The island lifestyle is relaxed and quiet.

]]> http://www.mattder.com/2009/03/17/ill-spend-my-golden-years-in-maui-hi/feed/ 0 http://www.mattder.com/2006/03/06/not-sideways/ http://www.mattder.com/2006/03/06/not-sideways/#comments Mon, 06 Mar 2006 16:39:18 +0000 Matt http://www.mattder.com/2006/03/06/not-sideways/ Continue reading →]]> We celebrated our wedding anniversary by spending a weekend in Santa Barbara. We both don’t recall when the last time we’ve been up there so it was nice to get away without having to travel very far. When we were up in Mammoth over President’s day weekend we shared a chair lift with a gentleman who lived in Solvang. All we remember about him was that he was wearing a red jacket. We asked him for reccomendations for restaurants. He rattled off a long list of places he liked and a little bit about each place. I picked out a few that sounded interesting and commited them to memory.

The first place we visited was the Sunstone Winery in Santa Ynez. One of Eugenia’s co-workers recommended it for the scenery. It was about a mile off the highway and not very crowded. This was a plesant stop and the seeing the cave where they stored the wine was interesting. We both had some wine and bought a a couple of bottles that we liked before heading over to the Vineyard House. The Vineyard House was reccomended to use by the man in the red jacket ( ski lift buddy mentioned above). The service was excellent and the staff was friendly. The lunch was good but not great. I had a french dip and Eugenia had a turkey, bacon, avacado sandwitch. We had a feeling that dinners there were much better as we saw many people stopping by to check out the dinnner menu and making dinner reservations. I think I saw Tawny Little (news woman in Southern California) eating lunch there but I can’t be sure. Our next winery stop was the Gainey Vineyard (also reccomended by the man in the red jacket). This place was packed and is located just off the highway. There was an event there to support Muscular Dystrophy so I was dissapointed to find out that tours were cancelled. We shared a tasting as it was a little more pricey and Eugenia couldn’t handle much more alcohol. Eugenia found a wine she liked so we ended up with three more bottles before heading out. We’re not big wine drinkers so these five bottles will probably last us a year. At both vineyards the grapes weren’t growing so I was disappointed that I didn’t see any interesting photo opportunities.

We then headed back to Santa Barbara and checked into the Inn at East Beach. It wasn’t a fancy hotel (it was inexpensive) but it was cozy and clean. The only complaints we had was that the walls are thin so we heard a lot of the noise from outside (there is a field behind the inn where soccer games are played) and there are railroad tracks nearby but it’s not quite like it was in the movie, “My Cousin Vinny.” We drove over to State street and checked out the shops there. For dinner, we went to Sojourner Cafe (recommended by the man in the red jacket). What he failed to mention was that it was a wholesome/organic food place. There was no red meat to be found! It smelled really good though when we walked in and the food was very tasty. It was probably one of the healthier meals I’ve had in a while and I particularly liked the strawberry smoothie I had. I think the man in the red jacket’s recommendations were good picks. Thanks whoever you are!

Mammoth was great. It snowed both days we snowboarded but it was nice to ride some fresh powder. I got a new snowboard so I had to go back and make some adjustments before I was able to ride comfortably. On my first run on Saturday it took me about an hour to ride down. I had a hard time riding in knee deep fresh powder. Fresh powder is nice to fall on but it is difficult to get out of. The runs were much better once they were groomed. We broke down and bought face masks the second day although it wasn’t as windy on Sunday. The masks helped although they take some getting used to as one can start to feel claustrophobic. One thing I like about Mammoth is that even though you know it is crowded it doesn’t feel like it on the mountain. I’ve found that it people come in waves so if you wait for a group to pass you can have a run to yourself for the most part and not have to worry about anyone crashing into you. This was the first time I snowboarded two days in a row and my legs are feeling it today. Does anyone know what the deal is with the $100 for an entire weekend in Mammoth is? A lift operator asked me if I was interested, but I instinctually said no since it sounded like a scam, but I do remember other lift operators offering that deal before in years past but I never asked for more details since I was about to get onto the ski lift.

I did end up playing in my Monday night basketball game which we lost. I didn’t help by missing too many free throws in the second half. I’d like to blame the fact that my legs were tired after all that snowboarding and the 6 hour drive from Mammoth but my free throws haven’t been consistant lately.

Here’s a picture I took while on my Alaska Cruise that I’d like to share.

We packed our luggage the previous night and left it outside our staterooms where they vanished into thin air. I enjoyed my last breakfast on the ship although I couldn’t’ eat much as I’m sure I’d eaten enough food in 1 week to last me a month. We then headed down to the cinema on the third deck and waited until our number was called. Our papers said we should be called at 9:40am but we didn’t get called until 10:00am. We then disembarked and searched through several rows of luggage until we found our own. We took a van back to the airport which was more expensive than the limo we took from the airport to the hotel, but we were able to use up the rest of our Canadian money. My wife and I managed to get seats in the exit row on the flight back and arrived home just before dinner. I should have taken an extra day off to recuperate, but didn’t want to take another unpaid day off. The trip was over and I had plenty of pictures of this memorable experience. I can’t wait for the next vacation.

