Stephany Writes

Categories: Travel

Asheville, NC | Day 1

We started planning our trip to Asheville earlier this year, as our destination for our second annual Book Club Girls Trip. Last year, we went to a retirement community in central Florida called The Villages, but this year, we wanted to step it up a notch. Asheville was an easy choice – one of the girls in the book club has a family home in Waynesville, which is about 40 minutes west of Asheville, and flights there are dirt cheap.

We arrived in Asheville early on Saturday morning, right around 8:30 AM. Once we had secured the rental cars we would be using for the trip (since there were seven of us, we needed two rental cars), our first stop of the day was to grab breakfast. We went to Another Broken Egg Cafe, which isn’t an Asheville staple or anything. We have them in Florida, but honestly, we wanted anywhere that would serve us a good breakfast and we wouldn’t have to wait.

I ordered French toast and proceeded to eat almost my entire meal, which almost never happens. I’m not much of a breakfast person (I know, I know), but I was starving and the French toast was delicious. It boded well for how I would eat for the rest of my Asheville vacation (and as someone with very particular food tastes, that’s sayin’ something.)

After breakfast, we made the trek to Waynesville to check out the cabin.

By pure stroke of luck, we came to Asheville at the perfect time: the weather was gorgeous (highs in the low 70s/upper 60s and sunny) and the leaves were beautiful shades of reds, oranges, pinks, and yellows. I have never seen what fall actually looks like because Florida doesn’t have seasons and I don’t typically travel during the fall. It was incredible and I couldn’t help snapping picture after picture of the scenery. Our view from the cabin was magnificent, and I couldn’t believe I would be able to spend the next four days staring at it.

Once we had settled into the cabin, we decided we needed an hour of “quiet time,” which is basically how you know you’re traveling with a bunch of introverts. Ha. We were all tired from our early morning flights and a quick nap was very much needed. While we all had our quiet time, one of the girls headed to the local grocery store to pick up our supplies (she is an angel, no doubt about that). I read for a little bit and then took a short, 45-minute nap.

We had planned two different adventures for the afternoon: a hike for the active among us and a trip to a coffee shop and waterfall for the not-so-active. I chose the latter because hiking and I do not get along. (A quick side note: I’ve been on three hikes in my life and broken my ankle on two of them. The last hike I was on, I was so terrified of getting hurt that I couldn’t enjoy it at all.)

So, A., M., and I ventured into downtown Waynesville to go to the Panacea Coffee Company, where we ordered sandwiches (I didn’t much enjoy mine, sadly), and then got some coffee and read our books. I ordered the frozen “ultimate mocha,” which was a combination of a regular mocha and a white chocolate mocha and it was amazing. I drank the whole thing and enjoyed every sip. It more than made up for the blah sandwich!

After an hour or so at the coffee shop, we headed to check out a waterfall! It was a long drive, almost an hour, but we passed the time by playing the ABC game using billboards and signs. Once we got in the mountains, the drive got a little creepy! The road curved dramatically and there was a ton of fog. It also started raining off and on.

Eventually, though, we made it to Looking Glass Falls and it was beautiful! Well worth the hour-long trip, even though we didn’t stay for very long. Some people were taking pictures down on the rocks, but that scared me, so I stayed on solid ground.

After spending some time at the waterfall, we headed back to the cabin. It was probably around 6 at this time and we had dinner reservations at 8:15, so I spent some time reading outside on one of the rocking chairs and when it got too cold, I ventured inside and sat on the couch, chit-chatting with everyone.

For dinner, we went to The Sweet Onion in downtown Waynesville. The food was delicious (I ordered a burger and it was fantastic!), but none of us were very upbeat at this point. We were all very tired and ready for bed, so conversation was at a minimum. Thankfully, we weren’t snippy at each other… we all knew every one of us had reached her limit, so we kept pretty quiet.

Once we got back to the cabin, it was time for jammies, brushing our teeth, and going to bed! It was a great beginning to our Asheville vacation, and I couldn’t wait to explore more of the city tomorrow.

Hiking – yay or nay?

