My Final Post!

This is my final post on my blog and I am honestly a little sad. I have had a lot of fun writing my blogs and sharing my adventures with you all. Today I am going to be talking about where I have gone since I started my journey, how I have grown, and where I am today. 


Where I started:
I started this blog not knowing where it would be now and how much I have come to enjoy this experience. When I started, I was doing it for an English project, and now I am doing for fun. When I started, I used more of other people's photos then my own even though I was sharing MY travel opinions. My grammar was pretty bad most of the time and I didn't put as much effort as I do now into my posts. My photo quality was also pretty bad considering I used Iphone photos for my first few posts.

See you guys real soon! (Photo by Howtogeek)

How I have grown:
 My grammar has really improved since my first blog and I actually found out that I really enjoy blogging! I have learned to use my own high quality photos and state my opinions.. I have also made my blogs a little longer over time and talked more about my personal experience instead of just descriptions of what my family did. Over time I have also grown up a little more.  

Where I am today:
Today, I am a more well traveled person then I was in September, 2015. I have been to 4 additional places in the last nine months and they have been really fun. The school year is coming to an end and I can honestly say that this blog has helped me a lot grammatically, physically, and mentally. Today, I have learned how to post online freely and I have learned how fun it could be to post about my travel journeys online. Nine monthes ago, I was just a confused honors English student trying to figure out how to blog. Now, I am an Honors English student who knows how to blog and has grown up.

Thank you all for reading my blogs. I have had an amazing journey sharing my posts with you and learning how to write my own blog. If you want to still hear a little about my life you can check out my mom's blog and stay in touch. This has been an amazing journey for me and I can not wait to see what will happen in the future for me. Once again, thank you all for reading my blog and I look forward to seeing you all soon! Have safe travels where ever you go.

- Whitney

Castaway Cay

Our last stop on our Disney Cruise was Castaway Cay, a private island owned by Disney. This island is completely run by the Disney staff on the ship. Once the ship leaves the island there are a few care takers who watch over it. Today, I am going to be talking about the things we did on the island.

Me Biking!

First, my mom and I decided to go bike riding. The bike rental place on the island was about a 20 minute walk from the ship. There is also an option to take the tram over too which is only a 5 minute ride.  Once we got to the bike rental place there was a hut where we pay for our bikes. The rentals were by the hour so we just rode for one. The trail is very easy to bike over and there were frequent places to stop. If you do extreme biking or advanced biking this is not the trail for you. On the trail there is also a lookout point. Once we finished the first trail we went on another trail that took us to a secluded beach. The beach was really nice and peaceful, plus you could see the whole side of the island. We made it back to the hut with about 20 minutes to spare. If you consistantly bike through it you could make it back in 30 minutes.

My mom and I on top of the Tower.

Next we went to sit on the beach and wait for lunch. The beach was completely packed all around. It took us about ten minutes to locate chairs. Luckily, two people were leaving the chairs just as we got there. Still, with all of the people around us it wasn't an ideal location but we just wanted to sit down.

Finally we got to eat a barbaque style lunch on the island. There were ribs, corn, chicken, and more. The meal was really delicious. While we were eating there was a crab race going on so that was also fun to watch.

The last thing we did was go to the teen club on the island. It took us about 10 minutes to find in all and when we got there we realized how small the club was. It really had not much to do and it was really old and run down. My brother and I did up playing one fooseball game but left right after.

From the teens club back to the ship was another 20 minutes but all and all we had a fun time on the island. Thank you so much for reading my blog this week. I hope you learned something and maybe decided to go on a Disney cruise. Leave a comment below for what you want my next weeks blog to be about. As always, have safe travels where ever you go!

Disney Cruise Number 6: Gold

For spring break I got the chance to go on our 6th disney cruise with my family. This cruise was a five day one and contained two spots that we would be getting off at. Because it was our sixth cruise we got to be gold. There were very few benifits to being gold and a lot of things that felt the same as being silver. Today, I am going to be talking about having the gold lanyerd.

Gold Lanyard (Photo Courtesy of Antiques Navigatior)

The first thing that I noticed when we got onto the ship was the difference in the way people treated us. It was sort of weird at first because they treated us like we knew everything about the ship. We got less explanations about the ship from our waiters and people in general taught us differently. This is considered a good thing because we didn't have to listen to the same conversations about the ship over and over again.

Next, at the shops we got a ten percent discount on all merchandice and food. There are a few exceptions where you can not get a discount like Previews by the Walt Disney theatre. I found a way how to get discounts on the popcorn while I was on the cruise. If you are gold and by popcorn from the Micky's Mates shop they will give you a ten percent discount on it instead of paying full price plus tip at Previews.

