Taryn Travels

Author Archives: taryngirl

• NCL Pride of America Hawaiian Cruise–Hilo

  Posted at 9:45 am by taryngirl, on December 31, 2024

  8/6/24

  Today we docked in Hilo on the Big Island. This is where the volcano is located, and many were doing that excursion. We instead opted for a Hoppa On Hoppa Off City Tour due to my mom’s limited mobility. Also, my kids and I have been to the volcano before.

  Here were the ship’s activities for the day:

  

  

  

  

  Breakfast in the Main Dining Room:

  

  

  

  

  

  Our tour departed at 9:30 a.m., so we were up early for breakfast. We got to the main dining room around 7:20 a.m.

  Basket of Pastries:

  

  I LOVED the raspberry danishes!

  Mushroom, Spinach, Onion Omelet with a Side of Sausage and Breakfast Potatoes

  

  This was mine and it was very good!

  Ham and Cheese Omelet:

  

  This was also good!

  Traditional Buttermilk Pancakes with a Side of Bacon:

  

  My daughter liked these.

  Sides of Toast:

  

  We finished eating around 8:00 a.m. and went back to the room to get ready to debark the ship.

  We booked our excursion outside of the ship tours directly on the THIS WEBSITE. (Keikana Tours, Hilo) The tour was good for all ages and was 2.5 hours escorted. The cost per adult was $42 each. We were to meet 20 minutes before departure time. The tour office was located 100 yards from the ship. They did provide a shuttle if you didn’t want to walk. Our departure time was 9:30 a.m.

  

  

  We made our way to the tour office and it was busy! They offer a few different tours, and many were doing the volcano tour. We boarded our bus and were on our way. We drove on Banyan Tree Drive which is composed of a canopy of banyan trees with plaques noting which celebrity planted the tree. Just a few were Amelia Earhart and F.D.R. This route led us directly to Reed’s Bay Beach. We stopped here and were able to get out and walk around and take photos.

  It was the most beautiful day weatherwise!

  

  There were several people out boating and paddleboarding.

  

  One of the banyan trees:

  

  

  Here you can see our cruise ship in the distance.

  

  Our next stop was Liliuokalani Gardens, the largest, authentic Edo-style ornamental garden outside of Japan. Queen Liliuokalani, donated the original five acres of land to create a public park in 1907. This beautifully landscaped park features arching bridges over fishponds, rock gardens, pagodas, Japanese stone lanterns and a teahouse.

  We were given about 30 minutes to walk around on our own and then meet back at the bus.

  

  

  

  

  

  This was a really nice stop! The grounds were gorgeous, and I really think my mom enjoyed it.

  Our next stop was Big Island Candies Candy Factory. They were very welcoming! Right inside the front door we could taste the sample of the day. In this case it was, Macadamia Nut Shortbread Chocolate Chip Cookies (THAT WERE SO GOOD), and Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Crunch (THAT WAS ALSO SO GOOD).

  

  This was an actual functioning candy factory and we could see inside the production room!

  There was also a little snack bar with extremely reasonable prices. One daughter got a smoothie (really good), and the other got a hot dog.

  

  

  

  I ended up buying both of the free samples and some gifts for family. This was a great stop!

  Our next stop was Rainbow Falls.

  

  

  

  

  This was a nice, short stop.

  We also stopped at the King Kamehameha Statue, but I don’t have any pictures!

  Our final stop was the Hilo Farmers Market. The bus stopped here, and if wanted to get off, we could take any bus back to the tour center when we were finished. They have a “blue line shuttle” that would take us from the tour center to the Blacksand Beach.

  

  There were so many vendors here with both fresh fruits and vegetables, prepared foods, and souvenirs.

  

  We shopped for a little bit and then caught a bus back to the tour center. From there we boarded a different bus to take us to the a black sand beach, Richardson Ocean Park.

  Fun story…We had been to Hawaii about 8 years ago. We stayed on the Big Island in Hilo in a VRBO. Every day, we would walk across the street to this very same beach! At the time, we didn’t know how good it really was. There were tons of turtles and people snorkeling.

  

  

  

  Here’s the house we stayed in on our last trip!

  

  

  We did a little photo shoot for the girls here. It was just breathtaking! We were slightly sad we didn’t wear our swimsuits!

  We caught the shuttle back to the ship shortly after this. I have no other photos for this day! I think we ate at the buffet because we had given up hope on the main dining room. I know for sure we did our nightly sudoku and listened to some live music.

  Overall, the day was great! We saw many sites in Hilo. It was beautiful!

  Posted in Cruise, Hawaii, Norwegian Cruise Line, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged big-island, Cruise, Hawaii, Hawaiian Cruise, Hilo, NCL, Norwegian Cruise Line, travel

• NCL Pride of America Hawaiian Cruise – Maui Day 2

  Posted at 11:34 am by taryngirl, on December 6, 2024

  8/5/24

  Today was our second day in Maui. We didn’t have any tours planned, but my youngest daughter was wanting to visit a cat cafe and she found one here!

