Vacation / Travel

That band is at the Greenville theater. I have never been there so I didn’t know if it was really worth the 3 hour drive. It’s a surprise gift for my wife (maybe). It would just be for a Friday and Saturday night. We live in Knoxville so I think it’s 3 hours. She loves Fleetwood Mac and there’s a band out of Atlanta called rumors that covers them. I’ve heard they’re really good. She has saw the real Fleetwood Mac live in Nashville 5 years ago so I’m not sure this will be very cool for her. It would be for a one year anniversary gift (paper gift since I’m a traditionalist).
 
Sanibel Island this weekend, my favorite spot in Florida.
My absolute favorite place in Florida as well is the PIne Island sound. San Carlos drive on Pine Island looks right at the back of the Sanibel and I usually sit on the dock of our friends house on Pine Island sippin a beverage and "say look at them crowded newts over there whiles wes catchin snappers and snook off the dock for dinner!" If I want the beach effect (sand in places God didn't intend) I go redfish pass and hit the sandbar. Have you done some paddle boarding or kayaking in Ding Darling? Sometimes I load up the boat with our stuff and run across the sound, anchor the boat, and get in the mangroves for the day. Fantastic time if you love fishing and even if you don't the scenery and cool stuff to see is definitely worth the trip!
 
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My absolute favorite place in Florida as well is the PIne Island sound. San Carlos drive on Pine Island looks right at the back of the Sanibel and I usually sit on the dock of our friends house on Pine Island sippin a beverage and "say look at them crowded newts over there whiles wes catchin snappers and snook off the dock for dinner!" If I want the beach effect (sand in places God didn't intend) I go redfish pass and hit the sandbar. Have you done some paddle boarding or kayaking in Ding Darling? Sometimes I load up the boat with our stuff and run across the sound, anchor the boat, and get in the mangroves for the day. Fantastic time if you love fishing and even if you don't the scenery and cool stuff to see is definitely worth the trip!


I want to do all of thats...it was a madhouse this week with spring break but I'll be back.
 
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I want to do all of thats...it was a madhouse this week with spring break but I'll be back.
Hit me up if you want some advice and pointers on stuff to do on the sound side (St James City to Bokelia, Matlacha) on up especially if you like to fish. I have friends that live year round on Pine Island...My buddy and his FIL law have boats from 36 twin Diesel offshore rig to 20 ft flats boats and Kayaks but they don't/ aren't good at fishing but that's my wheelhouse. I usually can get on whatever within a day or two of being there. My buddy gets a guide to fish on his boat when I'm not there lol. They have a house just for friends and family next to the house on the canal with boat lift and keys to whatever I want to fish on so its a great vacation for us.
Doc Fords on Ft Myers beach is worth the trip going or coming from the Causeway to Sanibel. And I wasn't kidding about we try not to go to Sanibel or Ft Myers beach on weekends or anytime during spring break. We will go over during the week in the middle of summer or winter otherwise we just chill on "island Time".
 
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Hit me up if you want some advice and pointers on stuff to do on the sound side (St James City to Bokelia, Matlacha) on up especially if you like to fish. I have friends that live year round on Pine Island...My buddy and his FIL law have boats from 36 twin Diesel offshore rig to 20 ft flats boats and Kayaks but they don't/ aren't good at fishing but that's my wheelhouse. I usually can get on whatever within a day or two of being there. My buddy gets a guide to fish on his boat when I'm not there lol. They have a house just for friends and family next to the house on the canal with boat lift and keys to whatever I want to fish on so its a great vacation for us.
Doc Fords on Ft Myers beach is worth the trip going or coming from the Causeway to Sanibel. And I wasn't kidding about we try not to go to Sanibel or Ft Myers beach on weekends or anytime during spring break. We will go over during the week in the middle of summer or winter otherwise we just chill on "island Time".

Yes we usually go there around Thanksgiving and its not too crowded. I like the Mucky Duck on Captiva and Cabbage Key. There is a little seafood spot called Deep Lagoon off of McGregor I believe that is fantastic. My in laws just got a condo about 12 miles from Sanibel so I will be down there a lot in the future.
 
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Sorry, no pics of telluride as all the ski areas closed. We had to cancel for that and the whole non essential travel thing. Next year!
 
Late this month, SWMBO and I are going to Ireland and Scotland for three weeks (or roughly 231 pints of Guinness and 4 bottles of Scotch). I'm driving us around both countries, much to the chagrin of the local inhabitants, road signage, fences, yard art, and livestock. Its not my fault they drive on the wrong side of the road!
Any advice from those who have gone before? Places to see, places not to see, food, pubs, etc.......

TIA


Yeah, about that trip................. maybe next year.

Thanks to all for your tips. I'll save them for later.
 
