Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Sunrise
Dates: September 29-October 6. 2019
Home Port: Brooklyn, New York City

Ports of Call:
Boston, Massachusetts
Portland, Maine
Halifax, Nova Scotia
St. John, Newfoundland

Planned Excursions:
Boston – We plan to take a trip to Salem, Massachusetts for the day.
Portland – Discover Portland trolley tour and Casco Bay cruise
Halifax – Double-decker bus tour
St. John – Trolley tour

August 15, 2019 – Update:
Our first and hopefully only monkey wrench has been delivered. We are no longer sailing out of Manhattan, but rather Brooklyn, due to Pier 92 being deemed unsafe and in need of repairs. This change affects thousands of people who have worked hard to put their travel and transportation plans into effect. And we all wanted to sail past the Statue of Liberty! The question that is on many of our minds is, when did the Port Authority notify Carnival that this port change needed to be made? Simply because if they’ve known for months and continued to sell this cruise departing from Manhattan, then shame on Carnival! We decided to change our hotel from midtown Manhattan, which would have been so close to the old pier location, to downtown Manhattan, closer to to the new pier location.

What to pack? Well, part of the answer to that question is easy…no TSA lines as we are taking the train to NYC the day before we set sail. But, as we all know, fall weather can be very unpredictable. Rain? Fog? Sleet? Sunshine? Snow?? So, the need to pack an assortment of clothing that can be mixed and matched and layered is key, along with a couple pairs of shoes, in case we get stuck in the rain. And, since Carnival allows certain beverage carry-ons, we plan to bring some wine and Diet Coke from home as well. There’s no 3oz. liquid limit on a train!

October 6, 2019 – Update – The train trip from Union Station to Penn Station was ok – we booked Acela. We used Red Cap services for luggage and wheelchair assistance. We were not greeted with luggage and wheelchair assistance as requested when we arrived in NYC however. Our return trip from Penn Station to Union Station was a little jostling to be honest. We had very good service on both ends from Red Cap upon our return to Union Station.

October 10, 2019 – Update – I have just learned that the cruise that embarked the same day we disembarked will be missing several ports of call due to a nor’easter. Feel sorry for those folks. Glad it didn’t happen to us! Just proves there’s always something to be thankful for!

Port Hi-lights –
New York – The 911 Memorial was a definite must see for us. Sobering reality seeing the names of the victims and the Survivor Tree. We enjoyed an Italian dinner at Harry’s with Karen’s friend, Dana, on Saturday night. Our hotel was under construction so we needed to drag luggage to the corner for any transportation options. We walked to the South Street Seaport to see the tall ship. We were concerned that we wouldn’t sail by the Statue of Liberty with the port change. The Captain did not disappoint! He did 2 complete 360 degree revolutions so everyone got to see Lady Liberty as we sailed out of port. Good job Captain!

Boston – Headed to Salem for the day which is about a 45 minute drive from Boston. There’s also a ferry between Boston & Salem, but we decided not to take it due to the pier locations on both ends. Salem is very walkable, with shops and restaurants a’plenty. Near the Visitor’s Center is where you pick up the trolley for a tour around the city. Met Karen’s friends, Belle and Victor, for lunch at LongBoards and a little shopping. Found a Christmas store – Merry & Bright – for our Salem ornament.

Apologies for the double pictures. I’m baffled as to why or how to correct it. Believe me…I’ve tried!

Portland – Enjoyed a trolley tour of Portland withPortland Discovery Land & Sea Tours, that included a 30-minute stop at Portland Head lighthouse…in the rain. Which was not enough time! Enjoyed a lobster roll and Haddock bites lunch at Portland Lobster while listening to a live band, in between our trolley tour and boat tour. Then headed out on Casco Bay for a cruise around to see the lighthouses.

St. John – Finally a beautiful day with sunshine. Enjoyed a few beers, harbor-side with some shopping for ornaments after a trolley tour. Got a couple unique, locally made ornaments, made from the mud of the Bay of Fundy by a ‘character’ who was great and friendly. Also saw the reversing water falls during our trolley tour.

Halifax – Another tour by original London double-decker buses to acquaint us with the area. Then a trip down from the terminal for a local brew. The terminal had many vendors inside. We found a beautiful pewter ornament, called Winter Blossom. At least it didn’t snow, as was predicted!

