baltimore

Baltimore offers a lot — even if just there for a night

December 15, 2015

Baltimore is a city I’ve wanted to explore for a while. I didn’t get to explore as much as I wanted on a trip this past summer (it was for a baseball game, so it was only one night), but the exploration around the area of Camden Yards was interesting and fun.

Here’s a few of the things we did on this short trip.

ORIOLE PARK AT CAMDEN YARDS

I already did my stadium review of Camden Yards, so I won’t do that here. Instead, I want to talk about the stadium tour, which we did the morning after watching a game.

Camden.

I’ve been on several stadium tours, but this one was a blast.

We had the chance to see the inside and outside of the stadium, explore different parts, and had a chance to meet the groundskeeper, which was pretty cool. Our guide was fun and knowledgeable and made the time go by quickly.

There were plenty of photo opportunities, too, which was nice.

This is definitely one of the best — if not the best — stadium tour I’ve ever taken. It’s always nice to get a view from the back, too. And when you have tour guides who show they actually care, then it’s even better. Well worth the $10 or $11 we paid to go on it.

PRATT STREET ALE HOUSE

After the Orioles game, it was a good time to go find a beer. A couple of blocks from the hotel (and not too far from Camden Yards, either) was the Pratt Street Ale House, a brewpub where Oliver Breweries is brewed and always on tap.

A great flight of beers!

Of course I needed to get a flight of beers to taste a few different ones.

I enjoyed the selection. The bartender who served us was knowledgable about the beers and friendly. The atmosphere was pretty solid, too. I think there were definitely people from the game in there, which was cool.

We didn’t get any food there, though the menu looked good. I think if I was back in the area again for a few days, I’d highly consider going there to taste the food. Definitely a neat little place and one in which I’m glad to have visited.

I also grabbed a growler of one of their beers to bring back to my brother for his birthday.

Good beer, for sure. If there’s a next time at this place, I’d like to try the food.

BABE RUTH BIRTHPLACE MUSEUM

A short hop, skip, and a jump away from Camden, the museum is on a small back street. The house is tiny, but has a lot of great Babe Ruth artifacts.

At the museum.

There wasn’t a ton here, but there was enough for me to enjoy it. I’m a big fan of baseball history, especially when it comes to Babe Ruth, so this was very cool to visit.

In the museum, you get to see rooms and such where Babe has been. There’s also a small gift shop and the artifacts vary from clothes and gloves, to signed balls and bats. It’s definitely worth a side trip.

If you are a baseball fan, this is a must stop.

If you like the Yankees or anything with Babe, it’s an even bigger stop. The best part is there is a trail to the museum from Camden.

PICKLES PUB

Before we left the city, we stopped here for lunch. It’s a stone’s throw from Camden, so I imagine it’s busy on game days as it gets closer to the time the stadium opens (or after).

Pickles Pub!

Places like this are ones I love to visit as the food is usually excellent and the feel and ambiance is even better.

The food was delicious and the prices were solid. I liked that it had the feel — somewhat — of a dive bar, yet still was a good spot. It’s been a bit since I visited there — a few months — so I can’t remember exactly what I had. But I know it had crab on it and I remember it being fantastic.

This would definitely be a stop for me on a return trip.

Overall, this was a fun trip, even if it was only for one night. I’d like to come back to explore some more and catch another game or two.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Summer of Baseball: Camden Yards a top-notch experience

December 7, 2015

For years, I’ve wanted to see a game at Camden Yards.

I’ve had many friends go and tell me what an experience it is, no matter which team you follow.

Stamped in and ready!

This past summer, it finally happened. Camden Yards. A night of watching the Orioles, trying some great ballpark food and having the chance to chat with other fans.

The experience was amazing, that’s for sure.

In face, the only thing I can think to complain about is the seats being a little tight. That being said, I can now see why people still put Camden Yards as one of the bars when it comes to stadiums in baseball.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened in 1992 — yeah, it’s 23 years old already! — and when it was built was a modern marvel when it comes to baseball stadiums. It broke the mold and many of today’s stadiums are built with Camden in mind.

There are so many places to watch the game, not including your seat. You can walk to the outfield and sample some good food or watch some of the game from several standing spots.

It’s hard to truly describe Camden and do it justice.

The night after watching the game, we took a tour of the park, which was even better. We had a great tour guide, which always makes it fun. The history and everything else was included, as were a couple of great spots for photos. We also had the chance to meet the head groundskeeper at Camden. She’s one of two females in that position in Major League Baseball.

