Category: Travel

My Spring Break Vacation 2022

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date March 10, 2022

And I am back from another fun-filled vacation. This was a 6-day / 626-mile adventure right here in South Florida – oh – and also up in Central Florida. More on that part of the trek in a few weeks. This will be the start of a 4-week series here on #TravelThursday, so let’s begin about an hour before sunrise on Thursday March 03RD 2022 (last Thursday).

That’s when I placed my travel bags in the trunk of my car – and I went to work – as in my workplace. WHAT ?

That was my plan. My 6-day vacation would start at my workplace – where I worked for almost 6 hours in the morning. And then I declared the official commencement of SPRING BREAK 2022 !

I proceeded northward to Broward County (the neighboring county north of Miami-Dade County). My first stop was at a popular outdoor shopping center in Pembroke Pines. I ate at a place called “The Pub“. It’s a British pub (or tavern). They’ve won awards for having the best fish and chips in the U.S., so naturally I had to experience it for myself. I had the “wee” size (for Lunch). It was good. It wasn’t the best ever. The best ever was actually over in Britain when I lived there 35+ years ago. I spent a lot of time in British pubs back then, and I enjoyed some great food in those pubs. One thing that The Pub had going for it is that it actually smelled like a British pub. That aroma (both positive and negative) that I remembered from all those years ago was right there.

After I walked around the shopping center for a little while I drove over to my hotel (also in Pembroke Pines). It would be my home for the next 4 nights.

That night I drove almost 20 miles into Fort Lauderdale for the first time since the Summer of 2019. I saw The Beach Boys LIVE in concert at Broward Center For The Performing Arts. Nowadays they are fronted by co-founder Mike Love and Bruce Johnston. Mike’s been a Beach Boy for the past 61 years, and Bruce for the past 57 years. Mike is 81 (next week), and Bruce will be 80 later this year. Mike and Bruce and the touring band look and sound great together. They plowed through no less than 35 of their hits over the years from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. They were on stage for more than 2 hours combined (before and after about a 20-minute intermission).

I was singing and swaying along to the music from start to finish. It was cool to see all age groups represented at the concert. Of course most of their fans are in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, and they were well attended that night, but there were also kids, teens, 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s there too – enjoying a night of classic surf pop and rock. It was a fun, fun, fun night with so many good vibrations. I can’t wait to do it again. It was actually my 2ND Beach Boys concert. (My first was near Fort Lauderdale at the Hard Rock 6 years ago.)

Now I need to buy some Beach Boys singles on iTunes. I can’t seem to get “Help Me Rhonda” out of my heart (and mind).

Next #TravelThursday I’ll share Days 2 and 3 of my Spring Break Vacation 2022. I’ll tell you all about my morning at one of Broward County’s top tourist attractions that’s not the beach or a shopping mall. I’ll also tell you all about my 2ND concert in as many nights featuring one of the biggest-selling trios of all-time – sort of.

Tags The Beach Boys

Blogging Food Photography Travel

My Carnival Liberty Vacation 2022

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date March 3, 2022

And now Week 7 of my 7-week series on my 8-day fun-filled vacation on the Carnival Liberty out of Miami Florida.

If you missed any of the previous weeks of this series then you can click here: Week 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6. (If you missed all of them then start with Week 1 and work your way forward.)

You know I disembarked the Carnival Liberty 46 days ago, and I’ve been reliving my 8 days on that fun ship every #TravelThursday since then. When I walked off the ship and into the terminal building at PortMiami I thought to myself – that was a great cruise – just as great as my previous Carnival cruise of nearly 3 years earlier. I was already thinking about when my next Carnival cruise would be. More to come on that !

What do I actually do on a Carnival cruise ship ? Well I don’t drink or party. Those days and nights ended on – ironically – a Carnival cruise ship in 2007. I drank alcohol for the very last time in my life on that ship coming out of the Mediterranean Sea and entering the Atlantic Ocean on its way across the sea to Miami. I drank for 22 years from age 18 to 40. I quit drinking 14 months after the start of my salvation in Christ.

Here’s what I do onboard when not in port. I eat a lot. I walk a lot. I eat and walk more than twice as much on a cruise ship as I do back at home and at work. I watch people, and I meet people. Carnival does a fantastic job in encouraging activities where you meet and talk with new people that will hopefully become new friends. I play trivia. I play BINGO. I attend nearly all of the shows in the main lounge. I laugh a lot. I applaud a lot.

I also pray a lot and dive-in to God’s Word while watching and listening to His marvelous seas. On some cruises I even write sermons; although, I didn’t do so on this cruise because of all of the activities that I was participating in.

This was a very unique cruise in that it was only about 40% full (my estimate – not based on any actual data). There was plenty of open space with very few people at all times during this cruise – both inside and outside on the open decks. I think on my next cruise it will be back to normal – at 100% full capacity.

And so now my big announcement. Exactly a month ago – just 18 days after disembarking the Carnival Liberty – I booked my next Carnival cruise. I’ll be sailing on their newest and biggest ship ever – the Carnival Celebration. It’s still under construction in Finland. It makes its maiden Transatlantic voyage from 06 to 20 November 2022, and she arrives in Miami as her new homeport. I’ll be sailing on her about a month-and-a-half after her arrival. It’ll be the newest cruise ship I sail on in my entire 30+ year history of cruising. (I sailed across the Atlantic on the Carnival Freedom in 2007 – 8 months after her maiden voyage.)

