Aruba

My family and I went to Aruba for a week earlier this year.

The island is near Venezuela, South America. The weather is almost always warm but breezy so it doesn’t feel humid. It was about 83º in the day 77 at night. Because of the breeze, you will see Divi Divi trees all over the island. The branches grow horizontal. It’s very different and cool! We stayed at a resort that has a few pools and the “Lazy” “River.”

This a man-made pool that circle around rock formations. There is a water slide that goes through one of the rocks and my dad, sister, and Katie slid down! There are also a couple of jacuzzis hidden in the formations. Loved the jets on my back! It’s fun to see the lizards running around too!

There are activities at the pool everyday like bingo, name that song, and volleyball. My favorite time is Happy Hour when we get mud slide smoothies! It’s also a short walk to the beach. The only drawback is the side walk doesn’t go right down to the water, but I made it there anyway! I like wearing an inner tub and floating in the warm blue salt water. There are also water sports at beach . My sister Brooke, Katie and Kay decided to go on this giant round tube where they sit facing the boat. The boat pulls them and they go flying! I decided the boat ride was good enough for me! When they were almost done, the driver Norman, AKA “Captain Black Sparrow” slowed down, stopped in the water and pulled them close. He told Kay to come onto the boat. She was sitting in the middle. Then he said he would help to lift me onto the tube so I could ride as well. Captain Sparrow kept the boat at a little slower pace, but made it so fun! I had the best time.

There were good restaurants close to the resort. One night my family surprised me and the waiters sang Happy Birthday and brought a birthday dessert! We had a Nutella Pizza for dessert another night!

It was AWE-some! There was a casino at the resort so I played the slots for a bit. Brooke was the only one who won a little! A couple of the nights after dinner we walked over to the clubs.

There was one with a latin band and a DJ and dancing, and another with pop music. They were both fun. I also went with Katie and Brooke to another club where they had a live band. It was all so fun! Hope I can return again soon.

Island Vacation

Nov18

My Vacation to the Bahamas

“Grandeur Of The Seas” August 2015

IMG_0117 - Version 2

On a Friday morning in August I took a comfy coach bus to Baltimore to board a cruise ship to the Bahamas. I had no idea how huge the ship would be and was shocked when I first saw it at the port. My friend and helper Kay came with me, along with my AADD group.

As we boarded they gave each of us a card/key with our room number on it! By the way… the card was also good for free sodas. The room was very small, with only two people fitting closely in the compact space.

After unpacking we met my group in the ship’s lobby. Next on the program was dinnertime.

The dining room was very elaborate. I was seated with my group of friends Lucy, Justin, and Greg. Our meals were served buffet style and the waiter for our table was from South Korea. For each dinner there was a theme from different countries made by chefs from all over the world. There were over 60 nationalities represented on the trip. Meals included salads, soups, and veggies, meat or fish. The dessert tables were amazing. My favorite was the white chocolate mousse!

Each morning we attended a meeting with AADD to talk about the day’s activities. Some included: enjoying the warm swimming pool, movies, nights outside on a big screen, clubs, dancing and hanging out and talking with friends.

One night there was a sing off contest. I won by finishing the song “I Want it That Way” by the Backstreet boys. Thank God for all those concerts I went to!! During the day we took excursions around the small islands. One was a glass bottom boat ride where I saw awesome fish underwater. So cool! Captain Eric and his crew were playing island music to get all of us in the mood. We saw Jonny Depp’s house, a huge mansion, and JK Rowling’s home, again – huge. Captain Eric, wearing his snorkel mask went into the clear blue water and grabbed a starfish. I can’t believe I held a live starfish. It was a bit gooey, but cool. I felt like Sponge Bob!!! We also disembarked at Paradise Island, where we walked around to the shops. They sold jewelry, scarves and clothing, and the sales people were anxious for us to buy things. I bought a necklace and earrings and a Bahamas t-shirt.

The last night on board was very emotional with everyone knowing that we would not be together like this again. The days went by too quickly. We were so grateful to Larry, who heads up AADD, & his Staff and the Captain of Grandeur of the Seas & his crew. My dream is to go on another AADD trip.

For anyone who likes Island music, I want to share a list I put together. I made a CD a couple of months in advance of my trip to get into the island spirit. I named it Bahama Bound!! Take a break and close your eyes for a virtual vacation!! Ya Mon!

