Another Board to Travel

 
Chocolate Edition Board

Over the holidays we have found another board to add to the list of “Boards Traveling”.  This one should be quite easy as it is the Monopoly Chocolate Edition.  The board itself has all of the same properties as the original game but the rest of the pieces are different.  There is a spinner and the deeds/chance cards.  In this edition, the deeds and chance cards are made of chocolate. 

Board and Pieces

Monopoly Chocolate Edition is probably one of the easiest and fastest editions to play.  The rules are as follows:

1. Place the board and the spinner on the table
2. The host spins first. If the spinner lands on a colored square, the player can take a chocolate of the same (street) color from the box and put in on the board on a street square of the same color.  Then it is the next player’s turn.
3. If the spinner stops on a square with a question mark, a similar chocolate is placed in the bank.
5. If the spinner stops on the Free Parking square, the player may take ALL chocolates from the bank.
6. Once the last chocolate belonging to a color on the board street has been placed, the next player to spin this color may take ALL the chocolates of that color.
7. As soon as all streets and all stations have been distributed, the player who has won the most chocolates wins!  The winner may also eat any chocolates left in the bank.

 
Chocolae Deeds and Chance Cards

 

This game is for 2 – 4 players.  That could be a lot of chocolate for 1 person if they are playing a 2 person game as there are 32 pieces.  I think we will wait for a couple of months to travel this board as there are plenty of holiday treats still around. 

There have been other chocolate versions created such as Chocolate – Opoly which is dedicated to chocolate aficionados. Then there was the Neiman Marcus Chocolate Monopoly Edition which was made entirely of chocolate including the board, deeds, and hotels.  This edition was sold in 1978 for $600.00 according to Extremechocolate.com. Apparently there were only 25 of the Neiman Marcus editions made.  I would have to have a fairly large gathering in order to eat all of that chocolate.  Finishing a complete game must have been near impossible due to pieces missing (eaten). What a great conversation piece though.

Chocolate Edition Box

This edition of Monopoly may not be quite as chocolaty as the Neiman Marcusedition; it doesn’t come with that kind of price tag either.  I believed that there was a Monopoly edition for everyone before with all that have been made over the past 75 years.  Now I’m convinced with the making of chocolate versions!

Leaving the Cold

The Dante Fascell Visitor Center at Biscayne National Park

I am excited to go to Miami in this cold weather. Biscayne National Park looks and sounds really cool too. So it isn’t just to get away from the cold weather. Biscayne National park has a lot of things I would like to do and see. “It protects a rare combination of aquamarine waters, emerald islands, and fish-bejeweled coral reefs.”  according to their website. Now that sounds really interesting! It has 10,000 years of human history from pirates and shipwrecks to pineapple farmers and presidents. I hope to see a lot of wildlife out there! I also would like to snorkel. 

Manatee Swimming along the Coast

I like to look at the colors and designs of fish. I like blue fish the most though. I’ve never seen a manatee and would like to. There are many tiny creatures to look out for too. Boating would be fun too! I like to feel the breeze in the air. There would be a lot of breeze too according to the website. Camping would be cool but I don’t think we’ll be camping. Biscayne was established for its natural history! Almost every island at the park has evidence that the native people used it. As stated in the Biscayne National Park website: “underwater, shipwrecks lay as silent witnesses to one violent moment of time, having a promise of teaching us about our collective past.” I would like to see a shipwreck and see how I feel about the history. I like to learn about history whenever I get the chance. I’ve learned so much already. You could even hear the story of how the park got established from one of the people who actually made it happen! I would love to hear that story! 

Sights to see while snorkeling

I will become a Junior Ranger for this park. You do a little booklet at your level and to complete it you have to venture around the park for the answers and use your knowledge. After completing it you get a badge with the parks name on it and if you’re a Girl Scout, or Boy Scout you can add patches to your vest or you can just get them for fun too if you aren’t! It is a really fun activity for kids and family. A glass bottom boat over Biscayne’s coral reef would be a great experience, but to see the reef well you would have to swim from the boat to the reef. It would not only be fun for me but a very good sight and experience. I don’t think anything could replace a trip to this park! You can learn so much from traveling in a fun and an exciting way, especially if you go as a family. That’s how I like to travel at least. Like I said, I am so excited for the trip and to see even more National Parks!

