Hazy Days in St. Martin

21 01 2011

It was almost painful dragging ourselves out of bed at sunrise to watch us dock at Philipsburg, the Dutch capital in St. Martin.  Don’t they know that the rum punch flows too easily in St. Thomas and we all need a day at sea to recover before getting into the next port?

Well we did it.  We woke up at sunrise, took some photos of our arrival and headed into town early.  I have to say though, I wasn’t that impressed…It could be because it was hazy out, or possibly because we were moving a little slower than normal.   Since this island has both a Dutch side and a French side, we made it our goal to experience both sides.

We bypassed the crowd heading to Orient Beach (the clothing optional beach on the French side – most people looked like they were spectators instead of participants) and headed to Marigot, the French capital.

First things first, we headed to a cafe for some croissants and chocolate eclairs.  And then I found a patisserie that sold all different flavours of french macaroons…..I love them and bought a box to take back to the ship with me (to my misfortune since I wasn’t allowed to bring them onto the ship and had to gobble them down in the security line).  We didn’t spend very much time in Marigot but long enough to realize that bread is very important.  Everyone was buying baguettes and I couldn’t help but think about the movie Ratatouille and the fact that you can tell good bread by the ‘ccccrrruuunnnnchhhhhhh’ sound it makes.

A quick walk around the old courthouse and the Boardwalk on the Dutch side and we headed back to the ship and settled in for the next two days at sea.


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Sail Away to St. Thomas

20 01 2011

Early morning approaching St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands the storm clouds were abrewing but it paid off to be awake at 6:30am because we caught sight of some fleeting rainbows (not double rainbows but still nice).

Despite Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas being renowned for its shopping (every time you turn around someone’s trying to get you to buy cheap diamonds, alcohol, cigars, etc) we were more curious about the historical sights.  So we set off early to go see the historical 99 Steps.  We got out of the taxi and ended up walking in the wrong direction…ended up a little closer to the ghetto than we wanted to, but were pretty quickly turned around and found ourselves walking down main street, which looked so commercial that we knew we had to be in the right place (the place they directed all the cruise tourists to).

On our way to The 99 Steps and we hear someone calling to us from above and end up getting convinced to take a tour of Blackbeard’s Castle, the famous? Amber Waterfall and other historical houses.  Turns out we were within steps away from the 99 Steps, but oh well, it was a cool tour to take.

Our big excursion in St. Thomas was a Champagne Sail & Snorkel to St. John.   Since Main Street was busy with shoppers and traffic was backed up due to the government house inauguration we ended up taking the scenic tour through the mountains to the other side of the island.  It was a longer ride, but we ended up getting a scenic tour out of the deal (which would have been a separate excursion).  We boarded a 54′ catamaran and headed out to St. John for some snorkeling.

You’ll never guess?  A barracuda was stalking me in the water!  I’m serious.  At first I thought it was a trumpet fish and tried to get Nathan to take a photo, but when I looked back to find it…..it was GONE!  Which freaked me right out, since it had been hovering just below the surface beside me.  While I was swimming through seagrass trying to chase down some sea turtles I saw it again……so we headed back to the boat.

And that’s when we cracked open the champagne and rum punch!  Nathan took the helm.  (I probably should have taken a photo of that but I was too busy drinking champagne and chatting with my new best friends from Scotland).  After giving Nathan a hard time for backfilling the sails, another couple glasses of champagne and a rum punch ‘for the road‘, we headed back to the cruiseship.  The ride back was a little blurry but we had the whole bus laughing with us….or at us, one of the two.

We made it back to the ship in time to watch our sunset departure from the 17th deck Panoramic Lounge.


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What a Way to Start the New Year

19 01 2011

First Stop: Labadee, Haiti:

I woke up early to watch us approach Labadee and it felt like I was traveling on my own private ship – not many people up at 7am on New Years Day.  Labadee is a peninsula owned by the cruise line so it felt like a little beach oasis.  We spent the day lazing on a white sand beach, frolicking in the salty water and munching on jerk chicken.


