Tag Archives: ocean

Taking the Cross Sound Ferry = #betterthandriving (much better)

Would you choose spend four to five hours driving to save a thousand dollars on airfare?

We did that a couple of times, when it turned out that flights to Europe from the JKF Airport were much cheaper than those from Boston’s Logan Airport, the airport closest to where we live.

The JFK Airport in New York City is “just” a couple hundred miles away from Boston, which means an about four-hour drive without traffic.

The crucial word here is “traffic,” though.

One time when we were coming back from Europe the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the traffic between New York City and Boston was so bad, it took close to seven hours to get back home. We were completely exhausted when we got back home.

That trip from hell was one of the reasons we decided to try the Cross Sound Ferry after coming back from this year’s vacation in Europe.

Turns out traveling by ferry is a much more pleasant way to travel, even if it doesn’t save a whole lot of time. Continue reading Taking the Cross Sound Ferry = #betterthandriving (much better)

Dolphin Cruise on the Sea Thunder in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

For April vacation this year we needed something fun and kid friendly, and when it comes to the kids, especially our daughter, the thought of dolphins is never too far from the tip of the tongue.  We were spending the week at a resort in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and there are a number of options available.  We chose a ride on the Sea Thunder.

How to get to the Sea Thunder

Getting there wasn’t too difficult – it’s a short drive from the beach, less than ten minutes from our resort.

Be careful if you’re using Google Maps, though – it will send you to the wrong location.

Sea Thunder is at the Harbourgate Marina, directly behind the Harbourgate Resort, and the dock for the Sea Thunder is almost directly under the Rt. 17 bridge.

Google Maps will put you on a residential street on the other side of Rt. 17.

Instead, you should go down Little River Neck Road, and go past the entrance for the resort (even though the sign does say “Harbourgate Resort & Marina”). The turn for the Marina parking lot is just before you go under Rt. 17.

Do NOT turn down Sea Mountain Hwy, or you may end up stuck in traffic while an interesting drawbridge (which is actually a swivel bridge) lets the boating traffic pass in front of you.

location of the dock for the Sea Thunder Dolphin Cruises
location of the dock for the Sea Thunder Dolphin Cruises

Continue reading Dolphin Cruise on the Sea Thunder in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

The Rocky Coast of Peniche, Portugal

There’s something powerful and captivating about waves crashing into a rocky cliff, sending up a fountain of sea foam, then retreating back into the ocean.

It’s calming. It’s humbling. And it’s beautiful.

kids watching out onto the Atlantic from the rocky shore along the most westernmost part of N114 in Peniche, Portugal
kids watching out onto the Atlantic from the rocky shore along the most westernmost part of N114 in Peniche, Portugal

Continue reading The Rocky Coast of Peniche, Portugal

The gift of “me time”

It is 6 a.m. I close the door, set the timer for 30 minutes, and sit down in my swivel chair, with my eyes closed, and my hands loosely resting on the arm supports.

It’s an assignment for a “Social Media and Analytics” class I’m taking, taught by Leila Samii (@reallyleila) – “sit alone, with no technology, friends, family, or reading material for 30 minutes, then blog about it.”

I admit, I’m a social media junkie – I love, love, love Facebook and because of the class I have also recently been spending a lot of time on Twitter and Instagram, tweeting, retweeting, participating in Twitter chats, and posting photos like crazy, frantically trying to keep up with the tsunami of incoming information and images.

And then, just before Thanksgiving, I’d had enough.

It was too much. I just simply could not keep up with it all, no matter how hard I tried.

So I stopped – for a few days I had not tweeted anything or posted any photos – even though I knew that my Klout score would go down.

That’s why this assignment – to be alone for 30 minutes – didn’t feel like a chore, or a homework, but was more like a gift, a gift of “ME TIME” that I don’t get very often.

Continue reading The gift of “me time”