Sadly, the fall foliage part of this tour basically eluded us, despite what the website that tracks it stated. We did see a tree here and there but nothing like the pictures you see posted of beautiful colors. The weather was cool…ok cold!…for me, with wind and rainy, overcast skies. Just not ideal fall cruising to the Atlantic Northeast. The water got rough, with white caps as we left Portland and headed to Canada. Once in Canada, the waters smoothed out.

In Summary –
Our overall satisfaction with this cruise is not very high. This will most likely be the last time we sail Carnival. The ports were ok as we wanted to visit them and sail from NYC. The onboard experience was something else again. At least for us. (Feel free to read IMHO blog post.) The biggest negatives that hit us hard were the responses (or lack thereof) to concerns we expressed to Guest Services and crew staff. Who knew that the ship didn’t have heat in the cabins? And guess who is coughing and blowing her nose as she writes this? What was Carnival thinking when they sent a “Caribbean” ship to the Atlantic Northeast in October? Overall food quality was poor in both execution and temperature. Normally we enjoy going to the ship’s shows, but not on this cruise. Bug bites – oh yeah…while sleeping. Our cabin was on the Lido deck, too close to the elevators and open atrium. Lots of noise from both, sometimes making it difficult to traverse the hallways as people gathered to participate or watch and enjoy the music or partying. We keep experiencing different locations on the ships as we travel, hopefully we booked a better cabin location for our next cruise! What can I say about the crew? Severely lacking, for the most part, in customer service skills. I guess we are just used to a better experience overall. We did enjoy the piano bar and the electric violin trio.

There was a mix of ages on this cruise from infants to senior citizens. I personally found it to be a bit overwhelming at times with 3000 passengers on board. There were many passengers with mobility aids from canes to walkers to scooters to wheelchairs. I’m saddened to hear some of the stories about instances involving these passengers. A few times, my cane was ‘kicked’ out from under me as people rushed by. I was almost going to ‘kiss the floor’ as a lady who wasn’t watching where she was going rammed into my right shoulder from behind, causing me to lose my balance. Thankfully, I managed to stay upright on a wet, slippery deck. I have never had these issues on any other cruise ship. We’ve likened sailing Carnival to a ‘store brand’ while preferring a ‘name brand.’ The old adage is true: You get what you pay for!

Karen makes selecting pictures to post very difficult, with approximately 1900 shots taken on this cruise. Check out the gallery to the left for the chosen few!

To reach a port we must set sail ⛵
Sail, not tie at anchor ⚓
Sail, not drift. 🌊
~Franklin D. Roosevelt

Without a doubt, Florida’s three cruise ports – Port Canaveral, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami – are undeniably busy, serving the Caribbean and eastern coast ports of call. All the major cruise lines call one or all three their home port. We have sailed out of all three on various cruise lines. Port Canaveral/Orlando is busy and that’s due to Carnival and Disney being major players in that market. Ft. Lauderdale and Miami are exceptionally busy as they service the Caribbean and its many ports of call.

But, according to a recent Cruise Critic post, below are considered the busiest ports, (not counting Florida):

• Cozumel
• Barcelona
• Venice
• Rome (Civitavecchia)
• St. Thomas
• Grand Cayman

Chances are you won’t be on the only ship in port! Imagine each ship has approximately 1000-6000 passengers each. That’s a lot of people in port at the same time! Of course, the ship’s arrivals and departures are staggered somewhat, but there are usually at least a couple in port at the same time. The local businesses thrive on being a busy port of call for landlubber sailors of all ages. The Caribbean is a hot spot, as are major cities in Europe. And, if the port of call is on a river in Europe? Yes, those ports get busy as well with 2-5 longships in port at the same time. And, if there is not enough dock space, the longships ‘raft’ together. To disembark you walk through other ships’ lobbies!

Karen and I have been on ‘a few’ … ok many…cruises with various cruise lines. Each cruise was different but all handle disembarkation at the pier in a very similar manner. After passing through the security check point on board, and heading down the gangway, you will need to pass through a port terminal. All port terminals are not created equal! Some are small walk-throughs, others have shops to grab your last souvenirs, some have excursion booths for that last minute decision to explore, some have currency exchange booths, but all have security posted. A Red Stripe beer never tasted so good, as to enjoy it on the Jamaican pier with the ship in the background. And there are always taxis, private cars, golf carts, mopeds and other unique forms of transportation available right outside most terminals. Upon returning to your ship, you must go through terminal security, showing your ship card and often your passport or photo ID. You will also need to go through ship security to return on board.

