Go See Do Explore

One Day in San Fransisco

On May 22, 2023

Alcatraz as seen from the ship

Some of the links below are affiliate links and as such, I earn a small commission from purchases that allow me to continue telling you my stories without costing you anything extra.

When talking to people about this trip and our time in San Fransisco, everyone told us to make sure we get our tickets to Alcatraz in advance. For whatever reason, I had no interest in going inside “the rock”. It was cool to see from the ship (top) and maybe if we had more than a day and a half in town it would’ve made my list, but what I really wanted to get out of San Fransisco was an in-depth experience in Chinatown. If you’ve read this blog for any time now you know one of my favorite things about travel is the food and trying food that I can’t get in my small town back home, so we booked the Chinatown Food & History Tour through Viator. We had to be back on the ship at 2 pm this day so that made choosing a tour relatively simple and I was really happy with the one we ended up with. It was a small group tour, there were only 5 of us, and our guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. We really got an understanding of Chinatown and its history and we got some delicious food too!

Terra Cotta Soldiers in San Fransisco's Chinatown

San Fransisco’s Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in North America and is home to one of the largest populations of Chinese people outside of Asia. In the 1850s people began immigrating to San Fransisco from China in search of their fortunes in California’s gold rush. Many of them worked to build the transcontinental railroad. Early on in its history, Chinatown became a hub of illegal activity from gambling to drugs and prostitution, and the city of San Fransisco had plans to move Chinatown to a less desirable part of the city. In 1906 an earthquake and fire practically destroyed the city and the residents of Chinatown quickly rebuilt using bricks that were salvaged from the wreckage. The merchants of Chinatown hired American architects to design buildings in Chinese-motif “Oriental” style in order to promote tourism to the new Chinatown.

Inside Old St. Mary's Cathedral

Our tour started at Dragon’s Gate which is the traditional entrance to Chinatown. From there we walked to Old St. Mary’s Cathedral (above), which is one of the only buildings in Chinatown that survived the fire of 1906. From the church, we walked along the streets of Chinatown and saw the architecture on our way to our first food stop which was supposed to be a bakery but they were closed for renovations so we ended up at Hang Ah, the oldest tea house in the United States where we got Shumai and soup dumplings. I was OK with this change because I have been obsessed with trying soup dumplings since the pandemic and no restaurants around us make them! They were everything I had hoped they would be and more!

Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company

Our second food stop was the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company (left) where we each got a bag of fortune cookies and a reusable shopping bag to take them home in. Now, fortune cookies have never been my favorite part of the meal when I get Chinese carry-out at home, but these were really good! They were very fresh and didn’t taste like cardboard! I almost didn’t want to eat them when I got home because I didn’t want them to be gone. Our final stop of the trip was a very popular dim sum place where we each got to choose one dumpling or bun. Doing this tour with someone you feel comfortable sharing food with is a good idea as you will be able to try more things that way.

This tour was everything I had hoped it would be. We got to know Chinatown in a way that we wouldn’t have been able to explore on our own and we got to try more authentic Chinese-American food than I can try in my midwestern small town. I have been chasing dim sum since we got home and nothing I have found so far lives up to what we had in Chinatown. I guess we will have to go back! If you are going to be in San Fransisco and really want to get to know Chinatown and its food, I have nothing but good things to say about the Chinatown Food & History Tour.

Selfie as we went past the Golden Gate Bridge

The tour ended with just enough time for us to get back on the ship before we headed for the next port. We sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge on our way out of the bay. One thing that really struck me as I stood out on the deck was all the crew out there too. In between the guests, I saw a chef, a waitress, and a maintenance worker from all over the world watching the ship sail under this magnificent piece of engineering, taking selfies along with us.

Be sure to check back next week when I share about our free walking tour of Santa Barbara. Thanks for stopping by! To read more about this trip, check out the Cruising the Pacific Coast Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! For my list of gadgets to make your travels easier, click here. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Pin This:

Wordless Wednesday: Muir Beach

By Ashleigh

On May 17, 2023

In National Parks & Places, Travel, Wordless Wednesday

Wine Tasting in Sonoma

By Ashleigh

On May 15, 2023

In Cruise, Travel, Wine Travel

Muir Beach at Sunset

Some of the links below are affiliate links and as such, I earn a small commission from purchases that allow me to continue telling you my stories without costing you anything extra.

After our day at sea, we made it to San Fransisco. Since our previous stop was in Mexico, we had to have an immigration check before we could go ashore. We were assigned a number and were asked to bring our passports to the dining room when our number was called. For U.S. Citizens with a passport, it was no big deal. We were off the ship and heading to our wine country destination in no time at all.

