Walt Disney World 2014

One day while I was waiting for my taco salad at Pine Valley Market I got a phone call from my branch manager saying that my regional manager wanted to know if I would like to go on a FAM trip - travel agent education trip - in October. Well, sure! My bags are always packed and ready to go! I called my Momma to make sure she didn't mind if I was out of town for her birthday and I booked my flights for Disney!
Now, I have been to Walt Disney World several times but let me tell you going for a true Disney's College of Knowledge trip was a whole new experience! I arrived in Orlando and was whisked away to Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge where I checked in to my Savannah View room, activated my new Magic Band, and set off for my favorite park, Epcot! I had some free time before the seminar began so I took in Epcot for lunch at the Rose & Crown Pub in the United Kingdom pavilion.

Once I arrived back at my room, my roommate Terri from the AAA Carolinas location in Winston Salem had arrived. She was such a sweetheart and a true Disney fanatic as she was returning with her family for Thanksgiving. We met up with the other participants and found out every one was from AAA but some were from the Carolinas, the Mid-Atlantic, Kansas, and Michigan.
The 6 AAA Carolinas girls stuck together and we had an incredible week touring the resorts, participating in training seminars on the new My Magic+ experience, experiencing the theme parks and restaurants, taking in the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, and trick or treating through Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.

 

One of our last days, our group went to Port Canaveral and was able to tour the Disney Dream cruise ship! I had never seen any of the Disney Cruise Line ships and let's just say I would travel on this ship with or without children! The ship was so interactive from the way the crew welcomed you aboard to the digital artwork to the 3 different themed dining rooms to the cabins! The ship screamed Disney magic without being overly kiddy. There is even an entire area devoted to the adults complete with several bars, a swimming pool and sun deck, and 2 adults only restaurants. The kids are treated like royalty aboard the ship and their kids only areas are incredible and made me wish I was 6 years old again!

The training week taught me so much about Walt Disney World that I did not know just from experiencing the parks as a guest! I was and still am so excited to share my Disney knowledge with clients and my co-workers! It truly was a magical experience!

Summer in the South Roadtrip

When life gets tough, I like to pack my bags and hit the road. I needed a few days of "Me and God" time to escape some drama, clear my head, and regroup so I picked up a rental car and headed South. Anyone that knows me, knows I am Southern to the core and I am slightly obsessed with college football so I planned myself a little road trip to some notorious college towns.

First stop, was a must and my little piece of heaven, Clemson, South Carolina! I visited with my best friend from college, Tiffany, and we had a girls night out at the Esso Club and Tigertown Tavern, toured the campus and saw all the new buildings that have been built since I graduated and had much needed girl talk.
 

Athens, Georgia  is supposed to be an awesome town with a fun music vibe, but I was on a mission to see the field between the hedges, home of the GA Bulldogs! I spent all of 1 hour in Athens and I accomplished my goal of gawking at the infamous Southern football field and making people mad by stopping at my own created parking spots so I could run take pictures of the stadium.


 

My brilliant timing had me driving through Atlanta traffic at noon, but I made it to the beautiful state of Alabama and Auburn University. Now, people had told me that Auburn resembled Clemson, but I was not prepared to scream "Tillman!" when I saw Samford Hall! It was unbelievable how much the 2 campuses looked alike. I called my Momma and told her she can be glad I saw Clemson University before I ever saw Auburn because the campus was simply beautiful and their downtown had the cutest boutiques! I bought the perfect souvenir bracelet that says "Travels and Explores" from an adorable shop called Wrapsody. Thanks to Auburns $0.25 per hour parking fees downtown, I was able to take my time exploring the campus and the downtown area. As is Clemson, Auburn is very much a walkable campus and town. I walked through campus, past Samford Hall, past the President's House, past the Greek housing, and all the way to the football stadium before getting just a little lost and finding my way back to downtown. The June heat was scorching so I found historic Toomer's Drugs downtown to escape the sun for some lunch and their famous lemonade.   

