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My Latest Yawps
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- Union Pacific 4014 Big Boy – 2024 Intercept 9/5 – 9/9 – Heartland of America Tour, Sterling to RochelleA Last-minute road trip from Massachusetts to Sterling and Rochelle, IL as well as a visit to 4006 in St. Louis. If anybody would have asked me in Mid-August if I would have driven halfway across the country to see a train, I would have told them they were nuts. But then again, I’ve been known to do some pretty silly, spur-of-the-moment things! My 20 year old son loves trains.… Read more: Union Pacific 4014 Big Boy – 2024 Intercept 9/5 – 9/9 – Heartland of America Tour, Sterling to Rochelle
- Bermuda Cruise 2024 #2Horseshoe Bay, Tobacco Bay and St. Georges On my first trip to Bermuda, we only spent a rainy morning walking from the NCL Ferry to the bus stop in St. Georges so that we could head to the Clearwater Beach/Cooper’s Island Nature Preserve. There was so much in the historic UNESCO World Heritage Site that we missed out on. On this return trip, we made a serious effort to spend… Read more: Bermuda Cruise 2024 #2
- I’m Back!Life has crept up on me, and it feels like forever since I’ve made a blog post. I’ve been busy, and keeping up with this project has taken a back burner. It’s time to bring it back to the forefront. I’ve taken many amazing trips, including cruises to the Bahamas and a Western Caribbean itinerary that included Cozumel, Roatan, Costa Maya, and NCL’s Harvest Caye. Another standout was my road… Read more: I’m Back!
- Father’s Day Weekend CampingWoodford State Park, VT My family decided to take a last-minute camping trip over Father’s Day Weekend, and we choose Woodford State Park, based upon a recommendation from a co-worker of my wife. Typically, we camp at state parks. I prefer them over family campgrounds. I had never camped growing up, and it was my wife who turned me on to camping as we were dating. We’ve mostly camped in… Read more: Father’s Day Weekend Camping
- Strasburg Rail Road, Memorial Day Weekend 2024A quick weekend jaunt to Amish Country, Pennsylvania. Steam Locomotives, Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Dutch Haven, Shady Maple Smorgasbord, and The Turkey Hill Experience. My son has always had a huge passion for trains, particularly steam. At just about 20, he still hasn’t outgrown it, and I doubt he ever will. His summer plans include heading to Colorado to participate in NOAC 2024 in Boulder. He intends to ditch a… Read more: Strasburg Rail Road, Memorial Day Weekend 2024
- May 10-11, 2024 Northern LightsFighting the Clouds… As an avid, self-proclaimed Space and Weather geek (along with my general love of photography), I thoroughly enjoy any naturally-occurring phenomena, and the challenge of trying to capture images of it. On one night, back in June of 2009, I had the opportunity to photograph the aurora borealis from the golf course just down the road from where I live. I took several that night, and here’s… Read more: May 10-11, 2024 Northern Lights
- Bermuda Cruise, 4/14-4/21/2024 #1Bermuda from New York on the Norwegian Joy Yup, another trip to Bermuda on the Joy… My previous posts about my family’s cruise last year to 2003 talked about how we thoroughly enjoyed this trip. It was meant to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, but we ended up bringing our son along. We did this because we had promised him a trip to see clear turquoise waters. Since we will… Read more: Bermuda Cruise, 4/14-4/21/2024 #1
- Wtf? Where did April go?There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in a day… I’d like to think that I’m not the type of person who makes excuses for things. That being said, I know that I’m a professional procrastinator. I mean, I still have Christmas lights hanging on my shrubs out front… Along with my habitual procrastination, I’m also a pretty big planner. I don’t like to go about anything half cocked. When… Read more: Wtf? Where did April go?
- FINALLY! April 8th, 2024, Total Solar EclipseMagog, QC As I’ve previously written, it has been my goal to finally cross off a bucket-list item of mine, a total solar eclipse. This one has been on my radar for several years, and I was willing to travel anywhere from the Ohio/Indiana border to the Maine/New Brunswick border in order to experience it. This was something I’ve always wanted to see, and I’ve seen countless pictures and videos… Read more: FINALLY! April 8th, 2024, Total Solar Eclipse
- April 8th EclipseNarrowing down the choices OK, so the weather geek in me has been agonizing over cloudcover forecasts for the past few days. Originally the plan was to drive anywhere from Houlton, ME to the OH/IN border, as I’ve got family in both spots. Anywhere in between would be just a long day-trip since I don’t have lodging anywhere else. One of the websites that my weather-geek friends and I use… Read more: April 8th Eclipse
- The DEFINITIVE Travel and Parking Guide for Port Miami, the Cruise Terminal located in Miami, FLThis post covers the largest and busiest cruise port in the world, the Miami Cruise Port located in Miami, Florida First things first. The Miami Cruise Port is immense. Below is a detailed map of the facility. A larger version of this map is available HERE. Located at 1015 N. America Way Miami, FL, 33132, Port Miami sits in Biscayne Bay, on Dodge Island, a man-made island made specifically for… Read more: The DEFINITIVE Travel and Parking Guide for Port Miami, the Cruise Terminal located in Miami, FL
- Celebrating Patriot’s Day in Lexington and ConcordThe Best Way to Learn About the Beginning of the Revolutionary War Patriot’s Day has been a Massachusetts holiday since 1894, and it represents far more than just the day that the Boston Marathon is run, and an 11:00am Boston Red Sox home game. I have lived in New England my entire life, and remember learning years ago in school about the start of the Revolutionary War and the Battle… Read more: Celebrating Patriot’s Day in Lexington and Concord
