Cruise Part 2

October 17, 2016October 17, 2016 / Sue and Frank D'Elia / 2 Comments

Day Forty Nine – Saturday, October 8, 2016

Okay…I am going to be totally honest with you, day 49 of our travels was the last night of Cruise Week #1. On what was Day Seven of our first week’s cruise, the cast of the Liberty of the Seas performs two shows of Saturday Night Fever…get it, Saturday Night Fever on Saturday Night! As I write this, it is Monday, October 10, 2016, or what they call Day Two of our second week on the Liberty. I have been a bad boy for the past two days, and I have not written anything, so please excuse any huge gaps in the narrative!

On the day that they do a particular show, they start the day with a technical rehearsal of that show, which takes as long as the show. Then they do two performances of the show, so that folks with different dinner hours have a chance to see the show either before or after they eat. So, for the cast, that really works out to 3 shows on Saturday. Saturday is also the day the boys do their laundry, and take care of other “real life things”, so we agreed we’d be on our own during the day.

We spent the day doing things that appealed to us. We started in the Windjammer Cafe with a small breakfast, you’ll see why “small”, later. Then we walked the pool deck, watched the water slides for a bit, and then watched people riding the FlowRider for about 45 minutes, and that was fun. Some are very good, some are clumsy, but they all look like they are having fun. Did we try it? Ah, no, we wanted to continue to walk around the ship on two legs and not in a wheel chair.

Then we went to have lunch at Johnny Rockets (see the reason for a small breakfast)! Two huge burgers, fries and onion rings, and washed them down with a couple of chocolate shakes! I know, a lot, but wait, this was in preparation for what we were doing at 3 PM! Martini Mixing and Tasting Experience #2 of the week!!! We returned to the R Bar with Melvin, Kristina, and Arminda, and this time with about 23 other folks, to mix, taste, and enjoy some additional taste temptations in a martini glass! A bigger class, but with many of our Monday class alumni in attendance, and still a great experience! We had to run at the end, because we had to change clothes and meet Chris at 5:20 so that he could let us into the theater before it opened for show #1 of Saturday Night Fever!!

If you’ve watched the movie, Saturday Night Fever with John Travolta, you know the plot of the musical. While the BeeGees music is the soundtrack of the movie, it’s actually performed by the cast in the musical and integrated into the story line. The show is 82 minutes, so some things have been cut, but the basics of the story are still there.

Let me just say that there is probably nothing better that watching your kids and their friends perform on stage, especially when the caliber of the performance is as good as anything you will see anywhere! Unlike In the Air, and the 70’s Set, Kenny’s main part in SNF is smaller, playing Tony’s Priest Brother, “Father Frank, Junior”, but in these productions, just about everyone wears different hats. I counted 6 costume changes for Kenny, as he plays different parts throughout the performance. What a great show, and the ending, where they interact with the audience would truly be a show stopper, but for the fact it’s the end of the show! We loved both shows, even though the audience for the second show was a little different. Kenny said that they almost always are, as they haven’t packed yet, have eaten and are full, or have been slightly over-served…if you know what I mean!

Afterwards, we met the boys in the R Bar for the last martinis of week one! We were saddened to learn that Kristina and Arminda will be transferring to different bars next week, but Melvin will still be there with two new staff members. It’s part of Royal’s revolving staff assignments, so they must all work within the system! Oh well. We missed our friends Leasa and Scott, but did meet up with our Martini Mixing Class friend Johnny for one last time! A great night, but sad in that week two will be different!

Day Fifty – Sunday, October 9, 2016

The end of the cruise for some folks, but just the mid point in our two week back-to-back on the Liberty of the Seas!!

The boys went back and forth about what they wanted to do on “turnaround day”, and as back-to-back cruisers (we were two of 67 people out of the 4000 passengers, staying for another week), we could have just stayed on the ship if we wanted to. Ultimately, they decided that since we had the car, and wheels were something they never have on “turnaround day”, we’d get off about 9 AM and do some things in Galveston. With no luggage to collect, getting off was seamless for us! In very short order, we were off the ship, through Customs and Immigration, and waiting for the boys. Then we got the call from Kenny. Cell phones…remember them? First time they’d worked in a week! The boys were stuck at Immigration and didn’t know how long they’d be! So we decided to hop on the shuttle to the parking lot, get the car and come back and meet them.

The car, that we had dutifully washed and gassed up before we’d left here 7 days before, was covered in a week’s worth of thick Port of Galveston dust! Of course, before we got into the car, the phone rang again…they were off the ship! Now our challenge was to get back to the port, where not one, but two cruise ships were off-loading passengers, and greeting new cruisers! Busy, busy, busy was the order of the day, and had we realized it, we would have told them to walk out of the port, and picked them up on the street! Eventually though, we did get the 4 of us to the car, and we were off for a day of exploring!

The first place they wanted to check out was an area just beyond their usual Sunday walking distance, that on the map looked like it might hold some additional shopping venues for them. There were a couple of places that they said looked good, and that they’d walk to, if the weather was cooperating. Speaking of weather, it was a beautiful morning in Galveston, with blue skies, not much humidity, and temperatures in the low 70s! They’d be happy to walk the additional distance on a day like this!

Then, it was time to head off to Walgreens and Walmart, which were just down the road from the hotel we’d stayed in the week before. After a quick stop at Walgreens, we moved on to the main objective, Walmart. The boys went their way and Susie and I ours, and I got a couple of new shirts and even a 7 pack of underwear, effectively putting off the need to do laundry (at $34.95 for a small bag on the ship) till we were back on dry land (you can never have too many undies). With our Walmart mission accomplished, it was time for the real, out of the closet, honest to God purpose of getting the car out of the parking lot! The boys first visit to Taco Bell in 18 weeks!!

Forget about the Crew Mess, or the Windjammer Cafe, or the gourmet Mexican, Italian, or Steakhouse, and even Sorrentos pizza or the Promenade Cafe. It was plain and simple Taco Bell that Kenny and Chris had craved since they signed on the Liberty of the Seas!!!

$47 later, we’d eaten our fill, and the boys had a large “doggie bag” to take back to the ship and use to turn their friends green with envy!! It was after noon, so now we could make our last stop, at the Kroeger’s Grocery store to buy 4 bottles of Prosecco (not available till after noon on Sunday in Texas), and some other staples they needed for what they were planning for tonight! Once we were all back on the ship, and the boys had run their stations and we’d participated in the boat drill, we were going to spend the sail-a-way on our balcony, and then they were going to show us Liberty Room Service, their way!

On the way back, we dropped the boys off so they could have a beer, while we headed back to the parking lot. We’d purchased 14 days of parking at a reduced rate, and they’d explained how we were to re-enter the lot for week two, but either they’d not done a great job, or I wasn’t paying careful enough attention. I know this because as I parked the car, a Galveston police officer greeted me at the back of the car. It only took a minute to straighten everything out, and he was a very nice cop, and we became friends, and after some time, I wondered if he’d keep me there till the ship sailed, just BS-ing? Eventually he had to move his police van, and we got over to the shuttle back to the pier!

There was a long line out front, and Susie says that unlike my usual behavior, I asked 3 different people till I finally found someone who knew that as return cruisers we didn’t have to wait or check-in, and pointed us to the shortest line! In very short order, we were through security, had had our champagne checked and verified it was legit (champagne yes..booze, no!), and were on the way to the gangplank!! We headed to the room to chill the champagne, and relax before boat drill!

We waited till almost 3:30 to head to our boat station, unlike week one, when we arrived about 3:15, and then waited till almost 3:40 for the stragglers to show! Much better not standing there for close to a half hour, and a shame we had to do it again, but rules are rules! After the drill, the Captain dismissed us, and it was PARTY TIME!!!! Back to the cabin, time to open bubbly bottles of champagne (we had 5!!), and just hang out and watch us sail out of Galveston!

The boys were done with work for the day, we had plenty to drink, and the weather was still beautiful, so we were set for the night! We sat on the porch, drank champagne, watched first Galveston, and then the drilling rigs and tankers slide by, talked, took pictures, and watched the sun sink into the western sky! It was a marvelous evening with our family, and we loved every minute of it! Then it was dinner time!!

The boys put together a list, Chris got on the phone and ordered, and about 45 minutes later, four full trays of food showed up at the door of cabin 6580! Then they went to work!! Their own dressing for the salad, Sriracha in this, peanut butter in that, Franks Spicy Honey Hot Sauce mixed with something else, and before long, we were experiencing Liberty of the Seas room service a la Kenny and Chris! An excellent meal, and wonderful night, and at last count, 8 empty bottles lining the hall!!

So ended what they’d call Day 8 were this a 14 day cruise!!

Monday, October 10, 2016 to Saturday, October 15, 2016
Day Fifty One through Day Fifty Six of our “Big Adventure”!

Since many of the things we are doing, and even one of the ports of call is the same from week one to week two, I thought that rather than going through each day in detail, as I’d done for week one, I’d instead talk about things we’d done for the first time, people we’d met, different places we’d gone and meals we’d eaten. Just hit some of the highlights of week two on the Liberty of the Seas, in almost a “stream of consciousness” fashion, with no particular order or importance reflected in what, why, and when I talk about it. Sound good to you? Well, good or bad, this is my blog, and that’s what I’m gonna do!

The format for this week’s cruise is different than last week. We start off with three sea days, and then three port days in a row (Roatan, Honduras, Costa Maya, Mexico, and then Cozumel, Mexico), followed by one sea day, and then we are back in Galveston. Because of the different schedule, things may happen on different days, but as we realized soon after week two started, these cruises are designed as one week adventures, so if it’s called the same thing on the Cruise Compass, it’s exactly the same as what we saw, did, ate, or listened to last week. Fine with shows Kenny and Chris are in, but we’re going to avoid repeating other things we did week one, so that we can maximize our time with the boys, because after all, that’s exactly why we are on this cruise. Having said that, let’s get started!

At Sea Day – Day Fifty Two – Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Our plan for this second Sea Day, was to do different things than we’d done all along. For example, we decided to go to the Dining Room for breakfast. It has been years since we’ve breakfasted in the Dining Room, much preferring to order Room Service, or to go to the Windjammer Cafe, and go the buffet route. Well, at about 9:30 we got on the short line at the Rembrandt Dining Room on Deck 3, and shortly after were seated at a nice 2 top table by the window, where we waited, and waited, and waited! We’d forgotten how slow it took for everything in the dining room! It was well after 10:30 by the time we’d finished our meal of Eggs Benedict, with runny eggs, that kind that turned Susie’s stomach. Now we remember why we don’t go to the Dining Room!!

Then we decided to get our Kindles, find a nice spot on the outside of Deck 4, and read our books. The breeze was nice, we were not in the sun, and we were on the other side of the ship from our cabin and balcony! But after about 15 minutes, we realized we had a perfectly good balcony, just waiting for us, so why were we down here listening to people talk, when we could really be alone! Okay…second new thing done!!

The boys had a show, In the Air today, and this was an “alone day” for Mom and Dad, so we decided to go to the steakhouse, Chops, for lunch! Again, something new for us, as the last time we were in Chops was on the Allure 5 years ago, when we celebrated all 3 kid’s birthdays! Beautiful setting (with floor to ceiling windows looking at the ocean), wonderful Mushroom Soup, a nice Shrimp Cocktail, and a Filet for Susie and a NY Strip for me. I’d love to tell you it was well worth the money, but it appears we didn’t get charged for it! Two glasses of wine each, a soup to nuts lunch, all for a $20 tip! A bargain!!!

The last thing we’ve never done before on a Cruise Ship, that we did this day was, book a cruise to Alaska! The summer of 2018 will find us on a Royal Caribbean Ship heading southward from Seward, Alaska to Vancouver, Canada for 7 days, after a 3 day land package which includes Fairbanks and Denali National Park! The deal, the bonus, and the procedure just seemed too easy and good, so we decided we have two years to save and click off another “Bucket List” item….ALASKA!!

