#SecretSubjectSwap: Vacations

Welcome to my first post in the Secret Subject Swap. What is it? Well, a group of bloggers submit ideas for a post and the hostess, Karen @ BakingInATornado.com, divies the ideas back out. Then we write. This time around, seven brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out.

See you there:

• Baking In A Tornado
• Wandering Web Designer
• Spatulas on Parade
• The Bergham Chronicles
• Part-time Working Hockey Mom
• ME! Our Prime Years
• Climaxed

My topic this month came from Wandering Web Designer:
“Did you take a vacation this year? Where did you go and what did you do?”

Vacation Picture FreePNGImg.com

Now this is interesting since it’s only just become July and the kids are finally all out of school. July and August, the traditional vacation time.

So do I look at the first six months of 2019?

Or do I go back to July 2018 for my view?

Hmmm, even funnier, after retirement it’s all vacation time, isn’t it? I mean, we don’t WORK, not in the traditional sense.

Okay, so I do write novels but it’s a part-time thing and believe me, I don’t make a lot of money from it. I continue doing it because my readers want more. Stu works his butt off around out house. Between the over two acres of land that needs mowing, the landscaping simplify plan we’re putting into place this year, pressure washing the deck and house, building his hobby barn, keeping all our vehicles in running order, well, it’s like having a job.

Seriously, we have had some mini-vacations already this year. First was a cruise in to the Western Caribbean on Carnival Cruise Line, followed by attending the Northeast Florida Highland Games in Green Cove Springs, FL, capped off with five days at Walt Disney World (sans kids). Let’s take a quick look at each one.

January – Carnival Breeze

We try to cruise at least once a year and often it’s to the Western Caribbean. We have done this itinerary probably half a dozen times. Why? Because hubby gets to scuba dive most, if not all, of the ports. While we love Princess Cruises, they don’t offer the number of dive excursions that Carnival does. Plus, they are more expensive.

Here are a few choice photos from the cruise…

Hubby on our balcony

Lido buffet area – loved the decor!

This is the library – with self serve wine!

Me relaxing on the balcony – there is a clear panel in front of my feet.

No, I didn’t participate in the water slide…lol

Our guilty pleasure – iced cappuccino from the Coffee Bar

Sunset from the ship

March – Northeast Florida Scottish Highland Games & Festival

The middle of March found us headed from our RV site in Folkston, GA to Green Cove Springs, FL for the Highland Games. This had been on my bucket list for years, there was always a reason I had to miss them when they were close enough to attend.

This one was perfect – a one day event, an ultra reasonable admission fee, fantastic fairgrounds for the event, great weather, and AWESOME bands! Oh, my interest isn’t just my married name, McNicol, but my paternal grandmother was a MacQuarrie.

Take a peek and see what you think…

April – Walt Disney World

We have done Disney several times since we met in 2008, but other than a one day trip, it’s always been with the grandkids. This time it was for us and we have a reason – we were celebrating our tenth anniversary!

We booked our vacation (yes, I used that word) well in advance, getting a package that included our park tickets. I also, for the first time, rented a scooter in advance, knowing it would enhance my enjoyment. We spent the first afternoon/evening in Disney Springs, two days in Animal Kingdom, one day in Hollywood Studios, and one day in Epcot.

It was fun to see some of the newer attractions in Animal Kingdom, most related to the movie Avatar. We also splurged on our dining plan, opting for three paid for sit down meals every day. And we took advantage, even with the ones that took “two meal coupons”, easy to do since we rarely eat three meals a day.

Here are a few (very few out of all we took) of our days there…

Disney Springs

Pandora in Animal Kingdom

Lion King nap (excuse the blur, taken from moving vehicle)

Definitely nap time…

Epcot breakfast visitor

It was the annual flower festival at Epcot

Topiaries were everywhere!

Dinner in Epcot

Toy Story Land was completely redesigned in Hollywood Studios

It even has a roller coaster for the littles – Slinky Dog

I found my perfect t-shirt! (I love T-Rex jokes)

Having lunch at Sanaa restaurant in the Animal Kingdom Lodge – animals galore!

Kevin from the movie Up

Lazy sunny day

Definitely a lazy day – again

Mother Nature’s show before the Disney night show

A teensy piece of the spectacular show in Animal Kingdom

So there you have it – I guess we have had some pretty amazing vacations in 2019. We are blessed.

Ciao for now!

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