Grand Turk, BVI (British Virgin Islands)

RATING:  $$$$+++++
Grand Turk, BVI (British Virgin Islands)
via Holland America Line's Westerdam cruise

We spent my birthday in Grand Turk, BVI.  What a gorgeous place.  The first thing you notice is how clean it is and that there were no beggars all over the place.  Everyone was so friendly.

A great -- FREE -- place to enjoy the day is at Margaritaville.  They have the most beautiful pools and swim-up bar, and you can just hang and have some fun there.

We also did a snorkel and stingray swim excursion which was offered through the cruise line, which was $59pp and worth every penny.  John's favorite place to be is in the ocean with a snorkel or SCUBA mask ... I, on the other hand, was very happy walking up and down the beautiful white sand beach taking pictures of him ... but here's a PSA:  WEAR YOUR SUNSCREEN.  I definitely learned my lesson.  It was an overcast day, so I didn't cover up, and yes, I GOT FRIED!!

Swim-Up Bar at Margaritaville

The stingray excursion is always fun.  This one is especially good because you get to walk in from the beach, whereas most stingray excursions (like the best one in Grand Cayman's Stingray City) has you land in the middle of the ocean on a sandbar (which is only waist-deep, too).  So this one was kinda cool that you can walk in and out of water when you want.  Since we have a little stingray (a 10" female, Cortez stingray named Christmas) as a pet, it was especially fun to be able to play with the really huge ones and feel their suction power, stronger than a vacuum to pull the squid out from your hands (make sure to hide your thumb!)

Location of John Glenn's landing on return from the moon!!

Before our excursion, we took a tour of the whole (small) island, which was only $16 round-trip per person.  At the north tip, there is a lighthouse we got to visit and read about a little history.  We also learned that Grand Turk was the island where John Glenn wound up landing on his way back from his journey to the moon.   I was glad to have learned this.  I don't remember reading about that in a history book.  It's nice to learn history from where it happens, not just from a book.

All in all, this was a perfect, very happy birthday, especially after having an awesome special dinner with roses delivered to our table!

Happy Travels!
Leisure Travel Consultants,
Andrea & John Walen
http://VacationWithAndrea.com

BRANSON, MISSOURI -- NEW YEAR'S EVE WEEKEND

WEEKEND RATING:  $$$+++++

Grand Oaks Hotel
Hamner Barber Variety Show
Titanic Museum
Trail of Lights
Yakov Smirnoff's Moscow Circus Dinner Show
Legends in Concert
Mel's Hard Luck Diner
Branson Craft Mall

WOW!  What a surprising experience.  This was definitely a sleeper to us!  My DreamTrips vacation club offered a weekend getaway for 4 days, 3 nights, plus 3 shows, for only $139pp, so we decided to research, "What the heck is Branson?"  AND WE LOVED IT!!!  This will definitely be a repeated weekend getaway!

We stayed at the Grand Oaks Hotel, which is right in the heart of the strip of places to go.  On Rovia, for only $64 per night, we were able to get a beautiful, big room with a king-sized bed with a JACUZZI IN OUR ROOM!  Everyone was very so friendly there.   They have a really nice indoor pool with two hot tubs.  Every day, you can also get a FREE HOT BREAKFAST.  We would definitely stay here again.

It seems like shows are the "thing" to do in Branson.  So, when in Rome ... We saw one show each day we were there.  The Hamner Barber Variety Show was very enjoyable.  They do magic and illusions and comedy.  Of course, my favorite part was when they brought out their parrots ;-)

Yakov Smirnoff's Moscow Circus Dinner Show was FANTASTIC!!  This is where we celebrated New Year's Eve.  They brought out surprise after surprise after surprise.  It reminded us a little of Blue Man Group because some things are so "off the wall."  Everything they did was very unique and lots of neon glowing going on.  It's a fun night for all ages!  Because it was Christmas, Yakov himself wasn't there, but it was cleverly videoed in to seem like he was right there in the show.  Good stuff!  PHENOMENAL FOOD!

Legends in Concert is always a lot of fun.  Each time we go, we see mostly different performers.  This is always a great show.  This weekend, we saw their last show for the season.  It seems Branson pretty much SHUTS DOWN at the end of the year through about March.  We saw six impersonators who were all great:  The Temptations, Patsy Cline, The Blues Brothers, George Strait, Michael Jackson, and of course Elvis was in the house!  They sell photos when you go in, which we thought was a little pricey for a show.  They were $20 apiece.  But the food compensated for the prices.  We got a sandwich, soda, and potato salad for just TWO dollars.  I got to kiss Elvis himself!

We really enjoyed the Titanic Museum.  We have been to many "traveling" Titanic exhibits before, but NONE like this.  This is a permanent, two-story, authentic museum.  They tried to make it as realistic as possible -- with the outside looking like the ship, and parts of the inside looking like the ship.  You walk through and see lots and lots of artifacts.  You even get a passport when you walk in from someone who was really on the ship.  You find out at the end whether you survived or not.  The thing you MUST do is try out their 28-degree water exhibit, where you put in your finger or a hand and see how long you could last.  We could only "take" about 10 seconds.  WOW, is that cold!  We submerged our hand, and within just TEN seconds of wiggling, we couldn't move!  I don't know how ANYONE survived in that!

Mel's Hard Luck Diner was a great mistake we stumbled upon.  Because it was late, we couldn't find any "good" place to eat -- or so we thought -- so we "settled" on this little diner -- not knowing it was AWESOME!  They have singing wait-staff -- and great singers -- some were on American Idol at one time.  The food was the best diner food ever!  Crunchy, fresh, perfect, great prices.  We will definitely be going back there.  There so much to read on the walls, you need a second visit.

Because we were in Branson for New Year's Eve weekend, the Christmas display "Trail of Lights" was still up.  We would recommend that.  It was your typical drive-though exhibit, but VERY well done.  It gets better as you drive through it, and it was only $10.  The synchronized lighting was perfect!

Before heading home, we got to go the Branson Craft Mall.  It was a neat place to go with all hand-made craft items in there.  Again, because it was the last day of the season, the place was not hopping.  Typically, they will have artisans there doing their thing, but only one crafter was there -- someone carving wood, which was pretty cool.  But we did get an amazing price for 100% Egyptian Sheets, 1500 thread count, for only $40 bucks, so that was worth the trip.

So we will definitely be "doing" Branson again!  Great weekend getaway, lots to do and see!

Happy Travels!

Leisure Travel Consultants,
Andrea & John Walen
http://VacationWithAndrea.com