Calling all foodies !!

In my last blog I mentioned having eaten dinner last night at Appellations. What I did not mention was how great the food was! All the ingredients were so fresh and locally grown. Each course was a burst of favor, perfectly matched with a different wine. I am not a red wine drinker so they matched a white wine for me. The restaurant is an intimate small establishment (maximum seating is 48). To start we had an avocado mousse in red pepper paste triangle wrap. The asparagus with Hollandaise sauce & tarragon essence was so good. My favorite was the duck with a crisp onion side. Next course was the beef that was sooooo tender and good. Finally the meal was complete with a lemon tart with chocolate mousse on top.

Today we had lunch at Jacobs Creek Retreat and I cannot pick which meal I enjoyed more. Jacobs Creek Retreat is a bed & breakfast but you can purchase what they call the long lunch. It starts at 1pm and depending on if you do the three courses or twelve course your lunch could go on into the early evening. You can seat inside or outside under the trees. Normally they also have the different glass of wine with each course. Today we were greeted with a sparkling red wine and during lunch had the choice between two red wines. Lunch today started with sourdough bread with olive oil. They then brought out large platters with duck sausage with a chutney sauce, another platter had coral trout & a white fish, yet another platter with prawns, and final platter had beef with asparagus sauce on top & celery below. Almost forgot to mention the spinach salad with cheese and apple slices. The meal was completed with slices of mango with a nut and cream.

As if that was not enough we are now on our way to do a chocolate and wine pairing…..      

Once again MY TRAVEL AGENT heads Down Under .....

G’Day Mates: I departed LAX Friday night for my two week trip. Slept OK on the plane having a window seat to lean against the wall of the plane. Once we made it to Adelaide, checked into Oaks Plaza in Glenelg (a beach community), then went back into the city. Did a tour of the South Australia Museum. It was the last day of an exhibit that was very interesting art. There was an unmade bed as part of the exhibit. I learned I could move my bedroom to a museum and call it art! We then got fish & chips for dinner and ate in the room while watching the World Cup Rugby finals between New Zealand’s All Blacks and France. Good game and the All Blacks won.

Today was wine tasting in the Barossa valley. We started at Jacob’s Creek which I believe is the largest grape growers in the valley and then on to Rockford, a much smaller cedar door. Lunch as at Abbotford (a Bed & Breakfast). From there we moved to Penfeld’s to blend our own red wine. Not being a red wine drinker myself, I could not come up with anything I liked. We closed the day with checking out the rooms at Louise and eating a 5 course dinner with a different wine every course at Appellations.   

Oasis of the Seas

I started this post in August and it took until today to publish the post. This trip was taken in October of  2010.  When Michael set this cruise up, the intent was to have family join us to celebrate his 55th birthday onboard. As it turned out, only my brother, David and his wife, Lynn (whose birthday was the last day of the cruise) could join us.  Friday I dropped my dogs off for my sister to babysit while we were gone. About 15 or 20 minutes into the drive to Long Beach, Michael asked if I am going to call her to check on the dogs and I realized that I forget my cell phone. Since we had time, we turned around to get it. Flying from California, we took a red eye flight non stop on Jet Blue to Ft Lauderdale. Since we landed too early to head to the ship, we ate breakfast at an airport restaurant.

Once we got to the pier, it was just before 10am. We stood in a line of about 50 people for 3 to 5 minutes when they opened the check in windows. We were all checked in very quickly and seated upstairs based on our Crown & Anchor level. We were on the ship by 11am. Since you can not get into the staterooms until 1pm, we made our way up to the Windjammer and called Dave & Lynn. They were just going through the check in process and we told them where to find us.

Being a new ship with new innovations, we had to try something new and went with the Boardwalk view balcony stateroom near the end of the ship. From our balcony to the left we saw the Merry Go Round and to our right we saw the Aqua Theatre pool. Did the usual life boat drill and sail away party. Had an early dinner and then went to bed (remember did a red eye flight!). The negative with our cabin was I could hear the 10:30pm announcer of the Aqua Theatre show.

Next day was Michael's birthday and we had lunch reservations at Giovanni's Table in Central Park. Keep in mind that this ship holds over 5,000 passengers so making reservations in advance is a must. Great food!

This cruise was the end of October - beginning of November when Hurricane Tomas was out in the Atlantic. Therefore the captain decided to change the order of the ports and full days at sea. That meant having to stand in a few lines to juggle some of our advance show reservations. Due to the size of this ship and all the options we had, this vacation was very planned ahead. We only had 3 ports but a lot to do while onboard. We ate at 3 of the alternate (paid) restaurants (Giovanni's, Izumi Asian & Chops Grille), four of the free alternate restaurants (Park Cafe, Johnny Rockets for breakfast, Sorrento's Pizzeria & Cafe Promenade) in addition to Windjammer and our traditional dining table in Opus Main Dining room. We saw the Comedy show, Ice Skating show, the High Dive show, the Come Fly with Me (a Cirque du Soleil type show) and Splish Splash comedy dive show. I watched the Dancing Waters show from our balcony. My brother Dave is the only one of us that did the Zip Line and the Flow Rider. Michael & I did the Central Park walking tour. We had drinks in the Rising Tide bar from bottom to top and back down again. We went to the Halloween party in the Promenade. We participated in activities such as a Flip video scavenger hunt.

It was the largest ship afloat at that time (the Allure was not sailing yet) but we never felt like it was too big or too many people. I belive because the ship has several small initimate places. We also enjoyed constantly finding some new.

Pacific Coastal cruise

I always have good intentions. Last week I had planned on blogging everyday on my Pacific Coastal cruise, especially since I figured I would not get off at every port (Santa Barbara, San Francisco, San Diego & Ensenada). Well, here it is day 7 and this is only my second blog post!  I guess since I am traveling with several people I know, I am busier than expected. Being a Granada Hills Chamber of Commerce fundraiser we have had our own Happy Hour party on the first day at sea and another one tonight for our last night onboard. Went walking along State Street in Santa Barbara, went to Ghirardelli Square and took cable car to Powell & Market to have a drink and people watch in San Francisco. Yesterday in San Diego we got off for lunch at Anthony’s. Right now the ship is in Ensenada but I am finally staying onboard. I am currently writing this on a lounge chair by the pool. Too noisy on our balcony since we are on the land side of the ship and forward by where the seals lay on the rocks. They are quite loud and talkative. Well, time to go to lunch. I am enjoying this cruise  so much I can’t believe we get off tomorrow! Good thing I went this morning to the Future Cruise desk and paid a reduced deposit to get shipboard credit on my next Princess cruise (I have 4 years to book it).

Pacific Coastal Cruise

I got onboard the Sapphire Princess on Saturday and went up to the Horizon Court for the buffet lunch while waiting for the rest of the Granada Hills Chamber of Commerce passengers to arrive. I'm in one of eight cabins sold as part of a fundraiser for the chamber. I normally explore the ship the first day but not this time, in part because we sailed away early (4pm). Sunday we arrived in Santa Barbara. I believe the most popular shore excursion was to the wineries but I just got off and did a little walking along State Street. Back onboard to relax. Went to an Animals Lovers Get Together but was not hosted so did not know who were the other animal lovers to show a picture of my dog sitting in my luggage while I was packing. Today was a full day at sea with sightings of whales and dolphins during the morning.  Still have not done the normal exploring of the ship but have experienced several of the bars, theatres and of course the casino. It is a beautiful ship although getting to the International Dining room can be an adventure since you can not go the that deck from the front and walk to the back due to the galley placement. Tomorrow is San Francisco. Will write more.