Cruising toward home

Thursday, November 6th, Nassau Bahamas

We are sitting on the deck at the stern of the Pearl... Relaxing and waiting for the music to start...

We have explored Nassau... There is a statue of a young Queen Victoria... The site of the Royal Victoria Hotel, now a celebrated parking lot.. Climbing Prospect Hill to the fort... Through Gregory  arch, past the pirate museum, gift shop and bar...  We found Da Balcony, a cafe and bar, and in the evening, a night club... Here we sat, had conch fritters and beers...  The fritters were so good we ordered a second plate... 

So now, back aboard the Pearl, we sit and read...  Or at least Miss T does... I go back ashore, back to Da Balcony, were for the price of a beer I sit and use their wifi and clear the spam out of my mailbox, and post a couple of blog entries and a few pictures... Back aboard, I find Tina on the fantail, sitting and reading...

Eventually the music calls...  Again... First Joan Osbourn, then dinner, the Indigo Girls from the front row, then rush upstairs for an "intimate" concert with Emmylou... By now Miss T is toast, but I continue, catching the end of Deering & Dunn and most of Sonia Leigh...  I need to see more of Deering & Done... I really like Sonia Leigh...


Now Friday, November 7th... At Sea,

I have been up for some time, sitting with coffee and working on the Colorado project... Tina slept in... now just after 10:00 (am... Even Tina the "human cat" can' sleep that late...)  today we are at sea, wasting time just off the Bahamas, making big lazy circles in concert with several other cruise ships,  in international waters, where shipboard gambling and tax free retail, the twin pillars of the cruise business model are legal... There is an ongoing pool party the Caribbean house band...

Today the music starts a bit after noon... It is a badly kept secret that Shawn Colvin will be performing with "friends"... We understand that one of the "friends" is Emmylou, but friends has been mentioned in the plural form, and the other or others is a mystery...  We get there a few minutes early, claiming seats in the front row off to the right...

Shawn's friends turn out to be Emmylou and Anne Wilson of Heart...   Anne Wilson turns out to be the surprise of the cruise... As Heart she still has the voice and presence for hard core rock (the "Dog Show"). Heart's second concert showed the bands softer side... Now with Shawn and Emmylou we saw more...

Joan Osborn's last show came next... Her surprise was Sonia Leigh, one of the showcase acts who joined her for a couple of songs...   Joan was the surprise walk on for both the Indigo Girls and Emmylou as the big shows came to an end...

Again, Tina went to bed while I checked out the showcase acts... This last evening I ended with Deering and Done  out of Skagway Alaska, via Memphis... She on rhythm guitar and vocals, he on electric blues guitar...   I enjoyed their act with a glass of bourbon... They have a Civil Wars style interplay...  His guitar has that bluesy old cigar feel... But I am not sure how they will evolve...

Saturday, November 8, Miami Florida

We are docked... People are starting to disembark...

I am sitting with cup of coffee on the fantail... There are  more seagulls than the 9th inning at AT&T... One just got lucky and scored a slice of bacon.  I am trying to check email, but the data connection via my phone is painfully slow... I can get a decent connection in the desert... But not in a major city...  I will give up soon...

They have cleared the ship for walk offs, those people who didn't bring more luggage than they can carry.... The rest of the passengers are at the mercy of the colored luggage tag...

We will walk off with our luggage... But not just yet... Our son is picking us up in the curiously colored jeep... It is bright green, a color I call "electric iguana green"...   At least it should be easy to spot in a sea of yellow taxis... We have talked and his is nearly an hour away...  Another sea gull just got lucky...

Now near 8:30... T and I have gathered our bags and decamped, dragging bags upstairs to the 12th floor for coffee, food and a place to sit with a view... A phone call says the son is on his way...   We head downstairs...

Actually leaving the ship proved problematical...   The gang way was near the bow (aka the pointy end) so we took the forward elevator down to the 4th floor... Only to be sent towards the stern... All the way to the stern... Then back the other side... Back towards the bow... Then they suspended disembarkation for a while... Trapping us with several hundred of our closest friends in a long hallway... Eventually they announce disembarkation was suspended...  Eventually we started moving again...  The gangway was particularly steep...  We are docked at a temporary facility in a tent without the airport style gangways... It wouldn't normally be a problem, but generally, you don't have luggage when using the ship's gangway...

