Our trip to Dallas - Grapevine - Fort Worth (February 2016)

I have decided to keep our memories in a virtual blog. This way we can share it with friends and family and show to Katrina when she gets older.

On February 10th (taking advantage of a couple of days off school) we traveled to Dallas. We left at 6 pm and since our arrival was scheduled for 11 pm we decided to stay 1 night in Grapevine and the rest of the time in Fort worth. We did not have a clue of what to do here or where to go; but the recommendation from a fellow traveler last year indicating "If you ever have a long layover at the Dallas airport, you should go check out Grapevine TX"

Arriving ~ Dallas Airport 02-10-2016

It was late and cold so Katrina got to wear PJ's

 Late Night dinner:

Prior to checking in we stopped at Steak & Shakes near the Hotel. We were exhausted, but hungry.

Grapevine:
The first day we went to Grapevine and visited the Visitor center to get an idea of what the town was all about. We visited:

1. The three museums behind the visitors center. Admission is free

a. Grapevine historical museum: All items were donated by Grapevine residents.

Museum is located: 206 W. Hudgins St.

b. Grapevine cotton Ginners museum

c. Donald Schoolhouse

2. At noon we watched the would-be train robbers. Don't miss the 127th foot-high clock tower Glockenspiel featuring the two lager-than-life, 9-foot tall Would Be Train Robbers, Nat Barrett and Willy Majors, who emerge for a quick performance. They also appear at 3, 6 and 9 pm daily.

3. Across from the Clock tower you can find a few interesting attractions.

a. The vintage railroad: Unfortunately this attraction was closed when we visited. More information can be found here: www.gvrr.com

b. The model train exhibit: Also closed while we visited town. More information can be found here: www.lonestarhirailers.com

c. The Glass store: Not sure of the name; but across the street from the vintage railroad you can find a cool little art store with all items made of glass. 

Pretty cool sculpture made with glass

4. Coming Home Veterans memorial: Very emotional memorial across from the clock tower.

 

To finish an amazing day trip we stopped at AJ's on Main for lunch. Best BBQ in Texas

Two meat plate with fries ~ Best fries in town!

Dino Ribs... yummy!

Trip to Florida - Part II - Singer Island

We drove from Fort Pierce to Singer Island on Sunday. Our hotel was: Hilton Singer Island

Singer Island Beach

I am no longer a Gold member for Hilton, but we still got "upgraded" to a room with a partial ocean view. It can't hurt to ask for an upgrade when you check into a hotel (I have learned)

Partial ocean view (5th floor room)

Partial ocean view room (5th floor)

 Our room rate did not include breakfast but it did include 2 chairs and 1 umbrella free of charge per day and 2 bottles of water per day (complimentary). Parking fee $ 12 per day

Trip to Florida - Part I - Hutchinson Island & Fort Pierce

We love our yearly trip to Florida... This time we flew from Los Angeles to Orlando on American Airlines. We took a red eye and arrived in Orlando at 5:40 am.
After getting our suitcase and rental car we drove straight to Hutchinson Island.

We stayed at the Royal Inn by the beach for 3 nights (including the 4th of July weekend). The hotel was across the street from the beach and had easy access to the ocean thru the pool area.

My review on TripAdvisor can be found here:

Our trip to Panama

A few months ago we were thinking about visiting Florida and Art found this amazing fare from Los Angeles to Florida for 5 days and then to Panama for a week; so we decided to take advantage of the fare and booked the trip.

First we were going to reserve the hotel with points at the Intercontinental Hotel Playa Bonita for 25,000 points per night; but then we realized the hotel was only $99 per night so we decided to earn points with this stay instead of cashing our points. Later we decided to upgrade to an executive room for $ 114 per night. And it was totally worth it.

Family trip to Peru (April 2015)

When we visit Lima we normally stay in Miraflores. Town in front of the Pacific ocean with a lot of tourist traffic. 

From the boardwalk you can see some Paragliding.

My brother and sister live in Peru; so every visit is a good time to get together and celebrate with Peruvian food.

Marisa (bottom left) with sister Fiorella (red top) and brother Guillermo

After a few days in Lima we flew from Lima Airport to Piura (north of Lima) and drove to Mancora. Beautiful small town north of Piura (3 hours drive) and south of Tumbes (1.5 hr drive)

We stayed at the Mancora Beach hotel and bungalows. Got a super special rate at the Hotel using Booking.com

This is the view from our bungalow. We got second floor oceanfront.

Katrina loved rocking in the hammock.

The beach in front of the Hotel

Every so often you can see a fishing boat

The pool

Iguana

An iguana roaming free at the Hotel until captured.

Mancora town. A short 5 soles moto taxi ride away from the hotel

After rain all night, we got a lot of mud which made it hard to leave the property. We still got out and went to El Nuro to swim with the Turtles

 

Entry is only 5 soles per adult. They wanted to let Art in for free "Senior citizen" but he refused and paid his 5 soles 

If you want to go on the boats they charge 10 soles per adult and 5 per child (includes vest).

The boat goes around the harbor and gets very close to where the wild turtles are swimming. The boat driver throws some bait in the water and the turtles rush to grab it. It's an amazing experience.

I strongly recommend for visitors near Los Organos, Peru.