Antelope Island, Salt Lake City

Great experience at Antelope Island!! Definitely check this out when you visit SLC!! We saw Burrow Owls, Prong Horned Antelope, Coyotes and Bison. It appears not many locals or visitors go here. It's about a 40 minute drive from downtown. 

Then we went to my favorite brewery in SLC Red Rock Brewing. Delicious White Rainbow White IPA. We had a baked Brie starter with grapes, pistachios, fried sage leaves and balsamic which was so tasty. For mains I had a sausage cavatelli and Angie had a Rachel (a reuben with turkey).  

Now we're waiting in our hotel for our airport transfer. Our flight is at 6 PM and we should be back in our apartment by 11 PM. Then more adventures.

Utah Mighty 5: Zion and Bryce

Let's catch you up on the last few days.  On Sunday we were in Bryce Canyon National Park. Fun Fact: It's technically not a canyon since canyons are formed either from rivers (like the Grand Canyon) or glaciers. Bryce is actually a series of large hoodoos. As our guide said, it is better described as a slowly eroding rock formation.  Regardless of the technicalities, it had my favorite views of the trip. 

On Sunday afternoon we drove through Zion National Park and into Springdale which is just outside the main gates of the park where we stayed at the Driftwood Lodge. 

We had a great dinner at Bit Spur - awesome Latino food on a great patio. Get reservations. 

Be sure to get up early for sunrise from your patio at Driftwood Lodge. 

Breakfast was at Oscar's Cafe with the fluffiest pancakes! 

On Monday, we headed into Zion for the Riverside Hike. It goes along the Virgin River, past weeping walls and flowing springs.  If you have the right equipment, including waterproof shows, you can walk through the river deeper into the park. 

 After lunch at the park, we headed back to Salt Lake City at 2 PM, arriving at the Little America hotel just before 7 PM.  Dinner was at Itto for some sushi!!   

Today we'll check out of the hotel and have an excursion to Antelope Island to see some wildlife.  Later, we'll have our transfer to the airport for our flight back to IND. It's been a great trip to see the Mighty Five!!

MSC Yacht Club Part 6

 We disembarked this morning from the MSC Seashore at PCV. One of the easiest processes in over 100 cruises.  Left our cabin at 7:15 and were in our transfer at 7:40.  It helps that most cruise terminals now have facial recognition for passport holders. You just approach the kiosk, it scans your face and you're done. 

We had a nice last dinner onboard. It was the Italian dinner they'd been promising since the first night.  We had buffalo mozzarella, beef carpaccio, seafood misto and lasagna Bolognese.  The lasagna didn't disappoint!!  Finished it with some coffee ice cream with chocolate sauce.

 

We're now on our way to MCO to catch a 10:55 flight to IND. They have small shuttles which only cost $20/person.  I checked Lyft and it would have been $100 plus gratuity. Great deal and they left every ten minutes. We should be back in our apartment by 2:30. 

MSC Yacht Club Part 5

 We stayed on the ship while we were docked in Cozumel.  

Enjoyed a nice lunch in the YC dining room.  Even though I've been limiting my consumption of red meat, I had to see how their signature burger was. Very tasty with crispy, salty fries and onion rings. And a stracciatella sundae with caramel.

 For dinner we both had the Asian dumpling sampler, some tasty butter chicken and shared a pappardelle pasta that had a wonderful duck ragout. Cheese for dessert.  We've gotten a cheese plate a few times on this cruise and they have offered crackers. The first time we laughed when it included some sad, stale saltines. Then we got them the second time.  And last night we thought for sure they had just run out of regular crackers and we'd finally get a regular cracker.  Not a chance.  We each got three sad, stale saltines. 

 We finished off the night in what some Yacht Club guests have called "Gen Pop", referring to the low security area of prisons.  We went outside the wall of the Yacht Club and saw a terrific jazz quartet in the Brooklyn Cafe.  After a cocktail in the Top Sail Lounge it was time to head back to the cabin.

MSC Yacht Club Part 4

 Yesterday we had a great excursion to visit the seven color lagoon in Bacalar. The lagoon is only about a meter deep so no real swimming. In the sunshine you can apparently see multiple colors.  We had a slightly overcast day so we'll have to come back another time to test the theory.  It was beautiful and a very popular spot for pontoon boats.

On Tuesday and Wednesday nights I ordered poorly in the dining room. Even something that should have been easy to make such as a Caesar salad was disappointing. So tonight I asked if they had a simple Bolognese, one of my favorite sauces. It wasn't on the menu.  At least not the adults menu.  They said of course they did!!  It was on the children's menu!! And I was presented with one of the best Bolognese dishes I've ever had. Really delicious and satisfying. 

 They had an exclusive Yacht Club deck party last night on Deck 20 which was so fun!!  Food, drinks and a DJ!! Lots of like dancing.  And the DJ played one of Angie's favorite songs: Mr Brightside!!

 

MSC Yacht Club Part 3

 

We had a fun tea reception to start the day. The Officers welcomed us. 

 Lunch at Kaito was very good. They had an option for an "all you care to eat in forty five minutes" sushi for $39/person but that didn't include any non-sushi dishes which we wanted to try. So instead we went with the a la carte option.  The Tempura Udon was tasty although I don't understand why they put the freshly fried crispy tempura directly into the broth. The soba noodle stir fry with chicken was tasty as well as the Chuukara Maguro Temaki. I love the hand rolls compared to Futomaki.   We still took a few plates off the conveyor belt. We had a great meal and it was less than if we had chosen the "all you care to enjoy" option.  

After lunch we had some gelato.  Can you say you've sailed MSC and not had gelato? There are at least three spots for gelato on this ship which makes sense since it's an Italian based company. 

We enjoyed the evening show. 

MSC Yacht Club Part 2

 

Yesterday we finally managed to go to the "dark side" and explore outside  of the Yacht Club!!  They have lots of lounges, coffee shops, shops and five specialty restaurants!! They have an arcade with a Formula One and rafting simulator!! Plus five pools including Pirate's Cove which is an enclosed waterfall park. For lunch we ordered the famous MSC Style pizza from room service.  

Many say MSC has the best pizza at sea.  My current best is Princess closely followed by Virgin Voyages.  MSC is definitely in the top three and possibly surpasses Princess. Great dough, sauce and toppings.  I'll of course need to try more to provide a proper ranking.

After lunch we needed a mandatory rest period.  I took a two hour nap. We then got ready for dinner and headed to the Top Sail Lounge which is the bar in the Yacht Club for a pre-dinner cocktail.  Delicious Zacapa Old Fashioned!!   Dinner highlights were some savory and garlicky escargot, a blue cheese souffle and fettuccine with a mushroom sauce. After dinner we headed to Le Cabaret Rouge which is a nightclub on the MSC Seashore.

 They had a rotation of three different acts.  Each act had a set and then the next act performed .  Then rinse and repeat.   They had a great band playing crowd favorites including Pat Benatar and Adele. Then there was an acrobatic duo who did some juggling and enhanced baton twirling. And there was also a passionate violinist.  A really tear show and somewhat of a throwback to the old days of cruise entertainment. We also went to see an all female band perform a tribute to The Beatles.  Then it was back to the cabin.