And that was our, “Do Different Things” day!

Ultimate Drink Package

In past cruises we’ve been on with Kenny, we let him buy most of the drinks with his crew 20% discount, but this time he realized that with 2 weeks of cruising, there would be lots of time we wouldn’t be with him, and would want a drink, so he suggested we get the Ultimate Drink Package. As the name suggests, this package includes just about everything you can drink on the ship, from orange juice, coke and specialty coffees, to wine, martinis, and all cocktails up to $12! It kind of makes cruising like an “all inclusive resort”, and as far as we are concerned, well worth the price!! There were only 2 times we had to pay a small surcharge to get something we wanted. Now, who’s got the number for the Betty Ford Clinic?
Roatan, Honduras – Day Fifty Three – Wednesday, October 12, 2016

The ship got to our first port of call this morning at about 8AM, and we were awakened by local musicians on the pier, and when we opened the curtains, found we were looking at a real Disney version of what a Central American port would look like!

We had a leisurely morning, because the boys were involved in a “Green Drill” at 10:45. This involved them dropping down one of the Liberty’s Life Boats from the starboard side of the ship, motoring it around to the port side, tying it to the dock, and then loading 150 of the crew, wearing life jackets into the lifeboat…that’s the part Kenny and Chris played, as members of the Green Team! The best, they did it right within view of our balcony, so we had a great view, and with the telephoto lens, I got lots of pictures of the boys “working”. Chris then had rehearsal, and Kenny needed a nap, so Susie and I puttered around till the boys were ready.

At 1:30, we met them at the aft gangway, got off the ship, and walked through the port. “Where are we going?”, I asked them. “Captain Jacks”, they responded. “I thought that was in the port?” “No, just outside”, they answered. So we walked through the port, dodging sellers of various wares, went through the gate, and walked down the road. We were really not accosted by folks selling things or offering services, and were soon walking into Captain Jacks, a two story shack on stilts over the water! There were a couple of tables and a bar along one side, which we sat at, and we were so glad we did! This was a combination bar/kitchen, and a huge man was working a fryer, BBQ grill, and frying pan like they were a symphony orchestra! I always love sitting somewhere you can see someone who is good at their work, doing it, and this man was a master!! We had the most incredible conch fritters, fried fresh plantains, and the freshest onion rings I have ever tasted!! Margaritas, Rum and Cokes, and local beers complemented an incredible lunch, in a great location, staffed by wonderful people! This is a place that Kenny and Chris usually hit at Roatan, and Susie and I can see why. It was fun getting out of the port, seeing some local color, and meeting some incredibly talented folks! Good one guys!!!

Members of the Crew, that made this trip SPECIAL for us!

On day 2, of our first cruise, Susie and I took the Martini Mixology and Tasting class at the R Bar, on the Royal Promenade, and immediately fell in love with the bar and it’s staff! We’d always wanted to find “Our Bar” for a cruise, and the R Bar was going to be it! It started with Melvin from India, the Master Mixologist on the Liberty. Then there were his two assistants, Kristina from the Ukraine, and Arminda from the Philippines. These three people made us feel like old friends, and along with other alumni from our Mixology Class (Scott and his wife Leasa, Johnny who allegedly had a wife but we never saw her, and our Mexican friend Geraldo), we were regulars at the bar, and really got to know them. They knew us and the boys, and were wonderful to us. We were very disappointed to hear on Day 7 of our first cruise, that it was time for new bar assignments, and the girls would be moving, Kristina to the Hoof and Claw, English Pub, and Arminda to the Schooner Bar! Melvin said that his new assistants would be great, as he’d worked with them before, but we were sad to say goodbye to the two ladies. Melvin was correct, Anna and Raj have been great to us, and we have spent many hours with Arminda at the Schooner Bar, but unfortunately less time with Kristina. In the end, it means we now have a choice of several bars to go to, and to see friends! We will miss all 5 of our new Bar Service Friends!

This is the 4th (and 5th really) cruise that we have taken on Royal Caribbean, and for these two weeks, we have had the best Cabin Steward we have ever had on Royal, Dilcia Rubi. From day one of the first week, there was nothing that we wanted for that Dilcia did not take care of. From ice multiple times a day in our room, to incredible towel animals almost every night, to two bottles of Moet Champagne she presented us within buckets of ice!! She has been just the greatest, and has done such a superior job taking care of us! Like us, she signs off on October 16th, and gets to go home to Belize to see her family for a couple of months before she returns. A very nice lady, who we have become very fond of in the past two weeks!

Two other folks, that made us feel very welcome were Craig and Courtney, the Port Shopping Team. Kenny and Chris work for Port Shopping as a way to earn a few extra bucks (“fun” money) so that they can save as much as possible. Craig, and especially Courtney, had a smile and a hello whenever we saw them, and they were two more friendly faces we were happy to know on the cruise! Unfortunately, they signed off the ship in Cozumel, Mexico on day 6, so the boys no longer will get to hang with them!

One thing we have discovered in speaking to many members of the crew, is that probably 95% of the folks on the Liberty of the Seas, and we’d imagine in the cruise industry, are not working on a ship because they enjoy it, but rather because it’s a financial necessity. From the bartenders who have left spouses and children back home, to the Cruise Director who at 57 came back to the industry to pay bills, to even our two, Kenny and Chris, who came on the ship because they want a nest egg to use for a move to LA, and Royal pays them well, just about everyone we’ve spoken to has a purpose for being here!!

National Beach Club, Costa Maya, Mexico – Day Fifty Four – Thursday, October 13, 2016

The plan was to get off the ship around 10 AM, get a cab, and go to a beach club the boys had discovered a couple of weeks ago. The plan worked flawlessly!

When we opened our curtains, we discovered that we were tied to a pier that seemed to be about a 1/4 of a mile from shore. Going on the balcony, we discovered it was! We’d heard there was a shuttle to take you down the pier, but as we got off the ship, and walked to it, it pulled away, so the 4 of us hoofed it. At the head of the pier, were a collection of shops and restaurants, and after the walk, we stopped for a cold drink before heading on. We needed to walk completely out of the port to get a cab, so this would be a big walking day or us! After our drink stop, we walked out of the port, got into a cab, and were off.

When we got to the National Beach Club, we couldn’t believe our eyes! It was like every beach front movie set you have ever seen. A white sandy beach with chairs and umbrellas set in groups, palm trees, crystal blue water, hammocks attached to poles in the water, tiki hut bungalows behind the beach, and an outside tiki bar! We headed to the bar, and Kenny and Chris introduced us to the owner, a young American named Evan. He took our drink order, and told us to grab some chairs on the beach, and start having fun!! Originally, Susie and I sat in two chairs, and the boys sat on a towel to be near us, but shortly after our first drinks arrived, Evan sent one of his workers with chairs, an umbrella, and a cordless drill with an big auger bit, to dig the support hole for the umbrella (file away that idea for Ocean City next summer).

We enjoyed the drinks, swam in the very salty water of the Gulf of Mexico, and then the boys went and ordered some lunch for us. A delicious Caesar Salad with chicken, a plate of Poke (raw octopus and tuna over rice which was incredibly good due to what it was marinated in and served with), and a chicken and pork belly club sandwich that was so fresh, the chickens may have been running around the courtyard when we pulled up! A fresh and delicious lunch, in a picture perfect setting!

After lunch, we enjoyed the beach and the incredible water some more, and then before we left, Evan took us on a tour and showed us one of the beach cottages on his property! Literally right on the beach, with a cute little porch, a beautiful main room with a king sized bed, air conditioning, a lovely bathroom (Evan was proud to show us some of his handiwork, such as the conch shell in the bathroom sink that was the water faucet!), and all this for under 90 US dollars a night! Incredible! Kenny and Chris say they will definitely come back here again from the ship (unfortunately, the next time that they hit Costa Maya will not be till the Christmas cruise) and after. Evan sounds like a guy with ideas, and someone to stay in touch with!

As we said goodbye to our host Evan, we again told him how much we’d enjoyed our day, and thanked him for his hospitality, as we headed towards a cab. We will take our memories of National Beach Club with us forever, and have a few souvenirs that will help us remember this wonderful day too! There were merchants strolling along the beach, and Susie bought a lovely silver necklace and a new beach bag, which will remind us of our lovely day on the beach in Mahahual, Mexico every time we take it to the beach in Ocean City next summer!

Bingo

I guess bingo has been a staple of cruising since people have been cruising, but frankly, we don’t even remember the last time we played bingo, on land or at sea! Of course, for many years, I was banned from bingo, due to the “Atlantic City incident”. Back probably over 20 years ago, we had a free offer to play bingo at Trump’s Castle, and Susie and I went. It was the big game, with a $1500 prize, and I got bingo, BUT waited too long to call out. The next number was called, somebody else called out “bingo”, and they got the $1500! Since then, Susie has banned me from the game…until this week!

Bingo is run by a spitfire named Helena from Croatia, who is part of the Cruise Staff. She calls herself “Bingo Mama”, and among other duties, is Kenny’s “bodyguard” when he heads into the audience during In The Air. She conducts a lively game, and although we didn’t win, we played twice and had fun. Susie let me handle the tablets, which is the new electronic way to play the game. Your tablet is directly linked to the master computer, and it self-marks the numbers called, and it is really idiot proof…ergo, why she let me play! I thought for sure we were going to win, when I noticed that the number on one of the cards on the tablet was 11501…our zip code in Mineola!

Cozumel, Mexico

Cozumel was both our first port, and the last port on our two weeks on the Liberty of the Seas. On the first cruise, we ported in Cozumel on day 3, and this second cruise it was our home for the day on day six, and what a difference 10 days makes!

If you remember back to my story of the cruise’s first week, you will recall that on day 2 of that cruise, Susie and I attended, and thoroughly enjoyed the Martini Tasting and Mixology class at the R Bar. That was the day we found our “bar home” on the Liberty, and due to my enthusiasm, I might have consumed a few more of Melvin’s delicious martinis that day than I realized. That was strike one on Cozumel the next day. Strike two was that by the time we got off the ship the morning on day 3, I think the temperature in Cozumel must have been approaching 90 degrees, and the humidity was probably close to the same number! Take a slightly hungover senior citizen, place him in an “oven hot” climate, have the plan for the day be a Mexican lunch, and then walking the streets shopping, and well, it just wasn’t a fun day!

Cozumel, take two, found us waking without an alarm, finding us already tied to the dock, going out on the balcony to find a much cooler, lower humidity morning, watching the Liberty’s sister ship, the Freedom of the Seas dock next to us, having a light room service breakfast, and leaving the ship with the boys a little after 10:30 AM. The first order of business was a few errands that Chris had to run, so we worked our way through the port and grabbed a cab into town. Both Craig the Port Shopping Guide and Jeffery the Cruise Director hammer home to you on the Liberty, that the cab ride from the port to downtown is $8 for 4 people. As Jeffery says, “Not $10, not $12, not $8 each, $8 for 4 people.” Apparently the cab driver didn’t know how well educated the passengers and crew of the Liberty of the Seas are, because when Kenny went to pay him he said “$10”. Kenny said, “No $8.”, at which time the cab driver yanked the money out of Kenny’s hand and mumbled “fucking crew member” at him. A wonderful representative of his town and his country, and his loss, because Kenny was prepared to give him $10 to start, but not when the guy thought we were stupid gringos!

After the errands, we grabbed another cab (a nice driver this time and a cab with AC), and headed out of town to the Hotel B, and another afternoon of lounging in a movie location setting, on the edge of the most incredibly blue water, having great drinks, enjoyable food, and spending a wonderfully relaxing afternoon as a family! Just a perfect day!!