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Welcome 2011!

19 01 2011

No more falling asleep 5 minutes before midnight on New Year’s Eve!  Or, wandering aimlessly around the streets of San Antonio looking for a place (any place other than Denny’s) to celebrate.  This year we made sure we were going to have a festive stroke of midnight….by being on the coast of Haiti.  Happy New Year!!

9 Day Eastern Caribbean Royal Caribbean cruise on the Oasis of the Seas.  That’s right.  We became cruisers!

I admit we were a little bit wary of becoming cruisers.   Was the ship going to be jam packed?  Were we going to be surrounded by retired folks?  Would we get stuck at a table with people that we didn’t want to hang out with?  Well our fears were for nothing.   The ship felt empty (they said they were full but the ship was HUGE).  And it wasn’t retired people like we feared…..mostly non-english speaking european families!  Not only did we not get stuck at a table of random people (we ate at a table for 2) but we only met one couple (bonded over sailing and rum punch in St. Thomas) the entire time!  I admit it – we were loners, but we had a great engagement honeymoon.

This boat…sorry ship…was HUGE!  It was 17 decks high and when we were at port next to other cruiseships we were actually eating breakfast looking down at the other ships.  There was an ice skating rink, aqua theatre, broadway theatre, a royal promenade with restaurants and shops, 2 flow rider areas where you could surf or boogie board, a climbing wall, plus a Boardwalk and Central Park.  It was very cool, although I will admit that when I heard there was going to be a Central Park on board, in my head I envisioned rolling meadows and places to picnic.  Sorry everyone…no rolling meadows.

This may have been the first of our cruises, but I don’t think it will be the last.  How else are you going to build up your status for special perks?  Although I have to tell you, when we first got to our stateroom, sitting on the desk was a Platinum pin and a “Congratulations on reaching the Platinum status” note, complete with complimentary robes to wear.  Well, what do you think about that?  Our first cruise and already platinum members!  That is until we turned the note over.  It was for rm 61088 NOT 61086.  oops…..I was already wearing my robe……So, we kept the pin, kept the robes and for 9 days we avoided our neighbours.


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Traveling the World in 6 Hours…

7 12 2010

If that’s your intention, then there really is only one answer.  EPCOT.

How else can you meet Francoise, the Canadian lumberjack, munch on quiche and french bread in a Parisian Boulangerie, explore the Moroccan marketplace, ride an adventurous Norwegian boat ride, watch a play in an Italian piazza, buy an assortment of japanese treats AND get a video of your future vacation……all in the same day.

Epcot is definitely the Adult Theme park at Disney, which was demonstrated by all of the alcohol stations dotted around the park and the majority of guests wandering around the park with beer mug, wine glass or champagne flute in hand while the kids play at the “KIDCOT” stations.  Of course, there were still various Disney characters available to sign autographs.

Amidst all of these cultural pavilions with souvenirs, educational videos and restaurants/snack carts featuring local foods, it was interesting to see what was featured for each country.  For Canada, the staff were dressed in flannel shirts and the pavilion was dominated with totem poles, maple syrup, Canadian bacon sandwiches, and salmon burgers.  For the American Adventure pavilion, which showcased American tradition and history, staff were dressed in ‘early American’ clothing and the featured culinary delights?  Giant turkey legs, popcorn, hot dogs and funnel cakes.  (I’m going to leave it at that since I know that there are both Canadian & American readers…)

And for those of you, like me, who went to Epcot when they were young and all they could remember was the Norwegian boat ride and the purple dragon named ‘Figment’, there’s actually quite a bit to see and do at the park.  Plus, there are a few new additions – going hand gliding at the Soarin’ attraction or being a crash test dummy at Test Track. The one BIG change was the Epcot Dome.  The “Technology” part of the attraction has been taken out and instead you interact with a touch screen and create your own futuristic video, and after the ride you have the option to email it to yourself.  And voila, a branded digital souvenir.



