Fly-Fishing - Greer, AZ!

I know - I have been AWOL for a few months! OK, LOTS of months! :) But, I'm back!

I've just returned from a spontaneous trip to Greer, AZ - in the White Mountains of Arizona! You might say, "so what!", but this is a great, hidden treasure in Arizona, near the New Mexico border. Many folks in Phoenix and Tucson have never even been here - I was shocked to hear that so many locals are not aware of this Jewel in our own backyard!

Greer, Eagar, Springerville, Nutrioso, Alpine....

Never heard of them? You are not alone! These are great, small towns (click here for map) along State Route 260 and US Highway 180 in the White Mountains of Eastern Arizona. These towns are not far from the better known Show Low, Payson or Pinetop - but a world apart in character, local hospitality and country laid-back lifestyle!

Wednesday morning last week I awoke with a wild idea to head to the mountains and do something different, get away from the "city", the heat and the same ole', same ole'. So I decided to call a very good client, and now friend; well known and highly regarded fly-fishing guide, Chip Chipman. Chip and his wife Penny are clients of The Cruise Place and I had heard great stories about guiding, and the beauty of the White Mountains. So I shot Chip an e-mail and he happened to have time to give me some lessons on Saturday and a guided fishing trip on Sunday - PERFECT!


Chip directed me to the Greer Lodge and Cabins - and I booked myself a cabin - not really sure what I was getting, but just glad to get a place this close in. The Greer Lodge is one of the best lodges in the area and almost always booked well in advance. One of the "Lodges" is called the Red Setter Inn and is actually a B&B within the resort grounds. It was named one of the Top 10 B&B's in the WORLD by Fodor's! (click here for the article). I knew I was in for a GREAT weekend!

I arrived Friday afternoon around 5:00 PM, after an incredible 4 hour drive from Tucson, via Oracle, Globe and Show Low. The drive was a perfect way to leave the hassles of the work week behind, put on some Jimmy Buffett CD's and enjoy the scenery! And its was AWESOME! The terrain quickly changed from desert scrub brush and cacti to pine trees, meadows and green, green, green. The monsoons have made the mountains as lush as the deserts I love. The big difference - it was now 71 degrees vs. the 105 degrees I left behind a few hours ago.

I checked into my cabin, unpacked all my new "Fly-Fishing" attire and headed to the 373 Grill on the Lodge grounds - and only a few steps from my cabin. Ah, how convenient! :)

The 373 Grill, named after the highway that takes you the last 5 miles from the main road 260, is a perfect spot to sit back, relax after a long drive or a day of fishing, hiking, horseback riding or any of the other activities in the area, and have a cold beer or glass of wine and take in the scenery! The Grill has indoor seating or a patio with fresh air and grand vistas.

I decided to head back to the cabin, watch a DVD I brought and start a new book I've been wanting to read - a perfect ending to the first day of my Fly-Fishing Adventure!

SATURDAY MORNING!
When I checked in the previous day - everyone working in the office said that I MUST get up early, and walk the property, as the monsoons have brought out the local Wildflowers as well as the Wildlife! So here we are, 6AM, hot coffee in hand and 59 degrees out - YES! :) The grounds of the Greer Lodge are incredible. I enjoyed about an hour hike, sighting deer, trout in the streams and yes - lots of wildflowers - it was one of those perfect mornings - and I was only an hour away from meeting Chip and my first Fly-Fishing lesson.

Greer Lodge has stocked ponds that are used for guests to practice either on their own, or with a professional Guide. I looked around at all the frustrated fathers with their kids, and husbands with their wives (enough said) and was glad I had decided to call Chip! We spent two hours going over all the basics, the Roll Cast, The Overhead Cast, The False Cast, as well as reading the water and refining the techniques. Chip was a great teacher and made it all come together. At first I felt like we were flailing around and it was not working, but within a few minutes of coaching it all started to feel right and I was getting in the groove. Now I was still not very good at it - but I was having fun and starting to get the fundamentals!

We finished the lesson and I headed back to my cabin around noon. I was planning on going back to the ponds and practice this afternoon and take in some horseback riding, but the monsoons came in with a fury around 1:00 PM and did not let up until after 7:00 PM - so my activities where out - but the show was great - and I settled in for the afternoon to read my book - also by Jimmy Buffett, "A Pirate Looks at Fifty!" Talk about escapism - it was a unique afternoon of reading, watching and listening to the storm and dreaming of all the adventures and far away places in the novel. It was early to bed - as tomorrow Chip and I are hitting the streams near his home.

