New York City - The Edge

“Edge is the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere located at 30 Hudson Yards, with a one-of-a-kind design. It’s suspended in mid-air, giving you the feeling of floating in the sky with 360-degree views you can’t get anywhere else.

Look 100 stories down from the thrilling glass floor, lean out over the city on angled glass walls and sip champagne in the sky.

You’ve never experienced New York like this before.” (Description from website)

If you're feeling adventurous you can “scale the outside of a skyscraper more than 1,200 feet above the ground, then lean out and look down from the highest outdoor platform in New York City.” … I did not do this. 😳

It was windy up there😄. The views were fantastic and it was a perfect day to visit.

New York City - High Line

Saturday morning I Ubered to the southern entrance to New York City's High Line. Built on a historic, elevated rail line, the High Line was always intended to be more than a park. You can walk through gardens, view art, experience a performance, savor delicious food, or connect with friends and neighbors-all while enjoying a unique perspective of New York City. The High Line is 1.45 miles.

El Dorado Royale - Riviera Maya

Thursday was for relaxing with a little work. Typical sun and rainstorm day in Mexico. Breakfast at the Palms.

We had dinner at D'Italia Villas

Our family was cuddled up on our doorstep when we got back from dinner. ❤️

Friday - Sun is out this morning so hopefully we will get some pool time today. Here are some morning photos around the resort.

Dinner at Kampei

Saturday - Beautiful, sunny day all day. No rain!

Sunday - our airport pickup wasn't until 10:30 so we walked down to the Palms for breakfast

Flying out of Cancun

If it's June it must be Mexico

Short trip to El Dorado Royale Casitas with my sister, Marilyn. Not a beach day today, but wasn't nearly as bad as we thought. Very windy not much rain.

Our Casita

The Crowleys and the Driscolls enjoying happy hour

Wonder of the Seas

Deck 4

Deck 5

Deck 6

Deck 8

Deck 15

Deck 16

Miscellaneous

Ice 365

Intense

Negative test - we can go home

Graduation Trip - Day 8 Naples (Amalfi Coast and Pompeii)

We had an early start this morning (7:30am) in order to beat the crowds to the Amalfi Coast. With four cruise ships in port, I think our guide made the right decision. First stop was Ravello.

Amazon delivery

Next town was Amalfi - a very busy and very popular town.

Positano was next - my favorite! Would love to spend some time here with no tourists. It's so crowded and so many steps. Surprise! We had pizza for lunch.

Mt. Vesuvius on the way to Pompeii

Pompeii was an ancient city located near Naples. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area was buried under 13 to 20 ft) of volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Largely preserved under the ash, the excavated city offers a unique snapshot of Roman life, frozen at the moment it was buried.

Graduation Trip - Day 7 Civitavecchia (Rome)

Today we traveled to Rome with My Best Tour - a golf cart tour. Our driver picked us up at 8am and drove us to Rome to meet up with our wonderful guide, Andrea.

Sights along the way included Poppolo Square. Water fountains are all around to fill water bottles, have a drink of fresh water, or use to cool off

Never in my lifetime would (could) I wear these.

President's palace

The Spanish Steps no longer allow people to sit on them which makes for a much better experience. (Tommy climbed to the top to take some photos for me. 😊)

The Trevi Fountain is something you have to do in Rome so Tommy threw his coins in. So many people - so little to do.

Our golf cart tour included an inside visit to the Colosseum.

Tommy and Andrea exchanged WhatsApp info in case we couldn't find him. Everyone uses WhatsApp here.

Last time I was in Rome with Luke, we had delicious pizza and I told Tommy we should get some for lunch. He was skeptacle that it was really THAT good, but he went back for seconds. The piazza is really lovely too.

Our final stop was Piazza Navona, my favorite spot to relax and people watch.

Tommy, Andrea and our golf cart

Graduation Trip - Day 6 La Spezia (Cinque Terre)

Arriving into port

Ten years ago, Mom and I planned a long-anticipated excursion to Cinque Terre. It poured all day. Ten years later, I made a return trip and had a warm, sunny day. According to Google, “Cinque Terre is a string of centuries-old seaside villages on the rugged Italian Riviera coastline. In each of the 5 towns, colorful houses and vineyards cling to steep terraces, harbors are filled with fishing boats and trattorias turn out seafood specialties along with the Liguria region’s famous sauce, pesto.”

Our private guide, Mike, picked us up at 9:00 and drove first to Manarola, the 2nd smallest of the five villages.

We took the ferry to Vernazza, which is probably my favorite of the villages.

Gelato break #1

We then took the ferry to the largest of the villages, Monterosso.

Next we drove up in the mountains to reach the smallest of the villages, Corniglia. The roads made me appreciate having an excellent driver.