When our port stop in Monterrey was canceled and they added back the overnight in San Fransisco I was excited. That was one of the reasons we booked this cruise and it gave us time to leave San Fransisco and get into wine country. We had a trip to Napa and Sonoma planned for 2020 but obviously, it was canceled so this trip allowed us a little taste of what we missed. With only one day to explore the area we decided to spend it in Sonoma because it is a little closer and from my research, Sonoma seems to be more focused on the wine, whereas Napa wineries are more for the experience.

When planning our day in Sonoma, I relied on a book that has served me well in the past, Wine Trails of the U.S. and Canada. We chose to visit Gundlach Bunschu and Laurel Glen Vineyards. Gundlach Bunschu is the oldest family-owned winery in Sonoma. With the German heritage, it reminded me a lot of the wineries in northern Michigan with outdoor seating around fire tables. It was a very laid-back experience and all the wines we tried were wonderful! Laurel Glen was a much more intimate experience. We had reserved the last tasting of the day and we had the downtown tasting room to ourselves. Laurel Glen has a much smaller repertoire, being known for their Cabernet Sauvignon. In general, I am not a fan of California Cabernets, but what we tried at Laurel Glen was spectacular. I also loved their rose which is made from old vines on the edge of their property that they don’t know (and don’t want to know) what they are. They combine them every harvest into a delicious rose that they sell out every year.

Wine tasting at Gundlach Bunchu

We chose to rent a car and do this winery tour on our own as opposed to using a ship tour or another organized tour because we wanted to be in control of where we went. As I mentioned above, we were looking for good wine, not the best views or winery experience. A lot of the organized tours of Sonoma stopped at Sutter Home, which has free tastings but is mass-market wine that you find on the bottom shelf at the supermarket. If you’re not that picky, one of those tours would be fine, but I am very happy that we chose to go our own way because we tried two fabulous new wineries that we will probably buy more from in the future.

We decided to come back to San Fransisco on the Pacific Coast Highway and we were rewarded with a phenomenal sunset over the Pacific (top). We couldn’t have timed our drive any better. We ended our day back in San Fransisco at an Argentinian Restaurant called Lolinda. Afterward, we headed back to the ship for the night to prepare for another day in San Fransisco in the morning. Be sure to stop by next week as I detail our day to explore San Fransisco and our tour of Chinatown.

Thanks for stopping by! To read more about this trip, check out the Cruising the Pacific Coast Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! For my list of gadgets to make your travels easier, click here. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Pin This:

Wordless Wednesday: Vines in Ensenada

By Ashleigh

On May 10, 2023

In Wordless Wednesday

Grape Vines at L.A. Cetto

Wine Tasting in Mexico

By Ashleigh

On May 9, 2023

In Cruise, Travel, Wine Travel

The World's Largest Mexican Flag in Ensenada

After falling into the Ocean in San Diego, our next day was much less adventurous. Our ship (the Celebrity Solstice) took us down to Mexico’s Baja Peninsula to the town of Ensenada. It may come as a surprise, but one of the things that this region is known for is its wine. The Ville de Guadalupe (The Guadalupe Valley) is known as Mexico’s Napa Valley.

When talking to some people on the ship about this tour, they turned their noses up at it because Mexico isn’t known for its wine. The reason we don’t see Mexican wine in stores in the United States has nothing to do with the quality but more with the quantity that they produce. With such small growing regions, Mexico does not produce that much wine and most of what they do produce, the Mexican people consume.

Wine Glasses awaiting tasting at L.A. Cetto

Our tour took us to two different wineries, L.A. Cetto, and Casa de Doña Lupe. L.A. Cetto has been making wine in Mexico since 1928 and is probably one of the biggest wine production facilities we have ever toured. We tasted some of their mass-market wines and also some of their more high-end wines and everything we tried was on-par with the big American wineries for a fraction of the cost. Casa de Doña Lupe has a more home-spun feel to it and reminded me of a lot of the wineries we visit in Northern Michigan. Our tasting was outside among the vines while a local guitar player strummed a tune. After tasting at Doña Lupe we were able to browse their shop for wines as well as homemade jams and olive oils to take home.

One thing that is tough about a tour like this is that everything we tried was excellent and very inexpensive (a bottle from the reserve line from L.A. Cetto worked out to about $16), but traveling with two adults, you can only bring two bottles of wine across the border without paying duty so we were very limited in what we brought home.

L.A. Cetto Wine Barrel Fountain

We booked our wine-tasting tour through Shore Excursions Group. We have used them many times and have always had good results. They guarantee to get you back to the ship on time and they are much cheaper than booking through the cruise line.