SUNDAY MORNING!
Time to pack, check out, grab some coffee and head the 45 minutes East to Nutrioso to do some Fly-Fishing! The morning was cool, crisp, overcast and smelled of pine! Chip and I met at the post office in town and headed to his home where I would leave my car. We got in his truck and headed to the East Fork of the Black River - where Chip knew all the "hot" spots! The water was high from the storms and Chip said these where going to be tough conditions, but we decided to try one of his favorite spots anyway. I forgot everything from yesterday, so at first I was all over the place - fly in the bushes, fly in the trees, everywhere but where Chip was directing me at in the stream! It came back pretty quick and we kept working on getting the fly out to the right spot and then the stripping technique was worked on. After about 15 minutes we had our first fish! It was an Apache Trout and about 8 inches long - what a rush to catch the first one - and I knew if we caught no more - at least when I got home and my mom (an avid fly fishing fan) called, I could say we caught one!

The "big" one! About 10 minutes later we had another hit and this guy was a fighter (but what did I know - this was my first time!) and I had a great time reeling this one in. Chip seemed a little shocked at the size, but I'm not sure if he was just making the trip more fun. I reeled in a 14 inch or so Brown Trout and it was bright, colorful and feisty! This trip was just catch and release, so we let him go and went back to looking for the next one. In the first 2 hours we caught another Brown Trout at 16 inches and another Apache Trout at about 7 inches - WOW - what a morning! We decided to try some other spots down the road, but did not have any luck in those areas, so we decided to take our last 20 minutes and go back to our original part of the stream for one last try. We had a few hits, but no more fish. It was a great day of fishing and learning about fly-fishing from a pro like Chip. I highly recommend taking a few lessons if you want to enjoy this (or any new activity) to it fullest!

Princess iExcel 2006

Here is my second attempt at You Tube! This is a second trip we took to Alaska this summer by land. enjoy!

Centurion Cruise 2006 HD

Here is a fun little video I compiled tonight on my Holland America Cruise! Enjoy - the music is fun!

Ketchikan and the Misty Fjords!

Today we arrived in the early morning and had a great view of the town as we arrived from our balcony. There is nothing better on an Alaska Cruise than a balcony cabin! Almost every morning we order coffee and croissants from room service and just sit an enjoy the scenery as we awaken and prepare for the day. Many cruises is is not as big a deal, but for Alaska you are almost always close to land and the spectacular scenery.

Today we have booked a floatplane tour to the Misty Fjords National Monument! We are a little nervous as we join or group for the transfer to the marina - the weather is beautiful, but full of clouds and far off drizzle! The trip is about 2 hours long, flying out of the marina and over a few islands to reach the Park, then we tour around some of the volcanic mountains, drop into the canyons for a close up view and then actually land on one of the hundreds of lakes we cross for a close up look! IT WAS AWESOME! We had a great pilot who has been in Ketchikan for over 30 years and was really good! I got to sit in the front seat as the co-pilot and had a ball! On the return flight we flew really low through the canyons and just kissing the mountain tops as we flew below the clouds back to the harbor. Upon our return we got a great view of the four cruise ships in the harbor, and landed right next to the Serenade of the Seas - right next to it!

Today we leave early from town, so it was off for shopping and then boarding by 1:00 PM. Tonight we are having dinner in the Pinnacle Grill with some friends. The Pinnacle Grill is Holland America's upscale alternate dining experience. It is a small restaurant on the ship that only seats 60 - 80 guests at a time. All the meals onboard Holland America are exceptional, but we hear the Pinnacle is just superb - and we can hardly wait!

Sitka!

Today we decided to get a little more active and have booked a Kayak Excursion that takes us around the inlets to the fresh water estuaries so we could see the Salmon running and we are not disappointed - WOW is all I can say, the Salmon where incredible, and we where also treated to an up close and personal visit with two Bald Eagles! Both were perched only about 30 - 50 feet from us, above in a tree as we paddled up and watched them for about 10 minutes and then watched them swoop down towards the water and fly swiftly towards the sky. We were told they where hunting Salmon and are there most of the mid-summer period for kayakers to see and enjoy. We also saw some huge Jellyfish and Starfish during our paddle! After our trip, we wandered through town enjoying all the Russian Handicrafts and artwork before grabbing a bite to eat and heading back to the ship to watch us as we sailed back out into the open seas and the Inside Passage on our way to Ketchikan.

