Today one of my dreams came true. As a small child, one of my fondest memories is of my father playing "The Grand Canyon Suite" on our very fancy record player. He would carefully take out the black vynal disk from a cover with a picture of the Canyon on it, place it on the turn-table and gently place the needle on the first track. We would lie on the carpet in front of the speakers and listen. He spoke with rapture about what to listen for - the beauty of the Ca...

Our final couple of days in Vegas were full as we tried to cram everything in one last time before leaving. We walked up and down the Strip enjoying it in the early morning light, the midday heat and the razzle dazzle of night. We viewed the free shows put on outside the different hotels - the erupting volcano, the pirate battles, the musical fountains, the indoor thunderstorms and the moving statues. We gaped at the exteriors and interiors always discovering mor...

JFK Airport is sad and shabby and dull. We flew out from it and landed in Vegas. Las Vegas Airport is happy and zappy and lively. Why, it even has slot machines right next to the luggage carousal so you can play while you wait for your luggage to come off the plane. Who would have thought? Our hotel, Hurrah's, is on the Strip and is as big and flashy as most of the others. Driving from the airport to it at night was an eye-opening feast of razzle dazzle light in...

Our ship sailed into Miami early Friday morning and it was rather sad disembarking after 15 glorious days of being pampered. I heard some crazy people saying they were ready to get off. I don't know, call me strange, but for some reason I like not cooking or cleaning or washing or ironing or having to make decisions other than what to choose off the menu. Well, they dragged me off kicking and screaming and put me on a plane to New York. If I can't be on a cruise...

There's something comfortable about familiarity. Re-boarding the Norwegian Jewel at San Pedro, the port for Los Angeles, we felt a whole lot more relaxed and less rushed. Boarding was straight forward and we knew exactly where to go once on board. First stop (that's right, you guessed it) was the Tsar's Restaurant for a leisurely lunch. We took our time savouring the food in what we think is the nicest of the ship's eating places. Over coffee we studied the wine...