Washington DC - Day 2

Day 2 - we started out the day going to Arlington National Cemetery.  I thought this was the biggest cemetery in the nation, but it is actually only the 8th biggest military cemetery according to the tour guide, with "only" 430,000 burials.  We decided to take the hop on hop off bus around the huge site and that was really good considering temperatures in DC got to 106 F today.  Standing anywhere in the sun was oppressive - even hotter than Austin, due to the humidity.




We wound our way through the gravesites, seeing the headstones for many famous generals and other famous people, like supreme court justices.  We saw the large site for John F Kennedy and his close family members.  There were memorials for specific groups of people, like Iran Hostage Crisis, Nurses, Challenger, and Chaplains.  The highlight of the tour was to watch the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier.  This was a solemn ceremony where a lone guard paces precisely in front of the tomb, then an officer and replacement guard appears.  There is a very prescribed manner in which the old guard and new guard and their weapons are inspected and then the new guard reports in the position.  We all agreed it was the highlight of the day.

After leaving the cemetery, we switched hotels to the Hyatt Capitol near the Capitol building.  Because it was so hot, we decided to postpone our walking tour of the monuments to another day.  Instead we headed to the National museum of Art.  On the way we stopped for some Chili Tots and mini burgers at Hamilton's Bar and Grill - it was good and open on Sunday.

We walked a few more blocks to the East building of the National Gallery of Art to see the more modern artists.  Besides seeing Picasso and Matisse (which happened to be codenames for our recent projects at work), we saw a lot of other interesting older pieces.  We also like to laugh at the minimalist art which usually seems ridiculous like Black Plank - a shiny plank leaning up against a wall and something that looked like a pillow case tacked to the wall.

Picasso (left) and Matisse (right) on the same wall

Bad babies - decapitated head and more behind the wall

We took the underground tunnel to the West Building to see the older works from the 15th-19th Century.  The beautiful second floor with expansive rooms and plush decor was like a work of art itself.  We liked a lot of the paintings and spent over an hour wandering through the various rooms. 


Shellie didn't want to see the sculpture garden (too hot) and I wanted to get cleaned up for dinner, so we walked back to the hotel and got ready for the evening.




In the evening we went to dinner at Carmine's a chain Italian restaurant that serves huge family-style portions.  Then we headed to a movie theater to see the new Lion King movie.  Prior to the movie we went to a local bar and the kids and I played table hockey.  The movie was pretty good, I thought.  We headed home for the evening a little after 11pm.

 

 

 

Washington DC - Day 1

After an insanely bad flight experience (4 hr delay in Atlanta) which put us into Reagan Airport at 4:30am, we headed to our Hyatt Crystal City hotel for a brief rest until we had to leave for our morning White House tour.  For the White House we worked through our Congressman Bill Flores's office to get both WH and Capitol tours.  The WH picked one of three days, which happened to be the morning we arrived.  So, everything worked out OK, and we made it to the White House on time.


We started at the WH visitor's center, where we saw a bunch of presidential memorabilia, like a mini-museum, then we made our way up the street to the WH entrance.  After going through three security checkpoints, we made it into the actual East Wing of the White House for our self guided tour.  The tour wound through a few of the East Wing rooms and did not take very long.  We passed up a few groups as we blazed through the many rooms like the theater, the blue and red rooms, the china room, and the large dining room.







"I am Cornholio!"

View of Washington Monument out of the window

For my Alma Mater Roosevelt High School

After the WH, we picked up a few souvenirs at a gift shop across the street and then searched around for some lunch.  We happened on the Old Ebbitt Grill, a landmark dining spot famous for crabcakes and a massive interior with four bar areas and multiple rooms.  We had a monster buffalo chicken sandwich, two huge delicious crab cakes, and some burgers.  Big bill - oops we're on vacation.







We headed back to the hotel for a quick rest still feeling it from the late night at the airport then grabbed an Uber to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington.  Getting there so late in the day, we missed many of the exhibits and events, but also the crowds.  We were the only ones it the 1000 seat movie theater at the beginning and only had to wait minutes for a tour of the Mansion.  The Mansion was pretty large - we liked looking in the same mirror that Washington did and the expansive views of the Potomac river.  It was really a sweet place to live.  There are 10 bedrooms in the mansion and they had many and frequent visitors, although I bet they wished they had the modern AC which has been added - the humidity and heat was going pretty good by late afternoon.


After the mansion tour we went to Washington's tomb, rebuilt after his death to his specifications.  Then we headed back to our hotel for more naps, a swim at the pool and a quick McDonald's dinner.










