She said it wouldn't be boring!-WONDER WB Caribbean cruise - Bonus Posts Wrap up

[franandaj]

OK, so I'll be back around here to reply to posts and I have a few more updates from the rest of the trip and the band conference. But I just had to share this one with you folks, because you all "get it".

I know that this isn't Disney, but it's something that we have been talking about for YEARS, when I started my "Advance Travel Spreadsheet" a couple years ago, many of the things on it were really just hopes. With our track record we canceled so many trips in 2011 & 2012, I haven't had a lot of faith in the things that we have "penciled in". Because the trip to DLP in 9/2015 went by the wayside as did the Aulani 12/2015. I ended up renting our DVC points on David's that we planned to use on these trips.

Over the weekend we started to talk about how Fran has always wanted to take a Riverboat Cruise on the Mississippi. I mentioned to her that NOW is the time we need to start figuring it out because it was on our schedule for early 2016. What surprised me is that I always thought we would do the New Orleans Round Trip, but in the end, we ended up booking the Memphis to New Orleans trip in March (the last cruise before the fares go up by 25% or more). Hopefully the weather will cooperate. We found a great stateroom, it was the lowest priced category with Verandah, and technically our verandah is a public Patio, but the thing is, it is off the beaten path and most people will probably not venture there, because they will seek more public areas, or someplace not so secluded.

I'm excited because this adds three new states to the "states I've visited" map I just posted on FB. Memphis sounds pretty cool from a musician's standpoint. Boarding isn't until late in the afternoon and the ship doesn't actually sail until 7:30PM. Sounds a little weird from Disney Cruise standpoints, but I'm willing to work with it. Beer and wine are included at dinner, and Specialty coffee drinks, bottled water and soda are also included, so we don't have to arrive early for a shopping trip. They also have no alcohol policy, other than don't bring a bottle to public spaces, that means we can enjoy a drink on our patio and not have to spend a lot on drinks in the bars. It sounds like not a lot of out of pocket expenses. Plus most of the shore excursions are included as well, there are a few places where there are "premium shore excursions" that you pay for out of pocket. But unlike our Disney Cruises, where we assume we will incur bills comparable to the price of the cruise, I think this one we may only have to pay 1/4 to 1/3 of the sailing price for incidentals. That's good because the price of the cruise is a little daunting in comparison to a Disney Cruise!

The ship is small only about 450 passengers. We're confident that by the time this cruise comes around we should be all moved out of our old place and that it will be fully renovated and rented. With renting points on David's and selling a few of the Civil War Band instruments, we can justify the funds needed for this trip. What is also neat is that we used to do Civil War Reenacting and there are a few Civil War Sites on the cruise. It should be a really fun and informative trip!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Oh wow congrats on booking your wonderful river cruise sounds awesome! Please tell me there is going to be a trip report of this baby! Memphis to New Orleans what a trip! I didn't know such a cruise existed I am super excited for you both. We enjoyed Memphis and New Orleans very much. I still rave about the ghost tour we did of New Orleans. One of the highlights of my life!

Sounds good on renting out your points. War reenactment can we have reports/photos of that too if you do that? It's not common here but I love reading about it. It looks brilliant. Do you have the costumes still?

 

[PrincessInOz]

OK, so I'll be back around here to reply to posts and I have a few more updates from the rest of the trip and the band conference. But I just had to share this one with you folks, because you all "get it".

I know that this isn't Disney, but it's something that we have been talking about for YEARS, when I started my "Advance Travel Spreadsheet" a couple years ago, many of the things on it were really just hopes. With our track record we canceled so many trips in 2011 & 2012, I haven't had a lot of faith in the things that we have "penciled in". Because the trip to DLP in 9/2015 went by the wayside as did the Aulani 12/2015. I ended up renting our DVC points on David's that we planned to use on these trips.

