North Carolina Azalea Festival

A great time to visit Wilmington, North Carolina is in April so you can join in the fun of the Azalea Festival.

If you are traveling by here by car, read our post, Getting The Car Ready For A Road Trip, before you go.

Welcome To Wilmington - Home Of The NC Azalea Festival.  I had seen this sign more than a few times when my daughter moved here six years ago.  Why is this something that we need to know?  Why would it be called an Azalea Festival?  I don't see any azaleas!  Well, after we moved in 2 1/2 years ago, we were finally in Wilmington in early spring and then I knew why there would be an azalea festival here.  It is a gorgeous sight that lasts only a couple of short weeks, but when the azaleas are in bloom, and the dogwoods at the same time, Wilmington is the most colorful place on earth.  You can't help but feel absolute joy when you are out and about at this time of the year.  It is as amazing a treat of nature as New York's fall always was for us when we lived there.

The 2018 North Carolina Azalea Festival is history now as it happened last weekend but it will be back for sure in 2019 as it has returned year after year since 1948.  It always happens in Wilmington and it is their premier event.  It is a 5 day festival that starts with the traditional arrival of Queen Azalea.  Following the Queen is the Azalea Festival Princess and her court.  You can see them all in the parade that kicks off the weekend festivities along with high school bands from across the state and much more.

If you love music, you can find plenty of musical entertainment to enjoy all during and around the festival.  Big name talents, including Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and Tony Bennett have all performed here.  More recent headliners include Carrie Underwood, Jason Derulo and Duran, Duran. Daughter, Lisa, had tickets for the concert and asked me to join her. 

This year (2024) it was T-Rain at the main stage. 

Besides for the main music events, there are smaller, but equally entertaining talent in different venues all over the streets of downtown Wilmington.

On Water Street, across from the courthouse, you will find the Multicultural Stage.  This free event showcases different cultures including groups representing China, Mexico, Japan Ireland and more.  You can  marvel at the entertainers in their authentic costumes, dancing and/or musically entertaining their audience.

Are you feeling hungry?  There is so much food here, mostly what you hope to find when you are at a fest, like turkey legs, funnel cake and fried everything!  Fried Oreos, yum!  Come hungry for sure!

Is it arts and crafts you are looking for?  You've come to the perfect place to find them.  You and about 199,999 other people.  (The average number of visitors to the festival each year is about 200,000),  The craftsmanship is really amazing though.  I saw the most creative things for sale.  I am so impressed by someone who can pick up a Coke can and think, "This looks like an airplane to me." and then turn it into one.  I pick a can up and think, "This needs to go into the recycle bin, but first I need to take the tab off and save it for Joan."

Besides for the many craft booths you will find along Front Street, you might find a golden fairy statue who will come alive, when you drop a donation in her basket, and sprinkle you with glitter!

My favorite sight, though, are the Azalea Belles.  The belles are volunteers who must go through a selection process and if selected get to wear an elaborate gown made up of 15 yards of fabric and 40 yards of lace.  You can see the girls strolling around the festival streets with their escorts, in the many private gardens on the garden tour and gracing the front of the mansions on the home tour.  The girls and their dresses are so beautiful and add so much to the festival.   They are as much a symbol of the Azalea Festival as the azaleas themselves.

If you are ever planning a vacation to Wilmington, NC, consider visiting in April so you can take part in all the Azalea Festival festivities.   Does your town host a festival that they are proud of?  When and where is it?  We would love to be a part of it if we are ever in your area!

Seeking The Oddball And Wacky On Road Trips

One of our favorite things to do when we are on a road trip is to find the most unusual, unique sights in the city that we are in.  Well, maybe the better adjectives are oddball and wacky!  Our love for seeking out these wild and crazy attractions started when I bought the book, The Great American Road Trip, for Soko years ago.  There is page after page of photographs showing the most fun things to find on a road trip.  Now, before we travel to a new city, we consult this book to see if there are any weird things to visit.  We have also found some of the quirkiest things by surfing the net so we don't forget to check there also before our trip.  We put all this info into our GPS and off we go.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

We knew we had to find this guy when we went to Seattle.  His name is Fremont Troll and the book told us he would be a gigantic piece of concrete, but we never expected him to be this huge!

