Travel and Tourism – Page 2 – Circadianreflections Blog

Whatever Weds.-Alaska Cruise Pics

July 30, 2025July 31, 2025Posted in Photography, Travel and Tourism, Whatever WednesdayTagged Alaska Cruise, Cruise Ship, Photography, Quantum of the Seas, Royal Caribbean, Seattle Skyline, Stateroom, Whatever Wednesday45 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Some of you may recall that He-Man and I took a Cruise to Alaska on board the Quantum of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean Ship earlier this month. I thought I’d start sharing our trip with photos of our stateroom .

We were sailing out of the Port of Seattle so we flew up a day before our cruise departed. We stayed in the north end of town in a Comfort Inn & Suites. The room and hotel were nice, the neighborhood…a little sketchy, but we felt safe enough to walk to the nearby stores and a restaurant for dinner. We just pulled our city street awareness spidy senses out of the archives and stayed alert while walking.

This was the view from our room of downtown Seattle, and Mt. Rainier way in the distance on the left just as the city lights were coming on for the evening.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com Image

That parking lot is car dealer spare lot we think.

We took an Uber to the port after checking out of the hotel. Getting through security and checking in with Royal Caribbean was a breeze. Our stateroom wasn’t quite ready so we headed up to the Windjammer Cafe for lunch. I haven’t got any photos of that sorry!

Then we headed to Deck 12 mid-ship to our stateroom hide-away for our departure. We had a stateroom with a balcony on the port side of the ship. The images in the gallery are our main stateroom and view of the balcony, one closet, we had two closets, the bathroom, the big bed…bigger than our Queen at home and there was storage in a cupboard above the bed, the vanity I used for applying my makeup, and over the course of the cruise our Stateroom Attendant left us 4 towel animals. My favorites were the bear, and elephant.

Views from our stateroom balcony-the busy port where people were being dropped off to get onboard, and the port crew loading the luggage, food, and all the things we’d need for the week, and the Seattle Skyline from our balcony on Deck 12 shortly after we left the port.

We’re off! North to Alaska, the rush is on!

This is the movie that made me want to go to Alaska when I was girl. I had this song in my head off and on the whole trip. 😊

more to come…

Thursday Doors-Vintages

July 24, 2025Posted in Photography, Thursday Doors, Travel and Tourism, Travel PhotographyTagged Cruising, Doors, iPhone 14 Pro, Quantum of the Seas, Thursday Doors, Travel and Tourism, wine31 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

He-Man and I were recently on an Alaskan Cruise which was a lot of fun and full of beautiful scenery, but you know I had an eye out for the unique or unusual door too. I think this one fits the bill. Vintage’s Bar on the Quantum of the Seas ship.

This post is part of the weekly challenge Thursday Doors hosted by Dan Antion over at https://nofacilities.com/2025/07/24/shop-doors-part-2/

Head on over there to see more doors from around the world or join the craze and add a door or two of your own. 😊

more to come…

Thursday Doors-I’m not saying there are Aliens, but…

March 13, 2025Posted in Thursday Doors, Travel and Tourism, Travel PhotographyTagged Area 51 Alien Store, Fun Stops along the Journey, Hwy 95, Somewhere in Nevada, Thursday Doors48 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

When passing near Area 51 one does wonder.

We passed this store on the way down to Henderson, NV and knew we’d have to stop on our way home. It’s got an ice cream shop, and lots of souvenirs all on the Area 51 theme. It’s a fun stop along the journey.

This post is part of the weekly challenge Thursday Doors hosted by Dan Antion over at https://nofacilities.com/2025/03/13/east-hartford-detour/

Hop on over there to see more doors from around the world or join the craze and add a door or two of your own. 😊

more to come…

Thursday Doors- Quaker Steak & Lube

September 26, 2024Posted in Doors, Green Doors, Photography, Thursday Doors, Travel and Tourism, Travel PhotographyTagged Car Themed Restaurants, Florida, old time gas pumps, old time truck, Pinellas Co, Quaker Steak & Lube, Thursday Doors, Travel51 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

After several hours of birding my birding partner and I were hungry so went looking for a place fairly close by to have some lunch. We found Quaker Steak & Lube.

This is the only one in FL going by their website. We both had salads and I failed to take a photo of either of them. It was just a Caesar Salad w/grilled chicken. Instead of croutons they served it with Cheese Curds. Now, I thought that sounded gross and would probably just pick them out, but after trying one I gobbled them up! They were warm and slightly gooy and tender on the inside yummy. Mary had the Biker Chick salad. It sounded delicious too, but it was on the sweet side and I was hot and wasn’t in the mood for sweet.

The inside of the restaurant is car themed. Each wing of the interior has a small sports racing car hanging from the ceiling, and lots of car memorabilia like a dividing wall full of MAC tools for fixing cars. I went back a second time for that salad and this time He-Man was with me he said he has some of those tools. Who knew?!

Anyway, I did get photos of the exterior and the doors.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//circadianreflections.com

Look at the door pulls. I thought they were neat.

Most of their restaurants seem to be in OH. Do you have one in your city/state? Have you been there?