Over the weekend we started to talk about how Fran has always wanted to take a Riverboat Cruise on the Mississippi. I mentioned to her that NOW is the time we need to start figuring it out because it was on our schedule for early 2016. What surprised me is that I always thought we would do the New Orleans Round Trip, but in the end, we ended up booking the Memphis to New Orleans trip in March (the last cruise before the fares go up by 25% or more). Hopefully the weather will cooperate. We found a great stateroom, it was the lowest priced category with Verandah, and technically our verandah is a public Patio, but the thing is, it is off the beaten path and most people will probably not venture there, because they will seek more public areas, or someplace not so secluded.

I'm excited because this adds three new states to the "states I've visited" map I just posted on FB. Memphis sounds pretty cool from a musician's standpoint. Boarding isn't until late in the afternoon and the ship doesn't actually sail until 7:30PM. Sounds a little weird from Disney Cruise standpoints, but I'm willing to work with it. Beer and wine are included at dinner, and Specialty coffee drinks, bottled water and soda are also included, so we don't have to arrive early for a shopping trip. They also have no alcohol policy, other than don't bring a bottle to public spaces, that means we can enjoy a drink on our patio and not have to spend a lot on drinks in the bars. It sounds like not a lot of out of pocket expenses. Plus most of the shore excursions are included as well, there are a few places where there are "premium shore excursions" that you pay for out of pocket. But unlike our Disney Cruises, where we assume we will incur bills comparable to the price of the cruise, I think this one we may only have to pay 1/4 to 1/3 of the sailing price for incidentals. That's good because the price of the cruise is a little daunting in comparison to a Disney Cruise!

The ship is small only about 450 passengers. We're confident that by the time this cruise comes around we should be all moved out of our old place and that it will be fully renovated and rented. With renting points on David's and selling a few of the Civil War Band instruments, we can justify the funds needed for this trip. What is also neat is that we used to do Civil War Reenacting and there are a few Civil War Sites on the cruise. It should be a really fun and informative trip!

I'm totally envious! I've ALWAYS wanted to cruise the Mississippi!

 

[kid-at-heart]

Please do a trip report on your Mississippi trip. It sounds like a blast. Weather should be great. It is possible it will be one of those odd years but generally March is a good "weather" time in both Memphis and New Orleans.

I went to graduate school in Memphis. Lived there six years. Be very careful. It is a dangerous city. It gives the facade of being quaint and friendly but there are some very mean folks there who will mug or cheat you in a minute. After Memphis, we moved to "Cajun country" Louisiana for three years before coming back up north.

That said, it is also a very fun place to visit. My husband is from Memphis and his family still live there so we visit often. Beale street is a must for music. Eat at Corky's BBQ, the food is great! https://www.corkysbbq.com/ And eat at the Rendezvous. Locals seem to think Corky's is better (me too) but visitors seem to prefer the Rendezvous near Beale street. I think visitors prefer the Rendezvous because of the atmosphere. Personally, I do not like the Rendezvous for the same reasons. It seems a bit racist to me but maybe that is because I am from the northwest. Plus the food is better at Corky's. Another place to eat is Dixie Cafe, good quality southern food.http://dixiecafe.com/ And for a fun bar that serves the best burgers, Huey's. They encourage you to write on the wall and blow your toothpicks into the ceiling. http://hueyburger.com/ Go to the one on Madison Avenue, it is the original bar and the one I hung out in when I lived there. Plus it was right down the street from my house.

Off topic here, rentayenta's posting about the psych floor hopping reminded me I wanted to share this with my dis-friends. As most of you know, I am a professor of psychology. Yesterday I had my first face-to-face (as we call lecture classes) for the semester. Thirty-five students and I swear, they could have all come from one of the Pirates of the Caribbean ships. A motley looking crew they were/are but they were very receptive to the lecture. Since I teach early in the day, normally I get the older, more reserved students. This time - well, I am not sure what I have. I think it is going to be a fun class. Heck, we may even have a "dress like a pirate" day as an extra credit assignment (although I will need to tie that into the learning objectives of the course).

Kate

 

[jedijill]

Sounds like a fantastic trip! Growing up near the Missouri and the Mississippi rivers I've always been fascinated by riverboats. Makes me want to reread some Mark Twain!