Juneau - Whale Watching

This evening we are invited on a private shore excursion with the rest of the Centurion Group to go Whale Watching and see what else we can find! Our group of over 20 people are bussed to the local Allin Marina and loaded into three beautiful high speed catamarans for our Quest! The catamaran is three decks high, with very comfortable seats, binoculars and maps in each seats for us to use. We also have been presented with a full buffet of Salmon, Reindeer Sausage and all kinds of other local delicacies - and a full open bar - of course! :)

Just as soon as we leave the harbor we spot our first Humpbackwhale and are able to sit back and watch as it breaches the surface, spouts and dives back down with its spectacular tail rising into the air! We watch a few more times then head off to look for more. This time it takes us about 45 minutes to find another whale - but this time we spot a whole pod of them and watch for another hour as they swim, dive, jump, spout and generally feed and protect their young! On the way back to the marina - the captain brings Priscilla to the front of the cabin so we can all sing Hapy Birthday! Priscilla's face was a red as her hair! A great day was had by all!

Juneau, Alaska!

Juneau - Capital of Alaska!

We arrived today in Juneau for Priscilla's Birthday! This morning we have booked an EARLY river rafting excursion down the Mendenhall River which flows directly off the Mendenhall Glacier - which means the water is Ice Cold - actually it is 35 degrees where we put the rafts into the water. We meet our group at 7:30 AM for the trip to the Glacier and our next adventure. When we arrive we are issued a paid of rubber boots to keep our feet from numbing, along with full length rain coats and pants to help keep us warm. We are warned NOT to fall in if possible - no problem there!

We are loaded into the rafts with a family of five and begin our journey down the valley to the inlet below. Our trip is approx. one hour long and travels 7 miles down the Mendenhall Valley. The rapids are very small, al class one and one class two rapid - easy for any one of any physical ability to accomplish. We have a great trip, with a great group and just rafting along the base of the Glacier makes our day! We are now off to town to have a cold beer with some friends at the Famous Red Dog Saloon in the center of town - to warm up of course!

Glacer Bay II

We met some friends in the Crow's Nest and decided to go to their suite so we could enjoy some Champagne and watch the Glaciers from the vantage of the balcony. The Captain has positioned the ship parallel to the Glacier so that we can wait and watch for an calving activity - we are not disappointed! We sat for about 45 minutes and were treated to four or more active shows of ice falling - HUGE cracking sounds - icebergs being created - it was very cool! We decided to visit the Jacuzzis on the aft of the ship and watch as we depart Glacier Bay - the cold air and the hot water where invigorating - and we got to see a pod of Orca jumping and swimming by as we departed the Bay! What a day! Tomorrow we are in Juneau for Priscilla's Birthday - Red Dog Saloon - here we come!

GLACIER BAY!!

Today we entered Glacier Bay at approx. 11:00 AM and first picked up our local "Pilot" who will guide the ship and it's crew through the channels, inlets and bays to give us up front and personal views of these amazing glaciers. We also picked up a pair of naturalists from the National Parks service who will provide commentary, stories and answer questions during our 8 hours in Glacier Bay. The whole of what is now Glacier Bay used to be a massive Glacier itself and has been receding for hundreds of years, creating the 65 mile long Glacier Bay and the many Glaciers that feed it.

Today the temperature is in the 50's and it is overcast and misty! Wonderful if you have been in Arizona for the last few months as I have! We have decided to bundle up and join a few intrepid adventurers on the bow for what we hear is the best viewing and picture taking on the ship. we also hear they are serving hot toddy's so we are sold! We find only about 20 other people braving the cold - but the view is AWESOME! We hang out for about 60 minutes and decide to retreat to the comfort of the Crow's Nest lounge on the top of the ship - where it is packed with passengers and where the naturalists are giving their presentations. The massive Glaciers are incredible to view from here too. As we are relaxing, another Holland America ship passes by, with the Captain's both blowing their horns! Everyone was cheering and waving - very fun!