- Things to do in New York Before or After a CruiseI would never recommend arriving for your cruise on the morning of embarkation. Arriving AT LEAST the day before often saves many potential headaches and added stresses to what is already the most stressful day in a cruise vacation. The good news is that departing on a cruise from the New York area offers an endless supply of things to do. If you’re leaving from the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, you’re… Read more: Things to do in New York Before or After a Cruise
- Mike’s Guide to NOT Spending a Fortune at Fenway ParkMaybe we were very lucky with our two kids, I dunno. I have come across so many families who say things like, “You took your kids where? We could never take our kids to a movie. …or out to a nice dinner. …or to the beach. …or for a 2-hour drive to the city, let alone a baseball game!” I never really understood it. I wasn’t willing to stop living… Read more: Mike’s Guide to NOT Spending a Fortune at Fenway Park
- The DEFINITIVE Travel and Parking Guide for the New York area Cruise TerminalsThis post covers the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, and Cape Liberty Cruise Port So you’re contemplating a cruise sailing from the New York area, or maybe you’ve already booked it. Congrats! Whether you’re headed to the Bahamas/Caribbean, Bermuda, north to New England and Canada, or to Europe, it’s a great place to sail from. Now that you’ve made the decision where to depart on your trip, you might… Read more: The DEFINITIVE Travel and Parking Guide for the New York area Cruise Terminals
- Amazon Camping Must-HavesOne of my favorite getaways is camping. Growing up, camping wasn’t anything that my family was into, but when I met my wife, all of that changed. We were young, poor, and were always on the lookout for ways to travel inexpensively. Camping surely fit that bill. Even though I’m older now, I haven’t outgrown camping. We still prefer camping in State Parks, as they’re typically very inexpensive but offer… Read more: Amazon Camping Must-Haves
- Bermuda 2023 (Part 6)A Perfect Day. Finally, the Rainy Weather Broke, and a Phenomenal Day was on Tap! I’ve been looking forward to writing about this day since I decided to start this blog. Looking back at my life, there have been a handful of days that I know that I’ll never forget. I’m talking about something far more profound than just creating a memory or two. Sometimes the stars align, and you… Read more: Bermuda 2023 (Part 6)
- Amazon Cruise EssentialsMust-Haves for a Cruise Vacation If you’ve ever gone on a cruise, there are some must-have items that you don’t want to forget to bring with you. Staterooms are small, and storage is at a premium. Even if you’re going on a short trip, organization is key! Here are some things that I’ve picked up from Amazon that have made my trips much more enjoyable. I’ve included only the items that I have found… Read more: Amazon Cruise Essentials
- Bermuda 2023 (Part 5)Day 1 in Bermuda! I have to admit, I didn’t sleep much the night before our 8am arrival into Bermuda. As soon as I started seeing it get light outside, I headed out to our balcny to see what I could see. I knew from checking the weather before we left that there was a chance of showers off and on throughout the day. Yeah, it was pretty murky out. Warm and humid. The balcony… Read more: Bermuda 2023 (Part 5)
- Boston Ballet’s NutcrackerChristmas Eve, 2023 My last post was about attending the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. In it, I talked about how after the parade we enjoyed a great meal at our favorite Brazilian Steakhouse, Fogo de Chao in New York. It got me thinking about other times that we have had a great meal at Fogo, and here’s my most recent trip there. It seems like each time we eat at a Fogo, it’s… Read more: Boston Ballet’s Nutcracker
- Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade*** Bucket List Item *** My wife has been dying to head to New York to see the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for as long as she can remember. She grew up watching it on TV as a kid, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Santa at the very end. We love Christmas, and it’s a yearly tradition to watch all of the classics. It was fantastic to see the parade that Miracle on… Read more: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
- Kennebunkport, MaineSaturday, January 28th Who says that Northern beaches are only worth visiting in the Summer? My wife and I decided to take a quick little overnight trip to coastal Maine. Maine is one of our favorite places to visit, and we typically spend time in the Ogunquit area. Wanting to visit someplace new, we headed an additional 20 miles north to Kennebunk/Kennebunkport. Winter is definitely off-season up there, and while I don’t… Read more: Kennebunkport, Maine
- Bermuda 2023 (Part 4)Sail Away, Cruise Days 1-2-3. It’s now after lunch, and we’ve got some time to kill before our Aft Balcony room is ready. Time to explore the ship! Since we had checked our luggage, it was being brought to our room and we obviously didn’t have access to any of it. As a first-time cruiser who did my homework, I had learned that it was best to carry a backpack with everything… Read more: Bermuda 2023 (Part 4)
- Bermuda 2023 (Part 3)Departure Day! Now that I had a date and destination booked, I started obsessing over every detail of the cruise. I researched absolutely everything! Maybe I went overboard, but it was my first cruise and I wanted it to be perfect. It seems that embarkation day is always the most hectic and stressful day of a vacation that’s supposed to be relaxing. I wanted to make it go as smoothly as possible. The ship… Read more: Bermuda 2023 (Part 3)
- Bermuda 2023 (Part 2)Finalizing a Ship and Destination As I posted previously, originally, we were looking at taking a cruise on the RCL Allure of the Seas out of Galveston. Logistically it was going to be tough for this trip, so I had to make another choice. I started narrowing down a sailing to Bermuda out of either New York, or Boston. Since I had already done some research on the Allure, I had come to… Read more: Bermuda 2023 (Part 2)
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Mike's Barbaric Yawp 