Winter in the Islands

Winter in the Islands

St. Thomas is alive in winter. Also the heart of the seven or so year old girl, her hair in perfect corn rows, sitting in a colorful bikini on a couch in the lobby of the hotel where we checked in. Her small fists stuffed inside the cups of her suit, holding them away from her chest, imagining the future.

My gaze fell on the Atlantic Ocean through the open wall of the hotel with a pool and restaurant before it. I saw a pelican crossing to the right, a seaplane landing to the left, and St Croix in the distance. Christopher Cross came over the house speakers singing Sailing. It was 82 degrees with the night before us. I wondered why I had taken an eight year hiatus from traveling.

Sailing, sailing, over the bounding main

Waves slammed against our cabin's portholes. We had expected there to be some rocking. With only 146 passengers and 90 crew, our motorized sailing vessel was small by cruise ship standards of ten stories and 3000 passengers. We were ready for some back and forth, up and down action.

One night, however, it felt like we had broken off from the rest of the ship, so wildly did we pitch about in the high winds and waves. Drawers banged open and shut. Home two days now, and the screen before me eyes is still bouncing as I rock to and fro over the wobbling keyboard. Steady as she goes, aye, matey. It was a great trip, especially on the last night out. The captain used our sails only, and the only sound was canvas slapping gently in the breeze.

Seen and Heard On St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

Twenty years ago, Roland lived in Massachusetts, near Boston. He was a "big shot". So, he sold everything and moved the family to paradisal St. Thomas. Now a self-described "small shot", Roland has owned Bumpa's in downtown St. Thomas for the past twenty years. It's a neat little restaurant on top of a store. He and his small staff do a great job on breakfast and lunches. He works hard and is happy, fit and tanned in his sixties, with a big grin and a sharp comment when needed. He told us about a wonderful encounter with one customer, young John Grisham, the now famous author.

He doesn't miss the bitter New England winters. I smile as I write this, because meeting guys like Roland is a rare event for me. He downsized his life, and chose happiness over money and stuff. More to the point, he gambled and won. Hats off to Roland. If you read this, Roland, thanks for the good food, and taking the time to tell your story again to yet another curious traveler.

Here are some of our travel photos on our fantastic Windstar cruise. We thank Karen Miller and the whole crew at Putman Travel for making it our best trip ever.

Mike and Shelagh Whitney's 25th anniversary vacation

Charleston Getaway

Well, I just got back from a weekend getaway to Charleston, and I had a wonderful time! As I have only lived in South Carolina since March of this year, this was my first time ever seeing Charleston and let me just say that I definitely want to go back!

My mother and I stayed at the Holiday Inn Historic District, and I cannot say enough wonderful things about it! This was by far the best Holiday Inn I have ever stayed in. Although the decor wasn't quite my taste, everything was spotless and the entire hotel--rooms and public areas--were beautiful and well-kept. The staff was helpful and friendly, especially the concierge Kevin McQuade. He is definitely a gem and if anyone ever stays at this hotel I would highly recommend utilizing his vast knowledge of the city.

Although the Holiday Inn was not quite as close to the Battery and the old market as many of the other historic district hotels, the price was right and the walk was not a bad one. The one thing I would suggest is avoiding their "Best 4 Breakfast" rate. This just adds $20 per person onto their regular hotel rates and (a) it is very diffucult to rack up $20 per person on their breakfast menu, and (b) you will not get back any monies that you do not use. Plus, I was not overly impressed with the breakfast itself or the service in the restaurant.

Friday night we walked down Meeting Street and ate dinner at Poogan's Porch. This has been touted as one of the best restaurants in Charleston, and has been visited by many famous people, and I now know why! The prices are reasonable and the food is delicious. Plus, they bring biscuits and special butter to your table before your meal and I could not decide which was better, the biscuits or the butter!

After dinner we did the holiday candlelight tour of the Edmonston-Alston house. It was neat seeing the house all decorated for Christmas with period appropriate decorations, and we also got to see the slave quarters and the Carriage house, which are not open for tourists on the usual day tours. Still, it was really neat to see what one of those Battery houses would have looked like pre-Civil War, furniture and all, and the tour for this house is short, sweet, and to the point, so even if you cannot do the holiday candlelight tour, I recommend it.

Saturday we rose early, as we wanted to see as much as possible during our one full day in Charleston. After breakfast, the first thing we did was talk to the concierge, Kevin, and I am so glad that we took advantage of his services! He took the time to figure out what we were looking for (we wanted to see as much as the city as possible, experience a good guide, and not have to do a ridiculous amount of walking), and paired us with the perfect tour--with Jane Thornhill, a true Charleston "society doyenne". Although the tour was twice the price of a walking tour--$40 per person, to be precise--Mrs Thornhill had access to all sorts of places that most tours do not have access to, she thoroughly impressed me with her knowledge, and I cannot express how great it was to ride around in her van and see everything versus having to walk miles and miles and still not see as much as we experienced.

We also went to the Farmer's Market in Marion Square, which operates every Saturday morning. There were a lot of wonderful crafts and food, although I was a little disappointed that there weren't more booths/tents. We also spent quite a bit of time (and I could have spent more!) at the Old City Market between East Bay and Meeting Streets. Although there was plenty of junk to be had, we also found plenty of treasures, including the art of an elderly woman who made Santa Clause statues out of Cypress knees--I fell in love with these!

