After completing our last season as managers at the Beaver Island Lodge, we were exactly back where we were 10 years ago when I wrote the story “Wide Open Spaces Ahead of Us”. Our first …
Our transatlantic Princess cruise 2025 intentionally ended in Southampton UK, as it was about a two hour drive from my long awaited dream of visiting Seaton Village in the UK. Caught a taxi to the …
Port of Call: Honolulu, Oahu is often called the “Heart of Hawaiʻi” You’ll find stunning beaches all over the island — Waimea Bay (summer), Waikiki Beach, and Lanikai Beach, just to name a few. While …
Port of Call Hilo, Hawaii, the most Eastern of the Hawaiian Islands chain, was the first port of Call on this cruise, landing on the fifth day out of Los Angeles. The morning was rainy …
Cruising was still relatively new to us. The previous year (2022) we embarked on a Regal Princess Transatlantic Cruise, which resulted in so much fun that before reaching Barcelona, we decided to add a Mediterranean …
Today, April 10 our cruise ends in Piraeus, the port city for Athens, Greece. Hard to believe that the last 30 days were spent on a giant cruise ship with some 3,000 other passengers and …
Port of Call Istanbul, Turkey had been on TJ’s wishlist since we booked the cruise extension in Barcelona. I forgot to mention this city in the Rome story in the line up of European cities …
Port of Call: Mykonos had been in our dreams as a place we wanted to visit badly. Well really it was one of the reasons we had booked the cruise extension in Barcelona. We know …
Port of Call Kuşadası, on the southeastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, derives its name from the small, bird-head-shaped Pigeon Island in its harbor. It literally means “Bird Island” and as a destination, it was new …
Crete, the largest and most populous island in Greece, about 100 km south of the mainland, has 2 cruise ship ports, both on the northern side of the island was our next Port of Call. …
After completing our last season as managers at the Beaver Island Lodge, we were exactly back where we were 10 years ago when I wrote the story “Wide Open Spaces Ahead of Us”. Our first trip then was also to Nashville, where Han’s oldest friend in the US had moved to. Sadly Ric passed away a couple of years ago, so now we visited Kay his widow in Brentwood TN, a suburb of Nashville, for almost a month in Dec/Jan of 2026. This is also our last trip south in our trusty Nissan Murano which we purchased exactly 10 years ago. And the end of this trip she goes to another dear friend, while we take a transatlantic cruise over to Europe for an extended stay. But first some travel impressions from this last north-south trip.
There are so many amazing restaurants near her home, that we did not have to venture far to experience something new and delicious.
Our transatlantic Princess cruise 2025 intentionally ended in Southampton UK, as it was about a two hour drive from my long awaited dream of visiting Seaton Village in the UK.
Caught a taxi to the airport to pick up our rental car, which I was not on board about but Han really wanted the car. Literally to make a long horrific scary story short, unless you are extremely familiar with driving on the left, dealing with UK traffic, huge roundabouts, teeny tiny country roads or enjoy arguing with your mate…leave the rental car and take any other means of transportation. We visited Seaton for a week and I never got back in, until we had to return the car. It will try the best of relationships.
The staff was very nice and said I was the first “Seaton” that they could remember ever staying there. Close to town, a large grocery store “Tesco” next door, a rocky beach with massive boardwalk was just across the street, unique restaurants within a short walk and charming homes for as far as you could see. The hotel has a restaurant attached, but they were forever running out of multiple menu items.
Totally frowned upon the fact that you have to pay for parking and wifi at the hotel, which was very pricey.
Hotel is nothing fancy, but it met our needs and was fairly quiet. All in all, it was an enjoyable and comfortable stay.
For being off-season there were many stores and restaurants open, but then again the weather was unusually pleasant for the time of year.
We strolled through a few cemeteries because history fascinates me, but I was also hoping to glimpse some Seaton family graves, however we did not locate any. I did purchase my share of “Seaton” tourist goodies however.
The resale stores there are surprisingly easy on the wallet. It has many cute parks for people/dog watching. One feels very at home almost immediately.
Our friends David and Glenda with whom we met in Portugal Jan. of 2020 lived close by. We had a wonderful opportunity to spend more quality time with them. They drove us to neighboring towns of Beer and Sidmouth the day after our arrival. I sat in the back seat and covered my eyes a lot. Just when you think a road cannot get any skinnier, they do.
We had the largest most fantastic breakfast EVER at unassuming Beer Head Bistro. It is located on the Jurassic Coastline and set in a caravan vacation park. We needed nothing else until dinnertime, better yet, we were full.. The inside decor of the restaurant is beyond charming. This was my first experience eating a “full English breakfast” with many more in my future.
Next stop was Sidmouth. I had more energy than the other three, so I set off to do a bit of shopping, beach rock/boardwalk inspections, take photos and revel in the architecture. Sidmouth has a lot of sights to offer and I could have spent at least a week here also. Joined the rest of the crew to have some espresso, people watch and admire all the doggies parading in the sunshine. People in the UK have a lot of dogs and majority of stores welcome them along with their owners.
After a long wait we're almost there...
not much room to play with
Activity overload promised
Seaton - an Ancestry Away?
