Are you kidding me? The last two weeks have been a little more productive in the
travel business. Hoo Ya! I am hoping that I finish the year with a bang! Remember to always love your travel agent.
"College Football Dad" has been at home watching college football while Pod has been on the road for a few weeks. It's pretty hard to watch on the tube or ESPN 360. I am not a good TV watcher when Pod is on the field. I do a lot of pacing. Our weather has been hot, cool, hot and cool again. I wish Mother Nature would make up her mind.
Royal Caribbean has her big new ship
The Oasis of the Seas getting ready to hit the water's in November. You have got to check this floating city out! When you have time make sure you check out my website and biz page. We have a ton of year end specials and early booking specials for travel next year. You will also find great tips on travel. How is your
Cruisitude? Mine is doing just fine! I know, enough of the business stuff. I thought I would save this part of our trip for Halloween. Before our journey to the dark side begins, let's do a little Trick or Treat!
It is Halloween, so why not. Are you ready for the Trick? Start with 1 oz. Amaretto, 1 1/2 oz. Vodka, Vanilla, 1/2 oz. Triple Sec, 1 dash Grenadine and fill with Orange Juice. Pour vodka, triple sec, amaretto, grenadine into a tall glass filled with your favorite ice. Top with orange juice and stir. Take four or five small Halloween candies, and stick them on a skewer. Place skewer on top of glass. I told you it would be a Treat. There you have it, a Trick or Treat! Our night is going to start with one of the stupidest things I have ever done. I have been convinced by our traveling party that we need to do a night kayak excursion in the pitch dark. How stupid do you think I am? Well I guess pretty stupid! They keep telling me that it is going to be so awesome looking at the water glow as you paddle. I guess that could be cool, but in the dark?
Vieques is known for one of the best
Bioluminescence Bays in the world. What the heck did you just say?
Bioluminescence who, what?
Bioluminescence is the phenomenon where light or glow is created by a living creature by internal chemical reaction.
Approximately 80% of all marine life creates
bioluminescence to some degree. This is done to achieve different survival strategies which include mating, predator avoidance and feeding. When a particular species of plankton concentrates in very high numbers in rare areas around the world, the results are stunning. The
Bioluminescent Bay is located in the Mosquito Bay area in
Vieques and is, perhaps, the brightest in the world! With over 750,000 tiny
dinoflagellates per gallon of water that light up when they are touched! Imagine a lake full of Tinker Bells fairy dust! Pure magic, the experience is actually indescribable. So here is the deal! We all meet at
Blue Caribe Kayaks for the details of our journey. The sun was just starting to go down and I was getting a little nervous not knowing what to expect. Can I take a cooler? We are given a life jacket and a whistle. Why in the heck do I need a whistle?
Ok, now it s beginning to make sense. I am getting in a kayak in the dark and in case I get lost I blow a whistle. This is not starting out good. If I am lost in the ocean who is going to hear me?
I just got my first glimpse of the kayaks that we will be using. It has a preformed area for your butt and feet. Whose butt did they use to make that mold? I am supposed to fit which part of my butt in this thing? Why do you sit up in the air instead of down in it some? It looks pretty wobbly to me. My two sons are with me so I better suck this up and get in the van. It took about 20 minutes of driving through the jungle before we reached our departure point. I know why they call this Mosquito Bay. I was getting bit left and right. I guess when they told us not to use Mosquito spray with
DEET in it because it could damage the critters in the water that we would have a mosquito problem. As I am standing there with the rest of the group including my wife, two sons, mother, brother, sister-in-law and her mom and dad I realize that I do not see any water. We are in this jungle area with who knows what type of animals and they tell us that we are going to shove off through this small opening of mangroves. I am really thinking snakes and spiders now. Pea and Pod get their kayak and the tour helpers shove them out into the darkness.
I kid you not, you cannot see anything.
