Today we visited the Kentucky Horse Park and we were amazed. Lexington could almost be a tourist destination because of this Park. The Park has over 50 breeds of horses from all over the world from the the war horses to the miniature ones. We got to pet and photograph Kentucky Derby Winners, Preakness Winners and some of the most famous horses in recent years. Horses are given or loaned to the horse park if their usefulness as a stud horse(because of being guilded or sterility) is no longer viable. Because of that we were able to see Derby winners, sprint winners and and winners of virtually any kind of horse competition in the world. Their are museums of every type, some of them devoted to derby winners. The one to Affirmed, the last triple crown winner is especially interesting because of all if his battles with Alydar. We would recommend a full day here, maybe even two, and make sure to take the Horse farm tour as well, Tickets can be bought at the park. It takes you to working horse farms and is extremely interesting.

Well, we are well into our first road trip of the year, went to Matt’s graduation, had dinner with Judy’s brother and family on Staten Island and spent time in upstate NY visiting wineries in the Finger Lakes Area. Over three days we visited fifteen wineries and I guess I was surprised over the quality of the wines, not only the Riesling which I expected, but also some fine chardonnays. We tasted several reds as well, although we were not as impressed with those as with the whites, they were still quite good. Some of the wineries we visited were very unique, not only with the outsides but with the decor of the tasting rooms and the names on the wine bottles. Because we were there early in the year, we had no problems finding a place to stay but I would guess later in the year that reservations should be made. We were impressed not only with the wines in the area, but the beauty that existed around Seneca Lake. We would recommend this area to all, not just for the wineries but for the areas beauty.

We enjoyed our Road trips two years ago, so we decided that 2009 would be the year of another two road trips. The first one will take us to our grandsons Matt’s college graduation, then into Staten Island, NY to visit Judy’s Brother and family. Then we will go into Manhattan for a couple of days to get our theater fix. Then we will head to the Finger Lakes Area of upstate New York to visit some wineries then onto Niagara Falls (again) and Niagara on the Lake. After we get our fill of Niagara Falls we will travel through West Virginia to Louisville to visit Louisville Downs. Then another fun part, we will visit bourbon distilleries by taking the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky and then eventually home.So we are busy packing the car, programming our GPS (We have a new one called Jill). Judy had the trip all planned on Microsoft Streets and Trips, so we have a pretty good idea of our agenda. Again we will keep a running journal on here for our friends and family

We arrived home from London after a 15 day transatlantic cruise on the Grand Princess. We had a great time, visited Scotland and Ireland. First I would like to talk about the Grand Princess. We are a loyal Princess cruiser so we have been on the Grand Many times, most recently 33 days last fall. The Grand came online in 1998 which makes her over ten years old. She is starting to show her age but still a desirable ship. We personally like her new cousin the Emerald Princess because of some new features but with basically the same design. We have always loved the way the staff is so accommodating on the Grand and our last trip was no exception. Now the highlight of our trip was a stop at Le Havre, France and a visit to the Normandy Beaches. It brought a lump to my throat when we walked on Omaha Beach and saw all the embankments on the cliffs around it, it was sure easy to see why so many brave men were killed during that landing. We both wish we would have had more time there, and will perhaps visit it again someday.

Well, Our travel Agent Sheryl has gotten all of our travel documents for our Transatlantic cruise on the Grand Princess. We have booked several shore excursions including one to the Normandy Beaches in France which was high on our list. We also booked excursions in Cork, Ireland and Glasgow, Scotland. We have been checking the cruise sites for deals, and there are lots of them right now including some left on this cruise where an inside cabin for the 15 days are going for only $699 per person, that is less than $50 dollars a day per person. Some great deals exist for Panama Canal cruises, and wonderful deals for Alaskan cruises. With all of our plans for the summer we are still looking to book another cruise or two before years end.

After we get back from London and our cruise, we already have summer travel planned. After completing two road trips in 2007, we have two more planned for this summer.
The first will be roughly two weeks, and will include Our grandson Matt’s graduation from college, then into New York City to see Judy’s brother and get our theatre fix on Broadway. After that we are heading to the Finger Lakes area of up state New York. Then up into Canada and Niagara Falls (again) and then heading back home with lots of stops along the way. Then we have laid out one that will take us to Michigan, Wisconsin (Door County), a visit to our Daughter In Minnesota, through the Black Hills and Mt Rushmore in South Dakota, onto Yellowstone where we honeymooned years ago. Then we will head to California to see our daughter there, down to Los Angeles to visit friends, Sedona, Arizona, and spots in New Mexico are on our schedule, as well as stops in San Antonio and New Orleans before heading home. According to Judy who is laying this one out, it should be about six weeks. Of course we are excited about those and we have been getting temping cruise brochure with great prices for the fall, the orient looks interesting at this time. Of course all is subject to chan

Well, we started the year off right with a ten day caribbean cruise on the Emerald Princess. It was our 28th cruise on Princess. We will be leaving on a 15 Day Transatlantic Cruise from Ft Lauderdale, Florida to Southampton (London) England on April 10th aboard the Grand Princess. We have also cruised on Carnival and Holland America several times but keep going back to Princess. We have been asked why and our response is always the same. Their service is good and they seem to be going where we want to go, and at a price we are willing to pay. Of course after that many cruises with them we are an Elite member which gives us several benefits which I will write about another time.