  The Freestyle Daily for the day:

  

  

  

  

  We got up and ate some breakfast, then got ready to walk to the Cat Cafe. I had looked how far the walk was. It seemed to be 20ish minutes, and it wasn’t super hot yet, so we decided to walk instead of Uber.

  This port is an actual shipping port, so there are containers everywhere. We did have to meander a while to get out to the actual street. Lots of people were doing it though! If you need a taxi, they do pick you up right near where you get off the ship.

  

  I found this super interesting. There were several of these amongst the shipping containers in the yard. I was curious why they were sitting here instead of Lahaina where people could actually live in them!

  

  The walk ended up being much further than we anticipated. The location was Queen Ka’ahumanu Center in Kahului, which is a mall.

  

  Cat Cafe Maui

  My daughter is obsessed with cats. Sadly though she has had allergies since she was a toddler. We decided to give this a whirl with her meds and her inhaler in tow. I made a reservation online for the first time slot.

  

  This cafe was SO CUTE! We checked in once they opened. We had to wear socks (we brought them along), and they had a variety of drinks we could choose from. (The “cafe” part.) There were double doors just to make sure the cats couldn’t escape. Once inside, we could go anywhere we wanted. There were different seats and tons of cat toys and beds. Each cat had a name tag.

  

  

  

  

  We had a great time and my girls were happy.

  All of these cats from the cafe have been adopted!

  

  We walked around the mall a little bit when we were finished, and then we called an Uber.

  We headed back to the ship and went straight to the pool! The weather was perfect.

  

  We stayed at the pool all day until it was time to get ready for dinner.

  

  

  

  

  The only food I got a picture of was dessert! A Brownie Smore:

  

  Overall, it was a chill day.

  Up next, Hilo!

  Posted in Hawaii, Norwegian Cruise Line, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged Cruise, Hawaii, Maui, NCL, Norwegian Cruise Line, Pride of America

• NCL Pride of America Hawaiian Cruise – Maui

  Posted at 2:00 pm by taryngirl, on October 29, 2024

  8/4/24

  Today was our first day docking in Maui. We would be docked here from 8:00 a.m. this morning, until the next day at 5:30 p.m. I decided to rent a car for the first day so we could go out and do some sightseeing on our own. The Road to Hana is the big excursion here, but three of us get carsick, soooooo…

  Here’s the Freestyle Daily with all of the day’s activities on the ship.

  

  

  

  

  (Also, I wanted to show this cool feature outside of each stateroom! It was a dial to let your room steward know if you were ready for your room to be serviced.). So smart!

  We took a taxi to the airport to pick up our rental car. Taxis were readily available just off of the ship. The ride was about 10 minutes and cost about $11.00. We rented the car through Alamo and the total cost for the day was $67.40.

  We wanted to drive to Paia about 20ish minutes away. I had read that it was a cute little town, and there were some stops with turtles nearby. Our first stop was Ho’okipa Beach Park. We went to the lookout above it. It was really windy!

  This is looking down on the beach from the lookout:

  

  

  

  It was at this moment that we realized that those were not rocks! They were turtles!

  

  There were alot of people snorkeling here.

  

  My youngest did walk down there to get a closer look.

  From here, we drove to Kaulahao Beach. It was just a tiny parking lot and a tiny beach. Many locals were set up for the day with tarps, food, tables and chairs. We saw the biggest turtle here!

  

  

  

  Next we went into the town of Paia. We parked in a public parking lot. There were so many amazing small businesses here! Very artsy, thoughtful shops. We walked around visiting shops for about an hour and a half and then decided to get some lunch.

  

  Milagros Food Co.

  My youngest got a grilled chicken breast:

  

  We got some snacks to share. Quesadilla:

  

  Taquitos:

  

  Fries:

  

  All of it was very good! And we were ready to continue our trek around Maui.

  The next place we wanted to check out was Lahaina. The fire that ravaged that area was terrible. The road was just recently reopened.

  We stopped at a few lookouts on the way.

  

  

  You can see how dry this area was. And as we kept going closer to Lahaina, it was veryyyyy dry. The landscape was totally different. Unfortunately I do not have any photos or videos for the rest of the day on the island! I was driving and we were really just taking it all in.

  We did see fire damage, charred grassy areas, burned out abandoned cars, completely leveled houses and businesses, and all roads leading to the downtown and beach areas were closed.

  On our return to the port area, we stopped at a Walmart and picked up a bunch of souvenirs! They had a great selection and the prices were great.

  We returned the car around 3:30 p.m. and took a taxi back to the ship.

  That evening we tried dinner in the Main Dining Room again, but this time upstairs in the Liberty Restaurant. It’s the same menu as downstairs, just a different atmosphere.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  There was definitely a good variety of options on the menu!

  Fruit Plate:

  

  This was good. Just your normal fruit.

  Caesar Salad:

  

  This was average for a Caesar salad.

  Bruschetta:

  

  This was really good!

