Honeymoon - Part One

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Sorry it took so long… but I’ve been busy catching up with work & even my social life. Believe it or not!!! I’m wanted and needed!!! Anyway, I know you all want to see some amazing pictures from our Honeymoon in New Orleans and Caribbean… back in August... so here we go…

 

Day 1 – August 19^th – New Orleans

 

We started off with a morning beer at Oakland Airport… because we’re classy…

 

Then we met up with my great friend Filly at the New Orleans Airport and she took us to our hotel to change into hot & humid attire since the temperature went up about 40 degrees since the start of the flight. After some sweet talking at the front desk & dropping the “honeymoon” a few times… Donte was about to hook us up with a corner room… on the 40^th floor…

 

After changing, we headed over to Frenchmen’s Street to have a wonderful dinner at Adolfo’s& meet some of Filly’s friends.

 

 

Check out this rack… of lamb…

 

That night, we also met up with Lone Cicerone & Big Ben who were in town on the last night of their 15^th anniversary, so we had some drinks at the Creole House nearby. They had a pickled vodka which was… interesting. Another great thing about New Orleans now… because Abita is the local brewery, they have Andygator Doppelbock on tap EVERYWHERE!!!

 

Day 2 – August 20^th – New Orleans

 

Unrelated to the drinks the day before (that’s my story & I’m sticking to it), I woke up pretty ill. I’ve basically decided that hard alcohol is not for me… and more importantly, my body agrees with me. Oh well, I just have to have beer & mixed drinks in moderation. Regardless, I was not doing well in the morning at all… but Izzy was amazing& got me food and fluids to regain my health by the evening… so we could watch “My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding” marathon & I think even some “Naked & Afraid XL” that night. What is it about those shows that are so mesmerizing?

 

We were also introduced to Smoothie King, which is amazing. We ate some muffaletta sandwiches, walked around the French Quarter a little bit, all that stuff once I could leave the safety of the bathroom. TMI?

 

Day 3 – August 21^st – Cruise Ship Day at Sea

 

Oddly enough, the majority of this day was just getting onto and acquainted with the Carnival Dream cruise ship. It’s pretty impressive… and we got some great pictures of the sunset cruising down the Mississippi River as we left for Caribbean…

 

Day 4 – August 22^nd – Day at Sea

 

This day at sea involved… a lot of relaxing. See, this was the first cruise where it was just me & Izzy… basically not a family of 8-25 to coordinate everything with, so that was INSANELY relaxing… so we enjoyed our towel animals, buckets of ice cold beer & made up stories with the pictures that lined the hallways…

 

That evening, another beautiful sunset with my beautiful lady…

 

Day 5 – August 23^rd – Day at Sea

 

Another wonderful, relaxing day… accented when Izzy got her 1^st Build-A-Bear… which was actually a Shark… and also a fantastic drinking vessel for them both to share…

  

Day 6 – August 24^th – Montego Bay, Jamaica

 

This was my first time going back to Jamaica since the weekend before 9/11 (never forget) and that was a wonderful time for somebody who was not quite 21 years old yet. This trip, Izzy & I decided to do a shore excursion through the cruise ship that sounded right up our alley. All you can eat Jamaican barbecue… all you can drink cocktails& craft beer (Red Stripe, but FRESH!!!) and basically a private beach where you and other cruise shippers can enjoy the crystal clear water & beautiful atmosphere… plus a Jamaican DJ pumping the hottest jams??? ABSOLUTELY!!! Did you know that fresh Red Stripe is actually pretty damn delicious? I know! I just found that out too! We actually did really good about not getting too sunburnt as well, thanks to sunblock & wise decision making, even while a little buzzed. Anyway here are some pictures…

 

More sunset back on the boat too…

 

Day 7 – August 25^th – Grand Cayman, British West Indies

 

Our next port was the island of Grand Cayman, which was absolutely gorgeous!!! I highly recommend it. We started with a snorkeling trip to the U.S.S. Kittiwake, which is a former Navy vessel that was purposely sunk when decommissioned to create a man-made reef for the local wildlife to take flight… and it sure did. Great numbers of beautiful fish, stingrays, all kinds of stuff to see. Unfortunately we haven’t developed the old-school film underwater cameras yet… but here are some pictures of the top of the water…

 

 

Unfortunately while snorkeling… I’m not sure what happened exactly, but I think I had a bit of a panic attack for some reason and just could not maintain my breathing and floating or whatever… it was really weird, because I’ve snorkeled before no problem and I really enjoy it. However, upon further review, the last time that I had done something like this was when I went scuba diving in Hawaii and nearly drowned towards the end… and I don’t know, maybe something from that came back. It was really weird… and rather than push it, I just decided to hang out on the boat with the guides (twenty-something British ex-Pats who live there now… and have the tribal tattoos that you expect them to have) and shooting the sh*t with them. Anyway, the next stop was Cheeseburger Reef, so named because it’s by the Burger King (no joke) and here are some pictures of Izzy enjoying the snorkeling…

 

We then had an amazing lunch with probably the most incredible Blackened Red Snapper that I’ve ever eaten… and we washed it down with some local Caybrew Lagers… but unfortunately I didn’t take a picture of it. Check Izzy’s Facebook though if you want to check it out.