A friend told us about the Gum Wall, located near Pike Place Market.  The pieces that we put on the wall, were cleared off along with 2,350 pounds of gum when the walls were totally washed off in 2015.  It has since been accumulating gum again so make sure you bring a piece if you get a chance to visit Seattle.  Be aware, though, that the wall is rated one of the five most germiest tourist attractions, second to the Blarney Stone.

If you are hungry for rotisserie chicken flavored candy canes or pickle candy this is where you will find these yummy treats.  Or maybe you've been wondering what it would be like to have lobster claws instead of hands.  Or perhaps you know someone who has always wanted a man bun but he could never grow his hair long enough, or doesn't have enough.  Guess what?  You can get a clip on man bun from Archie McPhee's!

SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS

In 1620, twenty men and women were executed for practicing witchcraft in Salem.  The museum is full of history of the area and "witchy" information.  There are people who still practice witchcraft and we noticed that they all live in this town!

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

Our road trip book suggested a visit to the Mummers Museum in Philly, but we didn't get there.  But we did get to Philadelphia's Magic Gardens.  It was one of two unique, and a little kooky, sights we found on the web that we were curious to see when we took a road trip here.  We were disappointed that we got to the Gardens a little too late to venture inside, but the wall outside told the story of what we would have been able to see inside.  The art is made of nontraditional materials including folk art statues, found objects, bicycle wheels, colorful glass bottles, hand-made tiles and thousands of pieces of mirrors.

The Freedom Sculpture was the other.  Zenos Frudakis, the creator of this very cool, although somewhat wacky, sculpture explains it this way.  "The sculpture is about the struggle for achievement of freedom through the creative process."  We really liked this very creative and thought provoking piece.  It is not every day that you can see a sculpture escaping from their sculpture!

 DILLON, SOUTH CAROLINA

If you are driving on Interstate 95 going towards South Carolina in either direction, you will see over 200 billboards featuring Pedro enticing you to stop at his hangout, South of the Border.  The billboards get more frequent the closer you get to his place.  Daughter Lisa's favorite is the one that says "You never sausage a place!  You're always a wiener at Pedro's!"  Of course a huge sausage is attached to the sign.  Our kids loved stopping here on our way to Florida every year to visit Grandma and Grandpa.

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA

Our planned trip to see the Mets minor league team (and Tim Tebow, former quarterback turned baseball player), brought us to Columbus, South Carolina and to the world's largest fire hydrant.  Joe found this gigantic piece of art when he was looking for other things for us to do while we were in Columbus.  The hydrant is called "Busted Plug Plaza".  It is 40 feet tall and weighs 675,000 pounds and can withstand a direct hit from a tornado! 

GATLINBURG, TENNESSEE

Apparently, Seattle is not the only place in the world that you can find a space needle!  And just like Seattle's, you can take a ride to the observation deck 342 feet up to view the town below.

Lisa found this gem when she googled places to visit in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  She knew I was putting this post together and thought it would be a perfect addition.  She was right.  I don't know how The Great American Road Trip guide missed this one!   This place had some of the wackiest salt and pepper shakers we have ever seen.  We had so much fun pointing out the weirdest ones to each other.  The salt shaker that looked like a bottle of ketchup could be a little confusing but shaking pepper out of a banana is really bananas!

WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA

When Joe and Nicole told me they were going to stop in Winston-Salem on their way to our house, I asked them to keep an eye out for the shell-shaped gas station.  They went out of their way a bit to find it and surprised me with a picture of Nicole standing in front.  There were eight of these Shell stations built but this is the only one left thanks to Preservation North Carolina who turned the building into their regional office.  

WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA

And finally, Tregembo Animal Park near our home in Wilmington, NC.  We had been passing this place for a couple of years but I knew one day we would have to stop in so I could take a picture of us getting eaten by a lion!  Careful, those teeth look really sharp!!

We would love to visit the oddball places in your town.  Or if you have any suggestions of any wacky sights you think we would like to see, we would love to hear from you!

