Bermuda Cruise

Hi, it's Brandi! I am just back from the 2nd annual Castaway with Jim and Frank. We sailed on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas out of Baltimore, Maryland. This was a five night sailing to Bermuda. We had motorcoach transportation from Harrisonburg to Baltimore. The port at Baltimore is wonderful. We had hassle-free checkin with no lines! We had two days at sea and two days in Bermuda. The ship was great; just the right size. Definitely a good choice for first time cruisers. While in Bermuda we visited a few beaches and did an island tour. We enjoyed visiting Church Bay and Horseshoe Bay, they were both beautiful but very different from one another. Church Bay has a shelly beach but you can see the fish from the shore, great for snorkeling. Horseshoe Bay has a very long and wide soft white/pink sand beach, very touristy. Bermuda is British, very clean and upscale with lots of expensive shopping. I enjoyed Bermuda and would recommend it as a vacation destination.

New Orleans

Hi!
It's Brandi, Raegan and Jerry and we've all just had an exciting weekend visiting New Orleans for our company's National Meeting. We stayed at the New Orleans Marriott on Canal Street which borders the French Quarter. We spent most of our time in meetings but we did visit Bourbon Street on Friday night and on Saturday afternoon we walked to the Riverwalk. There are many other fun things to do in New Orleans like swamp tours, plantation home tours, Garden Distict tours and riverboat rides that we didn't have time for on this trip. New Orleans is still healing from Hurricane Katrina but it is a wonderful city not to be missed.

Grand Cayman

Hello,
It's Raegan again. My daughter and I just returned from a wonderful relaxing vacation to Grand Cayman. We flew from Washington Dulles for a 5 night getaway. We stayed at the beautiful Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort. Our room was very nice with the luxurious bedding that Marriott is known for. The beach has silky soft white sand and clear blue Caribbean water. We spent most of our time relaxing but we did go into Georgetown one day to do some shopping and we visited the famous Cayman turtle farm one day. We did a half day snorkel trip over a ship wreck and rode banana boats one afternoon. Grand Cayman is British and one of the more prosperous Caribbean islands so you don't see the poverty and crime that are prevalent on many of the other islands. I highly recommend this island to anyone!

Virginia Beach

Hi! It's Raegan and I went to Virginia Beach for a girls trip in July. A friend and I took our 13 year old daughters for a 4 night stay. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Sunspree on 39th and Atlantic. It is an oceanfront hotel with a beautiful outdoor pool and an indoor pool and lazy river. Planning to save a few dollars we opted for the pool view instead of the oceanfront and were pleasantly surprised with a beautiful view of the pool and the ocean. This hotel is what I would call a 3 star. It is nice but not luxurious. It was perfect for our needs. It is on the north end of the strip so the beach was less crowded. We took a trolley down to the more populated part of the strip for dining and shopping and miniature golf in the evenings. I hadn't been to Virginia Beach for years and it has really been cleaned up and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Aruba

Hi! It's Brandi. We just returned from vacationing in Aruba. I truly love Palm Beach. The water is calm and beautiful. This is a great beach for kids. We stayed at the Occidental Grand Aruba. The hotel has great modern rooms with very comfy beds. The food and drinks were good. The island has lots of things to do, golf, shopping, island tours, a natural bridge, deep sea fishing, just to name a few. The casino at the hotel had free bingo twice a night. My husband actually won $100.00 one night! We have been to Aruba several times. We love it and plan to go back. It is a great vacation destination for everyone.

Pacific Coast

Hello Again,
It's Jerry and I just came back from a great west coast vacation so I thought I would share the detailes with everyone. First we, (there were 6 of us) started out in San Francisco. While we were there we went to Alcatraz, and took a street car ride around the city. The tour took us to China Town, the Percidio, and of course the Golden Gate Bridge! Which, by the way, was covered in fog the entire time we were there. We drove down Lombard Street and and we went to Pier 39 to watch the seals and to Muier woods to see the Giant Redwood trees.
After San Francisco we drove up the coast on Scenic Highway 101 headed to Portland, Oregan. All along the coast there were fantastic views of the Pacific ocean. We passed through the Redwood state park and I even drove my van THROUGH a redwood tree. They are huge!!
I think this is a great trip if you have the time and love the the country because it is beautiful there.

Riviera Maya

Hello,
It's Brandi and I've just returned from a trip to the Riviera Maya. We flew from Baltimore to Cancun and had a 2 hour transfer to Tulum. We stayed at the Bahia Principe Tulum. This is a very large resort. There are three hotels, The Bahia Principe Tulum, the Bahia Principe Akumal and the Bahia Principe Copa and we had exchange privileges with the two other hotels within the resort. You could eat at any restaurant within the entire resort but reservations were hard to get for the specialty restaurants. The rooms were basic. The beach was great for long walks.
The best part of the beach for swimming and snorkeling was at the Bahia Principe Akumal. From this location it is a short ride to the Mayan Ruins at Tulum. They also offer snorkeling trips and zip-lining nearby. The Hacienda Dona Isabel included shopping and nightlife. Overall it was a great relaxing vacation.