Jill in CO

 

[dgbg100106]

Oh the Mississippi river cruise sounds wonderful and exciting.

 

[ACDSNY]

I can't wait to go rolling down the river with you (vicariously).

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Oooooh Mississippi River Cruise! One of my bucket list trips! I love the idea of your "Advance Travel Spreadsheet". Sort of a "chart out the bucket list so we will really get to everything" sort of list! Would you consider posting it sometime? Or even a summary of it. I'd love to see how you spread it out, and what places make your list.
Thanks for all your posts and reports!
And wishing you both good health!

 

[Pinkocto]

Fun fun fu!!!! How long is it? Fabulous that you got it booked bummer about DLP and Aulani being postponed, hopefully they get back on the schedule.

 

[basketlacey]

I was looking for a trip report to feed my excitement about my upcoming cruise. Your report was perfect! Thank you so much for sharing. I love all the food pics! Now I am going to bed hungry ;-)

 

[Leshaface]

Dang, Fran really loves that Strawberry soup huh? I can't recall if i've ever tried it or not. Ugh, there's that chicken parm. To die for!

I love the way you roll. Wine at brunch, an alcohol/chocolate tasting, a tequila tasting, followed up by a DotD!

I hope you'll do a TR on the River cruise! That would be so fun to do one day, but wasn't sure if there would be a lot to do.

So are you thinking 2016 for DLP and Aulani now?

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I love the idea of a Mississippi cruise! That would be a neat way to see the area.

 

[franandaj]

Awww. Last night and day in the Disney bubble really is sucky irrespective of whether at a park, resort or on a cruise.

Loved all the food porn. I would have ordered everything you and Fran did...but I would have gone with the Apple Pie for dessert.

BTW - They charged you $50 for a $7 extension cord???? Highway robbery!

Yeah, it does suck having to leave the Disney bubble but I was excited for the next event. Just not the way it actually worked out. They said that there would be a charge if we didn’t return the cord, but I thought that fee was highly excessive!

I have moved house 3 times in my life so far. I hope I NEVER have to move house again because I find it daunting packing up and getting everything out.

I’ve lived in three major places in my life. I moved four times in college and only lived in each place for less than a year. The fourth move, I lived in that place for 13 years, I moved from there to the previous house. That move took over a year because I broke my foot in the process of moving.

I hope that this move is accomplished before the trip, then it will have taken less than a year (if you don’t count the two years prior that we were packing up the house).

My last house move was over 20 years ago so I can't imagine doing one with all the junk we've collected since then.

Yikes on the extension cord fee and yippie on the fee waiver on the alcohol.

We were in that house for almost 20 years, four different hobbies and two businesses!

Your dinner looks nice but from the sound of it you were not over joyed with it!
I always hate the breakfast served on the last morning. I know they are trying to get everyone of the ship so the can clean and change over but it always feels like a fast food breakfast.

Sorry to see this party of the trip come to an end. :-(

I was pleased with it, but not thrilled. Like I said before, we had a different sort of get together to look forward to so I wasn’t. completely sad about the end of the cruise.

Hope you two get better.

All the food at Triton's look very nice and appetizing. The extension cord fee is quite expensive.

I enjoyed reading your DCL trip report and look forward to reading more of your future trip reports.

We are actually finally feeling better, the food at Triton’s was OK, the “until we meet again” menu is OK, it’s better than the Pirate night and the one for Parrot Cay, but it’s not as good as the Triton’s menu nor the Golden Mickey’s or some of the other menus we have tried. There is no way it is as good as Palo since that menu is cooked to order, but I did not hate the menu that night.

I would be slightly annoyed too, to find cheese at the end of my chocolate tasting.

I'm ready for a nap though after the chocolate and tequila tastings but it sounds like a very fun day all around.

I do find that last breakfast to be rather awful but it's more about the food quality and feeling rushed. That said, on our last cruise it wasn't bad at all![/QUOTE}

Thank you for confirming my annoyance! Yeah, I’m pretty sure we took a nap after that! While the breakfast was kind of rushed, the eggs were cooked to a great over easy, I was so happy that I didn’t care about them trying to get us out of there quick. I was just glad to have my eggs cooked the way I wanted. When we go out to breakfast I struggle to get eggs not over cooked. If I order them scrambled, I live in fear that they will come so over cooked that I can’t eat them, to the point that I rarely order scrambled eggs and only make them myself.