For our last trip of the day we headed back into DC to watch a tribute to the Apollo 11 moon landing which happened 50 years ago to the day (July 20, 1969).  On the Smithsonian lawn, two huge projection screens showed the events of the rocket launch and moon landing.  It was a really powerful
show and we all agreed it was the best thing of the day.  There were at least 10,000 people there and there were two more showings after ours.  As part of the show, the Washington Monument had a photo realistic Apollo 11 rocket projected onto it and it took off during the show.  Hopefully I can get a DVD of the show it was so good, I would watch it again.  It left us all proud to be Americans.

So, after fighting mega-traffic for the next shows, we got a ride home and called it a night (as I type this at 1am).  :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caribbean Day 8-10 - Miami / Fort Lauderdale

Caribbean Day 8-10 - Sea, Miami / Fort Lauderdale


After two sea days, we got off the boat and decided to take a random Shuttle service to our hotel in Fort Lauderdale.  The price seemed reasonable and we were the only ones in a large Expedition, so that worked out better than Uber or renting a car.  Once we got to the hotel, we decided to find a restaurant and headed toward the restaurant district.  Our Uber driver took us on a slightly longer route for the same price to point out all the important sights - he had lived there since childhood.   We found the restaurant but it looked too fancy so we just started walking down the street to find another one.  I had booked a bay tour, so we needed to be done in time to find the boat which was docked nearby in one of the many canals.  It started pouring rain, so we hastily decided on a Mexican restaurant.  The food was a little pricey and not the "TexMex" our kids were used to (think fundido, not queso), but it hit the spot.  The waiter explained everything to us in great detail as if this was the first time we had ever been to a Mexican restaurant in our lives: "A taco is a fried crispy tortilla with meat and lettuce and tomato and cheese."  "Oh, like taco bell?"  Anyway the food was good and then we headed to find the boat. 



The tour was a privately operated boat with just us and two other people.  I thin they did dinner cruises and you could bring your own drinks on board.  The tour was through many of hte canals that make Fort Lauderdale the Venice of the US.  Along the canals are the expensive homes and yachts of many famous people.  Our guide pointed out the interesting homes and told stories of who lived there and how the homes were designed.  It was relaxing and a nice way to wind down our vacation.  After the tour we headed back to the hotel and got some fast food dinner.  Our flight back to Austin leaves very early in the morning.



Tired Kids on the Plane

Caribbean Day 7 - Aruba

Caribbean Day 7 - Aruba



Today we are going to Aruba on a 4x4 adventure.  The company picked us up from the cruise terminal and took us a short distance where we had a short safety course and then loaded into these 12 person jeeps/safari vehicles.  Then we went through town toward the northwest side of the island where it was basically a rock mountain.  Despite having a tiny trail, the vehicle sort of had to make it's own way over the very rough terrain.  It was a thrilling, jarring ride to the top and then a slippery slidy ride to the rest point on the other side.  Glenn had a bad back, so stayed on the ship with Michelle to get some medical attention - it's a good thing - he would have been in major pain if he had gone.  On the way, we blew out TWO tires on the vehicle and just kept going. 

They repaired the tires at the rest stop while we made our way down some stairs to a beach area with a natural tide pool.  Getting in the pool was a little tricky climbing over the rocks, but once inside, it was nice.  The pool is a about 50 feet across and the wave slam into it from the other side and you can get sprayed.  You can also jump off some of the rocks into the pool.  We had a great time there. 



After we climbed back up the steps and the vehicle was repaired, we made our way to the Natural bridge - a rock bridge formation that was nearby.  We stayed there for a few minutes and got refreshments.  It started raining a little, mostly just sprinkles and we got back in the 4x4 and went to the abandoned gold factory.  This is a ruined mill for gold processing - you basically just climb around in the ruins in the rain and that's about it - 10 min tops.  Then we drove through the rest of the island looking at the narrated sights including a unique rock formation and then headed back to the depot. 










Once we got back to the cruise port, the kids went back on the ship to find friends and Shellie and I went to buy souvenirs at the shops.  We spotted a Casino and went in to try our luck.  As usual, Shellie hit a jackpot in the first five minutes - like $300 - and then we took our winnings and went home.  The next two days are just at sea heading back to Miami.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caribbean Day 6 - Curaçao

Caribbean Day 6 - Curaçao





Today when we arrived in Curaçao, outside our balcony we had a parade of ships and very low flying helicopters.  I was wondering if some famous person was being escorted.  It was quite a show and we got some cool helicopter pictures as they flew by the cruise ship.