Many ports also have vendors that set up their wares just outside of the terminal. Generally, it is all local items. Most vendors respect you and don’t hassle like in the straw markets for example. You are welcome to talk to them and check out their items. Straw markets, for me, are very scary places! Everyone wants you to look at their booth and buy something. They will even follow you after you say “no thank you” in an attempt to gain your purchase, often times lowering the price. Still, this behavior makes me uncomfortable. I’m sure others love it, however!

Not all ships dock at a stationary pier. Some must anchor off-shore and use the ship’s lifeboats as tenders to get from ship to shore. Unless the seas are choppy, the ride and easy on-easy off access is…well…easy! But let Mother Nature kick up a bit of a tantrum and the seas get a tad wild. All credit goes to the crew member at the helm for aligning a very rocking boat up with a small opening in the ship to disgorge its passengers. And, don’t worry if you are unsteady because the boat is bobbing and weaving in the water, there are muscled crewmen on both boats to help you make that treacherous step safely. I know this for a fact, as on one of our voyages the seas were churning and I was virtually lifted off the tender and placed safely into the opening on the anchored ship. Another shout out to the crew for all their efforts to return the lifeboat back to its mooring on board the ship while in choppy waters. It takes precision to line up the boat and do it all safely for crew on the tender as well as on the ship. I watched this process for an hour! Also, just a note, due to adverse sea conditions, if your port of call has your ship anchored off-shore and using a tender, the captain may decide to forego that port. While it is always sad to miss a much-anticipated port of call, understand that the captain is acting on behalf of every single passenger and crew member on board to keep them safe.

Keep your itinerary in mind, when booking a cruise. Just because your itinerary says you dock in Montreal, for example, does not mean that you will actually see much of the city! Depending on whether you are extending your stay, most disembark the ship before 9AM and are whisked away to the airport to catch flights returning weary, yet relaxed and sometimes sun-burned passengers back to reality at home. And, yes, we have experienced this scenario a few times!

Havana, Cuba brought us into an old terminal area and near several squares and market places. Sidewalks are narrow and not in the best shape for easy walking.

Nassau, Bahamas piers are just a block off the main market and shops area. Very walkable. The last time we were there, there were 3 other large ships in port.

Venice, Italy was probably one of our favorite cruise ports where the ship was docked. We had direct access to a complimentary water taxi that took us over to St. Mark’s Square and all it offers. Very convenient!

Bergen, Norway changed our port location due to a famous bike race. Instead of being in the center of it all, we were berthed in an industrial area. Due to safety concerns, we were not allowed to walk into Bergen. A shuttle bus was provided from the ship out of the industrial area. We still needed to walk a couple of blocks to get into town and the port area with Unesco buildings, but that was ok as we saw some buildings and areas we might not have seen otherwise.

Rome, Italy was probably the least favorite due to its location and distance from the city – it’s about an hour away, depending on how fast your driver drives! Tour buses normally estimate the drive at 1-1/2 hours. Which really doesn’t give you much time to traverse Rome if you are only in port for one day. The port can serve 8 cruise ships at a time. You do the math! There’s just too much to see and do! When we arrived, there was one other couple checking in – the terminal was empty! Quick check in and then up the long gangway onto the ship. In the city, Rome is very busy, especially around main attractions such as the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain and Vatican City.

Barcelona, Spain‘s port is in an industrial area, so not much to look at. The pier can accommodate 7 ships at a time and is within walking distance to Las Ramblas, which we did not walk into due to time constraints.

Cozumel, Mexico‘s pier is walkable to the bars and tourist shop spots. Very convenient. There can be as many as 7 ships in port at any given time during peak season, docking at 3 piers. Note: This is a stock photo of the pier. We were there many years ago. Times and the pier have changed. But, we were on a Carnival cruise!