Categories: Travel

San Juan, Puerto Rico – Part II

And I’m back for Part II of my San Juan recap! As I mentioned in the previous post, the second half of our trip was definitely more adventurous than the first half (seriously – we took five-hour naps in the hotel room on Saturday and Sunday!) We planned for a big adventure day for Monday, and then, since our flight back to Florida didn’t leave until 4pm on Tuesday and the hotel gave us a late check-out, we were able to spend some time in Old San Juan in the morning before we said adios to this beautiful island.

Here’s some more of what we loved during our time in Puerto Rico:

Horseback riding through Carabalì Rainforest Park. I knew I wanted us to have one “adventure” during our trip because spending all five days at the beach or in Old San Juan wasn’t going to cut it for us. I wound up finding out about Carabalì Rainforest Park and their horseback riding tours and it sounded like a blast! I’ve only been horseback riding once in my life, but it was super fun, and I’ve always wanted to go again.

Getting to the park was an adventure in itself since my GPS took me to an entirely different location. I finally had to pull off the road and call the tour company to find out where the heck to go. Thankfully, we found the location 20 minutes before our tour was designated to start. Whew.

The horse I was given was named Peter, and he was gentle but also really liked being near to the front of the pack (he would gallop a little if another horse tried to nudge in front of him, ha). We rode for about 45 minutes to a river, where we stopped, refreshed ourselves, and took in the beautiful views. (I also had the most delicious mango sorbet here, and I’m still dreaming about it today!) After a 15-minute rest, we got back on our horses for another 45 minutes.

I was a little nervous about riding a horse (I kept envisioning my mom just toppling right off… overactive imagination, much?), but the horses were super gentle and easy to ride. And, thankfully, they had steps for those of us rookie riders to get on and off the horse. They thought of everything, that’s for sure!

Oh! And while we rode with two (human) tour guides, our real tour guide was this adorable dog that had wandered into the park a week ago. She ran alongside us the whole time and even jumped into the river at the halfway point to cool off. She was so adorable! Except on the way back when I saw her murder an iguana. No lie there – she straight up killed an iguana. And then proudly ran with it in her mouth for about half a mile, as if to show all of us her “prize.” It’s crazy out there in the rainforest, guys.

El Yunque Rainforest. This rainforest is a “must-do” in Puerto Rico. Everyone told me I needed to visit it, and every Puerto Rico vacation guide included it. And I must say, they are right. It is a place you must visit when you’re in Puerto Rico. We headed straight to El Yunque (pronounced Yunky) after horseback riding and got there a little after noon. We started at the visitor’s center where we changed out of our horseback riding clothes (we were in long pants and dying from the heat!) and I ate a disappointing lunch (we soon found better lunch options as we drove around the rainforest, so save your money and eat at one of the roadside stands!)

Once we learned how to get to all the fun areas in the rainforest, we hopped back into the car to find the different places of interest. We considered stopping at the first waterfall, La Coca, but since it wasn’t a waterfall you could swim in, we opted to wait and see if we felt up to checking it out when we were heading back. Instead, we went to the Yokahu Observation Tower. After climbing 96 stairs, we got to the top where we could see the entire rainforest spread out all around us! So gorgeous.

We didn’t spend too much time on the top of the tower and were soon heading down the road to the real reason we had come to El Yunque: the La Mina waterfall.

La Mina waterfall. I’ve never seen a waterfall in person, and it was definitely something I wanted to do while I was in Puerto Rico, even though it meant hiking. There are two trails to get to the waterfall, one being easier than the other. I think we chose the more difficult trail that involved a lot of downhills and uphills. It was just not fun and it felt like we were never going to make it to the waterfall. (At one point, I had to take a seat on a rock and have a meltdown. My mom is truly a saint for dealing with me.) Eventually, 3,000 steps later, we found the waterfall and it was magnificent. The water was ice cold, so I didn’t go swimming, but it was nice to sit on a big rock, take off my shoes and socks, and dip my feet in the water. We spent about 30-45 minutes at the waterfall, enjoying the view, the water, and the people-watching, before making the journey back to the car.