Walking

So, we knew that we walked a lot when we went to DisneyWorld last February, but we wondered what the ports might be like, as at most, there is a long walk just to get off the ship and to actually get to the port area. On top of that, we knew that we’d be walking as we explored the 5 ports we visited, and then there’s the ship. Our cabin is about midway between the two elevator banks, so at the minimum, we’d be doing that walk a couple of times a day, as well as walking around the ship. Then there are the stairs, as we knew we’d not always be waiting for an elevator. Well, I’m here to tell you that walking was absolutely no problem!

According to the app on my iPhone, we did between 1.5 and 3 miles of walking every day, and one day the app even says we climbed 18 floors! I think we were able to keep up with Kenny and Chris wherever we went, and didn’t hold them back. Now, as to my right knee…it has never felt better! No pain, no stiffness, and we think the walking has been good for my knees! The old “use it or lose it” adage is applying we think, and I’m thinking that continuing to use it when we get off the ship will only make it better. In fact, I have pretty much decided that I am not going to get my right knee replaced this spring, as my original intent had been. The Doctor told me that I would know when it was time, and you know what? I don’t think it’s time! Frankly, we’ve got too many things on our near future agenda, for me to be laid up for 3 months! It’s a decision I feel very good about!

Cozumel…..AGAIN!

As you read previously, after a wonderful Day Six of week two in Cozumel, we returned to the ship, and sat on our balcony and watched as we pulled away from the dock, and from our sister ship, the Freedom of the Seas. Unbeknown to us, sometime later that night, the Liberty of the Seas returned to Cozumel because we had a passenger that was in critical condition, and needed to be transported to the hospital. We don’t know if it was when we were in the dining room for dinner, or later, when we were in the casino, as we only found out about it the next morning. The upshot of returning to Mexico is the the ship will be about 4 hours late getting back to Galveston. As you can well imagine, the ships crew has spent the past 24 hours busily rearranging the departure/arrival schedule for Galveston, and many folks who had booked early plane reservations were trying to reschedule them. Luckily, the Sonata is parked across the street from the dock, and she will be there whenever we get there! It may throw a crimp into what the boys had planned to do with us on turnaround day in Galveston, but that’s nothing compared to what some poor family is going through at a hospital in Cozumel, Mexico!

Giovanni’s Table – Pasta Class – Day Fifty Six – Saturday, October 15, 2016

We loved the Martini classes so much, that on our last sea day, we looked to see what else we might do like that, and we settled for the Pasta Class at Giovanni’s Table. We showed up at 11:00 AM, and were immediately handed a glass of champagne…this worked for us! We then watched one of the chefs go through the routine of making fresh pasta, and in about 8 minutes, he’d made some beautiful pasta, and a quick and delicious Bolognese sauce to top it. It was an interesting look at pasta making, especially when they rolled out their $13,000 professional pasta machine and gave us a demonstration!

Then they showed us to our tables, and we had the most incredible lunch we have had on this ship!! They started with an Antipasti Plate, one of their house flat breads, and a choice of red or white wine. Then there were 4 pasta courses!!! Delicious tagliatelle with pesto, a stuffed meat ball with bucatini, and then (as far as I’m concerned) the star of the meal…their house lasagna! OMG!! The trouble was we were so full by this point that we couldn’t enjoy it as much as we would had it been #1, and we never even tried the clam and white wine spaghetti that was dish 4! Like we needed it, Tiramisu and Cannolis were for dessert!!! Quite the bargain for the $30 entrance fee!

The Casino

As you may know, we do happen to know our way around a casino. Could it be having the Ocean City house, just 12 miles south of Atlantic City? Of course, we would find our way down to Deck 4 of the Liberty and Casino Royal! As an added incentive, Kenny and Chris love casinos, but they are forbidden to gamble on the ship, but as they were entertaining guests, they were allowed in with is, and were living vicariously through us. We went down a couple of times week 1, but it was really during week 2 that we were there more! Only once did we play Three Card Poker (with a drunken dealer, who kept paying off different amounts for the same wins and a substitute dealer, that we thought was a smileless deaf mute till the very end of play), but mostly stuck to slots.

Unlike most of the land based casinos, lots of old reel slots were still in play, and we got to gamble on some old friends that we haven’t played on in many years. We held our own during most of the week, till the last day or so, when the machines suddenly decided they liked us, and started paying off. Not huge sums (someone won $12,000 on a slot this week), but we cashed in vouchers for decent sums ranging from $150 to $500, and definitely came out ahead! Always nice to be able to say that!!!!

Day Fifty Seven – Sunday, October 16, 2016 – Galveston, Texas

A sad day…the last of our 14 calling the Liberty of the Seas our home, and our last day with Kenny and Chris before the ship sails away again, and we continue on the road! As I mentioned above, due to a medical emergency with one of the passengers, the arrival of the Liberty this morning, and her departure this afternoon has been all turned around. We were supposed to pick up the Pilot about 4:30 AM, and be tied to the dock before 8, but that schedule went out the window, and we were still at sea when we got up at 8 AM. We were supposed to be able to get off the ship by 10:30, but now are scheduled for around 12:30 PM. As I write this, it is 11 AM, and we have already eaten breakfast, and we’re in our cabin awaiting announcements. It’s going to be a slow process this morning, and all we hope is that more of our fellow passengers are the type that have patience, and not the ones who keep trying to get off the ship long before their scheduled time, and screw up the works even more!! Only time will tell, and we have no idea how much, if any time we will get to spend with the boys today. Stay tuned for (as Paul Harvey would say), The Rest of the Story!

An update…it is 12:32 PM and Susie and I are sitting are sitting in two comfortable chairs on deck 7, overlooking the Royal Promenade! We are NOT getting of the Liberty at 12:30!

Shortly after I wrote that, we decided to head down to the theater, which was our staging area, as that was the time we were given to be there. When we walked in, the first person we saw was Helena, “Bingo Mama”, who told us to go get on line at the gangway. Sounded good, so Helena gave Susie and I a huge hug, and sent us on our way! We told her to enjoy the rest of her contract, and to watch out for the boys, as they all sign off January 29th.

We took the elevator down to deck 4, got on the line, and they promptly stopped disembarkation because the terminal was a zoo! So we stood for another 10 minutes or so, and then they started the process again. We were quickly across the deck, down the gangway, and on our way to the luggage room, to find our suitcases! They were exactly where they were supposed to be, under the #22 Section sign, so we collected them, and got in the line for Customs and Immigration! A lot of people, and all I can say is that it was HOT!! We were both soaked to the skin by the time we got to the desk, but no questions were asked (all we bought was some souvenirs and a little Mexican silver), and about 1:35 we were on our way to the car!

The boys had gotten off earlier, done some of their shopping, and by the time the shuttle got us to the car, they walked up and joined us. Unfortunately, the late arrival had stymied our “Turnaround Day” plans, but there was time for a trip to Walmart, and a brief stop at Taco Bell on the way back to the Liberty for some take out!!! We dropped Kenny and Chris off about 3, with hugs all around, we said good-bye to our boys, and to two wonderful weeks at sea on Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas!!

As I write this, we are at a Homewood Suites in Beaumont, Texas, about an hour and a half from Galveston. We are tired, hungry, and somewhat let down from our fabulous cruise being over. Being with our boys, meeting such wonderful people from the Liberty’s Crew, seeing all the shows multiple times, enjoying fellow passengers, loving being in one place for 14 days (and how we loved Cabin 6580), the experiences we had on the ship, and the great places Kenny and Chris took us in the ports, well it was probably the best two week “vacation” we have ever had!!! Susie and I were just talking, and the “let down” from the past 14 days is huge, and we can so feel it. I think if we decided right now, tomorrow morning we’d be on our way home, figuring the cruise just was too much to be topped, but we’ve decided we are going to go get something to eat, plan a stop for tomorrow night, relax and get a good night’s sleep, and tomorrow make the decision. We could head right home, decide to continue our journey, or pick a route somewhere in the middle! All we know for sure, is that we will be home for the littlest D’Elia’s first birthday, which happens to Henry on October 28th! See you tomorrow with a decision!!

The Cruise…Week #1

October 9, 2016 / Sue and Frank D'Elia / Leave a comment

Pictures and more details to follow!

Hi…it’s 5 PM PM on Sunday, October 9, 2016, and we are on our way out of Galveston, and I am posting what I can, using my cell phone as a hot spot!! Having the best time, and looking forward to week two! Right now, we are sitting on our balcony with Kenny and Chris, drinking bottle 3 of our champagne for Sail Away #2! See you all next week!!!!

Day Forty Three – Sunday, October 2, 2016

We are firmly ensconced in Stateroom 6580, having seen “our boys” and met Chris’ Dad, Step Mom, and two Grandmas on the pier. This morning worked out perfectly, as we dropped off our luggage, parked the car, and met up with the boys and Chris’ family. After Chris’ family set out for their shuttle to head to the airport, the boys went off to lunch in Galveston, while Mom and Dad checked in. In a very short time (much quicker than we got on board in Bayonne last year), we were through check-in, on the ship, and in the R Bar taking advantage of our “Ultimate Drink Package”. At this point we have had 3 Texas Teas, gotten into our room, received our luggage, unpacked (great job Susie), spent about an hour with the boys, and now we are awaiting the Assembly Drill, which the boys are both involved in. We will do Sail Away in our cabin with the boys. We already signed up for a Martini Mixology Class tomorrow (like we don’t know how to make Martinis). Looking forward to a great two weeks!!!!

Day Forty Four – Monday, October 3, 2016

Today we started with room service breakfast. The weather wasn’t wonderful, so rather than eat on the balcony, we sat on the couch and ate at the coffee table. Because the boys are involved working with Port Shopping, and were working the 10:30 Port Shopping Seminar, we left the room and headed there to see what it was all about. After it was over, Susie and I headed to the Hoof and Claw, Irish Bar on the Promenade, I had 3 Captain and Cokes, Susie had 3 Bloody Marys (A- a little hair of the Dog, and B – Ultimate Drink Package), and we waited for the boys to show up. They joined us for a couple of drinks, and then we all headed to the Windjammer for lunch. After lunch, the boys headed off to a rehearsal they had for the Mystery Dinner and Susie and I wandered till it was time to return to the R Bar, for our Martini Mixology course!

We were the first ones to arrive, and they had a series of mini martini glasses set up on the bar (mini-tinis), and eventually the rest of the class showed up! What a great thing we signed up for and so much fun. The topic was fresh fruit martinis, and we learned how to muddle, shake, and pour perfect martinis. Our Master Mixologist was Melvin and he was helped by his two assistants, Arminda and Kristina, and we learned that a martini must have 3 things…have potent ingredients, be served cold, and be served in a chilled martini glass! We made Peach, Strawberry, Pear, Kiwi, and Chocolate martinis and had a great time! We were hands on involved, doing the muddling and shaking, even behind the bar! So much fun, such a great group of people, and I can’t say enough about the staff at the R Bar…it is now our bar of choice!

Last night was Formal Night, and the Captain’s Cocktail Party, so after the boys came and picked us up at the cabin, we went to the Promenade Deck for free champagne, music, and people watching! Great fun as we saw everything from full-on tuxes, to women wearing heals so high they could barely walk in them, to one guy with denim shorts and work boots on! We also ran into some folks from our Martini class, and people that Kenny and Chris work with on the ship. Then we were off to Vintages, the wine bar, had a cheese plate, and Kenny bought a much too expensive bottle of Camus wine! After that, it was Sorrentos for pizza (our dinner), and then the boys had to go do some Port Shopping work, and deliver VIP cards to various cabins. Susie and I headed back to the R Bar for a night cap. She had her usual Grey Goose shaken cold with a twist, while I had a dirty Grey Goose with muddled olives! We had some more conversation with Melvin and Arminda, and then were invited by two gentlemen that were in our class to join their group and meet their wives. We did, and it was a very nice night!