Ok, that looks pretty easy. The only problem is that I weigh a little more than they do and I take up more room in my kayak and I have a water proof camera around my neck with this stupid whistle. It comes to my turn to walk out in the mangroves for my shot out in the dark. I take my position and there I go. Through the jungle in to the wide open ocean I head. Why did I get pushed so hard? No more than 10 feet and I had already fallen out of my kayak. This is not good! I could still stand up, but barely. Every time I tried to get in the kayak it kept moving. I finally was able to get in by sliding on it with my stomach. There is no telling how many bruises I am going to have. This is going to be the longest two hours of my life. All of the sudden Janet comes shooting by and I about fall out again. Something has to be wrong with my kayak. I have finally got some balance and the moon is out and I can see a few people and the tour guides said to follow them out. It was really cool to see your paddle and the other kayaks with this light glowing with every move you made. We were going out in to the bay for about one mile and they would let us get in the water for about 15 minutes before we headed back.
Do they know we are in a bay that goes into the ocean that has sharks in it? This has to be a bad dream. I started to paddle and was doing
ok I thought. It seemed like I was always going to the right and the harder I paddled the worse it was. Pea and Pod would circle back every so often to check on me. I was in last place for most of the time and I still had my whistle. It was a close competition with Janet and Carol at times. I did catch up to Janet and Carol for a little bit. They kept laughing at me and the next thing I know Carol (mom) has fallen out. I made my way over to help, but what the heck was I going to do? When you are in water over your head and your kayak will not stay still, it is a task that I cannot complete. If I fall out again I am sure that a shark or something will eventually get me. Remember it is dark and there is salt in the water. Thank goodness one of the tour guides was close by and helped her get back in. It seemed like forever but I finally caught the rest of the group as they were all swimming in the middle of the bay making water angels. They had tied all of the kayaks together. I had made it this far, so I better get in and experience this
Bioluminescence thing first hand. I knew I could get out of the kayak. I had no clue how I was going to get back in.
Every movement you made with your arms or legs would light up with this blue glow. It was really cool to see, but I was still nervous about my re-entry into my kayak.. Well it is that time and I am not feeling good about my chances. I tried several times and could not do it. It would be nice if they had some steps to help you get back in.
HaHa! With two tour guides and a few desperate attempts I was able to get all of me back in. We had paddled out in a bit of a head wind so the return trip would surely go faster. Wrong! I was having paddling issues and it did not matter how I paddled I kept going in circles. How do I get out of this paddle spin? Really, how do you paddle in circles? Pea and Pod came back to check on me and I said more cuss words than I even knew were in my dictionary. They tried to be encouraging, but I was not in the mood for it. Why is everyone laughing at me? I finally got my alignment corrected and started to make some head way. Every now and then I would still just go in circles. I could not figure this thing out. My brother (Donnie) came back to check on me and he could not stop laughing at me either.
It served him right for laughing because a few minutes later he fell out of his kayak. He was able to get back into his pretty easy though. I think I got a lemon kayak. Can I return mine for a new one? I told everyone to leave me alone. Every time they came to check on me something happens. Sure as shoot I fell out again. I guess I am going to just hang on and swim with this darn kayak. I saw one on the tour guides off in the distance so I blew my whistle and they helped me get back in. This was it. I have had enough of this. I have got to get past this mental thing I have going on with my kayak. It seemed like several more hours, but the next thing I knew I had made it back to our pick up point. Thank goodness the wind kept me on the right course. I thought for sure I would end up out at sea. As soon as I got close enough I jumped out and got to shore as fast as I could. I think I have died and gone to heaven. I have my feet on the ground. My family finally got to see me in an environment where I am not very good at and they have never laughed so hard in their entire lives. We piled back in to the vans and everyone talked about their experience. I did not say a word. I was still in a kayak coma! I needed a beer in the worst way.