I can't believe you both have been fighting the crud for that long. That is awful!!!! And I am sure makes the idea of getting to work on the old house even less appealing. BUT if you do knock it out before the next Disney trip then you can really celebrate on your birthday even more!

It has been awful. Like four weeks of ick. I’m now trying to go to the old house every day and get something and either put it in storage or bring it to the new house. Must get it cleared out!

Ah, the cruise is over, how sad! But it is always good to have something nice to look forward to after getting off the ship!

Hope you are both improving health wise! And good luck with getting the old house emptied out! Sounds like you have some nice travel planned in your near future!

I got a massage earlier in the week and that seems to have kicked the remaining toxins out of my body. I still have a cough, but that seems to linger for months with me. Having something to look forward to does tend to ease the pain of the cruise ending. I have a few more posts about that.

Hope you guys are feeling better! Your schedule for the next few months sounds crazy! Good luck getting everything packed up and having your garage sale. I hate moving but am looking at doing it again in the next year if I can find a house.

Boo for the last day! I hate getting kicked off the ship! $50 for the extension cord is ridiculous!

Jill in CO

Slowly but surely I’m starting to feel better. I have a load of stuff in the car to bring in and put away, so that’s today’s project.

Oh my, I was very behind!

Your Palo brunch looked soooo delicious!!!!!! we had Hristo as our first Palo server ever. He was wonderful! Very attentive, very accommodating, I would happily see him again.

Boo for that terrible guy at the tasting.

Sounds like a fun last day all in all.

I guess Im one of the rare ones who enjoys that last breakfast. I don't like how rushed they tend to be but that doesn't rush me at all. I'm going to soak that cruise for all its worth! Sounds like you and Fran had the same idea.

Is Jim now going alone in April?

I’m glad you’re all caught up now! Hristo is a very good server. I like the last breakfast too. I’m not one who calls is the worst breakfast ever. I like the fact that you can have them bring you eggs over easy in the dining room.

I don’t know what’s up with Jim. I haven’t seen him in over a month, he flew to your neck of the woods about a month ago, and though he’s back, he hasn’t come back to band yet. Last I heard his partner was not keen on going. Not exactly sure on the details. We’ll find out soon though.

I am sooo behind. Our psych floor is hopping. Just wanting to say hi. I'll catch up later. xoxo

Hoping you get another therapist in there soon to ease your caseload!

 

[franandaj]

Oh wow congrats on booking your wonderful river cruise sounds awesome! Please tell me there is going to be a trip report of this baby! Memphis to New Orleans what a trip! I didn't know such a cruise existed I am super excited for you both. We enjoyed Memphis and New Orleans very much. I still rave about the ghost tour we did of New Orleans. One of the highlights of my life!

Sounds good on renting out your points. War reenactment can we have reports/photos of that too if you do that? It's not common here but I love reading about it. It looks brilliant. Do you have the costumes still?

I’ll probably do a trip report on the Community Board or something. I’ve never been to any of these places, so it’s going to be very exciting! I couldn’t believe how quickly the points rented out. Since I had BCV points, I got more for those than the SSR points. They pay you half now, and the other half when the guest checks in.

Here’s a couple shots from 10 years ago next month. This is at the Calico Ghost Town out by Barstow. This is a rare shot of me as a Civil War female. And yes we do still have our uniforms and my dresses, but I'm about 30 pounds heaver than I was then, so I probably can't fit in any of them. I even have a corset!



Because the only females who were in the war posed a male soldiers, Fran always told me that I had to do just like they did when I was playing in the band. There were other ladies who were allowed to play in this band in dresses, but she wouldn’t let me do it for authenticity’s sake.





