What is your "alternate" vacation?

[farmersfight]

44 minutes ago, milolii said:

I like the row boat idea with the Beverage Package. 

 

I can't think of a better way to socially distance than to be all by yourself in a rowboat, far from land, with a bunch of booze.

[spanishguy1970]

On 7/26/2020 at 9:06 AM, Samstress said:

 

Nova Scotia isn't even open to most of the rest of Canada:-). Which is where we'd be heading if we could. 

may i ask which part of Nova Scotia you would be heading to? ours would be in Brier Island Nova Scotia.

[Samstress]

5 hours ago, spanishguy1970 said:

may i ask which part of Nova Scotia you would be heading to? ours would be in Brier Island Nova Scotia.

 

5 hours ago, spanishguy1970 said:

may i ask which part of Nova Scotia you would be heading to? ours would be in Brier Island Nova Scotia.

I was born in Nova Scotia (Yarmouth) & I would make sure my trip back included Westport with a whale watching tour on one of the research boats. It takes a couple of ferries to get there from Brier but its well worth it.  Don't let the morning fog turn you off if it occurs...just keep going and it will clear up.   Biggest thrill of my life was going on that boat into the Bay of Fundy and having a Mom humpback with her baby play right beside our boat.   Digby is all about the scallops!  I'd actually plan my travel around the Digby Scallop festival!   Peggy's Cove is beautiful & a stop at the SwissAir Memorial along the way helps put life into perspectiive.  Lunenburg is the home of the original Bluenose & now the Bluenose11.  And Halifax waterfront with it's history (Pier 21 was the immigrant point of entry into Canada & it is worth a visit).  By now you're probably sorry you asked.   Hey I'm a true bluenoser...we tend to ramble.  Cheers, Sandy

[spanishguy1970]

8 minutes ago, Samstress said:

 

I was born in Nova Scotia (Yarmouth) & I would make sure my trip back included Westport with a whale watching tour on one of the research boats. It takes a couple of ferries to get there from Brier but its well worth it.  Don't let the morning fog turn you off if it occurs...just keep going and it will clear up.   Biggest thrill of my life was going on that boat into the Bay of Fundy and having a Mom humpback with her baby play right beside our boat.   Digby is all about the scallops!  I'd actually plan my travel around the Digby Scallop festival!   Peggy's Cove is beautiful & a stop at the SwissAir Memorial along the way helps put life into perspectiive.  Lunenburg is the home of the original Bluenose & now the Bluenose11.  And Halifax waterfront with it's history (Pier 21 was the immigrant point of entry into Canada & it is worth a visit).  By now you're probably sorry you asked.   Hey I'm a true bluenoser...we tend to ramble.  Cheers, Sandy

NP, we are familiar with all that area my family summer home is on Brier Island. We have been going there since 1980.

[Samstress]

49 minutes ago, spanishguy1970 said:

NP, we are familiar with all that area my family summer home is on Brier Island. We have been going there since 1980.

The only other place better than Nova Scotia is Newfoundland.

  Best people in the world...

As an aside.  I'm wondering why you asked me for information on Nova Scotia when as you stated you are already familiar with the entire area?  

 

Edited July 28, 2020 by Samstress

[Von & John]

On 7/25/2020 at 5:57 PM, Budget Queen said:

I’m flying in.   I have only Denali reserved.   I’ll book only slightly ahead.   Spending time in Homer,  Mat Su,  Denali and Seward.   Subject to change.  🤩🤩.    I’m open coming home.   

 

Queen - good morning.  A change to AK Non-Resident Travel, as of last night - goes into effect 08/11

Starting Aug. 11, all nonresidents will have to be tested for COVID-19 within 72 hours of arriving to the state and be able to present a negative result at the airport.

Neither testing @ the airport nor 14-day quarantine options will be available for non-residents.

According to Zink, travel isn't driving the recent increase in Alaska resident cases. Dunleavy said the decision to change the travel policy is aimed at redirecting testing capacity toward Alaskans.

[GA Dave]

16 hours ago, Von & John said:

 

Queen - good morning.  A change to AK Non-Resident Travel, as of last night - goes into effect 08/11

Starting Aug. 11, all nonresidents will have to be tested for COVID-19 within 72 hours of arriving to the state and be able to present a negative result at the airport.

Neither testing @ the airport nor 14-day quarantine options will be available for non-residents.

According to Zink, travel isn't driving the recent increase in Alaska resident cases. Dunleavy said the decision to change the travel policy is aimed at redirecting testing capacity toward Alaskans.

Considering the test results are taking 7-10 days in most areas, this basically eliminates any chance of traveling to Alaska.

[oteixeira]

3 hours ago, GA Dave said:

Considering the test results are taking 7-10 days in most areas, this basically eliminates any chance of traveling to Alaska.

Wait, really?  Anywhere in NC 24-48 hours....I am shocked you are still 7-10 days on yours.

[GA Dave]

33 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

Wait, really?  Anywhere in NC 24-48 hours....I am shocked you are still 7-10 days on yours.

