Better (Extremely) Late Than Never - Cruise Part 2

Hello again everyone! It has been a RIDICULOUSLY long time since I have posted and I apologize for that. There is actually a good reason for my absence, but I'll make you wait until my next post to find out what that reason is ;)

***Side Note*** Don't worry, I won't make you wait 6 weeks again to hear from me. I'll post it tomorrow - promise! ***End of Side Note***

Last I wrote, I was filling you in on our cruise to Bermuda and I left off after we docked on that picturesque, wonderful island. There is no exaggeration with my description of Bermuda - I was floored at how beautiful it is there. I wouldn't hesitate for a second to go back.

(Click here for the first half of the cruise story)

Our ship docked

View of the Royal Navy Dockyards - this is what we would see when we walked off the ship

One of the first things we noticed when we got into the tourist area was the distinct British feel of the island (which makes sense because it is a British Overseas Territory). Not only were people driving on the opposite side of the road than they do in the U.S., but many accents sounded a bit English AND they had those awesome red phone booths.

Our first stop off the ship was to the National Bermuda Maritime Museum, which is located at the island's oldest fort. 

We had no idea when we paid for the admission, but there is an area with dolphins inside - and somehow we ended up stumbling on that before any of the other parts of the museum. I have loved dolphins since I was a little kid, and have always wanted to do one of those dolphin encounters where you swim with them. But they are always so expensive! 

This dolphin area at the National Museum is designed specifically for those dolphin encounters, but with admission to the museum you are able to watch the dolphins and get right up to the water (just not in the water - that costs $200+). Trainers would even come around and answer questions. I couldn't believe our luck... we must have watched them for a good 45 minutes. Oh - and there were even some BABY DOLPHINS! 

After saying goodbye to the dolphins, we started exploring the grounds of the fort. We liked getting pictures with our boat in the background haha.

Joe "attacking" the other cruise ship. It may have been larger (and had water slides), but we thought ours was better :)

The building behind this sea god statue was the Commissioner's House and featured exhibits on the Bermuda Navy and island history. It was really interesting, but unfortunately it was EXTREMELY hot and humid that day so I didn't feel like taking notes.

***Side Note*** I am such a nerd, and have such a terrible memory, that I usually write notes on a little notepad when on tours or at history museums. That way I can remember all the cool details. Tour guides always give me the side-eye. ***End of Side Note***

One of the coolest things in the museum was the Hall of History Mural, which measures 1000 square feet and is 2 stories high! It depicts 500 years of Bermuda history and took 7,000 hours for the artist to complete! Queen Elizabeth II, herself, came to Bermuda to officially open the hall.

After the museum, we decided to check out a miniature golf course that was basically right next door. We had read some awesome reviews about it online, and knew we had to play a round.

This mini-golf course was awesome. The holes were designed after famous holes at real U.S., Scotland and Bermuda golf courses. Each country had 6 holes, and every 6 holes led players back to the bar. A pretty clever design ;) What made it even better is that the seaside course boasted amazing views of the ocean. PLUS, the owner was one of the nicest guys ever.

The next day, we decided to try kayaking. Next to the miniature golf course is a manmade beach area with a bar, volleyball courts, and other amenities - plus kayak rentals. We didn't get any pictures on the water (I didn't want to get my camera or phone wet), but it was a ton of fun and very relaxing. Well, relaxing for me at least ;) Joe was doing most of the rowing since we didn't do very well trying to maneuver the kayak in sync. He enjoyed it though :) We did get a couple of pictures at the beach - I couldn't resist the giant chair photo-op.

That afternoon, we decided to visit Bermuda's capital city, Hamilton. The city is quite small, but it's the island's business and shopping hub. It has some amazing architecture and, of course, pastel buildings.

One of the more interesting things we noticed was the huge number of feral chickens. Apparently, the island is home to around 30,000 of them!

That night, we went on a glass bottom boat tour into the Bermuda Triangle to look at some shipwrecks! It was a really cool tour and, though it was a bit tough to see the ships at night, the darkness really added a level of creepiness of us being on a little boat in the Bermuda Triangle! 

One of the ships that is poking out of the water

The tour was especially interesting because the guide was born and raised on Bermuda, so he told us a ton of interesting facts about the island in general. For example, the roofs of most buildings in Bermuda are white. This is because Bermuda has no fresh water sources, so roofs are painted with a special kind of paint that sanitizes rainwater which is then collected into giant underground basins for residents to use. He also mentioned that Bermuda's cost of living is one of the highest in the world. Even the affordable housing units are over $500,000!