When reenacting, you’re not supposed to have any anachronistic items whatsoever. Everything you wear, do, sit on, eat from, must have been around in the 1860’s. This was us having lunch. Even simple sandwiches took special preparation for the storage containers, to our eating and drinking utensils.



These people went all out in their preparations. I think they were selling lunches and dinners to folks.



These pictures are from an event several years later. The person who took them, had a special setting on the camera to give them that old fashioned look.

I'm totally envious! I've ALWAYS wanted to cruise the Mississippi!

It’s been on our list for as long as we’ve been together. I’m so glad that we are finally starting to tick off some of those items. Like Monument Valley last year.

Please do a trip report on your Mississippi trip. It sounds like a blast. Weather should be great. It is possible it will be one of those odd years but generally March is a good "weather" time in both Memphis and New Orleans.

I went to graduate school in Memphis. Lived there six years. Be very careful. It is a dangerous city. It gives the facade of being quaint and friendly but there are some very mean folks there who will mug or cheat you in a minute. After Memphis, we moved to "Cajun country" Louisiana for three years before coming back up north.

That said, it is also a very fun place to visit. My husband is from Memphis and his family still live there so we visit often. Beale street is a must for music. Eat at Corky's BBQ, the food is great! https://www.corkysbbq.com/ And eat at the Rendezvous. Locals seem to think Corky's is better (me too) but visitors seem to prefer the Rendezvous near Beale street. I think visitors prefer the Rendezvous because of the atmosphere. Personally, I do not like the Rendezvous for the same reasons. It seems a bit racist to me but maybe that is because I am from the northwest. Plus the food is better at Corky's. Another place to eat is Dixie Cafe, good quality southern food.http://dixiecafe.com/ And for a fun bar that serves the best burgers, Huey's. They encourage you to write on the wall and blow your toothpicks into the ceiling. http://hueyburger.com/ Go to the one on Madison Avenue, it is the original bar and the one I hung out in when I lived there. Plus it was right down the street from my house.

Off topic here, rentayenta's posting about the psych floor hopping reminded me I wanted to share this with my dis-friends. As most of you know, I am a professor of psychology. Yesterday I had my first face-to-face (as we call lecture classes) for the semester. Thirty-five students and I swear, they could have all come from one of the Pirates of the Caribbean ships. A motley looking crew they were/are but they were very receptive to the lecture. Since I teach early in the day, normally I get the older, more reserved students. This time - well, I am not sure what I have. I think it is going to be a fun class. Heck, we may even have a "dress like a pirate" day as an extra credit assignment (although I will need to tie that into the learning objectives of the course).

Kate

Thanks for the tips. I may be picking your brain in about a year from now!

Sounds like a fantastic trip! Growing up near the Missouri and the Mississippi rivers I've always been fascinated by riverboats. Makes me want to reread some Mark Twain!

Jill in CO

My 40th birthday party was on a river boat that sailed around Long Beach Harbor and it was a Murder Mystery Show. That was a lot of fun, but it can’t even compare to staying on the boat for 7 nights! The pictures look so opulent, I can’t wait!

 

[franandaj]

Oh the Mississippi river cruise sounds wonderful and exciting.

I know! It does!

I can't wait to go rolling down the river with you (vicariously).

Great! But I have at least half a dozen more trips to get through before this one!

Oooooh Mississippi River Cruise! One of my bucket list trips! I love the idea of your "Advance Travel Spreadsheet". Sort of a "chart out the bucket list so we will really get to everything" sort of list! Would you consider posting it sometime? Or even a summary of it. I'd love to see how you spread it out, and what places make your list.
Thanks for all your posts and reports!
And wishing you both good health!

Here is how it looks as of today, but it could change at any moment. Some other places that I want to add are Montreal, Fran wants to add a second trip to Louisiana later that year, plus we need to get to Vegas or some other gambling town too!

Fun fun fu!!!! How long is it? Fabulous that you got it booked bummer about DLP and Aulani being postponed, hopefully they get back on the schedule.

I penciled them back in on the schedule, but haven’t talked it over with Fran yet. We have to be careful not to be gone too much, this last summer, just about killed us!

