Melt Tattoo Family

If you are in Ohio be sure to stop by Melt Bar and Grilled for a delicious sandwich. They have an excellent gluten-free menu, my favorite is the wet buffalo chicken. What's your favorite?

If you enjoy them as much as I do, join the Melt Tattoo Family! If you get their logo tattooed on you, register with them and and receive your tattoo family number and goodies and discounts. I'm #966! 

Our New Travel Business

We obviously love to travel, so why not build our next business around travel? That was our thought and now it's our reality! Today Cameron and I completed our franchisee training with Dream Vacations and Olson Travel Group is now up and running! 

Our goal is to help others enjoy travel as much as we do. We love finding good deals for people and helping find affordable options. There are so many deals out there, let us help you find the right one for you!

Norwegian Cruise - From Miami - Christmas Cruise - Norwegian Joy

Since my brother passed away just before Christmas in 2017, the holiday has never been the same. We have tried to find a way to move on and decided each year we will take a family trip. We don't exchange gifts, the trip and getting to spend time together is the gift! 

We all met in Miami for our second Christmas Cruise. We enjoyed 2 days at sea aboard the Norwegian Joy with a day at Harvest Caye, Belize, and a day at Costa Maya, Mexico.  

The staff on board, as usual, were so helpful.  Our room was on the 13th floor, the kid's rooms were on the 15th floor, and my mom was on the 5th floor when we checked in. This was a bit of a hike for us to go get her, so we went to customer service and asked if we could upgrade her room.  They quickly upgraded her room, just a few doors down from us, free of charge.  She went from an interior room to a balcony. What a treat! She loved her room and she was beyond grateful and excited for the upgrade.

Cameron and I had been to Costa Maya earlier this year on our Virgin Voyages trip, we remembered this great tequila bar that served tacos from the restaurant next door so we made our way there, stopping at the shops along the way of course.  When the bill came they needed cash for the tacos because they came from a different business, makes sense we just weren't prepared.  Thankfully the kids had enough cash to cover the tacos for all of us, we picked up the drink tab. 

When we got to Harvest Caye we rented another clamshell on the beach. A very nice gentleman came by for drink orders. More slushy beverages? Yes, please! We spent the day relaxing, napping, and snorkeling. 

Our group had planned our own theme nights for this trip, which made it even more fun for us all.  Country night we ate at Texas Smokehouse (Deck 6), fancy night was Teppanyaki (Deck 6), white-hot night we went to Spice H20 (Deck 17) for the white-hot party. Since it's the holiday, we also did holiday PJ's one night. My hubby and I had fleece onesies, and we were burning up so it was quick pictures and then wardrobe change! 

We also got to see Footloose at the Joy Theatre. Our favorite spot to hang out is at The Local (Deck 7).  The food is complimentary, and you can sit on deck 7 and look down onto deck 6 where there is usually a gameshow, trivia, or dance party happening. 

One person in the group, who will remain anonymous 😎, left us at The Local to go to bed. After about 30 minutes the group decided it was probably a good idea to make sure they made it to their room and sure enough they didn't. Everyone took a walk around the ship for a few minutes in search of this person, then decided to go back to The Local and what do you know, a few minutes later they stumbled back into The Local. There was laughing for a while about this situation.

Our family always has a great time with Norwegian. There are so many activities and unlimited drinks are usually one of the perks available when booking.  

Carnival Cruise - From Los Angeles - Carnival Panorama

 As we start working our way back to the west coast, why not take another cruise in along the way? 

We flew from Cleveland to Los Angeles for a cruise to the Mexican Riviera aboard the Carnival Panorama for 7 nights. We enjoyed 3 days at sea and 3 days in Mexico (Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta). 

With 3 sea days, we decided this would be the perfect time to check out the spa. We paid for the Thermal Lounge and it was well worth the money. There were steam rooms, saunas, a hydrotherapy pool/hot tub, and the most amazing heated lounge chairs. If you ever find yourself on the Panorama give the Thermal Lounge a look, if you don't want to pay for the Thermal Lounge, you can still go into the spa and in the locker room/changing room, there is a complimentary sauna.  