As for the park…

From the stadium tour.

The sight lines from seats are excellent. The concourse isn’t fully open, so if you go grab a bite, you can’t always see the field. Many newer stadiums have that option, so if you get up during the game, it’s rare to miss a pitch.

The seats, as noted, were a little tight. Newer stadiums seem to be moving toward a more comfortable seat, but keep in mind that Camden is more than 20 years old.

The food choices are stellar. I had to, of course, try Boog’s BBQ. Though I may be a little biased, I like Bull’s BBQ (Philly) a bit better, but Boog’s was solid. The sauces are definitely different. Loved the chips at Boog’s, though. We ate Boog’s at a table in the right-field standing area, so it was cool to see batting practice going on during that time.

The bird.

Later in the night, I went and grabbed some homemade chips with this crab concoction on it — fantastic. I let one of the people behind me try it and they went and got it a few moments later.

I should have asked the Orioles for my cut!

Beer selection seemed solid, too, which is always a bonus. We were surrounded by a pretty good set of fans, too, which made it fun. Though, interestingly enough, the family next to us and the ones in front of us were each from somewhere in Quebec. What are the odds of that?

Overall, this was a fantastic experience. I had the chance to speak with several workers and most were highly friendly. The only downer I had is when I asked somebody at fan services about a lineup board (always seems to come back to that) and she wasn’t as friendly as I would have hoped. She almost seemed taken aback by my question and like I was being a bother. Note — Baltimore doesn’t have a lineup board, either.

Cool tidbit — as I was leaving, Baltimore’s starting pitcher was signing autographs, so I had the chance to get my Passport signed.

Park Notes:

Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Baltimore, Maryland
Home of the Baltimore Orioles
Visited on: July 31, 2015
Opponent: Detroit Tigers

Ratings (out of 10)

Stadium: 9/10
Concessions: 8/10
Parking: N/A (stayed at hotel two blocks away)
Ambiance: 8.5/10
Friendliness: 9/10

I am continuing the Summer of Baseball from 2014 and hope to blog about each new stadium I visit in 2015. Ones visited in the past can be viewed linked up in the 2014 version.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Carnival Pride cruise review: Final thoughts

September 18, 2013

The Carnival Pride, sitting in port in Florida.

(This is the final in a six-part series about my first cruise. I sailed on the Carnival Pride from August 4-11. It started and ended in Baltimore, making in Port Canaveral, Florida; Nassau, Bahamas; and Freeport, Bahamas. The other parts of this series ran over the past few weeks).

The ship has certainly sailed.

Alas, it’s time to put this series to bed as well. By now, if you’re a reader of the blog, you’ve read about my adventures about going on my first cruise. If you haven’t, well, shame on you. Go back and read them.

Now. We’ll wait.

OK, so you’re back? Welcome!

These are my final thoughts on this cruise. I’ve covered pretty much everything I could from that cruise. Being there as a member of a wedding and serving as the photographer allowed me to miss the experience of boarding with so many others. That was nice, I must say. The wedding and reception happened on the boat while in port in Baltimore. After that, it was one heck of a fun time.

The wedding was wonderful. Those involved were excellent. The food was exquisite. The celebration was awesome. It was an honor to be a part of the wedding and even better to be sailing with the newlyweds and the small party that joined them.

And I had the chance to cross something off my bucket list.

I had the chance to meet some great people — staff and guests — including the cruise director Josh (left) and assistant cruise director Sassy (right).

I’m not a “cruiser,” per say. I talked to several people on the ship who cruise any chance they get. I went to forums before the cruise and researched and people really do the cruising thing.

I’m more of an explorer. I like to go somewhere and have the freedom to check things out and do what I want without restrictions of a massive body of water surrounding you. Despite that, I always said I wanted to at least try a cruise and see what it was like. I’m glad I had this chance.

I never remotely got motion sickness. Walking around was no issue. And exploring the boat was quite fun in its own right. I wish I had a little better financial situation as there were a few things I would have liked to have done, such as the chef’s dinner or the Captain’s tour. Maybe on a future tour, I’ll have that chance.

But overall, taking a cruise isn’t a bad way to spend a vacation.

And despite there being more than 2,000 people on this ship, you could still find places for it to be quiet. Such as heading out to one of the lower decks, where people rarely seemed to be.

