We walked downhill all the way from the city center to the Royal Botanical Gardens. For some reason we went to the main gate instead of the East Gate, which means we walked the entire length of the garden on the outside of the fence. We did get to see part of the park beside it as we walked by, it looked like a flat area.
They sell garden maps for 1 pound. The garden has many signs but if you don’t Continue reading Royal Botanical Gardens – Edinburgh, Scotland
This show was offered as an optional excursion on our tour.
When we disembarked the coach, we walked around a bit and looked at the grounds and the peacock. After the piper played for us (he reminded us of a friend from church – Gene), we entered the building and found our seat. We had 2 bottles of red wine, 2 bottles of white wine and tap water on the table.
We got to visit a sheep farm today. The farm has over 3000 sheep and has quite a bit of land. We only saw the hillside and the area where they did the demonstration.
It was chilly and raining a little bit so we were all in our jackets with umbrellas. Just as our tour guide, April, predicted – the sheep didn’t care, the dogs didn’t care and the shepherd ignored it.
The dogs are so anxious to round up the sheep! They are low to the ground and look like they are going to attack but they don’t. They run so fast! Continue reading Scotland’s Sheep Farm & Sheep Dogs
Drove down to Dunrobin Castle today – the scenery could not be captured by my camera and I cannot describe it without using the words beautiful and awesome. I feel like I am over-using those words!
God truly made this part of our world beautiful.
This is a beautiful little town. We walked around after dinner at a great restaurant called YNot (yes, I reviewed it on Trip Advisor). Funny sign on the way to the “toilet” – I posted it on Instagram. The signs here are fun! Continue reading Thurso, Scotland
The Ohana at Walt Disney World’s Polynesian Village Resort is a table service restaurant located on the second floor facing the Seven Seas Lagoon. All the food at Walt Disney World is expensive so is it worth while to splurge with table service? On our last visit (more here) we decided to celebrate a birthday with dinner at Ohana. We looked at several other restaurants but the menu and atmosphere interested us. We did make a reservation. None were available online for the dates we were on property so I called and talked to an agent. They found us a table and while the 8:30 p.m. time was later than we normally eat it worked out fine. Continue reading Walt Disney World – Ohana Dinner Feast Review
After leaving Molokai we sailed for the island of Lanai. The distance between the two islands is only about 20 miles, so this wasn’t a long transit. One of the very different things about cruising with Safari Explorer is the open door policy on the bridge. If you go to the bridge and the door is open then cruisers are welcome at go on the bridge and talk to the crew there, look at the charts to see where we are going and use the binoculars to scan for whales or other wildlife. If the door is closed, the crew needs to concentrate and you should come by again later. This is very different than other Cruise ships where the bridge is off limits at all times. We visited the bridge often and enjoyed visiting with the crew. Continue reading Hawaii UnCruise – Lanai
We love trying out different Disney Resorts. Staying on property is always fun and offers great benefits like free parking and Extra Magic Hours (Each day of the week, resort guests can enter a park one hour earlier or stay in a park up to two hours later than normal park operating hours.) As Florida Resident Annual Passholders we are often able to get special discounts on rooms. For this trip of three nights we chose the Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness. Continue reading Walt Disney World – the Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness
Should I get a passport book or card?See my previous post about when you need a Valid Passport.
In some cases, you an use a passport card instead of a book. The cost of a valid Passport Card versus the cost of a valid Passport Book makes looking at this option necessary.
(Blog by Sandra Merwin)
One of the best excursions UnCruise included was a night time snorkel with Manta Rays off the coast of Maui.
They provided full wet suites for this one because of the length of time we were going to be in the water and that the water was a little cooler after dark. After a light dinner our guide for the dive, Ian, came aboard and talked to us about Manta Rays. Manta Rays eat plankton, tiny little organisms floating in the ocean. This dive is done at night because lights are used to attract 
the plankton, which attracts the Manta Ray. The Manta Rays swim up and barrel roll with their mouth open to scoop up the plankton in order to eat. The Reef Manta Ray we saw are black and white with wing spans of 9 feet – 14 feet. Manta Rays are uniquely identified by the markings on the belly of the Ray. Very much like the Fluke coloration of a Humpback whale uniquely identifies a specific whale. In order to view the Manta Rays feeding, a surf board is outfitted with rope loops for each person to hold on to while they have snorkel gear and the surf board is pulled along by the guide.
While we were snorkeling the guide was able to identify 8 different Manta Rays by coloration. The largest Manta Ray is “Big Bertha” who has a wing span of 14 feet. Normally the guide says she does not barrel roll to feed. While we were there viewing Big Bertha did come out and barrel roll to feed for us. The guide saw about 2 – 3 other Manta Rays which did not display their coloration so they were not identified by name.