Day Forty Five – Tuesday, October 4, 2016

We awoke this morning already tied to the dock in Cozumel, Mexico. I opened the curtain, not knowing what to find, only to be looking at another set of balconies from the ship that was right across the pier from us! I later realized it was Royal’s Allure of the Seas, Kenny’s first Royal Caribbean Ship, which he was on 5 years ago doing Chicago. A little worse for wear this morning (it was the red wine Kenny ordered in Vintages, not the vodka)…(“sure, sure!”, said Sue), it was good we didn’t have to hit the ground running! Tonight is the production show, In The Air, and they had a tech run through this morning, so we were meeting them about 11 AM.

We got off the ship a little before noon, grabbed a cab, and headed to Panchos for lunch! Susie had a Burrito Sonara and I had the most delicious fish tacos I have ever had. To start, the boys ordered excellent guacamole and a very interesting hot Mexican cheese, that was served with freshly made tortillas. A couple of different types of Margaritas washed down a really excellent lunch.

We started walking up the main street in Cozumel, but honestly the “hard sell” that most of the merchants did along the street was less than enjoyable. That, plus the fact that it was very hot, humid, and as I said earlier, I was suffering the effects of being “over-served last night” (damn that wine!) (“hmmm?”, said Sue!), we grabbed another cab, back to the International Pier! We didn’t die during the return ride…close, but no, we didn’t, and walked through security and back on the pier. I was then struck, as we walked towards the pier, that there tied up on either side of one pier, in Cozumel, Mexico, was Kenny’s entire Royal Caribbean Resume…the Allure and the Liberty of the Seas!

I will be very honest, I was a wreck at this point! Susie told me to take a cold shower (I couldn’t stop sweating, even in the AC). I did, changed into my PJs, and honestly went to bed! About 3:30 I woke and wasn’t sweating, for the first time in hours! I was on the mend, and was very happy!

Kenny had arranged for us to get in the theater early for the 6:30 show of In the Air, and we headed down there. We sat through show 1, (after a Captain and coke….a little hair of the dog, which helped!) and as always, loved seeing the boys on stage! It’s always good seeing them doing what they love.

After show 1, we headed to Sorrentos for a couple of pieces of pizza for dinner, and then went back to the theater for show 2. What, you think we came all this way to just see Kenny and Chris perform once??? No way, Jose! We sat in row 4 for the second show…new perspective, same great show!

We’d arranged to meet the boys in the R Bar after the show, and so we headed there, sat at the bar and had a martini with Arminda, and when the boys came, they participated too. Before the night was over, we’d turned the R Bar into a mini Martini Class Alumni meeting, with Scott and his wife Leasa joining our group, and eventually Johnny, who’d also been with us! A very enjoyable evening speaking with folks we didn’t know from a hole in the wall before yesterday!

It’s now a little before 1 AM (ship time) and bed time. Tomorrow Grand Cayman Islands!!!
Day Forty Six – Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Disappointment for some on the ship this morning, when we were informed that we wouldn’t be stopping at Grand Cayman as expected this morning. The decision was made by the Captain based on weather. We are currently sailing in beautiful blue waters, under sunny skies, but the problem had to do with this afternoon’s forecast in Grand Cayman. Unlike the other ports, Grand Cayman is a “tender port”, where they have small 250 passenger boats ferry you from the anchored ship, to the island. There are 5 tenders and the process takes about 45 minutes, and the forecast for this afternoon was for winds and squalls, which the Captain was afraid might interrupt the tender process. So rather than risk having several thousand people stuck on the island, we bypassed the port.

I’m sure it was disappointing for some who had booked excursions (our friends Leasa and Scott from the Martini Class, had scheduled to swim with dolphins with their daughters), but since the boys were taking us to a beach club, we were not upset at all. Susie warned me not to be too happy in case Kenny was bummed about the change of plans, but when he showed up at the cabin at 9:15, he was just as happy too, so all was well!

The first order of business this morning, was the DreamWorks Move It, Move It Parade, in which Chris stars as Pinocchio! It was great fun to see all the families, and single adults who had assembled to watch the parade at 9:30, and no one was disappointed. One of the girls who is in the shows with Kenny came and joined us, and it was really fun! Great way to start the morning. Susie and I then decided too go back to the cabin and put the camera away, and then head to the Windjammer Cafe for some breakfast. Kenny said he’d meet us later.

We got back to the cabin, delighted to discover that our stateroom attendant was just finishing with our cabin, even in the short time we’d been gone. Her name is Dilcia and she is one of the best attendants we have had on Royal Caribbean, and is doing a great job taking care of us! As we were dropping off the camera, the phone rang and it was Kenny saying that Chris could do with some breakfast, and they were going to join us. So, we had a nice family breakfast!

We’ve got a full schedule tonight with two shows and a wine pairing dinner at Vintages, so we let the boys have a down day, and Mom and Dad would entertain themselves. We traveled down to the casino and made a donation…one of us quicker than the other. Then we went and looked at our pictures in the Photo Shop, and now we are on our cabin balcony reading, and drinking a Captain and Coke! We will meet the boys at 6, at the R Bar, but till then we are just going to chill and relax. We love it! Can we do this again next week? Oh wait, we are!!!

Day Forty Seven – Thursday, October 6, 2016

The plan today was to sleep in, so when we woke after 9, the Liberty of the Seas was already tied to the pier at Falmouth, Jamaica. As I opened the curtains this morning, I looked out over Royal Caribbean’s impression of what a British Colonial Village on the isle of Jamaica would look like, and what do you know, but that there was another cruise ship tied up on the other side of the “town” from us…and guess what…It was Kenny’s Allure of the Seas again!!! Thanks to Hurricane Mathew, the staff in Royal’s Miami Headquarters has probably been working OT , re- routing ships, and here was the Allure again with us when it was probably supposed to be in Nassau, Bahamas, which may not even exist anymore!

So the boys came down to us, and Kenny was not a happy camper. It seems that the Headline Comic, that was supposed to be entertaining on the Liberty tonight, could not fly out of Miami because of the hurricane and they’d just been informed that as a replacement, they’d have to do their 45 minute song set, Summer Breeze. He was not a happy camper, because the boys had planned on taking us to Margarettaville to eat, drink, and go to the pool, and Kenny couldn’t drink if they had to do Summer Breeze! So, off we went to Falmouth to see where the day would go.

We weren’t off the ship 5 minutes, when Kenny got a message on his phone, telling him that they were getting the comedian from the Allure to come on the Liberty to perform, and they weren’t going to have to do Summer Breeze! Suddenly “Happy Camper Kenny” was back with us!!! Off we went to Margarettaville where we ate, we drank, and we had a great day in the pool and at the swim up bar! It was hot and was crowded because the Allure was with us in town, but we found a table, an umbrella, and enjoyed being someplace that Kenny always seems to call us from, thanks to the free Wi-Fi! Speaking of free Wi-Fi…Susie and I could have gotten their password, and hooked up to the Internet, and checked email and Facebook and the like, but you know what? We’re enjoying being out of touch, so continued to use our iPhones just as cameras! Kenny did use the Wi-Fi to FaceTime with Krissi, so we talked to our daughter, but that’s it!

On the way back to the ship, we stopped and each got a delicious Jamaican Meat Patty. Per the boys’ instructions, we added some very tasty sauces, and really enjoyed the patties. We loved the sauces, and visited a store that sold all kinds, and are taking some tasty souvenirs home! Back on the ship, we had several hours to relax, shower, and prepare for the evening. The Allure was leaving before the Liberty, and as our balcony overlooked the “town”, we enjoyed watching the last of the Liberty’s passengers return to the ship, and watching our lines being castoff, as we headed off towards Galveston and our two sea days!

The highlight of tonight was the 70’s Dance Party on the Royal Promenade, that started at 10 PM with Kenny and one of his fellow cast members Charlotte kicking the festivities off with their 15 minute 70’s Set! We preped for the evening by visiting with our friends at the R Bar for a couple of Martinis, and since it was slow, had some conversation, which let us learn a little more about the bar’s staff. We also ran into several of our Martini Class Alumni again, and agreed to meet at the Promenade later for the show. About 9 we went to secure a table outside of Sorrentos, where we ate a little dinner, and waited for the group to assemble! By the time Chris and the rest of the folks showed, the Promenade was very busy, and we were glad we’d gotten there early! The show was fun, Kenny and Charlotte were great, and we had another great night on the Liberty of the Seas with Kenny and Chris!!!

Tomorrow is the first of two Sea Days heading back to Galveston, and the end of week #1 of two! How obscene that we get to do this all over again!! See you tomorrow!

Day Forty Eight – Friday, October 7, 2016

Today is the first of two sea days, on the way back to Galveston, to end week one of our two week cruise. As a sea day, folks are pretty much on their own to see and do things they haven’t done, or to get a chance to repeat things that they’ve enjoyed. On a sea day the pool decks are crowded as folks try and get a little more tan before heading back to work. People are on the Flowrider, or the climbing wall, or one of the three new water slides, or they’re down in the stores on the Royal Promenade, seeking out bargains!

So, what did we do bright and early this morning? Nothing, because we didn’t set an alarm, but just slept till we woke up, which this morning turned out to be about 8:40. The seas are calm, the sun is shining, and we really had to remind ourselves that we were on a cruise ship, as we got out of bed this morning! Our cabin is about mid-ship this cruise, just slightly closer to the bow than the stern of the ship. The ride has been incredibly smooth, and we are not sure if that’s because of the placement of the cabin, smooth sailing, or a combination. Either way, it’s been a comfortable 5 days on the high seas.

We sat around just watching TV this morning, kind of putzing around till I went over to the night stand and looked at my watch, and discovered it was about ten minutes to ten! Yikes! We had to be on deck 14 for a return cruiser meeting at 10:30! Time to get our acts in gear! Quickly, we were out of the room, at the meeting, and got all the info we needed so that we now know what to do on Sunday when the ship arrives back in Galveston. After the meeting, we popped into the Windjammer for a small breakfast, and then we somehow found ourselves in the casino! We played a couple of slot machines, and I ended up walking out with $100, thanks to a Wheel of Fortune machine. Time well spent!

At 1:15, we met the boys outside Sabor Modern Mexican restaurant, where the boys had made a lunch reservation for us all. From the red sangria to the table side guacamole, to the appetizers, through the entrees, right to the dessert tray we were brought…everything was superb! A great lunch, which we will follow up with a much smaller late dinner tonight! After lunch, well we were back to the casino, this time with Kenny and Chris in tow (they can watch, but not play). We did even better this time, and both Susie and I took some money out of the slots in the form of folding money!!

Money in hand, we headed up to the Royal Promenade, where Susie converted the cash into a couple of bags she’d checked out earlier in the cruise! Then it was time to say bye to the boys till later, as they had things to do, and Mom and Dad need to veg a bit!

Day Forty Two – Saturday, October 1, 2016

October 1, 2016 / Sue and Frank D'Elia / 1 Comment

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Welcome to Saturday in Galveston, Texas. It may be October 1st, but the hotel is busy, and we are of the opinion that the “season” doesn’t stop for this Gulf Coast Beach town on Labor Day!

Had to take a picture of this morning’s breakfast at the Comfort Inn we are staying at. Now, we have told you a little bit about the “free” breakfasts we have “enjoyed” at most of our overnight stops, and many of them have been good. We think the best so far was at the San Antonio Homewood Suites, where the breakfast choices changed daily, and the view from the glass walled breakfast room overlooking the Riverwalk didn’t. Several of the Best Western’s we’ve stayed at have been close seconds, with nice choices and a nice breakfast area (like the 11th floor overlooking the water at the Corpus Christi Best Western). A lot have some kind of egg dish, some kind of breakfast meat, and perhaps a waffle station, along with cold cereal, toast and muffins, juice, coffee, and tea. Some of the Best Westerns even have a “pancake machine”! Hit a button and in about a minute, 2 freshly cooked pancakes come out on a conveyor belt and dump on your plate! We’ve experienced breakfasts from so so (an Econolodge early on the trip, where everything was hermetically sealed) to great, but this morning we got something we’d never seen before. Eggs and Pigs in Blankets!