With a balcony room, it was nice to be able to sit outside and watch the world go by. Or, at night, it was nice to sit out there and just listen to the water. It’s very relaxing.

The food — with so much available 24/7 — was awesome. The entertainment was excellent. There are memories from this cruise that will last with me forever.

The people were the best. From guests to staff members to anybody I spoke with, everybody always seemed to be cheery and in a goof mood. And why not, right?

Before going further, however, I wanted to bring you some fun stuff. On the final sea day, the cruise director Josh, held a question-and-answer session. I took notes as I knew it would be full of great stuff to post. The questions ranged from the size of the ship to how much booze was served (my question, of course) and Josh did everything he could to answer. He’d call other people on the ship to find out answers, which was too cool. This was one fun show to watch.

How about these tidbits from this seven-day cruise?

The ship is 963 feet long — that breaks down to 11,565 inches
Enough milk is consumed to fill three swimming pools
The boat produces, from sea water, 1 million gallons of fresh water per day
More than 30,000 eggs are eaten
There are no garbage cans throughout the ship as crew members take care of that because of how waste needs to be taken care of
There were 920 crew members that represented 58 nationalities

Oh yeah, the booze. I asked that question and Josh called up somebody to get the answer. A bit later, he was called back. Turns out people like to have a good time on the ship. How good? See here:

1,035 bottles of wine/champagne
9,400 cans/bottles of beer
873 bottles of liquor
14,052 cans of soda

He didn’t get numbers of kegs of beer, but I’m sure that’s not too low of a number, either.

Crazy, right?

Anyway, moving on. With all the positive, there were, unfortunately, a couple of negative things did happen, mostly surrounding the wedding.

A good way to relax was to find a lower deck and just stare out at the ocean. Often, these decks were empty.

I’d be remiss to note that the couple had a frame with a photo of them in it. During the ceremony, they poured colored sand into it, around the photo. It was a nice situation.

Alas, Carnival, somehow, lost this item. No matter what the cost of it, it was priceless as it had way more of a significance to the newlyweds than money. It’s a shame that this happened. It’s a black eye situation, too, as nobody wins. Carnival looks bad and the newlyweds have lost something that money really can’t replace.

One thing to note — I wasn’t an “official” photographer as when you are married on the cruise, they give you one. However, the prices are extremely high for what you get. The photographer assigned to this was nice to start, but as things moved along, he got a bit more testy with me. See, people were looking at me for the photos.

Oh, the humanity, especially seeing as I was picked by the bride and groom.

A couple of times he made sure he got in the way of me shooting, too. I was trying to respect the space, but here was reality — the couple wasn’t going to spend that crazy amount of money on photos.

I understand the idea here, but Carnival really needs to re-visit this policy. They have to remember that it’s about the couple — and if they don’t want some photographer they don’t know, have never met and haven’t discussed things, then that’s how it should be. You don’t see places off the ship forcing a photographer down the throat of a couple, so why on board?

And though those were the only true negatives that I can recall, these are ones that can have lasting memories and not necessarily in a positive way, about the cruise line.

The other aspects of the wedding — and the cruise — were top-notch, however.

I’m sure I’ll sail again. It’s a relaxing and stress-free way to vacation and a way to see some cool places, meet different people and be able to know it was an affordable way to go.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Carnival Pride cruise review: Top photos on the ship

September 3, 2013

I stood at the front of the ship quite often. Being on the ninth floor was quite nice to be able to just watch as the ship sailed on.

(This is the fourth in a six-part series about my first cruise. I sailed on the Carnival Pride from August 4-11. It started and ended in Baltimore, making stops in Port Canaveral, Florida; Nassau, Bahamas; and Freeport, Bahamas. The other parts of this series are scheduled to run over the next couple of weeks).

I wanted to take a break from all the other reviews and share some images from the trip. I took a lot of photos, whether with my main camera or my iPhone, so I wanted to pick out 10 or so images to share with you.

These images are all from the boat, however. I didn’t want to use port shots or anything as I covered that already. So anything goes with these, as long as they were on the ship.

Remember, my initial reason for being on this cruise was to take photos for a wedding. And the wedding took place on the ship, so that’s all good, too.

I’m trying not to duplicate ones I’m using in other posts, but nothing can be guaranteed!

I have picked out 10 photos below, in no particular order.