 

 

After staying in Birmingham for 1 night, I drove two more hours down the road to the infamous University of ALABAMA! Roll Tide! I work with a girl who is a diehard Alabama fan and she would have loved my time in Tuscaloosa! I headed to the Paul "Bear" Bryant Museum first to reminisce about the incredible football history of the university, then I wandered around the campus and saw the gorgeous sorority homes , excuse me, mansions, and then all of a sudden...there it was...Bryant-Denny Stadium! An incredible sight to behold! The stadium was enormous! I wandered through Bryant-Denny Plaza and read all of the sidewalk memoirs. I ventured to Tuscaloosaa Tavern for brunch and then checked into the hotel because it was a another blistering Summer day. After cooling off, I drove to the campus and saw more of the buildings and the President's mansion and then I made a return visit to the delectable Dreamland BBQ! I went to Dreamland BBQ 2 years prior with a class trip from Clemson so I was thrilled to be able to sit inside the smoky walled building and taste the amazing ribs again - don't worry, a plastic bib is included with your meal!

 

 

Sundays in the South bring peaceful quiet mornings that are perfect for driving the rolling hills and back roads toward Mississippi. I made it to the quaint town of Oxford with just a stop at the state line visitor center and instantly fell in love with Ole Miss. All I really knew of Ole Miss came from a little research after watching my favorite movie, The Blindside. 

Ole Miss is home to conservative Southern values and grace. Tailgating is an art to behold in The Grove, Southern Living Magazine names the women of Ole Miss the belles of the South, and sororities and fraternities are a way of life. The town of Oxford is a quintessential small town revolving around the courthouse square which is home to award winning restaurants like The Grocery, bookstores, and boutiques.
 

                           

 

I continued my Sunday drive just across the Mississippi border to Tennessee and the river city of Memphis. I checked into my downtown hotel and made it to the Peabody Hotel with 30 minutes to spare before the infamous Parade of Ducks! Yes, there are actual ducks that walk in a line on a red carpet to and from the lobby fountain every day at 10am and 5pm. I arrived at the Peabody Hotel at 4:30pm and apparently I was late to the party! I was hard pressed to find a spot where I could see the parade of ducks! At 5pm the Duck Master, not to be confused with the Duck Commander, blew his whistle for the ducks to line up and they proceeded to march out of the fountain, down the stairs, and across the red carpet to the elevator where they went up to the 10th floor and their penthouse. Such a simple event creates a spectacle in Memphis!

I wandered around the hotel some before heading out to Beale Street, the famous stretch of restaurants and jazz venues. The Rendezvous is the restaurant to rave about unfortunately for me it is closed on Sundays. I chose to visit the 2nd most popular restaurant, Blues City Café. Memphis ribs are always at the top of any barbeque list but I have to admit that my ribs at Dreamland BBQ in Tuscaloosa were much better than Blues City Café in Memphis. I can honestly say now that I have had Memphis barbeque and do not personally like it at all. Memphis also did not feel safe to me so after a short walk along the great Mississippi River, I tucked in for a Duck Dynasty marathon pretty early.

 

 Last city on my Summer in the South roadtrip, Nashville! I visited Nashville years ago for the Music City Bowl between Clemson and Kentucky so I knew what a fun city Nashville can be and it proved itself again! I drove out to Belle Meade Plantation, the Parthenon, the Belmont Mansion, and the Grand Ole Opry before checking in to the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Nashville. The Renaissance was gorgeous and in a perfect location only a block off of Broadway. I wandered down Broadway a little before settling on Tootsie's World Famous Orchid Lounge to take in some local Nashville bands. Concierge at the Renaissance recommended Tootsie's because it is located next to the famous Ryman Auditorium and it is not uncommon to spot country music celebrities. I figured if Tootsie's was good enough for the country music celebs then it was good enough for me! Boy, was I NOT disappointed! I arrived between bands so I got a good spot at the bar and met a couple of women who were in town for a teachers convention. Obviously the city is crawling with talented musicians and I had the pleasure of listening to an incredible band for hours with those women; we even got to meet the cutie cowboy lead singer! For only one night, Nashville was very good to me!

