Vegas Day 4 (Las Vegas, NV): The Last Day

Today was our last full day in Vegas and it was a short one. 

We took the bus out to Fremont street and went through the casinos and gift shops there. We’re seeing a lot of the same shops and merchandise. Fremont street has an old Vegas feel, Like the stuff you seen in the old mob and gangster movies.

After Fremont street we went to the outlets. I saw a lot of stuff that I wanted but the prices weren’t good enough for me to lug extra stuff home. The outlet mall reminds me a lot of the mall in Pleasanton.

This trip has been a lot of fun. I explored more of Vegas than I thought I would. It was exhausting but worth it. Hopefully I can do this again next year.

I’m hitting the tables in a bit. Tomorrow, we go home.

Maybe I'll explore a little more before we leave.

Blog update! I didn't do well at the tables at all so I went out to explore and grab food. It was storming crazy hard! So much it was raining inside of the hotel next to us. There was water coming out of everywhere and everyone was a little frantic. It was the closest experience I've had to a natural disaster. This was probably the most exciting to happen on this trip

Vegas Day 3 (Las Vegas, NV): Shopping, Snacking and Another Day of Walking

Today we planned to go out to the furthest spot on the strip and make our way back. It took us forever to get out to Mandalay Bay. We weren’t planning to stop on the way out but we did. Today we went to a lot of the discount clothing stores- Marshall’s, Ross and Burlington. We bought some stuff and didn’t want to carry it around so we made a trip back. We were almost there!

We didn’t really eat a full meal today, mostly snacked. We had Chick-Fil-A, Popeyes and Taco Bell. They have Alcohol at this Taco Bell! 

The way back out felt a lot longer than I thought it should be. They don’t have traditional crosswalks around here. Instead, it’s an overpass system and it’s almost a science figuring it out. I feel like there’s always something broken on these overpasses. Either an elevator or escalator, sometimes both, and it’s hard remembering what’s broken or blocked off on the route that you want to take. 

Once we finally made it out to the end we went through Mandalay Bay, Luxor, New York New York, Excalibur, MGM, then headed back and stopped at a lot of the shops that we went to yesterday. That’s a lot more walking than I wanted to do.

We also stopped by a cool Stranger Things Exhibit. It was a store but it was arranged to look like sets from the show. 

I'm heading out to the tables, hopefully I do better tonight.

Tomorrow, we’re getting a bus pass. Lesson learned

Vegas Day 2 (Las Vegas, NV): Exploring, Shopping and Walking

Today we went out and explored what felt like half of the Vegas strip. This will be my first full day in Vegas since I was a kid. We can see an In In out from our hotel and it kinda crazy to see everyone go crazy over it. Call me spoiled but they’re everywhere back home.

We kinda just picked a direction and ran into a block of fast food restaurants. My mom wanted chipotle but they weren’t open yet. McDonalds was open but I guess we didn’t want McDonalds breakfast. We ended up at a 24 hour White Castle. I’ve had White Castle a couple of times before and was never really a fan. It’s not as good as the hype but it’s not offensively bad and it’s one of those things that you have to have every once in a great while to remind yourself just that. My mom absolutely disliked it. 

We started out at the shops around our hotel and made our way all the way out to Resorts World and the lower end outdoor malls around it. On the way there we stopped by a lot of resort malls and mini strip malls. There like three or five of every store out here. Ok, five is kind of exaggerating but we passed by a lot of the same stores in different locations. WE FOUND A ROSS!!!

On our way out we stopped at a casino with a “loose $20 get $20 in free play” promos. My mom ended up winning a few bucks. I lost my $20 and the houses $20.

We stopped by Tacos El Gordo across the street from Resorts World for a snack and this has been my favorite meal on this trip by far! We got adobada quesadillas and the sauces they put on them were crazy good! We might end up there once or twice more before this trip is over. 

The rest of the day was spent mostly walking and looking for things. We’re not going anywhere tomorrow without a planning first to cut down on the walking. No more of this wandering around business, it’s way too exhausting. 

I spent some time at the tables tonight. Still not hot. 

Vegas Day 1 (Las Vegas, NV): Viva Las Vegas!

Today wasn’t a very eventful day. Our flight was late in the afternoon so I spent the morning packing a few last minute things. I had no idea what to expect weather wise. Every other time I’ve been to Vegas in the summer It’s been super crazy hot but there’s a hurricane moving around the area so it might get super rainy in addition to hot. How does a Californian even image what hot, rainy and windy is like? To us it’s either hot or rainy. Can’t have both. That kind of weather simply doesn’t exist for us. I ended up packing it all. When we arrived at the airport our flight was delayed a whole five minutes! I did a little shopping while in the terminal and boarded our extremely delayed flight. I feel like we barely made it in before the storm started.

Vegas is humid right now and it rained while it was 85 degrees out. What is this madness? I’ve experienced this weather before but only on the east coast and it’s still super strange to me. 

