We love St. Thomas. The folks on this island are friendly and welcoming, and St. Thomas has some of the most beautif
ul views and beaches I’ve ever seen. We consider St. Thomas a paradise, and Roger claims he’s working his way south to live in St. Thomas at least six months out of every year. more »
If you caught my blog yesterday, you’ll remember I said that the best Rum Punch we’ve ever had was served at Lobster Alive, a beach restaurant at Boatyard Beach in Barbados. When we returned home, Roger tried and tried to duplicate the recipe, but it wasn’t ever just perfect. So, on a return trip to Lobster Alive, the restaurant owner gave us his recipe. Turns out Roger had everything perfect except two minor ingredients that are the key to that perfect Rum Punch recipe. more »
I woke up this morning thinking about beaches. Some of my favorite memories from our cruises are the relaxing days we’ve spent together on fabulous Caribbean beaches. Roger is a sun lover, but I’m not, so he gets us two beach chairs and an umbrella at the beach, then he settles my chair in the shade of the umbrella, while he stretches out on his chair in the full sun. We each take a few dips in the water, just to cool off, but other than that, we don’t spend any time in the water unless we’ve also booked some snorkeling, jet skis, or parasailing. I love digging my toes into the cool wet sand. I love hearing the waves lapping against the shore, the birds calling as they fly overhead, and the laughter of people nearby enjoying their vacations. I’m happy with a lovely fruity beverage and a good book, relaxing in the shade, near my fabulous husband. more »
Please welcome my guest blogger, Robin Johnson, who reviews her recent cruise experience aboard the Carnival Conquest in true
Arkansas style! Here’s Robin …
The Carnival Conquest was the second cruise for my husband, CJ, and I, but it was our first 7-night cruise. Our first cruise was just 4 nights, which wasn’t enough time to do everything that we wanted to do. We decided to sail from Galveston, because it would be an easy drive from Arkansas, saving us the cost of flights. With a group of 13 friends and family, we drove in four cars, sharing the cost of fuel to make it affordable for everyone. more »
My DH Roger and me
Our Marine son suggested we spend one of our days on Oahu over the holidays visiting the Polynesian Cultural Center. We purchased tickets for the day with his military discount, which included a luau in the evening, and a live presentation, “Ha Breath of Life”, plus the opportunity to return for another day’s visit at no additional charge within three days of our original visit. What an amazing place! We didn’t realize that the Polynesian Cultural Center was created to provide work study opportunities for the students of the nearby Brigham Young University Hawaii, while allowing them to share their island heritage with the visitors.
Great demonstrations, dances, songs and more for each different island group, including Fiji, Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, and Aotearoa (New Zealand). Each of these have a separate island village inside the Polynesian Cultural Center. As we watched, listened, and participated, we got a taste of the differences between each cultural. One of the things we learned was the Hawaiian hula is a slow smooth beautiful dance that tells a story, but American movies combined that with the fast hip-shaking dance from Tahiti, because that made the dances fit the rock ‘n roll movies better.
Our kids, Rachel, 17 and Eric, 28
We soon realized that a short day beginning at 3 in the afternoon wasn’t going to satisfy us, so we wrapped up our day to head to our luau already planning to return the next day. So, here’s our tips to make the most of your day at the Polynesian Cultural Center:
Our entire family enjoyed the Polynesian Cultural Center, and we recommend that you and your family visit there as well! Here’s some of our favorite photos from the day:
