Minute Maid Strawberry Passion

I tried some Minute Maid Strawberry Passion this morning. Here are my thoughts on it as well as other info.

The drink does have the taste of strawberries though not as strong as I'd expect from a drink that is labeled Strawberry PASSION i.e ardent and strong. According to the label on the bottle, it has more pear juice that strawberry juice. What's up with that? Also, they claim to have put less than .5% of strawberry juice in the drink. It doesn't sound very passionate on strawberries to me based on that.

Calorie wise, the drink 210 calories per bottle which doesn't sound bad. Also, it offers 100% of your daily requirement for Vitamin C as well as 19% of the carbohydrates you need for the day.

Price wise, I believe it was $1.69 at the mini-mart I bought it at. You might be able to find it cheaper else where.

Availability, I haven't looked around various supermarkets to see how widely available it is.

You do earn MyCoke rewards if you buy the 15.2 ounce bottle. I don't know if it's available in larger sizes.

Overall, I don't think this product lives up to its name. It does have a strawberry flavor but, I doubt think it'll wow you. I wouldn't go out of my way to buy some of it. Still, I suspect it's better than a soda. Happy drinking all!

Fuze Berry Punch

I thought Coca-Cola's Fuze line made only various teas. To my surprise, I found out I was wrong. While delivering some mail 3 days ago, I decided to buy myself a cold drink at a 7-11 store I was at. They had 1 liter bottles of Fuze Berry Punch which I'd never seen before. I decided to try it and paid $1.20 for it.

I found it had a good punch flavor to it though I don't think it tastes a lot like berries. The punch taste would come from the pineapple juice, orange juice, pear juice and passionfruit concentrate they use in the product.

Calorie wise, the drink has 80 calories per 8 ounce serving (source: the bottle I bought).  Also, it provides 10% of the daily requirements for vitamins B6 and B12.

You do earn Coke rewards points for the product.

One problem if you want to try Fuze's Berry Punch is finding it. This was the first time I'd seen the product. During a number of visits to the Columbia, Maryland Wegmans, I haven't see it there though it could be in there cold drinks section by their restaurant. Also, I don't know if they offer the product in Coke's Freestyle drink machines. I'll have to check that the next time I buy a drink from one of those machines.

Overall, I thought it was a good product and, $1.20 for a 1liter bottle seemed like a reasonable price for it. If you want a punch type drink, you might want to give Fuze's Berry Punch a try if you can find it. Happy Drinking all!

Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas

I try to take a picture of each ship I sail on with Royal Caribbean. That way, I can better remember the ship. The top picture is of the Grandeur of the Seas while in port at the Dockyard in Bermuda. The second picture shows the Grandeur side by side with Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas. The 2 ships met twice during my Caribbean cruise. The first time was in Philipsburg, St. Maarten and the 2nd time was in Labadee, Haiti. The picture you see of the 2 ships was taken at Labadee. It was interesting to see the differences between the 2 ships. The Freedom of the Seas ship is of the Liberty Class and, it was a LOT bigger than the Grandeur. The Grandeur is the 2nd smallest class ship Royal Caribbean has (the smallest is the Sovereign Class).

I found the Grandeur of the Seas a very nice. It had recently undergone a $48 million dollar renovation. It looked in fine shape. Interestingly, the day I boarded the ship for the first time in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Coast Guard was on board and were putting the ship's crew through all kinds of tests. Initially, I couldn't get to my cabin because they were simulating a fire in the section where my cabin was. Later, the Coast Guard had the ship launch 7 of its lifeboats for unknown reasons. I was stunned when I heard of the fire on board the ship 2 and 1/2 weeks after I'd left it. From what I saw, the ship's crew shouldn't have had any problems dealing with the fire. From my experiences on board the ship, I gladly sail on it again and recommend it to anyone.

Scooters in Bermuda

During my 3rd excursion in Bermuda, the tour stopped in Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda. I walked around a little and noticed this huge collection of scooters parked in a parking lot for them by the harbor. Scooters make sense in Bermuda. The maximum allowed speed in Bermuda is 30 miles per hour (so I was told) which is within the range of a 49cc scooter. Gas is expensive in Bermuda and, scooters get great gas mileage. My first motorbike was a Yamaha Vino Classic i.e. scooter and, it got at least 82 miles to the gallon. Also, scooters are very affordable compared to a car. I paid top dollar for mine and, it came to around $3,000. I know you can get one for a lot less than that though I don't have any idea what they cost in Bermuda. Still, they have to be cheaper than a car. Also, you can carry a fair amount of stuff on a scooter. The storage compartment underneath my Vino Classic could hold a bag and a half of groceries and, you could install an additional storage compartment behind the seat. The only downside I can see to a scooter is you are exposed to the elements however, I think the sun shines a lot in Bermuda so, this wouldn't be a problem. I was tempted to rent one however, that was pricey. I heard prices of between $55 and $80 an hour plus, you had to fill up the tank when you were done. Still, I think it would be fun to ride one in Bermuda. It would be a great way to see the island. I wanted to show off my TMAX there so bad but, my TMAX wouldn't be allowed in Bermuda because the engine is too big. I heard there was a law limiting the size of the engines there to 150cc though the police have a waiver and have motorcycles that have 700cc engines. One of the tour guides there told me scooter accidents are a problem in Bermuda as apparently riders go too fast for the conditions and, car drivers don't pay enough attention for scooters. I suspect the 2nd reason is a problem here in the United States too.

If you make it to Bermuda, you might want to consider seeing Bermuda by scooter. I think it would be a fun way to see the island. Happy riding all!

Arundel Mills Costco Optometrist

To appease my doctor somewhat at least, I decided to get my eyes checked by the Arundel Mills Costco optometrist. Why go there? For a couple reasons, 1) convenience - it's easier for me to see the optometrist there than it is to try to see one at a military clinic even though I will have to pay for it out of pocket and 2) it isn't that expensive.

