Trips Planned for 2013!

 My husband and I are avid travelers.  We usually try to take at least 5 or 6 trips a year and we manage to swing this by traveling over holidays so that we don't eat up as much paid time off.  We also do lots of mini-weekend trips.  This does mean that we are usually gone for the major holidays (Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, New Years, etc...)  but we have such wonderful memories that we still talk about to this day rather than your usual "Yea, we went to his mom's house and ate some turkey, blah, blah...."  Instead, we get to say things like "Hey, remember that Thanksgiving Day two years ago in Barcelona when we went to the Boqueria market and bought Iberian ham, cheeses, olives and a bottle of Rioja and we spent the day having a picnic lunch in the Parc Guell overlooking the Mediterranean?  That was so great."

Picture from Belize Trip - Last New Years Eve

Anyone that knows me also knows that I am the trip planner. I take care of everything from the hotel, transportation, what to do, where to eat, etc....  Sometimes I wish Steve would step up and do some of the work but at the end of the day, I like doing the research and learning about new places so I don't mind.  Steve usually has one task and that is arranging for the rental car when we need one.  He does that well so I let the rest slide.  Besides, men never really think about the small details that matter.  He would look at TripAdvisor and probably go with the first place he saw whereas I would look to find another hotel with a smaller price tag but a rooftop terrace and a shorter walk to the major sites or subway.  His only comment would be "They all look clean, so who cares?"  Well,  I care and there is so much more than "just being clean" that goes into a great trip.  So, without further ado, here are the trips I have planned and booked for 2013.  The only one that I am still up in the air about is New Years Eve next year but I have some ideas....

1.     New Years Eve - 2013; St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Have never been to St. Croix before as it's further out than all the other U.S. Virgin Islands.  We have previously visited St. Thomas and St. John but thought we would give undeveloped St. Croix a shot.  Leaving after Xmas for 7 days on a beachfront rental house with some friends.

St. Croix - USVI

2.     April; Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands

This is a repeat trip for us.We have been staying on JVD this same week every year for 8 years now.  Our little piece of paradise is The Sandcastle Hotel on White Bay Beach.  Just 6 small cottages, nothing fancy, on  the best beach I have ever visited.  It's our Caribbean home away from home.

Can there be a better beach anywhere?

3.     May Weekend Trip - New Orleans

We love New Orleans and try to visit every year if we can.  Living in Dallas, it's easy to leave work on a Friday afternoon, hop on Southwest for a quick 1 hour flight and find ourselves in the French Quarter by 7:00pm.  We'll be visiting the Big Easy during our wedding anniversary (11 years) and are planning an extravagant dinner at Commander's Palace.  Love it there but I can't stay for more than 3 or 4 days or I would be as big as a house.

N'awlins

4.     July - Spain (Madrid, Pamplona & San Sebastien)

We visited Spain in 2011(Madrid and Barcelona) and really fell in love with the country.  Especially the food.  OMG, the food.  Seriously, I loved the food more than my meals in Paris and I have been lucky enough to eat well in Paris.  Spanish food is amazingly fresh, simple and absolutely delicious. Nothing fussy, no heavy sauces...just plain good food.  Doing a tapas crawl (or hitting the tiles, as they say) is such a great experience.  We are going with two sets of friends this July and will be starting off with 3 days in Madrid, which is a fabulous city (sorry for all the superlatives but I adore Madrid)

Madrid

We then take the train to Pamplona where will be renting a balcony to see The Running of the Bulls (aka, the San Fermin Festival).

I will not be doing this but I will be watching from above

We then take a short train ride to the seaside town of San Sebastien, which is one of the foodie capitals of Spain before heading back to Madrid for one last night before flying home.  Can't wait for this trip!!

4.     Thanksgiving 2013 - St. Lucia

It's back to the Caribbean for us during Thanksgiving 2013.  We'll be spending that week at a small boutique hotel (Stonefield Estate) looking at the majestic Pitons on St. Lucia.  We have never been to St. Lucia so we plan to do lots of sightseeing and will do the guided hike up to the top of Gros Piton (my husband's idea but I am game).

St Lucia

As for New Year's 2014, I am not sure.  We usually go somewhere but New Years Eve falls on a Wednesday next year so we would pretty much have to take the entire week off to go somewhere unless we did a super short trip like Austin or San Antonio.  I haven't made up my mind yet. What I keep turning over in my mind is the fact that I have saved up just under 300,000 airline miles and my husband has over 100,000 so I am tempted to cash them in for two roundtrip business class tickets to my favorite city....

