Going Places with Lucy & Leo

December 21, 2023 through January 2, 2024

Leo and I have been planning this trip to Hawaii for over two years and to be able to combine it with a family Christmas vacation was just icing on the cake.

Our family has grown in the last two years and we have been blessed with two new granddaughters which made the logistics of all of us traveling to California a bit complicated but it was so worth it and fun. The North Carolina contingent arrived in Mountain View, California on the 21st of December to start holiday festivities hosted by our son and daughter-in-law. It was a fun family time complete with winery visits, train rides and lots of presents and good food for all. This was a very special Christmas indeed.

Leo and I headed out from Mountain View on the 27th to join our Viking cruise to Hawaii which sailed from Los Angeles the following day. We were looking forward to a scenic drive along the Pacific Coast Highway but alas that was not to be the case. Due to flooding and road erosion caused by recent storms the PCH was mostly closed and we were diverted to an alternate road which actually turned out to be very pretty as it meandered past the vineyards of Pasó Roble. We arrived in LA and stayed near the Port of Los Angeles cruise terminal which was in the Little Italy area of San Pedro. Leo was in heaven as he immediately booked a wonderful restaurant near the hotel and we dinned on some fabulous Italian food that night. I was also excited to visit the Getty museum the following morning.

We arrived at the Getty Center early in the morning to take advantage of our time there before heading out to our ship. We had from 10AM opening till around 1PM before we had to head for the cruise ship, which is really not enough time to see this wonderful museum, you can easily spend days here. But we didn’t waste our time and enjoyed viewing the amazing collection of this renowned museum and had enough time to take a docent led tour of a special exhibition of William Blake’s amazing sketches and prints. This exhibit came from the Tate museum in London and the last time it traveled to the US was 80 years ago so we were very lucky to be able to see it. The Getty is an architectural marvel as well with amazing panoramic views of the city of Los Angeles bellow and extensive gardens and sculpture installations that are just too vast to see in a few hours. This is now back on my bucket list for a longer visit in the future.

We headed to our ship right after the museum visit and arrived with plenty of time for happy hour. We have cruised with Viking before so we knew our way around the ship and it was so great to be back onboard and begin our Hawaiian adventure. Of course that adventure would have to wait five days for our ship to cross the Pacific Ocean and reach our first port of call in Kauai. But we love days at sea and had lots of fun with cruise activities and the big New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day celebrations. Viking went all out to bring in the New Year.

The first couple of days the seas were a bit rough but by the third day we had calm seas and outdoor activities resumed. We really enjoyed the time at sea, and did I mention the food? The New Year’s Day brunch was something to behold. I got stuck on the dessert table.

We will meet again in Kauai so stay tuned folks.