Finally off we walk through customs and immigration, and outside where we find a bright green jeep parked among the buses...  We jam in luggage... I get the back seat... The lovely Tina gets the front seat...  We drive along the A1A through Miami Beach, to Ft Lauderdale for lunch at Johnny V's, then off to the airport...

It's now 6:15 pm... We are aboard Jet Blue flight 277, watching the flight attendant put on a life vest...  In a bit more than 6 hours we will be home...

Life aboard... Music at sea

We are aboard the Norwegan Pearl.

 On a Cruise ship  food is never far away... Nor is drink... Buckets of beer umbrella drinks have been seen. (People carry buckets of beer into the theater, and stick them under their seats)

Our ship is a " partial charter"... Our music festival being that charter...   There is also the beer group... So nearly half the passengers are not aboard just for the cruise...

Those of us aboard for the music festival are wearing credentials on lanyards around our necks...  Green "Grammy Festival at Sea" badges, with daily schedules in a plastic pouch and a laminated yellow card for access to special, limited seating shows...

So far wWe have seen Shawn Colvin (rumor suggest we should not miss her next show, billed as "Shawn and Friends"... EmmyLou Harris is almost certainly  involved...) Heart twice, the first their "Dog Show", all out heavy rock... The second "everything else" including a few acoustic numbers.. Emmylou once (from the third row... We have tickets for two more shows, one in a small venue, the other from the second row.).  Joan Osbourn performs today...   There are other acts, throughout the ship... One does not have go far to find music.

But first we will visit Nassau, capital of the Bahamas... It's a bit before 7:00am...  We have just taken the pilot aboard...  It's too early for many aboard ship, particularly aboard a ship where there is good music, special music played late into the night.   Cruise ships are not primarily transportation... Instead, they are vacation... So island port calls, create a dilemma, do you sleep in, for this is a vacation, or do you forgo the extra time in bed to get up early to get maximum time ashore...

A bit after 7:00, the ship is spinning in the channel... A slow pirouette... A modern ship, equipped with bow and stern thruster can spin in place without the aid of tugs.  We will dock today pointing out.

I am sitting on the fantail, with a cup of coffee writing.. The lovely Tina is sleeping in... We have been to Nassau before... Several times.   We did not choose this cruise for its itinerary...  So for Tina, sleeping in is in is winning... Eventually, we will walk off the ship to explore a bit but we are in no hurry.

Randy

A quick note about the blog... There will be two blog posts today... This being the second...    Instead of signing on to the ship's wifi, I am waiting until we are ashore...  From Da' Balcony, a shoreside bar with particularity good conch fritters...I continue to write, but just won't post.   The next post will likely be put up Saturday, for tomorrow, Friday, will find us at sea.

Grand Bahama

Now aboard our ship... We survived the rush and confusion of boarding and first night...

We are aboard primarily for the music... This is the "Grammies, Women Who Rock" cruise... Or is for 550 of us... There is also a Budwiser charter group aboard, plus 1,000+ independent passengers...

Last night we saw Shawn Colvin (7th row) and Heart... (20th row center...) Both wonderful... Shawn had Steward Smith with her... Heart at 65 can still rock...  There were other acts in the public spaces later in the evening....

Now Wednesday... Grand Bahama Island... We are docked at Lucaya (the Port, sometimes called "Freeport Harbor"). We are the only ship making a port call today, but not the only cruse ship in port... A Carnival ship is in dry dock... The Bahama Celebration is at the next dock,, listing 15 degrees or so to starboard, either  careened to allow repairs to the port side at the waterline or Alternately, per rumors she hit a reef last Friday, and with the help of a couple of tugs, made  it to dock before sinking...  While the idea of careening a modern cruise ship appeals to me, she is more likely sunk at dock...  I note divers present.

So, The Port has dock space to moor three cruise ships, and while there are three ships in port, we are the only one carrying passengers...  It's a slow day in Lucaya.

