August 30, 2012


Pumpkin in 1.

We are about 90 percent packed to walk off the ship in the morning.  The Bro and CJ will meet us and we will head for home, stopping in Wilson, NC before completing the journey Saturday.

The good thing is we have another cruise scheduled for this year.  The bad thing is we have to wait until November.  It takes so long for good things to get here, and they are gone so quickly.  But that’s the way it is.

See you all soon.

TTFN

August 29, 2012.

Pumpkin in 2.

We slept late this morning, had breakfast in the “My Fair Lady” dining room, got tender tickets, and waited for our turn to go ashore in Newport, Rhode Island.

We passed St. Paul's UMC which advertises they are the world's oldest Methodist church with a steeple and a bell.

We walked around with two objectives: to find a used bookstore which advertised “fine old books”; and to find “Wood Pizza” – an eatery which advertised wood-fired pizza.  We located both, and as my old Daddy used to say, “Nothing extra.”  In fact, Wood Pizza was closed.  How rude!

I bought a Star Trek novel, since I had finished reading the book I brought on ship, and Bonnie looked, unsuccessfully, for crocheting books.

We passed Cairn Stadium (I think that’s spelled correctly), the home of the Newport Gulls.  The Gulls are in a developmental league, like the Wilson Tobs, college players who play from May until August, honing their skills with extra playing time after the college season ends.  It’s a great old ball park, representative of by gone days.  The last time we were here, the Gulls were in town and we watched a couple of innings.

The harbor in Newport is not deep enough for cruise ships to dock, so tenders must be used to get passengers ashore.  We tendered in when we were on the Dawn Princess several years ago, preparing for our Atlantic crossing.  In recent days the city government has put in a new law “no wake” law which requires all ships entering the harbor to travel no faster than 5 miles per hour, thus making a 5 minute trip into a 20 minute one.  But it’s their harbor, and I guess they can do what they want.

We did find another gun for Mac.

I am happy to report that I inflicted the Hub Cap Joke on another table of unsuspecting cruisers.  They are my favorite types to abuse – they’ve spent more days at sea than Noah, and the alternately brag and complain about every ship, every port, every meal, every cruise director ... you get the idea.

Well, time to get this posted.  I’m not sure if there will be a report from sea tomorrow or not.  Time will tell, but what is time to a hog (pictured is a variety transplanted to Bermuda from England and hunted to extinction).

TTFN.

August 28, 2012.


Well, if it’s Tuesday, this must be Boston.

We had purchased round-trip shuttle tickets to take us to Quincy Market where we were going to walk the Freedom Trail, but the skies over Bean Town were heavy with rain.  We cashed in our tickets, and set out to spend a leisurely day reading, eating, and napping, with a touch of crocheting thrown in.  As the clock approached the noon hour, we noticed that the rain had stopped, and there was nothing but blue skies (thank you, Mr. Worf, and Irving Berlin).  Too late to get shuttle tickets again, as the ship sails at 3:30, we continued the above listed non-strenuous activities.

Since there are no Boston pictures to post, I am going to pick out a few of the Bermuda pix, and include them in this issue of the blog.

I did enjoy the honesty of this quote inside the Queen’s Museum.

Everyone who once resided at 4214 Cap Chat Street will recognize the car.  I doubt it was one of our two, but it was interesting to see a Festiva-like vehicle parked at the dock.

The collection of anchors is inside the fortress walls at King’s Wharf, a collection rescued from the many shipwrecks that have occurred in the waters off of Bermuda.  All of you history students know that the first permanent settlers to Bermuda arrived via the shipwreck of the “Sea Venture,” a vessel commanded by Sir George Somers, of the Virginia Company, which was on its way to restock the colony at Jamestown, and ran afoul of a hurricane.  They bailed for three days and three nights – the newly constructed ship, on its maiden voyage, coming apart before their eyes.  They grounded on a reef on July 28, 1609.  All 150 passengers made it to shore where they took several months to construct two small vessels out of their flagship, and sail onto Virginia.

During their sojourn, deprived of all of the comforts of home, they discovered that the Palmetto berry could produce an intoxicating beverage.  No known relationship, but during the time they were constructing the “Patience,” and the “Deliverance,” two babies were born.

Well enough of that.  And for the Big Guy, another cannon pointed out to sea to shoot the bad guys!

Hopefully we will get some pictures tomorrow in New Port as we set off exploring on our own.

TTFN.

August 27, 2012.

The Colonial New England talk was well-received.  Spotlight Lounge, where I made the presentation, was full.  Katrina, the activities director, predicted a good crowd because most people would be back onboard long before 4:00, and my talk was presented after we sailed.

The flowers above were growing out of the limestone rock at Crystal Cave.

Sunday morning we went to an Interdenominational Worship Service, led by Katrina, and it was a very good time.  Simple.  Direct.  God-honoring.  She led us in several prayers, the singing of some old hymns of the church, and some responsive readings.  Before she gave the message (shorter than a recent wedding ceremony of our participation) she asked if anyone wanted to share.  From my experience, that can be disastrous, but the only comment came from two ladies, twins, who are celebrating their 75th birthday tomorrow.  One of them said, “Getting good use out of one egg for 150 years is something to thank God about!