Gelato break #2

Portovenere is the final place we stopped. While not one of the 5 villages, it is considered the ”jumping off” point for Cinque Terre. Unfortunately, after a long, tiring day, we weren't up for much exploring - just a quick walk along the water.

Graduation Trip - Day 5 Marseilles, France

Today we (Tommy) had a rock climbing tour booked with Fred at Entre2Hauts.

Fred met us at the ship and drove along the coast to the area known as Calanque de Sormiou. He and Tommy started up the side of the hill and I followed them (with my camera) as long as I could. They're difficult to find in the last photo.

While they were on their 3 hour tour, I walked around on the flat path to take some photos of the beautiful water.

Meanwhile … this was going on (photos courtesy of Fred and Tommy)

They ziplined into the cave and went for a swim.

Getting ready for the final hike down the mountain.

Leaving Marseilles

Graduation Trip - Day 4 Mallorca

Today we had a private tour to Manacor - the town where Rafael Nadal was born. He has a tennis academy there with a small trophy museum and some virtual reality games.

From there we drove the short distance to the tennis club where Nadal started his tennis career.

Some miscellaneous photos of Palma as we drove through and then during sail away.

Graduation Trip - Day 3 Barcelona/Sail away

This morning we decided to try the hotel breakfast before we checked out. The selection was very nice and the price wasn't bad.

I booked an excursion with Spain Day Tours to see a little of Barcelona and be dropped off at the ship. Armando picked us up at 8:50 for a four hour tour. First we stopped at another Gaudi designed home for some photos of the outside - Casa Mila.

From there we drove to Parc Guell for a short walk around. It was early Sunday morning so the huge crowds had not yet arrived. The park was built from 1900 to 1914 and was officially opened as a public park in 1926. In 1984,  UNESCO  declared the park a World Heritage Site under "Works of Antoni Gaudí.”

La Sagrada Familia is the most famous landmark in Barcelona. In 1883, Gaudí took over as chief architect, transforming the project with his architectural and engineering style, combining Gothic and Art Nouveau forms. Gaudí devoted the remainder of his life to the project, and he is buried in the crypt. At the time of his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Today we only had time to walk around the outside.

Relying solely on private donations, the Sagrada Família's construction progressed slowly and was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War. Construction resumed to intermittent progress in the 1950s. Advancements in technologies such as computer aided design and computerised numerical control have since enabled faster progress and construction passed the midpoint in 2010. It was anticipated that the building would be completed by 2026, the centenary of Gaudí's death, but this has now been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We went to the Barcelona beach which was created for the 1992 Olympics.

Tommy and our guide, Armando.

We drove to the top of Montjuic to get a view of the city and our cruise ship.

Check in for our cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas was from 1-1:30. It took us less than ten minutes and was the easiest check in on any cruise I've ever been on. Our room was ready so we went straight there.

This is a huge ship, the largest one in the world. I will be taking photos during the week as we explore. And we are off!

Graduation Trip - Day 2 Up, Up and Away

Early wake up this morning which was okay since we went to bed very early last night. 6:00am our driver picked us up and drove us one hour to the town of Vic.

And here we go!

We landed in someone's field. Luckily there are no photos of my less than graceful exit from the basket.😄 Then we had a ‘typical’ Catalan meal - Botifarra blanca - before the drive back to Barcelona.

Back at the hotel, we took a short break and then walked to Casa Battlo, one of Gaudi's designs.

At present, Casa Batlló is a UNESCO World Heritage site and an icon in Barcelona. You can discover Gaudí’s work and modernism at its finest. It is also one of the most highly rated cultural and tourist attractions, welcoming 1 million visitors every year.

Tommy was getting ideas for his campus apartment

Short immersion experience

After the visit we enjoyed the sunny, warm day in Barcelona as we walked back to the hotel.

Always remember …

Graduation Trip - Day 1 Barcelona

May 19th Tommy and I left Philadelphia for Barcelona. This was the trip we were supposed to take in 2020 to celebrate his high school graduation. Getting in the air was a master class in inefficiency, but the American Airlines Boeing plane was very comfortable. We had premium economy which was substantially less money than first class but still really nice. Immigration in Spain took about an hour which was exhausting.

We were met at the airport by our guide, Armando, from Spain Day Tours. I've been to Barcelona several times but never Montserrat, which is on the outskirts of the city. The approach to the Monastery was quite dramatic.

Near the top the views were spectacular.

I thought there would only be a Monastery at the top but there is a complex of restaurants and stores - and lots of kids on field trips.

There are several funiculars on the mountain so we tried one to the top.

The ride up and down the mountain is full of curves and spectacular scenery.

We drove an hour back to the city and our hotel - Hotel Jazz. Very nice, big room. We took our proctored Covid tests we needed for our cruise. We are negative!! Time to sleep.

