experienced hikers can climb them.

We leave the Visitor Center area and drive a couple of miles up the road to the main overlook. There are several overlook “stations” fenced in which gives you an almost 360 degree view of the canyon and the Colorado River cutting through it.

As we are admiring the view. this time truly feeling on top of the world, we see in the distance an SUV driving down a dirt path meandering through the opposite side of the canyon and slowly getting closer and closer to the river bank. On further inspection there is a sandy strip along the edge of the water and the more daring can drive all the way down on some kind of a rugged vehicle.

The name of this part of the canyon comes from a sad story. Years ago, cowboys used to lure wild horses to the edge of the cliff where they corralled them into an enclosure they had built there and were able to pick the best horses out of the bunch to sell. The remaining horses were left there, fenced in with no water or food, with view of the river below which they could not reach and they eventually died from starvation.

We walk along the edge for a bit, climbing up and down some of the smaller cliffs but my fear of heights gets the best of me and I sit on a stone bench while Chris and Victor climb a steep rock right on the edge and I almost have a heart attack while taking a picture of them.

On the way back, we see a lovely turquoise patch down below and stop to see what it is and find out the most striking azure blue squares contrasting with the reddish gray colors of the canyon. Apparently, those are salt mines, taking advantage of the potassium-based soil of the area which at one point in time used to be a bottom of the ocean. Bright blue paint is added to the water to attract the sun which helps the water evaporate faster.

Back in Moab, we have lunch at a hippy place called Cake’n’Bake. I’m pretty unimpressed with the food, despite the great reviews online, and they do not serve beer which is a no-no in Chris’ book, but the place is connected to a pretty large second-hand book store where we find a couple of very old Little Golden Books for Victor so he is happy. After a quick break by the pool we decide to tackle the hardest Arches hike and one that, to be honest, gives me heart palpitations just thinking about it – Devil’s Arch. I am not very good with heights but usually I do pretty well on stationary heights (as opposed to a plane or a roller coaster) and the Devil’s Arch is sort of the symbol of Utah being featured on all of their license plates, so we decide we can’t skip it.

The good news is that the sky is pretty cloudy and there is a faint breeze in the air because Devil’s Arch is a 3-mile hike in a completely open area which on a sunny hot day would be a killer to climb. Unlike most of the other arches in the park which include just enough real climbing to make you feel “rugged” but  nothing too exhausting, Devil’s Arch is a real strenuous hike. It starts off slow, on a graveled path but 15 minutes into it I see a huge rock in front of us with tiny black dots climbing up which appear to be people. I panic but continue on. After 5 minutes the gravel road ends and the path continues literally up the huge rock which, while not that steep, offers absolutely no railing or protection on the side.

 I instruct Chris to hold on to Victor’s hand at all times and try pretend I’m fine while we start our trek up with me trying to walk as far away from the edge as possible. The sunset at Devil’s Arch is supposed to be spectacular and it is close to 6pm so the path is very busy with everyone from groups of Japanese tourists to little kids surrounding us. After a good 30 minutes of climbing we reach a plateau and I breathe a sigh of relief as we continue walking through over flat rocks with no marked path except cairns, which seem to be the universal path markers in Arches.

The view is great and the weather is nice and I’m starting to enjoy the hike until we reach what I now think of as “the scariest thing I have ever done”. All of a sudden the path becomes no more than 3 feet wide and continues along the edge of a cliff where on one side all you see if a deep hole and on the other is the steep rock towering above. There is no railing, no nothing, it’s you and the hollow below.

 I contemplate giving up but that would not be a good example for Victor so I take a deep breath and decide to go on. Chris is clutching Victor’s hand for fear he may get some crazy ideas en route and I specifically tell them to go in front of me and surprisingly Victor does not even blink an eye and I see their backs turning around a bend in the rock. I, on the other hand, am having a panic attach and I walk at the pace of a snail desperately holding on to the cliff “wall” on one side of me. It’s probably only a 5 minute walk along the edge but it seems forever and then we finally see the Arch in front of us. It’s truly a spectacular site, a huge arch perched on the edge of a cliff with nothing but the sky behind it. My legs are still shaking and I’m expecting that we have reached a flat area where we can sit down and rest. But no such luck! The arch is located on one side of what appears to be a funnel made of rock, the top edge of the funnel is no more than 3-4 feet wide.

We see many people sitting on the edge of the rock waiting for the sunset. I sit down for a minute but get dizzy from being so high up with basically nothing to hold on to but the ground so ask another hiker to take a quick photo of us and I ask Chris to get back. He suggests that him and Victor hike to the other end of the cliff so I can take a photo of them under the arch but my panicky voice probably told him that is not a good idea so we get ready to hike the narrow edge path once again. As my shaking hands are holding on to the rocks I see a young couple of hikers, both of them carrying backpacks with tiny children in each one. I feel a bit embarrassed but one look to the hollow on my right and my hands start shaking again. Finally we are back to the wider path and this time climbing down the big rock at the beginning of the trail seems like nothing and we actually sit down and take a break there, feeling the warm stone under us as we decide to say a family prayer.

The hike down seems much faster than the hike up and we are back in Moan in no time for another sushi dinner and then off to bed.