Is the Florida Keys Only for Vacations?

Posted on June 15, 2025 by David Cross

I recently had a business trip and conference to attend…and it was not in the traditional big conference cites, but instead, it was in the Florida Keys. Let’s talk about the good, the bad and the ugly!

First and foremost, you need to fly into Miami and for those of us on the west coast, that is a full day trip. But as soon as you arrive and head to the hotels on Miami beach, you can see why it is a popular town.

There are tons of great rooms that practically right on the beach.

with a lot of great scenery for runs and walks along the canals or the beach boardwalks.

and who knows, you might even run into a dinosaur!

some of the rooms are huge, but I am not sure that is a great benefit when the bed and stairs are 30 feet above the main room…

I found that all the hotels and resorts in the keys all seem to have evening entertainment, that is for sure. Why is that?

Maybe in the Keys, you are long distance from almost everything unless it is another resort.

The greatest benefit – gorgeous sunsets

and bright moons over the sky for dinner

but when you share a resort with a lot of unknown people, you need to be diligent and have secuirty around every corner. Otherwise everyone will sneak into your crowded rooms or confidental meetings,

but that was not a big problem for us as most of the guests like hanging out with the dolphins more than trying to sneak into our meetings…

These isolated conferences are much better at being able to focus and have dedicated time than being in a big city with hotels and lots of distractions.

How does it compare to a massive conference like RSA in San Francisco (blog)?

or the Multiversity in California (blog)? I think I would still prefer the more isolated camps that you have more space and not crowded with all the vactioners in the resort.

Oh yes, on a different trip, I did explore the Florida Keys (blog), so there is a lot of fun if you can leave the resort and conference, but I was not able to this time,

I did go running (of course!) With some of the other running enthusiasts at the conference!

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Who has the best breakfast spot in Waikiki?

Posted on April 12, 2025 by David Cross

Believe it or not, there are not as many traditional breakfast locations or restaurants in the mornings in Waikiki. So let’s review a few !

The Sheraton Waikiki has a nice outside seating

And a bar for getting morning drinks and has the best Virgin/mockktail Pina colada.

The Monkeypod restaurant has tables right next to the ocean and a fantastic local custom breakfast menu…but their fake Pina colada is horrible.

The historic Westin Ala Moana has a great atmosphere in its exterior and garden and the buffet is decent, but is definitely overpriced.

The absolute best buffet is in the 100 Sails restaurant that is in the Prince Waikiki hotel. It overlooks the harbor and is very popular dinner buffet as well. The only downside is the waiter service is quite slow and limited.

Summary: eveywhere is a good breakfast spot, just enjoy vacation with the fireworks every Friday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village!

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The Best Views of Hawaii

Posted on April 11, 2025 by David Cross

This will be a fun one…there are so many great views of the ocean in Waikiki

or from your hotel room

Or having coffee and breakfast next to the ocean thanks to Monkeypod Kitchen

and great sunsets as well to enjoy with dinner

Or you can explore famous movie sets and relive the action in the massive valleys and ranches

The North Shore has much bigger waves, but there is not as much to see or do or eat unless you are going to surf or BBQ on the beach.

so, how do you get better views? Taking a hike!

Where is the best hidden hike? It is in a very fancy neighborhood called Lanikai.

They block tours and guides from entering, but if you walk about a mile into the neighborhood, you can hike up no problem

It is not a simple hike and it can be a little dangerous if it rains, but the hard work will pay off.

The goal is to reach some remaining WWII pillboxes that are on the eastern side of the island. Getting excited yet?

And when at the top, what do you see?

Some of the best ocean views second only to Diamond Head https://davidcrosstravels.com/2021/12/24/hiking-diamond-head/

…and checking out the Bevelery Hills of Hawaii!

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Jurassic Park

Posted on April 9, 2025 by David Cross

It has been many years since the park has been shut down and all the dinosaurs disappeared, but we decided to explore what the park looked like many years ago in its hidden location.

We found the original gate which was quite worn and wide open

and command center that is quite hot in the summer given no electricy or air conditioning any more.

and since there was no electricity, you did not have to worry about touching the high voltage cages which are still peppered throughout the valley,

Speaking of the valley, it is quite majestic and see why many creatures love to soar through here.

But you better be ready to run if any dinoaurs appear unexpectedly!

I am not sure where you can run and escape to though!

Some people dive into the bunkers in the area that some of the people in the Lost TV show found for safety!

but you never know when there may be something else hiding in a bunker!

In that case, maybe it would be a better choice to hiding camping out in some of the WWII bunkers nearby that are still open for people to use when the next attack occurs 🙂

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Sydney Australia

Posted on March 22, 2025 by David Cross

It has been a long time since I last visited, but I could not resist writing an update since I had a chance to visit Sydney on a business trip post COVID and provide a fresh review.

Since I arrived on St Patrick’s day and had a little free time, I went and checked out the Rocks Market again where everyone was out on the Sunday afternoon and enjoying the scenery and Irish atmosphere for the holiday.

