To Break Ground in the Sky

Part 1 of a ?-Part Series: To Break Ground in the Sky

Greetings, travelers. It is I, the Guest Blogger. I have returned to incrediblememories in response to a very courteous request from my Blogette (wife), who mingled her very courteous request with a very courteous and totally pressure-free prompting about how her weekly post is due tomorrow and she doesn’t have anything written yet.

So, let’s talk about taking a trip to our nation’s capital. I realize in our current cultural and political climate setting foot inside the Washington, D.C. beltway may sound as enjoyable as undergoing root canal surgery performed by an angry chimpanzee. However, that may actually be the best reason to visit. The current climate thing, I mean, not the chimp. There are chimps in D.C., in the National Zoo. I’ve seen them. But to my knowledge they’re not allowed to practice amateur dentistry. Not on first-time visitors, anyway.

No, I mean if we are to believe the mainstream media or (God help us) Twitter and Facebook, our country is terribly divided. Maybe. But regardless, this wide spread perception is precisely why one should visit the capital, specifically the National Mall. For those unfamiliar with it, the Mall is a large section of land just south of the White House in downtown Washington, D.C. It stretches from just past the Capitol Building on the East side to the Lincoln Memorial at the edge of the Potomac, then across the river to Arlington National Cemetery. Other than the locations already mentioned, this large swath of land is home to the U.S. Smithsonian Institution and various memorials.

The Smithsonian itself isn’t a singular thing. It’s the largest series of museums, galleries, and research organizations in the world, all free of charge to the public. The Smithsonian can pull this off because it’s funded by federal appropriations along with private trust fund assets blah blah blah boring financial stuff blah blah who the heck cares. You don’t pay to go into the Smithsonian museums. They’re free, all the time. Win.

For today, we’re just going to focus on the Air & Space Museum because 1) I’m very familiar with it, so the research requirements are light, 2) I’m too lazy to write about all 19 parts of the Smithsonian at once, and 3) there is no way you’d read about all 19 at once anyway.

In planning a trip to the Air & Space Museum, you’ll first want to consider how to get there. If you’re staying in downtown D.C., you may be within walking distance. Pedestrians are a staple of D.C. life, so you’ll enjoy a cozy walk with many other tourists, would-be bureaucrats, Congressional staffers, food truck vendors, and homeless people.

I’m kidding, of course. Congressional staffers are never allowed outside as sunlight is fatal to them.

If you’re not within walking distance, you’ll face the classic Do I Drive or Do I Metro dilemma. Washington only has one empty parking space and it’s under construction, unfortunately. So, parking on the Mall can be a challenge. Thankfully, D.C. has a pretty decent metro system, simply called The Metro. There are multiple stations around the city and just about any metro line will stop off at the Mall at some point, so that’s a viable option.

Before riding you must get a Metro SmarTrip card by offering your debit card as a token sacrifice to one of the many imposing ticketing kiosks at any Metro station.

If it deems you worthy, you’ll receive a SmarTrip card in return and you are on your way.

The Air & Space Museum is one of the easiest buildings to find on the Mall because it’s somewhat centrally located and is pretty distinctive.

Inside you’ll find an incredibly impressive collection of exhibits, artifacts and memorabilia commemorating America’s...well, Air and Space exploits.

At first glance, the museum appears to have on display every single rocket NASA ever fired.

That’s just one shot of them. There are many more.

As you explore, you’ll find rooms and sections dedicated to different eras of flight, specific missions, like the moon landings, scaled down mock-ups of an aircraft carrier hangar deck and bridge, as well as at least one example of pretty much every kind of flying machine ever conceived.

There is a room dedicated to the Wright Brothers and the birth of manned flight. I highly recommend it. Few moments can be said to have truly altered history’s course. A couple of bicycle engineers on a beach in Kittyhawk, N.C. are responsible for one of them.  

In addition to the one pictured here, the museum also has the Wright Brothers plane Amy Adams and Ben Stiller somehow piloted out of the building in Night At The Museum 2, but I didn’t take a picture of it.

There are several rooms dedicated to aviation during WWI and WWII, which are incredibly poignant, humbling and tremendously informative. There is also an ode to more modern military aviation trends.

