Virgin Voyages - From Ft. Lauderdale - Scarlet Lady

My hubby and I flew into Ft Lauderdale to spend the night before we head down to Miami for our first Virgin Voyages cruise.  We checked into Ocean Manor Beach Hotel, took a quick look out the window at the ocean, and then we took a walk to find food. The hotel had a bar on the beach, so we had a quick drink and dinner.  A low-key evening. The next morning we took a walk and stumbled upon this cute tiny diner called Oceans Grille. I was very skeptical since I am a picky eater, but I can't even explain how good this food was!  I ordered the Grilled Reuben With Cheese and I was DELIGHTED! I was so wrapped up in my own food, I don't even remember what my husband ordered.  I believe he had fish and shrimp and loved that as well. If you ever find yourself in Ft. Lauderdale, do yourself a favor and stop by Oceans Grille.

We worked our way down to Miami and excitedly onto the Scarlet Lady. What a glamorous ship! 

We were told there is a tattoo shop on board, so we started exploring and quickly found Squid Ink.  We assumed appointments would fill up fast, so we waited by the entrance until they opened. We weren't expecting what happened next. As we were standing there two well-known tattoo artists showed up from the hit reality TV show Ink Master, Al Fliction and Kyle Dunbar. My husband and I were thrilled! Were we really going to get tattoos from one of these amazing artists?  You betcha! 

We were about the third group through the door, and Kyle told me to jump in the chair and he would start designing my chest piece. I definitely wore the wrong bra for that, but I'm not a modest person so top off and in the chair I went.  He drew a beautiful piece that he planned to do for me a few days later. When we showed up for my appointment a few days later, Kyle told me he had bad news.  Apparently, the owner of Squid Ink wouldn't let him do the piece at the price he quoted me. Kyle was just as annoyed about it as I was and offered to do the chest piece at a later time for me at one of the upcoming tattoo conventions he plans to attend. 

I had plenty of other work I wanted done so I decided to have him tattoo the masquerade mask that I wore during my wedding. I couldn't be happier with how this turned out and it is perfectly placed on my shoulder. My only regret is that I can't see it all day every day; this truly is a beautiful piece of work!

My husband also had Kyle do his tattoo. He has wanted this one for a long time and yet again Kyle knocked it out of the park! His tattoo of Lady Liberty protecting a soldier with the American Flag draped over his body is just one more way my husband displays his love for this country and his appreciation for other veterans who have served before, during, and with him. 

Ok, enough about tattoos, although it was the highlight of our trip.  The Scarlet Lady was beyond beautiful! The food was absolutely amazing and the dining experiences were delicious.  One of our favorite dining experiences was the test kitchen.  We had two choices to make, beef or lamb and wine
paring or not.  I did beef, my husband did lamb and of course, we both said yes to the wine pairing.  Each course was some exquisitely plated edible work of art.  Take a look at this work of art.  It is my filet mignon splatter with beat sauce, that looks like road-kill but tasted like heaven.  

There was a mini Coca-cola freestyle, so I had unlimited access to Coke Zero, happy as can be. The food court area had sandwiches, ramen, bento boxes, pizza, burgers, and I'm sure some other food I'm missing.  This wasn't buffet-style eating either, although it was all you can eat. As soon as you sit down, a staff member comes to take your order. You can order whatever you want from any of the places and they bring it to you.  I pretty much lived on ramen and bento boxes.  There was always a gluten-free option available and while I didn't pay much attention to whether or not the ramen or bento boxes were gluten-friendly I didn't have any adverse reaction so I was happy to keep eating them. We only ate here for lunch, since we were able to make reservations at the fancy dining experiences each evening. Oh yeah, those were complimentary too, all the food is included in the fare.

Our favorite dining experiences were at The Wake, where my husband said he had the best lamb he has ever had. Extra Virgin was exquisite, I ordered the bolognese and the most amazing fried artichoke. I had two orders of artichokes and didn't feel a bit guilty. 🤣 

Snacks? Oh my! Lick Me Til I Scream, was the onboard ice cream shop with some very interesting flavors. If that wasn't good enough there were cake pops and other goodies and if you didn't want to leave your room, don't. They will bring you almost any food you want, yep free! Although there was a $5 delivery charge. 