City of Murals - Lake Wales, FL

I used to have a routine of going to the gym for about an hour after work, three times a week and then on Saturday morning.  Since we retired, I haven't join a gym but do try to get some exercise by walking a few hours a week.  We are so lucky to be living near two awesome cities.  In NC we live about 15 minutes from downtown Wilmington.  We enjoy walking around this old city and admiring the historic homes that line the streets.  The Riverwalk is also downtown and walking along the Cape Fear River is one of our favorite ways to get the exercise we need.  During the fall and winter months we live in Florida.  We are about 10 minutes from downtown Lake Wales.  Like downtown Wilmington, downtown Lake Wales is also an historic area.  What we love about walking around here is that we get to enjoy a visual treat in the form of murals that cover many of the sides of the buildings.  Not only are they beautiful and amazing, but many of them tell the history of Lake Wales and stories about the people who made an impact on the town or who were special to the town in some way.

One of our favorites is a mural of someone who was a fixture on the streets of the city.  Jesse Williams was a greatly respected shoe shiner for an amazing 6 decades.  Friends and family of Jesse funded this project.

Tom Freeman, a Lake Wales artist, painted many of the murals downtown.  He also was a very influential adult art teacher.   So very respected that his students wanted to honor him by painting a mural of Freeman painting a mural.

The Barrel was the place to be if you wanted to get the scoop on what was happening around town, and also if you wanted to have breakfast or lunch and socialize with friends at the same time.  This mural was funded by people who had very fond memories of this special restaurant.

F.S. McLaughlin was the principal of Lake Wales Schools for almost 4 decades and founded the Lake Wales Charter Schools.  Also seen in this mural is his wife who was an integral part of the success of the school system.  The mural was funded by Frank McLaughlin Jr. and when it was dedicated in 2006, many former teachers attended.

The community has always been proud of the Lake Wales High School Band and Scottish Unit.  After a tragic accident involving two of the young dancers, they got together to fund this special mural.  Thousands of .supporters showed up for the dedication of this mural to the two girls.

This mural was funded by True Value Hardware and was the Tom Freeman's last outdoor mural.  It is called Florida Flowers and showcases the flowers and animals of Florida.

The United States Post Office fully funded this patriotic mural that graces their annex.  We love how the flags wraps around the two corners of the building.

Soko is in front of one of a few indoor murals.  This one is called Harvest Time - Lake Wales and is in the post office.  The citrus industry is a vital part of this area's economy.   We live in the middle of the orange groves which makes our neighborhood smell heavenly!

Wells Fargo funded this printed mural.  It decorates the city's town square and is a composite of various historic photographs of Lake Wales.  Featured in this mural is Bok Tower and  Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscrape architect for Bok Tower Gardens.  The grand Dixie Walesbilt Hotel is featured and I am happy to say that it looks like it may be opening again, or at least we saw that there was some kind of restoration going on inside this gorgeous building.   Our favorite street, Spook Hill, has a spot on this tremendous mural.  If you are ever in in Lake Wales, go to the bottom of this street, put your car in neutral and wait for your car to magically drive up the hill on it's own!

"Old Timers" of Lake Wales fondly remember this building, that was on the western shore of Lake Wailes, and funded the painting of this mural.  Inside the City Pavilion you could find dressing rooms, concession stands and a gathering place for community events.

 The Downtown City Mural depicts downtown Lake Wales as it looked in the late 1920's and early 1930's.  Last year we watched, for many weeks, this amazing two story mural getting a touch up.   

We voted this mural as being "Most Amusing"!  One side of the locksmith's building shows a 1958 Thunderbird crashing into the building and on the opposite side, you see it coming out.

These four businessmen, BK Bullard, EC Stuart, GV Tillman and CL Johnson, are credited with founding Lake Wales.  Look at the names of the streets while you are walking around town.  It will probably be named after one of these gentlemen. 

A group of amateur artists created a beautiful mural of azaleas that is one of my favorites.  I love how it is so simple but so appealing at the same time.  I also like how the artists continued the design on the railing.

