What’s better than a wine tasting tour? How about a wine tasting tour with no driving! Coming up this spring is the perfect getaway weekend for vinophiles: a cruise from Seattle to Victoria and Vancouver, B.C. April 24-27, 2009. (You return to port at 7 A.M. Monday morning—in time for work, but with no guarantees on your readiness to go back to the grind.) Your guide for this experience, which includes an exclusive wine maker’s lunch at the Pinnacle Grill, a wine tasting party, and a complimentary bottle of wine in addition to all the usual shipboard amenities on Holland America’s MS Amsterdam, is baby boomer and wine expert Deb McFarlane.

A dedicated and seasoned world traveler who also loves wine, McFarlane spent many years at Microsoft. After leaving the software giant in 2000, she began to study her passion in earnest, graduating with honors from the two-year program at the Wine Academy at South Seattle Community College. Her company, Wine Diva Deb, the realization of her desire to combine her two passions, leads small groups of wine aficionados on trips all over the world. Check out her Web site, www.winedivadeb.com, for details on lengthier upcoming 2009 adventures farther afield in Greece, Italy or Thailand.

To book your spot on the three-day, Northwest wine cruise, call Wine Diva Deb at (206) 617-6160 or email winedivadeb@yahoo.com.

Hey, thanks for checking out the new BoomVoyage blog. In this space, we will tell you about upcoming events of interest to Baby Boomers (most with a travel slant), let you know about great new finds, which may be places, products or services, update you on people, places and events that we have told you about before on BoomVoyage, and alert you to special deals we have arranged. Be sure to check back often or to subscribe.

Coming up soon is Retire in Style, the third annual Boomers Show.  Held at Long Beach Convention Center in California, October 25-26, this year’s event promises to have lots of goodies plus valuable information on health, lifestyle, retirement possibilities, financial information, travel, and so much more.  Interested in attending? If you click on this link, you can get your $25 entrance tickets free!  Planning to make a weekend of it and come in from out of town? Use the BoomVoyage toll-free number 866-958-8687 and have our travel partner, Casto, find you a great place to stay and handle your travel.  See you at the show!