 

 

 The stretch of drive from Nashville to Wilmington was long and boring after 5 days across the deep South, but the trip served its purpose of clearing my head and refocusing on what's really important in life. I was able to see college towns that I have always wanted to visit and spend some much needed alone time thinking about life.

Beaches, Sunshine, and Rum!

The busy season for a travel agent begins after Christmas and runs through Easter. Once I survived the craziness of the AAA Carolinas busy months, it was time for a vacation! I grabbed my best friend from Clemson and we packed our bags for the islands!

Tiffany and I stayed at Beaches Negril in Jamaica for our first 4 nights on the island. We were greeted in the Montego Bay by the wonderful Sandals and Beaches staff and transferred to our resort by mini-bus where we were greeted by staff at the entrance and moved to the concierge lounge. Little did we know until we arrived that we had been upgraded to a Concierge Beachfront Suite!

Beaches Negril was absolute paradise! We spent our days sunbathing on the white sand stretch of 7 Mile Beach, snorkeling the crystal clear waters, listening to the Ring Man try and sell us phone cable jewelry, sitting under the pool bar cover during the brief afternoon rain showers, walking down to Margaritaville Negril, napping in the resort hammocks, and watching the cliff divers and fire red sunsets at Rick's Café.

 

On day 4, we transferred by private mini-bus to Beaches Ocho Rios on the Northeast side of Jamaica. Ocho Rios is completely different from Negril and the West side of the island. The West side has long stretches of white sand beaches while the Northeast side is more mountainous and has shorter stretches of beach with rougher waters. Again, we were upgraded to a Concierge Beachfront Suite and I'll tell you, I never thought much about the benefits of concierge versus a regular luxury room but it was really nice to have a number to call to arrange our dinner reservations and have priority reservations for any excursions.

 

With four days in Ocho Rios, we toured a nearby resort, Couples San Souci, and went on a catamaran excursion to Dunn's River Falls and climbed the freezing cold waterfalls before touring Sandal's Grande Riviera Resort, and then we spent a day relaxing on the beach and playing in the awesome waterpark by the pool.

 

By the end of 7 days in Jamaica, 4 books, Caribbean cocktails, countless cat-naps on the beach, strolls on white sand beaches, and endless girl talk, Tiffany and I had truly adapted to "island time" and had an incredible sun soaked relaxing vacation on the friendly beautiful island of Jamaica!

 

 

 



Welcome back, Christina

So a year has passed without a post in Bug Bites and that's a shame! 2013 was a rollercoaster personally, but professionally it had some major highlights! It's time to reflect on 2013 and prepare for the whirlwind of travel that shall be 2014. Prepare yourselves for this travel girl's 2014 weekend adventures and major expeditions across the globe!

Holland America Cruisetour - Day 6

August 24, 2013

           Departing Tok set a new record for early wake up. We had to have our bags outside our hotel room by 6:30am. Marc, our tour concierge, said he felt my glare when I told the group our wake up time. He has quickly learned I’m a little slow in the mornings. Since we were back in the States and had phone signal I was buzzed out of my sleep by a text around 5am…apparently someone at home forgot I was 4 hours behind them. I was awake early enough to get in a little souvenir shopping before the bus departed at 7:30am.

          As we set off toward Fairbanks, Eric played a PBS movie for us about Alaska’s history. The Holland America tour directors and drivers have the schedule down to a science because soon after the movie ended we arrived at our morning coffee stop. We pulled off on a dirt road toward Rika’s Roadhouse. The roadhouse was set on the banks of the river and had a café, gift shop, historic cabins, and views of the Alaska Pipeline crossing the river. Marc and Eric planned a game of Moose Migration once we got on the bus. This bus game everyone starting with a piece of paper and drawing a body part of the moose that Marc called out. Once that part was drawn each person passed their papers in a specified direction and then another part was called out. Eventually we ended up with complete, but crazy looking animals!

