House Boat Adventure

Every year we (my  husband, daughter, son-in-law, and I) take a weekend trip over Memorial Day. We usually travel to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, but last year we decided to stay a little closer to home. We like to take our dogs so I began to search for dog friendly vacation ideas. I stumbled upon a website “SleepAfloat” rooms that rock. You stay in a houseboat that is docked at a marina. We chose one in Baltimore, Maryland at the Chester Cove Marina. This is in Fell’s Point historical district. We rented one called Scorpius which had two bedrooms, a bath with great water pressure in the shower, a kitchen and living area. It was dog friendly so we were all set. The top of the houseboat was a large deck with furniture and an umbrella in case it got too sunny. Linens were furnished and there was maid service upon your departure. We would highly recommend this as a great weekend getaway. It was clean, the boat was in walking distance of great restaurants and the Inner Harbor, and there was a walking/ running path that ran along the bay. The only drawback was the water in the bay. It was pretty dirty around the marina. We all agreed that it was a place we would all like to go back to and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys being around the water.

Journal entry Saturday May 23, 2015: After walking through the Inner Harbor we decided to walk back to the houseboat via Little Italy. We stopped for a drink. The waitress was an older woman with ruby red lips and lots of rouge. We ordered a glass of wine and we received generous pours. As the work force came in and out they would go behind the bar and pour themselves drinks. They had wine, beer, coffee with Bailey’s.  (We were the only patrons in the bar area at the time). Evidently there was a meeting upstairs that they were all to attend. Our waitress/bar tender filled our glasses to the top and said that she would be back. Two guys came in and sat at the bar (after going behind the bar and getting drinks). They were talking to each other and the one said, “Hey, thought there was to be a meeting, but no one is here”. We said nothing……We wait and we wait. My son-in law said, “I read a book once that started off like this.  It didn’t end well!” After waiting a good deal longer (my husband fell asleep) a woman said she would go get “Helen” for us. Helen came back and she wished we had sent for her sooner. “No one wanted to be at that meeting!”

Then we tried to pay……Helen took my husband’s money and came back. No change for $100 bill.  He then gave her two $20’s. Back she came. No change for a $20. At this point my daughter and I left and went outside. We say the tow guys that couldn’t find the meeting coming out of a row house three doors up still looking confused. A gentleman and his family covered in “color” from the color race that had evidently just ended stopped and told us where he takes people to eat in Little Italy when he has visitors and he told us what to order. (All unsolicited advise). Finally, my husband and son-in-law emerged from the restaurant. They had to pay with a credit card….

Welcome

Welcome! I love to travel and and would like to share some of my experiences, tips and travel tricks.

My first suggestion is to get a journal to record your trips. You always think that you will remember where you ate, what you did, what you liked about a place etc. Believe me a journal makes all of that much easier. I began keeping a journal when my kids were young and we were on a tight budget. I kept track of money that we took and spent so we would know how to budget for the next year. I began writing down where we ate, the price of meals and what everyone ate. I also recorded whether people liked their meals or not. It soon became a daily diary of what happened each day. We often look back and check what weather was like, what did we say about a certain restaurant and the funny things that happened.

Here is an example from 1992 (Girl trip to NYC): Dec 11: Left home at 3 AM. Our bus trip has become known as “The bus ride from Hell”. The normal trip takes 7 hours – our trip took 10 1/2. They closed interstate 80 behind us as we traveled due to the snow. We arrived at our hotel only to find NYC was declared a disaster area due to high water and rain. We spent the evening eating at Planet Hollywood and riding around on the bus. When we got to South Street Seaport, where we were to see a singing Christmas tree the area was piled with sandbags and all the stores were closed tight. No shopping or Christmas tree program for us! We were quite disappointed with the weather and NO street vendors. Evidently 70 mph winds are too strong for them not to mention the rain. Also, all public transportation was closed to include airports, subways and public buses.

Good times…….