Locals funded this mural of the Passion Play that was performed every year at a theater in Lake Wales that is now closed.  Residents volunteered to participate in the play and still have fond memories of this annual tradition.

Friends and family of the current owner of the Fletcher Electric store, John Fletcher, commissioned artist Lisa Moore to paint this mural of his dad, Virgil Fletcher, passing the torch to his son.  This was done while John was on a two week hunting trip.  When he got back, family and friends surprised him with the reveal.

End Of A Perfect Day In Paradise is the name of this mural.  The mantra in our snowbird community is Another Day In Paradise and you can see that on our shirts, along with our community logo.  The feeling that we are living in paradise is felt among many Floridians I'm sure, especially those of us formerly from the coldest areas of the north.

The turpentine industry was one of the original industries when Lake Wales was founded.  The Turpentine Mural helps us remember this fact about the area.

And, of course, if you are the city of murals, your garbage pails should be as colorful as the rest of the town!

 This post was featured:

Must See In Venice, Italy - Preparing For Our Mediterranean Cruise

Venice and Rome are the reasons we chose this particular European cruise.  We are thrilled that we are getting a day and a half in Venice, the sixth port of our Mediterranean cruise.  We will dock in Venice at 3:00 pm on our first day here and leave the following day at 6:30 pm.  This means we have enough time to see all that we want to see here.  We have booked two excursions, one for each day.

Murano Glass and Burano Lace Excursion - On our first day at port, we will board a private motorboat that will take us through the Venice Lagoon and bring us to the floating islands of Murano and Burano. 

Murano - is 7 islands linked together by bridges.  My sister visited Italy and brought me back a Murano glass necklace which I love and would love to buy another one for myself and her.  I read that I will need to look for signs in the glass shop windows that say "Vetro Murano Artistico" so that I will be sure that I am buying authentic Murano glass and not imitations.   I know that I don't have to go to the island to find the beautiful glass necklaces but we will be so close to Murano when we are in Venice that I would probably regret not going, at least for a little visit.  On top of our list of things to do here is to watch some glass blowing, of course.   Besides for that, I will be on the lookout for some quirkiness in the lamp posts here and for the Comet Glass Star located at Campo Santo Stefano.  After that, I would be happy to just stroll around this island admiring the glass, watching the people going about their business and sampling some food.

Burano - is best known for producing beautiful lace.  We are looking forward to watching the lace making.  We also can't wait to see the colorful homes, especially the most colorful House of Bepi, and the leaning bell tower.  I never knew that the Leaning Tower of Pisa was not the only leaning tower.  Apparently there is a Leaning Tower of Burano!  We will definitely want to have some of the fresh fish dishes Burano is famous for.  One local favorite is a dish called "risotto de go".   It sounds amazingly delicious.  I have to have it!  Not sure that Soko will want it though.  Bussalo and Esse, Burano's cookies, will be our desert choice.  It sounds like we will not have any trouble finding this typical cookie of Burano at any of the bakeries.  Piazza Galuppi may be the place to find the restaurant that has the risotto on their menu.  We can also find many shops here.   Did someone say shopping?  Yes, we will definitely want to explore this square.  Finally, we would like to see the Three Bridges (Tre Ponti).  It is a wooden bridge that connects three canals and three of the most colorful streets of Burano.

Venice Panorama Excursion - We will take a leisurely 2 1/2 hour ride in a private boat, on our second day here, that will take us through the Giudecca Canal and past many of Venice's significant landmarks.  We will pass city landmarks that include Venetian islands, the Armenian Monastery, the Arsenal dockyard, and the 16th century San Pietro di Castello church.  We will also sail past Murano so if I haven't taken enough pictures of this beautiful island, I will get another chance!

Having lots of time here gives us time to explore Venice on our own after our excursions.  After reading posts other bloggers have written about their time in Venice and after talking to friends who have been there, there are a couple of things I don't want to miss.

Rialto Bridge - is on every must see list as it is one of the world's most famous bridges.  Our trip to Venice would not be complete if we don't have at least one picture of us beside it.  We can't wait to cross the Grand Canal by way of this bridge but first we will have to check out the market that surrounds it.