We really fell in love with the Valle de Guadalupe and hope to return sometime and actually stay in the area. I guess I will have to add it to the list! Thanks for stopping by! To read more about this trip, check out the Cruising the Pacific Coast Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! For my list of gadgets to make your travels easier, click here. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Pin This:

Kayaking La Jolla Sea Caves

By Ashleigh

On May 1, 2023

In Cruise, Travel

Kayaing La Jolla

Some of the links below are affiliate links and as such, I earn a small commission from purchases that allow me to continue telling you my stories without costing you anything extra.

Shortly after booking our recent California Coastal Cruise, Celebrity changed the itinerary and added a port stop in San Diego. We thought about doing the San Diego Zoo or Balboa Park, but our love of paddlesports won out and we decided to book a sea cave kayaking tour in La Jolla.

When our ship docked in San Diego, we caught a Lyft to La Jolla to meet our tour and walk to the beach. Now, we have kayaked in the ocean before (as recently as December in Puerto Rico), but nothing prepared us for kayaking in La Jolla. The description of the tour says “You will get wet” so we were anticipating the typical level of wetness that we get kayaking. We got in the kayak and the tour guide helped us launch through the surf where the person in the front (me) got hit with a full-body wave. I was dripping wet.

La Jolla Sea Caves

Once we were out in the ocean it was like any other kayaking trip. We got up close to the rocks but were unable to go into the caves because the tide was low and the waves were big. Our guide said that we could go into the caves but we wouldn’t be able to get back out, so you will have to settle for the picture of the caves in shadow (above). Since we couldn’t go into the caves, we paddled a little farther and got to see the sea lions sunbathing on the rocks (top).

Heading back to shore was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. Our guide referred to it as “kayak surfing”. Essentially, you have to paddle hard, straight through the waves, until you hit the sand. If you turn your kayak the waves will flip you. Our guide told us 80% of people flip. I think our guide had kayaks going a little too close together because I think we would have made it if it wasn’t for the person who went before us. He capsized and was moving slowly and our boat was heading right for him so we had to veer out of the way and we capsized too. Chris says we need to go back to La Jolla and try it again because he thinks we would have made it otherwise.

Other people on our tour were wearing wetsuits. After the tour, I wished we had rented wetsuits (remember, I didn’t know we were going to fall into the ocean on this tour). It took a long time to warm up after that and we just went back to the ship to change into dry clothes and warm up. If we had prepared better we may have explored more of La Jolla or San Diego before heading in for the day.

Kayakers in La Jolla

We were in San Diego on the day San Diego State was playing in the Elite Eight for the first time in program history and the vibe in town was electric. Our Lyft driver was listening to the game and whooping with excitement. There were people watching the game outside in La Jolla and cheering. It was a really cool moment to get to experience.

If you will be in the area and you want to kayak La Jolla and try your hand at Kayak Surfing, I recommend Hike Bike Kayak Adventures on Viator. Their prices are very reasonable and the tour was great. Just be prepared to get VERY wet and if it’s chilly, rent a wetsuit!

Pin This:

Cruising the Pacific Coast

By Ashleigh

On April 24, 2023

In Cruise, Travel, Wine Travel

Celebrity Solstice in Santa Barbara

A few months after returning from Puerto Rico, we set off again, this time for Southern California. Somehow, I managed to find my cheapest cruise to date during spring break and on a luxury cruise line. While all cruise lines are cutting costs right now, this was one of the best trips we have had in a while, and if you’ve been following this blog for a bit, we’ve had some good ones lately (I’m looking at you Alaska Cruise, Southern Caribbean Cruise, Western National Parks Road Trip).

Here is a breakdown of the trip report to come:

Day 1: Board Celebrity Solstice in Los Angeles

Day 2: San Diego – La Jolla, Sea Cave Kayaking

Day 3: Ensenada, Mexico – Valle de Guadaloupe Wine Tour

Day 4: San Fransico – Sonoma Wine Tasting

Day 5: San Fransico – Chinatown Food Tour

Day 6: Santa Barbara – Walking Tour, Wine Tasting

Day 7: Return to LA – Griffith Observatory and Santa Monica

Day 8: Disneyland

Day 9: Fly Home

This was my first time in California and this cruise let me see a lot of it. This cruise originally had a stop in Monterey but about two months before sailing, the city of Monterey banned cruise ships so Celebrity changed all the ports. This was my first time on a luxury cruise, my first cruise with an overnight in port, and my first time with U.S. ports after a foreign port. I will be sure to detail how Celebrity handled a customs check in the middle of the sailing because despite what the people of the internet said, we did have to show our passports before disembarking in San Fransisco.