The good thing is you do not need a smartphone in Sydney, the phones are everywhere for you to call for reservations at your favorite restaurants! 😆

The nice thing in the summer months you can easily walk everywhere and they even have tunnels and paths so you do not have to cross highways.

They also have nice tram service in some spots that is only $1 per ride and you just tap your mobile phone when you get on and off the tram.

I did go tour the famous Opera House, but if course I had to take a picture since it is one of the most famous landmarks that always catches the eye 😉

I guess Sydney is becoming quite the shopping destination these days. It feels like there are kilometers of stores of every brand and it could days to see them all!

There are some great hotels that line the Darling Harbour area. I tried out the W hotel myself which has great views.

The evenings are even better!

The showers were a little different…the whole bathroom is a shower, so that takes a little getting used to…

And you have to be careful of the giant sharks that control the rooms…

If you would like to get another view of the water, check out the Bondi Beach area. It is about a 20 minute ride from downtown.

I had a chance to check out the Icebergs restaurant with a friend and they have some great fish dishes and views 🙂

And yes, of course I went running! The harbour is very popular with runners every morning. 🙂

and go look – this makes all seven continents of which I have run on! https://davidcrosstravels.com/running-around-the-world/

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United Airlines Review

Posted on March 15, 2025 by David Cross

I know it has been long overdue, but I finally got a chance to check out a recent international flight opportunity on United and see how it compares to all the competitors!

Most people take the international flights for United out of SFO and you need to take the long 15 minutes walk to the G gates…but it actually felt good after a few hours on a domestic flight.

Of course you can check out the duty free shops…but do you really save any serious money outside of sales tax?

Or head into the airline lounge. I went into check out the Polaris lounge.

It is pretty popular as you can see, but it does not feel loud or crowded.

And the bathrooms are not crowded, they are all huge personal spaces which was nice.

How about food? You have two choices. The standards entree bar which is quite nice, or…

The dining room which has menu and table service. Very similar to the Virgin Atlantic lounge in Heathrow airport.

The portions are small, but they do have large flavor.

It is amazing on how fast they can serve perfect temperature, delicious dishes and meet your needs in less than 30 minutes.

Now as the lounge fills up with everyone waiting for the midnight international flights, the challenge is getting one of these choice lounge compartments…it is like the fight for pool lounges and umbrellas at summer resorts!

The gate seems very chaotic but with the electronic scanning it boards quickly and you get to check out your seat. I was trying to figure out why there were so many extra pillows and blankets. They gave even more than this and I had to put them up with the luggage!

How was the food? Well…the flight attendant ran back and forth 4 times and kept asking what was my appetizer choice…I knew things were not going well from there.  Overall, it was OK, but certainly not world class.

The media choices and performance of the entertainment system was great, but the headphones were a cheap disappointment for sure.  You had to crank up the volume to hear anything over the engines.

The small consolation prize is they do give you some pajamas if you ask.

They were comfy, I may actually keep them at take them home!

And then after 15 hours of flying, we had to wait for 30 minutes to find room for us at the gate like the Qantas A380

If you would like to see of my other airline reviews, check out my consolidated page: https://davidcrosstravels.com/airline-reviews/

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Royal Caribbean Cruise Review

Posted on February 12, 2025 by David Cross

Voyager of the Seas Review

I had an opportunity to combine a work/business trip with a 5 day cruise. So I thought this was a good opportunity to do a Royal Caribbean cruise review for the blog!

CruiseCon 2025

One caveat is this was a heavy working/conference cruise, so I did not get any chance to check out all the entertainment, shows, music, activities. CruiseCon 2025 was definitely unique and a great balanced experienced experience compared to other cybersecurity conferences. There will be more, so those in the industry may want to check out the next one!

Here are some of my previous (vacation) cruise reviews if interested…

Many people stay in Cape Canaveral area since it is only 5 minutes away from the port and it is a popular tourist area due to the nearby Kennedy Space Center. Stay tuned to that point below…

Myself, I chose to stay with all the other astronauts!

Many ask, how hard is it to get to the ship and do you need a shuttle? It is easy, and only $10 taking Uber from the hotels during the peak time.

You drop off your bags and walk up and 10 minutes later, you are onboard the ship. If you are all checked in electronically in advance and have a passport, piece of cake.

The ship is a little older, but I found the cabins spacious and comfortable. I am not sure what the value of the bar is, but it is extra counter space I guess.

The bathroom was large and quite nice I must admit and not feeling cramped at all.

There some nice perks for suites in boarding priority, VIP lounge, etc. which were nice to have. The concierge is the best at taking care of every need! Saurabh Erangale was one of the best I have ever worked with and takes the cruising experience to the next level.

It is a HUGE ship and quite a site to see. The challenge with all the floors, is you often have to wait a long time for the elevators to get anywhere.

One of the popular things is to put magnets on your cabin doors..

and I have no idea what in the world this thing was. Any ideas?

Everyone complains online about all the pool deck chair hogs, but I did not see any problems with that.

There is a decent sized casino which is very popular at night and there is free drinks, but the downside is that is a place where smoking is allowed in the ship 😦

Because of the size of the ship, you can barely feel any rocking and movement, and the sunrise views are always amazing.

and when the moon comes out, it is even more amazing at night!