Not breaking an ankle while hiking. I mean, I have to include this as a good thing that happened while in Puerto Rico! Whenever I told friends that I was going to go for a hike in Puerto Rico, they got very concerned. For those that aren’t familiar, I tend to get hurt when I go on a hike. I’ve been on two hikes and both times I have either broken or sprained my ankle. But, thankfully, I went on my first hike where I didn’t get hurt! *confetti emoji* I can’t lie: I was scared during the entire hike, even though I saw people wearing sandals or even going barefoot. But I took my time, went suuuuper slow on the downhill portions, and held on for dear life whenever there was a railing to use, and I got through it. I don’t think I’ll ever be someone who enjoys hiking, but I’m glad I set aside my fear to see the waterfall.

Cafe Berlin. We went to this delicious little cafe on our last morning in Puerto Rico, and it was probably one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had. I’m not really a breakfast person (I know, I know), but this place turned me into a believer. My mom and I got matching mimosas and then I got their San Juan breakfast, which included eggs, sausage, breakfast potatoes, and pancakes. Everything was so fresh and delicious! Even the eggs were outstanding, and I’m typically very critical of how eggs are made. Man, I wish we had been to this cafe sooner because I would have probably eaten there every day.

Castillo San Cristòbal. This was our last touristy adventure of our trip, and I’m so glad we made the time to visit the fort. There are two different forts in San Juan: Castillo San Cristòbal and Castillo San Felipe del Morro. We didn’t have time for the second fort, so I guess this means I need to go back to visit it, yes? 🙂 I truly enjoyed walking around Castillo San Cristòbal and found everything so fascinating. I’ve been to the fort in St. Augustine, which has live cannon firings during the day, and found this fort just as interesting, especially because I really didn’t know much about the history of Puerto Rico before coming to the island. It’s definitely a place you must visit while you’re there, even if you just want to take in the beautiful views of San Juan and the ocean.

And that’s our trip! It was wonderful and fun and I’d love to go back someday.

Questions about Puerto Rico? Leave them in the comments.

Categories: Travel

San Juan, Puerto Rico – Part I

My trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico was a fabulous one – and I ended up enjoying my time on this little island so much more than I expected. San Juan is such a beautiful city, bursting with history and culture, and I’d love to revisit it someday in the future. (And since flights can be super cheap, it’s a given that I will!)

Originally, I planned one full post about my time in Puerto Rico, but it was way too long (nearly 2,500 words), so I’m breaking my vacation recap into two parts. The first half of the trip was fairly low-key while the second half was busy, busy, busy. (I could have used another day or two of relaxing poolside before coming home, that’s for sure.) Anyway, here are the highlights of my trip:

Pool time. I love spending time at the pool, even more than going to the beach. I was especially pleased with the pool at our hotel (Doubletree San Juan) because it was the perfect size, it had two mini-waterfalls, and there were hammocks to lounge in. While I didn’t spend as much time at the pool as I would have liked, it was especially nice to cool off after a long day of walking around Old San Juan. Ahhh.

Piola Pizzeria Artesanal. Oh, man, you guys. This little pizzeria was fantastic. My mom and I stopped in during our first night in town and they were having a margarita special for Cinco de Mayo. The margaritas were strong and delicious, and the pizza was even better. I ended up eating five slices on my first night, mostly because I hadn’t eaten much during the day and was a hungry girl! We ended up going back to the pizzeria on our last night because we enjoyed the pizza and environment so much.

Spending a day at a (dog-friendly!) beach. Our first full day in San Juan was spent at the beach. Our hotel had a shuttle service that would bring us right to the beach, and then Doubletree had employees on the beach who set us up with lounge chairs and an umbrella! Talk about service. The beach was fairly quiet when we were there, but it was super windy. I read my book, listened to a podcast, and took lots of videos of all the dogs on the beach. (Can’t stop, won’t stop with Instagram Stories!) I didn’t realize Puerto Rico was such a dog-friendly place, but there were dogs everywhere we went. It was delightful.