Be sure to check back next week as I begin recapping this trip with our day in San Diego/La Jolla!

Thanks for stopping by! To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! For my list of gadgets to make your travels easier, click here. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Puerto Rico Rum Tour

By Ashleigh

On April 17, 2023

In Travel

Ron del Barrilito Freedom Barrel

If you know anything about Puerto Rico, you probably know the island is famous for its rum production. The most famous Puerto Rican rum is Bacardi. The oldest operating distillery and a favorite among Puerto Ricans is Ron del Barillito. The distillery has been open since 1880 when the Fernández Family began making rum for to share with family and friends. People that tried came back asking for more of the Ron del Barillito (rum from the small barrel) and the name stuck. One thing the distillery is known for is the Freedom Barrel (above). Filled in 1952, Edmundo Fernández gave instructions that the barrel cannot be opened until Puerto Rico gains independence, and then it should be placed in the town square for the people to be able to enjoy.

We chose to do the Heritage Tour where we got to tour the estate, learn the history of the distillery, and got a peek inside the barrel room with a complimentary cocktail. Ron del Barrilito also offers a mixology tour where you learn how to become a master bartender and a tasting tour where you get to taste some of the signature rums.

Ron del Barrilito sign

If you’ve never tried rum from Ron del Barrilito, it is much different from Bacardi and other Puerto Rican rums. The Cinco Estrellas (five stars) is aged up to 35 years and a bottle comes with a hefty price tag. Tres Estrellas (three stars) is aged for 6-10 years, Dos Estrellas (two stars) is aged 3-5 years, and when we visited they also had an overproof rum to be used in tiki drinks. In our travels, we have found that “duty-free” liquor usually isn’t that good of a deal (maybe the prices in Michigan are more reasonable than other places in the U.S., I don’t know), but Ron del Barrilito was much cheaper in Puerto Rico than at home. If you don’t make it out to the distillery, prices weren’t that much more expensive at the duty-free in the airport.

While there are many rum distilleries in Puerto Rico, I am glad we decided to check out Ron del Barrilito as our last stop before heading to the airport. For more information about the tours and their rums, visit Ron del Barrilito. To read more about this trip, check out the Returning to Puerto Rico Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! For my list of gadgets to make your travels easier, click here. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Returning to El Yunque

By Ashleigh

On April 10, 2023

In Hiking, Travel

Angelito Trail

After our night kayaking adventure, we got up the next morning to hike El Yunque National Forest. Since we were traveling with my mother-in-law, we tried to convince her to do the Mt. Briton trail with us, but she was looking for something a little easier. So, we ended up hiking Juan Diego Falls. The Juan Diego Falls Trail is a short, easy trail in El Yunque that leads to a waterfall with a natural pool. The forest service map says the trail is a five-minute walk and it is absolutely worth it. Since we were there early we had the trail and the waterfall to ourselves, but I imagine it fills up with swimmers later in the day.

Currently, to access La Mina Recreation Area at El Yunque National Forest you need a timed reservation that you can get in advance for $2 at Recreation.gov. Reservations are available 30 days in advance and can book up the day they open. More open up 24 hours in advance if you are unable to get them 30 days out.

After the hike, we headed to the El Portal Visitor Center. The visitor center has been beautifully remodeled since Hurricane Maria and now has a unique, open-air design that fits in with the forest surrounding it. I enjoyed seeing the exhibits and watching the film (narrated by Benicio del Toro) and would recommend a stop here for all first-time visitors to El Yunque and Puerto Rico. A downside is that there is only one trail at the Visitor Center, the Interpretive Trail, and it doesn’t connect to other parts of the National Forest. There is an entrance fee of $8 per person, but there is a discount for America the Beautiful pass holders.

After stopping at the Visitor Center, we headed to the Angelito Trail, which is outside of the La Mina Recreation Area and leads to a popular swimming hole. Since it is outside of La Mina, you do not need a reservation to hike the Angelito Trail. Because of this, it was very busy and roadside parking was hard to find. The Angelito trail is an easy hike (.2 miles each way) through Tabonuco trees (top). We saw families of all ages on the trail and enjoying the river at the end. If you are unable to get reservations for La Mina, this is a good place to check out to get a feel for El Yunque.

Thanks for stopping by! To read more about this trip, check out the Returning to Puerto Rico Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! For my list of gadgets to make your travels easier, click here. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Wordless Wednesday: La Jolla

By Ashleigh

On April 3, 2023

In Cruise, Travel

Kayaking La Jolla