Nearby is Port Lucaya, the town.  It is some distance from the dock (aka the place of cruise ship is docked... which is Lucaya, not "Port Lacaya, but now I am repeating myself), and neither is the main town, which is Freeport, the town, who's name includes the word "port" but is not the port, and which the taxis seem to avoid.

Lucaya, where we are docked has a small tourist village, with a couple of bars including a Senior Frogs, with an "Original souvenir store and other cool stuff" (it says so on the sign) (short rant... why a Mexican beach bar in a faux Bahamian port village instead of a Margaritaville or similar? Likely some other cruise line holds the copyright for "Margaritaville") scooter rentals... ("Think twice before renting... They drive on the other side of the road... (From the ship's port guide)) the regular compliment of cruise port stores including a "Del Sol" and a tiny Staw Market...

Its raining... Not exactly a beach day, but many have gone to the beach...  We too get off the ship to look about and take a taxi ( not exactly a taxi, but rather a 12 passenger van) to Port Lucaya which has a yacht harbor, but is not a port... It costs $5.00 each way for a shared ride...

Port Lucaya is not much of an improvement... It too is cheesy corporate... It too has its cruise retailers and straw market...  At least here the ladies working the market stalls are local... They Call us over to their stall... "ma'am in the Grey Pants"... "Take a look honey"... "take a look ma'am, you looking for big momma, you found her..."   This place is depressing...

We pass a Pizza Hut while looking for a bar...  Pizza Hut is clean and corporate and safe and American... and could by represent everything wrong in this faux Caribbean paradise.

We have a Couple of beers... I post an update to Facebook... Tina starts to proof read the label on the beer " Kalik Established Since 1990"...  Tina says she misses the drunk happy people aboard the ship...  Heading back we pass a group of ship's crew in search of a loose wifi signal...

It threatens to rain as we head back to the taxi, back to the ship... Avoiding town again...   We note a local theater is playing the Rocky Horror Show...

Now back aboard, sitting by the pool, beer in hand... Planing tonight's show schedule... Heart is playing again... So is EmmyLou... And we have tickets to a show in small venue with the Indigo Girls... in between we need to squeeze in dinner... We are reading... Tina a novel from the ship's library... I am reading The Footloose American... (By Brian Kevin) the author's account of his trip "following the Hunter S Thompson trail across South America"...

A quote from the book..."Goddamn,... This might not be the ugliest city I've ever seen, but its a strong contender"... I am tempted to use it to describe the port but that would be an overstatement... For the port is a working port, stinking of distant diesel exhaust with a sad little tourist trap on the cruise ship quay, and a listing busted up cruise ship tied to the dock, but not particularly ugly...

A US Coast Guard helicopter flies by... We are roughly 90 miles from Florida...   90 miles from the US... The place hardly qualifies as a foreign country...

East bound (again...)

Monday morning  found us in Ft Meyers Florida... We were visiting Tina's Step Mom and Dad, but we they don't get up until near 10:00 and we needed to be on the road earlier, so we said our goodbyes the evening before...

Yesterday we had taken I-75 the freeway east bound, so today wanted to take Hwy 41, the old road, aka the Tamiami Trail, back ( we have to catch our ship on Tuesday morning...)   The Tamaimi trail crosses Everglades National Park, and the Big Cyprus Preserve...  Collectively they represent a giant swamp... infested with alligators and other wonderful things...  We has seen alligators the day before from the air boat, and even one from shore, but we wanted more..  more gators, more birds, and more of whatever was interesting... 

Initially  we drove through the streets of Ft Meyers and Naples Florida for some miles before we broke free onto the two lane across the glades... Once in the swamp, we turned south at Hwy 92 to visit Everglade City... the one time end of Plant's Seaboard Coast Line, Florida's west coast railroad... the railroad is long gone leaving a town, with a court house and fishing dock,  an alligator petting zoo, lots of places offering airboat rides and beach houses some on high ground and some on stilts... and a National Park Visitor's center...  There were likely tee shirts and post cards for sale... 