  Herb Crusted Rotisserie Chicken:

  

  I don’t know why there was gravy on this. I think this was just okay.

  Grilled New York Strip Steak:

  

  This was just okay too. I am not a huge fan of extra sauces and gravies, soooooo…

  Kid’s Menu Cheese Pizza:

  

  I think this was fine.

  Warm Apple Strudel:

  

  This was actually really good!

  This was our most disappointing evening of the trip. Our wait staff served our food and were never seen again! We never got drink refills, including our water. Also, we were supposed to be served a cake for my mom’s birthday and they never brought it out. We ended up just getting up and leaving. Big disappointment!

  After dinner we went to see Aloha Polynesia in the theater. It was really good!

  

  We were able to see the dances of Tahiti, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga and the island of Hawaii, as well as learn a little bit about the different cultures.

  That concluded our day!

  Next up, Day 2 in Maui!

  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments

• NCL Pride of America Hawaiian Cruisetour – Embarkation Day

  Posted at 11:39 am by taryngirl, on October 3, 2024

  8/3/24

  After our morning tour, the bus dropped us off directly at the port around 2:45 p.m. The check in process was very easy. There wasn’t really a line at all to check in or get through security. Everyone received a shell lei. We were on the ship within minutes!

  

  

  Here’s the Freestyle Daily for Day 1. This included everything for the day…dining options, entertainment, etc.

  

  

  

  

  Because we were boarding later in the day, our cabin was ready and we were able to go directly there to unload our carry-ons. We were staying in an Inside Cabin. There were four of us, so two pullmans and two twin beds on the bottom. With this layout, it did not give us the option to have one queen bed on the bottom…probably because of banging heads!

  

  One side of the cabin:

  

  You can see two deep drawers here. The safe is up top behind that small door, and there’s a big shelf on top of that.

  This is the other side:

  

  Two deep drawers here, as well as a few shelves. The door at the top was our beverage cooler.

  The huge closet:

  

  There were shelves on both sides of the closet.

  

  

  Overall, we were super happy with the room size! Compared to an Inside on RCCL, we felt we had way more storage and space. I would 100% book this same cabin type again on this ship.

  Here’s a video tour of the cabin:

  We decided to explore the ship some. We weren’t really hungry since we had a good lunch. These ship maps were near each elevator.

  

  

  Once up on deck, my girls headed directly to the pool to find seats.

  

  

  There really was no shortage of chairs on this ship.

  

  

  

  

  After a spin around the outside decks, I checked out the Key West Bar & Grill, which had a small buffet set up. It was perfect for an afternoon snack while at the pool.

  Next, we went inside to explore a little bit.

  This is Deck 6, Pink’s Champagne Bar. This was a hot spot throughout the week, hosting musicians, trivia, and other activities.

  

  Next I went to the library. This place was AMAZING! And huge! This is only one part of it! There was a whole other section bigger than this one.

  The card/game room:

  

  We spent every night in here after dinner doing the daily Sodoku that they had! A lot of people used this room for cards and other games. There were always other people in there when we were.

  The Mardi Gras…a lounge and night club:

  

  We also spent some evenings here for dance parties.

  The Hollywood Theater…where we watched the shows in the evenings:

  

  So Norwegian Cruise Line has a “dine when you want” policy. There are no set dining times, and no seat assignments. The Main Dining Room was open from 5:00-9:00 p.m. each evening. I’ve been on tons of cruises. I LOVE having a set dining time with a set wait staff. They get to know you and what you like, and they learn your pace. We went to dinner around 6:00 p.m. We didn’t have a wait at all. There are two Main Dining Rooms….Skyline Restaurant, and Liberty Restaurant. We went to the Skyline on the first night.

  For some reason I did not take a photo of the menu! Gahhhh, I always take a photo so I can remember what I had. Our wait staff was very nice. It did take FOREVER to get our food. There was hardly anyone in the restaurant, so I have no idea what took so long.

  This was my dinner:

  

  I honestly don’t remember what it was. It was okay, but it wasn’t great except for the baked potato! We left feeling underwhelmed.

  From there we went outside for the sunset. It was absolutely gorgeous!

  Posted in Hawaii, Norwegian Cruise Line, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged CruiseTour, Hawaii, NCL, Norwegian Cruise Line, Pride of America, travel

• Costa Rica Day 7! Lazy Beach Day

  Posted at 11:03 am by taryngirl, on September 29, 2024

  7/6/24

  When we woke up today, my husband was not feeling well at all. Apparently he was awake all night with stomach issues. The rest of us felt fine, so I thought maybe he was dehydrated from the day before. The girls and I went to breakfast and then went and got chairs near the beach.

  

  Here you can see the vendors who walk up and down the beach trying to sell their items.

  

  We walked down to the part of the beach where they surfed yesterday. It was not rocky in that area, so we felt safer going out into the waves with no water shoes.

  This is looking back at that area. (There is public parking here so it was much busier. This is also the area where alot of the vendors were stationed.)

  I found this beautiful starfish!