The last thing we experienced in Charleston was the Holiday Progressive Dinner, and I am sad to say that I was thoroughly disappointed. The cost was $90 per person, and although the evening carriage rides between the three venues (King's Courtyard Inn, Circa 1886 Restaurant, and the John Rutledge House Inn) was neat, the food left something to be desired and I really do not feel that this dinner was worth the price we paid. I truly believe that we would have been better off talking to Kevin and getting suggestions from him on where to eat dinner!

All in all, the Christmas season is a beautiful time to experience Charleston (especially if you want to find some really neat and different gifts for friends and family), and I would certainly recommend the Holiday Inn Historic District to anyone looking for a quick getaway, a romantic weekend, a family experience, etc.!

Las Vegas in a Weekend

Is it possible to see everything Vegas has to offer in just one weekend?

No, but I sure tried!

I was lucky enough to get on one of the last direct flights that Allegiant ran out of Greenville/Spartanburg. They have now canceled these flights for the foreseeable future, but I was told that anyone is welcome to complain on their website if you want to possibly see them come back. I for one do not think they gave these flights enough of a chance to catch on.

That said, I flew out of Greenville early on a Friday morning and caught a red-eye back on Sunday night, which was nice because with the time change it gave me most of the day Friday, all day Saturday, and most of the day Sunday to explore "Sin City". And I only had to take a day and a half off work!

I stayed at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay, which is at the far end of The Strip, near the airport. If you don't think you would enjoy the casino atmosphere of some of the other top Vegas hotels (i.e. Caesar's, Paris, Venetian, Mirage) then this hotel may be for you! The decor is very mellow and the atmosphere is upscale. The whole place is also quiet, even in the lobby area, which is something you just can't say for those other Vegas hotels. But you will sacrifice that Vegas feel and the opportunity to be right smack in the middle of The Strip.

Friday was spent at the pool, even though Mandalay Bay's main pool, "The Beach", was closed for the season. This was disappointing because it was in the mid-70s, and after the cold weather we had been having here in Greenville that certainly felt like pool weather to me! Later, I tried to go to the all-you-can-eat seafood buffet at the Rio, which I had heard great things about--but that was closed as well, for renovations! We ended up having to eat at the regular buffet. The disappointments were adding up, but the rest of the night made up for them. I was able to see the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino as well as the Wynn that night, and some friends and I danced the night away at Tryst at the Wynn. The nightclub was beautiful (especially the huge waterfall in it!) but the admission was steep ($20 for women, $30 for men) and the drinks were even more ridiculous ($10 for a Miller Lite, $17 for a Mojito). So if you're going to Vegas for night life...plan on spending. A lot.

Saturday we ate lunch at FatBurger, which is supposedly the home of the best burger in Las Vegas--personally, I like Five Guys Burgers and Fries better, but this was probably the least expensive place to eat in Vegas, besides McDonald's. And they did have awesome Cookies & Cream milkshakes!

After lunch we rode the rollercoaster at New York New York, which was interesting to say the least. $14 per person to ride and although it was a fun thing to do, it definitely wasn't my favorite thing in Vegas. We then walked from the New York New York to Caesar's, and stopped along the way to watch the Bellagio fountains, which give a show every hour on the hour. I definitely suggest watching the fountains once during the day and once at night, because both are great experiences, and very different from each other!

Caesar's was huge and beautiful--I could have spent the whole weekend just exploring this one hotel and casino! But we had other things to do, namely--see downtown Las Vegas, a.k.a. the Fremont Experience! This area was really interesting to see, and about $20 each way for a cab ride from the strip--not bad if you're splitting it with a couple other people. The drinks were much cheaper (huge frozen drinks with way too much alcohol for $14 a piece) and the $5 blackjack at Binions was a blast. We even stayed for the light show, but I was a bit disappointed as the whole thing seemed to be just an advertisement for LG.

That night we ate at another buffet, this time at the Mandalay Bay, simply because it would have cost almost as much to eat a sitdown meal with just a salad and sandwich, once you thought about leaving a tip for the waiter or waitress. Later that night we ended up at Pure at Caesar's, which was nice because we had free admission with our VIP cards (definitely pay attention to any business cards or booklets that they have in the cabs, because we got our VIP cards for Pure from a cabbie!) when it normally costs the same as Tryst to get in. It was also a little cheaper to drink (only $8 for a beer--it's sad when one gets excited about that). Pure also has a huge outside patio a few floors up with a great view of The Strip at night!

Sundays are surprisingly fun in Vegas, mainly because of the champagne brunches! We had ours at Mandalay Bay, and it was all you can eat with plenty of breakfast and lunch foods, and of course all you can drink champagne! After the brunch I decided to explore what I had not yet seen of The Strip before heading to the airport for my 11 PM flight. That afternoon, I got to see the Venetian, the Mirage, and Treasure Island, as well as catch the Mirage volcano going off and see the Bellagio fountains at night before going to the airport. It was a great way to end an exciting and interesting weekend.

So as you can see, although you may not get to see all that Vegas has to offer in just one weekend, it is possible to get to do a lot of different things...and I can't wait to go back!