The ride back to Vancouver from Sitka wasn’t a great way to end the cruise. It was nice that we gained an hour when we changed timezones but heading south we lost an hour so we tried to make the best of our remaining time on the ship. Unfortunately, the sea did not want to cooperate. Up until the very last day the boat did not sway much at all. A few hours after leaving Sitka the ship began to rock really badly. I think half the people on the ship got sick through the night and the next day until the ship reached the inside passage at about 3:00pm. I couldn’t tell why since the sea looked the same and it was still sunny and clear. I wondered if it was because the ship was racing back to Vancouver at full speed. I wasn’t bothered to much because I took Dramamine but my wife’s dad and sister ended up sleeping most of the day because they were seasick. Throughout the cruise my wife and I tried our luck at Bingo. We were unsuccessful and were disappointed when we didn’t win the jackpot. Two people ended up sharing the jackpot in the end and they went home with about a grand each. At least it was more fun that the trivia games the Celebrity Staff had. Most of the trivia whether it be movies, sports, actors, music, or television were way before our time. All in all it was a very enjoyable cruise. We probably won’t be going to Alaska again anytime soon (we’ll wait until we fit the typical age range) but I wouldn’t hesitate to take Celebrity again when I decide to cruise again.

The weather in Sitka was also sunny and clear. This was the only port where we had to tender (meaning the boat anchored and we took a smaller boat to shore). Since we didn’t have any excursions planned, we took our time and left the ship around 9:45am. The boat arrived at 8:00am so we tried to wait for the rush to end. I don’t think it helped much because the boat was pretty packed. The seats were not made for taller people as I couldn’t sit straight otherwise my knees would be in my chest. The ride to shore was about 10 minutes. We sat in the lower deck on our way to Sitka and on top on the way back so we could enjoy the scenery and so I could take some unobstructed pictures of the surroundings and of the Infinity. Sitka is a very small town and there isn’t a whole lot of shopping to be had like there was in Juneau and Ketichikan. Luckily for us, we weren’t planning on buying much else. The only thing we ended up buying was some locally made fudge and it was quite good. We took a tour of the town on our own and eventually paid 10 dollars to take a van to the Raptor Center. I wasn’t sure if it was walkable but after taking the van I was glad we didn’t walk. The raptor center was smaller than I expected but the staff there was friendly. It cost $12 a person so it wasn’t cheap for it was but I think it is for a good cause. We probably spent 45 minutes there and saw everything there was to see. We were given the full tour by the staff and were introduced to each of the birds they currently housed. The had several bald eagles, a falcon, some owls and various other birds. We also took a short hike down a trail at the back of the center. There were signs to warn us about bears, and my wife got a bit freaked. I kept trying to convince her to keep going but she eventually put her foot down. Luckily for me, another (older) couple was taking the same hike and I told my wife that if a bear came I’m sure we could outrun the older couple so she gave in. At the end of the trail was a river where we saw lots of salmon. Unfortunately, we also saw a lot of dead salmon on the sides of the river and it smelled really, really bad. When the van came back to pick us up, we asked to be dropped off at the National Park where we saw some totem poles and did some more hiking. We didn’t see anything particularly interesting but it’s always nice to enjoy nature and some peace and quiet. We then walked back to the dock and took the tender back to enjoy what was left of our vacation. That was Sitka in a nutshell. Not particularly exciting. That evening was our last formal night and I had the Lobster. There was also the Grand Buffet at Midnight which was not to be missed. It is an amazing display of culinary art that I was able to photograph and later enjoy. Well actually, I just took pictures… I was too full from dinner to eat more food. Imagine that.

