|
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?
We are having to eat normal food again, which means we have to prepare it or go out for it. Since we are still recovering from our travels we’ve not yet made it to the grocery store, which means we are eating out.
We stopped between the airport and home to get lunch yesterday at Zaxby’s. They’ve been in decline for the past few years, it seems, no matter the store. The slide has seemingly accelerated now that they are partnered with the Duck Dynasty brand. Not sure why. The burnt chicken niblets this time were perhaps a last straw.
For dinner last night we had barbecue at Jim ‘N’ Nick’s. Standing in line, waiting to be sat, The Yankee said “Don’t look,” because she knows one of my 21st century pet peeves is waiting for a table when there are plenty of tables available. I looked. And then I counted. A full 40 percent of the tables were empty and read for guests. We stood and waited. The head chef finally sat us. He and two other staff members came by to continually apologize for the delays. This seemed excessive. You got blindsided on Sunday evening. No one likes that, it is a staffing shortcoming, but it happens. And then the head chef took our orders, too.
We had breakfast at the Barbecue House this morning, because they have the best biscuits and they know our usuals. We try to go once a week or so. I’ve been going there for far, far too many years, but the breakfast is delicious.
We miss these guys, who brought us all manner of delicious foods on our cruise. This is our waiter, Iresh, from Mauritius. We’d learned his whole life story by the end of the cruise, and it is a good one. Now we are all Facebook friends.
This is Selvin, who was working as Iresh’s assistant. He is from Honduras, and was quiet and shy. Nice guy who was always Johnny on the spot.
Also, I miss the desserts they brought.
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.