We checked into the hotel, explored a bit and I went out and played the tables for a bit. Not doing to hot with the gambling. Like the old saying goes "They gotta keep the lights on somehow."

Canada Day 12 (New York City, NY): The Last Day

Today was our last day on this trip and I have to get packing.

We didn’t dock until early afternoon and our tour wasn’t until two so we had a few hours to walk around. That’s exactly what we did. I wanted to go to Times Square and it was quite a ways away so we tried our best to get off the ship as quickly as we could and started walking. We ended up overshooting Times Square by ten blocks! While out and about I tried to take pictures of all of the theaters. We didn’t hang around long enough to shop. By the time we got there it was practically time to walk back. 

When we got back we had lunch and headed back out again for our bus tour.

On our bus tour today our tour guide pointed out a lot of celebrities houses. We got off the bus at the 9/11 memorial and passed by a few monuments and historical spots but there was so much going on that I couldn’t really hear what our tour guide was trying to tell us. I was able to get some pretty good shots of the city. New York photographs well. The 9/11 monument documents the impact and teaches the significance of the 9/11 events through media, artifacts and the stories of loss, recovery and hope of the ones impacted. It most importantly memorializes those who lost their lives. 

Now that we’re back I’m going to start packing and grab some dinner. 

This has been my first major trip in a while and I had an amazing time. I was able to revisit some exciting places that I haven’t been to in a long time and explore a whole different side of Canada which was nothing like I expected. I had a lot more downtime than I would have liked but it was much needed. I forgot how much I loved getting out there and exploring new places. I can’t wait until I do this again! I already have a few other trips planned before the end of the year but none as big as this one.

Tomorrow morning, we head home.

Until my next adventure, Cheers!

Canada Day 11 (Boston, MA): A Bus Tour, Quick History and Shopping

Today we did an early bus tour around Boston. After breakfast we headed out to the busses and drove by Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall, The Massachusetts State House, Trinity Church, the Public Garden and a high end shopping street. I've been around this area once before in elementary school and I think I actually remember some of these streets.

There’s a lot I could write about the places we went to in Boston. Here’s a few quick facts. Quincy market was a project initiated by Mayor Quincy. The Mayor didn’t want the market to be named after him so the official name of the market is Faneuil Market but the people still call it Quincy Market. The dome of The Massachusetts State House was originally made of wood but was covered with copper by Paul Revere’s copper company because the wood leaked. Almost a hundred years later the dome was plated gold but painted gray during World War II to prevent the reflection from drawing attention to it. The original location of the Trinity Church was on summer street burnt down during the Great Boston Fire and was relocated and rebuilt in it’s current location as a Richardsonian Romanesque church. The Public Gardens in Boston is a botanical garden. This garden is known for its lakes, monuments and the Paget family’s swan boats. There’s also duck statues from the book, Make Way for Ducklings. It’s tradition in this city to dress this cute little family of ducks in seasonal attire. 

After our tour we stayed out longer than the rest of our group and walked around Quincy Market, The Boston Public Market and The New England Holocaust Memorial. I love how the markets are like giant food halls with food, desert, drink, produce and meat vendors lined up. Each stand had its own speciality. 

On our way back to the pier we stopped by a lot of vendor tents lined up along the sidewalk. I really like the culture around here. 

After we got back we had lunch, afternoon tea, lounged around and had dinner. Tomorrow we arrive in New York.

Canada Day 10 (Boston, MA): Immigration, A Witch Tour and A Lot of Walking

Today we're back in the states

We weren’t able to get spots on the tour we wanted so we had the whole day to ourselves and we did the tour on our own. Before we could get off the ship or participate in anything we had to go through an immigration checkpoint. We had until nine to get it done but like I said, we couldn’t really start our day without completing the checkpoint so we tried to get that done early, before breakfast. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea, the station was packed and customs was running late so we left for the coffee bar near by. Everyone also had that same idea, the coffee bar was packed too. We got a text that the rest of our group went to the buffet so we left the coffee bar for breakfast. I had suggested that earlier but nobody listened to me. The buffet was practically empty! 

After breakfast we went back to customs to check in. I’ve done this before with other companies and it always took forever. You would line up according to last name, they would check your documentation and asked you a few simple questions and off you went. This time the process was a lot simpler. The line was long but it went quick. We shuffled through as a single file line, scanned our room cards and showed our passports. We were in and out in minutes. Super simple, super easy!

Since we weren’t able to get on the Salem Witch tour we decided to do it on our own. We took the shuttle off the pier out to the wharf near the aquarium and ordered an Uber. I checked the prices with Lyft and it seemed to be super cheap and I had credits so I ordered a car. Turns out I had entered the wrong address, the fare quadrupled when I edited it so I canceled it and was charged a cancelation fee. We explored other options like a rental car, taxi or public transit. We ended up grabbing an Uber. It was the quickest and most economical way to get out there.