Our time in Cabo San Lucus was a bit different than our last visit in 2014 for our honeymoon. We had to get off the ship on a mission to find internet because the ship's wifi had been down since the night before.  We took a walk along the pier down to the local Starbucks, enjoyed a caffeinated beverage, got what we needed to do done, and headed back to the ship. 

We decided not to get off the ship in Mazatlan, but we did get off the ship in Puerto Vallarta.  When you get off the ship in Puerto Vallarta, check out Galerias Vallarta shopping mall or look for the large sign that says BEACH and go for it. Bring a blanket or beach towel and spend the day.  There are plenty of people walking up and down the beach willing to bring you a beverage or ask if there is a nearby resort that has an open to the public bar. It was suggested to us, by a nice gentleman on the beach, to go to Playa De Oro but we ended up at Jordin del Sol, which had delicious fresh guacamole and pico de gallo. We watched a very large iguana mosey along the rooftop and around the pool, had some great snacks, and a few drinks then worked our way back down the beach to the ship. The weather in December was a perfect 85 degrees in the afternoon. We couldn't have asked for a better day.

The Carnival Panorama is beautiful and the food was much better than what we experienced on the Carnival Legend. Another tip, if you book on the Carnival Panorama, on sea days check the specialty dining locations for lunch because they are usually open and complimentary. The ship was beautiful, the food was good; I would absolutely take another cruise on this ship!

Carnival Cruise - From Baltimore - Carnival Legend

Our first Carnival cruise and our first cruise leaving from the Port of Baltimore. 

This was literally the easiest embarkation we have ever experienced. We pulled into the Port of Baltimore, parked our vehicle, walked to customs/security, and boarded the Carnival Legend all within 30 minutes.  Keep in mind, just a few weeks ago we were on one of the newest ships, Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady, which had set our standards higher than we ever imagined. The boarding and embarkation process was excellent, but the decor of the boat was a bit older than we had hoped. Lunch options and the buffet food were subpar, but Guy Fieri's Burger joint was pretty good, we mostly ate there every day for lunch.  

Aside from the buffet, we had the option to attend a complimentary sit-down dinner at our assigned time in the evening. The first night we showed up there was no one at our shared table, so we thought we had the table to ourselves, the second night a lovely younger couple joined us and we thoroughly enjoyed their company.  They too had hoped they didn't have to share the table, but they seemed to tolerate us well. Our servers were the same each night, and they did an excellent job. Eric & Ronaldo were very pleasant and entertaining.  They remembered us when we walked in each night and had our beverages of choice on the table without even asking for them within seconds. The food was good, and each night they had a rare food item on the menu. My husband tried alligator, escargot, frog legs, and who knows what else. Don't worry, each night those were just one of the many options on the menu. Every night I chose the shrimp cocktail as an appetizer to kick things off, some nights I ordered two, salad, steak, and a lovely cheese plate for dessert. 

One of the great parts of cruising is the food.  If you go to any of the complimentary food locations (on any cruise) you can order as much as you want, try whatever you want.  Why not?

We enjoyed 2 days at sea, and 3 days in The Bahamas (Nassau, Princess Cays, Freeport). We have visited these ports before so we didn't spend much time exploring. During our day at Princess Cays we rented a clamshell (the umbrella-looking thing that goes over your beach chairs) for around $35 and ordered a few blended beverages. My husband made some inappropriate sand sculptures, and we soaked up the sun.

Overall, we had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves.  I would 100% leave from Baltimore again for a cruise. 

Cider Making

Of all the things you can do in an RV, why not make hard cider? With my recent gluten intolerance/allergy I have started drinking more hard cider and less beer. My husband decided that he and our good friend Jeff could probably figure out how to do it, and who knows maybe one day we could open a cidery.  🤞

We took a trip to the local homebrew store, grabbed some supplies then gathered at the Toy Hauler and started our chemistry experiment. By we, I mean I took notes and the "boys" did the measuring, etc.

Cameron and I will be traveling, so Jeff has to babysit the experiment. This could be the beginning of something delicious. Stay tuned!

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.