One Busy Bee

Located at Elizabeth and A'Beckett in the heart of Melbourne, Australia, we stayed at the Empire Apartments. It was rather affordable but had a few quirks. Our flight from San Francisco landed at 6:45 AM. We would have time to kill at the café at the neighboring café at Hotel Jasper. Reception wouldn't receive our luggage until 11 am. At 11 AM, we were able to leave our luggage with Jules. She stored them until we were to return at 3 PM to check in. Unfortunately, they didn't have a room ready for us. We really wanted to take a shower and freshen up but we made do. Exploring it is! We went to the Royal Arcade, the Visitors Center, checked out a Labour Day area with booths and live music near the Crown Hotel, checked out the Sea Life Aquarium and had drinks and snacks at a rooftop bar called State of Grace. More detail on these places soon. We received a text that our room was ready while on our second drink on the roof. It was warm and we were really ready for a sho...

We have just arrived in Melbourne and are currently sitting at the café at the Jasper Hotel. The reception desk for our hotel doesn't open for another forty minutes. Here, we are able to sit with our four pieces of luggage, use Victoria region's complimentary wi-fi and stay connected. We were also able to Coconut and Macadamia Nut Waffles and an Avacodo Smash post our first flight on Qantas . My roommate, Kim, and I safely flew for 15-hours from San Francisco. An exciting video is posted on my personal Instagram at @bappletree . SFO was easy to get thru via security. Having Clear helped (let me send you a free month), but I am most likely going to get global entry when I return to the states. We ate at Gott's pre-flight and did some yoga while our phones charged until we were ready to board. We waiting just past our boarding time as there's no need to wait in line just to sit down. It was nice to see that there was no longer a wait when we finally reached our...

Two months down for 2019. How would you say your year is going for you so far? February was full of travel for me. March, I’m headed back down. Down under, that is. Have you been? What are you down for? What downs have you come up from?  Like a basketball, you’re bound to come up. TRAVEL Almost a year after I completed the Princess Academy with Princess Cruises, I have selected my graduation gift: a free 13-day cruise from Melbourne, Australia and around New Zealand. My roommate is pretty excited. We both haven’t been down under. We will be flying direct on Qantas, thank goodness. We will spend at least one full day in Melbourne on both ends of the trip. She wants to hold a koala (still working on that). I want to go to their rooftop bars and eat at their nice restaurants. I am glad we both agreed to a spa day before we head back in time for our return flight to San Francisco. Then again, my roommate is down for anything. We have ran across the below articles on...

I have damn near close to 10,000 photos on my phone. The intentions are to do write-ups on these locations but I have clearly fell behind! So here’s some randomness to try to delete these from my phone so they can live on the internet forever and available for your drooling pleasure. Paella in Barcelona Dinner at Scala’s Bistro at Union Square, San Francisco Tacos in Cabo San Lucas, México. Breakfast special at Rudy’s Can’t Fail Cafe in Emeryville, California with some Mighty Leaf green tea. Fish and chips from Pier Market at Pier 39. Their clam chowder is way better. Get a 10% off coupon from me! Honored to have the Michelin star Belford’s Savannah Seafood and Steaks re-post my photo of their peach and avocado soup and cocktail.  The best carbonara I have had in the United States. Restaurant name to come but it’s in Santa Cruz, California.  Red meat and potatoes from Be Our Guest at Walt Disney World.  Mud Pie at Chart House at...