This post is part of the weekly challenge Thursday Doors hosted by Dan Antion over at https://nofacilities.com/2024/09/26/back-at-osv/

Head on over there to see more doors from around the world or join the craze and add a door or two of your own. 😊

more to come…

Whatever Weds. When Happy Hour means…

August 28, 2024Posted in Nature Photography, Travel and Tourism, Whatever WednesdayTagged branch, Controlled Conditions, fun stuff, Gumbalimba Park, Nap time, Nature, Nikon, Nikon Df, Roatan Honduras, Tree Canopy, White-face Monkey34 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Nap time! Happy Mid Week everyone!

Nikon Df| Nikkor 28-105mm| PS CC

more to come…

Thurs. Doors- Put-in-Bay

May 30, 2024May 30, 2024Posted in Photography, Thursday Doors, Travel and TourismTagged Doors, Ferry, Miller Boat Line, Monuments, Ohio, Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial, Put-in-Bay, South Bass Island, United States of America44 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

While in Ohio earlier this month we also wanted to see more of the area we based ourselves in so, one afternoon after a morning of birding then lunch we drove back to our hotel grabbed some stuff then headed to catch the ferry to Put-in-Bay, an island on the shallow western end of Lake Erie.

We decided to be walk-on Ferry passengers. Here’s where we we’ll wait for the ferry to come in. See the ferry making its way to the dock on the right back there? There’s a blue door!

*Miller Boat Line Ferry pedestrian waiting area*

Does that big ole portal the cars, trucks, and passengers enter and exit the ferry count as a door?

It was smooth sailing over to the island. We’re almost there! I see lots of doors as we approach the island.

The view of the dockyard from the upper deck of the ferry. There are several open doors.

Welcome to the island!

Some fun facts about Put-in-Bay:

The island dates back to the War of 1812 when Put-in-Bay became an important operations headquarters for Oliver Hazard Perry. The island was the launching point from which Perry set sail to defeat the British fleet commanded by Robert H. Barclay in the war of 1812. The historic battle of Lake Erie and the American victory gave the United States Navy and our country the often quoted slogan, ” We have met the enemy, and they are ours.” For more information about the island and its history visit this website. ~https://www.visitputinbay.org/history/

Today there’s a 352 foot granite column on the battleground site. The Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial. There’s a lookout at the top, which we were told has exceptional views on clear days like it was that day, but it was closed the day we were there. Two pics because I can’t decide which to share. I hope you like them both.

In fact most things on the island were closed. Their season starts Memorial week-end so, we were 12 days early . The preferred method of transportation while on the island is by golf cart or foot. We took the bus into town and had a great bus driver who shared lots of great information about the island with us. Then he hooked us up with the trolley driver who was giving out free tours of the island that day. He was nailing down his talk-points of interest about the island and practicing on us. He was great! I took a few snaps of the bus and the trolley but I can’t find them. Sigh.

This is getting rather long so, I’ll wrap it up. I have more doors and history from the island to share with you next week.

This post is part of the Thursday Door weekly challenge. To see more doors from around the world visit our host’s Dan Antion of No Facilities site https://nofacilities.com/2024/05/30/on-board-the-delta-pearl/

Nikon D850 and iPhone 14 Pro

more to come…

Whatever Weds- The Stars have It

April 3, 2024April 2, 2024Posted in Comets, Photography, Stars, Stars and Planets, Travel and Tourism, Travel PhotographyTagged City lights, Clouds, Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, Comets, Defraction, Nikon, Skyline, Snow, Sparks NV, Star bursts, Stars, Travel, Wide Field Astro Photography47 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Last week He-Man and I had a little get-away for our 43rd anniversary. We didn’t go too far just up to Sparks, NV.

We booked a balcony suite at Hampton Inn & Suites at the marina for the view of Helms Lake, and view of Reno’s skyline. This lake has an interesting beginning.

“The site was once a gravel pit owned by the Helms Construction Corp. (1968-1995) The pit is 100 feet deep. They found petroleum and solvent contamination seeping into the pit in 1987 so it was declared a Super Toxic Sight and clean up began. In 1996 it was declared free of petrochemicals and the site was turned over to the city of Sparks.

Millions of dollars of spill mitigation money was made available to the city, which they used to construct the park and make the pit a recreational pond. They had planned to fill the pit to 30 feet, but in January 1997 the Truckee River overflowed its banks and filled the Helms Pit creating what is now Richard Helms Lake or Sparks Marina Pond.” You can read a little more about how it stays filled at the link. https://www.ndow.org/waters/sparks-marina/

Now for our view-

It was pretty windy the day we were up there as you can see by the water.

We both really enjoyed having this evening view when the lights in the city came on.

I had hoped our 4th floor balcony room would afford a great view of the sky so I could also try to photograph Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, but alas we had a storm rolling in and cloud cover.

Finally, Monday night April 1st…no joke! We had a clear night so I went out to my front yard and spied the Comet.

*Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks with faint tail*.

*Green Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks cropped in.*

*Dialing in my focus I got Jupiter and her Moons too.*

We had a lovely anniversary walking around the lake both days, and we found a new Indian place we liked a lot for dinner so, we’ll make the drive up for that again when we’re craving Indian food, and we’ll be staying there again when the weather is warmer and we’ll take our kayak up for a paddle around the lake.

I hope the stars have lined up a fantastic week for you.

Nikon D850| Nikkor 80-200mm| iPhone 14 Pro| PS CC 25.5.1

more to come…

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