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Instead of catching up, and because I needed to put something here for today, I’m offering up these deliberately fuzzy photos. I took them this way intentionally, but I’m not sure that I was aware, at any given time, that I had more than one or two of them in hand.
So, before the memories grow fuzzy, let’s let the pictures do it.
This one isn’t fuzzy, but if the sky and the ocean are showing off they deserve to be seen, wouldn’t you agree?
Woke up in the darkness, before the cruise ship had docked in Miami. I’m not sure how or why that happened, but we got to watch the skyline slip by in the quiet, last moments before dawn.
We got off the ship late. We got to the airport early. The plane departed more-or-less on time. We arrived in Atlanta, took a shuttle to the car and were on the road with no problems. Now we’re home, unpacked and getting fussed at by the cat.
So here’s another video from the cruise, which should be the last one with any real purpose. (I have other clips. We’ll see if they wind up anywhere.) This one features a few clips of some of the performers we saw on board.
Great shows, all.
Tomorrow, I’ll do a day-late version of the weekly catching up post. I may stretch these photos out for a few more days after that, as well. If you missed something from this amazing trip you can catch up by checking out the Caribbean subdirectory.
Our last sea day on an amazing cruise — an activity which is altogether indulgent on its face. Take a long cruise in warm, tropical climes when almost the entire country is bundling up, it is even more indulgent. And when you have four sea days, you’re experiencing the height of quiet, lazy indulgence.
I took two naps today.
We also had to pack today, bringing about mixed emotions. This has been a great trip, drawing to a close. But it has gone long enough that you’re actually ready to get home. At least a little bit.
This picture is from Thursday, as we sailed away from St. Maarten. This was the last land we saw, and the most detail we’ll see until we dock in Miami tomorrow.
The currents were up — but the locals said the waters were actually, finally, calming down. These were some of the hardest dives I’ve done in a long time, if ever. I sucked oxygen like I haven’t in years, if ever.
They were also some of the best dives I’ve done. Sharks, rays, turtles, eagle rays, eels and all manner of smaller fish, all in one dive.
Almost everyone on the dive boat got sick. Except for us.
The people that got sea sick may disagree, but these are the dives you really look forward to.
This is Peter Stuyvesant, the last governor of the Dutch colony of New Netherland. (That’s New York. It is a long shot, but the man conceivably knew my ancestors there.) Previously he’d run things in Curacao and then tried to take St. Maarten back from the Spanish in 1633. It offered a strategic harbor and salt, and the Dutch failed miserably in getting the Spanish off the rock. But Stuyvesant took 13 ships, landed in March of 1644, notified the Spaniards and planted his flag. The Spanish fired on the flag and Stuyvesant was wounded and his right leg ultimately was amputated. He’d become known as Peg leg Pete and he’d watch his comrades sail away from St. Maarten in defeat a month later.
After surrendering New Netherland to four ships of 450 British troops, he stayed on in New York as a private citizen, dying there in 1672. He was a strict Calvinist and a big believer in education. Everything I’ve read about him makes him seem rather harsh, but the 17th century often was. He’s buried in The Bowery — which is, apparently, an anglicization of Bouwerij, which is Dutch for farm, and also the name of Stuyvesant’s 62-acre property that stretched up to Harlem. (I’m going to have to read a history of New York City now, aren’t I?)
Anyway, diving in St. Maarten was a challenge, the visibility wasn’t the best because of the currents and the silt, but the views were great. Great place to dive. Watch the video.
