Guess Who's Heading to Nashville?

In my wildest imagination I never thought those words would come out of my mouth. But this soo not a country girl is heading to Nashville in May as part of the Leading and Loving It Team for our first ever Pastors Wives Retreat. I promise to take some time out and grab a few shots of the old town while I am there. Watch out Nashville, here I come!

And just in case you all think I have abandoned my first love....Marc may be officiating at a friends wedding in August at my favorite place in the whole wide world! Its been five years since we were in Florida! If this happens I am going to be one happy princess!

Have you noticed that all of my traveling lately has taken place in the summer? What's up with that? Its not as if we have small kids anymore! I may be headed back to Washington DC again this year, but our Alabama trip may be put on hold because today my girlfriend called and said they are heading our way for spring break. My youngest daughter has been trying to get me to go on a New York trip with her. Only time will tell if that one pans out. And my mom has been hinting at wanting me to research a girls getaway to Amish County, PA. Looks like 2011 may be just as interesting as 2010 for this ole traveling soul!

Washington DC

Last week I went to DC along with my daughters for a Women of Faith Conference. We spent part of the trip checking out some of the sites of DC. Since my Disney site has turned into the akatravelchannel sort of, figured I might as well share some pics from the weekend!

Back in New York

Nicki and I woke up bright and early (5:00 am I think) just as we started to near land). We got dressed and headed up to the top so that we could take pictures of the New York Skyline. By the time we came back down our family was ready for breakfast. So we grabbed our carry on bags and headed to the lido deck for the last time ( I'm still missing that daily breakfast buffet). The place was packed so we headed upstairs where the Fish and Chips station was and found a table with no problems. We were some of the last to be called to disembark, but that wasn't a big deal since we knew our bus would be waiting. After breakfast we headed to the Amber Palace (which was empty) and waited it out until our numbers were called. While we were waiting we ran into Kiwi who was always running the bingo games (did you know she was married to the Cruise Director?). Nicki asked her if she would take a pic with her, which she agreed to as long as we took her good side. She also said we could just leave even though had not called our number. We said goodbye to the ship for the last time and quickly were able to grab a porter and get through customs with our bags. We were on the bus on no time and by late evening were back in my hometown and back home by around 10:30 PM. I had a great trip and would cruise again in a heartbeat. We are already planning for an Alaskan Cruise for three yrs from now when Marc and I celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary (if I can't get him on one before then).

Additional Sea Day Photos

Last Day at Sea

Our last day is sort of a blur. The weather was cold and windy so most people stayed inside. Which you could kind of tell because the big ship seemed just a bit smaller. We had a casual breakfast and then headed to the talk hosted by our cruise director that explained what would happen once we got off the ship. I just have to stop here and say that he was way funnier then the comedian in the lounge. The man kept us in stitches! I would love to have his top ten of the craziest questions that newbies ask. It was hilarious. Plus he made the disembarkation process seem like a breeze (as long as you are legal...LOL).

My cousin Pat and I decided to check out the art auction. The girls dropped by briefly (probably for the free champagne)and my mom and her friend checked in briefly before going off to explore. Later on that day we went outside. The sun had come out but it was still just a bit to windy and cold for our liking.

The girls joined Pat and I in the diningroom for the formal tea later during the day (around 3:30 I think). Which was nice, but not something I would say you have to check out more then once unless you really like it. Thankfully this time our table mates were very friendly and we had a good conversation over tea, mini tea sandwiches (cucumber in my case) and pastries.

There really is a kind of hush over the ship as if people are preparing to get back to life as we know it. We did a bit of shopping. That morning I had heard about a ten dollar shop and since I had not really brought anything for myself on this trip other then some photos and a watch at one of the ports I was determined to spend the last of my "mad" money! It took me a while to find the shop which is tucked way back in the corner where they had set up the $20.00 watch sale. I ended up picking up a costume ring, a couple of sandals from the cruise gift shop and a scarf. My family had been checking out the casino, so I joined them afterwards to watch them lose their pennies (LOL) before we all went to check out some of the bands who were playing. We pretty much took it easy the rest of the day.

Dinner that evening was bittersweet as we said goodbye for the last time to the dining staff ( I now understand why some people cry when the staff sings the goodbye song). My mom's Pastor's wife was celebrating her birthday so we all sang Happy Birthday while her hubby presented her with a special gift. It made for a great memory for our last dinner together.

On our way back to the room room we ran into our steward who graciously took a picture of Nicki and I in front of our stateroom. After packing up our suitcases we hit our two fav. spots for the last time so that we could say goodbye to our favorite bands. My traveling partners were a bit tired so we called it a early night and headed to our rooms to put our bags outside and turn in for the night.

Note: My mom had purchased a photo pkg. from the photo shop but when she went to pick them up they said they didn't have a record of it. It took another hour before they found it, thanks in part to a very persistent clerk who kept looking until finally someone told them it had not come down from the developers. He was very patient with my mom which I really appreciate because by then she was starting to get weary and was ready to go home! LOL