Paris?  New Year's Eve?  Romantic get away for two???  Hmmmm....maybe that's going overboard, though.

Saw it, Pinned it, Did it

I am pretty much obsessed with Pinterest right now so I finally got around to actually making something that I have previously pinned.  Behold the Jalapeno, Bacon, Pecan Cheeseball.  It was actually really easy to make and was a huge hit at the girlie holiday party I attended last week.  In fact, it was so good that I plan to make another one to bring to my parent's house on Christmas Day.

Original Pin\
http://traceysculinaryadventures.blogspot.com/2012/10/bacon-jalapeno-cheese-ball.html


Here is my prep for the cheese ball:

I would suggest letting the cream cheese sit out at room temperature for at least an hour to soften.  Also, I found it was just easier to mix everything using my hands in order to get the cheese ball ingredients mixed together well.  I  made a few substitutions, including replacing the parsley in the recipe with cilantro and replacing the cayenne pepper with several drops of a chipotle hot sauce for a smokier flavor.  Finally, I used good bacon (Nueske's) which I had then cut from the slab at the deli in really thin slices so it made for an extra crumbly bacon.

Finished Product!

Recipe:

Bacon-Jalapeño Cheese Ball
barely adapted from Homesick Texan

6 slices bacon
1/4 cup chopped pecans
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese 
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I substituted cilantro instead of parlsey)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
pinch cayenne pepper (I substituted about 7 or 8 drops of a chipotle hot sauce instead)
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 jalapeños (ribs and seeds removed), finely chopped and divided
crackers (for serving)

Cook the bacon in a large skillet set over medium heat until crispy. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Allow to cool slightly, then crumble and divide in half. 

While the bacon is cooking, preheat oven to 350 F. Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and toast for 5-7 minutes, or until fragrant. 

In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, parsley, garlic, cumin, cayenne, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, half of the minced jalapeños, and half of the crumbled bacon until well combined. Season the mixture to taste with salt. 

On a large plate, stir the toasted pecans, remaining minced jalapeños and remaining half of the crumbled bacon together until evenly distributed. Shape the cream cheese mixture into a ball (the mixture will be sticky, I found it easiest to shape if I just barely wet my hands first). Roll the ball in the pecan mixture until coated on all sides. 

Cover the ball and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Jamaica...Meh.

Returned from 5 days in Jamaica on Sunday evening.  I give Jamaica 3 stars out of 5.  It was pretty and the locals were some of the friendliest people we have ever met in the Caribbean but I still prefer the Virgin Islands over Jamaica.

The trip started out great.  We had an early flight to Miami on Tuesday morning and given that this is one of the busiest travel weeks I didn't expect to get any upgrades as requested.   We were actually upgraded to first class on both legs of our flight so that was a nice surprise!  After a short delay, we made it to Miami and settled into the Admiral's Club for a beer and Bloody Mary during our 2 hour layover.  Always a great way to get a vacation started.

Admirals Club Beverages

Our flight to Jamaica was on time and we breezed through customs in about 15 minutes flat.  We met our driver outside customs and waited at the outdoor airport bar with our first Red Stripes while he went to pull the car around.  This is when we were first approached to buy a certain illegal substance.  We poiltely declined.  He pestered us a little more by asking us if we "like to party" and why we didn't "want to party" so I finally just told him that we were old and had no interest in "partying" and he finally got the hint.  It was pretty much like this the whole rest of the trip - everywhere you went, you would be approached to buy something green so you could "party."  I'm really not judgmental about other people using it but no thanks.  It doesn't interest either of us.  As I like to say, I graduated college over 15 years ago so I am over that holding any allure for me.

It was a looooong drive from Montego Bay to Negril along a very bumpy and windy road.  I got a little motion sickness at one point but was fine.  We ended up sharing the van with another Dallas couple going to the same resort.  They were...kind of strange.  Not very friendly or talkative at all.  Even more annoying, after we arrived at the hotel, they jumped out of the car and ran off without tipping the driver.  SO rude!!  We saw them later in the week, enjoying said "party" substance on the balcony of their room and acting like weirdos.  Nice.

