Happy Birthday Cruise to Carrie on Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady April 9 - 14, 2023... Highly Recommend Virgin Voyages!

Sunrise From Flight

Carrie and I left for a cruise on Saturday, April 8. We booked our cruise a few months ago to celebrate Carrie turning 50. We decided on a Virgin Voyages cruise as we had a few friends who had been on the cruise and said it was great.

Our fight left at 5:18 in the morning. We got a hotel near the airport for the night before, but we still had to be at the airport by 4 am. It was great to be able to see the new MCI airport although nothing was open when we were there, or when we returned, but it is nice to have one spot to depart and arrive for the airport.

We flew into Miami and had a hotel for Saturday night, so we did a tour of Little Havana where we had a guided tour to eat, drink, and see the area. It was so fun! We had a great tour guide that was from the area. Delicious coffee, drinks, and food, plus hearing about the area was so interesting. We had a great time before we headed to our hotel.

From Balcony in Miami, FL

We had a wonderful evening in Miami where we head a balcony looking out over the inlet to the ocean with so much activity of boats, I could have spent all day watching boats entering and leaving to the ocean. It was so cool! We had reservations at The River Oyster Bar which was walking distance from our hotel which was perfect. We of course had to order oysters and they were delicious. We had six different kinds, I believe, and they were all delicious. The drinks, appetizers, and meals were good too. We really liked The River Oyster Bar and our time spent in and around Miami. 

Leaving on a Cruise

Finally, Sunday, we were ready to leave for the cruise. We were so excited to be leaving on a cruise that Carrie shouted out to the crowd gathered how excited she was to be leaving. The boarding process for Virgin Voyages was so easy as we were on the ship and had our first drink minutes after boarding. There was a guy in line with us that might have been more excited than Carrie, but it was close. He was singing and giving high fives to the staff as we were heading up the stairs. We think he had done three or four Virgin Voyages before this one as he knew everyone.

Bar We Visited Each Day

We visited the Sip Bar each of the days on the cruise. Drinks were great and the bartenders worked their butts off while helping to keep everyone happy and drink in hand. We did go to the Sip Bar each day we were on the cruise. We were sad one night when they closed at 11:30 instead of midnight, but the two bartenders were going to staff party.

There were only two ports being visited on the five day cruise. Carrie and I decided we were going to remain on the ship for the first visit. We had a wonderful time going through the ship, spending time at the pool, and enjoying the ship without it being crowded. We almost did this again the second port day, but decided we should at least say we had been to the Bahamas and put our toes in the sand. It was tempting to not remain on the boat and enjoy the spaces without the people.

Hola on Side of Ship

We did take a catamaran the first port day which was in the evening which was a lot of fun. The margaritas were not great on the catamaran, but the beer was cold and all part of the voyage. As we returned, I was able to capture a picture of ship with 'HOLA' on the side lit up in lights. While we were on the catamaran, I was able to see some fish "floating on the air" which I had only ever seen on the internet. They were all over the place on the first hour out to the open water along the shore. The way back, I only saw one fly along the top of the water. It was fun and the crew did a good job keeping us entertained and drinks in hand.

Dinner at "The Wake". So good!

We had dinner at just about all the places to eat aboard ship. One of our favorites was dinner at "The Wake". Our seats were in front of the window showing the wake of the boat which was incredible. The meal was good and our waiter was great allowing us use our own bottle of wine and not charge a corking fee. Thank you! 

"The Wake", "The Test Kitchen", and "Gunbae" were my favorites. Least favorite was "Extra Virgin" which was Italian, but it was just OK for me. Main complaint was they were out of all of their wines except for one.

The bars on board were good and we frequented a few of them. It would be nice if only beer is being ordered that would not have to wait for those getting blender drinks, but overall, we had a great time and enjoyed our time onboard. We met so many wonderful people even having dinner with some of them one night. 

Sunset from Catamaran

We liked our cruise so much that we put a payment on a future cruise that we get ship credit for and then have to book it within the next two years. I look forward to another trip and to sailing again on Virgin Voyages. It will be fun to see another ship and make new memories to new destinations. 

When we returned to Miami on Sunday morning, we had a cabana reserved for us at a local hotel. We spent the day Poolside at Surfcomber as our flight back to Kansas City did not leave until 9 pm Sunday night. Worked out great as we were able to nap, eat, drink, and be in the pool. It was really a fun spot and once again our waiter took great care of us while we were there.

I am happy that we were able to celebrate the 50th birthday for Carrie doing a cruise. We both had a wonderful time and look forward to cruising again. It had been eleven years since we had last been on a cruise and this did not disappoint. Happy Birthday, Carrie!

See full photo album on Flickr.

Happy Easter!

Praise Be! Happy Easter! A beautiful morning. I used to always like Easter egg hunting when I was a kid. I think of all the kids doing that annual hunting this morning. I also enjoyed coloring the eggs. The whole process from preparing the different colors, the process of dipping the eggs, to eating the finished product after we had found all of the eggs. A little vinegar, salat and pepper, and all mixed up in a bowl, it was so good! Sometimes do this routine during the year when looking for an easy meal, but always seemed even better on Easter.