US Coast Guard ship and Helicopter

Cruise Port

Old Fort Wall

Curaçao is part of the ABC islands, just north of Venezuela (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao) and is a Dutch colony.  There are lots of evidences of Dutch culture here, which were familiar to me from living in the Netherlands for part of the Summer 1989.  We didn't plan a fancy excursion here, either, just take us to the beach and let us relax.  We walked from the ship to the right to an old fort which has been converted into a shopping center and hotel area.  We shopped and has a couple beers and hung out for about an hour. 

Bix shopping for BIG Backpacks



Glenn went BIG shoe shopping

Then we got a great cab driver who suggested Mambo Beach.  This place was great.  It had a nice sand beach (chairs cost extra), lots of shops, and a huge tidepool (think 300+ yards/meters long).  You could swim to the rock retaining wall and they also had a big floating barge to swim to and jump off.  We spent several hours here drinking, relaxing, and enjoying the water.  There were nearby places to stay also, with their own private beaches. 



Ma'am don't stand on the paper
mache decorations

Our same cab driver picked us back up at the designated time and took us to a place to eat which was walking distance to the ship.  This place had several restaurants in the same outdoor complex and we chose an Italian place called Dal Toro because they had a burger for Bix.  They also made their own pizza in a big stone oven and had a wide selection of pasta.  Most of us got the Italian food which was really good.  The table was right on the ocean and we saw a huge eel swimming right by the table.  The waitstaff were really excellent and I'd definitely recommend it.



After dinner, we walked back to the ship, but to get there, we had to cross the inland ship channel, which you do by taking the Queen Emma floating bridge.  This is a huge bridge that is "parked" alongside the channel's shore/boardwalk to let ships pass.  Then the driver drives one end of the bridge over to the other side to let people walk across.  This is not a small bridge - it is 548 feet long and about 30 feet wide, with a lighted arbor at night.  It was a really cool thing to see and the perfect ending to our great day in Curaçao.  We intend to go back for a longer stay.

 

 

 

The trademark pastel buildings of Willemstad

 

 

 

 

People of Curaçao love baseball - I remember their team in the Little League World Series

Caribbean Day 5 - Dominican Republic

Caribbean Day 5 - Dominican Republic



Today we spent the day at the port of La Romana, Dominican Republic. 


We really didn't find much in the way of excursions, so we decided to go to the new Old Town called Altos de Chavón.  Basically, this place is a town that was built in the 1980's to look like an old 16th century village.  It is built on an overlook of the Chavón River which is a pretty view. 











They have artisans and a small museum there, but there's really not much to do other than shop.  We had a light lunch which was pretty good and then took the tour bus back to the ship.  We heard some people went into town and it was kind of dicey so you might want to avoid that. 

Dominicans love their baseball

There were a couple of other water-based excursions to an island and rafting the River.  Those might have been better options.  Bix went to the DR last year and did dune buggy driving which was really fun, he said.  He might have been in a different port. We had some other friends who spent a week there and they went to Saona Island which they enjoyed.  There are many golf courses, but I didn't see any golfers. One weird thing we did see is a guy riding a horse on the golf course - like galloping full speed. 

 

 

 

 

Caribbean 2018 - Day 4

Day 4 - Grand Turk




Today we had our first stop in Grand Turk.  I didn't see much too Grand about it.  Very small island with a little port with some shops.  Our plan is to just get on a catamaran, go snorkeling and to the beach and get back on the ship around noon.

The catamaran was very smooth.  I get seasick easily, but on this one it did not bother me at all.  When we got to our destination they provided instructions on the protocol for hand signals and we got in the water.  The snorkel site was at the edge of a huge underwater cliff known as The Wall.

You are snorkeling in about 30 feet of water and then suddenly there is no bottom.  (There actually is a bottom, but it is so far down you can't see it).  According to the article the bottom goes down 7000 feet (over a mile).  It was really disorienting if you snorkel under the water - you lose your bearings and don't know which way is up - slightly dangerous.  Luckily I made it back alive.





After snorkeling, we got back on the boat and even though it was only 10am, it was time for the rum punch party.  I was still concerned about seasickness so I didn't partake, but Michelle and Shellie got their drink on.  We stopped at a beach along the shoreline of Grand Turk and spent about 45 minutes drinking more rum punch and playing in the surf.  It was fun and we got back on the catamaran to go home.  We hit the dock by about 11am and  were back on the boat by noon.  We were able to eat boat food - Bix recommends the tacos at the Blue Iguana - and then we relaxed the rest of the day.  Tomorrow we will go to the Dominican Republic.