[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”29″ gal_title=”Cruise 2017″]
Category: Vacation
Cruise scheduled for late November
As an experienced cruise ship person, I’ve sailed in just about every type of stateroom there is. But, hands down, my stateroom of choice is a Balcony. Why should you cruise in a Balcony Stateroom? Because it offers one of the best values on the ship, as you can enjoy amazing views from the privacy of your own balcony, without paying higher suite prices!
Benefits of Cruising in a Balcony Stateroom
Where do I start? There are so many benefits of cruising in a Balcony Stateroom, such as:
• the large floor-to-ceiling windows add so much light and brightness that the stateroom seems so much larger overall!
• the outdoor balcony is basically an extension of your stateroom living area, so you’re getting extra living space making a balcony stateroom an even better value
• imagine being able to wake up and step onto your balcony to see the new destination you’ve arrived at, all while still wearing your pajamas!
• if your significant other wants to sleep in, you can order room service and enjoy your breakfast on the balcony without disturbing your partner
• your own private balcony is a perfect place to watch the sunset or the glaciers, to enjoy a cute little umbrella drink or to simply soak up the warm sunshine
• if you’re prone to seasickness, a Balcony Stateroom will allow you to step outside and watch the horizon, which helps to maintain your equilibrium
• a Balcony Stateroom may also be a good choice for those travelers who like their privacy or want to stay away from the crowds
• did you know that fresh saltwater air may be beneficial to your health? Check out the details at:
6 Reasons Why You Should Take a Cruise!
How Big is a Balcony Stateroom?
A Balcony Stateroom provides extra room, spectacular views and privacy, all at the best price possible. For your reference: a Studio cabin comes in at 100-square-feet in size; an Inside cabin is 142-square-feet; and an Ocean view is 161-square-feet. Balcony Staterooms start at 205-square feet and come will all the standard amenities including room service.
Oceanaire View Virginia Beach
Oceanaire, the newest addition to the Ocean Beach Club Resort, is bringing an entirely new level of vacation luxury to the Boardwalk. Designed by world-renown designer Cleo Design, this $75 million tower features 106 timeshare units, including 10 incredible three bedroom penthouse units. Cleo Design, along NCG Architects, have combined to ensure that every little detail is as stunning as the oceanfront views.
Individual rooms are equipped with the finest appointments, including full kitchens with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. Rooms also feature whirlpool spa tubs to help you relax after a fun day on the beach. The highlight of each room is the 12 foot wide floor to ceiling windows which provide amazing oceanfront views.
Oceanaire completes the already amazing Ocean Beach Club Resort, which has a Premier Resort status by Interval International, and will quickly become one of the best oceanfront destinations in the East.
The Oceanaire Resort Hotel features:
•Studio and one-, two- and three-bedroom suites with fully-equipped kitchens and 42-inch TVs
•Access to amenities at the Ocean Beach Club (neighboring)
•Four oceanfront pools – two indoor and two outdoor
•10th floor lounge and sun deck
•Sky Fitness, fitness center overlooking the ocean
•Kids’ game room
Great Grandmothers Grave site
Great Grandmothers Grave site
Josephine Gurley Bryant
Hollywood Cemetery Jackson Tennessee
Interesting History of the Cemetery
On December 23, 1886, a group that had six days earlier incorporated as Hollywood Cemetery purchased fifty acres from Robert A. Hurt for $3,000. Nearly 100 people were buried at Hollywood prior to the turn of the century, including nine whose markers show death dates prior to the cemetery’s founding, and who were moved to Hollywood from various other burial grounds. Founded during the post-Reconstruction era segregationist movement, Hollywood Cemetery was established within a year of Jackson’s African-American cemetery, Mt. Olivet. New cemetery plot buyers in the respective ethnic groups (Hollywood for whites and Mt. Olivet for blacks) were attracted to the new, racially exclusive burial grounds rather than the older, integrated Riverside Cemetery. Hollywood’s modern layout allured upper and middle class patrons interested in following the newest graveyard design trends. Hollywood’s location near the outer edge of one of the first street car suburbs of Jackson is significant because it exemplifies the period between Reconstruction and World War I when the population of many southern towns expanded due to industrial growth, pushing city limits and residential neighborhoods to the fringe areas rimming the core urban area. With the expansion, new cemeteries were needed and typically located on the outskirts of the newly developed communities. Hollywood served the new upper middle-class, white-collar segment that primarily occupied the suburban area and reflects their new tastes in cemetery design and art.
Harrahs New Orleans
Harrahs New Orleans
If you love slots, you’ve come to the right place! At Harrahs New Orleans Casino, we have over 1,700 of the city’s most exciting slot machines spread across a 115,000 sq. ft. gaming floor. A wide variety of your favorite games including progressive slots and video poker makes Harrah’s payout paradise!
