Minnehaha Falls

We had a nice breakfast at the Fairfield Inn this morning. Your usual "included buffet" of scrambled eggs, sausage, bagels, oatmeal and make-your-own waffles. We then checked out and made our way north towards Minneapolis and Deephaven. 

On the way, Angie found a few roadside attractions. We stopped at this insecticide business in Faribault Minnesota since they have a display of giant ants on their roof!! 

I've heard of ants on a log and ants in your pants. Ants on a roof? They exist!! Finding roadside attractions can really make longer drives more interesting. We then drove to Minnehaha Falls.

 There is always something magical about a waterfall. So much power!! We made it to our friend's house in Deephaven at noon. We're here for a few nights before we drive back to Indiana.

Iowa: Field of Dreams

We had planned to fly on Delta to MSP on Thursday to visit friends in Deephaven but were concerned about flight delays and cancellations.  We didn't let that derail our plans and drove up instead. We made a side trip through Iowa to visit the Field of Dreams baseball field. They have quite the setup in addition to the field.  

According to my Midwest resident expert, the corn stalks were at their peak, making for optimal viewing.  Unfortunately we didn't spot Shoeless Joe.  They also have a snack stand, ice cream truck and a bar and grill.    Definitely capitalizes on "Build it and they will come".  

On our way from Fields of Dreams, we saw signs for the Farm Toy Museum. We both love an eclectic museum and this definitely met that standard.   A huge collection of farm toys. Mostly small replica models of tractors and other farm machinery.  I imagine this started many years ago when "salesman's samples were created to show potential buyers what the equipment looked like and an idea of how it worked. Then it grew into toys. Fascinating!  They even had a separate Hall of Fame room for all the collectors and donors. 

We reached our hotel in Mason City Iowa at about 7:45.   Quickly got into our room and then made the five minute walk to the Boulevard Bar and Grill next door. Had some good local beers, tasty Brussels sprouts and two flatbreads. Tomorrow we'll continue the drive to Deephaven.  We did the bulk of the driving today.  Only two more hours.

Sun Princess Part 14

We had such an easy debarkation this morning. We were on the Princess airport transfer at 8:40. The bus left at 8:50 and we arrived at FCO at 9:50. We were so glad to have business class seats since that gave us priority access at the baggage check-in counter. Saved us at least forty minutes. Then we also received the EU/Italian equivalent of TSA PreCheck and had a special security line that likely saved us another thirty minutes. We were in the airport lounge by 10:45. 

They have some very good pasta dishes here along with thin crust pizza. We're still in Italy, so what would you expect? Our flight from FCO to YYZ is at 2:30 PM local time. Then we have about a ninety minute layover to catch our flight to IND. 

We had the Princes Premier package on the ship which included unlimited photos. So we took a lot more photos than we usually do. Sharing a few. We'll be at home for a few days before we head to MSP to visit some friends.

A great flight on Air Canada!! 

 I think this is our third or fourth time using them for going to or coming back from Europe and it's been an amazing experience each time. Some good food and wine. Tomato mozzarella salad, green curry chicken, ricotta chocolate tart and then charcuterie right before we landed. 

We did have an hour delay leaving FCO. The pilot originally said it would be two hours. So we were sure we'd miss our connection at YYZ. But that flight also has a delay of about three hours. We have a lounge to enjoy while we wait for boarding. 

One travel tip: If you plan on doing a lot of foreign travel, consider applying for Global Entry. We've had it for several years and it's saved us a lot of time in immigration lines. Today when we reached the immigration at YYZ, there were more than 100 people in the regular immigration line. Only three people in the Global Entry line. It saved us at least thirty minutes. And that's one unique thing with the YYZ airport and I think YVR as well. You clear US immigration and customs before you board your flight to the US. Many cruise ports have added special lines for it. I've seen it at Port Everglades. 

Also, when you are approved for Global Entry, you'll receive a number for your GE profile. Once you register that number with your travel suppliers such as airlines, you'll qualify for TSA PreCheck at airports that offer that.

Sun Princess Part 13: Sanctuary

We left the cabin at 9:30 and headed to the Sanctuary. This is a separate sun deck area on most Princess ships. There is a charge to get a day pass of $90/person. If you have a Signature Collection suite (one of the highest level suites), it's included in your room rate. We've been on other ships where it's primarily just comfortable deck chairs without any pools. On the Sun Princess they have definitely raised the bar!! Large pool area. Plenty of chairs. Two hot tubs.

 And beautiful forward facing views.

Plus their own food and beverage menu. We started with chairs overlooking the pool. We also ordered some.breakfast of waffles prepared three ways. After breakfast, Marc the Sanctuary manager asked if we wanted "VIP seating". There were other chairs available directly at the front!!

 We said yes!! We then headed into the beautiful pool. It was so nice since it's a port day and the Sanctuary isn't busy.  

Soon afterwards we ordered some charcuterie, chicken wrap, vegetables and dips along with a California roll. All very tasty. We'll stay here the rest of the day. Dinner tonight is at the Italian specialty restaurant Sabatini's. 

Sabatini's food was great. We had a little blip in service. We had to wait a long time to order. The table next to us ordered and got their food before we ordered. Angie's favorite dish was the eggplant parmesan.