I’m exhausted! Now that I have a job and vacation time again, I’ve been putting it to good use this year. That said, I’m tired and woefully behind on posts as I’ve been chosing the couch over my laptop after work to decompress from my horrible commute. But there so much to share with you and I hope to start catching up soon as I’m Philly bound for a while. I still have two weeks of vacation time to plan and use by year end so trying to spin the globe and see where it takes me (thinking a hibernation sounds perfect). For now, here’s what I’ve been up to so far this year and the stories you’ll see in upcoming posts.
Disney Magic Cruise to the Southern Caribbean
In April, my family celebrated Mom’s actual 75th birthday on the Disney Magic cruise ship to the Southern Caribbean leaving from Puerto Rico. We would visit Antiqua, Barbados, St. Kitts, St. Lucia and Martinique. Yes, despite treating Mom to a whirlwind, luxury trip of 10 days in Paris & London last September as advance birthday celebration, I was summoned to attend the family cruise on Disney Cruise lines. Disney Cruise lines are expensive when compared with other cruise lines so I phoned a friend to join me since I was already paying the 200% single supplement for the inside room. My country mouse who joined my EPIC escape to Europe two years ago, flew on three planes and slept at the airport to join me and the family on the cruise. Country Mouse had only sailed on Celebrity Cruise lines with her mom prior to joining me on the NCL Epic and now on the Disney Magic. Her refrain would continue to be “this ain’t Celebrity”. My family has only sailed on Disney, while I’ve sampled the other cruise lines to compare. I had a different perspective to it all – here’s my sneek peek at the Disney Magic oceanview room and the Disney Cruise Lines fireworks at sea.
W Vieques Island, Puerto Rico
Prior to joining my family on the cruise, I took two days to redeem my Starwood SPG points and experience the W Vieques Island. That involved a twenty minute flight from the San Juan airport to/from on Cape Air (see the video of my flight landing at SJU Airport). I spent time on the beach reading, fell asleep to the sounds of the waves outside and had a fantastic spa treatment. It was a relaxing stay until the bug bites, which are another story. This is what relaxation on the beach looks and sounds like:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKdLdybNp_g[/embedyt]
Once home in April, I was dealing with my reaction to the bug bites and the sun before packing again for my quick trip to Scotland and London in May.
Weekend in Scotland & London
The long weekend over the Memorial Day holiday was perfect getaway to Scotland & London …in business class….using points….visiting friends….eating cookies…traveling on the Virgin East Coast train from Edinburgh to London and staying at The Dorset Square Hotel in Marylebone. I would, however, be banned from picking restaurants in the future in London as my friend ended up at McDonald’s after each meal on his way home (note: my meals were fine and we won’t talk about his pension for McD’s).
Here’s a bit of Scottish bagpipe music to get you in the mood:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAFggs2B8W0[/embedyt]
Exhausted at home, I was catching up on life, laundry, bills and blog posts. Work was busy, life was busy and my next trip was quickly approaching.
Alaska Cruise with Holland America, Oprah & O Magazine
I was set to sail from Seattle to Alaska on Holland America Eurodam with Oprah and the O Magazine team as part of the launch of the “Live Your Adventure” cruise. Twenty years ago, my first cruise to Alaska was marred when the ship broke down and was leaking oil into the water. We were forced to skip Glacier Bay on the Glacier cruise so this was me hitting “do-over” on that cruise. The new partnership with O Magazine is quite interesting and I’ll be posting more about that soon.
Sneak Peek at my Verandah Cabin on the Eurodam
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47mNQdvjIdQ[/embedyt]
Yes, I met Oprah and have a photo with her during the private charity dinner benefitting the National Parks. Who knew Oprah loved tequila as much as she does (only 1 point on Weight Watchers), well, I quickly learned as she shared the famous George Clooney tequila with us (yowza!). The excitement of Oprah’s two days on the ship, the special programming with the O Magazine team and their authors and writers plus a private concert by India.Arie and comedian Rita Rudner and the splendor that is Alaska made for an interesting journey. The flight to Seattle was torturous but I was rewarded with champagne at check in at the Four Seasons Seattle and a indulgent meal at Palace Kitchen.