Glenda in anticipation of English Breakfast
David, English oak at its very best
As you want it interior decorations
Shopping street in town
Walking the waterfront, everyone's favorite pastime
Faulkner Hotel to the left!
Seaton downtown intersection
England's sense of colorful living. You've got to love it.
Seaton has a tramway from the olden days that still runs through the wetlands and stops in some small villages to the north. It was one of the highlights of our stay in Seaton. With it being off season, quite a few places were closed in each village, but still enough open and architecture to enjoy. Had a sweet treat and coffee in a locals restaurant. The vibe was very chill and welcoming, with everyone chatting to each other and a cute dog relaxing underneath one of the tables.
Dogs are also welcome in most restaurants in the UK. They have figured out that dogs are less problematic and cleaner than many humans.
There is so much history and information about the tram, that I suggest youclick on the link to see it all. Wear comfortable walking shoes and use a walking stick or cane if you have trouble traversing hills.
David and Glenda came by again to be our driver and tour guides of beautiful, fascinating Lyme Regis.
So very thankful for their friendship. Also for driving.
Regis, a World Heritage Site, is by far the steepest small town I have experienced. Today on the menu was Swim Restaurant for breakfast. Beautiful location on the water, extremely nice staff, high reviews and so forth, but we were all underwhelmed with the breakfast. I could not help but compare it to my first experience of the English breakfast in Beer (see above picture). Personally it was one and done for me. However, all four of us felt similar about it.
Back to checking out Regis… As Han, David and Glenda decided to relax on the seafront boardwalk having coffee, I had the bright idea of climbing the stairs from the boardwalk to the top of the village. I admit when I am wrong and I was out of my mind wrong about this. I lost count of the stair steps or even how many times I had to catch my breath. At first it is a zig-zag walkable incline, then steps that shoot up into the wild blue yonder. Just when you think you are at the top: nope, you have a very steep zig-zag path to continue the workout. Thanking whoever put random benches to rest before continuing. Once you are at the top, the world feels like it unfurls at your feet and I couldn’t believe I made it without calling for medical assistance. This is no exaggeration either. Then I started my descent to find the rest of the crew. I felt like I had run a marathon by the time I found them relaxing on a bench like smart people.
cemeteries and graveyards; where history becomes heavy
A church hiding among houses
Religeous color schemes
A Typical English Waterfront Look
Some strangely disturbing door ornaments
Any room can serve a great afternoon tea
Spend a day in the book/record store
British humor: tempus fugit amor manet
A scene in Devon on the Water
A great Chinese Restaurant in Seaton Village
All roads lead to Rome?
Life used to be so simple
The horse does not agree with the sign
Life portrays colorful in this part of the world
With the choice to drive back to Southampton on Sunday or Monday, we decided to drive at ease on Sunday, rather than in Monday morning workweek traffic. Why put yourself under pressure? The trip back to Southampton was not as horrifying but we were very glad to turn the car in. Of course that was until they tried to rip us off, and tell us we stole the boot out of the back that covers the luggage area. We were not even aware there was not one originally in the car. They were just trying to find a sucker to blame it on. It didn’t fly and we were not charged. Besides that, we had purchased insurance. Also the car rental airport crew are completely lacking in manners. Not to go into details, but we were not the only ones who the process started off negatively.
Note: Don’t rent from Avis or Budget, they are in same building with same workers.
Port of Call: Honolulu, Oahu is often called the “Heart of Hawaiʻi” You’ll find stunning beaches all over the island — Waimea Bay (summer), Waikiki Beach, and Lanikai Beach, just to name a few. While these beaches are significantly more crowded than what you’ll find on Maui,
The name O’ahu occurs frequently among Maori place names and the meaning usually accepted is the literal one, “windy place. Sometimes called “The Gathering Place,” Oʻahu certainly lives up to its name. From a tropical paradise in the 1950, this third largest Hawaiian island is now home to the majority of Hawaiʻi’s diverse population, a fusion of East and West cultures mostly rooted in the values and traditions of the Native Hawaiian people (Maori).
Our bus trip to the Polynesian Culture Center took us through Honolulu’s Waikiki beach past China Man’s Hat island into the rain forest. Han noticed that the former 4-lane Interstate Highway 1 had changed to Interstate H1 covering 27 miles on Oahu ? Apparently nobody in government has yet to realize that an Interstate Highway on an island in the middle of the Pacific is a pretty ignorant statement.
En route to Polynesian Cultural Center
Chinaman's Hat Island in the distance
Hawaiian Beach Wave Action
Hawaii is waiting for the sun
Oahu on a rainy day
Peaceful Easy Feelings
The Polynesian Cultural Center is an initiative of the Mormon Church of Latter Day Saints, who in the early 1960 build the 24 acre park to create jobs for its Polynesian students at the local Brigham Young University subsidiary.
Our O’ahu port of call day was completely taken up by a cruise ship tour visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center up on the northeast coast. A full day package sets you back about $200 per person, which includes drive, visits of the exhibits, dinner and evening show. Be prepared to do some real walking, because this park covers 8 Pacific Island nations with their own villages and cultural centers, designed inside a web of ponds and canals. We visited all of them, participated in many of the cultural activities, canoed on the canals and even got a lesson in playing the Ukulele, which instrument was apparently brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese fishermen in the 19th century.