We wanted our last day in Bermuda to be a quick one since we had to be back to the boat by the late afternoon. Plus, that was the day that our 2-day unlimited drink package on the ship started and we wanted to be sure that we got our money's worth ;)

So we decided to head to Horseshoe Beach to check it out. We aren't big beach people (I know, why the heck would be do a tropical vacation then? haha), so we honestly considered skipping it completely. I am so glad we didn't! The bus ride there and back was worth the excursion, since we were able to see more of the island and we had the nicest bus driver ever. Seriously, the man friendly honked to nearly every passing car or bus and would say, "oh, that's my buddy so-and-so" or "oh, that's my uncle." It was really funny.

The beach, itself, was awesome. I would LOVE to bring our kids back there someday as there was this awesome cove area where kids could play in shallow water and look for seashells. We ended up walking around a bit, taking pictures, and dipping our feet in the water.

Nice husband to hold my pink bag.

Wishing I had brought my swimsuit, I could have laid on this beach for hours!

Let's keep this one small... I'm not wearing makeup ;)

The water was so clear! It was gorgeous

Joe wanted some of the famous "pink" sand, but wasn't sure if you were allowed to take any. So he hid behind a trash can to collect some in a baggie.

When we got back to the boat, we immediately put on our swimsuits, grabbed our books, and hit the bar for our first (of many) unlimited drinks.

Now that I've reached the end of our Bermuda days, I realized that I forgot to mention a few other parts of the trip. I wanted to write about.

First, the trip was for our 3rd anniversary so we had to get our traditional chalkboard photo :) They got confused and served us a "Happy Anniversary" dessert at 3 separate dinners. We didn't mind ;) The dinners were always fun. Getting dressed up every night and being able to choose anything on the menu in a fancy dining room was such a blast. Celebrity cruises is known for having good food, and the food did not disappoint in the dining room or at the buffet. It was always yummy. (And probably made me gain 10+ pounds).

Second, Joe and I became semi-celebrities as we were the captains of Battle of the Sexes one night on the boat! It started out as a little group of men and women playing, and exploded and filled the entire lounge. It was a blast - and the women won! (I don't know why they still gave Joe a medal haha). I was actually recognized later on in the cruise as the captain of Battle of the Sexes. I felt famous, and loved it haha.

Eeek. Very unflattering light.

I may or may not have worn my medal the rest of the night

Finally, this trip made us big fans of Celebrity cruise line. Yes, their boats are smaller so there are less extravagances like water slides and superstar entertainment, but we still had a blast. And we preferred the more intimate atmosphere, as it was easy to navigate the boat and there weren't TONS of people. The cruisegoers were older, so it didn't have a party feel at all - which we definitely did not want. Plus there weren't a ton of kids. I love kids, but given that we wanted a more relaxing vacation and we are going to have kids of our own on vacations with us in the not-too-distant future, this was definitely a perk :) 

Also, I mentioned this before, but Celebrity is known for having above-average cruise food. And we were really impressed. Of course it wasn't as good as a fancy restaurant on land, but for the number of people they have to cook for it was solid (at worst) to surprisingly good (at best). While they didn't stage a Broadway show or anything of that magnitude, the entertainment was also really solid. Every night there was a different main show and then they would usually have some kind of late-night entertainment. Usually these were game shows such as the Battle of the Sexes (that I won, remember haha), The Newlywed Game, and Family Feud. 

We had SUCH a great time on this trip, and hope to take lots more cruises in the future :)

Follow me on Bloglovin'

Better Late Than Never - Cruise Part 1

The morning of our cruise, Joe and I were so excited to get to the boat. While I've been on a few cruises before, Joe hasn't ever had the chance and so it was exciting to know that I'd get to experience his first cruise with him.

Moments after we stepped on the ship: FREE champagne in hand :)

Because the staff needs to clean the rooms from the previous cruise, you can't just head to your cabin once you get on the ship. So Joe and I did the next best thing, we hit-up the buffet and took some pictures while we were still docked. It's hard to tell, but behind us in the picture below is New York City. We had a great view of the Statue of Liberty.

Once we got to our cabin, we laughed at how small it was and started unpacking. We couldn't believe how efficient the rooms were despite their size! There was a ton of storage - so much, in fact, that we had more than enough space for our luggage and its (many) contents. 

We discussed signing-up for the unlimited booze package, but since we aren't in college anymore we didn't think our bodies could handle 7 days of hardcore drinking. Plus, we knew we'd be off the boat for 3 of the 6 full days and didn't know that we'd drink enough on the boat to make it worthwhile. We got lucky, though, and overheard a bartender tell a passenger that you can sign-up for the beverage packages with as few as 2 days left on the boat and only pay for those days. SCORE! Our plan was set, and we decided that we'd drink what we wanted the other days and have the unlimited booze to look forward to at the end of the trip.

That night, we went to dinner in the main dining room and attended the opening night performance which was a sampling of the various talent on the ship. There was singing, dancing, comedy, piano playing, etc. It definitely got us excited for what we were in store for the rest of the week! 