A personal favorite of mine, though, is the Tuskegee Airmen exhibit. Those worthy gentlemen receive an entire room honoring their impressive and groundbreaking accomplishments. One of the highlights is the below placard describing their commanding officer, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.

Lt Gen Davis believed being an American was indeed a privilege, but one that must be earned.

There is more than I can possibly mention here. Much, much more.

No other nation broke ground in the sky like this one did. Lindbergh’s plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, is on display. He crossed the Atlantic in this thing, in the dark, and it didn’t even have a windshield. I’m not kidding. Look.

You really should see this place. Everyone should see this place. Not being satisfied with mere earth, a few driven, borderline insane people decided to try for the stars. We haven’t gotten quite that far yet, but man, where we have gotten to is pretty spectacular.

I hope you find your way there soon.

Next time: The National Gallery of Art! Really!

Photo credit: all photos are either my own or are public images put out by the Smithsonian. If you believe a photo featured here is from another source, please let the Blogette know, and after delivering a thorough tongue-lashing to me, she will take it down.

Disney For Grown Ups - Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival

It's my turn to write the blog this week!  You know what that means??

That's right, it will show up on TUESDAY, not Monday. 

I'm pretty sure this is what Melissa looks like every time it's my turn to submit a post. 

via GIPHY

I do my best, but this hat is my reality.

Ahem.

Moving on.

In keeping with the GREEN theme for March, today we're going to talk about 

Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival!

If you've never been, this is an amazing time of year to go.  Disney's horticulture department is outstanding, and their creations are beautiful!

I love the floating flower pots on the lake:

 

Beautiful flowers:

 

There's even a wonderful buttlerfly exhibit.  You can walk through the tent and get up close and personal with the butterflies!

Of course, my favorite part is the food!  So far this year, we have not made it around to all the different food booths, but we've loved everything we've tried so far!


In France, we sampled the GLUTEN FREE Macaron au Chocolat en Sucette (large chocolate macaron lollipop) and the Canard Confit Aux Gnocchi a la Parisienne (braised duck confit with Parisian gnocchi).  I am not really a huge fan of the French booth at the Food and Wine Festival, but I really enjoyed both of these options!!  The duck was perfectly cooked, and the sauce was amazing.  The macaron was delicate and sweet.

 At the Florida Fresh Outdoor Kitchen, we tried the Spicy Blackened Shrimp and Cheddar Cheese Grits with Brown Gravy and Local Sweet Corn Relish and the Key Lime Tart with Toasted Meringue. The shrimp was cooked well, and the spice was just right.  I confess that even if we had not stopped anywhere else for food, we would have come just for the key lime tart.  I remember having it last year, and it was my one MUST item at the festival!

I wasn't really that excited about trying Japan's Outdoor Kitchen, but after hearing so many people rave about the fruit sushi, we decided to give it a try.  It was okay.  Not my favorite, and not something I'll get again, but I did enjoy it.  

 I loved the noodles!  We spent some time in Japan early in our marriage, and this dish really reminded me of something we would have gotten at a local restaurant. 

As it was getting late, we only tried one more booth that day - The Smokehouse Barbecue and Brews.

While I love the international foods, I am always pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy the American booth!

Beef Brisket Burnt Ends Hash with White Cheddar Fondue and Pickled Jalapeños - this one is a little spicy, but I love it!  The cheddar fondue tempers the spice a little bit, and the beef is well flavored.

Beef Brisket Burnt Ends and Smoked Pork Belly Slider with Garlic Sausage, Chorizo, Cheddar Fondue and House-made Pickle - Ryan loved this one.  It was too much bread for me, but I did enjoy the house-made pickle!

 Pulled Pig Slider with Coleslaw - this was okay to me.  Again, more bread than I like, but it was flavored well!

 Warm Chocolate Cake with Bourbon-Salted Caramel Sauce and Spiced Pecans (V) - Warning: DO NOT count the calories in this dessert!!!  It was absolutely delicious, but so rich neither of us could finish it!