Pre/Post Cruise Day in Seattle
My return to Seattle where I have a childhood friend was bittersweet as the kids continue to grow and make me feel old. I’ve been traveling to Seattle every couple of years to visit the past twenty years and have seen so many great attractions (Chihuly Glass, Pike Place Market, Wine, Waterfalls and Chocolate, the San Juan Islands) and this time I would have just one day with them – one jam packed day of brunch at The Four Seasons, Infinity Mirrors exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum, a visit to the new Starbucks Roastery and then dinner before falling into my brand new (can still smell the paint almost) renovated king room at Hotel 1000.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAOPecWPQKw[/embedyt]
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6SEKv6Oivw[/embedyt]
Once home, I would keep busy and meet new friends for live music at the Foundry music venue inside Philadelphia’s new music hall – The Fillmore.
Weekend in Washington, D.C.
I would jump on Amtrak to Washington D.C. for an arts/food/monuments tour of the city with other luxury travel bloggers in the #BloggersTakeTheCity event in August. With a silent disco, art installations, lots of food and even more art, I got to see a side of D.C. I didn’t realized I missed on prior trips. I’m still processing all the food and fun plus new friends from that getaway. Here’s a sneak peek at the Fairmont D.C. Gold Lounge:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5KdPg7vaFA[/embedyt]
After saying goodbye to the group, I met up with a twitter friend IRL to tour the sweet treats and tapas side of the city. My final day in the city involved a whirlwind visit of The Capitol, Library of Congress and Supreme Court before ending at The Four Seasons Georgetown for one of DC’s best burgers (spoiler alert – the burger won!) and takeaway cookies.
Home in Philly
So I’m home now for a bit to regroup, reacquaint myself with the couch to learn to Netflix and chill and detox the gluten and dairy that did somehow slip past my lips (damn bread basket and cookies!). Where to go next is the question. But for now, I have a plethora of stories, photos and secrets to share with you in the upcoming months from the trips above and still a few left from my travels with Mom. Hopefully they will inspire you to travel to one or more of the destinations (with or without your mom and/or family) and experience something new, exciting and tasty along the way.
If you can’t wait for the posts and have questions about any of the above destinations, vendors and partners, just contact me or comment below.
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I had a normal Saturday at the hotel and never left the resort property. My morning started off with breakfast followed by time on the beach, lunch at the pool bar, time in my room relaxing reading a book on the comfy chair and then a spa massage before dinner at the restaurant. I happily packed my suitcase after dinner to prepare for my flight back to San Juan in the morning and went to bed early as I was exhausted from the sunny, relaxing and hectic day of lounging, spa and eating.
I woke up to my alarm and got out of bed as I had done the day before. When I approached the bathroom mirror to put my contact lenses in, I seemed a bit reddish. While the lighting in the bathroom was awful, I could see red spots all over me. I quickly exchanged my glasses for my contact lenses to get a better look and I looked horrible covered in spots. As I started to inspect my body, I stopped counting at 50 bug bites – mostly concentrated on my arms, shoulders, neck and legs with a few stray bits on my face. Basically parts of my body not covered by my pajamas were now covered in bug bites. What the hell!? I had become a bug buffet overnight and now I was in a panic.
Bug Bites – In Search of an Answer
I threw the bed covers over and pulled at the corners of the sheets to look under with my flashlight. I was investigating to see if I could find the almost invisible evidence of a feast – a feast of me. I then scoured the room looking for and listening to the sounds, excluding the ocean waves crashing in the background, hoping to hear something flying to explain my spots. Nothing.
I called the front desk to report that I went to bed last night without bug bites save a mosquito or two at dinner on my ankles and woke up covered in what? Bed bugs was my first thought. The staff member said “we’ve had other bedbug reports but found nothing, I will let the GM (General Manager) know immediately”.