1. Sunset

It’s unfortunate, but I didn’t get to see too many cool sunsets. With a later dining time, we were eating when these often happened. I was told I missed an amazing one on one night, but there were a few other nights where it was too cloudy or it just didn’t have that “magical” feeling. This one was pretty amazing, though.

Sunset

2. Newlyweds

As noted above, I was on the ship to also take photos for a wedding. As we were walking around after the service, we wanted to set something like this up. However, this was as I was testing some lighting things out. I really loved how the shot came out.

Newlyweds

3. Carnival Pride

I love shots like this. Just simple things, but it shows the ship you are on and that you’re on the ship. I took a few of these over the course of the week, but liked this one quite a bit.

On the Carnival Pride

4. Dolphin

I had heard about dolphins swimming with the ship. In fact, somebody had seen them a day earlier. I didn’t know if I’d have the chance. I was walking on the deck one day and saw a bunch of people looking over. I had my camera and looked over … and there they were. I snapped as many shots as I could before they disappeared, but it was really wild to see.

Dolphin

5. Another Carnival ship

One night, while sitting out on the balcony of my room, another Carnival ship sailed by. I pulled out the zoom lens, knowing I wouldn’t be able to keep it still enough to get a crisp shot. So I messed with the movement, hoping to get something cool. I liked how this one turned out.

Another Carnival ship sailing by

6. View from the front

I never got tired of going up to the top decks to lean on the railing and just stare out as the ship sailed along. The views were amazing, the wind hit you in the face and it was extremely relaxing. Often, I was the only one there, too, so the quietness was very peaceful.

Sailing ahead

7. Storm brewing

The view changed on the final day at sea as we headed into a crazy looking storm.

Storm ahead

8. Getting off the ship

OK, I consider this technically part of the ship. I took this one day when getting off the ship at a port. Just really thought the look of it was pretty neat.

Walking off the ship

9. Sunset II

Another sunset shot. Not quite as nice as the first night, I don’t think. And this one disappeared before the horizon because of clouds. But I liked how it glistened the water.

Another sunset

10. Setting them up

OK, so a somewhat “selfie” shot as the final one. This is as I was trying to line up everybody from the wedding who was sailing. It wasn’t the easiest of jobs, especially because of how nice it was on the ship!

Set up!

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Carnival Pride cruise review: The ports

September 2, 2013

(This is the third in a six-part series about my first cruise. I sailed on the Carnival Pride from August 4-11. It started and ended in Baltimore, making in stops Port Canaveral, Florida; Nassau, Bahamas; and Freeport, Bahamas. The other parts of this series are scheduled to run over the next couple of weeks).

As you likely know, one of the best parts of a cruise can be the ports.

After spending so much time on a ship, it’s nice to get off and go investigate new places, whether it be shopping, eating, sitting on a beach or taking an excursion.

We made two stops in the Bahamas.

The cruise I took had three ports — Port Canaveral, Florida; Nassau, Bahamas; and Freeport, Bahamas. Each offered something different, which was nice and we had different amounts of time at each.

I forgot to bring an excursion book home with me, so I can’t comment on how many were available. But there were quite a few for each port. The good thing about excursions is that they do all the work for you — they pick you up, take you where you are going, handle all tickets etc., and make sure you are back on time. If something is wrong and you are going to be late, the ship will wait as it’s an official excursion.

That being said, already being constrained to being on the ship, in two of the three ports, I opted to do my own thing. I took an excursion in Freeport, which was decent, but I’m not sure I’d do that again. I liked having my own agenda and doing what I wanted and not being held to the time frame of the excursion.

All three ports had their good points and bad points. I changed my plans, for the most part, at two of them and would say I enjoyed the things I opted to do. Below is a breakdown of each port and my thoughts.

Port Canaveral

My original plan was quite simple — go geocaching.

Across the bridge from the port (where I’d need to take a taxi) was a geocaching power trail which would, if I found them all, have given me about 25-30 caches. Not too bad, considering the boat was docked for 11 hours. I ended up changing that up slightly, which I am quite happy I did. If not, it may have been one miserable — and more expensive — day.

After renting a car, I ended up heading to Cocoa Beach for a bit.

I didn’t get off the ship until probably around 9 a.m. or so, which was after most people had taken off. I had been told what I needed to do was take a taxi — which should cost about $5 or so — across the bridge and to the starting point of this power trail. Simple enough, right?

Ha!