 

Day 8 – August 26^th – Cozumel, Mexico

 

At the next port of call, we didn’t have an excursion planned… but Izzy caught the snorkeling bug… and I wasn’t going to deny her… and frankly, I wanted to get back out there & prove that I could snorkel and enjoy it… so we went to Stingray Beach and got to interact with some real life giant stingrays… and snorkel with them… and just have an absolutely amazing time… and it even rained towards the end. It was probably my favorite part of the cruise to be honest!!! Here are some of the pictures…

 

Day 9 – August 27^th – Day at Sea

 

We had also ordered a bottle of Appleton Rum to enjoy during our cruise… and this day at sea was really the day that we decided to finish off the bottle… responsibly… and still making fun of all of the pictures on the wall…

 

Day 10 – August 28^th – Back to New Orleans

 

The Carnival Dream was amazing… but there’s still plenty of trip left… but that’s for another entry… so until next time, have a great day everybody!!! Check out eilfm.podbean.com and the Everything I Learned From Movies Podcast is now on iTunes so it’s even easier!!!

Grandma Cruise 2016

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Day 1 – Disneyland

 

Well, we drove down Thursday night and got to our hotel in Anaheim around 2 AM, taking a quick nap before venturing into the Happiest Spookiest Place on Earth – DISNEYLAND!!! Our first stop was apparently the most popular attraction this time of year… the Haunted Mansion, redone to be Nightmare Before Christmas…

 

Here are some other pictures from our adventures at Disneyland, we also met up with my brother & his family who had been in town a day earlier…

 

By the way, did you know that Disney owns Star Wars now? And Marvel? And… I think just about everything that you love?

 

Day 2 – Knott’s Berry/Scary Farm

 

The next day, we got a good night’s sleep & headed out to Knott’s Berry Farm, also draped for the spookiest holiday of the year. I love Knott’s, even more than Disneyland. It’s just… well, less ridiculously expensive… but also a lot more rides (yes, I know Disney’s California Adventure has a lot to compare) and just a pretty cool vibe to it. Anyway, here are some pictures…

 

 

After the park, we headed back to Anaheim and had a drink at Noble Ale Works… pretty good stuff they’ve got brewing there… I really liked their “The Festbier Ever” and “Irish I Was A Little Bit Taller” selections…

 

Day 3 – Boarding the Ship

 

The next day was basically meeting up with about 30 of my closest relatives for a wonderful three-day cruise!!!

 

Day 4 – Catalina Island

 

Beautiful morning on the quiet island of Catalina (I assume eerily quiet when there aren’t cruise ships in port)…

 

Wandering around the main drive, we stopped by Catalina Island Brewhouse for a quick beer (it was close enough to noon, so don’t judge) while we waited for our snorkeling excursion…

  

Unfortunately the tide was high due to a Supermoon & the waves were pretty choppy, so snorkeling was cancelled… but we saved money with the difference & still were able to catch a Glass Bottomed Boat so we could still see some fishies…

 

Then it was back to the boat for family time…

 

Day 5 – Ensenada, Mexico

 

Our Mexican excursion started with a drive from the port out to their wine country and a stop at Ochentos Pizza & El Chivo Grunon Brewery, which is a pretty awesome place. They’re first & foremost, a popular pizza place that guys from San Diego/Ensenada started on their family’s land… and even started a craft brewery in their grandmother’s former home (it’s pretty small as you’ll see). The guy showing us around had a super hipster moustache… but seemed pretty cool… here are the pictures…

 

Next stop was a slightly larger brewery called Wendlandt Cerveceria where they had a tap room, distribution channels, and all that stuff… but still pretty little known. We had tasters of all their beers on tap… and they were all pretty good…

 

  

Next up was a LEGIT street taco place called Taqueria El Flamazo, where they had some great tacos with Cabeza (head meat) & a giant spit of marinated pork (al pastor) that they just shaved the meat off into the taco & it was just heavenly… here are some pictures…

 

On the way back on the bus, we took the scenic route to get an overview of Ensenada…

 

Basically from there we did a little shopping downtown for souvenirs, my cousin Alicia learned about poverty secondhand, and then we made our way back to the ship to celebrate my Grandma’s 80^th Birthday Dinner!!!

 

Day 6 – Day at Sea

 

The day at sea was pretty low key… and involved Izzy & I taking down a 101 ounce Beer Tube in… about thirty minutes… and we even paced ourselves.

 

There was a lot of chilling in the sun, eating entirely too much, relaxing in the room, and we spent the evening watching comedy shows & hanging with the family… great times with great peeps!!!

 

Day 7 – Back on Land

 

The next morning, Izzy & I went to see the Queen Mary, a former British warship / luxury cruiseliner that Winston Churchill used to transport himself during WWII across the Atlantic… and is now a sunken hotel / museum there at the port. It was incredibly interesting… here are some pictures…

 

 

We also had a nice six-hour drive back during a heatwave (100+ in the Central Valley in mid-October) so we headed home… and apparently the heat or something caught up with me & I was sick the next day. It sucked… but it was also on a Friday so, work got pushed back a few days. No complaints there.

 

We also got a barrel for potting plants…

 

We also brewed our entry for the Iron Brewer Competition that is going on with one of our favorite breweries, Ferment.Drink.Repeat! This competition presents brewers with a  secret ingredient a la Iron Chef… and our secret ingredient is… (whooshing noises from the Chairman’s nephew)… FENNEL!!!!!!! So with that in mind, we brewed… Extinction Fennel Event!!!

 

Anyway, busy time, I know that I’m not keeping up on this thing… but I’m trying. Blame my job… it’s cuckoo bananas busy… all the time… and they’ll never hire enough people to help… because why would they when they have the greatest employee EVER!!! Have a great day everybody!!!