After the service, we wandered off into Kings Wharf and the Royal Naval Dockyard, where we inspected a museum, bought AA batteries (because I forgot to take spares off the ship with us), and then went shopping at the Clock Tower Mall. 

Bonnie bought a few small souvenirs, and I spent $2.50 on a bottle of Coke, cold and delicious.

Today is a day at sea, and we dock in Boston tomorrow.  I think we are just going to off on our own.  I haven’t commented about our costumes in any of these blogs, but I am wearing my #47 Pirates shirt into the home land of the Boston Red Sox (sorry, Bro, I can’t give them your appellation because persons under the age of 60 may read this, and I cannot present a stumbling block, or teach grandkids bad words).

This picture is interesting.  While we slept Saturday night, another ship tied up at King’s Wharf.  It is the Norwegian Dawn, and it is on that ship I gave my first cruise talk (moment of silence – moment’s over).  The windows above the ship’s name is the dining room.  You’ve heard the story about us sailing and all of the engines stopped and we drifted for about a half hour while the engineer got things running again.  We were sitting behind those windows, the last table before the windows, in fact.  Well, Boston tomorrow.

TTFN

August 23, 2012.

Well, here we are onboard the Enchantment of the Seas, and what would life onboard be like without a bump or two here and there.  Or to put it another way, what would it would be like if the ship’s crew, or the security ashore, or any number of other people, didn’t do something that would cause my beloved wife to exhibit feelings of anxiety.

We had our stateroom number issued to us at dockside, without a hitch (and we drove from Edgewater to the dock with relative ease.

Through security without a hitch.  No shoes or other garments had to be removed, and no alarms were set off.  Bonnie is traveling, as she always does, with her cane, and they directed us to the front of the line where Sandy was ready to receive us. 

All went well until Sandy scanned my passport and it told her the passport was issued to Michael David Sisler (my beloved wife is still sputtering about that one – “It makes no sense!”  “His numbers aren’t the same!” “He hasn’t used his passport in 20 years!”).  It took a quick check and they allowed as how I am Melvin David Sisler, Jr., and the passport was issued to Melvin David Sisler, Jr., and they changed my room card to read Melvin David Sisler, Jr., and so Melvin David Sisler, Jr., and not Michael David Sisler was admitted to Room 2021 on the Enchantment of the Seas.  Who knows?  Probably not even the Shadow. 

I hope my passport shows up as Melvin David Sisler, Jr., on the 31st, or I may have some “splaining to do.”

We have been assigned to the second seating for the evening meal, and share a table with two other presenters – a husband and wife team who teach ballroom dancing.

It is now officially Day 2, and my first talk, “King’s Wharf: the Gibraltar of the West,” is scheduled for 1:30 this afternoon (addendum: Bonnie said there were over 200 in the theater for the talk).  At one time, this small island had 90-100 forts around its coastline to protect it from invasion.  The only shots fired in anger from a Bermudian fort occurred in 1614, and the two projectiles launched missed their target.  It was enough to send three Spanish ships scurrying on their way.  Good thing, too, because the fortification was down to its last cannonball, and the gunners had upset the only keg of black powder they had.  Clear the deck!  Cannonball coming!

The Activities Director, Katrina (good Russian name), called me this morning and asked if I could add a 5th talk to my presentations, so I will be doing “When Pirates Sailed the Atlantic” (which features the most famous Pirate to ever come out the Caribbean) in the morning before we dock, then two talks on New England, and on the way home “Famous, and Not So Famous Pirates and Other Pirate Stuff.”

August 25, 2012 – Day 3

When I do my talks, Bonnie is my time keeper.  When I am within 10 minutes of quitting time she waves at me, so I can stop in time for questions.  I always acknowledge her, and today I told the assembled throng that she has been my wife for 44 years and one day.  After my talk, a young man came up to me and said he had been born on August 24, 1968, so he was 44 years and one day old.  Small world department.

If you have seen this slide show (wake up, Amy) you know that I put up a slide that lists the countries from which pirates came during the Golden Age of Piracy.  I then say, “One of the greatest Pirates of all time came from Puerto Rico,” and show a slide of Roberto Clemente.  Today I had my #47 Pirate shirt hidden under my sport jacket. I received a warm ovation as I revealed the colors.

We ate lunch on board and then took a ferry to Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda, and from there a bus to Crystal Caves.  I love caves and caverns, and this is one of the prettiest I have ever seen. 

Tomorrow we will explore the area around the Royal Naval Dockyard.  Ship sails at 4:30 p.m., and I will give my “Colonial New England and the Beginning of the Revolution” talk, as we point north towards Boston.

I give up! The Caves pix goes two paragraphs up, and the one below it is the Royal Dockyard.  Oh well

TTFN