Bottom line, this was one of the best cruises my husband and I have ever been on.  If you are considering Virgin Voyages, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have or help you book your trip.

Walk to End Hydrocephalus

This year we joined our friends Tom & Shannon Baker for the annual Walk to End Hydrocephalus, which is organized by the Hydrocephalus Association.  Tom suffers from this condition and he is an inspiration to so many of the young people that also have Hydrocephalus.  

My cousin had Hydrocephalus and unfortunately, he passed away in 1987 at age 13. Tom is living proof that there have been many medical advances regarding Hydrocephalus over the years. He is an inspiration not only to others who have this condition but he is also an inspiration to my husband and me!

The Month of Concerts

I have never been to so many concerts in one year, and this was by far a record month!  

First up was Inkcarceration, a music and tattoo festival held at the old Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield Ohio.  The reformatory is where the well-known movie The Shawshank Redemption was filmed.  It is also where one of my FAVORITE bands Godsmack filmed their music video of their hit song Awake and "Go DJ" by Lil' Wayne.  I was mostly excited to see Slipknot, Mudvayne, and Halestorm and of all the bands we saw that weekend Halestorm was most memorable.  Fortunately, we've done the tour of the reformatory before because the tour lines were really long during the festival.  The line to get tattoos was also pretty long, so we just enjoyed the music.  This event didn't allow chairs, but we brought a few big blankets and marked off our area.  Most people were respectful of each other's space, although we never left our space unattended. There was a water refilling station and Shannon Baker found soda that was refillable for the entire weekend, for a fee of course. We had a great time, but next year Inkcarceration falls on the same weekend as Rock Fest and we enjoyed Rock Fest way more, so we will be going there instead.  

Next, we went to a very nice venue in downtown Cleveland, Ohio called House of Blues. Monday night we saw Buckcherry and then we went back the next day on Tuesday the 14th to see Candlebox.  Buckcherry was absolutely amazing and extremely entertaining and Candlebox did not disappoint either. We often find these little gems via VetTix, which is a non-profit organization that helps Veterans get tickets to several types of events usually only for a small service fee.  

So far in September, we've done a three-day music & tattoo festival and back-to-back concerts on a weekday, but why stop there? Again, Vettix comes through and we scored amazing seats at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio to see none other than Brooks & Dunn, Travis Tritt. This is one of the most beautiful outdoor venues we have ever been to and very handicap accessible. I'd highly recommend going to any event held at this venue. 

What is your favorite concert venue?

Vegas - Kathleen's Birthday - Tahiti Village

A few years ago, we started a tradition of going to Vegas for Cameron's Mom's birthday.  This year we tried something different and stayed off the strip.  We booked a 2 bedroom suite at Tahiti Village which had a kitchen and living room between the two rooms.  My son and daughter joined us this year, along with their significant others, so all 7 of us planned a night each couple would cook.  I made plenty of grilled cheese sandwiches on this trip and the meals were really fun.  One of the nights the resort hosted a luau and we all dressed up in our best Hawian attire. Most of our time was spent in the lazy river, which is what had drawn us to this resort in the first place.  As expected, it was very hot this time of year so we were very thankful for the lazy river and the air conditioning.

We had a very relaxing trip and spent some great quality time together and we even made time for our traditional Vegas tattoos.  My mother-in-law got a tattoo on her arm that says "just breathe" she's a delivery nurse. My husband got his dog tags and a nautical star on his arm and I got my dog tags and a grilled cheese sandwich.  There is a story behind the grilled cheese tattoo, click here to read how that one came about.

Do you have a good Vegas story to share?

Tatoo for Savings and a Good Laugh

There are several ways to save money in life, but I found a way to save money via something that provides constant smiles for me!  

Earlier this year my husband and I visited the Cleveland area and our Uber driver told us about a local restaurant that had awesome food called Melt Bar & Grilled. He went on to tell us that they have a "Tattoo Family" and if you get one of their logos tattooed on you (and register it with them) then you get a discount on your bill for the rest of your life! I WAS IN!

We had to go check this place out, so we went to their Lakewood, Ohio location and I was blown away by their gluten-free options. I ordered the Wet Buffalo Chichen (gluten-free) and my husband ordered some monstrosity that actually had pizza rolls on it! The food was awesome so now I was convinced the tattoo is a great idea!