I was looking for a trip report to feed my excitement about my upcoming cruise. Your report was perfect! Thank you so much for sharing. I love all the food pics! Now I am going to bed hungry ;-)

You’re coming in right at the tail end, but if it helps you get excited for your cruise, then yay!

Dang, Fran really loves that Strawberry soup huh? I can't recall if i've ever tried it or not. Ugh, there's that chicken parm. To die for!

She really does! I’m going to try making a batch from the 1900 Park Fare recipe, and see if it turns out just as good. I wish I knew how Palo’s Chicken Parm was so good. I’ve never had it like that from anywhere else.

I love the way you roll. Wine at brunch, an alcohol/chocolate tasting, a tequila tasting, followed up by a DotD!

My poor liver! I kept asking Fran’s Arthritis Doctor, “Could her liver readings being elevated have something to do with diet?” But he kept saying “no”. I guess they were tremendously high, something that not even food could do.

I hope you'll do a TR on the River cruise! That would be so fun to do one day, but wasn't sure if there would be a lot to do.

If you check out their website, http://www.americanqueensteamboatco...er-mississippi/memphis-new-orleans-2015mar20/, you’ll see the itinerary. If my last reply, didn’t clue you in, we are into Civil War and Southern History, so there are lots of things that interest us on the stops.

So are you thinking 2016 for DLP and Aulani now?

Probably more like 2017. With this trip in March, and I’d like to see Yosemite in May/June, Fran wants to go back to Natchez & New Orleans because it’s their 300th Anniversary of something. She wants to stay in a Plantation Mansion for a few nights. I want to do F&W in October, we go to Palm Springs for the Band Convention, and Thanksgiving is back in Seattle again. Not sure if we want to go or not. That’s a pretty full travel docket as it is! And that doesn’t include visiting my parents up in San Jose.

I love the idea of a Mississippi cruise! That would be a neat way to see the area.

I think so, we cover quite a bit of ground and the ship is in “port” for most of the daylight hours. We can get a lot done in that time.

 

[franandaj]

Where Things go South


Now bear with me folks. For those of you who aren’t interested in Non Disney content. There isn’t much Disney in the next few chapters. There is a tiny bit of Disney near the end, but not lots. The rest of this report is about WHY we actually picked this particular Cruise and timing.

You see every year the Lesbian and Gay Band Association hosts its International Conference. There are two real reasons for this: Business and Pleasure. Fran and I were here for both. The business part of the conference has to do with the governing board, every year half the board is up for reelection. They have a meeting before the event starts, there are two meetings during the conference where two delegates from each of the 30+ bands are briefed on new business, financial matters, and at the second meeting, the delegates vote in an election for the open positions on the LGBA board. The delegates also vote on the proposals for where the conference will be held in two years. After the second meeting the new LGBA Board meets for their future plans.

Fran and I are usually the delegates for these conferences when we go. Being that our band is a 501c3 Corporation, any travel and travel related expenses related to this trip can be deducted from our taxes. Though we didn’t pay for airfare, we can deduct expenses for the rental car, hotel room, meals etc. Essentially we can deduct almost everything after the cruise. It just made sense that since we had to be in Ft. Lauderdale for Business already, why not throw in a little pleasure prior to that?

The pleasure part of the Conference is a Big Gay Band Concert. From the 30+ bands worldwide, over 200 Musicians travel to the conference to perform in a concert, a marching event or another venue. Between the business and the concert, our next few days were going to be pretty busy.

We picked up our rental car. The shuttle took us to a location in Downtown Miami at a streetfront location. It was pretty painless, except that we used Avis. Their daily rental costs were the cheapest of any I compared, but Fran said that their insurance rates and other fees put the cost through the roof, so it didn’t turn out to be a savings. I think we’ll stick with Alamo, they are pretty good. On our way to Ft. Lauderdale Fran had me find a local Harley Dealer so she could go and get some T-shirts.



With that out of the way, we were off to the Embassy Suites which was only a block away from the hotel where we spent the first two nights. I took a few pictures of the lobby while Fran checked us in.

This was looking up at the hotel from near the check in.