I’ve traveled to almost 50 countries, taken malaria meds, slept under mosquito nets and in tents and have stayed in a few icky places in my travels but have never encountered this situation. I once had a mosquito fly into my Venice room from the canal below when I kept the window open. The large room made it impossible to kill it so I slept with a sheet over my head all night listening to the mosquito dive bombing me until I fell asleep, but this? Over 50 bites was crazy and if I thought about it too long, it was gross and horribly itchy.
I took a shower to get ready to leave which only made the bites worse – now I was itchy and didn’t have any hydrocortisone with me this trip. I had the bug crème I used in Africa with me that I had applied while on property to keep bugs at bay but nothing to combat the aftermath. Not knowing what to do about bedbug bites, I was googling up a storm (not recommended if pictures of people, bites and bugs gross you out) – I put my pajamas in a plastic bag and packed in the front of my suitcase. The bites were welt like and clustered at my elbows while other spots were in a pattern. And they itched like crazy.
Covered in Bug Bites – Talking to the GM
I went to the front desk and one look at me, you could surmise I was the lady who called about the “bedbug bites” despite trying to hide them with my cardigan (yes, a cardigan on a tropical island is quite out of place). The GM met me at my breakfast table and talked to me for over ten minutes. She said that they take reports of bed bugs quite seriously and would call the exterminator for an immediate inspection. The room would be isolated and hotel staff would be present during the inspection. The room would not be assigned to another guest until cleared. She doubted it was bed bugs and said I was probably bitten by other bugs, maybe noseeums which are sand fleas (in my room? seriously?). I told her that I spent a good amount of time on the chair in the room reading during the day, could they be there? I asked if the hotel sold bug cream or something soothing and she said it didn’t, but she found five packets of hydrocortisone cream to use (not enough to cover my body of bites).
We exchanged business cards and she said she would email me later in the afternoon so I could have peace of mind on my family cruise (note NO PEACE OF MIND because bugs were feasting on me while I slept, the thought makes me itch now and every time I’ve gone to sleep since leaving the resort I feel like something is crawling on me everywhere). I checked out of the resort trying not to scratch my arms, legs, neck, etc. to no avail. Despite the 80 degree, sunny day, I kept my cardigan on to hide my arms and neck from others as I looked and felt gross and ugly.
Finding More Bug Bites Daily on the Cruise
When I arrived on the cruise, thankfully they had a self-service laundry so I immediately put my pajamas in the dryer on hot as the internet instructed to kill bed bugs. During the cruise, my bites got worse and more seemed to show up each day which continued to freak me out (and was consistent with my research). I was now using Benadryl at night to sleep, Claritin in the day and applying hydrocortisone. I visited the ship’s medical department for the hydrocortisone and to get triage from the nurse who said I wasn’t contagious so I waited until I arrived home to see my doctor.
After Vacation, Still Covered in Bug Bites
My doctor, who isn’t versed in “tropical bugs” that the GM said bit me, said that based on the patterns it was consistent with bed bugs (pattern of three –breakfast, lunch, dinner they call it). The bites were now over a week old and still quite visible and still itchy. She said that they were too small to be mosquitos and having been a mosquito buffet my whole life, I knew this was different immediately. She said I’d need to wait it out and continue with my treatment as is. It’s now three weeks since I woke up at the resort to my new spotted complexion.
The hotel GM emailed me the exterminator report later that day, before sailing, saying “no evidence of bed bugs”. So now what? My doctor thinks that my bites were consistent with bed bugs. On follow up with my doctor’s assessment, the GM replied that no guest before or after me in that room has reported bug bites. To me, I’m evidence to the contrary of the exterminator report. I’m trying to wrap my head around this and am stumped – was I a bed bug buffet? I look like I was. Or did another bug type feast on me? Anyone know a logical answer here? What would you do if you were covered in 50 bug bites on your arms, legs, neck, shoulders and face?
Have you ever awoken to find out you were a bug buffet – covered in bug bites? What did you do?
Note: Sorry if I made you itch reading this, on telling friends without photos they have all started scratching. Photos below are a few shots of my spots.
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