807Wheaton's VirtualTourist Home Page

My goal is to see all 50 states - I've got two to go - Oklahoma and Kansas. My favorite part of a trip is planning it. I love to research an area on VT and tripadvisor and create an itinerary. Picking out the flights, the rental car and the places to stay with a pool and hot tub is great fun. Of course, hunting for that elusive best barbecue is always on my husband's mind as we travel this tremendous country the U.S.A. Several of our road trips have been generated by my genealogy interest. Trips to Europe have mostly been on tours or cruises - either one is fine with me!
The softer the better.

We enjoyed our Royal Caribbean Cruise on The Independence of the Seas in January. We drove to Ft. Lauderdale from Augusta,
stopping for a night in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. We had an easy morning drive to the Park 'n Cruise parking area at Port Everglades. We paid $92 for eight nights. They had plenty of parking spaces and had a shuttle waiting for us right after we parked. We were shuttled to the pier where our luggage was collected and we went into the area that processed our papers. We were eating lunch in the Windjammer Cafe before 1 o'clock. This was the first time we have driven to the port vs flying. Much, much better - low stress - no airline anxiety. Wonderful. We visited four islands; Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Martin and Labadee Island off Haiti. We had 3 days at sea to relax and enjoy the sun and fun. This was truly a VACATION - not a TRIP. Loved it.

After we got home, I promptly called my travel agent, Mindy, at Pavlus Travel and reserved a January 2010 Western Caribbean cruise on the Holland America Westerdam - leaving out of Ft. Lauderdale for the Turks & Caicos, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We both find it amazing how much we enjoy cruisn'! So far we've tried four cruise lines - Holland America will be #5. I read on cruisecritic that a cruise on the Westerndam is "The Geritol Cruise" I'll decide which I like best after January 2010 .........and I will definitely let all of you out there know.

In the morning, after we docked at Charlotte Amalie, we walked to the ariel tram during our stop here. After lunch we boarded a ferry boat that took us out to St. John Island.

We saw some of the world's most beautiful beaches on a tour of the Virgin Islands National Park.

From Philipsburg, we were bused to a 32 station sequence of zip lines, rope swings and "bridges" suspended from platforms mounted in the trees in the forest on St. Maarten at the Loterie Tree Farm. What a blast! Originally a mahogany farm, now the farm only has this single mahogany tree.

The stop at Labadee was our day for a picnic and beach adventure. Royal Caribbean has 3 picnic areas here. They served traditional picnic fare:
hotdogs, hamburgs, potato salad, beans, ribs, grilled chicken, slaw, fruit plates, desserts, lemonade, rolls, and various cold salads. The water was very warm and very calm on this side of the island. They also provide a small tram/shuttle that we enjoyed to tour the island.

The adult pool area has two hot tubs that have a bump out over the water - it is so cool to be sitting in the hot bubbling water and watch other huge ships come into port or to be out in the ocean, just enjoying a soak. Very unique. Right next to these hot tubs is the "Solarium" which is an especially nice area to sit and read and enjoy the scenery.