Along with Alligators, we wanted to eat, but not at anywhere... we wanted to eat in a old school Florida water bar... we identified two possible places  near the fishing docks... we spoke to the ranger at the National park visitor center...  we mentioned the two places... he said they were both good but he could not recommend one over the other, described both (one more take out and picnic, the other more sit down), then mentioned  there was a third between the two as well..  We checked them all out, and chose the one in the middle, the Camellia Street Grill...

It was good... Tina had barbeque pork sandwich, I had fresh stone crab claws...  (There may have been beer as well) followed by Key lime pie... we sat outside on the patio, watching local airboats giving tours and a crabber pulling and checking his pots for stone crab...  We were eating crab less than 200' from where it was being caught... this may define fresh...  I noted one negative review on Trip Advisor... they didn't like having to wait while the food was cooked fresh and to order?!   Having lunched, we headed back out to the main road and continued east... (we did stop at Capt Irv's Airboat Tours to take a picture with a giant alligator stature) 

We were now in alligator hunter mode...stopping at each of the interpretive sites and pull outs... many with board walks out over the water...  we saw an single  alligator sunning himself... then we saw 6 or 8, then we saw more... and more... and more... as the day got hotter they were hauling out into sunny places to get warm... one was laying next to a sign warning you to "stay 15' away from Alligators"   We stopped at a couple more National Park Visitor Centers... saw more alligators (and birds... and more birds)  At Shark Valley we had to step around a couple of alligators who were not respecting the visitor pathways...

We considered the outing and the hunt a success...

We passed but did not stop at the Seminole (Miccosukee) Casino, the airboat rides and souvenir stands along the eastern boundary of the park... they did not speak to us...

Eventually we reached the outskirts of Tampa... and after some miles (about 120 city blocks) mostly through a Cuban neighborhood (Peru and Brazil were also well represented)  turned south towards Coconut Grove... and the Mutiny Hotel... a very good choice...  We are definitely not in the swamp anymore...  a hotel rather than a motel... a water view... valet parking and a door man...  It feels expensive but not snooty and fussy (and it wasn't that expensive). 

We  walked through town Coconut Grove to Dinner (Lulu's... an American tapas resterant ) then back to the hotel... I posted yesterday's blog, then worked on this one...  we will likely be in bed early...

Tomorrow we will make our way to the Cruise pier in search of a ship... a particular ship... and a music festival...

Eastbound

Jet Blue Flt 278... near 11:00, pm... SFO...

Heading out again... this time with the lovely Tina...  heading east for Florida with a side trip to the Bahamas... the primary goal is a cruise and music festival... Grammy, Women Who Rock...  but there is family and friends and other stuff...

I have been home for a full 27 hours.... yet this does not seem rushed...  Off to the airport... the daughter drops us off at the curb... into the terminal... print boarding passes and check bags... we both get TSA "Pre"... we don't have to take our shoes off... for we are special... but at SFO at 11:00 at night there is no dedicated "Pre" inspection line... (there is a "Pre" check in line...) so you line up with the people who have to strip off shoes and belts and jackets and such... they look at us like we don't know what we are doing.... I leave the computer in the backpack... we are waved through the simple metal detector rather than the full body scanner... but my backpack is held for hand inspection because my laptop remains inside as it is supposed to, but there is only one baggage scanner line...

Once clear of security, we find seats for the short wait before boarding....  Boarding is chaotic... My fellow passengers rushed the gate at the first boarding announcement... The early announcement, for those who have special status brings everyone... there are follow up announcements but the folks continue to rush the gate...  They are only taking those in rows 20-25 but this does not deter those in row  14 from lining up...  Eventually and with surprisingly little drama all are aboard and seated, the doors closed and we push back...

This is a classic red-eye over night flight... go to the airport late in San Francisco (this works for LA or Seattle as well... but not the other way) find one of those thin plastic wrapped airline blankets, settle in, try to nap, and wake up on the East coast at sunrise...  