Looking over to the restaurant/bar from the check in area.



I walked around the atrium, later in the week this is where we would enjoy breakfast on a couple occasions.



Another look at the atrium, the lobby was just to the right of those elevator banks.



The room wasn’t ready yet, so we decided to head over to Kelly’s since we liked it so much the last time we ate there about a week ago.

We got a bowl of Chowda



We got another order of these lobster rangoons.



Our entrees came with soup or salad, so whoever didn’t order the soup ordered the salad, but we split everything.



I wanted Mahi Mahi



Fran wanted Fish & Chips, but again, we sort of split everything.



It was sort of ironic, just after we got into the car and were pulling out of the parking lot, the lady at the front desk called my cellphone to say that they did have a room that had come available. We decided that we would rather continue on to lunch for right now, but once we left we were happy to know that our room would be ready.

One of the things we were thinking of doing while in Ft. Lauderdale was to visit the Everglades. Now the main part of the Everglades is two hours southeast of Ft. Lauderdale, but there was another option about half an hour east of Ft. Lauderdale. The show Gator Boys is filmed at this location, but while we were waiting for the airport shuttle, there were light showers, so we figured that today wasn’t a good day for the Everglades. In hindsight, this was the best day of our trip weatherwise, but stay tuned to find out why we made the best choices for our situation.

I love the Embassy Suites, rooms are spacious and there are so many amenities, but they can be pricey. Normally the only time we get to stay in this chain is for events where our group gets a special rate. We checked into our room and I took pictures before we trashed the room.









Fran sat down in this chair and immediately fell asleep.



The bedroom.







The bathroom.





OK, so I took these photos on the morning we were checking out of the hotel, but it makes sense to just post them now.











The rest of the day seemed to be passing rather uneventfully. Once I unpacked the luggage and stowed the suitcases, Fran decided to move to the bedroom and continue her nap. I got out my computer and continued to update the TR until the Embassy Suites Happy Hour began. I went down to the lobby and had a couple glasses of wine. When I got back I asked Fran if she would like to go get dinner. And she told me that she wasn’t hungry.

All day long folks were arriving from all over the country for the conference. We had a FB group where people posted about their flights, drives, and when they expected to arrive. I had decided to go across the street to an Irish pub for dinner. It wasn’t a long walk and sounded good. On my way there, some ladies posted that they were looking to have some drinks before going out to a party at one of the bars and we ended up meeting at the restaurant. They joined me at my table while I had dinner. It was their first conference, so it was fun to make some new friends.

After dinner, I headed back to the room to sleep. A few hours after falling asleep, Fran woke me up feeling terrible. She had severe stomach cramps, and felt like she wanted throw up, but nothing was coming up. Her body was exhausted from trying to be sick. We have a great Doctor, and called her up back in California for a consultation. She was able to call in a prescription to the CVS down the street for something that would hopefully provide relief for Fran.

In hindsight I’m not sure how much this actually helped because as we found out later, most of this reaction was probably to the arthritis drugs she had been taking via infusion. Somewhere in the night, she also started to feel like her skin was itching from the inside out. Evidently this symptom was what clued in her Rheumatologist that she was having an adverse reaction to the drug, but of course we didn’t find that out for another week or more.

So there you have it, an otherwise wonderful trip, just took a turn for the worse. But stay tuned, it’s not completely ruined.

 

[dgbg100106]

glad you both made it to the hotel, I really love Embassy Suites also.. The happy hour is not bad, and breakfast is always good.

So how was your Irish pub dinner? No pics?

Happy to hear you meet up some people and enjoyed the evening.

So sorry to hear about Fran's adverse reaction and all that she was going thru. It is so hard when you can't make the person you love feel better.

 

[skier_pete]

I'm gonna keep following along. I find other people's travel nteresting, even without Disney. And I never knew that there was a International Lesbian and Gay Band Association, so it's educational, too!

Actually, I really wanted to comment on your spreadsheet. I do something similar, except we are lucky to have 2-3 trips in a year, though last year there was actually 5 that made the spreadsheet (DCL, Whistler, Myrtle Beach, WDW, & Arizona).