After breakfast, we came back to the room, and I got busy on the computer and paid all our bills that are due through the 3rd week in October. Then it was time to get out and about, and to take care of last minute tasks before leaving on the cruise tomorrow morning. Traffic was so heavy on Seawall Blvd. in front of the hotel, that even though we wanted to make a left, we had to make a right! Yes, the season isn’t over here by a long shot!

Our first task was to find a Wells Fargo Bank to make our last land based ATM withdrawal. We used Wells Fargo for this trip because they have branches in more states that any other bank, and generally we have driven by one at least once a day. Wouldn’t you know that Galveston was one place that didn’t have one, so we had to get back on the Interstate and off the island, to get that done. The rest of our tasks were accomplished on the island. They ranged from hitting the Target to buy a couple of things for us, but mostly things that Kenny sent us a list of yesterday, and find a self service car wash so the bugs don’t bake on the Sonata as she sits for 2 weeks in the Texas sun. Because of where we were on the island, we then decided to check out the port, so we had an idea where we were going tomorrow and how to get there. That done, we headed back towards the beach, looking for a liquor store. We needed a bottle of Titos Vodka (how come a vodka made in Texas is cheaper in New Jersey and New York than in Texas???) and the boys requested a handle of Fireball! Well, we drove, and drove, and drove, and finally found one. The sign on the door said, “see attendant at convenience store next door”. I did, and the girl running the liquor store came and let me in. Hey, when in Rome! Since we’d already gassed up the Sonata, we were done with our outside list!

When we got back to the hotel we took the “Cruise Suitcase” out of the Sonata’s trunk for the first time since we put it in there, back on August 20th on Long Island! For the last 42 days, our “cruise clothes” have been patiently waiting for October 2nd and their time to shine! Of course, they may be a little wrinkled, but we can get that fixed on the ship! A more important concern is how well some of them fit after OUR 42 days on the road!! We shall see!

Once we got to the room, Susie got all our suitcases open so that she could separate the stuff going and the stuff staying with the car. Honestly, having everything we own just sitting in the car in the parking lot has become a very normal thing for us over the last 6 weeks. In some way, I think Susie had some fear about repacking, but honestly she found that she had a clear idea of what was going and what was staying, and the job was a lot easier than she had anticipated! As we are getting to that age, packing our prescriptions for the cruise took a little bit of time, but that too went smoothly, and in short order, we find we are packed and ready!

Some are going with us, some are spending 2 weeks in the trunk of the car

Susie decided to do a few last minute laundry items, and as I write this blog, they are turning in the hotel’s washer and dryer, she is relaxing on her iPad, and we are enjoying a Sailor Jerry and Coke Zero! We contemplated going out tonight for a nice dinner, but seeing how busy the island is and the fact that it’s Saturday, we’ve decided to go low key! There is a Jimmy Johns Sandwich Shop right next to the hotel on Seawall Blvd, and when the laundry is done, we’re just going to walk over there, and order a couple of sandwiches. Never been, but I know Kenny has sung their praises in the past, when he was on the Annie National Tour, and a heavier version of the son we now have, so we’re going to give it a try. Tonight we’re just going to relax in front of the TV as Susie does her nails, cuts my hair (my exclusive barber for 37 years), and take showers. A low key night to prepare for 14 crazy, wonderful, relaxing, Sun & Fun-filled days on the Liberty of the Seas!!!

The ship docks back in Galveston tomorrow morning, and Chris’ Dad and Stepmom sign off after a week long cruise with the boys! Our plan is to get to the dock about 9:30, hopefully get our bags dropped, and the car parked in time to meet up with them at 10 AM. As Chris’ Family is from Reno, Nevada, we haven’t yet had the opportunity to meet them, and are looking forward to the greeting before they get picked up at 11AM to head to the airport! Kenny and Chris have been together since they met in rehearsals for their first Liberty of the Seas cruise back in June of 2015, and we really got to know him when we cruised with them last September to Bermuda. He’s a great guy, and they are very good together, and we are looking forward to spending two weeks with “our boys”. Let’s see if THEY can handle the old folks for 2 weeks!! Poor kids, family three weeks in a row!!!

“Our Boys” from our cruise to Bermuda last September of the LOS

So that’s it folks. Susie and I bid you farewell for a couple of weeks as we head into a different kind of adventure for the next 14 nights! The car and traveling just about every day, has become such a normal existence, it will probably take us a day or two to get use to it, but I’m sure we will! 14 nights in luxurious sheets in the same bed, in our own little home, with breakfasts on our balcony overlooking the Caribbean Sea or a tropical island port, having fun with the boys and their friends every day, great food, great entertainment, and the Unlimited Drink Package Kenny got us…yea, I think we can get used to it!! Please be well, and know that when we get back to Texas on October 16th, I will do my best to update on the next 14 days! Till then, Bon Voyage You All!

Day Forty One – Friday, September 30, 2016

October 1, 2016 / Sue and Frank D'Elia / 1 Comment

So this was our last morning at the Best Western in Corpus Christi. We awoke to a beautiful, sunny, cooler morning (temps in the high 70s), and when we went up to the 11th floor for breakfast, we were greeted with this sight when we got off the elevator!

This morning’s breakfast variety substituted tortillas for biscuits, and re-fried beans for potatoes, so of course, we made breakfast burritos with eggs, sausage, cheese, salsa, and beans…and the beans have been with us all day. Just saying.

Not being in a real hurry to get to Galveston, as it was really only 4 hours away, I asked Susie if she wanted to take a detour and go via Mustang Island and Port Aransas. She said it looked good, so when we turned out of the Best Western’s driveway, we went right rather than turning left towards Galveston. Kind of like what we know at home, just off Long Island’s South Shore, and where we live in Ocean City, NJ, Corpus Christi Bay is ringed by a series of Barrier Islands that separate it from the Gulf of Mexico. Our path this morning, was to head south-west and loop around the bay, crossing the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway to Mustang Island, and then driving north along the island towards Port Aransas. When you first come on the island, it’s very busy and commercial, but as we continued the drive on the Texas Tropical Trail, you first go through the Mustang Island State Park, which looks like it’s totally undeveloped. That, we figured, explained the big black stretch we saw at night from our hotel. It was undeveloped, not a pass to the Gulf! As you get past the park, you start to see more and more housing, including condos on the beach. At Port Aransas, you’re in a cute beach village, and the whole look of the island was very laid back and not overly commercial. We liked it!

Unlike when we got on the island, there is no bridge across the Intracoastal at this point, but a free car ferry run by the state of Texas. It’s about a 5-8 minute run from the island back to the mainland, and they were just finishing unloading a boat as we pulled up, so in a few minutes we were on the water.

Susie tried her hand as a wildlife photographer, using a rather uncooperative Pelican, who was perched on one of the pilings as we docked. He refused to pose for her, and frankly was a foul model!

After getting off the ferry, there were two things that looked like oil rig platforms, just off the road. We couldn’t tell if they were in the water, or on land, but they sure looked like oil rigs!

Back on the mainland, our trek to Galveston started on the water, and there were several bridges that we went over. Even though we were on back roads, it wasn’t long before they didn’t run along the water anymore, and we were surrounded by Texas farms. Long straight roads heading into the distance, with plowed fields, the occasional house, and animals of various kinds. Not exciting, but probably better than the Interstate!

But, by going through these back roads, we got to know that it was the Bay City Rice Festival this weekend, with the Rice Festival Queen being crowned tomorrow, Saturday, October 1, 2016. Below is a screen shot I took of the rules the Bay City Lions Club has for a candidate to be considered for the honor of spending 2016 as the Rice Queen!

Had we not come this way, we also wouldn’t have seen our 5th accident of the trip. A Camaro with a pretty smashed up front end, on the side of Texas 35, in Bay City. We don’t think it had anything to do with the Rice Festival or the Queen’s Coronation!

So, you know we’ve sung the praises of how our little Garmin GPS girl has done such a wonderful job almost everywhere. We know that we never would have been able to figure out how to get to the USS Lexington yesterday without her, and although I read multiple times on the Internet about not trusting a GPS in the Southwest, she never once led us astray, and has been indispensable, even with our paper maps. Well today, she pulled a fast one on us, and if a Garmin GPS had a sense of humor, I’d really think she was yanking our chain! As we’re driving along Texas 35, she says, “In 5 tenths of a mile, make a right turn on Old Texas 35.” Susie was driving at the time, and obeyed her instructions, and we found ourselves on a road that looked like it could double for a no longer used section of Route 66! To top that off, she said that the speed limit was 70 MPH, when going more than 30 was tough. About half a mile after we turned on it, she said, “In 5 tenths of a mile, make a right turn on Texas 35”, the same road we were on when we turned off!! Susie did, and we were right back in the same pack of cars we’d been in when we turned off! I tell you, she is getting back at us for not implicitly following her instructions!

Oh, and more on the Monarch Butterfly Migration. There were lots of big things flying around the air today, and we knew some of them were dining needles or dragon flies (or dining flies as I tend to call them). But when we stopped to hit the bathroom at a Dairy Queen this afternoon, Susie found evidence on the ground that more of the Monarchs were not making the complete migration this year!

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We arrived at the Comfort Suites on Galveston Island about 5:30 tonight, and as we leave on this cruise in about 36 hours, Susie almost immediately started gathering laundry. This necessitated getting the two suitcases out of the trunk that we almost never remove, but as she needed to see what needed washing and will have to repack tomorrow, it had to be done. After the laundry was done, we had a quick pizza dinner and returned to the room. We have a number of errands to attend to tomorrow (Kenny has given us a Target shopping list), so we will get up and out after breakfast tomorrow, and by nightfall will hopefully have everything in place, so we can get up Sunday and head to the pier. It will be strange for 14 nights not to be in a different bed everyday, and we will surely miss the Sonata. As of tonight, with today’s 240 miles, our total trip mileage is around 8,000, and she has served us well, but for the next two weeks, we will have a designated driver AND she will have some rest!

Before I close tonight, I need to have a serious discussion with you about the next two weeks. At this point, we have suffered together through 41 nights of hotel Internet Wi-Fi. Some of it has been really excellent, some of it nonexistent (Yellowstone), and some of it came and went as I was trying to post, making things somewhat unpleasant in our room! With the exception of the two nights in Yellowstone where it was impossible to get anything posted, and the two nights with our friends Nancy and Mike in El Paso, where we were just having too much fun to post, I have been pretty good about getting this blog posted before going to bed. That is not going to happen from October 2nd to October 15th.

You see, on the Royal Caribbean Ship Liberty of the Seas, there is no such thing as free Wi-Fi. If you want an Internet connection on the ship, you have to pay for it, to the tune of $30 a day, and that’s for just one device. So for the 14 days of the cruise, that would come out to $420, and although I am so glad you are all traveling along with us, that is just too much money to spend, on top of everything else we’re spending. So the iPads will get locked in the car, and the iPhones will go on Airplane Mode – unless we run into free Wi-Fi on one of the islands. I’m going to take my Mac Book Air with me on the cruise, and I will try to write a brief summary each day of what’s happening, but the Wi-Fi will be turned off, until the 16th when we are back at a Homewood Suites in Beaumont, Texas. I promise that on the 16th, I will give you as complete a recap of the two weeks of the cruise, of the time we’ll spend with Kenny and Chris, of the members of their Liberty of the Sea’s Family we’ve met, and of the wonderful places we’ve gone, and things we’ve done. Honestly, I’d really love to be able to take you along with us, but if you think the backseat of the Sonata has been crowded, that’s nothing compared to what Stateroom 6580 on the LOS would be like!