I found out the Arundel Mills Costco has a new optometrist. Here name is Dr. Julie T. Tran. She's a new optometrist. According to the certificates on one of the walls at her offices, she graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in 2010 and completed her residency at a Veteran's Affairs facility in Palo Alto, California in July 2011.

I found Dr. Tran to be really nice and very professional. It was easy to deal with her and, I felt she gave me a very thorough eye exam. She was also kind enough to make a copy of the exam so, I could give that to the clinic I use to be put in my medical records. The exam cost $49.

Dr. Tran offers 2 other services which cost $20 each. One is a pupil dilation procedure when enables her to better exam the patient's eyes to see if there are any signs of glaucoma or other potential problems. I did this one and, I found it easy enough barring my dilated eyes being more sensitive to the sun after the exam until the eyes drops she used to dilate my pupils wore off. Sadly, I forget what the other test/exam was though I remember it too could help detect glaucoma. Obviously, I didn't have this one done. Dr. Tran didn't think it was necessary.

Overall, I was very pleased with this very nice lady and optometrist. I felt her fees were very reasonable. I'd gladly go back for another eye exam by her and would recommend her to any of my readers out there.

A correction was made to this post after an anonymous commenter told me Palo Alto is in California. Many thanks to the commenter on this.

Bermuda's Dockyard

Bermuda's Dockyard was originally the main British Royal Navy base in the region after Britain had lost the American colonies. In time however, the base lost its importance and Britain eventually decided to close the dockyard. The Bermudan government apparently decided to change it into it's cruise ship terminal. Ferries from the dockyard take tourists to the islands capital Hamilton in 15 minutes (I think) and 45 minutes to its former capital in St. George. The dockyard has restaurants, various shops (the Bermuda Rum Cake Factory bakes its cakes here) and offices where a person can rent a scooter or book an excursion (booked a Segway tour here). Also, it has a museum where visitors can learn some of the maritime history of the area. This is where Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas tied up for 2 nights during my Bermuda cruise. I found it a nice facility. It was interesting overnighting in a port for the first time. Here are some pictures of the dockyard.

Minute Maid Apple Juice Review

One of the things Minute Maid is doing is putting out there various juices in small containers that make them easy to take on a trip. The latest packages they've been putting out is where the juice comes in a 15.3 fluid ounce bottle. The serving is big enough to give you a good drink of the juice while small enough to make it easy to carry in a lunch box or small cooler.

Yesterday, I decided to try their apple juice as well as couple other juices they put out. I'll publish reviews on the others later. I found Minute Maid's apple juice to be very good. It has a nice flavor and one 15.3 ounce bottle will give you 180% of your daily requirement for Vitamin C. The juice is pasteurized and made from concentrate (stated on the bottle). Each serving/bottle has 210 calories for the calorie counters. Cost wise, I paid $1.69 for the sample I tried. As I bought it in a mini-mart/convenience store, I suspect you could get it cheaper at a bigger supermarket or at a Costco or Sam's Club.

As Minute Maid is part of the Coca-Cola line of products, you will earn MyCoke rewards with one of these bottles. The code is on the underside of the bottle. Right now, MyCoke is giving a bonus of 3 extra reward points when you enter a code for one of the Minute Maid products. I don't think you earn MyCoke reward points for the bigger size containers (such as a half gallon). I will check into that and make a correction if I find out I'm wrong.

If you like good tasting juice and would like to be able to take it with you easily on a trip, this might be the way to go. For those who are health conscious, the juice would be better for you than a soda. It might also help keep you hydrated in the current summer heat. Happy drinking all!

Baltimore Hard Rock Cafe Review

I haven't been to the Baltimore, Maryland Hard Rock Café in months so, I thought I'd treat myself to lunch there today. Here's how my visit went.

I got a surprise when I walked in as the Baltimore Hard Rock Café underwent a $4.5 million dollar renovation (source: the bartender). The café looks a good bit different. The biggest change I noticed was at the bar area. Previously, there was a real Cadillac above the bar. They removed the car and put a good size multi-light fixture about the bar. There are also multiple tv screens there so patrons at the bar can easily watch the de rigeur rock videos (I particularly enjoyed the Night Shift video by the Commodores - great song).

Service at the bar was excellent. The bartenders never let my glass run empty and were very willing to get me some items I wanted from the gift shop.

Food wise, overall, it was very good. I wasn't wiped out with the taste of the strawberry basil lemonade. It just didn't taste very good to me and normally I like strawberry lemonade. Also, I wasn't wiped out with the price - $8.40. I had to 2 sides as well as their turkey burger. The skewered shrimp was very good. You got 6 medium size shrimp for $6.75. Also, since I like onion rings, I ordered some of those. They were a good size serving of them and came with a fine bar-b-que sauce to dip them in. They cost $5.75. The main course i.e. turkey burger was pretty good. It came with pepper jack cheese, avocado slices and tomato with an order of fries or salad on the side. I'd never had a turkey burger before and found it pretty tasty though I could tell the difference between it and beef. The cheese and avocado helped give it a nice flavor. The burger cost $14.95.

Gift shop wise, I found the folks there helpful though to be honest, there wasn't a while lot I wanted there. I already have 2 Baltimore Hard Rock Café t-shirts and don't need another. They had some nice hoodies but who needs a hoodie when it's 80 plus degrees outside. I think their selection could've been better.

Overall, I was very pleased with my visit to the Baltimore Hard Rock Café. I'd definitely recommend it. The service was great and, the food was very good. Also, they do participate in the new Hard Rock Rewards program so, you can earn points there toward your next award certificate. Bon Appetit all!