 Our next stop was a surprise and is not included on every Holland America cruisetour. We went to the North Pole! North Pole Alaska is right outside of Fairbanks so we made a brief stop on our way in to Fairbanks. The town has truly embraced their name and created a children’s dream town. The street lights are in the shape of candy canes. There is a road called Santa Clause Lane. We stopped at the Santa Clause House where there was a 3 story tall Santa to greet us outside. The shop had an enormous variety of Christmas ornaments and decorations and plenty of gifts from the “North Pole”. I finally took my first picture with Santa Clause. As a kid I refused to sit on Santa’s lap each Christmas so finally, at age 24, my Mom will have a picture of me with Santa. They had a post office where travelers can mail post cards back home from the North Pole. I could have spent hours inside the Santa Clause House browsing all the Christmas goodies, but Marc limited us to 25 minutes. However, that was plenty of time to buy Christmas presents for friends and a few other souvenirs!

 

We arrived at the Steamboat Discovery in Fairbanks just in time for lunch. There were 8 busloads of hungry people waiting in line. We were seated family-style and ate a “miner’s lunch” of soup, pasta salad, biscuits, and blueberry crumbcake. We boarded the Discovery III steamboat with all 8 busloads of people and paddled our way down the Chena River. I have heard many a client say the Steamboat Discovery is their favorite part of Alaska aside from their time in Denali National Park. The paddlewheel tour was 3 hours and the narrator gave great insight on the Fairbanks culture and life along the Chena River. They had a float plane demonstrate take off from the river and landing alongside the boat. As we moved further down the river, we stopped in front of David Monson’s house. David and his late wife Susan raised and trained Iditarod dogs. Susan won four Iditarod races in the 1980’s and today David and their daughters continue to train dogs and compete in Iditarod races. They demonstrated how they teach the new puppies and then they harnessed some of the older dogs and the dogs pulled David on an engine-free four wheeler around their property. We paddled on down the river and stopped at the Chena Indian Village. We actually got off the Discovery III at this stop. They recreated an old Indian village and had native Alaskan employees talk about what life would have been life a hundred years ago in a fish camp village where temperatures can get to below 40 degrees. Back at the base of the Steamboat Discovery we browsed the visitor center and gift shop and I braved the “40 Below Room”. I think I had brief moment of insanity! Group by group we stepped inside a smaller room and then into a freezer –like room where they maintain a temperature of below 40 degrees. You go into the room without a heavy coat, just “as is”. I will admit that I lasted all of 1 minute in there! Long enough for the lady outside to take a picture of me shivering! I don’t know how the Alaskan’s deal with those extreme temperatures! It was such a dry cold that it was almost painful. Roy just laughed at me when I walked out of the room. At least I can say I tried it! We transferred to our hotel, the Westmark Fairbanks. This was the nicest hotel since the Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver. We grabbed dinner in the hotel and talked to my Mom and headed to bed early.

 

 

 

Holland America Cruisetour - Day 5

August 23, 2012

             We packed up a new bus with a new driver named Eric. Holland America motorcoach drivers cover a certain territory so they become a master of the road and the history of that particular area. We waved goodbye to Chris and our blue whale bus and settled aboard our orange (!!!) moose bus with Eric. Poor Eric gets the short end of the stick with the routes because he had to navigate the dirt and gravel of the Top of the World Highway. We left Dawson City and crossed the Yukon River by ferry. We were amazed that our large motorcoach could fit on a little ferry boat! We didn’t even sink it! The Top of the World Highway is not for the motion sick traveler. We bounced and twisted up the mountains so we were well above the tree line. The roads were not paved so our bus quickly became as dusty inside as it was outside. Holland America truly has their travelers’ safety at heart because we learned at our first picture stop that we were actually following a “pace car”. Holland America hires a tow truck to lead the way for 2 motorcoaches when traveling from Dawson City to Chicken, Alaska. The tow truck radios to the motorcoach drivers about upcoming blind curves or hazards in the road. We stopped a few times for pictures since it really did look like we were on the top of the world. I have never felt as isolated as we were out there. You could see for miles and miles but there was nothing but trees and hills.

