November 6, 2023

A short blog from me tonight as this, our second formal night wraps up.  Interestingly on neither formal night were guests in the dining hall offered lobster or steak.  You could buy them – $35.00 for lobster, but I don’t like them that much and Bonnie doesn’t like them at all.

I don’t remember if I’ve told you this (raise your hand if I have) but after my first talk, a woman came up to me and asked if I knew a store called Taber’s Jewelers.  Well, yes I do because that is where I started my career in jewelry.  She is a close friend of a young man who worked with me and was in and out of the store.  She also worked at Walden Books in the mall.  Taber’s was 30+ years ago and she, and I are not the same looking folk we were back then, but when she told me her name, I remembered her.  Small world story number one.

SWS #2 and 3 occurred today.  I start my talk on John Harrison, the creator of the chronometer which allowed for the possibility of determining longitude with 3 vignets from Garrett County and Loch Lynn.  A lady came up to me and said she has a house on Deep Creek Lake.  We talked about the Lake, the Wisp ski area, Herrington Manor (the one in Garrett County, not in Evans, GA), and Swallow Falls.  A few minutes later a man approached and asked if I know where Grantsville is.  Absolutely, I said, our first apartment was in Grantsville, directly across the street from the hardware store.  All together now, “It’s a small world after all.”

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for!  Heeeeere’s Bonnie!!

Yes, I am still alive and have not fallen or been thrown overboard, though tonight I fell like it very tired.

Only positive things my husband says so I shall leave the other stuff for later.

Our day starts with Room Service, continental breakfast because his talks are all but one at 9:30. Any other type of room service is $7.95 per person plus 18% gratuities. Then, we get ready he rehearses once more and we are off. The Catholic morning Mass is from 8 to 9:15 and is still in progress when we arrive. Then he does his thing. As usual he is loved and adored by everyone. People just love his talks and continually thank me for lending him to them.

First I should tell you how we get to the theater and to lunch. Our room is at he very front of the ship! We have a huge window which overlooks the helicopter landing sight. One slight disadvantage is the wall containing the window is slanted in. It has a large curtain which is electronically raised and lowered. It must be raised at night because it’s inside lights affects the bridge at night, otherwise nice room. But it is ALL the way forward on Deck 10. Now going to the theater is no problem. You walk down the LONG corridors to the elevators and ride down to deck 4. However, the Windjammer and the dining room for supper are both at the back of the ship all the way on the other end of the ship. So to go to the Windjammer for lunch, after returning to our room after his talk for him to change and drop off his stuff, we walk down the LONG corridors to the elevators, ride down to deck 5, walk the whole length of the ship(almost) and then ride the elevators to deck 16 for lunch. If it is supper time we just have to walk to the end of deck 5 to the dining room. 

In the dining room we are seated at table for 6, beside a table for 13, all women there. Though a majority of the time it is just the 2 of us at the table. One , young couple moved off to a table for 2 to be alone!, the other couple is one of the speakers and they kind of come and go. We have very nice waiters, Rosa and Kelson. Very attentive. They also have the table of 13. 

There are very few offerings during the day for entertainment or for things to do. There are 5 main shows and we have seen 3of them, they are by reservation only. We have seen the water show, divers swimmers and a lot of drum ming and very noisy. It can also be very wet if you sit in the first 3 rows, and it was very cold the night we went. We also went to the ice skating show and tonight one called the history of Flight. A very interesting show all about famous times in history about flying. We enjoyed it.

We sat on deck 5 of the theater. When we sat down we sat behind 3 seats at the rail. We started to set in the first two seats of the next row. I told David that would be good if a tall person didn’t set in the seat in front of me. The lady sitting in the first of the three seats said her husband was VERY TALL. So we sat in seats 3 and 4. She wasn’t kidding when this guy came in he was well over 6 feet. He finally moved to the first seat and his wife sat in the second seat so the lady who sat by your Dad could see.

Well, we have turned our clocks back again and tomorrow will only be 2 hours ahead of you. I have no device that has the right time for home. My phone is on airplane mood so it doesn’t know anything.

Well, he says it is time to go to bed and he is correct.

Love you and  miss you all. Yes, Karen I am okay I will write you a long email when we get home.

Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie