June 25, 2018 - River Cruises for Kids, Arroyo Seco Recap, Rod Stewart, Cyndi Lauper and Jeremy Irons

Elisa's Daily Scoop
Covering Long Island & NYC Boroughs 
NEXT EVENT IN: 3 DAYS: MEAN GIRLS ON BROADWAY
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River Cruises for Kids

Hello and happy Monday!!! Can you believe the end of this week will be the beginning of July?? Wow!!

This is officially the first week of summer vacation for us here.  Both kids are still catching up on their "rest."  That's okay with me since i have a great many errands and things to do around the house.

This coming weekend we have an open house, so I'm doing my best to keep things clean and organized all week. 

I know that life will be much calmer once we sell and move into our new downsized home.  The girls and I keep talking about all the things we want to have in the new house - namely an herb garden, which, we did not keep up with this year since there were way too many things going on!

The Andrew Freedman Home was built on the Grand Concourse in the 1920’s to house elderly people who had once been well-to-do so that they could retire in the proper style. The Renaissance building served this purpose until the 1960s. (credit: andrewfreemanhome.com)

Ok - back to Travel News...
I hope you are staying on top of my articles!!
This past week, the focus was on The Bronx on several fronts:
My weekly article for ThisIsTheBronx.info featured:
What’s in a Name? 
Six Bronx Namesakes
read more...

AND
​
25 Historic & Fun Facts About the Bronx
​read more

I'll be getting a few more to you for your reading pleasure!!  

In fact I owe you one for today, which will be published by tomorrow!

River Cruises - For Kids???
Guys, I just came across a great article in Your AAA Daily: ​
River Cruise Vacations for Families 

​I have been pretty interested in the prospect of taking a river cruise for a while, but hadn't thought of it for the kids...until now.

While the article lists a number of cruises that are designed with families in mind, the one that really caught my eye was the Adventures by Disney and AmaWaterways.

As a Disney Vacation Club member, I was familiar with the Adventures by Disney, which allows DVC members to use their points on specially designed vacations outside of the Disney parks around the world.

But, I was not aware that these included river cruises until today, and decided to do some research on my own...

(credit: adventures by disney)

Available to non-DVC members, these cruises offer an opportunity for families to sail down the Danube and Rhine rivers and choose an itinerary for the day that best fits your needs.

Activities onshore range from zip lining to guided horseback tours to museum visits. An Adventure Guide will handle all of the details of your trip and, along with local experts, tell the story of your destination. Onboard, activities range from kid-friendly Disney movie nights to adult-friendly wine tastings.

Here are some itineraries straight from the Disney.com website:

Seine River Cruise
A 10-day/9-night, all-inclusive adventure through France

Rhine River Cruise
An 8-day/7-night, all-inclusive adventure to 6 destinations in 4 countries—France, Germany, Switzerland and The Netherlands

Danube River Cruise
An 8-day/7-night, all-inclusive adventure to 8 destinations in 4 countries—Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary

Holiday Danube River Cruise
An 8-day/7-night, all-inclusive adventure to 7 destinations in 3 countries—Germany, Austria and Hungary

Magic Kingdom, Disney World, Orlando (c) traveincousins.com

This is something I definitely need to discuss with my girls since combining Disney with Europe may be the perfect recipe for a great future trip!!

AND SPEAKING OF DISNEY...Kelsey finally sent me the itinerary she created for our February 2019 Disney Trip to celebrate her 13th Birthday!!
Click Here to view

Wow - check out Tanya's blog for a fun filled day yesterday!!!

TTFN!
-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Scoop 
Covering the West Coast & the World
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 17 DAYS:
WASHINGTON DC/VIRGINIA
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Music Mania

Greetings Rock 'n Rollers!

Tis the season for Music Festivals and yesterday was nothing but Music ALL-DAY-LONG!!
​
One of Dave's very favorite artists happens to be the ROBERT PLANT.

Now just a wee little back story before I go on...

While I love many different genres of music, there are many (so very many) artists that I really haven't heard of.
I'm really not a fan girl of anything aside from the Yankees!!! And of course Food and Travel - but I don't think those count.

Well I'll just come out and say it - I had no clue who Robert Plant was! ?

Dave had even compared not knowing who Robert Plant was to not knowing who George Washington was! Yes that was a bit extreme if you ask me.

And yet Dave had NEVER seen his favorite artist! (insert jaw drop here)

So for Dave's birthday (which was in May), as one of his gifts I got him tickets to go to the Arroyo Seco Music Festival where none other than Robert Plant would be performing!

Stopping in Pasadena for Brunch at Real Food Daily and then heading to the festival grounds at Brookside at the Rose Bowl just after the gates at opened at noon.

The grounds were mighty quiet for a music festival, but this would definitely not last!