Day Forty – Thursday, September 29, 2016

September 30, 2016 / Sue and Frank D'Elia / Leave a comment

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Day forty of our journey finds us waking up on the Texas Gulf Coast in Corpus Christi. It also finds us waking up on the morning of our 37th Wedding Anniversary! We’re pretty sure we’ve never celebrated a wedding anniversary in Texas before, so something new for us!! As I said in the blog post I wrote about our anniversary, we may call this trip Our Big Adventure, but that really started on the afternoon of September 29, 1979 at the Interfaith Chapel on the C.W. Post Campus where we’d both gone to school! It certainly has been an adventure, and it still continues!!

So, forty days on the road, huh? We are well into our 5th week, and have stayed in God knows how many hotels, had so many room numbers I wonder how we keep remembering where to go when we return at night, and let’s not even talk about my adventures getting ice every night! The good news is we are still having fun, still enjoying seeing new things, places, and people, and still talking! So many great memories we’ve made so far, and so much more to go. At the very minimum we’ve got the 14 days of the cruise that starts this Sunday (10/2), and Susie and I have been talking, and I have a feeling that when we get back to Texas on October 16th, the trip will continue a little longer! As long as we are back in New York for Henry’s First Birthday on October 28th, we are going to be good!!

So, breakfast today at the Best Western Marina is on the 11th floor on the opposite side of the building we ended last night at the Grandview Lounge. You can see by the sign on the door, these folks are not Kenny Chesney fans, as they have somewhat changed the lyrics of his famous beach song!

After breakfast, we headed out on a mini adventure…finding a car wash! If you remember yesterday’s blog, and the tale of the Monarch Butterfly’s migration, you will remember that the grill, hood, and especially the windshield of the Sonata were the final resting place of many of the poor creatures! With the hot Texas Gulf sun (it’s 4:45 PM now, sunny, and the temperature is 90 degrees, feeling like 92), I didn’t want them baking into the paint, and really like a cleaner windshield, so we were off to find a car wash. I looked up a couple on Google, but couldn’t tell if they were self service or not, but we headed off to what I thought was the closest one. Well, close is obviously a relative term, and this one was related to just about nothing! We drove for blocks and blocks, only to ultimately find it, and have it turn out to be a full service car wash! Damn! So we continued our hunt, trying to stay in populated commercial areas, and even getting ourselves trapped in Del Mar Community College, as students were looking for parking places so they could make it to class. Fun!

Ultimately, we were about to give up, as we saw an Interstate in the distance, and low and behold, there was a self service car wash just on the corner! We ducked in, and with Susie pointing at the more resistive bug smears from the inside of the car, I power washed off the windshield, the grill, and the hood. Finally we had a cleaner car! Now, we had no idea where we were in relation to our hotel, so we punched up the GPS and headed back to the hotel. As we got back to Ocean Drive (but it’s a bay, not an ocean?) Susie said, “Oh, I need a Post Office to mail a couple of things.” She needed a Post Office because we hadn’t seen a mail box in days. Perhaps they only exist in the NY/NJ Area? So we plugged in Post Office in the GPS, and you know what it said? “Make a U-Turn in 400 feet” Yep, we went back to almost where the car wash was to mail 2 cards! The good thing was we did pass a Walgreens, and Susie was able to bop in and pick up a couple of things she needed!

Our main stop for the day was the USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier, which is docked in Corpus Christi Bay. It’s one of those funny things, that you can see from everywhere, but just can’t get to. We had to avail ourselves on the GPS’s assistance again, and considering the convoluted set of turns we had to make, thank God we had one! The Lexington was commissioned in 1943, set more records than any other Essex Class carrier in the history of Naval Aviation, and she was the oldest working carrier in the USN when she was decommissioned in 1991. During WWII, the Japanese reported the Lexington sunk 4 times, but each time she came back to fight again. This caused Tokyo Rose to nickname her, “The Blue Ghost”.

The Lexington came to Corpus Christi in June of 1992, and within months, was opened as the USS Lexington Naval Aviation Museum. We started our tour on the Hanger Deck, and just based on it’s size, it is an impressive space. There are several planes on display, as well as many other Naval Aviation items, and several places for photo ops. At the bow of the ship, there is a theater where they show a 30 minute 3D movie about the job of the aircraft carrier. The displays and the movie were very interesting, and just being there, and imagining what the hanger deck was like during operations was amazing.

Then it was time to head up to the flight deck. Lots of planes there, lots to read. and in the Texas Gulf sun, the walk from the bow to the stern of the carrier seemed about a mile. Disappointedly, we only walked about a mile during our visit, so I guess it only seemed that long! Luckily for us, some person (I’m betting an older employee) put a bench at the stern of the flight deck, in the shade of one plane’s wing, making for a delightful place to rest for a few minutes, out of the sun, and enjoying the bay breezes! We really enjoyed looking at the displays, and having watched so many World War II Navy movies, just imagined being there as things we’d seen in movies (Midway, Tora,Tora,Tora, In Harms Way, etc) happened.

After touring, we decided to hit the head before leaving…okay the sign did say rest rooms, but it’s a ship, right? The Men’s and Ladies Room were both down a deck, but you went down different stairs to get there. We agreed to meet at a bench by the gift shop, and when Susie came back she said, “Boy, that was interesting?” “Interesting”, I replied? “Yes, lots to look at.” Well apparently they gave the ladies a treat, because the men’s room didn’t look like they’d done a lot since the ship was decommissioned, but here are some pictures that Susie took as she went down to the Lady’s Room!

We were hot, thirsty, and just a little hungry, and since we were in this lovely setting on Corpus Christi Bay, I said, “Let’s find a bar on the water, and have a drink and a snack.” Susie agreed, and once we found our way though the convoluted directions back to the bay (yes, we had to depend on our GPS girl again), we ended up at the floating Tiki Bar at Harrison’s Landing, just down the road from our hotel! We had a couple of Texas Ice Teas (they could get you in trouble) and a delicious warm cheese and shrimp dip, served with tortilla chips! Exactly what we needed!

Then we decided to come back to the room, and crash for a couple of hours, until it was time for dinner. For I think the third time in our travels, we came back to the room a little before 4PM and it hadn’t been made up. When the maid tried getting in after 5PM, we said never mind. I really don’t blame the maids, but I think some hotels seem to be trying to save money, by not having enough staff to take care of the rooms they rent. Not a big deal at all as we don’t use a towel once at home and throw it in the laundry, but it kind of makes you wonder what you’re paying for.

After being so pleased by our dinner last night at Landry’s Seafood House, right on the water, we decided that rather than go to another seafood restaurant, and have no view, and perhaps be disappointed with the dinner, we’d return. So we made a 6:45 reservation, and left the room at 6:30, to head across Shoreline Blvd, and up the pier to the marina where the “boat” was docked. I didn’t mention it last night, but Landry’s Seafood House is a very big, two story restaurant, built on a barge! Yes, you actually have to walk over a gangplank to get to the front door, so for the second time today, we ate (and drank) on a “vessel” that was tied to a dock!

We asked for the waiter we had last night (Richard), but he was not working today. So we got a lovely table on the second deck, and had Ashley for our server. Although we started with the same two specialty martinis we’d had last night, the rest of our dinner was totally different! Two beautiful Shrimp Cocktails were the way we started tonight. 6 Jumbo shrimp, served over ice with cocktail sauce in a radicchio lettuce cup! Wonderful! Oh, I lied, we did have their house salad again. Then Susie had their Fish and Chips and I had Southern Fried Fish…basically a variation on the theme of each other, and both good and very bountiful! We accompanied that with a bottle of one of our favorites, Prosecco. Then the Manager came over, asked us if everything was good, and said in honor of our anniversary, he’d like to buy us dessert! So Susie had Key Lime Pie and I had one of my favorites, Creme Brûlée. A very nice gesture, and a very nice ending to a great meal. Take a look at the pictures below to see our wonderful meal.

Oh wait. Sorry, but the food came, and we ate it, and after we were finished, with every course, we both said, “Pictures!” To be honest, the above picture was of our last glass, that we enjoyed while relaxing after dinner. Ashley was great and just told us to stay as long as we wanted to and enjoy the wine. We asked, and she is another really nice native Texan we’ve met. Another day in Texas interacting with just nice people!

Tomorrow we will be sorry to say good-bye to Corpus Christi, because we’ve had a great time, but it’s on to Galveston and preparation for the cruise! On Sunday morning we will be back with Kenny and Chris, spending two weeks on the high seas, and getting to know the rest of their Liberty of the Seas Family! Having not seen Kenny since March, it will be good to get to hug him in person. FaceTime is great, and we’ve been in contact 2 or 3 times a week since he’s been gone, but actual person-to-person hugging is different!

So that’s the end of our 37th Anniversary, the end of our two nights in Corpus Christi, and the end of our 40th day on the road. If you have been with us even through part of this journey, thank you! If you’ve spent every day of the past 40 in the backseat of the Sonata, I hope our driving has’t scared you, and you’ve enjoyed the ride as much as we have! I appreciate your continued involvement in this blog, and your comments that let me know somebody besides Susie and I are reading this! If we’re related, know I love you a little bit more! If we’re just friends, know that we are more like family now. After all, how can you spend 40 days in a car with someone, and not think of them as family!

See you tomorrow in Galveston…cue Glen Campbell!

Day Thirty Nine – Wednesday, September 28, 2016

September 29, 2016 / Sue and Frank D'Elia / Leave a comment

It was time to leave San Antonio, and we were sad. Sad because we loved the Homewood Suites Hotel, loved the city of San Antonio, and loved all the people we’d had the opportunity to interact with. Of course, the day we were leaving, we woke about 8 AM, threw open the room darkening curtains, and were greeted by a beautiful sunny day, as we looked down on the Riverwalk! Oh well, we figured that yesterday had been such a perfect day, we probably wouldn’t be able to duplicate it, sunny skies or not! Time to move on!

We went down to breakfast this morning, saw some of the usual characters we’d seen for the past couple of days, but not our two friends. Really, what’s the likelihood we’ll see Hotel Friends from Trinidad and Kentucky ever again? After another nice breakfast, we returned upstairs to get our act together, and about 10:40, I called down to the Valet to get the Sonata out of the garage. She was waiting there for us after we checked out of the hotel, and we loaded up, and were on our way in a few minutes.

If we’d just gotten on the Interstate, Corpus Christi was just a little over 2 hours away, but as we’ve said before, it’s not always about the destination, but how you get there. We decided to take a little detour, and visit one of the five Spanish Missions that were erected in the early 1700s, with the last one of the group being the Alamo. They are all part of the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, and we visited the middle mission, San Jose, because it is where the Visitor’s Center is located. After watching a 25 minute movie about the Spanish Missions, we ventured out to the actual mission. Frankly, I think this was more what I was expecting at the Alamo, as here, the entire wall surrounding the church is still intact, and there is Indian and Administration housing still on sight. It was a more complete view of what a mission was like, and in that way, more interesting. The fact that this mission is still an operating Catholic Parish Church was also interesting.

After leaving the mission, we could have hopped on the Interstate, but again decided to follow advice we’d been given (Thanks Walt) and take one of the smaller roads to our destination. US 181 headed south and honestly was a much more interesting drive, with a lot of small towns along the way, and some interesting things to see. It took about an hour longer than the Interstate probably would have, but was much more enjoyable!