20 minutes later after our return we found this burger dive and I chugged more beers than I could count so I could get my nerves back in check. I was glad that I did this, but I will never do this again. Everyone else said it was one of the highlights of their trip. I really would highly recommend this trip, but make sure you get a kayak that is formed to your butt shape! If you ever want to take a trip to the dark side call me and I can give you all of the details and help you book your trip. I am going to end our trip here. What a blast we have had. I hope you have enjoyed this ride with me in
Puerto Rico/
Vieques. I am not sure where our journeys will take us next, but where ever they are it will be a fun ride. I truly appreciate all of you who are reading and following. Please leave me a comment sometime so I know who is reading. I would be honored if you share this with a friend. Hang on for our next wild ride. Until we unite again remember to always love your
Travel Agent. He needs lots of love. Keep your
Cruisitude in check and most important is to
Travel Your Way!
What a strange week this has been! Where has this month gone? It seems like yesterday it was the first week of February. I hope this year will not keep that same pace up or I will age faster than intended. I know I am sort of old already, but let me stop every now and then and smell the peppers! (I mean Roses) My food senses have been going wild! I love to play with food and I have been cooking some insane food! Check out "Cookin with John" for some great recipe ideas. New recipes are updated weekly. My wife is back in Big D full time while our home in San Antonio is looking for the perfect home buyer. 
I know everyone has different things that they believe in and those beliefs are their own. I had a friend of mine on Facebook who recommended that I go to a Christian book store and buy a statue of St. Joseph and bury it in the yard and your house will sell pretty quickly. I was not sure of this as I thought it would be sac religious, but I was very wrong as I researched this process. I went out and bought my very own St Joseph statue with a burial bag and buried him in the yard. The instructions say to bury him head first facing the street with his feet facing the heavens. Then you say a prayer and then your home will sell. 
Once your home sells you de- earth St. Joseph and you place him in your new home. I have never heard of this and I am willing to believe! I will keep you posted of our progress. The Travel Business has been all over the place. There has been a lot of interest and quoting, but not very many bookings this week. I love what I do and will always have a positive "Cruisitude" If you want a non biased hard working travel agent to take all of your researching headaches away; I have one to recommend to you. All kidding aside if you have travel questions or need recommendations I am here for you. As a Cruise Planner and a Tour/Resort Specialist you will be in good hands. Test me out sometime! I bet you will be very impressed. It’s time to get your beverage on as we get ready for day 4 on the Norwegian Pearl. 
I decided to go the martini route today. Are you ready for a "Hypnotize Me"? Your ingredients consist of 3oz(s)Ketel One Vodka, 1 oz Strawberry Vodka, 1 oz Hypnotiq (Hpnotiq is an exquisite blend of premium vodka, natural tropical fruit juices and a hint of Cognac), 1 oz Strawberry Liqueur, 1 oz Grape Pucker and 3 Drop(s)Dry Vermouth. Did I say all liquor? Take your favorite martini shaker and fill with ice, then add all of the ingredients and put the lid on. Get your groove on and shake your bootie! Take your favorite chilled martini glasses and pour. This is one potent drink and now I know why you are hypnotized after you drink this. I guess I can officially say I have been hypnotized! That was a crazy drink! Day 4 on the Norwegian Pearl begins with a hop, skip and a jump on deck 7! 
This walking and prune juice is going to get the best of me! I must keep going. Our port of call today is St. Thomas. Can you say paradise? We decided to eat breakfast at the Blue Lagoon Cafe. It is a 24 hour a la cart cafe. My breakfast consisted of a croissant scramble, hash browns, bacon and prune juice. It was simple and hit the spot. St. Thomas is known for shopping and Magen's Bay. St. Thomas is a shopper’s paradise. Havensight and Downtown Main Street are the prime shopping areas. The beaches in St. Thomas are known worldwide. National Geographic has rated Magen's Bay one of the top 10 beaches in the world. Although all the beaches on the island are public, there is a charge of $3 to enter Magen's Bay. Morning Star beach is also lovely, well worth a visit and it tends to be a little less crowed. Taxis are available on the pier and generally charged per person. 