Day One - Sea Day!

We are approx. 200 Miles North of Seattle on our way to Glacier Bay - our destination for Tomorrow! Holland America boasts the largest number of cruises to visit Glacier Bay each season, as one of the original cruise lines to open up the Alaska Cruise market to passengers and tourists. The picture you see here is the Seattle Skyline as we sailed from port yesterday afternoon - it was spectacular!

Last night we spent the time getting to know the ship and familiarizing ourselves the the "lay of the and" if you will! First of all the ship is BEAUTIFUL! See my previous post for a link to a simple ship tour and you will see what I mean! There are some fabulous new enhancements to this ship and the entire Holland America fleet - collectively called their Signature of Excellence program. One of my favorites is a complete "Culinary Arts Center" designed in conjunction with Food & Wine Magazine. Over 60 chefs will travel on Holland America in 2007 offering once in a lifetime experiences to passengers that enjoy food and wine programs and hands-on learning.

We are lucky enough to have a suite for this trip - and the new enhancements in the cabins and baths are incredible! First of all are the Elemis Amenities and the separate shower and bathtub, with jacuzzi jets! The beds have been upgraded to Euro-Top Mattresses, beautiful bedding and linens - and even a PILLOW MENU! To make sure get exactly what you want or need!

Today we are in meetings with the other Centurion Agency owners and Holland America executives to see what is coming in 2007 - so stay tuned! For now I need to get back into our meetings so I will sign off for now! By the way - the internet here is great, with complete internet cafe AND 6 Wi-Fi Hotspots throughout the ship!

But before I go - I want to give away a $200.00 Ship Board Credit (SBC) to one of our clients or other followers of the blog!

To enter, simple send me an e-mail to:

SBC@TheCruisePlace.com if you are a client of The Cruise Place in Arizona, or
SBC@LegendaryWorld.com if you are a client of Legendary World in California.

I promise some GREAT pictures, and info as we really get into the heart of Alaska!

Centurion Cruise 2006!

Well, we are off again on another adventure!

Priscilla and I are off to the Great Land of Alaska - home of wide open spaces, Glaciers, friendly peoples, active days and relaxing nights! And if you know Juneau - the famous "Red Dog Saloon!" Stay tuned for more on that on our Juneau Port Call.

We are sailing this time with Holland America as the recipient of their Centurion Award, along with other Top Cruise Sellers from around North America! We will be sailing on the new Westerdam - with all of it "Signature of Excellence" enhancements completed! Click here for a ship tour!

Please feel free to follow along with us as we experience Alaska, using this Blog! I will post pictures and information daily, as well as announce some fun contests and specials for our clients as ew travel!

St. Maarten - Two Perfect Days!

Well, here we arrive in St. Maarten! Pictured is our little group after 5 days of fun, sun, surf, pampering and ANYTHING else we wanted! Normally as you get off the ship you are sad, knowing there is an all day plane ride ahead, saying goodbye and all that - BUT not this time! We decided to spend two nights in St. Maarten this trip - and what a great choice!

Not only did we disembark the ship in a good mood and ready for some more fun, but we got to see alot more of St. Maarten that would normally be allowed in a "port stop".

We stayed at the Wyndham Sapphire Bay Resort, right on the border of the French and Dutch sides of the island, very close to Marigot. We arrived at the hotel by noon, unpacked and enjoyed a leisurely lunch by the pool. We then struck out to see some of the Island, shop and of course look for some Guavaberry Rum!

Beverly Hills of the Caribbean!

After last night we were looking forward to a relaxing day in beautiful St. Bartholomew, better know as St. Barts. We had a wonderful time strolling the streets. The girls loved the french clothing shops. I really enjoyed watching the mega yachts come and go. This islands yachting community puts any other I've seen to shame.

The island is decorated with quaint homes with red-orange roofs. Palm trees grow think on the hills. This is a definite must visit while in the Caribbean.
Priscilla and I had lunch at a waterside cafe while Adele went to famous sea shell beach. Steve hasn't made it out of his cabin yet. :)

Later we returned to the Sea Dream were Adele and I took jet skies and zipped around the ship. Priscilla and Steve watched us from The Top of the Ship lounge.

Sea Dream Surprises! Jost van Dyke...

