Making Limoncello from Lemons

After being away from home for a couple of weeks visiting family and vacationing in Hilton Head, I arrived home, retrieved  Zoey from our most wonderful pet sitter and began to unpack.  No sooner than I opened the first suitcase, I was notified by text and email that our September 13 cruise on Celebrity Millennium was cancelled due to mechanical issues.  Tell me this isn’t true!  I’ve spent a year and a half planning for this trip!  I was so looking forward to my coveted aft-facing Aqua Class stateroom, dining in Blu, the complimentary beverage package, free laundry and internet usage for Elite members, private wine tours, and more.   I contacted my Celebrity rep by telephone to confirm and alas, this is indeed a fact.  The Millennium is currently “stuck” in Ketchikan, Alaska.

Hubby said, “Well I guess we’ll just to cancel everything” while  I’m frantically trying to come up with something that will work for us so that we can salvage our trip somehow!  After spending a day on the internet researching options we have a revised travel itinerary, aka Limoncello:

September 9 – depart our flight on Delta as planned

  Arrive in Seattle and overnight for 2 nights at Grand Hyatt as planned

    September 10 – do the 2 pm Savor Seattle tour as planned

                             dinner with Ken's brother & family as planned

September 11 – depart Seattle on Amtrak Cascades train as planned

  Arrive in Vancouver and overnight for 2 nights at Hyatt Regency as planned

September 13 – depart Vancouver for Whistler on Rocky Mountaineer Sea to Sky train .

 Overnight two nights at Pan Pacific WhistlerMountainside. 

September 14 - attend and participate in the inaugural Whistler Village Beer Festival!  Me, drink beer?  What's up with that?  Well, the Pacific Northwest is known for its craft beers so I will be ready to sample and review with the best of them!  Of course, I'm really happy that there is no such thing as a "beer snob" so no one will take offense at my lack of expertise with the world of beer.

While in Whistler, I plan to enjoy an early morning highlight of breakfast with the black bears.. i.e., essentially a morning black bear safari!  I think they love honey as much as I do so I will leave my honey & maple syrup at the hotel!  I'm already thinking that we won't have enough time in Whistler:  Alpine hiking, glacier flights, ziplining/ziptrekking, peak to peak gondola rides, and more. 

Is there any good food in Whistler?  You bet!  We get a $30 per night credit from our hotel for the Dubh Linn Gate Irish Pub & after reading the reviews I will most definitely be there!  They have live entertainment in the evenings, a wonderful breakfast, and great pub fare for lunch & dinner.  Evidently a real treat here is the bourbon, bacon & caramel popcorn to accompany a craft beer!

September 15 – train back from Whistler and booked a night back at the Hyatt Regency.

September 16 – Norwegian Sun for 7 night cruise from Vancouver to Los Angeles:

  Monday, 9/16 – ship departs Vancouver at 4 pm

   Tuesday, 9/17 – Nanaimo 8 am – 5 pm

    Wednesday, 9/18 – Victoria 8 am – 5 pm

    Thursday, 9/19 – Astoria 8 am – 5 pm

     Friday, 9/20 – At Sea

     Saturday, 9/21 – San Francisco 8 am – 5 pm

     Sunday, 9/22 – At Sea

      Monday, 9/23 – Arrive LA at 8 am and disembark ship

September 23 – depart LAX for our flight home

 (Delta charged $150 per ticket change fee & Celebrity will refund up to $200 per person for change fees so we are AOK)