Now I am going to be talking about some things that felt the exact same whether I was gold or silver. When you enter your cabin if you have gone on just one cruise you get a bag that welcomes you on the disney cruise. Basically, everyone gets the same bag no matter if you are gold, silver or even platnum! It makes it pretty confusing around the ship if everyone is carrying around the same bag.

Lastly, we had to wait in the same lines as people in silver. It doesn't really sound like a problem but, if you are waiting in the same line as all of the people who have been on 2-5 cruises, it is a long wait and definetly not fun one.

On this trip I have learned that weather you are silver, gold, or platnum, you basically get the same perks. It is still always fun to be promoted to the next lanyerd level and gain a new color.

I hope this blog gave you an idea about the gold lanyered and how it can be exciting to wear the gold lanyered around your neck, but not so exciting when it comes to basically everything else. Next week I will be about the two stops that we made while we were on the disney cruise so tune in next week. Thanks for reading my blog and look forward to seeing you in my next blog!

Cosumel, Mexico

On our Disney cruise we got the chance to go to two stops. The one I am going to be talking about today is Cosumel, Mexico. This town is basically centered around turists and cruise ships. Everyone who lives there makes money off of us. So please sit back and enjoy my blog!

On the cruise ship we were originally going to Kayak but it was too windy so that got canceled. Luckily, there was another option we could do which was horse back riding. We met up with a group of 5 other people. Once we were all together we got off the ship we were greated by a man who sent us to a bus that took us to the Cozumel Concierge.  The bus ride was an hour and a half long and it was sort of senic. Most of the time it was just rainforrest which was a bummer.

Once we got off the bus we met with our horseback riding guide. He told us that we could walk around the ranch for a little bit then go horseback riding. They gave us free drink coupons for the fountain drinks offered. The ranch was a tourist attraction with a lot of animals. It had 2 shops and a beverage station. The animals were actually very interesting. One animal that really caught my attention were the bald dogs. I had never seen a bald dog until that day so that was a super cool experience.

A Bald Dog.

After a long time of waiting we got to ride the horses. We got paired up with the hoses based on what our experience level was even though we wouldn't be doing anything extreme. I got paired with a advanced level horse who wasn't very hard to handle. Our guide told us that the person who founded. The first few ruins we saw while on the ride were real and as we got to the end of the trail the ruins were fake. The most interesting part of the tour was when we got to see the Myan hideouts and go inside of them. These hideouts were underground for hiding and were also used for gatherings.

Me on a Horse!

When we got back we got to use our free drink coupons and sat for another 30 minutes. Finally, the bus driver came to get us and drove us all back to the ship. In all I would say this trip was fun but not very memorable. I would recommend doing it if you are a first time horse back rider or would like to see a few Myan ruins.

I hope you enjoyed this weeks blog on Cosumel, Mexico.  Look out tomorrow for my next blog on Castaway Cay, Disney's private island! Thanks for reading and have safe travels where ever you go!

The Key Lime Pie Challenge

On the second day we were in The Florida Keys I decided to do the key lime pie challenge. This is a challenge I made up where you have to try a key lime pie in a different way at every restaurant we go to. This was really fun and I got to try so many different key lime pies like, key lime pie to go, key lime pie on a stick, and even fried key lime pie! I hope you enjoy this blog and I hope this sparks an intrest for you to try something new!

The first key lime pie we had on the first day was in Islamorada Key at a restaurant called, Islamorada Fish Company. We had a literal key lime pie which was so good. It was freshly made and right out of the oven. The pie also had whipped cream on the top of it and a fresh key lime. It had to be one of my favorites that we had while in the keys.

The second pie we had was in Marathon Key at Burdines Waterfront. This pie was a fried key lime pie. Someone at the restaurant actually told us that they herd someone drove 60 miles to eat the fried key lime pie. It was a cinnamon tortilla wrapped around a key lime pie and fried. They drizzled some sort of sauce over it as well. The end result was really good. Although I do not like cinnamon and didn't get to try the crust, my mom said it was amazing.

Fried Key Lime Pie at Burdines!

In Key West we got to try key lime pie to go. They sold it at an ice cream parlor right next to our hotel. It was actually really good. The pie looked like a freshly made key lime pie, but from a ice cream parlor.

The last key lime pie we had was a key lime pie on a stick. It was a really cool experience to try. The key lime pie on a stick felt like a popsicle. I sort of just liked it until the chocolate melted and I got to the acual pie part. This was a really good key lime pie. It was so good and there was actually crust on it.