The Bridge

We got to meet the Captain and get a great view of the operations and experience from the bridge. His name is Thor. You have to like that Marvel fans!

The bridge has great views at night.

and it is amazing on how automated the ship is with the autopilot and computer controlled systems. Takes not take many humans!

SpaceX Rocket Launch

and a SpaceX rocket launch to kick off the entire cruise from the very beginning!

Here is a little YouTube shorts video if you would like to see how fast these rockets really move!

Coco Cay Private Island

The last day of the cruise, the ship (and several others) pull into their private island called Coco Cay and unload everything to shift all the food and booze to the beach.

For some of the families, this was the place to be!

Nice waters, lots of sand, various activities, music, etc. Half of the activities are “premium” and cost extra of course!

Just like the airlines, some of these guys snuck in the party without having a mandatory ship cruise card…

For me, I just enjoyed taking a break and getting off for some good BBQ food.

and will need a break after this intense conference when we leave tomorrow! 🙂

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Chichen Itza

Posted on February 10, 2025 by David Cross

This actually not my first time visiting this modern world wonder, but it is the first time where I had a digital camera to visit the famous Chichen Itza!

Let’s start with how most people get here. Many people take a tour from Cancun or through a cruise ship stop.

The Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas pulls into the Cozumel Island early in the morning. It is honestly a basic tourist trap island, but it does have good drift dives.

But for mainland tours, you need to take a 45 minute ferry to Playa Del Carmen. It is a nice and comfortable boat honestly.

It is a long 2.5 hour drive to the middle of the Yucatan peninsula in bus or van.

Then you encounter the long lines of tourists waiting to get in! It is best to stop for restroom break as you can guess how crowded the tourist shop bathrooms are…

But then after a short walk, the famous pyramid or I should say temple appears!

There is so many things to see depending on how much time you have to explore the surrounding historical sites.

You cannot climb to the top anymore, but the experience is still amazing despite all the people. This is the famous ball court.

and is still mind boggling on how hard it must have been when you look up close on how high the rings are on the wall.

The carvings have so much history and stories behind them that you really need a guide to help explain.

For example, you do not want to miss the story about this Mayan astronaut that went into space with the UFOs when they visited the pyramid a thousand years ago! (see his spacesuit he is wearing?)

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Happy New Year – 2025

Posted on January 2, 2025 by David Cross

Let’s kick off a new year of travel and adventures!

The first new thing we wanted to check out was a Las Vegas Knights hockey game.

I must admit the Knights are a fun team to watch and a great stadium that is so accessible and mellow to hang out compared to football games.

You can get the feeling from the band and Cheerleaders when they roam the Arena.

We tried out a few new restaurants in Vegas this week…one was the XPot in The Venetian Palazzo.

The waygu hot pot was amazing…but the chefs fixed price menu had so much food, you had to join their dinner club!

We also tried our the Eiffel Tower restaurant that has nice window views of the strip and a great cocktail and wine list to compliment the fixed menu. Great service and highly recommended for date night!

Now the follow on views were the best when we returned to the Bellagio. Fortunately now Bellagio is in the Marriott Bonvoy frequent guest program and we got a room upgrade facing the strip for the fireworks show 😁

We did a little exploring and walking around, but the Bellagio gardens were a ZOO with a billion people unless you got up before 7 AM.

I do admit the decorations are quite amazing.

We did enjoy the convenience of the connected Aria tram which was close to our Spa tower room block. It was nice to visit the Crystal Shops and the Nomad Library restaurant at the Park MGM.

The actually let you touch, check out and read books of you want in the library. It may take a while to check out all of them, since they have 25,000 available…

After a few days, you need to head home and face all the airport likes. The Delta Priority line was not bad and only 10 minutes, the Clear line was also only 10 minutes…and the American Express lounge line was only 6 minutes!

Worth the wait for a yummy breakfast!

Even this was a great trip, this does not compare to when we visited Vegas a few years ago and met Lady Gaga. What a show!

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Doing Business in Washington D.C.

Posted on November 28, 2024 by David Cross

It has been a long time, but I was able to visit Washington D.C. again on a business trip.

I did not have a lot of free time, so I used my early morning workout time to take some long fast walks around the area before anyone woke up. 🙂

I actually think the nights are best for seeing some of the sites like the Washington Monument which really stand out with the bright lights against the dark sky from a distance.

I found it to be really safe in the Georgetown area as every block there is a government building with armed security guards and secret service constantly walking around.

I was trying to find the White House, but it was not easy to find the path at 5 AM, but I did see some cool buildings like the Eisenhower building which is known as the former executive office.

At night, the best sight to see is the Lincoln Memorial.

It is hard to believe there is nobody around (except security) at 5 AM and you can get in some great shots!

Unfortunately, there was a LOT of construction everywhere and a LOT of places were restricted, but if you are resilient, you can get in some good visits and pictures.

In the daytime, I was fortunate to attend workshop meetings in the National Academy of Sciences building.

It is an amazing and historical venue which is delightful to meet and hold working group sessions.

You can even hang out with Einstein in the outdoor park!

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