When I got to the spot where you get taxis, the person helping tried to get me to where I wanted to go. But one taxi driver made it sound like he had no flipping clue whatsoever. Made me worry about getting back. Some other people came and went and there I stood, still without a ride. I was beginning to wonder if I should have booked an excursion, if not just to go somewhere. Not to mention it was quite hot and humid and I was starting to get a little grumpy.

So I asked about rental cars. I was told I was looking at $75 or so per day for the car, which blew my mind. I decided to walk across and find out some prices and a guy from Payless Car Rental quoted me $35 and offered to help me upgrade with a GPS. I realized it was my best course of action and I’m glad I went with it.

Let me say this — if you are coming into port and want a rental car, deal with Payless. They were nice, quick and helpful. The experience I had was unreal. After taxed, I paid about $40 for a mid-size car with a GPS unit. You can’t go wrong with that. When I got back, it wasn’t long before I was on the shuttle back to the boat.

One of my stops was a geocaching store, where this massive cache was waiting.

Having that car allowed me to get around a little, which was nice. I took some photos, I found a few geocaches and I visited some tourist areas. I also got to stop at a geocaching store and chat with the owners, which was nice.

Basically, my day was spent looking at things. I had originally hoped to find a Gulf Coast League baseball game, but none were close enough. So this was the next best thing, especially with the heat and humidity. I had lunch at a nice little bagel shop and visited the famous Ron John surf shop in Cocoa Beach.

And I added Florida to my caching list.

I was happy with this port as I got the chance to do a few things and had the freedom to do it on my time and at my pace. If I had just been dropped off to do some geocaching, I would have been hot, sweaty and a bit of a mess quickly. I’m glad it worked out as it did and I’m glad I talked to Payless Car Rental as I feel I got a fair deal on a solid car.

When back on board, I showered up and went about the normal things, which obviously included finding some food. We set said again and the next day was port stop number two.

Nassau

I’m not going to lie here — I was a little fearful about Nassau. You see, I was going solo on this one and the ship had handed out a warning from the US Government about the crime in Nassau and how it had reached a critical stage.

Oh joy.

A great view coming into Nassau.

I decided, with that in mind, not to put myself in any situations where it could be bad — so I left my camera on the ship and figured I could take most shots I’d want with my iPhone. With the plan to grab a couple of geocaches as well, I hooked my GPS to one of my belt loops so it could stay in my pocket when not in use.

Let me get one thing out of the way, though. I never had any issues and really never had any feeling that I was in a bad situation. I stayed alert, too, so I think that helped me in the long run. Either way, I got to do pretty much everything I had hoped and planned to do, outside of walking on a beach. But I blew that chance, which I’ll cover in a moment.

I was up early, knowing I wanted to get off the boat quickly as I was meeting a pair of geocachers to find a few before heading off to do my own thing. After getting off the boat, I waited and waited and ended up missing them. So off I went, first stopping to do a virtual geocache, then a nano in a small park area. It was there where I met the cachers. We teamed up to do one more before splitting and I headed toward my first planned stop — The National Art Gallery of the Bahamas.

First, I was quite happy the place was air conditioned as I was very hot at that point. I paid the nominal $5 fee to get in, chugged a bottle of water and off I went.

If you are a fan of art galleries, I think you’d enjoy this place. It’s filled with art by well-known local artists and those who have connections to the Bahamas. There were all sorts of different styles of art in here, which made it even better. And, with the Bahamas celebrating 40 years of independence this year, there was a magnificent exhibit showcasing portraits (photographs) of some of the most prominent people in the country’s history. I truly enjoyed looking at those images and reading about each person.

All told, I spent about an hour and a half in there and it was well worth the stop. I’m glad this was one I chose to do as it showed some history and I got to see great artwork.

Following that, I went around the corner to John Watling’s Distillery, which was my main goal of the day.

John Watling’s Distillery.

I’m a fan of rum and to be able to see where it’s made was too cool to pass up. When first coming in, you’re greeted by somebody who gives you the basics and explains about the tour. It’s a self-guided tour, which takes about 10 minutes. You get to see the history, where they make and bottle the rum and see different bits of information about how rum is made.

At the end, you’re back in the main building, where you get to taste their three types of rum — Pale, Amber and the award-winning Buena Vista, which is a sipping rum. I enjoyed all three, but truly enjoyed the Amber best as it’s more my style of rum. The Buena Vista was quite amazing, too, but I’m not much for a sipping rum. So, in the end, knowing I would be taking a bottle back with me, I went with the Amber.