Brooklyn, New York is the first New York port we have cruised out of, by default. We were originally scheduled to cruise out of Manhattan but due to pier repairs, our embarkation port was changed. Definitely not as convenient as the Manhattan port would have been. This last minute change affected 1000’s of passengers who already had hotel and transfers in place. Plus, in checking, there are not one but two races on both ends of our cruise to add to the delays, confusion and frustration.

Halifax, Nova Scotia has a nice port terminal filled with vendors selling just about everything you want to take home from blueberry jam to t-shirts to postcards to Christmas ornaments and lots more! Excursions leave from just outside the door.

St. John, Newfoundland – Just a little idea of the embarking process – long lines and often steep ramps. They did offer wheelchair assistance, if you were lucky enough to snag a crew member. Imagine pushing a passenger, in a wheelchair, up those ramps! Walkable to town at harbor side for bars, music, shops and more.

It’s hard to pick a place to go when you want to go everywhere.

A photo post of beer that Karen has enjoyed from around the world. I’m sure I’ve missed some pictures, but you get the idea! Bottoms Up!

NOTE:
This page will be updated as we travel
and experience the local beers, so check back often!

While we did not receive many entries into our “Where in the World” promotion, we did receive a few. Thanks to those of you who played along! The itineraries chosen were:

• 8 Countries/1 Cruise
• Australia & New Zealand Cruise
• African Safari
• Holiday Pacific Coast Cruise

Actually, we have considered each and every one of the six itineraries that were listed. However, our next cruise is this December, for the Holiday Pacific Coast Cruise. We will be leaving out of Los Angeles, heading to Santa Barbara/Solvang, San Francisco/Sausalito/Muir Woods, Catalina Island, Monterey and Ensenada, Mexico. We are trying out a new cruise line – Oceania – for this trip. They have smaller ships and many interesting itineraries here and abroad. As well as some interesting perks they offer, such as a choice of on-board credits (OBC), beverage package, air, shore excursions and more. The ships offer complimentary WiFi so we will be able to post our trip postcards and updates as we sail. It will be nice to get out of the cold northeast and head to warmer climates which are all dressed up for the holidays! We enjoy traveling during Christmas-time and seeing all the decorations and feeling the spirit of the holidays around us.

The gift card was for the National Parks.
The top 10 most visited National Parks are:

1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park
2. Grand Canyon National Park
3. Rocky Mountain National Park
4. Zion National Park
5. Yellowstone National Park
6. Yosemite National Park
7. Acadia National Park
8. Grand Teton National Park
9. Olympic National Park
10. Glacier National Park

Visit your favorite national park soon! Or, enjoy a different one!
Go! Seek! Explore!

Long before traveling internationally, road trips were the way we traveled across the United States. Always searching for a new place to see. And new things to do. In our travels, we come across some odd and unique roadside attractions.

In San Antonio, a huge cowboy boot at a mall. On our way to Key West, a giant lobster named Big Betsy. On Route 66 in Arizona, dinosaurs and teepees and great roadside stops. There’s been teapots and shoes. Chairs and cars. Coffee cups and martini glasses. A sombrero-adorned statue in South of the Border. A colorful buoy claiming the southern most point of the U.S. in Key West. Don’t forget about Cadillac Ranch in Texas. All unusually large renditions. There’s always the car or boat or motorcycle through the roof of a building. Various entrances to attractions that feature walking through the mouth of a dragon, an alligator, a dinosaur, a whale…you get the idea. One of my all-time favorites is the Neon Boneyard in Las Vegas, featuring many old casino marquees and area signs. Not to mention the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign. Stand on the corner in Winslow, Arizona and sing along with the Eagles. Enjoy the beautiful murals on the sides of buildings across small and big town USA. You can drive through Washington, D.C. for roadside views of many of the monuments and historical buildings. Better still, plan to visit them! The Smithsonian offers free admission! A good way to take a break from driving is to pull off the highway at a vista-view site. Get out of the car. Stretch your legs. Read the plaques that describe the view or significance of the area. Enjoy the view! Check out the world’s tallest thermometer in Baker, California. What about checking out Mount Rushmore in South Dakota? Or a ghost town in Rhyolite, Nevada where a house is made from 50,000 bottles? Or check out the huge boot in front of L.L. Bean in Maine.Each state has something! There’s a website (see below) where you can indicate the desired state and receive a list of tourist attractions, from the unusual to the bizarre!