Which is a lot to do with why this years spreadsheet only has two.

Anyways, it looks like you have some great trips coming up in the next couple years. I'm particularly jealous of Paris, I really want to get back there, it's been almost 30 years.

I also tend to look ahead 2-3 years when planning vacations! Great minds think alike I guess.

Finally, I like your pictures from the civil war re-enactment camp. We have an old fort nearby (Ft. Niagara), and each July they do a French and Indian war encampment / battle re-enactment. We've gone up quite a few times and it's very interesting. But I can tell you, I would NOT for one day choose to "live as they did back then". One time we were watching a location where these people were doing a laundry demonstration. Back 300 years ago (and probably sooner) the way that they made bleach for white clothes was to basically take urine and let it ferment to get the akalis out of it, and then they'd bleach they're clothes in it. Yeah, I'll stick with the modern thank you. Not my idea of fun.

 

[franandaj]

glad you both made it to the hotel, I really love Embassy Suites also.. The happy hour is not bad, and breakfast is always good.

So how was your Irish pub dinner? No pics?

Happy to hear you meet up some people and enjoyed the evening.

So sorry to hear about Fran's adverse reaction and all that she was going thru. It is so hard when you can't make the person you love feel better.

I only took a few breakfast pictures, but yes, the breakfast was always good. I didn't take any Pub pictures because 1) it was too dark in there and 2) I didn't want my new friends to think I was crazy! But I had Bangers and Mash, it was really good.

I really felt bad for her, and there was zero that I could do, mostly she wanted me to leave her alone.

I'm gonna keep following along. I find other people's travel nteresting, even without Disney. And I never knew that there was a International Lesbian and Gay Band Association, so it's educational, too!

It started out in 1983 as Lesbian and Gay Bands of America, but with groups in Sydney & Melbourne, and Vancouver, Canada they changed the name about 10 years ago. The group has also marched in both of President Obama's Inaugural parades.

Actually, I really wanted to comment on your spreadsheet. I do something similar, except we are lucky to have 2-3 trips in a year, though last year there was actually 5 that made the spreadsheet (DCL, Whistler, Myrtle Beach, WDW, & Arizona).

Well from 2001-2007, we had 0 "vacations". We had to cancel our 2011 & 2012 WDW vacations, so I feel like we are playing catch up now.

Which is a lot to do with why this years spreadsheet only has two.

You did get to go to Australia!

Anyways, it looks like you have some great trips coming up in the next couple years. I'm particularly jealous of Paris, I really want to get back there, it's been almost 30 years.

It's been 20 years for me.

I also tend to look ahead 2-3 years when planning vacations! Great minds think alike I guess.

Finally, I like your pictures from the civil war re-enactment camp. We have an old fort nearby (Ft. Niagara), and each July they do a French and Indian war encampment / battle re-enactment. We've gone up quite a few times and it's very interesting. But I can tell you, I would NOT for one day choose to "live as they did back then". One time we were watching a location where these people were doing a laundry demonstration. Back 300 years ago (and probably sooner) the way that they made bleach for white clothes was to basically take urine and let it ferment to get the akalis out of it, and then they'd bleach they're clothes in it. Yeah, I'll stick with the modern thank you. Not my idea of fun.

We used to be way into it. But never did anything that involved Urine. When we finally quit, we had gotten to the point where we owned an old Uhaul and kept it full with all the CW gear, tents, chairs, tables, all kinds of stuff. It would take us a full day to get set up. We had Ammo boxes which actually held full size coolers, and a fire pit where we had a camp cook who made meals to feed the entire band. It just got to be so much work, and wearing wool in July in So Cal, wasn't a lot of fun.

 

[kid-at-heart]

Embassy Suites is one of my favorite hotels. I love their breakfasts and evening receptions. You are right about their being pricy. We only stay at them when we are attending a conference and can get the conference rate.

Wow, you have a sink in the bedroom. I do not believe I have ever stayed in a hotel with a sink in the bedroom.

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.

Kate