  

  I also found this guy again on the wall right in front of our chairs:

  

  And this interesting insect appeared on my bag:

  

  I had gone back to the room to check on my husband a few times, and he was not better. He couldn’t get out of bed and didn’t anything to eat or drink.

  It started raining again, so we moved into the restaurant to a table for some drinks and cards.

  

  We didn’t really have a plan for dinner tonight. One family wanted sushi, and the rest wanted Italian.

  The Italian restaurant was attached to the resort, so it was just a quick walk to get there. This is the kitchen area where they made the pizzas and pastas! It was open air, and right where the very limited seating was.

  

  Here you can see the street and how close it was to the seats.

  

  

  I had the spaghetti bolognese and it was so good!

  This wrapped up our trip to Costa Rica! It was certainly a whirlwind. The next day we had breakfast and then boarded our private transportation to the Liberia airport, which was about 45 minutes away.

  (My husband was still very sick. He didn’t go to dinner, but survived the trip home. After we got home, my sister-in-laws family all also weren’t feeling great. We think it was due to the water in Tamarindo (traveler’s diarrhea)! Not everyone drank bottled water. My two girls and I drank bottled water. Everyone was back to normal in about two weeks.)

  Posted in Costa Rica, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged adventure, Beach, central-america, Costa Rica, Tamarindo, travel

• Costa Rica Day 6! Tamarindo Beach, Surfing, Dinner Out!

  Posted at 12:18 pm by taryngirl, on September 27, 2024

  

  7/5/24

  We woke up to this amazing view! It was so peaceful at 7:00 a.m.

  We weren’t quite ready for breakfast yet, so we decided to take a stroll on the beach until the other families were awake. Our sleep schedules were STILL whacked out!

  Walking from our room out to the beach:

  

  30 minutes later, the sun was coming out! We hadn’t seen it very much so we were soaking it in.

  The view looking from the path towards the resort rooms and pool:

  There were so many interesting shells on the beach!

  

  This was low tide. You can see some rocky formations in the water that you can’t see during high tide. This was important to know if swimming!

  

  

  

  Looking back from the beach to the resort:

  

  That white wall is what separates the private property of the resort and the public beach.

  Looking back at the resort and this is to the left:

  

  These ladies set up on the beach to give 1 hour massages for $35. They were nonstop busy! They must be good because they consistently had patrons!

  

  

  I spotted a giant iguana!

  

  It was almost 8 a.m. now and we were getting hungry. We decided to head back to the resort to the complimentary breakfast buffet.

  This is outdoor seating for either the bar or you could bring your food here. It was right next to the beach.

  

  FRESH MANGO! I couldn’t get enough of it! And of course my rice and beans.

  

  After our delicious breakfast, we went to get some seats for a beach day. You could go horseback riding right on the beach! You could just approach the men with the horses. I’m not sure of cost, as we didn’t do it.

  

  Another funky shell my daughter found!

  

  Such a variety!

  

  

  The view looking up from my chair:

  

  Here you can see the chairs that were available. We did pull them up closer to the wall. It was very hot and humid!

  

  

  My girls knew they wanted to take some surf lessons, as Costa Rica is a very popular surfing spot! We didn’t book anything in advance, but there were several vendors right on the beach or on the street right next to the beach. We gathered pricing from a few different places and ultimately decided to go with Iguana Surf. These four participated in a small group. Everyone was given a rash guard to wear and they were matched up to the correct size board. There were lockers to lock things up, showers, changing rooms, and water.

  

  After everyone had their boards, we headed back across the street to the beach. There were 6 total people in the group. Completely by chance, the other two participants were in the cooking class that our family did when we were back in La Fortuna!

  

  This was the area on the beach where the lessons took place:

  They had some instruction before they entered the water.

  

  Everyone was able to get up and catch a wave multiple times!

  At some point my oldest daughter’s nail got ripped off. So she had to make a visit to the lifeguard station.

  The solution was putting bandages and then a rubber glove on top.

  

  

  

  In total, the session was about an hour long.

  

  We thought it was fun and well worth the money! There were also stations that would just rent you the surfboard for the day if you didn’t want lessons. The lessons were helpful though.

  After surfing, we went back to hang with with the rest of the family on the beach. It started raining again…surprise!

  We decided to head for cover at the resort restaurant and grab some lunch.

  Tacos:

  

  Grilled Chicken:

  

  Pizza!:

  

  Everything was delicious!

  Since it was still raining, we decided to chill here for awhile and eventually started playing cards. It was a lazy afternoon.

  

  We were going out for dinner in the town. This was the view while leaving the resort!

  

  Our group!

  

  Patagonia Argentinian Grill & Restaurant was just a five minute walk from the resort. I did make reservations through Facebook since we were a large group, and they were very easy to work with.

  

  

  

  

  We started with some bread and drinks.

  

  (The restaurant was open air! They did have several fans going though.)