While we were out on the beach, a Doubletree employee came around to take lunch orders, so we ordered hamburgers and drinks (I got a piña colada and my mom had the local beer) and ate out on the beach. Perfect!

A walking tour of Old San Juan. I love taking walking tours when I’m in an unfamiliar city, especially a city that’s teeming with history like Old San Juan. I signed my mom and me up for a two-hour walking tour given by author David Rodriguez for Sunday morning. The walking tour was sensational, and David did such a fantastic job taking us all around the city and telling us about the significance of the different sites. We even spent some time in one of the catacombs, which was thoroughly interesting! I really didn’t know how historically significant Puerto Rico is (it’s never something that was taught in my history classes!), so it was really eye-opening to discover the impact this little island has had.

If you decide to do this tour, make sure to wear comfortable shoes! I wore TOMs, which I prefer to running shoes when I’m doing a lot of walking (my arches tend to cramp in running shoes after a few miles), and by the end of the tour, my feet had swelled due to the heat and humidity and my FitBit registered around 7,000 steps. Mom and I were definitely ready to head back to the hotel and take a nap after walking around Old San Juan for two hours, ha.

Barrachina. This restaurant is said to have been the place where the piña colada was created, so I knew my mom and I had to check it out when we were in Puerto Rico. We headed here for lunch after our walking tour, since it was close to where the tour concluded. Of course, we both got piña coladas and they were delicious! I also had a chicken dish with the most delectable rice and beans. I actually moaned after my first taste, haha. So, folks, please visit Barrachina when you’re in San Juan. You won’t be disappointed!

Successfully driving a car around Puerto Rico. Monday was our “adventure day,” where we explored two different rainforests: one on horseback and one on foot. We decided to rent a car to go to the rainforests because they were about 45 minutes away from our hotel and taking a taxi would have been stupid expensive. I was nervous as hell to drive around Puerto Rico because, even though they drive on the same side of the road, it’s still an unfamiliar area and I had to drive on a lot of highways. I’m a good driver, but I can also be a nervous driver at times, but I handled it. We rented from Bella Rent A Car, and I highly recommend this rental place over any of the “regular” car rentals because it was cheap ($60 for the day, and that’s with getting the most expensive insurance).

Once I got a handle on the highways, driving around Puerto Rico was easy-peasy. I mean, I am an experienced Tampa driver and I’ve also driven around rush-hour Atlanta before, so I should have known I wouldn’t have had any major issues. But I was still so worried about the drive that I nearly called the whole thing off. I’m so glad I didn’t, though! Because a) this day was the best day of the trip and b) conquering your fears is the most empowering feeling.

To be continued! 🙂

Categories: Travel

Carnival Sensation | Western Caribbean Cruise | Day 5

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Our last day of the cruise was Wednesday, November 30 and it was a relaxing, at-sea day. There were a lot of activities happening that day, and there were a few I wanted to do, but I was also committed to another quiet, low-key day.

I didn’t make it out of bed until around 9:30am, giving us just enough time to get ready and then have breakfast on the lido deck before they closed down the buffet. Then, we snagged some great lounge chairs on the Serenity Deck and relaxed in the sun for a bit. Eventually, it just got too hot to be comfortable (next cruise, I’m choosing a ship that has a pool on the Serenity Deck!), so we went inside and sat at a window seat near the casino. It’s a great people-watching spot! I read my book in the midst of the people watching.

Eventually, we were dragged into a game of charades by one of the cruise employees. There was nothing in me that wanted to play charades (social anxiety much?), but it’s hard to turn down a perky cruise employee! So my mom and I participated and it ended up being a lot of fun, even though some of the clues weren’t great options for a game of charades. (My first one: An American Werewolf in Paris. I had zero ideas of how to communicate that to my mom!)

After playing charades, we went back to our cabin to relax. My mom took a nap, but I decided to listen to a podcast and color because I wasn’t very tired.

