In the 1960s, I was in the Navy and was stationed near Machias. I was at the Cutler Radio Site; I don't think it is still in business. Amtrak sleeper information: there are two basic choices, a roomette and a bedroom. We booked the roomette and should have booked the other. When the beds were made up, we had to open the door to properly stand - it is a bit crowded. Every cabin on our train was taken! And, when you are in bed, you are front to back and the train sways side to side, thus you roll a lot. However, in the bedroom, there is MUCH more room, and you are side-to-side and the swaying in not the same issue. In the bedroom, even when the beds are made up, there is still lots of room. In the bedroom, you have your own toilet and shower; for the roomette, you have to share (and it is tiny - no problem with falling!). Price will be a big determining factor, as will availability. I was just looking at Amtrak to take to Austin for a wedding in May and there are no bedrooms going down and only two roomettes. Coming back, one bedroom and one roomette. Each sleeper car has about 10 bedrooms and 20 roomettes. On our trip from San Francisco, there were two sleepers and 3 coaches - all booked! The food was OK, the menus are always the same, but you can get a variety. On our trip, there were some items that were gone (cheesecake and vanilla gelato for instance) on the last day. Those in coach have to pay the menu prices. I did leave a small tip for the servers, who were not overworked. Soda is free with the meal, however wine and beer are extra. There is also a cafe car with simple nibbles that are cash or credit card transactions. Still, not a bad way to see the countryside! And there were lots and lots of interesting people on board. You have some time to sit and chat in the upper level of the cafe car.

hampton, I am only familiar with the Mart, since I haven't been to High Point where the stores are more spread around. At the Mart, everything is all under one roof so its probably the most convenient and comfortable if you have any physical limitations. I would check with customer service (I'm sure the number is on their website). They would most likely be able to provide assistance or recommendations. I know the Mart is has ramps if you needed a chair to take you from Point A to B. The Mart has many places to sit and rest if you need a break. They really go all out to make customers feel comfortable. I personally wear my Ecco walking shoes. Not the most stylish, but very foot-friendly. There are several Clearance Outlets right in the Mart with many chairs, sofas and occasional pieces on the floor. I would contact the Mart and they can send you a brochure so you can see which vendors are in the Outlets.

I am not a seasoned traveller to the Caribbean, but even my middle class friends who travel told me that when going to an all inclusive, never ever go to less than five stars. They say that will only guarantee a bare minimum of cleanliness and amenities. I didn't really care for what I saw of Negril and wouldn't hesitate to stay farther out in the countryside again. I would REALLY like to get to Cuba before it opens up a bit more. I would just like to see the culture before it changes. As for the negatives, we rented a bare bones b and b and I would take care to rent better, more professional accommodation and hire a well-recommended driver (I did really like our driver and he really made the trip for us! In fact if you stay near Negril I would recommend him for sure). If I had done these two things, I would have been fine. Our last day was the 'get the money out of the rich people day' and I was asked by locals to pay school fees, adopt children, leave my tablet with them, etc. etc. (adopting legally from Jamaica is almost impossible btw). That was a little uncomfortable and made the last day a lot less fun. I think being asked for stuff is not uncommon when you are a relatively rich person visiting a poor area. I do wish I had thought to bring more stuff to give, like antibiotics and ibuprofen. Everyone we met had enough to eat but some people definitely lacked for basic medical care. The real downside is that our host was just sketchy. His business partner quoted us $10 a day each for suppers and he tried to charge us each $50 a day! He said it was because we were big...not THAT big! He was also hardcore hitting on one girl in our group -- and although this was my first trip to Jamaica, I spent a lot of time in dancehall clubs in my wilder days so, although I'm an XL girl and don't get hit on by white guys that often, I am quite familiar with being hit on by Jamaican and Caribbean guys. This dude was well over the "being forward" line into sketch territory but trying to make that girl feel like it was "just" cultural differences when it was well beyond that. And he was not like a young handsome guy either, just pushing his luck. That said she could have been a lot ruder, but also that's problematic when it's a person with a key to your room. I didn't mention that part at the beginning because I am somewhat familiar with Island guys and felt this guy wasn't representative (he was the worst person we encountered on our trip and maybe the worst person I've encountered on any trip, but I've been lucky while travelling and haven't run into many horrible people!). I have never been to Cuba but all the people I was travelling with had been. They preferred Cuba for the most part but felt the food was MUCH better in Jamaica. The scenery was extremely beautiful in Jamaica. They said the animals are much better off - Cuban cows, according to them, all look on the verge of starvation and the Jamaican cows, dogs, chickens and goats I saw all looked fat and happy (unlike Cuba, most dogs belonged to someone and a lot were fixed). My friends all were comfortable driving scooters around Cuba where they preferred having a driver in Jamaica between driving on the left and the potholes. Some of my friends had pretty sketchy nightclub experiences in Cuba and certainly sketchy nightclub experiences were there to be had in Jamaica although our outings were quite tame. There are a lot of rules and a lot of police in Cuba and they occasionally had to pay bribes. One friend had been arrested in Cuba. I didn't feel like that was going to happen in Jamaica although according to our driver he felt the police were "in general a very corrupt bunch." You can get by with English in Jamaica: although you may not understand everyone, they will certainly understand you and the signage is in English. I suspect the same cannot be said for Cuba although I have never been.

What a lovely trip! Such wonderful pictures. Thank you for taking us along. I am definitely more of a 'just be' on vacation type. I do not like having my days planned in advance. I have a question for you solo international travelers. Do you speak the local language? DH wants to go to Spain next year for a convention of one of his hobbies and wants me to go. I have less than zero interest in the hobby, so I would be on my own for several days while he is at the show. I do not speak the language at all and I'm not comfortable wandering on my own when not speaking the language. Yes, I know, plenty probably speak English but still it makes me uncomfortable. I have been thinking about planning a trip to Europe next year. DH has been lots of times to different countries. He used to travel often with his dad who was a film maker and would go to Europe once a year to show his movies in film festivals. I have never been anywhere in Europe. I know, I know. I've just always selected beach vacations over everything else. But I will be retiring this year and I'm thinking a European vacation when I am not coming back to work would be nice. I'm thinking 3 days-ish in Paris and then 10 days-ish in Italy. Not a clue how to plan this even though I can plan a beach or cruise vacay in my sleep! All this to say I will be looking for dani's post to follow along!