A fun family participation sport is called Geocache (www.geocache.com). Using satellites and a hand-held GPS, find your destination using coordinates to locate a treasure box or a significant historical or interesting object or building. Sign the log. Bring swag to exchange. Or better yet, create your own geocache in your neighborhood! Geocaching brought us to many locations we may never have experienced without our GPS and sense of adventure. The caches are ability-rated so even mobility challenged folks can enjoy getting out and about to participate in this sport!

Craving weird food? Or weirdly decorated restaurants? They are also out there. For instance the Road Kill Cafe on Route 66, stuffed with way too much taxidermy and menu items with rather gross names. Or a 50’s diner in Yermo, California called Peggy Sue’s with Elvis watching you eat your fried bologna sandwich.

As a child, Burma Shave signs dotted the roadside. It was also a fun way to pass the time reading the messages as we drove by.

Everything from ghost towns such as Calico Ghost Town in California to above ground cemeteries in New Orleans to nature’s oddities to unusual monuments await your discovery. Plan a road trip! Visit an unusual road side attraction. The beauty of road trips is that you can go at your own pace. No large groups. No buses to travel on. Just you and your car and a loved one or two. Have fun!

Here’s a couple of websites to get you started:
Roadsideattractions.com
atlasobscura.com

What do you think of the new ‘trick’ I learned about putting pictures within the post, instead of the gallery? I’m pretty pleased with it, if I do say so myself!

Not all those who wander are lost.
– J.R.R. Tolkien

The worst part about traveling as far as I’m concerned! Here’s a few ideas of how to avoid jet lag after hours of travel, across the states or across the pond!

• Always set your clock to the local time – The best way to acclimate to a new time zone is to embrace it. You may be tired, but best to set your clock or watch to the local time. Still adhere to your normal bedtime, in the new time zone. Avoid napping when you get to your destination the first day. Go out and explore! You’ll be ready to sleep at bedtime.
• Go easy on the alcohol – Alcohol tends to dehydrate, which can lead to a nasty hangover if overindulgent.
• Drink plenty of water – Water not only keeps you hydrated, it gives you a good reason to get up, stretch and take a walk…to the onboard lavatory!
• Get up and stretch – Long flight? When the captain turns off the seat belt sign (hopefully!), stand up, walk up and down the aisle, just don’t congregate near the galley or rest rooms. they tend to not like that! While seated, do not cross your legs or feet. Do some sitting exercises such as rolling your ankles, march quietly in place and pointing/flexing your toes. Just don’t be too energetic and disturb the person next to you!
• Arrive a day or two early – Always good advice. But not always practical.

As always, safe travels!

I’m a rather ‘late blooming’ fan of the PBS show, Downton Abbey. I pretty much power watched all 6 seasons on my little iPad screen! Afterwards, I realized that Amazon Prime can be viewed on our TV!

I really thought I wanted to visit their exhibit but never really expressed that thought to Karen, as she’s never watched the show. (But that’s soon to change!) By the time I did mention it, it was too late for Palm Beach. And our fall cruise that stops in Boston is too late as the exhibition will be closed before that port of call. Oh well…or so I thought!

Karen texted me one day and said there was availability at the Four Seasons in Boston for our stay. Book it, Danno! So, another yet unplanned getaway for 2 nights. I’m really looking forward to seeing the exhibition the afternoon we arrive. Dinner from Maggiano’s is planned.

Every time I say, we can’t fit any more travel into the budget
or the schedule, we usually manage to do it anyway!

Our plan for Day 2 is a little cruise around the harbor area and lighthouse searching. And probably (haddock) fish & chips in an Irish pub (MJ O’Connor’s) for dinner. Since we were just in Boston last fall and did many of the touristy things, this will be a much more relaxed visit. Our fall cruise has a port stop in Boston, but we plan to pass and head to Salem instead for the day. Busy! Busy! And that’s the way we like it!