 There is so much more to enjoy about the Flower and Garden Festival!  They have cooking classes, wine tastings, and more!  And what would a festival be without music???  Disney brings in artists from all over to perform each night.  If you find yourself headed there in the next few weeks, here's the rest of this festival's line up!

 Have you been to the Flower and Garden Festival?  What's your favorite Outdoor Kitchen? 

Concerns Special Needs Families Have on Vacation

Can the resort handle my physical needs?

Special needs clients can’t just pick a resort based on location.  They have so many other things to think about.  Is the resort able to handle their accessibility needs?  This goes far beyond just having an ADA room, and ADA only covers American hotels.  These are important questions for those considering traveling abroad as well.  There are all kinds of questions that people with physical disabilities must consider. How many elevators does the resort have?  Is the sidewalk even outside for ease of pushing a wheelchair?  Is the pool zero entry, or does it have a pool lift?

 1) Just how accessible IS my room?  I once stayed at a hotel that only had two elevators for the entire hotel.  Granted, it wasn’t a very large hotel, and I’m sure most of the time, only having two (smallish) elevators was fine.  However, they did not put the accessible rooms on the first floor.  On the morning of our departure, and we waited at least half an hour for an elevator.  A person without a physical challenge can take the stairs.  But what if you can’t?

2) What are the sidewalks like?  Are they fairly smooth and easy to navigate? Are they wide enough to be comfortable?  Are they level?  In other words, are they easy to navigate while using a wheelchair or EVC? There are some resorts that may have excellent rooms, but then getting around the property may prove to be difficult because of the terrain.  For example, if I have a special needs client in a wheelchair, I would choose to send them to Beaches Negril over Beaches Ocho Rios because the resort in Negril is fairly flat, while the one in Ocho Rios has a lot inclines and stairs. 

3) How are the dining spaces?  Is there enough room for a wheelchair to fit in comfortably? If the resort mainly has buffets, do they have somebody to assist with navigating the buffet for you?  

4) Is there an accessible beach?  Can a disabled person access all the recreational areas that the resort offers?  Beaches Turks and Caicos has a fabulous pavilion on property that is wheelchair accessible.  We are able to call their resort manager when we have guests needing that feature, and they will set aside the pavilion for them.  Disney Cruise Line has a cabana on their private island, Castaway Cay.  In both these instances, there is only one, so the demand is high. 

5) Is there an accessible pool?  When you go somewhere warm, having a nice pool to swim in is important! Disney World does an amazing with this at their resorts.  All of their deluxe resorts, Caribbean Beach Resort, and Art of Animation Resort all have a zero entry pool, making it easy to enter.  All the rest of the pools do have at least one accessible pool.  Beaches also does a great job with providing accessible pools.  Beaches Turks and Caicos and Beaches Negril, again, are my top two picks.  Both are designed to be completely accessible, and have chair lifts for ease of getting into the pools. 

Can the resort handle my dietary needs?

Traveling with allergies is extremely daunting.  I recently had a client who was so wary of eating out that she almost wanted to cancel her entire trip!  I don’t blame her.  One of her children has multiple life threatening food allergies, as well as several milder ones.  The idea of traveling with that is intimidating.  Fortunately, food allergies no longer mean that you can’t travel and eat out.  Disney is absolutely amazing with food allergies. They can accommodate allergies at both their quick service and table service restaurants.  My family has one child with two allergies and one child with nine allergies.  We have never once had a problem at a Disney restaurant.  They work really hard to accommodate.  If you have a special request, they will do their best to make it happen!  They are not the only place that can work with food allergies.  Beaches and Sandals have a whole concierge dining team.  If you have any dietary restrictions, you will meet with them upon your arrival and they will go over your dietary restrictions, your likes and dislikes, and come up with your own personalized menu.  If you have a particular thing that you enjoy eating daily, if you let the staff know prior to arrival, they will do their best to have it onsite for you.  Disney Cruise Line also does a wonderful job.  They will give you the menu for the next night’s meal, and have you pick ahead of time so they have plenty of time to make sure they get it right.  In all my time traveling to Disney, and planning travel to Disney locations, I have never experienced a problem with cross-contaminated food, nor have any of my clients ever told me of such problems. 