  

  This was SO FUNNY! My father-in-law ordered the Provoleta (grilled provolone cheese), and he doesn’t really like cheese! He thought it was going to be like mozzarella sticks and was pleasantly surprised when this arrived:

  

  It was a HUGE portion and I think everyone got a dip in.

  I was ecstatic when I saw empanadas on the menu! Of course I ordered one!

  

  

  This was SO GOOD!

  Here are a a variety of steaks and sauces:

  

  

  

  We were celebrating my father-in-laws birthday! The staff at this restaurant was amazing. The food was delicious. And I would highly recommend if you are in the area!

  Overall, our day was perfect. A little bit of beach, surfing, hanging with the family, and a yummy dinner. We weren’t going to let the rain ruin our time!

  Posted in Costa Rica, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged Beach, Costa Rica, family, Surfing, Tamarindo, travel

• Costa Rica Day 5! Moving to Tamarindo

  Posted at 4:25 pm by taryngirl, on September 25, 2024

  7/4/24

  Today was the day we were moving from the La Fortuna volcano area to Tamarindo Beach. The night before there were torrential rains that caused mudslides and closed some roads. We weren’t sure how that would impact our drive! Originally we knew the drive would take about 4 and a half hours.

  We were up very early for breakfast. Our transportation was coming around 9 a.m. to get us. We had one last meal at the amazing buffet!

  

  Quick video of the buffet offerings:

  After breakfast, we called to be picked up from our room and taken to the lobby with our luggage. I had a quick talk with our driver and let him know that there were some who were prone to car sickness, and to keep that in mind when driving. We ended up going a different, less windy road because of the mudslide.

  Here are some views from our almost 6 hour drive to Tamarindo!

  This was a school:

  

  I forget specifics on this tree, but it was a landmark for sure. Many people were stopped here to see it, and there were a few vendors set up right next to it.

  

  This was Rio Celeste area.

  

  Around 3:15 p.m., we made it to our hotel! (It was raining!) The Tamarindo Diria Beach Resort. This resort is located in the heart of Tamarindo, on Playa Tamarindo Beach. It’s walking distance to many restaurants, bars, and shops. Our stay here included breakfast.

  

  This was the private shuttle we had. It was like a whirlwind when we pulled up. A completely different vibe from La Fortuna! We were in the “city” now. Several bellmen with carts immediately surrounded us before we were even off of the shuttle! I went directly to the front desk to check in with everyone’s passports. We were all booked in Sunset Ocean View rooms.

  Immediately upon opening the door to the room, there was a musty smell. I wasn’t sure if that was because no one had been in the room in awhile? (The smell did not go away during our stay.)

  

  The room featured two queen beds, and was spacious enough for the four of us.

  

  The view from our balcony:

  

  There was some storage, but we didn’t unpack anything from our suitcases.

  

  

  (I think the sink is where the musty smell was coming from…)

  

  

  

  Overall, we were happy with the room. The location was good, the view was great, and it was clean. It was definitely not quiet like our resort in La Fortuna!

  You can see the chairs on the grass that were part of the resort. The beach however was public, and the resort did not have beach chairs there. There were several vendors walking up and down the beach (relentlessly) trying to sell us things. Drinks, hats, sunglasses, shirts, whistles, you name it, they were trying to sell it! Even if you said no one time, they would ask again on their next round down the beach.

  

  One of the resort pools:

  

  (That area closest to the bottom was not a pool! It was fountain water.)

  The front desk:

  

  Notice it was open air! Not indoors.

  We were starving. Since it was raining, we just decided to try lunch at our resort. This was the same location that would serve our included breakfast. (It was very empty now, but that was not the same during breakfast! It was jam packed with every table taken.)

  

  The pricing was in USD.

  

  We went with the chicken nachos.

  

  They were very good!

  Fries:

  

  Also good.

  And my youngest got a cheese pizza:

  

  We were pleased with everything we ordered.

  This was our view during lunch/dinner:

  

  We checked out the beach when the rain stopped.

  

  For dinner, we decided to just get ice cream at a little shop right outside of the resort!

  

  

  It was delicious.

  The resort looked so pretty at night too!

  

  We were exhausted from the long travel day, so decided to go to bed early.

  Posted in Costa Rica, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged adventure, central-america, Costa Rica, La Fortuna, Tamarindo, travel

• NCL Pride of America Hawaii Cruisetour – Diamond Head, Byodo-In Temple, Kualoa Ranch!

  Posted at 2:52 pm by taryngirl, on September 23, 2024

  8/3/24

  Our day started very early again. The bus was pulling out at 7:00 a.m. and we had to be all packed up and checked out of the hotel because we were going directly from a tour to the ship. Because this was a Cruisetour, NCL gave us luggage tags to attach to our baggage. We had to leave the suitcases by the door of our hotel room, inside the room. That luggage was then transported directly from the hotel to the cruise ship. We were only allowed to bring a small carry on with us on the tour bus. Most people just had a backpack. It was dropping us off at the cruise port directly after the morning tours.