          We crossed the Canada/Alaska border at the most northern entry station in North America (bragging rights!).  As we made our way down the mountain we came to the little community of Chicken. Chicken Alaska has approximately 7 year round residents. I told you the towns keep getting smaller! Chicken had all of the necessary makings of a town…a café, a saloon, a liquor store, and a gift shop. It was a fun roadside stop that makes fun of it self! By day 9, the other travelers were warming up to each other so I chatted with an agent from Missouri for a while from Chicken to Tok. I really enjoy meeting other agents especially since I am so much younger I always learn so much from them!

 

We arrive in the crossroads of Tok, Alaska early evening to find that it is a larger town of 1200 people, but it is truly a crossroads! The town makes the shape of a T and that’s all there is. Most of the residents live in the mountains around Tok. We had 2 dinner options in Tok, the restaurant at our hotel or a truck stop a mile down the road. Guess which one we picked? The hotel restaurant! Home of the 40oz margarita! Roy chose to eat out of the fancy vending machine, but I went to the lounge with some of my new friends from the bus. We sat around until the bar closed and they kicked us out at the late hour of 10pm. They are big partiers in Tok!

Holland America Cruisetour - Tour Day 3 & 4

August 21 and 22, 2012
        
          My favorite part of Dawson City has to be the fact we didn’t have to be up and at the bus by a certain time. The whole day was at leisure. Roy decided we needed to get a wakeup call in the middle of the night if the Northern Lights were out so our phone jolted me from sleep at 2:15am and we layered on sweats over our pajamas and trekked outside in hopes of getting a glimpse of the Northern Lights. Thankfully we were not the only crazies wandering the dirt roads in the middle of the night. We recognized a lot of people from our group shivering with their cameras in hand and staring up at the sky. The Northern Lights were dim but we did see streaks of light green. I can only imagine how vibrant the colors will be in a few weeks. We were told that we would have a good chance to see the lights again in Fairbanks too.

Westmark Hotel - The Rainbow Row of Dawson City

 

                Since we were awake for a while during the night, we each slept in and then went our separate ways for the day. Roy went to Belinda’s, the Westmark’s restaurant, for breakfast then set off to explore the town of Dawson City. I move a little slower so I eventually set off for the only full service coffee house in town on Front Street. I sipped my chai latte as I walked along the Yukon River to the end of town. I then decided to walk every street of Dawson City and go in every store along the way. Dawson City had a great Visitor’s Center that told the history of the area through films and local workers. I signed the guest book and grabbed some useful pamphlets to take home. Dawson City is full of unique shops…they have everything from jewelry stores, a video rental store, cheesy gift shops, clothing stores, and an outdoor supply store. There are only 2 grocery markets in town and they were incredibly expensive compared to home! Dawson even had a mortuary! Would you like to know how long it took me to go in every store and walk every street in Dawson City? Two hours. Yes, two hours to slowly wander and shop. That should tell you what a metropolis Dawson City is!

 

         I spent most of the afternoon walking the town (again) and along the Klondike Millennium Trail by the Yukon River. Roy let his adventurous spirit take over and he followed the phone lines up and over a mountain and wandered in the woods until he found the Dempster Highway and walked back to Dawson City. We reconvened for dinner at Sourdough Joes, famous for their (you guessed it) Fish & Chips. You would think we were in the UK as much as we have had fish and chips on this trip!