Maine

When you and the boys need to get away, consider Maine as your next mancation. Maine is the perfect place to disconnect from your daily responsibilities -- the lack of Wi-Fi in some remote areas of the state might force you to disconnect. You'll probably see more pine trees than people. No, seriously, 83 percent of this Northeastern state is covered by forests. Apart from the state's natural wonders, Maine also has a rich cultural history to explore. Let's just say that they don't call Maine “Vacationland” for nothing.

Maine is a fantastic - though sometimes forgotten state. It's way up there in the far northeastern tip of the country and sometimes feels like there are more moose, deer and fish than people. That's pretty much true though, except on winter weekends when people come flooding north for the crisp cool air and beautiful mountains covered in fresh powder just waiting for you to make tracks. Whether's it's skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, or fat tire snow biking, Maine has some great options for you to explore this winter.

Having cruised a few times in the Caribbean we wanted to do something new. A tour of New England and Maritime Canada, seemed like a great idea to explore a different area and show my wife some of the places I visited when I was younger. We had fun, the Carnival Glory is a great ship, but we learned a couple important things that will help guide us on future cruises 1) Sometimes the first trip on an itinerary is a bit rough 2) the "total cost" of a Caribbean cruise can be MUCH CHEAPER than other destinations 3) Sometimes you just need to be able to make your own fun when mother nature doesn't cooperate.

Next year (2013), Carnival is set to bring the Glory back to Boston, but with Funship 2.0 Upgrades, and hopefully our cruise helped both Carnival and the various ports iron out any kinks that we experienced.