Sorry - having issues getting the picture the right direction

Anyway, Negril was very beautiful and the sunsets there are amazing as you are on the west side of the island.  The resort, The Caves, was fine but didn't blow me away.  The views from the cliffs were great but I really prefer a beach.  I am also terrified of heights and you have to jump off said cliffs to get into the ocean and that was not my cup of tea.  My highest jump was about 10 feet and I stubbed my toe on the swim ladder on takeoff so I was pretty much done with cliff jumping after that.  Not that it mattered b/c the next two days the water was so rough that no one could swim in the ocean.

Not me and no thanks.  Too high.  This is a photo from the actual resort, though.

After 3 days in Negril, we were off to Montego Bay and the Ritz Carlton Hotel.

Ritz Carlton Pool

The hotel itself was gorgeous.  Beautiful common areas, great ocean views and really friendly staff.  We were also given a fantastic ocean front suite that was huge!  We had two full bathrooms, a huge living room, two balconies, a walk-in closet and a massive bedroom with king bed.   The biggest disappointment was the beach and the pool.  Yes, the pool looks nice (see above picture) but it was the only pool for a 500 room hotel that was almost at capacity.  This is one of those places where annoying, selfish people will get up at 6am and put their towels on chairs by the pool to "save a spot" and then not show up until 10 or 11am.  I hate that and think it's rude. I won't do it myself so each morning, by the time we rolled out to the pool around 9 or 10am, every spot was taken or "saved."   Steve wanted to just move people's "saving" towels but I told him it wasn't worth having a scene with someone an hour or two later.  Some people just have no manners.  The beach was super rocky and with rough waves so you really couldn't swim in it.  Oh well.

Our first night was wonderful.  We relaxed on our balcony, walked down the beach and hung out on some chaise lounges that afternoon.  We then each got a nice hot shower (our 1st one in 3 days as The Caves had hot water and water pressure issues in our room) and took a shuttle bus to The White Witch Restaurant located on a huge hill above a golf course.  It's also where the Rose Hall Plantation House is located and that is one eerie looking place lit up at night.  It's supposedly haunted and they do ghost tours.

Rose Hall Plantation House

White Witch Restaurant View

The White Witch restaurant was amazing.  I had a great crab cake appetizer and Steve had a goat cheese terrine appetizer and we each had steaks for our entrees.  We also had a nice bottle of wine - something else we couldn't get at The Caves.  It was pricey but worth every penny and it was the best meal we had in Jamaica.

Overall, the Ritz was nice but it was a little too sanitized for us.  We almost wanted something that wasn't quite as rustic as The Caves but not as pristine as the Ritz Carlton.  It seemed that most of the resorts in Jamaica cater to either families or the all-inclusive crowd that never wants to leave their resort.    We ended up hiring a cab driver for half a day and he took us to Scotchies, a very rustic restaurant known for its traditional jerk BBQ.  Scotchies was definitely my second favorite meal - the jerk chicken was juicy and had a wonderful smoky flavor.  The jerk hot sauce which they gave is in a squeeze bottle would put hair on your chest - it was SO hot and we love spicy being from Texas.

Scotchie's  Jerk BBQ

We also spent some time in an area of Mo'Bay called The Hip Strip.  It's not much a strip and it's definitely not hip unless you consider junk store after junk store to be hip.  Margaritaville is also located there but it was closed for renovation, which was disappointing as we are Jimmy B fans and we actually kind of like his corny island schtick.  We paid (yes, paid) to go into the area's best beach called Doctor's Cave Beach.  It was a nice beach but by the time you pay admission, get an umbrella and two chairs, you have spent almost $40 before even sitting down.  Seemed like a bit of a ripoff if you ask me.

The trip home was uneventful.  We didn't get upgraded but we did have a direct flight from Montego Bay to DFW, we left on time and were through customs and on our way home by 7:00pm.

So, overall, I would go back to Jamaica and try a different area, like maybe Port Antonio or Ocho Rios.  I'm definitely not clamoring to go back and would rather return to the Virgin Islands or perhaps try some other islands instead.  I still have so many places in the Caribbean to visit -- St. Lucia, Anguilla, Antigua, Nevis, Grenada, St. Martin and St. Barts are all on my list.

Over New Years we will be spending a week on St. Croix with some friends.  It's our first time to St. Croix and our last Virgin Island to hit.  Can't wait.....