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The BUCKET

10 09 2010

Going through all of the photos we’ve taken in the last month I’m beginning to realize that we do a lot of stuff.  I guess it’s all in your mind set, taking things in stride with a certain perspective that sees opportunity and adventure instead of obstacles and aggravations.

Like you could say,

“Argh, we have access to all of this fresh seafood at Granville Island but our condo sucks and we don’t have the right cooking utensils to make anything!”

Or…you could look at all of the fresh seafood and say,

“Who needs to cook the seafood?  Instead of paying $2.50 an oyster, let’s buy a dozen oysters and a shucker from The Lobster Man and make our OWN oysters on the half shell”.

By the way, with a little tutorial from our server, we are now Professional Oyster Shuckers.

Then there’s the fact that I can’t swim and motion/sea sickness is not out of the realm of possibility.  Do we look at the 3 foot swells and our little Zodiac boat and say,

“It’s a little rough out there in the Pacific.  I don’t want to get sick all over the boat.  Bleh.  I’m starting to feel sick already.  We can always go whale watching next time.”

Or do you say,

“If I’m going to go whale watching, the closer to the water the better!  Schedule the whales – I want to see a show!  But, just to make sure, I better take some gravel pills.”

It was definitely worth the trip.  And it’s a good thing that I did take some medicine because I can happily say that I didn’t get seasick, although I can’t say the same for others on our boat….or deny the fact that we had to go in early because they got sick on the boat. Bleh.

And there are all sorts of things to complain about when you’re coming off of a 2 week vacation high and you have to go back to work,

“We are in the middle of nowhere for this stupid tour.  This is a waste of our time, there’s not even any cell reception.  Let’s just get this over with and get out of here!”

But when you take a break and look around,

“What’s that across from us? Oh my gosh!!  There’s a baby lion cub named King!  And you can get your photo taken with him.  Before I leave this place, I MUST hold a baby lion cub.”

And with the soundtrack of the Lion King in my head, I got my photo taken with King.  It was pretty cute, he kept putting his paws in my hair.  And, for the first time (and maybe the only time) in my life, later on that day I looked down and said, “I have lion cub fur on my shirt“.  It was pretty exciting.

Then there’s always the time when you rely on others to do a task that you KNOW you can do better and they SCREW IT UP!  Like being promised that you have a spot to park your exhibit for the biggest concert of the year: Jay Z & Eminem and finding out the day before that ‘they decided to go in a different direction’.

“I’m about to throw the world’s biggest hissy fit!  Why the hell did they even tell us they had a spot, we could have been working on this for weeks now.  Well, we might as well call up our client now and let them know we don’t have a spot because everything has to be blocked off and taken now.  And we don’t have time to get permits…”

Or just suck it up and get the work done,

“Better start making some calls – (Jay’s manager, Live Nation, Comerica Park, and the City of Detroit).  Let’s just push until we can’t push anymore. We have 12 hours to get something together.”

And wouldn’t you know that 12 hours was just enough time to get a PERFECT spot to park right in front of Comerica Park WITH all of our proper permits.  It may have been my proudest moment.

So, with my rose-coloured glasses on, and a world perspective that seeks out opportunities, adventures and all around cool experiences, I don’t think that I have a ‘BUCKET LIST’ (things to do in your life before you ‘kick the bucket’) but I do have a BUCKET and I’m just going to keep on filling it.



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Categories : Detroit, Vancouver

There’s No Place Like Home

29 08 2010

It’s always fun to take a look around your hometown and discover it in a whole new light.  I think that everyone can relate to the feeling that at one point in time they have taken their hometown, and all of its wonders, for granted.  And I think everyone can also agree that it takes actually leaving your home to realize what a great place you have.