Around 2:30, we left our cabin to walk over to the Fantasia Lounge for BINGO! After playing BINGO on my cruise in May 2015, it’s now my goal to play it at least once every cruise. It’s not cheap to play (I opted for the $30 package, which gave me six squares to play off), but it’s a lot of fun. And, shocker, my mom won the second game! Unfortunately, nine other people also declared bingo at the same time so she had to share the prize money. Still, she walked away with $50 while I walked away $30 poorer, so she comes out on top.

Once BINGO was over, my mom and I realized we were both starving (we skipped lunch!) so we got a shared plate from the grill on the lido deck to tide us over until dinnertime. We sat outside on the deck to enjoy our meal, which allowed us to do more people-watching. 🙂

Once we finished up, we went back to the cabin and chilled for a while before getting ready for dinner.

We went down for dinner around 7pm and had our last meal with our beloved waiter, Isabelito. He was truly fantastic and made our whole cruise even better. He was kind, welcoming, and easy to talk to. It’s funny how these waiters totally steal your hearts and then you don’t see them again! Wah.

After dinner, we decided to check out the comedy since the other comic on the ship had a PG show at 9:15. (My mom and I can do many things together, but listening to R-rated comedy together is not one of those things…) I was pleased with how funny this comic was. He had me in tears at certain points. He more than made up for the lackluster comedy we saw earlier in our cruise.

And then, it was back to the cabin to pack, sleep, and get back to reality on Thursday. Short cruises are no fun! 🙂

Even though the cruise felt super short, it was a really fun time with my favorite travel companion. Somehow, we’ve managed to take a cruise every year since our first one in 2011! My next cruise will be my tenth and I’m not sure where I’ll be going or when I’ll be taking it. Hopefully in 2017, but time will tell. 🙂

Categories: Travel

Carnival Sensation | Western Caribbean Cruise | Jamaica

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Our fourth day of the cruise was Tuesday, November 29 and we were in Jamaica! YAY!

Jamaica has long been my favorite cruise destination, and the excursion my mom and I booked was the exact same one we did four-and-a-half years ago. Sorry I’m not sorry? It was just such an amazing adventure the first time we did it and my last two zip-lining adventures haven’t been as fun as that one (see: having a panic attack while zip-lining in Cozumel and spraining my ankle while zip-lining in Puerto Rico). I wanted to get back to the zip line, and back to a tour I knew would be amazing.

Since we had to meet our tour group early in the morning (8:15), we woke up pretty early to get ready for the day and have breakfast. Soon enough, we finished up and headed over to the theater located on the other side of the ship to meet our group. And that’s when the fun happened!

About halfway to the theater, my mom trips over her own feet and falls down hard on the tile floor. She immediately grabbed her knee and said, “It hurts! It hurts!” Her knee started bruising immediately and she also cut her elbow. It’s never a dull moment with her, that’s for sure! Thankfully, a Carnival employee saw her fall and came over to help us. We guided Mom to a chair and then he left to get ice for her knee, as well as a bandage for her elbow.

I honestly didn’t think we’d be able to go on our excursion. My mom’s knee looked bad and I wasn’t sure if she’d be able to walk on it, much less go zip-lining. She even asked me if I would zip-line by myself and I said an emphatic, “Nope!” But, gradually, the pain subsided and she was able to limp over to the theater before our group left the ship. Woohoo! We were going on our excursion.

As we left the ship and entered the beautiful Ocho Rios, Jamaica, I felt nothing but pure elation about being back on this gorgeous island. I know, I know. I’m not seeing the real Jamaica, and maybe one day I will, but man, Ocho Rios is goddamn beautiful. There’s something about this island that draws me in and makes me feel so good. Maybe it’s the incredible views or the friendly people or the chill vibe. Whatever it is, Jamaica has my whole heart.

Our excursion took place at Mystic Mountain, a rainforest where I felt like I stepped into an entirely different world. First things first, Mom and I took a chairlift that brought us right to the heart of the park. It took about 20 minutes and soared us high above the treetops, where we were given the most incredible views. I kept snapping pictures, putting my phone away, and taking it out again for more pictures. I couldn’t help myself!