It turns out that Jet Blue now charges for blankets... but the cabin is warm and I have my jacket for Tina if she needs it... they do provide eye shades and ear plugs (right now I start to think about Tommy and Pinball which is not a good image while boarding a giant silver tube (much like a silver ball) with the intention of hurtling Eastbound at near 600 mph... with turbulence being the paddles in some big cosmic pin ball machine... )

The pilot (or a voice from the cockpit) tells us "Our flight today is about 4 hours, 45 minutes" . 10:50 pm Pacific time plus 4 hours and 4 hours and 45 minutes...  plus 3 hours worth of time zones plus the change to Daylight savings time which tonight is scheduled for 2:00 am while we are in the air... they say our flight lands at 6:01 am... which I can't make work but they do and eventually we arrive in Florida at almost exactly 6:01 am... Two points for Jet Blue...

Back onboard Flt 278... I turn on the Ipad, put the Emmylou Harris (She is on the cruise with us... we have special seats at her special show... we are special) catalog  (97 songs on 9 albums) on play, close my eyes for a successful is somewhat restless nap.

About 2:30 (according to the Ipad which is still on Pacific Time)  I wake, look out the window.... There is a faint band of color on the horizon ahead...  The first Lights of a city below ... Soon after the cabin lights come on, the cabin crew distributes hot towels, and the pilot announces we are on final approach... Seat backs and tray tables need to be up and locked... I look directly down... Into blackness... I assume it is the gulf, but a few minutes later it is obvious the it the Everglades...  The IPad says its 2:40...we cros over the Atlantic coast, loop back west for landing... Over the port the land....  5:50 local time time, 6:01 at the gate.... I have 19 songs to spare  (I had  more in reserve... plus 5+ duets, plus the songs on other albums (especially GP, and Knophler's All the Roadrunning which Itunes doesn't directly link her to...)

We make our way to the rental car center on the rental car shuttle bus... it is also the airport worker shuttle to the local bus stop so there are the two of us, two flight attendants, and 15 or so Haitian airport workers speaking a mix of english, french and creole...  

We claim our car... drive out in search of I75 west and the west coast of Florida... "Alligator alley" across the 'Glades'.... Now a 4 lane Interstate, Tina has stories about driving it with her father when it was a 2 lane with bridges rising over each little canal, and He (her father) passing as he approached bridges, blind to the oncoming traffic... she remembers the drive as stressful...

Today the road is now a freeway (with tolls that make me question "free" in "freeway")... two lanes each direction, center divider, off and on ramps... 

Once in Naples (aka far western Florida) we get breakfast... (its still early... not yet 9:00) then call the son, who meets us with his girl friend, Sienna... then we go off to explore old Naples and its pier, then off to her parent's beach house to meet her parents...  Brian and Yvonne... and sister and brother... This is the first time we have done the "met the girl friend's parents" thing...  They are both from the area, but spent time in Northern California (Sienna was born in Marin General) and we have things to talk about  and interests in common...   It was substantially less stressful than passing cars blind on old Alligator Alley...

Then we head off into the interior... for an airboat ride...  There is a family connection to the Lake Tafford Marina, where air boat rides are offered...  Its a small store, campground with boat ramp and airboat rides, and a small non-petting zoo with alligators and iguanas, and several species of poisonous snakes and a strange collection of old cast iron stoves...  Ski runs the place, when not playing Santa Claus... Ski is Sienna's Step Grandfather...  Sienna's aunt may be camped in the campground... there is family about...

Airboats are a kind of Everglades symbol... they may be found elsewhere but the belong here... a airplane propeller driven by a big (an loud) engine pushing a small flat bottom boat across pretty much anything wet... I suspect they work well on a recently watered lawn...   We go in search of alligators in the saw grass... we find alligators... big ones, smaller ones, and one baby... we see birds... including several San Hill cranes...  we get stuck in the saw grass... we get loose...  It turns out that when in an airboat there is a fuzzy definition of water and not water...  I got to sit in up high next to the captain...  

There is a dinner following... ribs and such, good conversation.  As the sun sets we say good by and set off in search of Tina's step Mom and step Dad... for snacks and drinks and time together... Tina gave Maureen a leaded glass window she had made... we stay in the complex's nearby  guest house...  Its been a long day.

To Be Continued...