It’s been 3 1/2 years since I moved away from Vancouver (9 years since Vancouver Island) and I have heard 4 different responses when I tell people where I’m from:

1.  “What?  You left Vancouver to come here?  Why?  Usually it’s the other way around.” – Toronto

2.  “Vancouver?  Oh I love Vancouver.  It’s so beautiful, I can’t wait to go back.” – A little bit of everywhere

3.  “One day I want to go to Vancouver.  It’s definitely on my ‘Bucket List’.” – Detroit

4.  “Vancouver, Canada?  Where is that?  Did you like it in Canada?  Isn’t it really cold?” – Small town America

So, needless to say, that while everyone was questioning why I left (with the exception of those who I couldn’t take seriously), I’ve started to question why I left as well.  Sometimes I say, “Oh Vancouver”, with a long drawn out sigh.  All those people who have since moved away from Vancouver or those Vancouverites in the middle of summer patio weather, know exactly how I feel, and have probably made that same longing sigh.

Parksville Community Beach

Sproat Lake

Third Beach – Stanley Park

False Creek Marina – Yaletown

Now that you’ve seen the photos I just know that you’re making that same longing sigh…

During our two week trip to Vancouver, with 3 days on Vancouver Island, I reintroduced myself to my city.  It’s almost like meeting up with a friend that you haven’t seen in a while – you have a history together, but there are all of the little day to day details that you haven’t kept up with.  And then there are all of the new discoveries – when your good old childhood friend shares new stories, life philosophies and wisdom, which makes you think, ‘man, we should get together more often.”

This is the experience that I had.  A place so familiar and comforting; it was on its best behaviour and showed off its beauty, its energy, (its good weather), and it shared some old memories with me and gave me a lot of new ones.

Old Memories:

Goats on a roof, Mountainviews & Sand Castles

New Memories:

Wild bear sightings & boogie boarding in the Pacific Ocean.  Pretty much everything about Tofino, BC was a new discovery.


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Vacation Withdrawal

23 08 2010

Vacations are interesting things.   Sometimes one of the most exciting parts of them is the build up, that anticipation that you feel during those first few hours.   You’re officially on vacation and off of work, but you haven’t reached your vacation destination yet.  Those moments, when you feel all of that potential, have such a revitalizing effect.

I read in a magazine once that taking several long weekend holidays were more beneficial than taking a two week holiday because the anticipation of a holiday is just as important as the actual holiday.  I can believe that.

When you’re away for two weeks, it’s just enough time to adjust to a different way of life, before you realize that you have to go back to work again.  And then, those last few days go by achingly fast and you almost feel desperate to hold onto your vacation.  As you drive down the same roads that you did at the beginning of your trip you remember all of the excitement and adrenaline you felt that first time down the road when your vacation was nothing but a ‘To Do’ list, and you realize that the clock has kept ticking and your time is almost up.

You can probably guess that I’m feeling a bit of vacation withdrawal.  It’s hard to leave the Westcoast in general, but after a couple of weeks in Vancouver and Vancouver Island, I admit that it was a little emotional having to cross over the border, leaving Canada and returning to the US.  And even though it’s only been a week, the vacation is becoming a distant memory.  But as I flip through the photos and look at everything we ‘checked off our list’, I get those warm fuzzy feelings that you can only get from a fantastic vacation.


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Seattle Wildlife

4 08 2010

Just a random day on the Westcoast (some may say the BestCoast)


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48 Hours with the Seattlites

1 08 2010

It’s great to be back in the Pacific Northwest, and I can’t help but keep thinking that I’m in Vancouver, and Canada in general because I associate the mild weather, ferry rides, salty sea air and abundance of seafood with Vancouver.

But, Seattle’s looking pretty good to me.  Ferry rides, Pike’s Public Market, Mt. Rainier, and seafood.  I think we’ve made a pretty good stab at seeing some of the Seattle highlights in our 48 hours.  I even had my own Grey’s Anatomy (Seattle Grace experience).

We haven’t stopped eating since we got here, and I’m starting to realize that the Westcoast is a photographer’s “happy place”.

Are you hungry yet?


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