Biltmore Estate

On Christmas Eve 1985, the country retreat George Vanderbilt spent 6 years building opened to friends and family The finished home contains over four acres of floor space, including 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces.

Billiards room

Main Dining room

Breakfast room

Salon

Library

Vanderbilt's bedroom

Sitting room

Halloween room

Bowling Alley

Swimming pool

Gymnasium

Servant room

Kitchen

Sewing room

Visit to the Van Gogh Alive by Grande Exhibitions

This morning we visited the Van Gogh exhibition on the Biltmore Estate. We had seen the one in NYC last summer and were interested in seeing the differences and similarities. This one broke his life into periods and projected his paintings along with quotes. It was very effective.

Day 15 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH to Media, PA - 396 miles

We are home! We had a wonderful trip. Thanks for following along.

Day 14 - Chicago, IL to Cuyahoga Falls, OH - 382 miles

Last day of activities before our straight drive home tomorrow.

Left Chicago on a rainy Sunday morning. This is a really good time to drive around Chicago😃.

Three hours into today's drive brought us to Fort Wayne, Indiana and the grave of Johnny Appleseed. John Chapman, the son of a farmer, was born in 1774 in Massachusetts. He moved to Ohio at the beginning of the 19th century, bringing seeds from Pennsylvania cider presses with him and planting them along the way.

Chapman’s success was centered not around fresh apples but rather the cider they could create. Cider was an essential at the American dinner table at the time, so most homes had their own small orchard. Chapman planted orchards along the pioneers’ routes, staying ahead of other orchardist competition since his nomadic, unmarried lifestyle allowed him to cover more ground. He would then trade his seedlings with new settlers in the area so that they could grow apples for their new homes.

The Ohio State Reformatory, also known as the Mansfield Reformatory, is a historic prison located in Mansfield, Ohio in the United States. It was built between 1886 and 1910 and remained in operation until 1990, when a United States Federal Court ruling (the 'Boyd Consent Decree') ordered the facility to be closed.

While this facility was used in a number of films, TV shows and music videos, it was made famous by the film The Shawshank Redemption (1994) when it was used for the majority of the movie.

The scenes in Brooks’ hotel room were also filmed in the prison.

East cell block

Day 13 - Sheboygan, WI to Chicago, IL - 148 miles

Today we arrived in Chicago around 11 and left the car at our hotel. A very short walk took us to Shoreline Sightseeing for our Chicago Architectural Cruise.

It seems that every building along the river has a story.

The different styles and concepts make the Chicago skyline much more interesting than other big cities.

Navy Pier

Millennium Park

Cloud Gate, aka “The Bean”, is one of Chicago’s most popular sights. The monumental work of art anchors the city’s downtown park, reflecting the city’s famous skyline and the surrounding green space.

Crown Fountain is a public art piece in Millennium Park consisting of video images of Chicagoans' faces and a fountain designed by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa and inspired by the people of Chicago.

Day 12 - Minneapolis, MN to Sheboygan, WI - 360 miles

Beautiful day! The drive through Wisconsin was very pretty. 3 stops today before reaching our hotel.

Minnehaha Regional Park is one of Minneapolis' oldest and most popular parks. It features a majestic 53-foot waterfall, limestone bluffs, and river overlooks, attracting more than 850,000 visitors annually.

We were there before 9 am and it was very peaceful. Lots of trails and no people. There are bike trails and surreys you can rent.

It's difficult to believe that this is only a few miles from downtown Minneapolis.

128 steps - my knee is not happy with me.

Somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin: Off to find the exact center of the Northwest Hemisphere.

A quarter-mile pathway will lead you to the point that is the exact center of the Northwest Hemisphere where the 45th Parallel of Latitude intersects the 90th Meridian of Longitude. There are only four 45° - 90° locations in the world. 

There are only four 45° - 90° locations in the world.  Two of these are located in oceans, one is located on a mountainous portion of China and one is located here in Central Wisconsin.  Marathon County’s location is the only conveniently accessible marker in the world.

Literally in the middle of someone's cornfield.

We stopped in the really cute city of Wausau, WI to pick up our commemorative coin. If I had known how cute it was, I would have planned on staying longer.

Another really nice hotel tonight - GrandStay Residential Suites

Ended the day with a delicious dinner by the river at Harry's Prohibition Bistro.

Day 11 - Chamberlain, SD to Minneapolis, MN - 380 miles

Today was boring after yesterday but this post won't take 2 hours to put together either😃. We drove all day with only a couple of quick stops. I was too tired when we got to the hotel to do anything. Luckily the hotel is very nice and our room is like a small apartment.

After two hours of driving through some heavy rain (Tessa's shift), we stopped at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD. It was raining when we got there, but cleared up enough to walk around a little.

Brief stop at the Mall of America. Ugh. I'm not a fan of malls in general and this is a monster.

Canopy by Hilton - studio suite - very comfy