Then I sat down at the bar and had a Rum Dum, which is a drink made up by one of the older bartenders, Uncle Will. He made mine, too, and it was quite amazing. I had a good conversation with Uncle Will and Felix about the rums, the Bahamas and other things. It was truly an experience and one I’ll remember for a long time. Uncle Will also gave me a bit of a Bahama Mama, which was fantastic as well. But that Rum Dum … wow. Amazing and, without a doubt, the best rum drink I’ve ever had.

I’d like to duplicate the drink, but I only have one of the two rums needed for it. I’m not sure if I can find this rum locally, so I may have to try and figure something out as it would be nice to sit back and have a Rum Dum on occasion. Hopefully, I’ll get the chance to return to Nassau one day and have one from the source once again.

The Rum Dum.

Following that stop, I walked back into the main part of Nassau and went to a spot to eat. I was disappointed there because I was told the conch fritters, which I had wanted to try, was a small batch. So I got that and some chicken. The problem was, the fritters could have been a meal by themselves. I should have just got them and some fries. Instead, I got what felt like a three-course meal and ended up having food wasted because I couldn’t eat it all. I think I would have been better off just finding a smaller place, having a snack and then waiting for the boat.

At that point, I made a mistake. I went to look for another geocache, which I didn’t end up finding. With the time I had left, I should have gone and found a beach or something and walked around looking at the water. It’s the one thing I truly regret. I did, however, end up with a piece of art from a street artist, which is something I try and do when I travel. So I was happy about that.

Once back at the port, I utilized the free Wi-Fi to check some e-mail and upload some photos and then back on the ship I went to grab a shower and get ready for the everyday things. The next day would be an early port and I had an excursion I was debating whether or not I wanted to do. I was told I could get a refund if I wanted it, but ended up deciding that I had already paid for it, so what the heck.

Freeport

We were in port early (7 a.m.), but I didn’t need to be out for my excursion until 9 a.m. So I grabbed a shower, went and had some breakfast and set out for my excursion, which was going to include a stop at a perfume factory, a shopping area and a brewery. I’m sure you can guess my main reason for this excursion.

In Freeport.

Before I talk about anything else, I’ll say that the tour guide was fantastic. He was funny, informative and made the whole trip worthwhile.

Soon, we were on the bus and off to the tour. The first stop was at the perfume factory, which I truly didn’t enjoy. It was hot inside and it wasn’t anything I was interested in. The area was also a little run down, which made it not a great spot. We were soon on the bus again and heading to a downtown area, where there was shopping.

This is where I really got disappointed.

I had been told at the excursion desk that I should have time to walk to the beach. Not to swim or anything, but I just wanted to see it and walk a little. When getting off the bus, the people told me I shouldn’t because we were only there for 30 minutes. So, I was a bit bummed there. I did run into a few people from the wedding party I was with, however, so it was all good.

Then it was time for the brewery.

Now I don’t know how much it would have cost me to get to the brewery and do a tour and such on my own and I think the price I paid for the tour for what I got was a little steep, but the brewery kind of made up for it all. We had a great tour guide and the tasting of the beers was a show in its own. The Bahamian Brewery was a great stop with some good beers.

Virgil’s Ale.

We had the chance to taste six beers — five public ones and one that is brewed exclusively for Atlantis, which is in Nassau. Sands Light was first and we went up the chain to Sands, High Rock, Bush Crack, Virgil’s Ale (the Atlantis one) and, finally, Strong Back Stout. After testing them all, they gave you a few more samples of the ones you liked best, which for me, was Virgil’s Ale and the stout.

I’ve been on many brew tours, but this one was very memorable. The guide (Ash) was outstanding and the beers were tasty. In the end, it made me happy to have done the excursion.

We got back to the port in plenty of time and I hopped on the boat. About 20 minutes later, the skies opened and a good storm passed through, so the timing of everything turned out to be perfect.

Freeport was a short day off the boat — only from 7 a.m. – 1 p.m., but for the time, it wasn’t a bad way to spend the day.

Overall thoughts on the ports

Though I think I enjoyed the sea days a bit more than the ports (when I travel in areas I’ve not been, I don’t like time constraints as I kind of like to just explore), the things I did choose to do made it fun. I got to see new areas, add a new state and country to my geocaching map. I also got to try some local beverages and food and that was worth it as well.

I look forward to future cruises and checking out other ports to see how they compare.