http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Jena/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Jena en-us Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:20:04 +0000 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:20:04 +0000 We overslept. That is how our day started in Grand Cayman. We had hoped to possibly go snorkeling before we were to meet everyone in our Shazam group at Senor Frogs for a big West Coast Swing dance party instead we had enough time to walk around town for a little while before heading over for music and dancing.What little we saw of Grand Cayman was just a standard port town. Fully content wit http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Cayman-Islands/Grand-Cayman/blog-394547.html The time had finally come for a West Coast Swing Dance cruise that had been planned 6 months prior. I was in agony I was so excited about the trip Myself Jason Chris and Jeramy were about to join around 150 other west coast swing dancers for a week long exotic western Caribbean cruise to Cozumel Belize Roatan Honduras and Grand Cayman. There was an all star staff of 9 of the top WCS pr http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Tampa/blog-394543.html Waking up on Thursday morning left us breathless at the views from the ship. It was unanimous that this was our favorite stop and very beautiful. I had been most looking forward to this stop and it did not disappoint after all it's not often one gets a chance to venture to HondurasRoatan is a small island with a single ship dock. We were suprised that we did not have to tender into the pie http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/Roatan/blog-394542.html After the slow day we had in Cozumel the day before we wanted to kick it up a notch in Belize. This stop and Roatan were the two I was most looking forward to so we booked the Land Rover and Cave excursion not really having any idea what to expect.. and what we got was far more than we could have imaginedWe were off the boat by 830 and began the first leg of our jouney quickly thereafter. W http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Belize-District/blog-394533.html We didn't plan any excursions for Cozumel opting instead to take the day easy and just walk around a little bit in the port area. We grabbed lunch at a place called Three Amigos and had a table by the water. The water was so beautiful It was really nice to just enjoy the beautiful weather and take a big breath knowing that it was ok to relax.. we were on VACATIONAfter lunch we shopped a l http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Quintana-Roo/Cozumel/blog-394527.html With the Winter season rolling around it can only mean one thing Cheap cruises The 99 special for our inside room plus port fees and gratuity of course was too good to pass up. So that is how Chris and I found ourselves making the 10 12 hour drive to Miami after eating Turkey on Thanksgiving evening.The ItineraryFriday Evening Depart MiamiSaturday 8AM 5PM NassauSunday 8AM 5PM http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Bahamas/Nassau/blog-353683.html I will preface this entry in saying that this was one of my favorite vacations ever. It's possible I very likely learned the art of cruising and relaxing on this trip or maybe I just needed a vacation THAT badly. Either way it was my first bit of time off during a year that has brought many changes including the purchase of my first home and the beginnings of my master degree.Intinerary on C http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Bahamas/blog-320724.html With the end of the year approaching and two days of vacation time left I knew I had to head to warmer weather We were lucky enough to find a cruise that fit into a weekend so December 7th we departed Port Canaveral for a 3 Day 230 cruise to the Bahamas on Royal Caribbeanrsquos Sovereign of the Seas. Our itinerary was fantastic leaving us with full days and little time actually on the b http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Bahamas/Nassau/blog-227132.html Sept 29 Today was a day of contrasts. First was the Miller Lite Chili Cookoff at Stone Mountain park and then a visit to the recently constructed Hindu Temple in Lilburn. The chili cookoff was a lot of fun. There were tons and tons of booths each with a different theme. There was even a pirate ship And an old style diner red necks cowboys firemen... you get the idea. Even if you weren' http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Georgia/blog-209252.html We arrived into Brasilia late in the night. Our plane had been delayed a bit but this was the norm considering that there have been issues with control tower strikes creating delays... Either way nothing is ever cancelled and all international flights are running on time. Don't worry momIt was not until the next morning that I met Mark's aunt and uncle our hosts. They were the sweetest old http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Distrito-Federal/Bras%EDlia/blog-188612.html After catching a flight from Brasilia to Rio at 720am catching a 9am bus into Belo Horizonte and arriving to Mark's apartment around 10 it was time to prepare to head to Ouro Preto.Ouro Preto is a thriving colonial style city that began as a gold mining villiage. It is very hilly and beautiful. I was pretty shocked to see cars zipping around on the VERY steep hills but it's just a daily http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Minas-Gerais/Ouro-Preto/blog-188610.html Lavras Novas is an extremely pleasant little town on the side of a hill. All the buildings are different colors. Because we went in the middle of the week there weren't too many people but it was a pleasant day nonetheless. We spent much of the day at an outdoor cafe owned by Milly a lady with a welcoming smile. I also found the souvenir shop that I had seen pictures of on the internet and http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Minas-Gerais/Ouro-Preto/Lavras-Novas/blog-188606.html All the thanks in the world go to Mark for planning out my short weeks stay in Brasil. I reflected on my time there as having shown me the different aspects to what the country was like given the time I had to see it.Rio was a traditional tourist town showing the exterior side of Brazilian life. From the Carioca Muscle Beachish mentality to the glimpses of the favelas.Brasilia showed me a dif http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Minas-Gerais/Belo-Horizonte/blog-188615.html Not too far away from Ouro Preto is a town of only a few homes near a waterfall. It's around a mile walk up and down hills. It was a pleasant walk and worth the effort of driving down the red dirt roads for many miles to get to.We'd hoped to grab a quick snack in the town but no one seemed to be at the one little cafe http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Minas-Gerais/Ouro-Preto/Chapada/blog-188608.html My 1 12 short days in Rio has been fun. Yesterday I saw Copacabana Beach and the Live Earth concert. There are people everywhere Most of the crowd is for the upcoming PanAmerican games in the city.I have been staying at an apartment just a few blocks from the beach that belongs to a friend of Marks mom. Mark is my hostfriend here. Its a simple apartment but is more than sufficient for this http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/blog-178927.html Myself and Chris decided that a day trip to Savannah would be a great way to spend a beautiful Saturday. I don't recommend this after having done it. We had pleny of time to see everything however with the driving and seeing everything.. it was just a bit too much that we asked of ourselves.We arrived into Savannah around 330 after our visit to Tybee Island see other entry. Armed with a map o http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Georgia/Savannah/blog-141902.html Since myself and Chris had plans to see Savannah for the day we also decided to see the Lighthouse as well. It was an additional 30 minute drive but was nice to have another area to see since we were already looking at a daytrip involving 4 hours of driving each way. We later decided this wasn't the smartest of day trip decisions.The lighthouse is set back from the beach where suprisingly m http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Georgia/Tybee-Island/blog-141859.html For Chris's Grandparent's anniversary we joined his family and headed to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens as a group. The gardens are located next to Piedmont park and I honestly had never known they were even there.The facilities were amazing. We began our self guided 'tour' by visiting all the outside area's and then working our way into the buildings with the more exotic plants. One even had bi http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Georgia/blog-151602.html I have a lot of emotions when I think about my visit to New York. It's a city full of gems waiting to be discovered and a lot of misconceptions. I didn't find New York to be full of rude people or an unmanageable hustle and bustle. Instead I found a remarkable city that accommodates all the people within it with amazing ease. The transportation is amazingly efficient and Manhattan very clea http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-163510.html Thanks to a tourism ad for North Carolina in my Budget Travel magazine I decided I'd set out to see the waterfalls of the Southwest region. I dug around a little on the internet and found THIS LINK. Waking up at 6am the next day I was off to spend a day seeing the area's natural beauty.The original idea was to start with Whitewater falls since it's the tallest East of the Smokey Mountains at http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/North-Carolina/blog-153260.html