Pentimento

Kissimmee More Than Once

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Kissimmee Tourism. All opinions are 100% mine.

I hear you're thinking of visiting Florida this year. Have you thought about visiting Kissimmee when you vacation in central Florida?  When we lived in Florida I had an opportunity to visit the Kissimmee area with some high school kids and it was a ton of fun. So much to do, and now I believe there is even more than I was aware of.

Now that I've turned 60 it seems like a good time to be a little more adventuresome before I get too old and doddering to waddle.

If I was going there, here's what I would like to do:

• Stay at a luxury resort like the Gaylord Palms and indulge in a couple visits to their spa, visit the huge atrium and have a cool drink by the pool. 

• Get strapped in and have a rip roaring ride on a zip line. Wheee! Get in, hang on, zip!

• Go mega shopping at one of the many malls or outlets. I'd probably try to shop at stores I'd never been to before, just for the novelty.

• Go to Disney World (it's right next door!). Depending on the amount of time I'd be there, I'd like to take in Universal Studios and Epcot too.

There are some other things I'd do too, like have a leisurely float in a nice pool, coffee on the patio, order room service...ah, the list goes on.

Now, the important question is, what are YOU going to do on your vacation to Kissimmee?

Pentimento On Vacation

 

Thanks for visiting here today.

Pentimento is on holiday right now and will be back soon.

Carol is taking some much needed time off. 

Stranded in Interesting Places

Have you ever been stranded anywhere? Most people who fly have at one time or another. Our most memorable 'stranding' came in 1986 and the location was Denver.  We were already in la-la land from attending Jim's mom's funeral, and on top of it, I had a painful ear drum from all that landing and taking off. We got off our plane from Moline, IL and had no idea where our gate was for our Seattle flight.  Our arrival had been late so we hotfooted it up to the main desk only to find that the gate we had wanted (which was not on the board when we arrived) was just closing and we were doomed to spend the night in the Denver airport.

It was awful. We got some food in the food court and then with our tummies full of hamburgers we tried to settle down for some zzzz's. It was not to be through. They had the horrible droning voice of some woman announcing something every few minutes. After an hour or so of waiting we found out that the flight to Seattle we had missed was returning because of fog in Seattle, so we wouldn't have made it home that night anyway.

In our opinion, Denver airport is the worst place to fly in and out of for many reasons, but our friends the Hesses had a little better luck it seems. 

 

We got a postcard yesterday from them postmarked Malta. The volcano had stranded them at that point in their spring vacation and they ended up spending an extra 5 days there. Peggy said they finally found a flight to Zurich and then they had to take three trains to get to Frankfurt. I firmly believe there are no 'accidents' when things like this happen. Peggy said they met lots of nice people along the way, they speak English in Malta and the cost of being there was nominal. She's sending me a link to some of her pictures, so maybe there will be an additional post here with some of them. Stay tuned!

Silver Dollar City In Branson Is Turning Fifty And Hilton Hotels Invite You To The Celebration

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hiltons of Branson. All opinions are 100% mine.

You might want to put this visit on your "bucket list" of places to visit this year: The Hiltons of Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri are celebrating 50 golden years of memories with the exclusive Hilton Silver Dollar City Package.

While I have been to southern Missouri (West Plains is where my dad was born) but I have yet to make it to Branson for a visit. Many of our friends and family have been there and they raved about the fun they had, the awesome shows they saw and the great food they ate.

The Silver Dollar City Package includes two nights of deluxe accommodations at either the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing or the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel, and included with that are two adult and two children's (ages 4 to 11) tickets for entry into that fun place, Silver Dollar City.  That's three days and two nights of family fun and accommodations for $455 + tax, but wait...there's more!  This package also includes a $25 food and drink voucher to Level 2 Steakhouse which is located at the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel.

So what would you like to see and do in Branson? I'm not much for doing a lot of walking around, so I might gravitate towards seeing some shows like Jim Stafford or Dolly Parton. Both of them are exceptional entertainers in my book.  There are lots of little shops and boutiques in Branson too, but if we had the grandkids with us I bet they would want to go on some amusement rides or even take a cruise on the paddlewheel boat.  It's all there in Branson though...championship golf courses, tasty food, relaxing walks, museums and more.

When you click on either of the links in this article be sure to click on the "Hotel Specials" button at either website and book your unforgettable family vacation. 

We Got Frisky, But Not Frisked

Were your holiday travels affected by the new TSA security measures?

No, we weren't affected by the TSA security measures at all because we stayed home and didn't fly anywhere. We might have gotten frisky, but not frisked. Now, really, how frisky can a 59 and 60 year old really get, huh? As an example, we toasted the new year with cranberry-apple sparkling non-alcoholic drink. Woooeeee, wild times in Podunk!

Sun Dog over Cascades

Sun Dog over Cascades,
originally uploaded by webduckie.

It gets pretty cold up there in the clouds over the Cascades in Washington state. We were driving west on I-90 and had just left Snoqualmie Pass. The skies were clearing and off to my right was this lovely little glowing sun dog. I guess that's what you call it. If not, it was a stray pup sun dog.

Our Visit To Frankenstein Castle, Germany 1971

I'm a little slow when it comes to getting my pictures scanned and shared. In this case, about 38 years "slow". We were married in September of 1970 and in December of that year I flew to Germany to be with Jim while we were stationed at Sembach Air Force Base, not too far from Kaiserslautern. (This may or may not be the castle that inspired Mary Shelly to write her famous story of Frankenstein's monster; Frankenstein Castle Ruin - Rhineland).

On weekends, when the guys didn't have duty, we would explore around the countryside and try to become a little more familiar with our temporary home. A map's a map, even in German, and we had one well in hand as we set out for Frankenstein Castle. I truly didn't know what to expect, and so we set out with a picnic lunch, cameras and the spirit of adventure.

The town of Frankenstein wasn't all that big, and it was a little bit of a climb to get up to the ruins. The churchyard was amazing to us, with headstone dates from the 1400's!

Frankenstein Castle ruins
 Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
(c) Carol Yates Wilkerson

Thousands Will Apply For This Dream Job In Australia

Have you heard about this job in Australia? I wonder how many thousands of people will apply for this dream job? If I only knew how to swim and snorkel... Pass the SPF 90! Actually, this job is being sponsored by the Australian Travel Industry as way of promoting the Whitsunday Islands. Pretty darned good idea if you ask me.

Location:

Hamilton Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Pay:

$100,000 USD

Duration:

6 months

Duties:

Stroll the beaches of the private island, take pictures and blog about your time there. Oh, and you have to know how to snorkel and take a dip in the pool now and then. Aw, gee, rough huh?

"Applications are open until Feb. 22 and 11 finalists will be flown to Hamilton Island in May for the final selection process. The job begins on July 1."

Source:

Australia offers up 'best job': lounge in paradise KOMO News.com - Seattle