Doge's Palace - was recommended by a friend who had it on her must see list. The palace is located in St. Mark's Square which is where we will find other sites on our list.  The palace is built in Venetian Gothic style and is one of the main landmarks of Venice. Inside we will find the Museo dell'Opera which is where the original 2 facades and capitals, that were replaced with replicas, are stored and the Doge's Apartments, Institutional Chamber, Old Prison, and New Prison which is linked to an interrogation room by a corridor that crosses the Bridge of Sighs.  The Bridge of Sighs was so named by Lord Byron who said that prisoners would sigh at their last view of Venice before their imprisonment. We can buy tickets in advance to enter the palace which we plan to do.  There is no option to buy entrance into Doge's Palace only.  A ticket will cost each of us 20.50 Euro and will get us entrance into the palace, Museo Correr, National Archaeological Museum and Marciana Library.

St. Mark's Basilica - a recommendation, a blogger's post and a top rating from Rick Steves makes it a must see for us.  The nickname for the basilica is Chiesa d'Oro (Church of Gold) because of its opulent design, gold ground mosaics and status as a symbol of wealth and power.  On the outside of the church we will be looking at the beautiful mosaics depicting the Life of Christ and culminating in the Last Judgement.  There is only one mosaic which dates back to the 1300's.  It is called the Deposition of Relic.  It shows the crowd leaving San Marco after the ceremonial appointing of a new doge.  All the others have had to be replaced over the years but the subjects are rarely changed.  Inside we will admire the marble floors and look for the design showing two cocks carrying a fox.  There are many ideas about what the symbolism here is.  One thing I don't want to miss seeing here is the Pala d'Oro, an altarpiece made up of 1,927 gems including pearls, emeralds, sapphires, garnet and rubies to name a few, on gold and silver enamel plaques.

Campanile - is the bell tower for St. Mark's Basilica and is the most recognizable landmark in the city.  The original tower was built between 887 and 912.  It was destroyed and rebuilt many times.  The last time being 1912 when it was reconstructed exactly the way it was before but also adding reinforcements inside to prevent future collapse and an elevator was installed.  The new tower was inaugurated on April 25, 1912 on St. Mark's feast day and exactly 1,000 years from the day the foundation was first allegedly laid.  There is a replica of the tower at the Venetian in Las Vegas and in the Italy Pavilion at Epcot Center in Florida as well as other places around the globe.  

Bridge of Sighs - We will be crossing over this bridge when we are in Doge's Palace but we have it on our list so that we won't forget to look at it from the outside of the building.

Liberia Acqua Alta - is a quirky bookshop.  The blogger's pictures show books everywhere and anywhere you would not expect them to be, like in toilet bowls!  We love finding quirkiness when we travel.  One of our favorites was the giant troll under a bridge that we found in Seattle.  

Caffe Florian - has the best hot chocolate says a blogger and the way it was described by her makes it seem very much worth it to find this shop.

Hopefully we will be able to get to all these amazing sites.  But any site we see will just be icing on the cake.  I know that we will just be happy to be in Venice. It will be a dream come true.

Deals For FL Residents At Orlando's Theme Parks

When your snowbird home is near Orlando, FL you get visitors from the north who want to visit the theme parks.  We would love to join them but they are so expensive to get into these days.  I started to wonder if there was any way to get discounts to make a visit a little more affordable.  I found out that all of the parks give some kind of discount or easy payment plans to Florida residents.  That's perfect for us because we decided to stay 6 months and a day in Florida and we are now officially residents.

