Havana, Cuba

May 12, 2018

Today we arrived at the Port of Havana. The first thing John and I both noticed was how dirty the water was. It was full of oil it looked like black mud. The first thing we drove by was the American Embassy with all the famous flagpoles in front of it. There were no flags blocking it, but the poles were all there. We then drove about 3 hours to the Vinales Valley and visited the home of a cigar farmer and got a cache to see him roll a cigar which was pretty cool. The next stop was the Mural de la Prehistoria and took a few pics of the big mural.

The coolest part of being in Havana was the World Famous Tropicana show. If you are planning on going to Cuba make sure you purchase the tickets ahead of time.

May 13, 2018 

Today we had another tour scheduled the first stop was a visit to the Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabana Fort and walked around that for about an hour the last stop on the long tour day was the El Cristo de la Habana Statue.

Follow us on our journey the next destination is Cienfuegos, Cuba.

If you love food check out what we ate while cruising around in Cuba http://stomachsoverloaded.com/2018/05/oceania-cruises-cuba-cruise/

Cigar Rolling

Cigar seeds

Mural de la prehistoria

El Cristo de La Habana

John & Maria

New York – 2017

New York – 2017

This year our trip to NY started in Manhattan for five days and then we drove to Montauk (my favorite place ever) for a few days, and we love acting like tourists now that we don’t live in NY anymore. It’s fantastic that we are exploring more of NY now that we don’t live there.

If you would like to see where and what we are while in NY.

We took a horse and carriage ride through Central Park – A must if you are visiting Manhattan.

Tree inside the Cartier Store

Inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral

We rented a rowboat in Central Park which was fun.

Pretty Christmas Tree at the New York Palace Hotel

Pretty wreath in BLT Steakhouse
The food was OK I wouldn’t recommend it. My favorite steakhouse is The Old Homestead 🙂

New York Philharmonic Show

Montauk – We rented a cottage at Gurney’s Resort

Montauk Lighthouse 

Deep Hollow Ranch – Oldest Cattle Ranch in the USA

The best drink stirrers EVER!!!

The coolest tree-lined home in East Hampton on Further Lane

Whenever we are in Montauk we always eat at Zum Schneider

We order the Pork Shank – It is delicious!!

We also always stop at John’s Drive-In and get soft ice cream, of course, I had to have chocolate one day and vanilla the next. I am an ice cream JUNKIE!!!!

Leaving Montauk and driving back to the city we always stop at another favorite spot it’s in Poxabogue. Make sure you order the BLT it is the best we have ever had!

Bermuda

November 11, 2017

Today we flew to Bermuda and settled into our hotel once again a Hilton Timeshare RCI property and it could’ve been a little nicer it’s just not up to par.  They didn’t give you a shampoo or conditioner and the bar of soap they give you is really small and you only get one for the shower and for the sink.

The place was called St. George’s Inn. The cottage was nice the view was great, but the internet was an issue. While we are away we are still working so I desperately need a good internet connection. After settling in, we had to get ready to go to dinner. We took a taxi which cost us $50 each way to the Barracuda Grill. I ordered the goat cheese, and roasted beets appetizer and the suckling pig roast for my entree and John had foie gras and rockfish for dinner. The food was delicious!

November 12, 2017
Today we decided to walk into town to grab some breakfast.  We found this place called GoJo’s Coffee House, and we ate a Tomato, Avocado & Bacon sandwich which was amazing.  Afterward, we hired a tour guide for the whole day to take us around to see the island. We were lucky we got the most delightful tour guide. Her name was Gloria she took us around the entire Island. It was great because she knows everybody on the island, so we got 5-star treatment everywhere we went. We started out with a tour of crystal caves. They were utterly breathtaking. One of the great things about visiting in the offseason is that all our pictures and places we visited were mainly empty. The next stop on today’s tour was Gibbs Hill Lighthouse which has 185 steps which we climbed and were able to go outside and take panoramic pictures of Bermuda. Afterward, Gloria took us to Elbow Beach Hotel, and we had a delicious lunch at Mickey’s Beach Bistro. I ordered the Penne Bolognese which was out of this world and John ordered the Tuna wrap which was good as well.

After a 7 hour tour, we went back to our hotel and relaxed a bit before getting ready for dinner. We walked to Wahoo and had a great meal. I ordered the wiener schnitzel, and John ordered the fish three ways (grilled snapper, broiled wahoo & seared rockfish)

November 13, 2017
Today we got a taxi to take us to The Hamilton Princess Hotel to pick up the Twizy once we rented it we drove to the dockyard and ended up purchasing two handmade bowls from Jon Faulkner Pottery. Afterward, we needed to park the Twizy to charge the battery, so we decided to have lunch at Swizzle Inn which was ok. Later we drove back to the hotel and relaxed the rest of the evening in our cottage.

November 14, 2017
Today we got into the Twizy again (which by the way is uncomfortable), and we drove to St. David’s Island and walked around, took a bunch of pictures. We then drove to The Loren Hotel and had lunch while we charged it up. I ordered the Caprese panini (which was flavorless), and John had turkey club. After lunch, we drove to our cottage and relaxed until we had to get ready for dinner. Tonight we ate at Griffins which is in our hotel. I ordered the Bermuda Fish Chowder, and The Ribeye steak and John ordered the Seafood crepe and Tagliatelle sirloin. Dinner was delicious!

November 15, 2017
Today we took a ride to St. Catherine’s Fort and then drove the Twizy back to The Hamilton Princess Hotel and dropped it off. We then walked to the Harbourfront Restaurant for lunch. I ordered the Dim Sum Dumplings as an appetizer and Roasted half chicken for my entree and John ordered the escargot as an appetizer and had the special of the day which was a sea bass dish. The food was fantastic we loved everything we ordered.