Key lime pie on a stick! (Photo Courtesy of dipped in chocolate)

Thank you so much for reading my blog! I hope you do a challenge like this one in the future or even the same one.  Comment below if you want to or have tried a pie similar to one that I have tried! Have a safe flight where ever you go and try something new!

Key West, A City on an Island

Key West is such an amazing place, it is a city on an island. Today I am going to be talking about Key West, Florida. Key West is an amazing place. It has all of the things a giant city has to offer like, car dealer ships, shopping streets, fancy restaurants, and many homes. I went there for three nights and two days. My mom and I had a lot of fun at Key West. Now, let me tell you what we did there.

On the first day our hotel provided us with this amazing bafee of different breakfast foods. They basically had everything you could imagine. The food was so delicious and I basically had the same thing every night, a egg, cranberry juice, and a muffin.

Our Hotel Bafee!

The first thing we did when we got to Key West was go on a kayak tour. Our guides name was Tortuga Jack and he has lived there for 20 years. We kayaked into these mangrove tunnels and saw so many star fish in them. We also saw so many types of sponges and jelly fish. It was truly a great experience.

On the same day we went to The Southern Most Beach Cafe. It was very crowded and had a little bit of a wait. The restaurant is right on the beach with indoor outdoor seating. The food was really good though. I ordered a barbecue burger and my mom ordered a wrap.  We also ordered piña coladas which were fabulous.

Next, we went to the number one most recommended place to go, The Butterfly Emporium. Once we got inside there were actually birds, butterflies, and even a turtle. One of the coolest things there were actually the flamingos. They were named after characters from Gone With the Wind.  There were so many different types of butterflies there and it was so cool to see them flying around. One even landed on my mom's head.

To end day one we went to the most amazing lobster house. We made a reservation and when we got there the waitress said that all of the outdoor seats were reserved which was a bummer. I ordered a lobster tail with garlic mashed potatos and asparagus and my mom also had a lobster tail with asparagus and a baked potato.

A and B lobster house!

On the second day we went jet skiing. This was one of the scariest things that we did on our vacation because my mom had never driven a jet ski at 35+ miles per hour. At first we wanted to bail but we got used to the tossing and turning and in the end, we were glad we did it. Our tour guides stuck with us the whole time. The only complaint about  it was that it was supposed to be informational and we didn't really learn anything along the way.

Thank you so much for reading my blog on Key West. If you havent already you should look at my last blog on Key Largo. See you in the next bloag and have a safe flight!

Key Largo, Florida, The Place To Be

Over February break I had the chance to go to Key Largo and Key West Florida with my mom. Both places are so beautiful.  Today, I am going to be talking about Key Largo and in my next blog I will talk about Key West so sit back and enjoy the ride!

Key Largo! (Photo Courtesy of Florida Keys Experiance ) 

Key Largo is my absolute favorite key that we went to. It was so beautiful and all around amazing. On the east side of Key Largo there is the Gulf of Mexico and on the west side is the Atlantic Ocean. The hotel we stayed at was on the west side. 

Our hotel was called The Sea Farrer and I highly recommend it. This hotel was super fun to stay at and the staff were so nice. In the morning they make egg sulfas and homemade muffins. They also have a wide variety of fruits. Our room was right on the beach. We had to pay a little extra but it was worth it. At the hotel they have a private beach for guests only and many lounge chairs to choose from. They also rent kayaks and paddle boards. My mom and I took the kayaks out one evening and saw a manatee who loved belly rubs. 

While we were there we got to go on a catamaran tour of  To be honest it was not the best tour that we took. The boat said no smoking when you could clearly see the captain smoking. Also, the assistant guy didn’t really do anything the whole entire time. When we left, almost everyone was sea sick and the attendant was practically  begging us for money. 

While we were in Key Largo we went to two restaurants there. The first one was a place called Skipper's Dockside. It is a place right on the water with indoor and outdoor seating that just opened up in 2015. It was very crowded when we got there and the waiter told us it was going to be a thirty minute wait when it really was about a fifteen minute wait. When we were there the staff was not the best, and it was a smoking zone. The food was okay, but a little over priced.  I ordered a burger and my mom ordered slider's. The only real bad part about Skipper's was the fact we were surrounded by people smoking.

Me at Skippers.

Another restaurant we went to was Snapper's Waterfront. It was on the water like Skipper's and had indoor and outdoor seating. When we entered the building there was no wait. This place was a little better than Skipper's in my opinion. The service was much better and there were no smokers. Our food came out right away and was delicious. I ordered salmon and my mom ordered fish and chips.

Thank you so much for viewing my blog. I hope you learned something about Key Largo and I hope you check it out. Look out for my next post on Key West, Florida. Have a safe flight!