Got a long list of places to try in Key West - Vino's Wine Bar, Opera, Blue Heaven, El Siboney, Camille's, Pepe's Cafe, Prime 951 Steakhouse, Antonia's, Azur, Cafe Marquesa, and White Harpoon. Seems we could just spend all our time eating and drinking.

Anyone got updates on 2012 vacation plans? It appears my nephew's wedding is still on for Nov in Phoenix. The +1's team didn't get selected for the crazy Mt Hood 200-mile relay. They tried for the Bourbon Trail relay in Kentucky, but that sold out in about an hour. So...now they are running one in NY at the end of Sept - RAGNAR Adirondacks, Saratoga Springs to Lake Placid. Not sure that can be considered a vacation, though.

 

Not much has changed since my first post in this thread. Still planning on attending SF in May. Not sure what else. I don't see a trip to SC in our future. I won't travel there when it's too hot, I can't get time off in September, and don't want to wait until October/November to take a vacation.

Looks like SF, then perhaps a couple three-four day trips in June and August. Still in discussion mode. There are things that need to be done around the house, that might interfere with spending $$$ on vacation. I also don't have any particular place (in the budget) that I'm dying to visit. However, I will come up with something as it is fun to run away from home, even if just for a few days.

 

Tony,

If you decide on Belize we may have some useful information for you as we were there about a decade ago. I am fairly certain that not that much as changed since then (except for hurricane damage to the out islands (Cayes). We stayed at the Trends Beachfront Resort Hotel on Caye Caulker for $25 a night. The owner/host was wonderful. Not fancy but clean and nice. And it is "stumbling distance" (about seventy feet) from the Sand Box (the best restaurant on the Caye). Clean towels every day and clean sheets every other day.


Caye Caulker is a "trip". There are NO cars and even the Police drive a golf cart with lights and a siren.

The flight from Belize City was the lowest altitude scheduled airline flight we have ever been on. Twelve miles at 1,000 feet ASL. If you are not comfortable flying in a Cessna Grand Caravan, one can also make the trip from Belize City to Caye Caulker via water taxi.

The "Sand Box" is a trip in it self depending on the month of the year. It has sand floors and all of the dozen bar stools are so have a plaque on the back. If that person shows up, one has to give up the bar stool. But, those people are NOT locals. I.E. one was a nurse from Canada that we met that spent six months out of a year serving in the Artic Circle and the other six months in Belize wind surfing. The bar is almost like a scene out of "Star Wars". One night, I went back to the room to get our camera to take a picture. When I returned, Barbara told me to put the camera away because some of the people at the bar were "running from the IRS".

Every night a local would come in with a stick and a rope and have two beers and sit at the end of the bar, but I noticed that no money was ever exchanged. By the end of the week I asked the bar tender about this and the reply was: He was their garbage man that bartered the two beers a day in exchange a day to remove their trash. The stick and the rope were to defend him self from the few dogs on the island.

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When we were there the exchange rate was two for one to the U.S. Dollar. One night we got back from our snorkel trip to Shark Ray Alley We got to the Sand Box around 17:00 in time for Happy Hour. Then we had the fresh catch of the day which was Grouper that was caught that day. The Sand Box closes at 22:00 and our bill for the entire night was as $53.00 for the entire night. I think that may have even included buying a few drinks for a couple that we met from the Netherlands that we still stay in touch with.

All in all it was a GREAT trip. I will give the Plant Pixie all of the credit for this trip as she planned it and at the time, I was on 24 X 7 X 365 call and none of that worked including my then Nextel international phone. It was the first "real" vacation that I had experienced in a LONG time. And one that we will NEVER forget.

You will have to ask the Plant Pixie about our "Romancing the Stone" experience after she purchased tickets on the wrong bus to go visit the Howling Monkey Sanctuary.

 

My lovely bride and her two best friends are taking my mother-in-law on a cruise Friday for her birthday. Luckily, I have to work. Being trapped on a boat with several thousand people and having nothing to do is not my idea of a good time.

I found what seems to be a nice little B&B in Tarpon Springs, so Rori and I will be heading there for a long weekend in a few weeks. It's time to load up on some Greek food and do some fishing. Within the next month or so, I plan to rent a pontoon boat and a cabin so Rori and I can tour some of the lakes and rivers in the central FL area, as well.

 

Looks like Air force museum in May
Golden Colorado S2KCA in August
Key West in November
Lots of day trips on the motorcycle/S2000

 

can I get an Amen to that??

 

about the several thousand people part. We have only been on three cruises. The first two were on relatively small ships. The first was the Celebrity Zenith at 860 feet and the second on Norwegian's Cruise Lines Spirit at 881 feet, the Zenith held right around 2,000 passengers and the NCL Spirit 2018. We loved the Celebrity Cruise but were disappointed with the NCL experience that we had. The food and the service could not hold a candle to Celebrity in my opinion.

Then in 2009 we had the opportunity to cruise on the Seabourne Spirit. It was an AMAZING experience all the way around. At only 380' with 208 passengers with a crew of 169 it was as close to cruising on a personal yacht as we will ever experience. The level of service and food was extraordinary. That was the good news. The bad news is that it has probably spoiled us for any other cruise line, with two possible exceptions.

I can't imagine what it must be like being on the new super cruise liners with three to four thousand people. Not our "cup of tea". Just like we found Bar Harbor, Maine to be such a disappointment (tourist trap) but loved Camden, Maine.

 

Matt, we've been to the Bar Harbor area a few times. We tend to stay on the outskirts of the real tourist areas, if possible. On one trip we stayed in North East harbor and we were pleased with the accommodations and the meal prices. We also tend to travel just a tad off season and mid week if possible, to avoid some of the crowds. I agree, Camden ME is a nice spot!

 

Matt, we've been to the Bar Harbor area a few times. We tend to stay on the outskirts of the real tourist areas, if possible. On one trip we stayed in North East harbor and we were pleased with the accommodations and the meal prices. We also tend to travel just a tad off season and mid week if possible, to avoid some of the crowds. I agree, Camden ME is a nice spot!
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I grew up got older in the Camden area. I haven't been to Bah Hahbah since I was about nine or ten, I think. I always tried to avoid the places where the summah complaints (tourists) flocked. I still do when I'm back home.