Barefoot Jeans Nights – Jake Owen

Fins – Jimmy Buffet’s

No Shoes No Shirt No Problems – Kenny Chesney

The Life – Kenny Chesney

Cruise – Florida Georgia Line

Knee deep – Jimmy Buffet

Ballando – Enrique Iglesias

Turn the Night Up – Enrique Iglesias

Two Pina Coladas – Garth Brooks

Feeln’ It – Scotty McCreery

Beat the Summer – Brad Paisley

Volcano – Jimmy Buffet

California Girls – Katy Perry

Good life – One Republic

Jump in the Line -Harry Belafonte

Kokkomo – The Beach Boys

Surfin’ Safari – The Beach Boys

Beachin – Jake Owen

Key lime pie – Kenny Chesney

Vacation Spots!

Feb11

Hi Guys!

It’s been a while, since my last blog post …… I hope that your winter is going well. Here is a list of places that I have not been to but would like to go.

One place that I have not gotten a chance to go to is the Bahamas’s. I am going there in August with my group!

Let me know if you have ever gone to the Bahamas’s !

Tell me how it is please?

Take a look at the list please and choose the place you would like to go! Thank you so much for reading! Let me know your opinion

Top ten places I would like to go:

Bahamas- When in the Bahamas some activities that you can do include: sunset cruises, bonfires on the beach, jet ski tours or private charters.

Hawaii– When in Hawaii, some activities that you can do include: Going to Manini Owali beach, island hop, magic catamaran sunset trip, cocktails, sail Hanuma Bay, or visit Volcanoes National Park.

Myrtle Beach– When at Myrtle Beach some activities that you can do include: surfing, shopping, casino cruises, hike in nature, Go to Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville, check out the water parks, Water sports, scuba diving and windsurfing.

St. Lucia– When in St. Lucia some activities that you can do include: tours, water sports, horse back riding on the beach, sailing tours of St. Lucia, shore excursions or ATV tours.

St. Martin– When in St. Martin some activities that you can do include: beaches, butterfly farm, walking tours, hiking and sailing.

Aruba– When in Aruba some activities that you can do include: shopping, scuba driving tours and Aruba has great restaurants and night clubs!

Costa Rica– When in Costa Rica some activities that you can do include: Costa Rica tours, hiking in the rainforest, surfing, beaches, white water rafting, ziplining, kayaking, surfing, jeep tours, windsurfing, and fishing.

Cayman Isands- When in the Cayman Islands some activities that you can do include: scuba diving ,water sports, restaurants, beach.

MV ~ A Little Bit of Heaven!

Aug15

Last Monday we drove to the cape. It took about 7 hours and then we stayed over night in Falmouth. The next morning we took the ferry over to Martha’s Vineyard. I remember when I was little, the fog horn used to scare me. I still jumped today when it sounded. Martha Vineyard is my favorite place in the world!

We went for dinner and ice cream. (it’s a tradition for our family to get ice cream every night form the “Candy Store”) Both were so so so so good.

Marissa, one of my sister’s best friends joined us. It was so nice to be back there.

Me & my Dad going for our ice cream!

Brooke & Marissa

On Thursday we went to see Vineyard Sound (VS) MY favorite a cappella group on the island. They are college guys who spend the summer on MV singing!

You can look them up on http://www.youtube.com/user/VineyardSound

Here’s one of my favorites that they sing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN0qJ08aqP4

Vineyard Sound ~ Heavenly!

Afterwards, we walked around Edgartown. I watched a guy make fudge and then of course we had to buy some!

Yummy Fudge! We had the chocolate with walnuts.

Saturday AM we brought a triple berry pie from this small stand and ate it for breakfast. The lady makes 100 pies a day and they sell out in about 2- 3 hours. Wish we could have bought more!

We just really enjoyed vacation. It was nice weather outside all week.

We went to South Beach a few days to see a sand castle contest. My family pushed me in a special beach wheel chair with big wheels to go over the sand. They are great for people who use wheelchairs and walkers because the sand would ruin them. The special chairs let you go down on the beach and onto the sand. I have used them before at Ocean City, New Jersey. Many public beaches now have them.

South Beach

While we were on MV went out to a few shops. I didn’t buy anything but my mom and sister went into even single store. I went with them everywhere. It was fun shopping.

On Saturday after dinner I went to a club with my sister. There was one guy dancing who reminded me of Allen in “The Hangover”…and he asked me if I wanted a drink! It was so fun.

Everybody in the club…they’re looking at us!

On the way home, my mom and dad surprised me surprised me by taking me one last place. We have a very special family friend who has been visiting me for almost 18 years who is like a grandmother to me. She has a summer home in New Hampshire, so they took me up to visit her. Her family was there too, along with all of there Labrador retrievers. There were seven…6 black and 1 yellow. It was so fun being greeted by all of them! It was the best time with family, friends and dogs!