If you are going to be in one place in Botswana (we were at Camp Xakanaxa in the Okavango Delta), the connections should be fairly easy. We flew a small charter to Maun, Botswana, and SA Airlink flight to Johannesburg, and back to Atlanta on Delta. That was the end of the trip; we stayed in a few more places before the last stop in Botswana. If there's a correct place to post this kind of info, I'd be more than happy to make suggestions or answer questions. One thing we did was spend the night in an airport hotel in Johannesburg; made the sixteen hr flight from Johannesburg to Atlanta a lot more bearable.
What airport hotel in Johannesburg? We are going on a safari later this year. 🤞
 
Yall think we are good for a bachelor party in destin last wknd of April? It's been booked for months. Beach closed for 30 days effective today
 
What airport hotel in Johannesburg? We are going on a safari later this year. 🤞

Southern Sun O.R. Tambo International Airport. It's an easy walk from the terminal. I think it helped with jet lag to rest up before and after the international flight - 15-16 hrs flying time from ATL to JNB is a very long flight. You've probably already read to use a duffel bag and pack light. It's true - don't take white stuff, after washed over there it may not still be white. Don't bother with a hat; there are stores in the terminal where you can buy hats made by Rogue - nice hats and a lot better price than you'll find over here, and you don't have to carry it over. Be happy to answer your questions - I'm not an expert, but we traveled around southern Africa for three weeks.
 
Southern Sun O.R. Tambo International Airport. It's an easy walk from the terminal. I think it helped with jet lag to rest up before and after the international flight - 15-16 hrs flying time from ATL to JNB is a very long flight. You've probably already read to use a duffel bag and pack light. It's true - don't take white stuff, after washed over there it may not still be white. Don't bother with a hat; there are stores in the terminal where you can buy hats made by Rogue - nice hats and a lot better price than you'll find over here, and you don't have to carry it over. Be happy to answer your questions - I'm not an expert, but we traveled around southern Africa for three weeks.
Southern Sun O.R. Tambo International Airport. It's an easy walk from the terminal. I think it helped with jet lag to rest up before and after the international flight - 15-16 hrs flying time from ATL to JNB is a very long flight. You've probably already read to use a duffel bag and pack light. It's true - don't take white stuff, after washed over there it may not still be white. Don't bother with a hat; there are stores in the terminal where you can buy hats made by Rogue - nice hats and a lot better price than you'll find over here, and you don't have to carry it over. Be happy to answer your questions - I'm not an expert, but we traveled around southern Africa for three weeks.
Thanks. Haven't gotten white, sticking with with the normal khaki and greens, which is hard to do for tops for females!

How are the bugs over there?
 
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Thanks. Haven't gotten white, sticking with with the normal khaki and greens, which is hard to do for tops for females!

How are the bugs over there?

We went in March, and the bugs weren't bad. I remember a few times we were brushing them away, but just kept sleeves rolled down and used a little repellent. Every place we stayed have very effective mosquito netting around the beds, too. Mosquitoes are worse in my own backyard than they were when we were in Africa. I got Columbia Men’s PFG Bahama II Long Sleeve Shirts from Amazon; mediums fit me, and my wife borrowed a shirt from time to time - she got some similar shirts. I liked the shirts; the Silver Ridge Cargo pants were OK - not my normal thing. My brother likes Habit shirts from Sam's: I don't, but you would have sworn his were ironed while the Columbia's looked they they weren't ironed and just folded - not a problem because nobody really cares. I went with khaki and greens and just mixed and matched on the trip. Merrill low top Moab shoes or similar worked well. My brother, his wife, and I all had Eagle Creek Cargo Hauler Ultra-Light Duffel Bag Backpack in the 60 liter size - my wife and I had an extra cheaper Eagle Creek duffel packed away that we got out and did use later. This was a great backpack for travel: Mountainsmith Approach 25 Daypack, but get something small and light for day use.

A couple of expensive things for my camera were definitely misses, but for power the International Plug Adapter Kit, Ceptics World Safest Grounded 13 Adaptor Set Dual USB Ports and USB C Power Strip with Power Delivery, Anker PowerStrip Pad were absolute winners.

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All the adapters in the Ceptics kit were overkill, but you never know where you'll go next. The Anker stays in my suitcase - I use it all the time when I travel. Another of my favorite things was an 8 liter Sea to Summit Lightweight Dry Sack (orange naturally). I set it in my lap when riding to keep dust off my camera, and then on the plane - just put the stuff you might need and hang it up somewhere - I use it in the car sometimes, too. You can actually use a large dry bag for washing clothes if you wanted. Eagle Creek zipper type compression bags are nice to have - keeps stuff small and compartmentalized in the duffel. Military exchanges were running real discounts on Eagle Creek at the time - we got some great bargains, and that's almost all I've used for luggage for years - great stuff.
 
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AM64, we were staying at Southern Sun also. Volwindy, we were going for 8 days, just the safari part, packing only a carryon and backpack. Im a pretty light traveler anyway, but it was suggested, stay away from whites and bright colors-animals don't care for the colors. Oh well, get to think about all this for next year.
 
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AM64, we were staying at Southern Sun also. Volwindy, we were going for 8 days, just the safari part, packing only a carryon and backpack. Im a pretty light traveler anyway, but it was suggested, stay away from whites and bright colors-animals don't care for the colors. Oh well, get to think about all this for next year.

Bright colors are definitely out. The guides tell you that animals see the vehicle as one thing - if you don't stand out, you are a part of it. They get pretty close sometimes - some have big teeth or tusks, some are just big, and some are both.

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AM64, we were staying at Southern Sun also. Volwindy, we were going for 8 days, just the safari part, packing only a carryon and backpack. Im a pretty light traveler anyway, but it was suggested, stay away from whites and bright colors-animals don't care for the colors. Oh well, get to think about all this for next year.

You'll have a great time. I don't know what your camp will be like. This was our tent - I'm guessing what you'd call luxury camping.

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