Knowing that this would not last, I headed directly to the festival store... And lucky I did, because the shirt that I wanted was already nearly SOLD OUT in size small and in size medium, leaving only large and larger left available or choosing a shirt that was not my fave. UGH  

Dave deciding on a shirt (c)travelincousins.com

Well they happened to have just one size small left on display and after checking to see that it was in perfect condition I took it!   WHEW

Some merchandise (c)travelincousins.com

Next, it was time to scope out the grounds and stop for some photo opps...

Designed like a Rose Parade Float (c)travelincousins.com

All the pretty flowers (c)travelincousins.com

One thing that I was definitely scoping out was the all vegan food booths and options that would be available to us throughout the day... And there seemed to be plenty! 

100% Plant Based (c)travelincousins.com

One of the 3 stages (c)travelincousins.com

Another vegan food booth (c)travelincousins.com

A quick photo (c)travelincousins.com

With a meal plan in mind, it was time to head to the Oaks stage - where we would be for pretty much the entire day!

We arrived in time for the first band - Trampled by Turtles of who I've never heard of - but then again, you've got to recall that I hadn't heard of Robert Plant either!

NOTE that I am definitely NOT comparing the 2 just reminding you that I don't know the who's who of music.

The plan was to stake out a good spot and continue moving forward in the crowd as space would become available. Ultimately being front and center for Robert Plant!

​Next up was the Violent Femmes and my second time seeing these guys.

Gorden Gano - Violent Femmes (c)travelincousins.com

While I do recognize a number of their tunes, I find it quite comical that they play a weber grill and conch shell!  

Playing the Weber Grill and Conch Shell (c)travelincousins.com

Following the Violent Femmes was an old fave of mine that I was also seeing for the second time - Alanis Morissette who came out with her newly cropped do to a very eager audience. 

Alanis Morissette (c)travelincousins.com

Alanis and her strut on stage (c)travelincousins.com

After Alanis we continued to inch our way closer to the stage and it time was Gary Clark jr. who if you recall I recently saw when I went out for a girls night to see Eric Clapton back in the Fall '17.

Gary Clark jr (c)travelincousins.com

Gary Clark jr (c)travelincousins.com

After standing in front of the Oaks stage in the sun for nearly 7 hours, the shade had blanketed us and  it was finally almost time for what Dave was there for - Robert Plant.

​He told me that I had no clue (which he was right) about what I was about to witness. Music history!

Excited to see Robert Plant (c)travelincousins.com

Robert Plant made his entrance to the stage and quite honestly I didn't even know that it was him. Sorry guys.?   

But sure enough that everyone else did and they all rocked on!!!

Robert Plant (c)travelincousins.com

Robert Plant (c)travelincousins.com

Robert Plant (c)travelincousins.com

The crowd behind us (c)travelincousins.com

We never made it to the very front, but we were in the 5th row of fans which wasn't too shabby! Robert Plant (c)travelincousins.com

The music was good and Dave had a smile on his face and throughly enjoyed the show, which is all that mattered. 

Once Robert Plant had exited the stage (after doing an encore!) our plan was to move around a bit - standing for almost 8 hours to stake out spot was not very comfortable - I really needed to move - I needed to stretch.

So the decision to head over to the Sycamore stage and catch the Third Eye Blind act was very appealing to me!!

I was also quite starving, but the lines were all long and the festival was packed. I was in no mood to stand in line - I don't care how hungry I was or what it was for.

Our position for Third Eye Blind was in the rear - which was fine by me - more room to move and not be squished anymore.

Third Eye Blind (c)travelincousins.com

The crowd for Third Eye Blind (c)travelincousins.com

On screen Third Eye Blind (c)travelincousins.com

We listened to the end and then made a beeline to go and see The Kings of Leon - one of my faves!

Not seeing The Kings of Leon since 2010 at a concert of which absolutely no photos were allowed otherwise the security guards would grab your camera - which I found and still find quite ridiculous! 

At this performance there were many cameras (in the form of smart phones) out taking pictures and videos. 

This was probably my favorite of the night.
And as I swayed and bopped to the music, Dave had stood behind me and massaged my shoulders,  working out the kinks and knots...
I'm beginning to wonder if this was why it was my fave - Music and a Massage?!  

The Kings of Leon (c)travelincousins.com

Caleb Followill - The Kings of Leon (c)travelincousins.com

The Kings of Leon (c)travelincousins.com

The Kings of Leon (c)travelincousins.com

Caleb Followill - The Kings of Leon (c)travelincousins.com

Then the night had come to an end, it was time to go home and the crowds all dissipated, leaving a mess of trash behind.

We had fun! We made memories! And apparently I saw history!

Here's a sneak peek at what's to come in the next few days...

I'm signing out,
-Travelin' Tanya