Wow, how do I tell you about today. Do I start with the private beach and five meat, five fish and everything you could ever want to go with it, BBQ the Sea Dream's head chef prepared on the beach? The very special caviar and champagne presentation served by white uniformed/white gloved senior ship staff, at high noon, in the water, with the ship blasting it's horn in the back ground! The amazing Thai massages the girls got on the beach or the Soggy Dollar bar, where you swim, buy, drink, swim? That how your dollars get soggy.

Jost van Dyke is a major hot spot for New Years Eve. Thousands of boats tie together around the island to celebrate the coming of the new year. I have always wanted to attend this celebration. I have to say the way I was introduced to the island by The crew of the Sea Dream may top any New Years Eve experience the island has to offer.

By the way Priscilla and Adele went snorkeling as well. They said the fish were beautiful.

Later on that evening. After naps. We tendered back to hang out at a local palapa roofed bar and dance club, we'll I wouldn't really call it a club. But we did dance!

Luxury @ Sea - Visting St. John, USVI

This morning we took a small motor boat called a tender from the Sea Dream to St. John. We walked up and down many of the city streets finding a thriving community. In a street market I had a wonderful conversation with one of the merchants. She had moved to St. John from New York City about three years ago. She loved her escape.

After exploring the town we grabbed a local bus that took us to a World Famous Trunk Bay. There is a fee to go onto this beach but let me tell you it is worth it! There is a huge reef that is beautiful and I'm sure would have been awesome snorkeling. Unfortunately we had moved into an area with sporadic showers and the the San Diego girls wouldn't go into the water. So we laid out for a bit on the beach (when it wasn't raining), had lunch at the little beach shack and headed back to our sanctuary, The Sea Dream. When the beach bus dropped us off back by the tender there was a Sea Dream staff member waiting at a shaded table with light snacks and cold water for us. We waited about 5 minutes, then our tender took us back. We enjoyed the rest of the evening upstairs at the top of the ship lounge. Where we would end up spending most of our evenings.

St. Thomas - Cocktails & Friends!

We flew from San Juan to St. Thomas this morning. The plane we were in flew low enough that we were able to see all the the islands and beautiful water beneath us for our 30 minute flight. We gathered our luggage and headed for the Sea Dream II.
As our driver approached the private dock we were stopped by a security guard who asked for our boarding passes and passports. Only Sea Dream passengers are allowed on this dock far away from the other cruise ship terminals. The crew greeted us tagged our luggage with our room numbers and we hopped back in the cab and headed for town. In town we ate, drank and were merry. The girls went shopping at the local outside market. After a full day of adventuring we headed back to The Sea Dream. Again we were greeted by the crew.

When we boarded we were handed a glass of champagne and welcomed by Captain Eric, the cruise director and the spa staff. After going to our cabins and changing into comfortable dinner attire we came back up on deck to relax at a table by the pool. While there the spa staff gave us shoulder massages that left you feeling like mush. So starts our Sea Dream Caribbean adventure. p.s. The food is incredible.

Valentines in the Caribbean!

Today is Valentines day and my girlfriend Priscilla, Adele and her husband Steve are all taking off to the Caribbean. We will land in San Juan. Spend one night, then fly to St Thomas then board the Sea Dream II. We will be on board for four days. Disembarking in St. Martin, for two awesome days then head home on the 21st. We are all so excited!

It felt wonderful to get off the plane and step out in the hot Caribbean weather. We headed for town. We only had the one night in San Juan so we wanted to find a nice restaurant to eat dinner at. We asked the locals and they turned us on to the Yeurba Buena!. The food was delicious. The best part was our table was a large wood swing. We had Valentines dinner rocking back and forth out side under the San Juan sky.

Portofino, Italy

Today we are in the center of the Italian Riviera and one of the most exclusive little towns in the Mediteranean! Here is the home to the famous Splendido Hotel and seasonal anchorage to many of the worlds Mega-Yachts.

As we pull into the harbor to anchor, we can see no less than 30 Yachts over 120 feet long and we are all in awe! The town is very small with less that 1000 year-round residents, and stores like Prada, Escada, Gucci and scores more - right alongside waterfront restarants, artists and craftsmen. We decided to take a break from our days of museums, monuments and histrical sites - and take a nice three hour cruise along the coast to see some of the Riviera.