By late afternoon we were hungry enough to attack the enormous spread prepared for us at the huge restaurant, followed by a Pacific Island show including Hulu dancing and ancient rituals.
We got back to the ship around 11pm, ready for a good night’s sleep. Our step meter for the day said 12,843 steps. Port of Call Oahu was a still good day although Han felt already the beginnings of a head cold.
Fetching some coconuts
Ukelele fun
Hawaii Polynesian Cultural Center; Oahu's premier attraction
Port of Call Hilo, Hawaii, the most Eastern of the Hawaiian Islands chain, was the first port of Call on this cruise, landing on the fifth day out of Los Angeles.
The morning was rainy and windy so last minute we decided to just take the tourbus into town and check out some fresh markets and stores. We got wet several times, sometimes soaking, which was not a good foreboding but pretty normal for Hilo, which is “blessed” with some of the highest rainfalls in the world. The town is pretty much what you expect from a tropical town on an island that once was invaded by the American republic and never properly inducted as the 50th state in the union. Hilo has about 45,000 inhabitants and the waterfront has been hit twice by tsunamis. In itself not a sin, but it is indicative for how little money gets reinvested.
Of course the US mainland’s influence is obvious, but there is an undertone of local resentment. Hawaii is the Big Island, cornered by two volcanoes, so naturally it was the last one to be developed into tourism, a process that is still ongoing.
The cruise line offered several day tours, but the one we were interested in to Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park (about 45 minutes south of town) was cancelled because of the weather and road conditions. The other tours were to the Kona side (the westside of the island) which is more than 90 minutes away by bus each way and just too expensive.
In all honesty, Hilo is a gateway to some of the island’s most dramatic natural wonders, primarily centered around water and volcanic activity, but primarily because of the weather, we used Hilo on this day for internet access at McDonalds. We also have this effort going on to get our ten thousand steps in for the day. The first one went fine as McDonalds gave good internet, but the intermittent rain showers were cause that only ran us up to a maximum of 6,100 steps for the day.
It may have been the dreary weather but Hilo felt a bit tired, lacking color and personality. The island is sizable, too sizable for discovery in one day. But Hilo offers two active shield volcanos, the largest active volcano on the planet the Mauna Loa and the highest point in Hawaii, the Mauna Kea (Kilauea)And a very remote Southside. I would have loved to see the volcano observatory, which is one of the most progressively forward ones in the world, but the day didn’t allow it.
Oner thing that should be mentioned is that Hilo is also home to the Mauna Loa Macademia Nut Corporation one of the world’s leading producers of macadamia nuts and one of my favorite nuts.
On the way out we witnessed some cano trials or races around the ship in traditional Hawaiian canoes, which was quite a colorful event. We learned that they were practicing for the competition during the weeklong Merrie Monarch Festival, after the Easter Holiday.
The Crown Princess Smoking Area on this Pacific Cruise in 2023
Cruising was still relatively new to us. The previous year (2022) we embarked on a Regal Princess Transatlantic Cruise, which resulted in so much fun that before reaching Barcelona, we decided to add a Mediterranean extension that would take us to Istanbul, the Greek Islands and ports in Italy. Thirty days on the ocean, We loved the experience and decided to make long cruises a part of our vacation/travel experience.
Well we were newbies to cruising, who had no clue about ship choices and destinations. Not all cruising is the same, not even with the same cruise company. Unburdened by this lack of experience we booked a cruise departing San Pedro-Los Angeles in March 2023 to the Southern Pacific and back to LA. 28 Days! We had figured out which side of the ship would give us most suntan of our balcony during those 28 days looping the Pacific, stepping in and out of the date line and north and south of the equator and booked a mini-suite on the Starboard side of the 3,080 passenger Crown Princess.
Departing from Nashville, TN on a Delta flight into LAX, we decided to go a day early and spend the night in San Pedro, close to embarkation. That way we allowed ourselves enough time the next morning to check luggage and explore the ship before sailing off.
We quickly learned that embarkation in Ft. Lauderdale is way easier than in San Pedro/Los Angeles. We also learned quickly that the layout of the Crown Princess was definitely not as attractive as the one of the Regal Princess we had sailed to Europe the previous year. The ship is quite a bit older than the Regal and it shows in the line up of restaurants, activity decks and smoking areas. We are smokers and discovered quickly that smoking areas is where you find the cool people on a cruise. Whereas the Regal Princess had its main smoking area on the top deck aft, which leaves smoke behind in the ship’s tail wind, the Crown Princess put the smokers in an interior area behind a pool bar with little escape of smoke. Quite nasty actually.
In any case we sailed out of San Pedro, the port of Los Angeles, full of excitement and anticipation. 4 Days on the water would bring us to Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii. A couple of days in Honolulu and Lahaina and we would be off to Pago Pago, the International dateline, Tahiti and Mo’orea. We’re ready. Let the sunshine in.
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