Have a wonderful day and an even better week! Short holiday update today.

Kansas City Royals Start of Season Brief Update and Looking Forward to Attending a Game

Royals Stadium from 2008

Not a very good end to March or start to April. The Kansas City Royals started off the season 0 - 3. We went two full games without a single run. That makes it difficult to win a game. We finally got a run in the third game, but lost that game after getting four runs. Not an ideal start to the season. I was looking forward to watching a competitive season. Granted, the season is young and there is still a lot of baseball to play. We did finally get our first win on Monday night, but then lost the second game of the series Tuesday night. 

Here we are on Thursday night writing and the Royals lost again today. We have won one game this season.We have had a total of 36 hits during our first seven games and only 17 runs. Our pitching has not been all that bad, but our batting has completely failed us in at least three games so far scoring zero points in those three games. Pitiful!

I write this update for Sunday on Thursday night and we start a new series on Friday against the Giants. Our first road game of the season and I am not expecting much. The Giants are 3-3 to start the season, so there is a chance we could go zero runs for all three games or get lucky and win the one game. At this point, that is about as good as I see it getting the way the season has started.

It is so enjoyable to visit Kauffman Stadium to watch our Kansas City Royals and while I have not made it to one of the early season games, I do plan to get to a few games this season. My hope is that when I do finally make it to see a game this summer, we are competitive and have an exciting game.

Until next time, have a great week! Here is to hoping we play well the next three days and manage to get at least one win. I am not asking much, two would be great, but being realistic, I would take one win for the next three games. Go Royals!

I had this post lined up and ready to post for Sunday night at midnight, but here I am on Friday evening updating that the Royals got their second win of the season this afternoon. We beat the Giants 3 - 1 Friday afternoon. I might need to not watch, listen, or follow their games more often. I truly thought we were going to be swept this weekend, so I am happy to get this Friday win.

Me again, it is now Saturday evening as I write and once again, I missed the game today. I saw the score and I see that we won again. Ok, I think the baseball Gods are telling me something that I need to not watch or only partially watch and the Royals will win. Your welcome!

I wrote the majority of this on early in the week. I decided to leave it as I think it is a bit funny and then if it is helping the Royals win, I am good with that too. I would like to eventually be able to watch the Royals and have them win the game. 

This will post at midnight this evening (Saturday), so I am interested to see how it goes tomorrow. I will not be watching or following the game tomorrow. Go Royals!

Grilled Pork Tenderloin and Asparagus on Big Green Egg Last Sunday… It Was So Good!

Decided to do some grilling last Sunday, March 26. It had been a while since I had grilled. Oliver was helping me get everything ready by being the lookout for the back yard as I got the grill ready. As soon as I come through the family room with the bag to do the fire, he leaps off of the couch and is ready to go outside with me. It was a bit chilly on Sunday, but we did not mind, and every time I went in, or out, of the house, Oliver was right there to help.

Carrie had picked up a pork tenderloin at the store, so we did some seasoning so we could marinate the two pork tenderloins in a plastic bag for a few hours before grilling. Prepped some asparagus to go on the grill too. I realized as I am writing that I neglected to get a picture of everything done plated. I always miss out on doing the final picture as excited to get to eating. Oliver and I had a grand time grilling. He patrolled the people walking and made sure I was doing everything properly. Carrie had bought some IPA beers for me when we were in St. Louis, so I was enjoying those while I grilled. It was so good! I want to grill more!

It had also been a while since I had used the Meater Block, so this was a chance to use those for this cook. Carrie likes pork a little more done, so I set both for a little longer on the grill. Once again, Meater did great and the pork was nice and juicy. The asparagus on the grill turned out really good too. A little crunch, but really good flavor. A little oil, salt and pepper, and right on the grill made for a delicious compliment with the pork tenderloin.

The meal was so good, we are planning to grill again today. Getting ready to head to the store to pick up groceries and we plan to get the pork marinating earlier this time. I will try to capture how we do the marinade so I can include that for next weeks update. I also plan to include a picture of the completed meal before I start chowing down. 

Oliver was so sleepy after helping with the cooking, he fell asleep shortly after we finished with dinner. His tongue out and sacked out while we cleaned up and watched television. Poor little guy worked so hard making sure I was doing everything correctly outside, he slept most of the night as we hung out in the family room. I am sure Oliver will hep today when I cook too and good thing I have a full bag of lump for the grill ready to go.

Hoping this weather sticks around as it is so great outside. The grass is greening up and will start to grow soon. I noticed my first mosquito yesterday afternoon while sitting outside on our patio. Good thing we have Mosquito Joe coming this week to start treatment on our yard. If you have not tried Mosquito Joe, I recommend you do so. When we were not using Mosquito Joe to treat our lawn, I could barely go in our back yard without getting eaten up. We have been using Mosquito Joe for three or four years now. 

I hope you have a great day and be sure to cheer on the Royals today at 1 pm. We need a win badly and also need run support. We are 0 - 2 to start the season and have a total of zero runs in those two games. It has been a rough start, but as they say, there are a lot of games to play.

Have a great week!

