Still in Love with Polaroid

We sailed overnight, docked in Charlotte-Amalie, St. Thomas in the morning, had a quick breakfast and then disembarked to get to our open bus tour. It was already a beautiful day: Our bus driver pulled away from the taxi stand on the wrong side of the road. Arms and legs mentally flailing in panic, I heard our driver point out that, yes, they do drive on the opposite side of the road in St. Thomas.  This tour was fantastic: we drove up through the mountain and  made three stops for restrooms, photo ops, and souvenir-purchasing. Our first stop was about halfway up to the altitude of the "Mountaintop," a popular tourist stop upon which you can see down on St. Thomas and the surrounding islands. We thought seeing a little gecko was exciting until we saw one of these: An iguana! ...and a parrot. This plant was used to help hair grow longer and stronger. To demonstrate, he snipped some of the plant to show us the gooey insides and then explained the...

I had the privilege to see "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" last night. @amyhefterphotography on Instagram As a photographer, I certainly could relate to the beginning of the plot: -Tries online dating and finds an interesting person -Has computer problems -Takes film out of a Kodak tin -Believes a negative was misplaced -Works in the basement with negatives and chemicals -Encounters a man with a terrifically terrible fake beard After that, it gets a little less relatable, but much more entertaining: -LIFE Magazine is closing and is publishing its last issue -Assets manager sets off to locate the photographer to retrieve the negative -Goes on a journey to Greenland -Has a shark fight -Outruns a volcano eruption -Hikes the Himalayas -Gets to meet Sean Penn('s character, the photographer) -Gives up on online dating (I won't spoil the ending...) Adapted from short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," writt...

After we left Haiti, we cruised through the night and next morning to get to Puerto Rico. After docking in San Juan, we got on a tour bus driven by a transplanted New Yorker who had a lot to say. The tour took us through the old city of San Juan, past the government buildings, "beaches," shops, houses, presidential statues, and even a Holocaust memorial.  Although it is a United States territory, most of the signs were in Spanish. I found some quaint touches on the street and walls: One of the popular tourist bars in San Juan was right off the dock, called  Señor  Frog's. In addition to the butt barstools and under-view of mannequins sitting in inner tubes suspended from the ceiling, there was this: (Of course, this sign also led to the gift shop...) We were at this port for the least amount of time, heading back to the ship for a late dinner and in time to see the aerial performance of the night. Taken on a different night, these are some dan...

Our most recent family vacation started as a long story: We originally planned to take a 7-day cruise in the summer to celebrate several milestone birthdays, graduations, and a few other special events in 2013. Our vessel, the Grandeur of the Seas, had just received $40 million in renovations, but experienced an electrical fire while en route to the Bahamas a few weeks before we were to depart. Sadly, our cruise countdown (formerly at about 12 days) became indefinite. Thrown for a loop, our trip planner was able to juggle some things around and secure a 10-day cruise for us around the holiday/New Year time. Schedules were shuffled and new plans were made. Cruise day finally came! It was a snowy day in December as we pulled away from the Port of Baltimore, bound for the Caribbean.  In addition to many on-board amenities like a spa, pools, hot tubs, a sauna and steam rooms, theater, dining facilities, casino, piano bar, central bars and lounges, and food all the...