Disney World - I was surprised to find any discounts here but I actually found a couple of options that would work for us as Florida residents.  There is a 3 day ($159 plus tax) or 4 day ($179 plus tax) package that we could purchase and be able to use between Jan. 4 through June 24, 2018.  The tickets can be used to enter any of the Disney parks but only one park per day.  Considering that a one day adult regular ticket for Magic Kingdom costs a minimum of $119 plus tax, (regular ticket price, prices are higher at peak times of the year) this is an amazing deal.  If we think we will be visiting the parks more than 3 or 4 times, we might consider getting one of the annual passes.  Anyone can buy an annual pass to Disney but Florida residents have a choice of two additional options not available to the general public.  The Disney Silver Pass ($439 plus tax) gives us access to all 4 parks, park hopping and parking.  There are blackout dates, though, which are basically the weeks that schools are closed.  The Disney Weekday Select Pass ($289 plus tax) is the same as the Silver except that the weekends are also blackout dates.  I am thrilled with the Florida resident deals.  We will definitely take advantage of these deals if our guests want to do Disney when they visit.
If you are not a resident:  The cheapest way to buy tickets through Disney World (see other options below) would be to buy them online.   If you are planning to visit the parks 3 or more times within 14 days you can save $20 compared to what you would pay at the window.   There are also annual pass options for non-residents.

Universal - It costs $115 plus tax, at the cheapest time of the year, for a non-resident to visit Universal, and a little more at peak times.  But we can take advantage of resident pricing here.  For $164.95 plus tax we can visit one park per day, Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure, 4 separate times.  Or if we think we might want to make more than 4 visits to the parks, we can buy an annual pass for as low as $259.99 plus tax.  Right now there is a sale going on that gives us 3 extra months free when we buy an annual pass.  This makes this deal really worth the price.  There are blackout dates but will still work for us right now.  It will not work when our grand kids get to be school aged though!
If you are not a resident:  There is a deal here that is hard to pass on if you are  planning to visit the parks 5 times in one week.  The ticket will cost you  $224.99 for 5 admissions, which is the same price you would pay if you were buying a package of 3 one park per day tickets.  It's like getting 2 days free!

Sea World - The cheapest way to purchase tickets for a day at Sea World is to buy them at least one day ahead of time online.  The ticket will cost $79.00 for non-residents and residents alike, instead of $99.00.  There are no Florida resident discounts here unless you are a teacher.  The only perk a resident could get would be to be able to make monthly payments when purchasing an annual pass compared to having to pay in full.  The annual pass is $175.   Parking is included and there are no blackout dates which makes this a very good deal even without a discount.

Busch Gardens - The only deals you can get here as a Florida resident is free yearly passes for Florida preschoolers and, like Sea World, you can make monthly payments when purchasing your annual pass.  So whether you are a resident or non-resident, your annual pass is $168 and includes unlimited visits with no blackout dates, free parking, the ability to purchase tickets for your guests at a discounted price and other perks.  A one day, one park ticket costs $89.99 and parking costs $18.69.  It is definitely worth thinking about buying an annual pass and spending two days at the park.  It would mean your second day would cost only $60.00 and would include parking.

Legoland - For only $99.99 Florida residents can purchase an annual pass.  The perk that makes this really worth buying is the $25 discount you can get for your guests, up to 4.  Saving up to $100.00 on tickets for our guests sounds like a great deal to me.  Cypress Gardens was the theme park here before Legoland.  I was thrilled to know that Legoland kept the gardens and their website claims that it is even more beautiful than ever.  I always loved those gardens and the fact that Legoland is only about 30 minutes from my Florida home makes me think we will take full advantage of the discounts we can get here.
If you are not a resident:  Buy your tickets at least 2 days in advance online and you can save $14.00 per ticket.  A one day ticket costs $88.99 at the gate.   There is a annual pass available to non-residents that will cost you $149 and will get you a full year of admission to the theme park and water park with no blackout dates and includes parking.  You also get unlimited admission to the Coca Cola Orlando Eye, SEA LIFE Aquarium and Madam Tussauds in Orlando.  (For more information on these amusements see our recent blog post here.)  This is definitely worth looking into if you were planning to enjoy more than one visit to Legoland on your vacation.

There are great deals for us now that we are Florida residents.  We will look into deals we can get in other ways too before I buy our theme park tickets.  I know we can buy discounted tickets with our AAA membership .  We have also gotten a great deal for Busch Gardens when we purchased tickets online from visitorlando.com.  Groupon and Trip Advisor are also worth taking a look at.  An added bonus is getting 4% back from Ebates when you buy tickets through Trip Advisor and 9% through Groupon.

Do you enjoy any perks in the city you reside in?

What Destinations Are On Your Bucket List?