Change in Wi-Fi Calling Not Dropping Calls When Leaving Wireless Hotspot Location -- Huge Improvement!

Like many of you, I use my cell phone all the time. I use it for browsing the web, social media, email, calendar, and to stay updated on news. For a few years now, I have relied upon Wi-Fi Calling to be enabled so that if there was a wireless connection available to which I was connected, I could rely on that connection to make and receive calls. Without this option, it was not possible in some places to make or receive calls let alone to be able to interact on the internet. Today, there is almost no where that I go that a internet connection is not available. 

When I first started using Wi-Fi calling on my phone, I found that if I was in say my office and on a call with my cell, if I left the building, the call would drop. The call was attempting to transition from the internet connection to the towers. I had really not tried to walk away from a connection for at least the past two years until recently. I was surprised to find that my call did not drop. I did further testing to see if I was on a call and went into an area with wireless would it drop as it handed the call from the cell tower to the wireless access point... Sure enough, this worked too and worked smoothly. 

Much improved process with the hand-off to and from Wi-Fi calling on the iPhone. I know there were many times I would call Carrie to let her know I was heading to pick her up for lunch and as I walked to my car, the call would drop. Now, that is not an issue as I can get to the car, drive out of the lot, and the call never drops. 

I am not sure if this was an improvement by the standards for mobile phones, an Apple change, or something that was improved with the hand-off between my device and either Wi-Fi or tower. Whatever it is, I am thankful for the improvement. I rely on my phone heavily and knowing that I can leave a place that has Wi-Fi and the call will not drop is important. 

While it is not ideal to drop a call to my wife, it can be awkward to drop a call to a vendor, or customer, as I leave the office. Left calling them back saying "sorry, I am not sure what happened to the connection" where the whole time I know it was because I had left a place with wireless where I had placed the call and now I am in an area without wireless. This is no longer a concern as it works the way I would hope it would work.

Again, I am not sure when this changed as I could not find much information about it. I am not sure if this is an improvement only for iPhones or if Android also benefits off of this change. If it is all phones, then I wonder if this was an improvement that was made by the FCC to be able to hand the call between no Wi-Fi and connected to Wi-Fi. 

Weekend Trip to St. Louis for Food, Drinks, and Fun

 

This past weekend we took a trip to St. Louis which is turning into an annual trip. Greg plays in a fantasy baseball draft that drafts in-person, so we have made a trip of it the past two years. We headed to St. Louis on Thursday, March 16 and we returned on Sunday, March 19. We had a wonderful time and managed to get to two Italian places to eat.

 

We did go to a new Italian place to eat our first night in St. Louis. We went to Paul Manno's Restaurant. Great food, wonderful service, and had the best time eating there Thursday night. Our night here as a perfect evening where we continued to talk about it on our way back on Sunday. Wonderful spot!

Friday we had a long day of going to different spots around St. Louis. We started off with an early breakfast and then went through the day until we dropped Greg off at his draft. Erin, Carrie, and I found a good spot to eat as we knew it might not be a spot Greg would like, so we made reservations and had a delicious meal in a cool spot. The name of the place was jalea.

The drinks were good and then dinner was also delicious. I could not finish all of my food, so I took some of it home, but ended up not having the leftovers either. We loved the look of the place and our waiter was excellent. He shared with us that he played baseball in Kansas, so he was familiar with Kansas. It was good to eat some delicious food, have some fun drinks, and try out a new spot.

Carrie was doing some artsy pictures while we were in St. Louis, so a few of those to share here.

We are already looking forward to next year when we will go back and go to new places. I was able to meet with my friend, Mark, and his wife, Shauna, while were there. We met them for lunch on Saturday and had a chance to catch up.

Saturday night, we went to Charlie Gitto’s which we went to last year. It was good, but we had a better time, better food, and drinks at Paul Manno's. We look forward to trying a new spot next year when we return.

For now, this is all as I did not get this posted on Sunday as my regular schedule as I was so tired from the weekend, I slept most of the evening and went to bed early. Playing catch up on our weekend trip of staying up late, getting up early, and having fun.

March Madness 2023 ESPN Tournament Challenge

It is time to make your selections for March Madness. 

March Madness Hopefuls group is free to play and you can enter up to three entries. There is no password on the group, so hoping it will be an easy process to join your entries, encourage your family and friends to join, and be sure to come back after Selection Sunday to make your entries. 

The directions for joining remain the same from last year. Group is read and can start getting the word out on joining the group. The more people in the group the more fun it is to make your selections. 

1. Visit ESPN which will take you directly to the March Madness Hopefuls.
2. If you are already signed into the ESPN web site, you can immediately create your bracket. If not, sign into the site and then you will be taken to the March Madness Hopefuls group or you can search for March Madness Hopefuls to join.
3. Join the group.
4. Repeat the above process to create additional brackets. In the March Madness Hopefuls bracket, you can have three entries.

Be sure to submit your entries by 10:00 am CST Thursday, March 16. This will make sure you get your entries submitted and have time to get them submitted. First game tips at 11:00 am on Thursday March 16.

If you have any questions or problems, please post a comment to this post.

Good luck and enjoy March Madness!