Something that was with us at the mission, and we had “along for the ride” almost all the way to Corpus Christi was little bugs, that we realized were butterflies. Once we got on US 181, they were everywhere, and were hitting the car and splattering across the windshield! It was almost like a scene in a Hitchcock movie, and we wondered what was up, so Susie Googled “Butterflies in South Texas”. Turns out that we were in the middle of the annual migration from Canada to Mexico by the Monarch Butterflies! Sorry to say, that hundreds of them will not make it this year, because they died on the grill, hood, and windshield of the car!

As we got closer to Corpus Christi, we saw something we hadn’t seen in a couple of weeks…farms! It was back somewhere in the Midwest, before we got to the mountainous regions and places with ranches, that we’d last seen real farms. Plowed fields, and silos, and something else…windmills by the hundreds! Just so we know we are in Texas, there were also oil wells, and a huge ranch or two!

Last weekend, we missed the Air Show in Ocean City that takes place every year along the Boardwalk. Well, to make up for it, as we traveled along US 181 today, we were treated to a private airshow! We don’t know if he was learning how to fly, practicing aerobatics, or just having fun, but we enjoyed the brief show!

As we got to Corpus Christi, we also returned to something else we hadn’t been at for close to 2 months…the shore! We left Ocean City and the Jersey Shore 2 weeks before we embarked on our Big Adventure, and until about 3 this afternoon, we hadn’t seen anything that looked like a coast! Big power boats, sail boats, heck, even an aircraft carrier! Not only that, but after spending weeks at elevations of 8,000 feet and above, we were back at sea level! It was hot, and humid, and looked like we could have just as easily been in Florida, as the Gulf Coast of Texas. It was nice to feel like we were home!! We’re at the Best Western Marina tonight, right on the Seawall in Corpus Christi, and it’s nice to see water out our window!!

Our View

Tonight, we did our usual trick of opening up the Apple Map on the iPads, and seeing what was in the immediate area for dinner. After some reflection, we zeroed in on Landry’s Seafood, which we saw from our balcony, and we think we made an excellent choice! For the second night in a row, our waiter’s name was Richard…Kismet? We had a couple of great drinks, one of the best calamari appetizers we’ve ever had, two great seafood entrees, and split an obscene Bananas Foster dessert!!! Can you say full???

Landry’s from our balcony

Returning to our hotel, we ventured up to the Grandview Lounge on the 11th floor, and had a couple of Grey Goose on the rocks with a twist. Say that in NY or NJ, and they know exactly what you mean. Everywhere else they ask, “lemon or lime?” We enjoyed the drinks while looking over most of Corpus Christi! A nice way to end our first night in town!

Tomorrow we get to explore Corpus Christi, see about visiting an aircraft carrier, and get ready for a cruise which sets sail in just 4 days! This is day 7 for us in Texas and we’ve enjoyed it a lot. From spending time with our good friends Nancy and Mike on day 1 and 2, to three lovely nights in San Antonio, we are very taken with Texas! I guess it’s only fair, that based on it’s size, we’re spend more days in the state of Texas than any other state during our travels! We’ve talked about it, and think that someday in the future, a Texas Exclusive Road Trip may be in our future!

See you tomorrow!!

Day Thirty Eight – Tuesday, September 27, 2016

September 28, 2016September 28, 2016 / Sue and Frank D'Elia / Leave a comment

Today was our second full day in San Antonio, and honestly, this morning when we got up and discussed what we were going to do today, we were a little conflicted. We considered getting the car out of the garage, and exploring Texas Hill Country, but since we’re only going to Corpus Christi tomorrow, which is 2-3 hours away, we thought we might head that way tomorrow, before heading to the Gulf Coast. So ultimately, since we are staying in downtown San Antonio, we figured that San Antonio was why we decided to stay here, and that we should explore again today. We are glad we did!

As usual, our day started with our Homewood Suites breakfast, a short visit back in the room, and then we headed out to explore the city. When we bought our Double Decker Bus Tour of the city, the package we got came with two additions, a ticket to the Buckhorn Tavern Museum, and a San Antonio River Cruise. We got out our San Antonio map, and walked the 5 or 6 blocks to the Buckhorn Tavern to start our day.

Albert Friedrich opened the Buckhorn Tavern in 1881, and he realized that since many folks coming off the trail didn’t have money, he’d accept horns and antlers in exchange for beer and whiskey. Because of that, the Buckhorn Tavern contains one of the largest and most unique collections of horns and antlers in the world. While not in it’s original location, and really more of just a tourist stop today, the Buckhorn Tavern has been a part of history. From Teddy Roosevelt being a patron to the rumored planning of the Mexican Revolution at the bar by Pancho Villa, in its long history, it has seen it all in San Antonio!

After exchanging our vouchers for tickets, the first person we met was the Buckhorn Cowboy, who told us what we were about to see in the various museums on the property, and suggesting that going through the museum with a drink was his favorite way to see the museum! Talking to him further, he told us he was originally from that great Cowboy Rearing state, New Jersey! Sorry we didn’t get a picture with him, but we did take his advice and got a couple of margaritas for the tour!

The first museum on site is the Buckhorn Museum, which contains over 500 species of wildlife. There were many displays, putting the stuffed animals in their natural habitat. Think Museum of Natural History stuff. Then there was a big “Side Show Exhibit”, with many items about PT Barnum and others of his ilk, as well as things you could actually participate in, like a tilting room, water running uphill, and other optical illusions. In 2006, they added the Texas Ranger Museum to the attraction, which contains many authentic Texas Ranger artifacts, and a recreation of San Antonio at the turn of the century called, Ranger Town!

Of course, like any good tourist attraction, you exited into the gift shop! A very nice employee started talking to us, and like everyone we’d encountered in San Antonio, was friendly and very helpful. I’m not sure if that’s the reason or not, but I do have to report that this was the first gift shop we have been in on the trip, that Susie made substantial purchases.

After our shopping spree, we headed over to the Menger Hotel I talked about in yesterday’s blog. Just across the street from the Alamo, the Menger Hotel was built in 1859 (just a bit more than 20 years after the famous Alamo Battle) and the famous Menger Hotel Bar was allegedly the place that Theodore Roosevelt recruited his famous Rough Riders calvary brigade! I say “allegedly”, because they make the same claim at the Buckhorn Tavern! Yesterday, we saw it from the outside, but today we ventured inside, and it is a beautiful hotel!

We attempted to have a drink in the Menger Hotel Bar, but unfortunately it’s a really tiny place, with but 10 seats at the bar, and they were all full. Oh well, another day in the future perhaps. Since we were right at the beginning of the double decker bus tour, we decided to take a ride on the upper level, see the early part of the tour again, and get off at the stop for the River Cruise.

We had a different driver today, and the tour seemed to function much better than yesterday, and since the weather was better (still overcast, but no rain), we enjoyed it better than yesterday. The stop for the River Cruise is on St Mary Street and Crockett Street, which is just 2 blocks from our hotel, so really in the neighborhood. We got on the boat with our Captain/Tour Guide Mike, and he did a great job in the 35 minutes or so we were with him. We finally saw the Riverwalk that we’d seen in all the pictures of San Antonio, and are planning to return there for dinner tonight.

After our cruise, we walked back a couple of blocks to a Walgreens we’d passed earlier to pick up a couple of items we needed. San Antonio is very interested in maintaining what is old, and you could clearly see this, from the vintage Walgreens sign, as well as other buildings right across the street.

Then we walked home to the Homewood Suites. It was a good day. We walked, the humidity seemed better today (or we’d gotten a little more used to it), and we saw a lot. Literally on every corner and every block in San Antonio there seems to be something to see, or take a picture of, or a plaque to read! According to our iPhones, we walked a little over 2 miles today, and we’re not done yet!!

After crashing and having a Cuba Libera (Rum and Coke to you Gringos) in our room, we changed, and went downstairs for the Homewood Suites Happy Hour! Same Drinks, different snacks tonight! We saw our two friends from last night (the Lady from Trinidad and the Gentleman from Kentucky), but as there were no tables near each other, we just said hello.

Tonight we decided to fly without reservations for our dinner, but knew we wanted to head back to the section of the Riverwalk we saw while on the boat cruise this afternoon. We opened Apple Maps on my iPad, and looked for names of restaurants along the Riverwalk. We wanted something (1) that was Mexican and (2) that was an easy walk from the hotel. We checked out the websites of several restaurants we found, and after careful consideration, we picked the Iron Cactus! So after having just one glass of wine each tonight, we headed out about 6:30, and we walked up St Mary Street, and went down to the Riverwalk at Crockett Street. Iron Cactus was just beyond where we got the boat this afternoon. We went up to the Hostess Station, asked for a table, and as she had nothing outside without a wait, we said we’d go inside. Unfortunately, the table she assigned to us was about as far back in the restaurant as you could go, so Susie went up and asked for one of the tables in a window alcove, and they moved us! What an excellent move, because we had a great view, air conditioning, and saw so many people swatting bugs outside!!! We also had a wonderful waiter, Richard who helped us through dinner!

Richard, Susie and the Iron Cactus

He suggested to us a special Margarita they were featuring tonight, and they were great! He also suggested the Table Side Guacamole – 2 whole avocados, onions, peppers, tomatoes, citrus, cilantro. He said it was excellent, and it was. Then he told us about some of his favorite dishes on the menu, and we picked one of them, Southwest Paella. We both decided to have it, and at Richard’s suggestion, we only got one order (so there was enough room for dessert), and it was delicious and more than enough for us! Jumbo shrimp, mussels, bay scallops, jalapeño Texas sausage, roasted poblanos, lobster cream, and cilantro-lime rice. Hungry yet?

Full Drinks, 1/2 Guac, and sorry, ate all the Paella and then took picture!

There was indeed room for dessert, and after Richard brought us the Dessert Tray, we decided to split Mexican Donuts! Homemade with sweet cream filling, powdered sugar and a Kahlua fudge sauce for dipping! Heavenly!! I’m sorry to say that Susie and I ate the four of them, before we even remembered to take a picture, so you are just going to have to let the words paint a picture for you!

Our suggestion for you is that if you happen to be in San Antonio, and if you want to try and duplicate one of, if not the best, meal we’ve had on this trip, you get yourself to the Iron Cactus Mexican Grill and Margarita Bar (they have over 100 varieties of tequila) at 200 Riverwalk, Suite 100! If you really want to have the best meal, served by someone who will make the meal even better, then you MUST ask for Richard! What a great way to end our last day in San Antonio!!

After dinner we walked the Riverwalk a bit, and took some more pictures, before heading back to our hotel!

As we were walking towards home, Susie and I agreed that today was probably the most perfect day we have had at a tourist destination. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had some great experiences at Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Mount Rushmore, and all the other wonderful places we’ve seen, but from start to finish, today was just wonderful! If we had to do it again, we’d stay longer in San Antonio. Perhaps an All Texas Road Trip one year is in our future!

Tomorrow we leave San Antonio, and head to Corpus Christi on the Gulf Coast, and get nearer and nearer to the cruise, which seemed so far off, but which starts this Sunday! We will leave San Antonio with nothing but fond thoughts of the town, the Homewood Suites by Hilton, and the people we’ve met and the experiences we’ve had! It was a great 3 nights and one of our favorite places on Our Big Adventure!!

See you tomorrow!

PS – Walking total for the day, a little over 3 miles!

Day Thirty Seven – Monday, September 26, 2016

September 27, 2016September 27, 2016 / Sue and Frank D'Elia / Leave a comment

Welcome to our first full day in San Antonio, Texas. We woke this morning in our suite at the Homewood Suites on The Riverwalk to a cloudy and rainy day. After getting ready, we went downstairs for a wonderful, full and enjoyable buffet breakfast. The best of our trip so far, and perhaps a reason to stay at Homewood Suites! The weather forecast showed for improving weather, but looks like we’ll have to wait till tomorrow for sun. One thing we didn’t have to wait for was humidity! Welcome back to the kind of sticky weather we had most of the summer in the New York/New Jersey area! When we left the hotel this morning, the temperature was in the low 70s, but the humidity was up in the high 80% range! A real change from the very low humidity we’ve experienced for weeks. Frankly, it’s been so long since we’ve felt like this, we can’t remember! Don’t imagine it will get any better when we get to the Texas Gulf Coast, or into the Caribbean Sea during our cruise!

