Dallas Cowboys Locker rooms

     The locker rooms- both players and cheerleaders are very impressive- along with the press conference room.  Jerry Jones has his own private box on the 50 yard line.  It has three seats-one for himself and two for his sons.  There are four TV's and Jerry has the capability of looking at any play he wants- from the dozens of field cameras. If you visit the Dallas Area, this is a "must see".

Dallas Cowboys New Stadium

     Wow!   Wow!  Wow!  What a place.  It is truly Jerryworld.  The giant TV cost 40 million and is spectacular-an exceptional picture.  Workers were hauling in tons of dirt getting ready for a monster truck show.  Everything is well done and unique.  The lights in the snack areas are shaped like giant footballs-carved in the ceiling.  The football strings are depicted by a row of "X" shaped lights.

George Ranch, Richmond Texas

    The George Ranch is one of the best kept secrets in the Houston Area.  It is a living history ranch-complete with working cowboys, workers in period clothing , and ranching chores being done as it was in pioneer days.  They have longhorn cattle, give demonstrations on roping, branding, and running cattle through a dip tank- to control ticks and parasites.  The pigs are of the original species from the 1800's- not the short fat ones we have today.  These are long lean "athletic" oinkers.

Red Stripe Party-Jamaica

    I was walking around the back streets- looking for a Jamaica "Cheers" Bar.  I found a really seedy, good one,  The local beer- Red Stripe- was having a promotion and all the characters gathered at the watering hole-I joined in. I was the only Gringo and they treated me great.  I was offered drinks, grass, girls, and a T shirt.  I took two of the four!

Jerk Chicken-Jamaica

    We hired a cab driver and asked to be taken to a local jerk chicken place.  We wanted one where no tourists would go-one with a rusted tin roof and open fire cooking.  Ask and you shall receive-as my old aunt would say.

Market Place- Fallmouth Jamaica

    We always do the "local thing"  I found the market interesting especially the hand trucks.  They had a steering wheel on the rear and ropes hooked to the movable front axle-just like we made soap box derbies in the old days.

Fallmouth Jamaica- New Port

     We were privileged to be the very first cruise ship to visit Fallmouth, Jamaica  Most of the locals had never seen a big ship and they came out by the thousands.  The port was still under construction which had little effect on the festivities.  The people were ecstatic to see us (many dollars) - bands played- dancers danced-and it was a great atmosphere.  They treated us like they had been shipwrecked and we were coming to save them..
   The local meat market had an interesting menu-goat belly.  You may recognize the building where Peggy is standing with some workers.  This is the set from 007 Live Free or Die.  They still have the crocs !

Royal Caribbean Cruise

   Some of the newer cruise ships are loaded with amenities.  This one had it's own ice skating rink complete with a custom Zamboni and an Ice Follies Show.  Other goodies were a climbing wall, an inline roller rink, miniature golf, batting  and basketball cages, and a jogging track.

Interesting places in New Orleans

New Orleans is one of my favorite places. I am not fond of cities-don’t like jazz-and I’d take a burger over jambalaya any day. What makes it so great?


I like the different neighborhoods, the old southern houses and the friendly people. Sure, Bourbon Street in the French Quarter is fun-but the crowds of tourists, drunks, etc. get old very quickly. The locals never visit the Quarter-only tourists.

Here are some fun things to do. Visit the Garden District. Buy a three day trolley pass for twelve dollars and ride, ride, ride. Go to the end of St Charles street-get off at interesting houses, street fairs, and park. A film company was shooting a movie and actors, crews and equipment were everywhere.

Mardi Gras World- New Orleans

Another of my favorites is Blane Kern’s Mardi Gras World. Blane is known as Mr. Mardi Gras having built floats since the beginning. To me, this is one of the best tours in NO. If you are ever in doubt of an attraction or tour, Google it and read the reviews. Here you will see dozens of gigantic floats plus numerous artists at work building floats from the frame up. After the tour you are free to walk about the warehouse taking pictures and asking questions. If you like TV programs like “How It’s Made”- you will love Mardi Gras World.


Another one my favorites is to do the “tourist thing” and take some organized tours. The riverboat is fun and doing the land tours –especially the walks through the cemeteries are great. Enjoy.

Belieze-on NCL

I love cruising and one of my favorite ships is the Norwegian Spirit. It is constantly voted the number one ship in their fleet. We have taken the same cruise out of New Orleans for the past five years-it is excellent. Friends always ask us what ports we will visit-we actually don’t care about the ports. We will be cruising on a beautiful ship with gourmet food and constant professional entertainment in tropical sunshine- it is a win, win situation.


If you have cruised a lot, you have gone swimming with the stingrays and dolphins, snorkeled on the reefs, and seen the Mayan ruins. If you want something different -go local. Visit local bars, food markets and shops- out of the tourist area. This trip I had my hair cut in local barbershop. It was a small shop with about five guys sitting around. I sat down and they said I was next-they were the regulars, hanging out. The barber’s name was Cruise and we had a great time. After the cut it was “Miller Time” and one of the regulars went out for a case of Belkin, the local beer. We had a super time-they even invited us to sign their wall-official barber shop loafe. rs

Mission Trip-Roatan, Honduras

   I am a talker and really enjoy meeting new people especially interesting ones.  I met a church group from the state of Washington.  They had collected almost two truckloads of goods for the poor and orphaned children living in the slums of Roatan, Honduras.  They made arrangements  for the Norwegian Cruise line to transport  the goods from New  Orleans to Honduras- a port of call for our cruise. Once there, the goods (clothes, tooth paste and brushes, first aid kits, clothes, etc.) would be loaded on trucks and taken to a distribution center in the slums.  I asked if we could help.  The next day, two busloads of Gringos (us) followed two truckloads of goods, through the jungle – to the absolute worst part of town.  It was a great experience.  The church group called Footsteps, really “Walked Their Talk”!