During our annual Vegas trip, we visited our favorite tattoo shop, Wolf Pack Tattoo and I got my Melt tattoo so I could officially join the Melt Tattoo Family! The best part was at the end when the artist asked me how it looked my reply was simply "looks like money to me!" We all laughed and I smile every time I look at it! Oh, and yes I am keeping track of how much money I have saved vs the cost of the tattoo. It will pay for itself in no time!

I finally got my registration number, look for me on their website, I'm #966.

Rock Fest

 

This was our first concert since Covid-19 put a halt to large public gatherings. My son and his girlfriend met us in Wisconsin for this one and we had a blast!

Things started off a little rocky. The day before we headed down for the concert we were out on the boat tubbing and my husband ruptured his eardrum. He insisted on going to the concert as planned, so once we checked in to the hotel he went to the hospital to double-check that his ear was ok.  Turns out he had a hole in his eardrum. They gave him antibiotics and he had to wear earplugs until it healed. Somehow he tolerated the pain and yes, he made it to the concert every day. 

The hotel was a fiasco! We had prepaid for the room and they charged us again at check-in, once we realized that happened we asked for a refund of the duplicate charge, and as expected that would take 3 to 5 business days to show up in my account. When we got to the room we noticed the dresser was full of someone else's clothing.  We called the front desk and they said "Oh yeah, someone was supposed to come back and pick those up." They came up with a garbage bag and removed the clothing.  Shortly after that, we noticed the white bedspread had yellow stains on it. I called the front desk and the person who answered argued with me stating "this is not happening, I changed those sheets myself today". I told him he could come and look for himself and he brought replacements which also had stains. He tried a few more and finally found some without stains. As the evening starts to wind down we crawl into bed and my son jumps out of his bed and says "that is disgusting".  What was he referring to? A toenail in the bed! I was laughing and crying so hysterically, this place was disgusting and by far the worst place we had ever stayed. Not to mention, we were paying almost $200 per night! A few minutes would go by and I would just start laughing again out of nowhere, I was for sure delirious! 

The next day we made it to Rock Fest with no issues at all. The lineup was awesome, the venue was great, and we were able to bring in lawn chairs so we always had somewhere to sit.  It was extremely hot, but the venue had water stations to fill water bottles and cool yourself off.  

My favorite performances were Stained, Saint Asonia, and Limp Bizkit!

Things we did right: refillable water bottles, bandanna to get wet and put on our necks, cards, lawn chairs, blanket. 

Things we did wrong: didn't get on-site camping, didn't bring warm clothes for the evening.

Overall, we had an awesome time! Next year we will be camping on-site with our RV so we won't have to worry about someone else's toenail in our bed. 😁

Covid-19 Vaccine - Our Experience

We all have choices to make regarding how we deal with Covid-19 and traveling. Some people are refusing the vaccine and others think everyone should get it.  I believe everyone should have the choice to get it or not. I am also choosing to move on with my life and continue to travel and attend events as safely as possible. In order to do so, I would feel irresponsible if I didn’t get the vaccine and continued to attend large events.  So, today we decided to get the vaccine so we can attend an upcoming rock festival.

I did my research and found a location that offered the Moderna vaccine.  I was nervous, anxious, and scared.  I took a quick bathroom break and when I came back my husband said “I’m going to get mine but the Pharmacist is coming to talk to you, they only have the Johnson & Johnson shot”. This is the one that women my age were specifically having negative reactions to.  The Pharmacist came over and nicely answered all of my questions, although they weren’t the answers I wanted.  She confirmed I was in that age range and when I asked her if they fixed the issue yet, she said they determined the benefit outweighed the risk and put it back on the market with no change.  I teared up, texted my children telling them I love them, and I decided if I didn’t get the vaccine right then and there then I never would.  

The shot itself was pretty painful.  I didn’t have any major reactions aside from a very sore arm for a few days. It felt like the bone in my arm was bruised, an odd feeling but tolerable. My husband on the other hand was in bed sick after the shot. Fortunately, he recovered after a few days of sleep. 

Overall, I'm glad it is over and done with. Getting the vaccine will allow me to attend the rock festivals and cruises that I am looking forward to attending this year.

Did you get the vaccine? If so, what did you get? Did you have side effects?