Travel – Page 6

Viva Las Vegas

October 14, 2025

Vegas for fall break? Why not?! We flew down Friday night and checked into the Venetian for a weekend of “culture” and fun!

Saturday morning we got up and walked the strip a bit before the boys headed back to watch football. The girls kept going and ended up in the Bellagio to check out the beautiful flower displays…

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and we waited in a long line for brunch at Sadelle’s…

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it was worth it! After Alabama secured a victory over Missouri, we all headed back out…

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and first stop was Maxwell’s request of the trip – In N Out!

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Everyone gave the burgers a thumbs up! We then just walked around to check out the sights!

Some sights were more interesting than others! ha!

Robert and I met at the Stanton Social in New York 20 years ago!

The boys found the place where they wished they had watched the game!

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Lots and lots of walking…

And then we ended up at a cool destination! More tomorrow!

Naples

September 3, 2025

More Naples pics for Labor Day weekend! Some beach club time…

Out to dinner at Campiello’s!

Samantha the mermaid…

and mostly good times hanging with GJ!

A great long weekend all around!

More Universal

August 22, 2025

Day 2 at Universal and we went to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We rode so many roller coasters my equilibrium was off! It was the BEST!

We rode the Rip Ride Rockit a LOT!

We endured the G force of The Hulk…but only once. Once was enough for that one!

We of course rode Hagrid’s a few times…

and we rode the Velocicoaster more than anything! It’s still AWESOME! In between all of those rides we had some butter beer…

played with some Minions…

and got to go behind the scenes in the Men in Black ride which was super cool!! VIP in MIB!

Simpson’s Land is always a hit and this kid waited patiently to finally get his Lard Lad donut! He was such a trooper all weekend. He had gotten his braces the day before he left and he had sores all in his mouth. But, in true Spencey style, he didn’t complain and just kept going. Love this kid!

Best day ever!

What can I say, we love a good theme park!

Universal

August 21, 2025

At the end of July we had one more summer adventure! A trip to Universal to see the new park, Epic Universe. It was EPIC!

We stayed in one of the new hotels which was really cool…

and had a FULL day at the park riding all of the new rides! It kind of felt like we were walking on the surface of the sun but we survived. Our favorite ride was the roller coaster Stardust Racers and it might be my new favorite roller coaster ever!!

The villian world had a good Frankenstein ride…

Of course this park has more Harry Potter stuff and it’s all very cool to see.

There was also lots of How to Train your Dragon stuff…

Our favorite part of the park was Mario and Nintendo World!

We ate at Atlantic in Epic and it was honestly delicious! Definitely the best theme park food I’ve ever had!

More Universal tomorrow!

Italy – Lake Como

August 12, 2025

On Wednesday we got up and said goodbye to Florence…

Just adding this because I want to remember how pretty it was!

We had a driver take us to our next destination! We did make a pit stop at Ristorante La Rochetta for a wonderful – and very HOT – lunch!

Please enjoy this panoramic photo Maxwell took. ha!

We then hopped back in the van and I thought I was going to die it was so hot but the payoff was worth it when we finally arrived at Villa d’Este in Lake Como!! This stop was really the impetus of the entire trip. GJ and I had been to Villa d’Este many years ago and always wanted to return. I am happy to report that it lived up to my memories and then some! Our room was so nice and big!

We explored the grounds…

and took 1k photos…well, I made GJ take 1k photos of us to try and get some that made me happy. I can be difficult to please with photos…grateful for family members that put up with me.