  The itinerary for today:

  • Scenic South Shore
  • Byodo-In Temple
  • Kualoa Ranch
  • Punchbowl Crater
  • Drop off at the cruise port

  The tour started with a drive through the scenic South Shore, Diamond Head area. So many beautiful houses with a gorgeous view! I didn’t get any pictures because I wanted to enjoy the drive. This part was just a drive through tour with narration from our driver. He pointed out where several celebrities live/lived. There were so many surfers in this area!

  Our first stop was the Halona Blowhole. The drive to get here was just gorgeous! The coastline was amazing!

  

  

  

  

  

  Here you can see the tiny blowhole.

  

  We got back onto the bus and Gar had DELICIOUS malasada donuts for us! This thing was amazing, and I’m sad I couldn’t have more than one.

  

  

  

  We continued our drive up the eastern shore. Our next stop was Byodo-In Temple.

  

  The views in Hawaii are absolutely BREATHTAKING everywhere!

  

  Taken from the wesbite: The Byodo-In Temple, located at the foot of the Ko’olau Mountains in Valley of the Temples Memorial Park, welcomes people of all faiths to worship, meditate or simply appreciate its beauty and history as a non-practicing Buddhist temple. Built in 1963, the Byodo-In Temple is a Hawaii state landmark and one of the states’s best kept secrets.

  

  

  Everyone (almost everyone) lined up to ring the bell. This was supposed to clear the mind of negativity, etc.

  Everyone had to remove their shoes before entering the temple.

  

  

  

  

  There was a Koi Pond, and there were so many koi fish!

  

  

  The grounds were just beautiful!

  

  We also saw this little guy crossing the path to get into the pond.

  

  We also saw a peacock but I didn’t get a photo.

  

  This part of the cemetery was for the people of Japan. It was so interesting to see the different tomb markers.

  

  We continued on with our tour, and stopped at a macadamia nut farm. We were able to sample all of the flavors of those and different coffees.

  From there we continued on to Kualoa Ranch. Kualoa is known as the “backlot of Hawaii.” We were dropped off right near the entrance and walked to a special tent area for our lunch.

  

  We had a little bit of an education session and introduction to the ranch, as well as a little bit of Hawaiian dancing by Sonny. After that we had lunch before beginning the tour. We had preordered what we wanted, so distribution was fast and easy. Our tour guide/bus driver had previously given us this little sheet to complete and hand in a few days before this tour.

  

  It came box lunch style.

  

  We each ordered something different!

  Chicken Pesto Wrap:

  

  This was my favorite of them all!

  Smoked Ham and Cheese:

  

  Smoked Turkey and Cheese:

  

  Those were both standard sandwiches.

  Mediterranean Vegetable Wrap:

  

  This was my second favorite!

  The lunch also came with bottled water, chips, fresh pineapple, a homemade brownie, condiments and cutlery. They did announce that if you had anything that was unopened that they would collect it back and then donate it. They also were big on recycling everything that could be.

  Overall, we were very happy and full! They gave us some time to go to the restroom, and then we started loading up on the buses for the tour. They used two different buses for our entire group.

  

  We had the best, friendliest, most enthusiastic tour guide/driver. He was very knowledgeable about the entire ranch. Our first “site” was this gate that was seen in Jurassic World. He stopped here and showed us the scene on his iPad!

  

  Even the views on the ranch were amazing!

  

  We saw so many different types of tours going on…horseback, ATVs, specific Jurassic Tours, etc.

  

  

  All of these are locations that were in either a movie(s) or television show(s).

  (taken from the website)

  Some of the many productions that have utilized Kualoa locations include:

  FILM

  • Mister Roberts (1955)
  • In Harm’s Way (1965)
  • Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966)
  • The Karate Kid II (1986)
  • Revealing Evidence: Stalking the Honolulu Strangler (1990)
  • Jurassic Park (1993)
  • A Very Brady Sequel (1996)
  • Escape From Atlantis (1996)
  • George of the Jungle (1997)
  • Mighty Joe Young (1998)
  • Krippendorf’s Tribe (1998)
  • Godzilla (2000)
  • Pearl Harbor (2001)
  • Windtalkers (2002)
  • Tears of the Sun (2003)
  • Along Came Polly (2004)
  • Fifty First Dates (2004)
  • You, Me & Dupree (2006)
  • Tyrannosaurus Azteca (2007)
  • Heatstroke (2008)
  • You May Not Kiss the Bride (2011)
  • Soul Surfer (2011)
  • Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)
  • Battleship (2012)
  • Jurassic World (2015)
  • Snowden (2016)
  • Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016)
  • Kong: Skull Island (2017)
  • Snatched (2017)
  • Jumanji – Welcome to the Jungle , early 2018
  • Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

