The Southwest Companion pass is one of my favorite things – a companion flies with you free, paying a nominal fee of $10! How do you get this great benefit which lasts the year you receive it and one more?! Voila…the Chase Southwest business/personal credit cards, which give you 50,000 points each after spending $2,000 within three months.

This wonderful perk let my hubby and me travel to Key West in April for a long weekend! We had never been before and enjoyed the southernmost point in the US, Duvall Street, and the seven mile bridge. The entire trip costs us $188 and about 23,000 SW points; and we used hotel points/cash to stay in Marathon, Florida. (I’m not including our food in any totals).

Duvall Street…

We are aviation enthusiasts, so we went to the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Museum in Marathon.

The walkway on the old seven mile bridge!

The view outside our hotel…

We used to live in Reno, Nevada, the “Biggest Little City in the World,” so we took a trip down memory lane and visited Memorial Day weekend. We saw old friends and places, and Lake Tahoe, the most beautiful lake in the US! We drove to Virginia City and walked around. This weekend cost us $180 and about 25,000 SW points. And again, we used hotel points/cash to stay in Carson City, NV.

Beautiful Lake Tahoe, Sand Harbor…

 

 

 

Virginia City, an old mining town.

Bowers Mansion, built by new millionaires in the Comstock mining boom, now a state park.

 

And last, but NOT least, NYC…I changed my companion to a good friend and we had a girls’ long weekend in the city. We stayed in Brooklyn in a studio apartment, a lovely brownstone walkup, one block from the subway station, with a direct train ride of 20 minutes into Manhattan. We booked this with airbnb, and our place was comfy, quiet, convenient, and cute! The cost for this was $512 each and 17,600 SW points. This included our apartment for four nights, the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island ferry, 9/11 Memorial (it’s free, we did not go to the museum), great seats at “Wicked,” the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a bike ride in Central Park, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, Uber cars using a discount, and the subway. We packed our days full and oh, the food was good…eating where the locals eat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manhattan skyline, as seen from Liberty Island…the tallest building is the new One World Trade Center, near the 9/11 Memorial.

The reception hall at Ellis Island…this ceiling has 28,872 tiles, of which only 17 needed to be replaced during the restoration process!

One World Trade Center, as seen from Ellis Island.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wall Street Bull, quite the popular guy…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One World Trade Center

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 9/11 Memorial, one of two, with 3,000 names engraved.

The Egyptian display at the “Met,” aka Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Aerial view of the armory display…

We tried to go early before the crowds…

One of my favorites, a Renoir…

Central Park, a serene place in the midst of the city…

“Wicked” on Broadway = FANTASTIC!

Times Square

Thanks to the SW Companion pass, I was able to visit new places and revisit old places! I will be out of the country, but see you soon with posts from my newest adventure. Here’s a hint, there will LOTS of animals!