We arrived in Juneau at 8:00am. We had some time before our 9:30 departure for our whale watching excursion so we stoped by a few shops. The Juneau T-Shirt store was blowing everything out at 50% off and they had pretty much every cheap sovenier you would want. I bought a few t-shirts for the folks back home and we headed to the Orca Enterprises office. The office was located right across the street from where the Infinity docked so it was easy to find. After checking in we were loaded into a bus. The driver was very friendly and talked us through our surroundings and gave us a glimpse of what it was like to live in Juneau since he was born and raised in there. We passed the Mendenhall glacier on our way and then our driver stopped in the middle of the road (Across from the Safeway). We could all tell he was really nervous when he told us the bus broke down and he called the main office to get someone to pick us up. It was more funny than anything else becauase our driver was so embarassed. At least the bus didn’t stall because someone forgot to get gas. We waited for 10-15 minutes for another bus to come and then we made our way to the boat. The boat was purple and had an observation area on the top for up to 6 people. Unfortunately, the boat was full so there wasn’t much room to move around. The view from the inside of the boat was nice (windows all around) but the windows got in the way if you were trying to take pictures. I tried to stay in the back of the boat so my view would be unobstructed. We probably spent half an hour driving around looking for whales. We were told they saw Orcas the previous day so it was unlikely that we would see them again. I was quite disappointed when I heard that . I began to get a little worried when Captain Larry would stop to show us seals sun bathing on the buoys, but eventually we saw some humpbacks. The humbacks were not as active as they were when we saw them in Hawaii. We only were able to see their backs come out of the water and the tails when they dived. In Hawaii, we saw them jump out of the water which was incredible. One of the whales swam within 15 feet of our boat. I have never been that close to an animal that size. I was able to get a picture of it but I missed getting its tail. We also saw a few bald eagles and even saw an eagle swoop down and grap a fish out of the water. It was exciting to see it happen right before your eyes rather than on a national geographic special. The lanscapes were fantastic and I took seveal photographs of the scenery when I was up on the observation area. They served us some snacks. They had grapes, cheese, crackers, capri suns and it wouldn’t be Alaska if they didn’t serve smoked salmon. This was a nice excursion but I think I enjoyed kayaking more. The bus ride back to the main office was thankfully uneventful and we spent the rest of our time walking around town. We stopped by the Red Dog Saloon, but didn’t venture in as my wife’s sister was underage. None of the towns in Alaska are very big so we finished our shopping in about two hours. Also, be prepared to see a lot of the same stores from port to port. There are many jewlery stores at all the ports and you’ll see a lot of Northern Lights Topaz and Tanzanite so do your research before going if you are planning on buying jewlery. One interesting tidbit I learned from our bus driver was that the cruise ship companies own many of the stores in the ports. Many of the stores are only open during the cruise season and we talked to many store workers who were only there for the summer. Now I know why Celebrity was “recommending” certain stores and providing selective maps of each port. I wanted to visit Mendenhall but my wife was getting tired so we headed back to our boat early to relax and get ready for dinner. Our ship didn’t leave until 10:00pm so we could have stayed in Juneau much longer if we had wanted to. I liked that our port times gave us that flexibility. I couldn’t believe that my vacation was almost over.

We slept until 9:00am the next day as I was a bit sore from kayaking. We did some more exploring on the ship and prepared for the Hubbard Glacier sighting. The weather was glorious. It was bright, sunny and absolutely clear. We were told that the crew only sees weather like this a couple times a season. Based on our experience so far, we found that most of the activities on the ship start a little late. For example, the doors for dinner (we had the main seating) never opened until 6:05pm so there was no advantage to showing up early or even on time. Unfortunalty, the ice carving demonstration was the one activity that did start on time. We arrived about 5 minutes late to find that it was already done. Apparently it only takes 5 minutes to turn a block of ice into the head of a horse. I took a few pictures of the finished product and proceeded to walk around the 11th deck to enjoy the scenery. Everyone started to pick out their spots at around 1:00pm and it got quite crowded. The front of the ship on the 12th and 13th decks were the most crowded. I didn’t like the views from there because there was glass in the way on the 12th deck and on the 13th deck was to far away unless you had a high powered lens. For this reason I parked myself in the middle of the ship on the right side. Luckily, this was the side that faced the glacier first. The Celebrity staff started selling hot chocolate in a souvenir cups for $8.95. My wife eventually gave in, as it was cold and windy. When we arrived in the bay, the ship pulled in pretty close the Hubbard Glacier and the naturalist began to tell us some facts about the glacier. She also pointed out where she thought some calving events would happen and that they should happen while we were there. We were not disappointed. We probably saw 8-10 significant calving events and 2 that were particularly huge. I had a perfect vantage point for one of them and was able to capture spectacular pictures of the event as it progressed. When the ship started to turn to the other side I headed down from the 11th deck to the 8th floor where my wife’s parents had a balcony. It was nice to hang out there as there were no crowds and we were still able to hear the naturalist on the television. The only problem was the people smoking a couple balconies over. When the ship started to turn again I headed down to the 4th deck. One of the crew members recommended viewing from down there and I believe it was much better than the viewing from the 11th deck. From the 4th deck, the glacier is closest to eye level which gives a better perspective of the size of the glacier. The 4th deck wasn’t very crowded which allowed for great viewing. It was on the 4th deck that I was able to get my great photographs of the calving. Also, when the ship turned again, it was easy to walk across to the other side of the ship (which wasn’t crowded) and continue to get a great view of the glacier. The glacier really does have blue ice which really makes it pretty. I forgot to mention that on the 11th deck you’ll find the ever present Celebrity photographers there to take your picture. Now about the “Digital Processing” that I referred to earlier. I noticed that when the pictures were developed and displayed in the gallery on the 4th floor, the blues were way overdone. I think they increase the blues on all the pictures to make the pictures more vivid and striking. It’s a cheap trick if you ask me and the pictures looked fake when compared to the real thing. Anyway, the ship did make one more turn before leaving so I was able to walk across the ship one last time for my final viewing before the ship began to pull away from the Hubbard Glacier. I then went up to the 11th deck which was empty because at the ship was leaving a took more scenic pictures. There is another glacier to the left (when facing the Hubbard Glacier) that has black stripes. I also saw a lot of seals sun bathing on the ice that had broken off the glacier. This was quite a memorable day and an experience I will never forget. I think I had a rack of lamb for dinner that night. It was delicious. I miss all the good food.