  TELEVISION

  • Tales of the Gold Monkey (1982)
  • Hart to Hart (1984)
  • Hawaiian Heat (1984)
  • Island Sons (1986)
  • Blood & Orchids (1986)
  • Dolly – My Hawaii (1988)
  • Raven (1992)
  • The Byrds of Paradise (1994)
  • E.R. (2002)
  • Warriors, Episode 10 Islands of Blood (2009)
  • Off the Map (2011)
  • Last Resort (2012)
  • Amazing Race (2012)
  • Amazing Race France (2012)
  • The Biggest Loser, Episode 1312 (2012)
  • Amazing Race Israel (2017)
  • Hawaii Five-0 (1968-1980)
  • Magnum P.I. (1980-1988)
  • Tour of Duty (1987-1988)
  • Jake and the Fatman (1988-1992)
  • Island Son (1989-1990)
  • One West Waikiki (1994-1996)
  • Fantasy Island (1998-1999)
  • North Shore (2004-2005)
  • LOST (2004-2010)
  • Hawaii Five-0 (2010-present)

  CONCERTS & MUSIC VIDEOS

  • The Big Mele Festival (1993)
  • Carlos Santana: Far East & Hawaii Tour (1994)
  • The Big Mele Festival (1996)
  • The Big Mele Festival (1998)
  • Surf & Roots Festival (2007)
  • Nicki Minaj – Starships (2012)
  • Halsey – New Americana (2015)

  

  

  

  

  We also drove past Battery Cooper Bunker.

  Taken from the website: Following Japan’s infamous attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the United States military mobilized to fortify O’ahu in the event of another ambush. With particular concern for the Hawaiian island’s windward coast, the military rented prime coastal land from the family-owned Kualoa Ranch, a now eighth-generation cattle ranch, nature reserve, and recreation center located approximately 25 miles from O’ahu’s capital of Honolulu.

  Built in 1944 to overlook and protect O’ahu’s Kāne’ohe Bay, Battery Cooper Bunker, named after an Avery J. Cooper, served for five years as one of three local defenses. Strategically positioned within a soft volcanic cliff face, the bunker’s 150-foot concrete tunnels were relatively easy and cost-effective to construct.

  Overall, this was a fun tour. It was neat to see where some very popular movies were filmed, and you could tell the staff was excited about Hawaii, and sharing it with others.

  We headed back to the bus to get ready to go to our next drive-by location, Punchbowl Crater. Punchbowl Crater is an extinct volcanic cone in Honolulu, that is the home of the National Memorial Cemetary of the Pacific.

  

  

  

  

  From here, we headed to the port so we could board our cruise on Norwegian’s Pride of America!

  Posted in Hawaii, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged CruiseTour, Hawaii, Honolulu, Norwegian Cruise Line, Pride of America

• Costa Rica Day 4! Zip Lining, a Pedicure, and a Chocolate and Coffee Tour

  Posted at 4:44 pm by taryngirl, on September 11, 2024

  7/3/24

  We had a busy day on tap! We were breaking off into sub groups to experience some different things.

  First thing this morning, a large part of our crew went on a zipline excursion. My sleep schedule was still not adjusted, so I was up bright and early at 7:00 a.m. I woke up to THIS AMAZING SIGHT!

  

  This is the view standing on our private terrace! Every room at this resort has this view. It’s just breathtaking.

  This was the first time since we were here that we had a clear view of the volcano! It was always covered with clouds. And just ten minutes later…

  

  

  My daughter and I did not go ziplining, so we went to breakfast around 7:45 a.m. We saw this little fella on the way:

  

  ZIP LINING EXCURSION:

  This was set up through our hotel. The tour company picked up our group from the lobby.

  

  A map of the course:

  

  A sloth sighting!

  

  My older daughter was able to take some videos for me!

  Everyone had a great time!

  Back at the hotel, we went to the pool after breakfast. I had a pedicure scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

  The spa was located right near our room. It was down a walkway that went into the trees, and you could hear a waterfall close by. After checking in, they walked me down a path to this little hut (there were several different ones). It was open air and meant for just one client at a time.

  Right side view:

  

  Left side view:

  

  My technician spoke very little English, but it didn’t really affect the pedicure at all. It was not a standard pedicure station! It was a foot spa with a chair next to it. I was a little bit bummed about this, but it went on to being one of the best treatments I’ve had!

  The view from my seat:

  

  

  Overall, it was a great pedicure! And I was happy with the result.

  While I was at my pedicure, some people from our group went to a chocolate and coffee tour. They got to create their own chocolate bar.

  

  And learned all about the coffee process:

  

  

  

  It had started raining in the late afternoon, and we spent the the rest of the time in the room napping and getting ready for dinner. We had plans to go to “downtown” La Fortuna via Uber/Taxi, and eat dinner there. However, the rain was relentless! It wasn’t a tiny passing shower.

  

  We decided to gather for some champagne and make a decision about dinner.

  

  

  It was showing no sign of slowing, so we decided to just eat dinner at the resort. We called, and they came and picked us up and dropped us at the restaurant.

  

  It’s a good thing we did, because there were some mudslides and closed or blocked roads. (This did affect our drive to the new resort the next day!)

  One of the great things about this trip is that there was so much to do! Everyone could do what they were interested in.