Next #TravelThursday a new short series (not 7 weeks) begins at the scene of my next vacation. It won’t be too far away from home – just 60 to 90 minutes away – north up in Broward County. I’m attending a couple of concerts, and I’m spending some fun times with my family (visiting from North Texas).

Tags Caribbean, Carnival, Cruise

1980s Blogging Music Radio Travel

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1987

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date February 25, 2022

Every Friday I post the Top 5 of one of my classic hit music charts based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from either 15, 25, 30, or 35 years ago this weekend (rotating each week).

It’s the 4TH Friday of the month, so I go back 35 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday March 01ST 1987:

“Live It Up” – Mental As Anything
“I Get The Sweetest Feeling” – Jackie Wilson
“Skin Trade” – Duran Duran
“Coming Around Again” – Carly Simon

Last week on #RetroFriday I hinted at a long-running Australian band who scored a # 1 smash on my chart that is one of my favorite songs of all-time that I still hear nearly every day on my iPod Shuffles that play at my desk at my workplace. And I sing along to it every day. And I’ve probably played it more times than any other American, as it’s a virtual unknown song here in the U.S.A.

That would be Mental As Anything’s “Live It Up” – their biggest hit ever. It was an International pop smash in Australia / New Zealand and Europe – reaching # 3 on the U.K. pop chart. I absolutely love this song 35 years later. It still sounds as fresh as it did back in 1987 when I was a late-teenager (not quite 20 yet) living it up in England.

Here’s the band from their iconic Thursday February 26TH 1987 LIVE performance on BBC-1’s “Top Of The Pops”:

Next #RetroFriday I’ll go back 15 years ago to March 2007. It’s when a guy from my former hometown scored his first # 1 smash on my chart. His second # 1 smash would come 10 years later and help resurrect my weekly hit music chart after a 7-year hiatus.

It’s halftime my friends. I’ll be back on Sunday and Monday with 2 more blog posts for this weekend. Enjoy your Saturday. Thanks for going retro with me !

Tags 1987, BBC, British, England, Music, Radio

Blogging Food Photography Travel

My Carnival Liberty Vacation 2022

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date February 24, 2022
1 Comment on My Carnival Liberty Vacation 2022

And now Week 6 of my 7-week series on my 8-day fun-filled vacation on the Carnival Liberty out of Miami Florida.

If you missed any of the previous weeks of this series then you can click here: Week 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5. (If you missed all of them then start with Week 1 and work your way forward.)

As I’ve mentioned previously I’ve been on Carnival (15 cruises), NCL (6), Royal Caribbean (once), and Disney (once). All of these cruise lines specialize in something different. Carnival has the best (and most) fun activities for all ages from early in the morning until late at night. NCL has the best professional entertainment at sea. Royal Caribbean has the best innovations that you won’t see on any other cruise line. Disney has the best food, and surprisingly I had some fun at the dance club late-night on my one Disney cruise (in 2018).

My favorite cruise line (by far) is Carnival, as I enjoy all of the fun activities at sea. Carnival has a reputation of being the “Walmart” of cruises. Hey – I like Walmart. You get a good deal for your money at both. If you want to go on a fancy cruise ship then don’t go on Carnival, and you can pay three times the amount for your cruise.

Carnival also has a reputation of being filled with drunken college kids running rampant. Yeah – maybe if you go in March or April – which I would never do. My 2ND week of January cruise had very few kids on it, and not too many in their 20s or 30s either. In fact – as a near-55-year-old – I think a little more than half of the cruisers were older than me. Go in March, April, June, July, or August, and meet a different demographic. January is a fantastic time to take a cruise (for me anyway), as it’s back-to-work and back-to-school for most people.

Carnival is not really known for their spectacular food quality, but I enjoy eating a lot of good food onboard. It’s certainly better than anything that I can get here in my hometown. Most of the food on Carnival is free (part of the overall cruise price). On my cruise I actually did eat at both of the “upcharge” places a couple of times each. Their steakhouse cost $38 (all-inclusive). You get a lot of food there – HUGE portions – and it really is the best food on the entire cruise ship.

I was assigned a 6 PM (early) seating at a large table in one of the two main dining rooms. I ate there 5 out of 8 nights. As Carnival typically does when you’re a solo cruiser (like myself) I was seated with other solo cruisers in my age group (which turned out to be 50s, 60s, and 70s). I enjoyed the company of each and every one of them, and we got along great as dinner companions. We ate. We talked. We laughed. We looked forward to seeing each other each night at 6 PM.

I ate a lot of good food on my cruise, and I did a lot of walking around the ship and in the 3 ports-of-call in an attempt to burn off a bunch of those calories. I typically eat twice as much food – (OK maybe even more than that) – than I do back on land at home and at work. Of course I also get more exercise walking on cruises (and on vacations in general) than I do during my normal everyday routine.

Next #TravelThursday – the journey concludes as I reveal my next cruise (already booked). I’ll also reveal my next vacation (on land) which will be much closer to home.