Love penny slots? We’ve got 700 of the hottest one- and two-cent games for you to choose from in our high-energy Penny Gras slot section. You can also try your luck at one of our ultra-high limit slot machines in the Court of Good Fortune where payoffs are big. Don’t forget to stop by Smuggler’s Court, Party Gras and Mardi Gras Court where the fun and action continues. These games offer many ways to win and cool bonus features too. Discover them all!
Bourbon Street
Fried bologna hamburger with side of jambalaya at Bayou Burger on Bourbon Street.
In one of the oldest cities in America, Bourbon Street is rich with historic venues, social tales and iconic buildings. The street dates back to 1798, when New Orleans was founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. Also known as “Rue Bourbon,” this monumental street sits at the heart of the French Quarter extending 13 blocks from Canal St. to Esplanade Avenue.
With a walk down Bourbon Street you are bound to hear music on every corner that will make you want to dance the night away. But if you’re looking for some good old-fashioned jazz, you’ll find it at Fritzel’s European Jazz Club. Located in an almost 200 year-old building, Fritzel’s hosts live traditional jazz performances on every night of the week!
Beignets New Orleans
Beignets are commonly known in New Orleans as a breakfast served with powdered sugar on top. They are traditionally prepared right before consumption to be eaten fresh and hot. Variations of fried dough can be found across cuisines internationally; however, the origin of the term beignet is specifically French. In the United States, beignets have been popular within New Orleans Creole cuisine and are customarily served as a dessert or in some sweet variation. They were brought to New Orleans in the 18th century by French colonists, from “the old mother country”, and became a large part of home-style Creole cooking, variations often including banana or plantain – popular fruits in the port city. Today, Café du Monde is a popular New Orleans food destination specializing in beignets with powdered sugar, coffee with chicory, and café au lait. Beignets were declared the official state doughnut of Louisiana in 1986.
Equipment to make Beignets:
Box of Cafe Du Monde Beignet Mix
Temperature Controlled Frying Pan/Frying Skillet works best
Fry Basket (to retrieve the finished Beignets)
Spoon (to stir the water and mix into a dough)
Mixing Bowl
Measuring Cup
Rolling Pin (to roll finished dough into a flat sheet)
Pizza Cutter (to cut dough into squares for frying)
Vegetable Oil/Louanna Cottonseed Oil is recommended
Powdered Sugar (to use as topping for finished Beignets)
Flour (to keep dough from sticking to rolling pin)
Water
Hushpuppies
Guess where the best hushpuppies in the world are?
Catfish Galley in Jackson, Tenn.
Native Americans were using ground corn for cooking long before European explorers arrived in the Americas. Southern Native American culture (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek) was one of the main contributors to Southern cuisine. From their culture came one of the main staples of the Southern diet: corn (maize), either ground into meal or limed with an alkaline salt to make hominy, also called masa, in a Native American technology known as nixtamalization. Corn was used to make all kinds of dishes from the familiar cornbread and grits to liquors such as whiskey and moonshine, which were important trade items. Cornbread was popular during the American Civil War because it was very cheap and could be made in many different sizes and forms. It could be fashioned into high-rising, fluffy loaves or simply fried for a quick meal.
The first recorded reference to the word “hush-puppy” dates to 1899.
Hushpuppies are a food with strong ties to the Southern United States, although they are available in many areas of the United States on the menus of deep fried fish restaurants. The name “hushpuppies” is often attributed to hunters, fishermen, or other cooks who would fry some basic cornmeal mixture (possibly that they had been bread-coating or battering their own food with) and feed it to their dogs to “hush the puppies” during cook-outs or fish-fries.
Other hush puppy legends purport to date the etymology of the term “hushpuppies” to the Civil War, in which soldiers are claimed to have tossed fried cornbread to quell the barks of Confederate dogs.
Virginia Beach Aquarium
The Virginia Beach Aquarium
Virginia Beach Aquarium
Over 800,000 gallons of fun await you! To make the most of your self-guided Aquarium tour, be sure to visit both buildings as well as the Owls Creek Path that connects them.
Admission sales and parking are available at both buildings. Your ticket and hand stamp are good all day at both buildings. Parking is available to the north of the Aquarium on the west side of General Booth as well as on east side of General Booth Blvd. across from the Bay & Ocean Pavilion. There is also handicapped parking at two of the parking lots and both buildings are entirely handicapped accessible.
Lincoln Train Museum
The Lincoln Train Museum in Gettysburg Pa. http://www.lincolntrain.com/