  Posted in Costa Rica, Uncategorized | 1 Comment | Tagged Costa Rica, La Fortuna

• NCL Pride of America Hawaii CruiseTour – Pearl Harbor

  Posted at 2:54 pm by taryngirl, on September 10, 2024

  8/2/24

  Our tour today began very early. The bus was pulling out at 7:00 a.m. We were there by 6:45 a.m. Gar had a handout on our seat. I really like that he highlighted certain things so we knew where to look. Because we were a large group, we did not have the USS Arizona Memorial included in our tickets. (Everything else was included.) They don’t allow group reservations, and that was our ticket type. Those had to gotten as stand by, which is part of the reason we were going so early! He did a great job giving us information during the drive. He told us the following suggested touring plan:

  • Exit the bus and head directly to the self serve kiosks at the ticket center. Here you can get on a waitlist fort he USS Arizona Memorial boat ride so you can actually get onto the memorial. They will text you (I think) if you get it.
  • Tour the Attack Museum and Road to War Museum while waiting to be called.
  • USS Arizona Memorial
  • Take the shuttle over to the USS Missouri to tour it.
  • Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum
  • Come back on the shuttle
  • Then tour whatever we could fit in…submarine museum, Bowfin, etc.

  

  

  Getting tickets via standby for the USS Arizona Memorial—Gar told us that they held back 75ish tickets for standby at the gate. He instructed us to head to the Tickets and Information building, to the Ipad kiosks, to get on the waitlist. They then will text you for your spot. Headsets could be picked up in the Theatre building.

  We arrived around 7:30 a.m. My family chose to not try to get standby tickets due to my mom’s mobility and endurance, etc. But we were able to visit many of the other buildings!

  I also want to note…no bags are allowed here! Only see-through bags at their discretion. Other bags, purses, backpacks, etc. must be stored in their lockers for a fee. You can bring your cameras, wallets and cell phones. Just not in a bag!

  

  We walked around just inside the entrance a little bit on our way to the USS Bowfin and Submarine Museum.

  

  RIMPAC was going on while we were there, and the USS Carl Vinson is in the background here.

  

  Our first stop was the USS Bowfin. Taken from the website:

  

  We were able to get an audio guide which was very cool. In the museum itself, there were numbers on each display. You could just plug in that number and it would speak about it.

  

  

  This was most interesting to me. Knowing what all of the patches meant on the “scorecards” for the different ships.

  

  

  

  We then moved out to the actual USS Bowfin to take a tour.

  

  To get into the submarine, you have to go down several steps. Also crawling through between the different areas requires some mobility. My mom had a hard time because it was so narrow and she couldn’t lift her legs very high.

  Some scenes from inside:

  

  

  

  

  

  We really enjoyed this tour. I couldn’t believe how tight the space was! I have never been on a submarine before. Just seeing visually more of the sacrifices our military makes for our country was really emotional.

  Up next, we went to the shuttle stop to take the shuttle across the bridge to the USS Missouri.

  Here’s a little bit about the ship: https://ussmissouri.org/learn-the-history/the-ship/timeline

  

  As we were walking up, there were several sailors also arriving to tour. They asked my daughter to take their photo.

  

  They were from New Zealand’s navy. There were actually many sailors here touring from different countries, I think because of the RIMPAC training that was going on.

  

  

  We had a really good view of the memorial from the ship:

  

  

  Standing under the 16 inch guns!

  

  

  The Officer’s Ward Room:

  One of the Officer’s accommodations:

  

  

  This was a very nice tribute set up in this room:

  The Executive Officer room:

  The regular mess hall:

  Some scenes from around the ship:

  

  

  From 1991! These were hanging all around the ship from different days.

  

  Chief Petty Officer’s Mess:

  They had some special kid activities to do in the regular mess area. One of mine did a word search and the prize was a lei.

  

  The donut baking area!

  

  This was also hanging around, from 1990!

  

  We really enjoyed this tour. It was very interesting to see everything that goes on inside the ship…the kitchens, the accommodations, the mess halls, etc. We were starving though, so we decided to eat at the food truck just outside. I think the name was Sliders.

  

  As you can see, pricing is not cheap! But the food was really good.

  Hamburger Steak (came with rice and salad):

  

  This was delicious!

  Chili Cheese Dog Plate (with salad and rice):

  

  This was also really good!

  Chicken Fingers and Fries

  

  Also really good! We were really happy and full after this lunch.

  After lunch, we hopped on the shuttle to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum. There were so many planes there! They had them both inside and outside.

  

  

  

  It was very neat to see this particular aircraft. This is the plane that George Bush trained on.

  

  These are actual original windows from the hangar that was attacked.

  

  

  Imagine our surprise when we saw this special Disney exhibit!

  

  

  Unfortunately, I was not able to take any photos or videos inside. It was very interesting! From the website:

  

  Overall, it was a fantastic day, learning more some of the history of our country. It’s a definite must do when visiting Hawaii.

  Posted in Hawaii, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged Hawaii, Oahu, Pearl Harbor

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