I was curious to know what destinations were on my friend's and family member's bucket lists.  These are the people who have traveled as far as Japan with us.  They have hiked in a couple of national parks and camped in almost every state on the east coast with us.  We have traveled as far west, in the US, as Seattle, Washington and have cruised together.  We traveled so much together that, years ago, we decided we needed a group name.  We called ourselves the Rockland Rollers.  (Most of us live or lived in Rockland County, NY.)

I asked the group for the top 3 destinations on their bucket list.  It is a big world out there,with many places to discover, so I was ready for a very varied list.  But there were eight places that made many of the lists.  I had to find out more about these places just in case one of these destinations turned into another group vacation adventure! 

The Rockland Rollers Top Eight Bucket List Destinations

1. Greece - was on the top of at least half of the group's lists.  Because of it's many islands, when we think of Greece, we think of beautiful beaches and gorgeous weather.  There are too many islands to choose from, though, so I think one trip here would not be enough.  The most visited island is Corfu where you can enjoy elegant Italian architecture and walk the many romantic pedestrian-only streets.  The most dramatic island is Santorini with it's clifftop towns of Fira and Oia.   They are both considered romantic destinations and are popular for weddings and honeymoons.  Swimming at the black volcanic sand beaches sounds like a wonderful way to relax.  The most glamorous island is Mykonos where you can stay in boutique hotel, eat delicious meals at classy seafood restaurants and enjoy the many live music venus.  If we stayed on the mainland we might want to discover Delphi built on the slopes of Mt. Parnassus.  This was a sacred site where people came to worship Apollo.  We could explore the ruins of many temples, a theater and stadium all dating back between 8th century BC and 2nd century AD.  Or would we want to see the symbol of Greece and Athens, the Acropolis, a rocky mound where the Parthenon stands.  Yes, one trip here would definitely not be enough.

2.  Thailand - was almost on as many lists as Greece was.  I was really surprised and curious about this choice because I have never thought about ever going to Thailand.  The more I found out about this exotic country, the more I thought I needed to get there one day.  But one day or one vacation would not be enough time to explore Thailand.  I found one adventure after another when I started researching this very interesting place.  Some of the must-sees here include the Grand Palace complex in Bangkok where we could see royal residences, throne halls, government offices, Buddhist temples and priceless works of art.  Wat Rong Khun or White Temple is both a place of worship as well as an art piece.  It looks like one of those things that a picture of it wouldn't do it justice.  You'd have to see it for yourself to really take it all in.  Damnoen Saduak Floating Market sounds like a  really unique, not-to-be-missed experience where you board a boat and go shopping to buy food, souvenirs, clothing and fresh produce from vendors who are in their boats.  Another fun shopping experience can be found at Chiang Mal which hosts a night bazaar every evening but the best night to go is Sunday when there are more arts and crafts for sale and local musicians and street performers show up.  There is definitely lots to see, do and experience in Thailand that I really could keep going on forever about it.

3.  Australia - is on lots of lists and is on my bucket list mostly because I would love to get a chance to see the cutest wildlife on earth, in my opinion anyway!  In a recent post (see other must-sees here), I researched a city where koalas could be seen sitting on people's lawns.  That would be a sight to see!

4.  Africa - People who had Africa as one of their top destinations, immediately added because they would love to experience an African Safari.  There are many safari's to choose from.  How awesome would it be to join the safari that takes you view the migration of wildebeest and zebra.  This migration is called the "greatest wildlife show on earth".   Or maybe one around the Ngorongoro Crater which is a massive depression that serves as a protective enclosure for over 25,000 large animals.  You are guaranteed to see each of the Big Five of Africa.  I know, from teaching about them when I worked in a pre-school, that they are the lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo.  The animals are a big draw for wanting to explore Africa but how amazing would it be to see the largest  body of falling water at Victoria Falls in Zambia.  It's twice the height and many times wider than Niagara Falls.  I thought Niagara Falls was powerful!  I can't imagine falls more than twice the size.  Chrissy crossed Africa off her bucket list when she was asked to go as a representative of the company she works for, Vitamin Shoppe.  Not only did she get to go on a safari, she also was able to experience the people and culture.  The stories she came back were amazing and are wonderful memories she will have forever.