When we got into the park, we started with a quick bobsled ride. The bobsled is so much fun, but I don’t think I took full advantage of how fast it could go. (You know you’re going slow when your mom tells you to speed up…) It was still fun, though, just zooming around the rainforest in the bobsled. 🙂

After the bobsled, we poked around in the gift shop for a short while before heading over to our main event – zip-lining. Yay!

We got suited up in our gear and headed down a set of steps to the first zip-lining platform, following one of our tour guides. One of the things I most love about zip-lining at Mystic Mountain is that the tour guides make things so much fun. They joke around, pretend they have no idea what they’re doing, and put everyone at ease right away. I don’t think I’ve laughed so much in a 45-minute period as I did that day.

Some gems:

  • “My other tour guide is getting a drink at the bar, but it’s fine. It’s, like, his second day or something.”
  • “Okay, I saw this on the DVD…” (<– they constantly referenced this “DVD” as if they had only watched the DVD and never zip-lined)
  • “Wait, wait, come back!” (One of the tour guides said this to my mom after she took off on the first zip-line. When I stepped onto the platform, I scoffed at him, “We’ve done this before. We know all your jokes.”)
  • “Did you see that bird? That there is a… flying bird.”
  • After someone in the group pointed out a tree that had red marks up and down its trunk: “Oh. Yeah. We lost someone last week. Went flying straight into the tree. And then it rained.” (Morbid, perhaps, but Mom and I giggled.)

In any event, I wish I could do the tour twice because I had so much fun zip-lining and even more fun with the tour guides. Some of the people in my group didn’t seem to get their humor, which made me sad, because I felt like these guys really put on a fantastic tour.

Even better? My mom told one of the tour guides that yesterday was my birthday to which he replied that today was the other tour guide’s birthday, so on our last zip-line platform, they sang to us! How cool!

And then, as if that wasn’t cool enough, I tandem-zipped with the tour guide on my last line. It was truly one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I still don’t think I have fully processed it. I keep reliving it over and over in my head and wish I could go back to Jamaica and experience it again.

After zip-lining, Mom and I decided to go back to town and had lunch at Mama Marley’s where I ordered jerk chicken before realizing, Oh yeah, Steph. Your taste buds are wimps! I tried eating around the “jerked” part, but basically just slurped down my mango daiquiri and French fries. Sigh. We strolled around the shops for a bit and I was pleased to be offered rum punch in one of the stores and then given two shots of chocolate rum just because. I still have no earthly idea why I didn’t buy a bottle of chocolate rum because it was incredibly delicious!

After that, we went back to the ship and I took a short nap because, whew, I was one tired girl after such an active morning/afternoon! I woke up around 3:30 and took a shower, and then it was time for some fun: a massage! Carnival had generously given me a $50 spa gift card for my birthday and I decided to use it on a foot and ankle massage. As someone who has sprained/broken her right ankle three different times and deals with arch cramps constantly, I knew having a masseuse spend an hour massaging my feet and ankles was exactly what I needed. Certain parts of the massage were painful (as a highly sensitive person, massages are usually more painful than relaxing for me because my nerve endings are so sensitive), but overall, it felt really good.

My mom also opted to get a massage, the same one as I did, so we were both feeling good on Tuesday night! After our massages, we went back to the room, got ready for dinner, and then had an early-ish dinner before escaping into the game room for a cutthroat game of Sorry!.

At this point in my vacation, I was feeling a little mentally fatigued. I wasn’t ready for the cruise to be over – not by a long shot! – but I was feeling a little overstimulated by all the activity on the ship and the stuff we were doing. We weren’t even going crazy every night, so I’m not even sure why I felt so fatigued, but that’s just my body, I guess. It needed some quiet time, so after playing in the game room for a little bit, we went back to our cabin to play Phase10 (which, you may notice is the game I played with my girlfriends in The Villages that I said was a horrible game. Turns out, much better to play with just two people! I actually enjoyed it this time. And won a few rounds!)

I stayed up a bit to finish the book I was reading and then it was lights out and time to celebrate our last day of the cruise. Wah. Five-day cruises are just too short!