Becoming a Junior Ranger

Between the Parks

Between the Parked Ships

In between our visit to Biscayne National Park and the Everglades National Park we are going to explore parts of the Caribbean on a cruise. This 5 day cruise will take us to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, and Nassau. We have visited Nassau once before 15 years ago where we enjoyed a submarine excursion through some very beautiful waters being amazed at the colors of the fish and the ship wreck while looking into the Abyss as the ocean floor dropped out of site.  Claustrophobia entered for a brief time as the submarine began sinking until the sites of the ocean floor came into view. We enjoy cruises as they allow us to experience a number of different places in a short period of time.

This wasn’t always the case.  During our first few cruises we primarily wanted to stay on the ship and just relax.  We would get off the ship for a little while and shop in the local stores and then return never really exploring the destination just enjoying the ocean breeze.  One of the reasons for this was the cost of excursions at a time when we didn’t have the disposable income for traveling.  Another reason was a lack of desire to explore along with wanting to lounge around and relax.  As I have gotten older and in more of a routine of daily life, there is a greater desire to experience new things and explore areas I have not been to before.  Excursions make a tremendous difference in the number of memories there are while on a cruise. 

Sunset Over the Ocean

These excursions don’t always have to be booked through the cruise line itself, especially with the internet access today.  There are many destinations that have tourist information online where you can look for tours other than what the cruise line is offering. We are looking into a dolphin swim in Nassau that is not offered by the cruise line we are taking. Sometimes going off on an unplanned excursion can make just as many memories or more because it was spontaneous.  One of the times we did this was in Montego Bay, Jamaica.  We negotiated a price with a taxi to take us to some of the highlights of Montego Bay and began our sightseeing.  We were able to see the area botanical gardens and climb Dunn’s River Falls for a lot less than we would have paid from a cruise ship and we had more freedom to see what we wanted for the length of time we wanted. 

>
Rushing Back to the Ship!

 
One concern of creating your own excursions is that they are not cruise sanctioned so you have to be very aware of the time because the cruise ship likely will not wait for you if you are unable to get back to the ship on time.  I have tested this return time on more than one occasion and it is not a pleasant experience.  Fortunately I have made it back with enough time to get back on the ship.  On at least one occasion I have joined security as they were getting back on the ship and closing the doors.  After all was done, I made the most of this brief stop and have some great memories and a lot of laughs now.  Some of my family members won’t go with me on my custom made excursions because I make them to nervous about getting back to the ship on time.  This reminds me, I probably should keep my passport with me this trip so that if I do end up missing the boat, I can still get home!

The Keys

Dividing the Waters of the Florida Keys

After visiting the Everglades National Park, we are going to begin our journey to the southernmost point in the continental United States – Key West. Driving the U.S. 1 through the Florida Keys is something that I have wanted to experience for a long time. During our excursion to Southern Florida we have decided to finally do just that – Drive the almost 160 miles from Miami to Key West.  This highway has been highlighted in such movies as True Lies and Licence to Kill which began my interest in wanting to drive this long span of bridges that connect many of the Florida Keys. We will be staying in Key West for one night before returning to the mainland for our trip back home.   

A tropical sunset

The plan currently is to leave right from the Everglades about mid-afternoon and drive the 4 hours straight for Key West where we will enjoy the rest of the night.  One of our games right now is to figure out where we’ll be for the sunset on this drive.  The next day we plan to take in some of the sights and attractions as we meander back towards Miami.  Since time will be limited we will have to stick to some shorter excursions.  Some of the places in Key West that may be interesting see are the southernmost point marker, beaches, the Butterfly Conservatory, the aquarium, and the Hemingway House.  I’m sure there is much more than this but these are some attractions the caught my attention.  

Feeding Frenzy

As we drive back through the Florida Keys some of the other places that might be of interest in our short time are Bahia Honda State Park, feeding the tarpon at Robbie’s Marina in Islamorada or visiting Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park.  Continuing on to Key Largo could bring a stop at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park where there is snorkeling, hiking, or kayaking to enjoy.  I have read many positive reviews of this state park which moves it a little higher on our list of places to see while driving the Florida Keys.  Of course snorkeling is abundant in any of these areas and there is always the option of sitting back and taking in our surroundings.   

While researching the drive on U.S. 1 through the keys, I discovered that we could easily spend our entire 10 days in Southern Florida playing in the keys so to only take a day is a great teaser for future endeavors to this area.  I am eager to experience driving on a highway that has the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.  It’s hard for me to imagine driving on such a long span of bridges connecting so many islands together.