From our boat we take a tour from the town of Portofino to two other communities on the area that are complete contrasts to Portofino. One is the local business center with hotels, banks, services and they typical resort district you would expect. The other little town was absolutely fantastic and was a remote, rustic fishing village of just a few hundred people. We wandered the town here, had some local foccacia bread and ice cream - yes a strange combo - but very good! We also walked along the beach and realized that we had yet to go swimming in the Med! Tom and I decided tomorrow in Monte Carlo we would seek out a beach for a swim! But now we must head back to our boat.

We spent the rest of the day wandering the galleries and shops of Portofino, before heading back to the ship. Tomorrow and Monday we are in Monaco!

Livorno and Florence

This morning we arrive in the port of Livorno - gateway to Florence. Considered the art and cultural center of Italy and by many the World! Her Michaelangelo, under the De Medici family created many of the masterpieces we have all heard about.

Today we booked a private tour of 13 of us to see all the important sites and get a little better explanation and history that you can in a group of 100 on a bus. We start out today at 8:00 AM alongside the Crystal Serenity. We are met by our coach and local tour manager for the 90 minute trip to Florence. Once in Florence we meet Ann - we are all surprised - and in the end extremely happy - with the petite woman who met us who looked and spoke like she just got of the plane from New England! Ann introduced herself and we learned that she was originally from Conn., but had been living in Florence for 42 years with her Italian husband! She was an excellent guide, personable leader and very well connected as we learned.

NOTE: Record heat was recorded today of 110 degrees!

We started off with a short walk through some of the plazas on our way to the Uffizi Galley, home to many of Michaelangelo's works, as well as Leonardo di Vinci and many others. We spent well over two hours with Ann learning about the history, politics and commerce of the area and the artists - it was all very interesting. We then headed to lunch in a local Florentine restaurant, well off the beaten path. We enjoyed local specialties and some local white wine. A few of the group are very disappointed the the statue of David is not on our tour! Ann gives us a wink and askes us to follow her! OK - We are GREAT followers! We simply walk up to the backdoor - Ann gives the guard a few Euros and we are in! Other on the ship later told us they waited in the heat for HOURS to spend a few minutes admiring the statue! :) And with Ann giving us the history and story behind the statue - it was truly magnificent!

The heat was starting to get the group as we got close to 6 hours touring and walking! We started to loose two at a time to local pubs, hotel lobbys and department stores. We decided we had all had enought and thanked Ann, said our goodbys and went out to take some pictures, do some shopping and cool down!

We met up with our coach at about 6:00 PM and returned to the ship by 7:15 PM - an 11 hour day! Boy were we glad to get back to the ship and get a shower! Tonight was also my birthday - so we had a private cocktail party and dinner with about 20 friends we had made - on deck at 7:30 PM! - No rest for the weary!

Taormina - Sicilian Treasure!

Today we anchored in the tranquil harbor of Taormina, along with Windstar Cruises, Wind Surf and Clipper Cruises Royal Clipper! On the other side of town was also the brand new Carnival Liberty on her Maiden Voyage. To say the least the town was HOPPING!

I actually had the opportunity while walking through town to see two couple who obviously knew each other from home go running up to each other both exclaiming "What a small world!". It turns out that one couple was on the Wind Surf and the other on the Crystal Serenity with me! Wow - the world sure is getting smaller!

Taormina is on the East Coast of the Island of Sicily and only three miles from the "toe" in the "Boot of Italy". when we sailed away we actually sailed between the Island and Italy through the Straights of Messina. It was breathtaking to have land on both side of the ship while we watched the sunset from the Palm Court Lounge, with the band playing, families dancing and the land so close. Speaking of families, there are over 120 children on board - it was sure a shock on such a long cruise, but I also know family cruising is on the rise! It was fun to see multiple generations of families all traveling, sightseeing and sharing memories that will last a lifetime!

In port today I ventured off with some new friends from the cruise, did some shopping - lots of shopping again! I did buy a few things to bring back - but I'm not a big shopper. We also toured the ancient Greek Amphitheater and had a few snacks as we wandered. I always try to take in the local tastes while traveling. Taormina is built high above the Sea and just spectacular! I wish I could post more pictures - but it takes so long from the ship. I will add a while section to the website upon my return!

Ciao for now!