The Salem Witch Museum is a renovated church building and seems to be a very popular spot out here. It was packed! Their tour is split into two sections the first was a very dramatic theatrical presentation using intricate dioramas to tell the stories of the affected and the accused. Both men and women were accused of being witches. We weren’t able to get seats in the middle of the room so we had to sit along the wall facing inward. I feel like we missed out on half of the show because the dioramas surrounded the room and we weren’t able to see the ones behind us. Before the second part of the tour they split us up into two groups, one went to the the second exhibit while the other hung out in the gift shop. The gift shop was packed and it was hard to move around and look at everything. The second part was a walk through exhibit that explained witches in movies, books, media and current day Wiccans. Elphaba is green in The Wizard of OZ because Warner Brothers wanted to show off their technicolor technology. This had such a big influence that witches became associated with the color green. This is quite an interesting spot and worth looking up online.

The shops around here remind me of some of the shops we have in Old Sacramento and San Francisco but with a lot more spiritual merchandise. They also had a crazy amount of Harry Potter and Hocus Pocus merchandise. 

We did a little shopping on the way back and ended up taking public transportation back to the wharf. It was way cheaper than any other way back. I had come out here before with my grandparents and we walked part of the freedom trail. My grandma wanted to go back and walk the whole thing but we didn't get around to it. Maybe we'll come back on another trip.

When we got back, we had a late lunch at the grill and lounged around until dinner. Because we had lunch so late I would’ve liked to have a little more time in between meals but we have an extremely early day tomorrow. 

Today was a lot of fun. We walked a lot.

Canada Day 9 (A Day at Sea)

Today we did absolutely nothing but lounge around and eat. I’m pretty sure you guys don’t want to read about me lounging around between meals and what I ate so we won’t go there. It was pretty much the same routine as our last sea day.

There was the regular lectures, port talks and social gatherings going on around the ship.
Tomorrow we’ll be arriving on our first stop in the states, Boston, MA. I’ve been to the east coast on tour and I’ve been to Massachusetts and Rhode Island once to visit family. This is my first time going for leisure. 

Tomorrow we have to wake up early to check in with immigration and we’ll be off on our first tour. I’m really excited about this stop. I wrote a whole report on Massachusetts in grade school. There’s definitely going to be more in tomorrow’s blog.

Canada Day 8 (Halifax, Canada): A Hop On Hop Off Tour, A Basilica and A Garden

Today started with breakfast at the buffet. Our tour is a hop on hop off tour. A hop on hop off tour is a bus tour that has a set route and stops at selected points of interest that tourists can get on and off at whenever they want and a guide teaches you about the town as you ride from stop to stop. This means you don’t have to get off at stops that you’re not interested in and spend more time at spots that you’re particularly interested in. We arrived for disembarkation before the crew was ready so I attempted completing that sudoku puzzle again. No such luck. I might just give up. We did a complete route on the busses and got on and off at the points that peaked our interests. 

Halifax is a military town and it’s creation marked the beginning of the Father Le Loutre’s War.
Our first stop was St. Mary’s Basilica. This basilica is a gothic revival cathedral with the tallest granite spire in North America. Our next stop was the Public Gardens. This garden is a 16 acre victorian garden who’s main gates only open for the Royal Family.

On our way to the gardens we stopped at McDonalds for poutine. I’m not sure if McDonalds is an accurate representation of what poutine should be but I liked it. The rest of the time out we used the tour busses to get around town and mostly shopped. Halifax has a lot of historical buildings with modern storefronts. It reminds me of somewhere I’ve been before but I can’t quite put my finger on it. On our way back to the ship we passed by a lot of restaurants, fair rides and other amusements. It was like Santa Monica Pier, Boardwalk and Pier 39, all put together. It was quite a long walk, there was a lot to do.

After we got back we had a late lunch at the grill, lounged around, had dinner at the buffet and went right to bed. 

Tomorrow we have another day at sea

Canada Day 7 (St. Lawrence River, Canada): A Day of Scenic Cruising

Today we sailed the St. Laurence River. Scenic sailing is like a day at sea but we sail close to land and a MC announces points of interest and landmarks along the way. 

We woke up at a reasonable hour and ordered room service. We had to rush the room service, it arrived when the room stewards were coming by to clean our rooms. I ate what I could then went up to the buffet for breakfast while our rooms were being cleaned. 

While were sailing there was a lot of activities goin on through out the day. There was a mini golf tournament, product showcases from the onboard shops, jewelry presentations, trivia sessions, get togethers, lectures and port talks. I spent most of the day lounging around.
The ship has a few digital game tables spread throughout the ship and one of the games was sudoku. I was able to complete the easy and medium levels but I couldn’t compete a hard level puzzle. I sat there for what seemed like forever and had to leave it. I even skipped tea time trying to complete that darn thing. I’m going to attempt to complete at least one more time during this trip. I’m determined. 

Tonight was lobster night! This is the first time I’ve had lobster on a trip with this company. I raved about the sushi earlier but the lobster takes the cake. It was amazing!

After dinner we went up to our rooms for the night. Tomorrow we’ll be in Nova Scotia