And, as usual Mother Nature had to visit us while we were away. Seems we can never take a vacation without her showing up! So, no cruise around the harbor. And no special lobster boat cruise to see the lighthouses up close. But thanks, Karen, for the almost special surprise! No boats were going out due to large swells, wind and overcast skies with threat of torrential rain. Instead, we rented a car and drove to very cute villages of Rockport and Gloucester. Enjoyed strolling harbor-side and checking out the shops and restaurants. We made it back to Boston in the rain late afternoon. At least we enjoyed the better part of the day with warm temps, sunshine and rain-free!

The sun was shining again on departure day…of course. But since we had a late check-out and flight, we took advantage of the weather and walked across the street to Boston Commons. The historical area was bustling with moms and strollers, walkers and joggers. And the famous swan boats were winding down their season. As we visited later in the season last year, we missed them. This is one of the best deals in Boston! Definitely handicap-friendly with hardly a step at all to enter and exit the pedal-powered boat. And it’s pedal-powered by someone else! A few rows of park-like benches and a pedaler between the iconic swans and we were off around the lagoon and under the beautiful bridge. Ducks, swans, turtles and sunshine! What a great way to end our short trip! All too soon, we were off to the airport.

Karen snapped over 400 photos while we were gone. Check out the gallery to the right of this post to enjoy the sights!

And as additional treat and continuing with the DA theme, we will be attending Downton Abbey Fan Night in Georgetown, viewing the new Downton Abbey movie a week before it officially premieres! All this should satisfy us for a while until the next DA movie comes out!

As I’ve said before, I need to see and do as much as I can, while I can.
Oh the trips we have planned!

No truer words can be spoken.

A year or so ago, I wrote a Facebook post about this very thing. Erasing our history, like it didn’t exist. Today, that phrase above was very evident as Karen and I toured Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C.

As usual, or so it seems, when we plan to do anything touristy, the skies darken and the sun refuses to shine. And, it rains. We joke that it looks like we never change our clothes as all our pictures seem to show us wearing the same raincoats! Today, we decided to tour the Ford’s Theater. Yes, that Ford’s Theater. Where our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865. We all learned about this in grade school. Back then, I didn’t think I’d ever visit this historic location. Today, I’m glad I had the opportunity to see yet another historic site, here in our nation’s capital.

“Abraham Lincoln was an American statesman and lawyer who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the nation through the American Civil War, its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. He preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the U.S. economy.”*

The timed-entry tour began at 11AM. We were a bit early, so we perused the gift shop. We headed down the stairs to the lower level where the museum is located. Here you can see the derringer, the bloody pillow and the suit, all involved in that fateful night. You can watch short movies about Lincoln and Douglas’s ongoing friendship. You can see tableaus and displays about Lincoln’s life. After viewing the museum, we located an elevator that took us to the balcony of the theater. Impressive! And no stairs to climb! After visiting the balcony, we headed down to orchestra level, where many gathered to hear a short live presentation on the events that led to the fateful night of Lincoln’s assassination. Next stop: Petersen House (included in tour ticket), where Lincoln was taken after the shooting and ultimately passed away the next morning. The line was long. The steps were many. And it was raining cats and dogs, so we declined to visit.

Off to lunch at Sfoglina’s for a taste of Italy. Yes, we do love our Italian food! We enjoyed a pasta sampling of Potato Gnocchi with Porcini Crema, Neapolitan Spaghetti “Aglio e Olio”, Mancini Paccheri Carbonara Style, Nonna Palmina’s Meatballs, Grilled Swordfish and Bomboloni’s with Chocolate Sauce for dessert. No calories counted here! More food than we needed but hey! We had a gift certificate to use! And, we brought some home so I don’t have to cook tomorrow!

So, at the end of the day, we got a little wet. Had a history lesson. And ate excellent Italian food. Not bad! Check out a few pictures in the gallery.

“We Cannot Escape History“

*Source: Wikipedia

…are those two ladies traveling to next?

Help us decide by leaving a comment below with your best guess. A lucky winner will be chosen, at random, from all the comments received by September 30, 2019. The lucky winner will receive a travel-inspired gift card. Winner will be notified by email.

Choose from one of these destinations:

• African Safari
• Antartica Cruise
• Holiday Pacific Coast Cruise
• Australia & New Zealand Cruise
• 10 Countries/1 Cruise
• 8 Countries/1 Cruise

To qualify for the drawing:

1. You must leave a comment on this post with your choice from above.
2. You must be a follower of this blog. Just click on the link to the right!