The next two days (Monday and Tuesday) were spent "at sea" so there were a variety of activities to keep the cruise goers entertained. One of the activities that was most interesting was a Q&A about cruise dining and a tour of the kitchen. It sounds a little lame, but it was actually really interesting. During the Q&A we learned a ton about how they feed so many people, how they decide on menu items, where the chefs and waitstaff is from, etc. It was also really cool to see the kitchen. I couldn't believe how big it was!

Joe and I also liked playing progressive trivia, where there were three rounds of trivia done over three "at sea" days. The team that had the most points at the end of the cruise would win. Though we were only a team of two, we ended up getting third place on the boat! And that was behind teams as big as 6 people. Yes, we are THAT smart ;)

Wednesday we arrived in Bermuda bright and early! I'll write more on that next time :) 

Follow me on Bloglovin'

Better Late Than Never - Brian's Visit to Philly

And now begins my Better Late Than Never series... which could also be called, I Was Too Lazy This Summer to Bother Blogging.

Summer fun started almost as soon as Joe's classes were finished for the year. Our cruise was booked for June 22nd, and we had asked my brother Brian to fly in and watch Buster while we were gone. Since I don't get to see Brian often, he came a week before our cruise so we could hang out.

The three of us (Brian especially) are really into history and politics. Joe had never been to Washington D.C. before and, with it being only 2(ish) hours away, it was a no-brainer that we'd go while Brian was visiting. We booked a hotel near the city so that we could spend Monday and Tuesday exploring the sites.

We spent the first day looking at the monuments and other D.C. landmarks. It was incredibly hot and humid... nearly unbearable. Plus I made a stupid shoe decision and my feet started hurting literally 10 minutes after we left the car. It was still fun, though :)

Had to apply some bright red lipstick to distract from my sweat-drenched hair

After we were all too exhausted to continue, we decided to head to the hotel. Upon arriving, we noticed that many of the rooms had balconies with rocking chairs. Leave it to Joe, he somehow charmed his way into a free room upgrade. SCORE! The guys were thrilled :)

We ate dinner at the hotel bar. The food was cheap and surprisingly good.

The next day we focused on the Smithsonian museums. Joe is a huge fan of aviation and space, so he was most excited for the Air & Space museum.

I told you he was excited ;)

And, of course, the obligatory shot of Joe somewhere he is too tall for

I was just thrilled to see Dorothy's ruby slippers

After exploring the museums, we headed back to Philly and spent the next couple of days recuperating and playing The Last of Us. Actually, I should clarify. Brian played and Joe and I watched... we aren't that good at shooting video games. But it was a lot of fun to watch and to follow the story.

Thursday night, we had another fun thing on our docket. We were going to be trapped in a room with a zombie!

Yes, you heard me right :)

Trapped in a Room with a Zombie is this cool attraction (for lack of a better word) where you have 60 minutes to solve a series of riddles and puzzles to escape a room. There is a "zombie" in the room attached to a chain, and every 5 minutes the chain releases a little bit so that the longer you are in the room the closer the zombie gets to you. If you get touched by the zombie, you are "eaten" and you have to sit out for the rest of the hour.

Although it was just the three of us in the room, Joe, Brian and I were optimistic that we could solve the puzzles. We realized pretty quick that we were in trouble. It was tough! Being a fan of scary stuff, I really didn't think the zombie would phase me. But I was desperate to not get "eaten." So much so that I actually pushed Brian in front of me at one point when the zombie got close.

Yes, I am a terrible sister.

Luckily he did not get "eaten."

In the end, we did not solve the puzzles and escape. They walked us through how to get out of the room once the hour was up, and we would have needed more people, more time, or clearer brains (we were all exhausted) to have had any hope of getting out of that room. But it was still a blast. I would LOVE to go again when they change the puzzles (which they are supposed to do soon).

Our last major event was the Philadelphia Comic Con on Friday. We were really excited to go because there were supposed to be several actors from The Walking Dead in attendance. Unfortunately the two we were most excited for (Daryl and Maggie) were slated to be there on Saturday, not Friday. Boo :(

Before we went to the convention center, though, we hit up Reading Terminal Market for some sandwiches from DiNics. While known for their pork sandwiches, their Italian beef brisket sandwich is one of the most amazing things I've ever eaten. It's not pretty, but it is FABULOUS.

MMMMMMMMMMM.....

Comic Con ended up being fun, despite not seeing Daryl and Maggie. Lori, Shane and Herschel were there - so that was pretty sweet. I took a couple of sneaky pictures of Herschel, which is strictly against the rules so I won't post them ;) We didn't get any autographs or professional pics, because we are too cheap for that haha.

It was really cool to see all of the vendors, especially the artists. There were so many talented people! I ended up getting two T-shirts:

That's it for our adventures with Brian! Tune in next time for a re-cap of our cruise :)

Follow me on Bloglovin'