Today we visited the KokoMana chocolate farm and factory in Fiji. Here cocoa is grown in environmentally sustainable conditions. We learned about the many processing steps used to develop the unique flavor of their chocolate in their small factory. Although KokoMana has several flavors of chocolate, they produce only 200 bars weekly. Compare that […]
The weather was so nasty in Tonga yesterday that most people stayed on board. Ultra-high winds and waves made it so we couldn’t even leave safely, and we immediately returned after departing and tied up for the night. However, Father Patrick, our ship’s resident priest, arranged to have about 50 of the folks have a […]
We have been sailing around The Pacific and visiting various islands circled in red. Each certainly has its own personality, but all have the same clear, beautiful, warm water surrounding them. We visited Rarotonga on a Sunday which means that stores were closed and no alcohol was being served due to strict religious observation. Since […]
If you haven’t been here, when you think of the romantic South Pacific, you probably think of Tahiti. It happens to be that it is the economic, cultural, and political center and is home to 70% of the population. It just isn’t what you saw in the movie South Pacific. It was quite pleasant waking up […]
We started our four-month cruise three weeks ago and have had a blast renewing friendships with so many folks onboard Crystal Serenity. This is the first port that is a new stop for us. Fewer than 1,000 people live here. It is clean, pretty, and quite serine. When we arrived on shore, I asked […]
Alaska cruises are always fantastic. You just can’t beat the scenery. Add to that, that we hit the jackpot with the weather this week, which shows off the natural beauty even more spectacularly. We woke up this morning in The Endicott Arm, a narrow fjord is located approximately 50 miles southeast of Juneau. It extends […]
We are on an Alaska cruise for a week. Skagway, Alaska, home to about 1,200 folks, is defined by the Klondike Goldrush in the late 1890s. Today the city is booming again thanks to about 8,000 cruise passengers every single day in the summer. The city is cute as can be. Getting out of town […]
Today we visited the USS Silversides Museum located in Muskegon, Michigan, on the east side of Lake Michigan. The highlight was a complete walkthrough of the ship. She was a Gato-class submarine. They were able to build 77 of these type subs between 1940 and 1944. Some interesting numbers and factoids about Gatos: They could […]
After decades of population decline, Detroit is once again growing. And it is easy to see why. All over the city we saw clean streets and buildings, no graffiti and massive construction. We have not been to a more underrated city. They have fabulous museums, housing, restaurants, offices, and shopping. We focused our visit at […]
We spent the morning at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Fabulous! Did you know that Allyn played the guitar and sang professionally in various bars from 1972 – 1974 to put herself through college? We stopped by the football stadium walking back to the ship. Cleveland fun factoids: Even though the city is […]