After lunch we took a cab back to our hotel which is located in St. George’s and we decided to take a walk to visit St. Peter’s Church and The Unfinished Church we had a late lunch, so we decided to stay in and eat a few leftovers we had.

November 16, 2017
Today we rented a scooter and rode to St. David’s Lighthouse, and we went back to St. David’s Island to take better pictures because the other day it was cloudy. Afterward, we had lunch at Rosewood Tucker’s Point Restaurant called The Grille Room. I ordered the Grille Bolognese and John had the Spaghetti Carbonara. After lunch, we decided to visit Warwick Long Bay Beach, Stonehole Bay Beach and Horseshoe Bay Beach. We walked along all the beaches to see all the little alcoves. We went back to the hotel and relaxed a bit before getting ready for dinner at Tom Moore’s Tavern. I ordered the escargot, and stuffed quail and John had foie gras and salmon. The service and the food were great.

November 17, 2017
Today we returned the scooter and just walked around and found a cute little breakfast spot called Mama Angie’s Coffee Shop and we both had a delicious BLT. Afterward, we just walked around town and checked out some of the stores. We also got a chance to see the 18th-century re-enactment show that they put on twice a week check out the video below.

The only complaint I have with the St. George’s Inn was that after we checked out of our cottage and asked the front desk to keep our luggage in a room for a few hours.  They left our bags outside on the side of the building where NOBODY would be able to see if someone walked off with it.

Our unattended luggage

Crystal Caves

The Loren Hotel
John

Maria

Maria at Gibb’s Hill Lighthouse
Gibb’s Hill Lighthouse

Lighthouse Bulb

Heydon Trust Chapel
Maria & John

Somerset – Smallest Drawbridge in the World

Maria & John

The Flatts

Twizy

Fort St. Catherine

Veteran’s Memorial
Poppy wreaths

St. Peter’s Church in St. George’s

My view while working
St. David’s Lighthouse

John
Maria

Pretty pond at the Rosewood Golf Course

Passion Flower Parfum
Our farewell Dark & Stormy at the airport bar

I know, I know too many pictures of myself – I loved my outfits so I decided to post them.

Naples, Florida

March 18, 2016 – Flying the bomber
Today we went to Naples, Florida airport where they had a few retired military planes, and we got a chance to fly in one which was great.

John and I are HUGE supporters of our military.

If you would like to see what and where we have eaten while in Naples.

John

Maria & John

Our pilots and crew 🙂 – Maria & John

Hayes Hall – ArtisNaples.org concert hall had an art exhibit which was amazing. Philip Haas: The Four Seasons

 

Melbourne, Florida

March 01, 2016 – Daytime Air Show, March 02, 1026 – Nighttime Air Show
Show at Melbourne International Airport – Our friend Jerry from New York was visiting so we decided to take him to an air show which we love, and it was once again amazing.

While we were at the Air show they had a Ferrari that you could take a ride in for $150 so we decided to buy a ride for this young man Named Justin that was there. He loved it!!!

Fort Pierce, Florida

We own a condo in Ft. Pierce so here are a few pictures of that area. One great thing about Fort Pierce is that the Navy Seals started there so make sure you check out the Navy Seal Museum.

If you would like to see what and where we ate while in Ft. Pierce. 

Our view from our master bedroom in our condo
Nasa missile launch

Picture of lighting that I took from our deck

Our Visit to the Navy Seal Museum

August 13, 2016 
John and I are huge supporters of our military and this museum is an excellent one to visit.

The house where Bin Laden was hiding in Packistan

Portland, Oregon

July 13, 2017
Today we flew into Portland, Oregon to take the scenic drive to Walla Walla, Washington to visit friends of ours. The ride was pretty the different landscapes were amazing and picturesque. It took us three hours to get to Walla Walla which wasn’t too bad.

If you want to see more about our trip to Walla Walla, click this link.

July 17, 2017
Today we checked out of our hotel in Walla Walla and headed back to Portland. We had some time to spare, so we decided to check out the Booneville Lock & Dam which was cool. After that, we decided to check out the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area which had a fantastic waterfall.

Mt. Hood

Mt. Hood
Booneville Lock & Dam Turbine
Booneville Lock & Dam
Pacific Lambprey

Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area

New York State

John and I were both born and raised in New York, so this blog is mainly all pictures. If you have any questions or are looking for suggestions, please write to me, and I will be glad to go into details.

If you would like to see where and what we are while in NY.

 

Photo credit – WantedVisual

Our backyard

I love this picture – Maria with her step-daughters
Pretty tree lined street on Long Island
Maria and her beautiful daughter Alex
Lady Liberty

Historical Pepsi Cola Sign along the Hudson River
Maria & John at a game – NY Yankees

CitiField The home of the NY Mets taken from an airplane

Montauk – The End of Long Island

Montauk is my absolute favorite place to visit. I can’t explain it but I just feel so great whenever we are there. Most people hear about the Hamptons but this is my go-to place. Unfortunately, it has become a popular vacation spot and it’s much busier.

John

John & Logan

Glider Ride over Long Island – September 14, 2012

We took a relaxed glider ride over beautiful Long Island. It was such a fun thing to do I would highly recommend everyone do it.

Maria & John

Maria & John

Maria

Jones Beach Air Show – May 28, 2011

Every year on memorial day weekend there is an air show at Jones Beach. John and I have both been to several air shows. We both love them and they are very entertaining.

Maria having fun with her beautiful daughter Alex
Alex & Maria

NY Giants Game