There are no meters in the taxis so negotiate the fare in advance. We decided to go the taxi route and venture out and see what St. Thomas was all about. We were very lucky and hooked up with a local driver named Ever-Ready. He does a 3 hour tour of the island with many stops and photo opportunities. The island of St. Thomas is 3 miles by 12 miles. There are no manufactures on the island. They also have one of the world’s largest saltwater to freshwater conversion plants as there is no fresh water on the island. Medical care is free to all of those who live on the island. They are still in the re-building stage from the last four hurricanes that have hit the island. Most of the people cannot afford to rebuild their homes as the costs are too high. The Governor is in charge of the island. We went to Blackbeard’s Castle and to the St. Peter Great House on the World Famous Mountain Top. 
The St. Peter Great House provided great views of Megan's Bay, St John’s and St Croix. We were able to take some breath taking photos from here as well. One thing that the St. Peter Great House is famous for is the Banana Daiquiri! I am not sure what all of the ingredients were except a lot of dark rum and fresh bananas. It was just awesome! I am glad that we took the 3 hour tour of the island. Ever-Ready was a wealth of information as we developed a true appreciation for the island. We head back to some of the shopping areas and check out some of the local bargains. There were some great deals and everything was a little crowed as the Oasis of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas, Carnival Liberty and the Costa Atlantica were all in port. 
We decided to go back on board the Pearl to eat lunch. Why spend extra money when all of your food is included with your cruise? You can come and go to the ship as long as she is at the pier. After lunch Pea, Pod and I decided to walk around the pier area for a while. We found this small beach hut bar with live music and Caribe Beer buckets for $10. Good music and a good cold beer! What could be better? St. Thomas had been awesome and with so many things to do on the ship we headed back. We decided that the pool was calling our name. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at the pool. Pea and Pod played in some of the pool games with the cruise staff. It was pretty funny watching some of the stunts they did. 
Sailing on a cruise ship makes it so easy to visit all of these different ports of call and you only unpack once on your floating resort. Before dinner tonight we were going to visit the Star Bar. From 6 - 7 they offer 2 for 1 martini’s and in my opinion one of the best drink deals on the ship. I had a Pear Pleasure, Pea had a Cocotini and my wife had a Raspberry Fruitini. This was just an awesome start to a great evening. We met back up with Pod and headed to Indigos for dinner. My meal would start off with a potato goat cheese tart and some chicken french onion soup. Then it was off to tilapia topped off with a lemon butter sauce and capers. 
Dessert was this yummy chocolate cream cake with a warm chocolate sauce. I am in food heaven! I think I need to take a walk. All of this food is getting a little heavy. The show tonight is Sea Legs, A Showgirl Revue. Showgirls perform to the music of Frank Sinatra and Beyonce. Then it is off to the Caribbean Deck Party for Hot Dancing under the stars. It is shake your bootie time! For those of you who know me I am a terrible dancer and shaker. It was fun to watch though! Our night ends at the blackjack table. I broke even so I was ok with that. Wow, what a day this has been. As you can see you can do as much or as little as you want. 
It is your vacation and the choice is all yours. St. Thomas I thank you for allowing me to visit and see the true beauty of the island and the people who live here. I think next time I visit St. Thomas I will visit the St. Peter Great House again and then go hang out at Magen's Bay. 
I heard they make some awesome pizza beachside. My heavenly bed is calling my name. Tomorrow we are headed to Tortola (B.V.I) I can't wait to see what day 5 brings us on this awesome journey! I appreciate all of those who are following and if you know someone who likes to travel I would be honored if you would forward them a link to "Travelin with John" Until we unite again remember to always love your Travel Agent. 
He needs lots of love! Remember that my services, research and recommendations are always No Charge! If you know someone who travels send them my way. You know they will be taken care of. Keep your Cruisitude in check and most important is to Travel Your Way!