Can the resort handle my cognitive special needs?

Having a child with cognitive special needs can be exhausting.  In our case, our son looks like a perfectly healthy 6 year old, but developmentally, he is closer to 3 or 4.  This means I have to supervise him as a 3 year old, but he has twice as much energy.  Taking him on vacation is its own puzzle.  It can be a daunting task.  Thankfully, many locations now recognize how hard traveling with these special needs kiddos can be, and they are doing something about it.  Autism on the Seas is a fantastic program that helps families with autism cruise.  Disney works very well with cognitive disabilities as well.  Their disability assistance program is designed to assist those with cognitive disabilities so they don’t have to wait in line.   Universal also has a disability assistance program, but I have noticed some inconsistency with the requirements for obtaining access.  Beaches Resorts require all of their staff who work with children to go through an autism certification program, and have worked with Sesame Street to bring Julia to their resorts.  Their Kids Clubs have a whole separate program for children with autism, and they are very thorough in their intake so that they can care for the children in the best way possible.  They do extend the program beyond autism, so children with other cognitive needs are cared for as well. 

This barely scratches the surface for those who are in need of special needs travel.  Please ask us questions!  Let us know what needs you have, and what questions we can answer.  If you post your question in the comments, maybe it will help somebody else as well!

Sandals - Your Caribbean Couples Only Resort

Since we're talking about LOVE this month, we have to talk about Sandals! 

Sandals advertises itself as an all inclusive, luxury resort for two people in love, and boy, do they deliver.  We've had agents in every single one of their Jamaican resorts, both Barbados resorts, and the Royal Bahamian.  While all are amazing, each resort has a different personality, and stands on its own merit.  Today, we'll focus on Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort.

Before we do that, let's talk about all the inclusions that every Sandals resort has.

Scuba Diving

Every Sandals resort includes complimentary scuba diving for certified divers.  It is rated as one of the top 5 dive operations in the western hemisphere.  If you're not ready to get a full PADI dive certification, they do offer a provisional resort certification, which would allow you to dive while you are on property.  If you ARE certified, then you can dive every single day of your resort stay!  You do need to fill out a health questionnaire, and, depending on your answers, you may have to have a doctor's note specifically saying they give you permission to dive. 

Water Sports

Every Sandals resort offers several water sports.  From sailing to stand up paddleboarding, there is something for everyone. 

Every Sandals resort offers snorkeling.  Seeing the sea turtles was definitely one of the highlights for me.  

Some of the resorts even offer waterskiing, tubing, wakeboarding.  This is, of course, based on the current water conditions at the resort, and hours may be limited.

 Land Activities

Every Sandals resort includes a variety of land activities.  You can find sporty activities like beach volleyball, tennis and rock-wall climbing, and more leisurely activities like lawn chess, criquet, and bocce ball.

There is so much to be excited about with Sandals Resorts.  We've only begun to scratch the surface. It's time to get specific.

Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort

Quick Facts:

  

     404 Rooms & Suites with 29 Categories on 15 Acres.

     10,000 square feet of Freshwater Pools.

  Sandals Island - Nassau’s only resort with Private Offshore Island & Restaurant.

  Eleven Dining Options

  Onsite Conference Center

  Penthouse Fitness Center

The Sandals Royal  Bahamian Resort is, first of all, absolutely gorgeous.  From the beautiful pools to the luxurious rooms, it is absolutely a couple's romantic paradise.  

The Sandals Royal Bahamian offers its very own private island as well, with many beautfulspots for couples to snuggle up while enjoying the peaceful ocean breeze.

Foodies will enjoy dining in any of the 11 restaurants on property.  Those with allergies or special diets will be able to visit with the dining concierge team upon arrival to discuss their needs.  No matter what your diet is, there is certainly something for everyone. 

For those wanting the ultimate in luxury, Sandals' butler team is always ready to make your stay extra special.  From the moment you arrive, they are ready to meet your every need. 

I don't know about you, but I'm ready to head back to the beautiful Bahamas for the ultimate romantic vacation.  Be sure to contact us soon if you'd like to check availability and prices for you!