Photo Credit: Sophia Billikopf, Vitamin Angels

Photo Credit: Sophia Billikopf, Vitamin Angels

5.  Iceland - made many of the Rollers' bucket lists.  Most added that they would love to see the Northern Lights.  I can imagine that this would be the most sensational light show we would ever witness in our lives.  So what else could we see or do in Iceland?  Iceland sounds like the perfect place to go whale watching.  We have a pretty good chance of seeing the Blue Whale here, the largest animal ever to live on earth.  Another interesting animal to see here is the Icelandic Horse.  We can choose to go horseback riding on these short-legged, muscular animals.  If it's glacier we want to see, it sounds like Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon is the place to see them.   We can watch, as well as hear, them crashing into each other.  We can do this on a boat or just watch them from the shoreline.  An added treat would be also watching the seals here playing around us.  It takes a bit of luck, and a very knowledgeable guide, to be able to see the Northern Lights.  If we ever get to Iceland that would be the hope, but there are so many different and interesting things to see and do here that a trip here would be worth the trip anyway.

6.  Alaska - The natural beauty and delicious seafood are only two of the many reasons we would want to visit the largest state in America.  It is on mine (see the rest of my list and read more about Alaska here) and Soko's lists as well as a couple of others.  I'm sure we would want to visit one of the National Parks, but which one.  Denali National Park has the highest peak in North America.  We can marvel at the glaciers, grizzly bears and "drunken trees", trees that have tilted because the frozen ground is melting around them.  Glacier Bay National Park is where we would want to go to enjoy many outdoor activity opportunities like hiking, kayaking and fishing.  Or would we want to get a glimpse of whales breaching or eagles soaring at Kenai Fjords National Park.  And when we are in Alaska we would definitely have to check out the glaciers.  Heidi and Frank were lucky enough to make a trip to Alaska and checked out the Mendenhall and Spencer Glaciers among others.  Although, Heidi has been able to check Alaska off her bucket list she still dreams about going back again to explore more of the interior of this beautiful state.

7.  Hawaii -  I can definitely understand why Hawaii was a top 3 on the Rollers' lists.  Me and Soko honeymooned here and loved it.   Diamond Head in Oahu was one of the sights that were on our must-see list when we went.  If the Parthenon is the symbol of Greece, then for me Diamond Head is the symbol of Hawaii.   We took a trip to the island of Maui and it wouldn't have been complete if we didn't take the Road to Hana.  Amazing!  We also enjoyed watching the very talented hula dancers at a luau and tasting authentic Hawaiian food like poi.  (I'm not sure that I would try poi again though!)  The beaches were amazing and our hotel was across the street from the International Market Place in Waikiki which was a definite thrill for me.  I loved shopping at all the little kiosks.  I had to bring home one of the beautiful carved candles that were a popular buy there.  I heard that the Market Place that I remember has been completely renovated but is still a must-see.  Even though we have visited Hawaii, I would go back in a heartbeat!

8.  Bora Bora - After traveling around the world, we may need a place to relax.  Bora Bora sounds exactly like that place and was the top choice of a couple of the Rollers.  Whether we are relaxing on the deck of our floating bungalow, wading in the water of the lagoon surrounding Bora Bora or taking a leisurely bike ride around the island, this island sounds made for relaxing.  There are sights to see  on this French Polynesian Island, after a lot of relaxing, like Mt. Otemanu for one.  I heard that the best way to see and enjoy this magnificent dormant volcano is by taking a boat ride around it.  On the top of almost every "best things to do in Bora Bora" list is a visit to Matira Beach.  Who wouldn't want to lounge on the white sand and swim in the calm turquoise water.  And, last but not least, snorkeling in the warm, clear water in a lagoon filled with beautiful coral gardens, sounds heavenly.

I have now added more places to see on my bucket list after seeing theirs.  I hope that one day I will be posting my story and adding my pictures of the adventure I had in one of these exciting places.  Even better would be having stories and making memories on these trips with the Rockland Rollers!