It’s easy!
It’s another way to see where we are going
and where we’ve been
and what we are doing!

When your windows are portholes, you know it’s an adventure.
— AARP

Gotta love when restaurants and cities celebrate together for Restaurant Week! What a great time to try out that special restaurant that you’ve been wanting to go to! Many restaurants teamed up to present Metropolitan Washington Restaurant Week by offering a pre fixe menu, usually for lunch and dinner but every now and then for breakfast as well. And at a reduced price. Karen and I usually try to visit at least 2 restaurants every time, usually for lunch. Lunch is less expensive than dinner. This week, lunch is $22 and dinner is $35 for a 3-course meal usually including soup or salad, entree and dessert. We’ve chosen two of our favorites to try out of many, and added in a little extra excursion besides!

Farmers Fishers Bakers
“Farmers Fishers Bakers offers a full bar with 24 beer taps, delicious hand crafted tiki cocktails, and a refreshing coastal cuisine including sushi, pizza, fresh fish, tacos, and a sunny patio with water views. We’re proud to make food from scratch with ingredients you can trust.” Our lunch was disappointing actually. Most likely based on our choices, but disappointing nevertheless. The best part was the dessert – a baked carrot cake donut with cream cheese frosting and a scoop of ice cream! YUM!

RPM Italian DC
“Located in Washington, D.C.’s Mount Vernon neighborhood, RPM Italian is modern in approach and Italian in spirit and features a contemporary, chef­-driven menu with dishes meant to be shared. Menu highlights include more than a dozen fresh pastas made in house daily, slow­-roasted meats, wild fish and seafood, and celebrated Italian classics with an elevated twist.” One of our all-time favorites is Chicken Parmigiana which is usually our dinner option, but this time we get to enjoy it for lunch! As expected, the Chicken Parm was wonderful! Except there was no pasta served with it! And we were not informed by our server that it was extra. The meatball appetizer included 3 large beef meatballs that were delicious. And the dessert was good as well. But then, I can usually find a dessert that I like! Our server started out strong and then faded throughout service. No one asked us if we enjoyed our meal. Kind of a disappointing end to a great meal. So, no pasta served and no bread served with our meal at an Italian restaurant. We brought home one delicious meatball, cooked our own pasta, added the meatball to our sauce, made garlic toast and continued our Italian lunch for dinner! It was excellent!

Potomac RiverBoat Company – Wharf Water Taxi/Alexandria Water Taxi
“Offering direct routes between the Wharf, Georgetown, Alexandria and National Harbor. One-day, two-day and commuter passes are available. All Wharf Water Taxis, and the National Harbor Alexandria Water Taxi are ADA compliant. The Georgetown dock is not ADA accessible.” The step onto the vessel in Georgetown was pretty big, especially when you have short legs, a cane and a mobility issue. But there was assistance at the dock, so all was well. The commute from Georgetown to The Wharf took about 45 minutes and we enjoyed it sitting on the bow bench. The commute from The Wharf to Old Town Alexandria took about 20 minutes. Nice ramps and no big steps were a welcome site. It was nice being on the water. Rain clouds were overhead, so we opted to catch an Uber and head home.

D.C. Wharf Area – Lots of restaurants, shops and a fish market, an area including a fire pit with Adirondack chairs. Definitely not needed on this particularly humid day! And an Airstream trailer with a sign advertising S’mores. We enjoyed a brief air-conditioned drink at Mi Vida’s. There’s plenty of benches to sit on to catch your breath and watch the water and sidewalk traffic shows.

Smithsonian Castle (Visitor’s Center) – Grander outside than in with the exception of the exhibition hall with it’s circular rose window and beautiful ceiling. The general area is very spartan, with a visitor’s desk and plenty of places to rest in air-conditioned comfort. There is a nice gift shop as well as Castle Cafe for a quick bite or refreshing drink. The gardens are just outside and are quite beautiful. There were butterflies and bees everywhere! Take a look at the detail in the many park benches. Not sure if they are old or new but they are beautiful! Adequate handicap ramps, lifts and restroom facilities inside.

Check the gallery to the right for a peek at some of this things we saw!

Check out your local city for Restaurant Week.
Next week – Alexandria’s Restaurant Week. What’s for lunch?!