Yes, the HR department at my employer said that, over the last 3-4 weeks, the wait time has been creeping up from 2-3 days to 7-10 days.  The screening locations are overwhelmed with people wanting tests who have no symptoms, no possible exposures, etc.

[Misself]

Our cruise to New England was cancelled for end of September, so a few weeks ago we booked a villa holiday in Majorca.  That is looking decidedly 'iffy' now that the UK have advised against all non-essential travel to Spain (including the Islands).   If the FCO advice is still the same nearer the time, the holiday will be cancelled by the tour operator so at least we shouldn't be out of pocket.  But I'm hoping it's just a short term restriction.....!!   

[bearette]

On 7/24/2020 at 3:04 AM, Roger88 said:

My alternate vacation would be going to Dubai in January and stay there for a month or two. Just to stay away from all these problems. Enjoy the sea, eat some good foods.. relax in the appartment under the AC. Cruising shouldnt be the only option really. There are way too many ways to choose from of how to spend your holiday

We were in Dubai on a cruise on another line when this all went down. We decided to come home because the literature stated to be prepared to quarantine in Dubai for weeks when they banned flights from.nearby countried.  Two days after we.left they shut down the whole country. I was getting emails of updates on policies from registering with the US.  They had curfews at night starting at around 8pm and you needed permits at the height of things to leave your house to get groceries etc.  We joked we would have been safer if we stayed then coming home, but we have pets we couldn't ditch for 6 weeks, the first time they had flights to the US again after we left.

[Von & John]

12 hours ago, GA Dave said:

Considering the test results are taking 7-10 days in most areas, this basically eliminates any chance of traveling to Alaska.

 

Sorry to hear that Dave - in the more populated areas of AK - test results can be received in under 4 Hours to approx. 3 days.  Anchorage now has 5 additional Free / No referral needed / Anyone can test sites for AK Residents.
I am not sure how many total free sites in Anchorage are now available.

Up by us we have a free mobile site once a week or so - sometimes every other week & sometimes multiple sites in one week.

[Viajera7]

Just returned from a 3 states road trip to National Parks and other attractions. Feeling happy  about this after 4 months in quarantine and knowing that I could not go now to one of those states because of state restrictions and the other state might be on the list too soon.  My next trip is in September by plane. I don’t feel so secure because of the airline’s policy regarding filling all the seats.

[lepidoptera]

22 hours ago, GA Dave said:

Yes, the HR department at my employer said that, over the last 3-4 weeks, the wait time has been creeping up from 2-3 days to 7-10 days.  The screening locations are overwhelmed with people wanting tests who have no symptoms, no possible exposures, etc.

 

I perform Covid testing at the hospital where I work and that is basically the same here. Our turnaround time that we give to our providers is 4-6 hours. We are often quicker than that, but all we are testing are hospitalized patients or occasionally symptomatic nursing home patients. For any one with a planned admission to the hospital, for surgery or scheduled induction or what have you, they will test you the day at our outpatient testing center and will have the results by the time you come in. Testing for non-hospitalized symptomatic patients we turn around in 12-48 hours. All of these test are performed at one of our labs, and between all the hospitals and the outpatient laboratory we generally perform a few thousand tests a day.

 

Non-symptomatic non-hospitalized patients we don’t really have the capacity to test and these get sent out to a reference lab, this actually includes a lot of healthcare workers. Governor Cuomo requires all nursing home staff to get tested twice a week. That alone is easily thousands of tests a week for each nursing home. The turn around time is currently running around 4 days to a week. It might be longer for non-healthcare workers. I can’t really believe there is any where in the US turning around tests for people who just want to travel with in 72 hours. 

[tonit964]

I have been taking my RV and camping at the beach. It reminds me of being on a cruise sitting on my balcony watching the ocean.

Now, sitting out there with my margarita, staring out at the water has brought back so many memories of my cruises and excursions.

At night when its dark, there are oil rigs that are all lit up out in the distance, that reminds me of walking out on deck and seeing other ships in the distance.

 

I'm headed out again this Monday, can't wait.

[ighten]

Norfolk broads on a friends boat -- Have arranged for the drinks package (outdoor pub gardens in the countryside and fine supermarket wines and cocktails)  and gourmet dining fish and chips in newspaper perk... Then Norway for a coastal cruise and hopefully  a UK expedition cruise in Sep.

 

Should have been on Celeb for a New England Quebec cruise through September and a TA on the Getaway..:(

The irony is I would feel safer on a ship than visiting a packed supermarket or pub/restaurant..

Edited August 1, 2020 by ighten

[farmersfight]

1 hour ago, ighten said:

Norfolk broads on a friends boat

 

Are these women from Virginia? Just kidding (another tongue in cheek comment). Actually, I wasn't sure what you were referring to...had to look it up in dictionary.com.

 

For us yanks, the "Norfolk broads" being referred to is a low-lying region of bogs and marshy lakes in Norfolk, E England.