After setting our clocks back one hour due to the time zone change, we woke up at 6:30am to have a quick breakfast before heading out (some people eat slower than others). The ship arrived and docked in Ketchikan at 7:00am and our kayaking trip with Southeast Sea Kayaks wasn’t until 8:00am. We were booked on the Orca Cove excursion. We finished our “quick” breakfast at the Oceanside restarant by 7:30am where I always had some combination of eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, bacon, corned beef hash, yogurt, granola and fruit. When we disembarked we were greeting by a large eagle. It was actually someone in costume and the ever present Celebrity photographers were there to capture the meeting. My wife’s sister saw a moose on the other side and took a picture with the moose as well. She tried to take a picture with moose with her own camera but was told that it wasn’t allowed. I still don’t understand why they charge so much for those pictures. I bet they would sell a lot more if they lowered their prices, not to mention the “digital processing,” they do… but i’ll get into that later. Since we were out a little early, we walked through a couple shops right by the dock and noticed that almost everything was 50 percent off. When it was time, we headed back to our ship to meet with our guide and found our man from the Southeast Sea Kayaks holding a Kayaking paddle. It was much easier to spot than reading the little signs that I saw some of the other excursions leaders holding. After making contact, he went off to another the Holland America Statendam ship to look for a couple who had also signed up, then we walked about six blocks to Southeast Sea Kayak office. The other couple was from Florida. Luckily they made it out before Hurricane Frances. They spent 6 hours driving to find an airport they could fly out of. I hope they made it back to Florida before Hurricane Ivan. Once we arrived at the office, we took a bathroom break because we were told the kayaks did not have bathroom facilities. *grin* Then we boarded a small boat and took a 20 minute boat ride out to meet with a larger boat which had the kayaks attached to it. We took the double kayaks and the other couple had singles. The kayaks were much fancier than what I have seen before. The person in the back of the double was able to control a rudder by pushing down with the left or right foot to go left and right respectively. The weather was overcast and it rained on an off. It was a very light rain so it didn’t bother us and it helped keep us cool since we were all bundled up with rainjackets and life preservers. The water was pretty calm as we maneuvered around the islands. Our guide pointed out several bald eagles and we were able to paddle up to two bald eagles who were perched on a large rock before they flew off to a nearby tree. When we followed the eagles we found a group of seals in the distance. The seals would pop their head out of the water to check us out. We drifted for a while to check them out. One seal popped up a few feet away from one of the other kayaks. We then started to head back and my wife kept turning around to see one of the seals following us until we made the turn around the island. Our guide also pointed out some bright green sea anemones and purple and orange sea stars. He even pulled a sea star off and passed it around so we could examine it up close. So far, kayaking was pretty easy going but when we were heading back to the main boat, it was against the current. It was a very tiresome experience but eventually we made it. When we boarded the ship we were offered some grapes, cheese, crackers and smoked salmon. After the snack we boarded the smaller boat and it took us back to the office. Overall this was a fantastic and quite enjoyable experience. It is highly recommended. The weather wasn’t the greatest but I think it worked to our advantage. We walked around town four a couple more hours and did some shopping. My wife bought a pair of Alexandra earrings for 80% off at a going out of business sale. After we boarded the ship, we changed our clothes and went to the Trellis Restaurant for High Tea. We meet some interesting couples there, One couple had been on over 100 cruises (not counting any cruise under 7 days). The longest being five months from the East Coast (US) to the Mediterranean. They live in Vancouver go to Alaska once a month during the summer. They used to travel on Holland America but have recently switched to Celebrity. This was only their 13th cruise on Celebrity. I guess we have a long way to go to catch up! The tea sandwiches were good but I think I liked the sandwiches at the Huntington Library better. I later found that going to high tea wasn’t’ a great idea as dinner was only two hours later. I think I had sirloin steak for dinner and I couldn’t finish it. I didn’t have room for the late night sushi either. The food never ends.