The view from our room this morning

We walked over to the historic Menger Hotel, where we picked up our San Antonio tour tickets. Just across the street from the Alamo, the Menger Hotel was built in 1859 (just a bit more than 20 years after the famous Alamo Battle) and the famous Menger Hotel Bar was the place that Theodore Roosevelt recruited his famous Rough Riders calvary brigade!

Once we got the tickets, we headed over to the tour bus, and low and behold, it was obviously planned for us so that we couldn’t miss it!

Along the tour we passed the Oldest VFW Post in America (from Veterans of the Spanish/American Bar).

We also heard about the Scottish Rite Cathedral

And we passed the Emily Morgan Hotel. We had no idea who Emily Morgan was, but were told that according to legend, she was captured by the Mexican Calvary in 1836, and was forced to travel with the troops of General Santa Anna. On April 21 of that year, Santa Anna’s forces were defeated by an Army led by Sam Houston at the Battle of Jacinto in 18 minutes. Supposedly, Santa Anna was unprepared because he was having sex with Emily! It was also suggested that she may have been the inspiration for the song, The Yellow Rose of Texas, but historians think both suggestions are more story than history. She had no involvement with the hotel, but it’s a good story, you must agree.

We also passed a number of old theaters, that after closing, because of changing tastes in the mid 20th Century, were resurrected by residents as performance spaces. The Majestic, the Aztec, and the Empire are busy places, and in the sense of full disclosure, the person performing at the Empire is no relation to us, although he is from New Jersey!

The bus tour also passed the Esquire, where we ate dinner last night,

and this place. Have no idea of it’s name, but the guide told us it was originally a convent (see the cross) but is now a bar!

Then it was time to explore the Alamo. It seems that a lot of people have been somewhat disappointed by the Alamo, as it seems a lot smaller than most of us imagine. I already knew that the John Wayne movie of the same name, was not filmed at the real Alamo, but rather a replica that was indeed bigger than the original (found this out reading a John Wayne bio), but I have to put myself in the disappointed category. Not sure if it was because it was smaller than I thought, or because it was not in a setting that I imagined. Having seen it in many movies, books, etc in a certain setting, it was odd to see it in the middle of a city! San Antonio is, after all, the third largest city in Texas, and the area surrounding the Alamo was a city, with restaurants, shops, and tourist destinations. I guess my expectations were not realistic!

After visiting the Alamo, we went over to the Shops at River Center, to see the IMAX movie, Alamo, The Price of Freedom!

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As luck would have it, we’d just missed the start of the 1 PM showing, and we had to wait till 2 PM. Again, as luck would have it, there happened to be a Margaritaville Cafe on the River Walk in the same mall. Guess where we ended up killing 45 minutes?? A couple of “Boat Drinks” (two 5 O’Clock Somewheres, followed by two Bahama Mamas) with Gabe the bartender, surrounded by our friend Mr. Buffet and his music, and time passed very quickly!

San Antonio seems a little empty to us, and the IMAX Theater was no different, as we were two of just 5 folks that watched the Alamo movie. It was a very good 45 minute telling of what happened at the Alamo during the February 23rd to March 6th period of 1836, and we enjoyed it. Just an FYI…although we were sitting just a block or so from the real Alamo, this movie was also, I believe, filmed at the same location that the John Wayne movie was shot.

We walked around the Alamo Plaza a little bit more after the movie, but the humidity had gotten to us, and we decided to walk back to our hotel and crash for a bit, with a couple of rum and cokes, in the air conditioning.

Tonight we headed downstairs about 5:30 for the Manager’s Complimentary Social (free drinks and snacks). We had a couple of glasses of white wine, and a nice conversation with a man from Kentucky and a lady from Trinidad. One of the nice thing about the Homewood Suites is the evening social, and the ability to meet and enjoy people from different places!

At about 6:45, we headed next door to the Westin Hotel, and the Italian restaurant, Zocca Cuisine D’Italia, where we had a 7 PM reservation. We had a lovely dinner, with a bottle of bubbly, a couple of great apps (sorry, we ate them before the pictures), two great pasta entrees, and dessert!

On the way home, we had a lovely walk along the River Walk back to the Homewood Suites. It is probably the nicest it’s been all day, and we enjoyed the walk, the sights we saw, and just being out and about!

Our Bedroom Window, overlooking the River Walk

Tomorrow, day two in San Antonio, and the weather forecast calls for partly cloudy skies, and a high of 79. Let’s hope the humidity isn’t as high, but I wouldn’t count on it! Have a good night, see you tomorrow!

Day Thirty Six – Sunday, September 25, 2016

September 26, 2016 / Sue and Frank D'Elia / Leave a comment

Here we are, day 4 in Texas, and it already feels like home! Now, if we can only get resident status for tax purposes, we will be in great shape!

We started the morning in Fort Stockton, at the Best Western and our objective for the night was the Homewood Suites in San Antonio. The day started cloudy and overcast, as we filled the car up with gas, and continued our eastward journey on Interstate 10. I have to say one thing before going on, about Texas Interstates. What the hell do they make the surface out of??? My God, they are the noisiest roads we have ever driven on! The radio is up a notch or two, we have to practically yell at each other to be heard, and it constantly feels like you are driving on road that is being prepped for repaving! Okay, moving on….

Wait..one more thing, Bed Heights. Over the past 35 days, we have slept in dozens of hotels, and sampled lots of King Sized beds. There seems to be a trend that the bed height is above what we use to consider a standard height bed. I don’t know if it’s the mattress, the box spring, the frame, or all three, but some of the beds are so tall that you literally could use a step stool to get in. Last night at the Best Western, the beds were so tall that the only way we could get in was to throw ourselves up and in. God forbid if you roll out of one of these beds! Now, we really move on!

The theme of the early part of our trip today on Interstate 10 was ENERGY. We passed fields with hundreds of electrical generating windmills, oil wells pumping away on the side of the road, and high tension wires, I guess carrying that wind generated electrical energy to the cities. An interesting mix.

The theme for the rest of the day was rain. It started as a drizzle, went to a slow steady rain, and then the sky opened and it poured! The combination of the rough pavement, the trucks (of which there were many), the wind, and the teaming rain just made for a wonderful drive! In fact, at one point when I was driving, Susie had me get off at an exit in the middle of nowhere, just so we could wait it out a bit. Our wait was long as the rain didn’t let up, but became heavier before abating a bit. We tried to check the radar, but we were of course in a 1X service area! It was a lot of fun changing drivers in the downpour. Shower taken for the day!

Eventually the rain did let up for a bit, and it even almost stopped for a while, but just before we got to San Antonio, up it started again. This time, it was joined with lightning and thunder! Oh joy! When we got to the hotel, and drove into the garage, the young attendant told me that they only did valet, and that it would be $27 a day. I told him I’d gladly pay twice that, not to have to drive anymore in the rain!!

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As I said before, we are in the Homewood Suites on the Riverwalk, and it’s a very nice hotel. It’s obviously not a new building, and after checking in, I found out that the hotel was built by converting the Historic San Antonio Drug Company Building. The building is on the National Directory of Historic Places and the conversion was done with great care to preserve the original design of the building, including keeping the original windows. This is the first time we are staying in a Homewood Suites, and we are very impressed by our king bed suite, and the whole hotel. We look out on the river, and all the amenities seem to be top shelf!

Speaking of top shelf, after having a stiff drink, we started looking for a place for dinner, and found that the Esquire Tavern was just a block or so away. The Esquire is billed as the oldest bar on the Riverwalk, having opened in 1933. The walk only took a couple of minutes, so we made it there getting only slightly wet. We started our dinner with two Moscow Mules, a drink we were introduced to by our friend Dennis, the bartender at the St. James Restaurant in Mineola. These came in the traditional copper mug, and were a great way to start off dinner. Fried pickles, a couple of great burgers, and a couple of more mules, and we were in shape to take on the night!

Tomorrow is forecast to be cloudy with occasional rain. Let’s hope they’re wrong, as we’d like it to be dry, if not sunny, as we explore San Antonio. We will be here for 3 nights, so we have 2 full days to explore, and there is lots we want to see!

As they say, Remember the Alamo!

PS…Let’s Go Mets!!!!

Day Thirty Four and Thirty Five – Friday, September 23 and Saturday September 24, 2016

September 25, 2016September 25, 2016 / Sue and Frank D'Elia / Leave a comment

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Susie and I woke in Nancy and Mike’s bedroom a little after 7, and decided to catch a shower before starting our day. We exited the bedroom a little after 8, and went outside to sit in the beautiful Texas morning with Mike. The weather was perfect, and we talked about the kind of weather, and seasons they experienced in El Paso. Mike told us about the 9 inch snow fall they’d had last year, and about the cold mornings and warm afternoons, that were the norm for winter in El Paso. Pretty soon Nancy joined us, and when it was established that nobody really wanted breakfast, we sat around for a couple of hours, talking.

I’m not quite sure what Nancy and Susie were talking about, but Mike and I talked a lot about the old days at WABC, and about things we both remembered happening when we worked there, and how retirement was going. We also had lots of discussions that the 4 of us participated in, talking about kids, life expectations, travel, and just about everything that came into anyone’s mind. Then Nancy suggested that we take a ride and let them show us around El Paso. Sounded like a good idea, so we all grabbed what we needed, and headed out to the car.

By this time (around noon) the temperature had risen, and I’m not going to say it wasn’t hot, but the lack of humidity does make it a lot easier to take than a hot day in New York! We drove through their part of town (they live on the West Side of El Paso), and they showed us some incredible houses, and great views. Then we went past the University, and saw some of downtown El Paso. The Rocky Mountains, that we drove over three weeks ago, and that have been so much a part of our travels since then, end in El Paso, and as we drove up Rim Road, around the very end of the chain, we had some great views of the city below, and views across the Rio Grand into Mexico.

The Southern End of the Rockies

It’s amazing to be so close to Mexico, and to stop at a scenic overlook, and clearly see the tall fence that separates our country from their’s. We also saw the Border Patrol Agent that sits there all day (and probably night) in his car, watching for folks that might be trying to get over the approx. 10 foot tall fence! The difference between what you see on the US side of the border, and what of Mexico you can see are quite a contrast. Big buildings, highways, and lots of cars on the US side, and small buildings and what looked liked dirt roads on the Mexican side.

After our tour, the decision was made to go out for lunch, and then to just have some sandwiches at their house for dinner. We decided to go the PF Changs , and the four of us had a very nice meal, and of course, lots more conversation. Then it was time to get back to the house, so that Nancy could drop of Mike and me, so she could take off with Susie. You see, Nancy had been able to score a 4 PM appointment with her hairdresser, to get Susie a trim, and thereby solving a dilemma Susie had, about what to do about her hair on the trip. After the girls left, Mike and I sat down in the living room, and guess what…we talked some more! Like I said yesterday, it’s like the past 30+ years that we haven’t been in contact, hadn’t happened, and it was just two old friends talking about anything and everything!

When the girls returned (lovely hair Susie…nice job Nancy), Mike again started up the blender, and there were more margaritas on the horizon. This time, the four of us sat in their back yard, and although it was warmer than it had been that morning, it was still a really nice late afternoon. We sat there talking (gee…big surprise, huh?) till Mother Nature treated us to a beautiful sunset, and then Nancy decided it was time to eat.

What a great idea, to have a nice lunch and then eat a sandwich later. Really something we should do more often. Thanks Nancy for coming up with the idea, and supplying great sandwich fixings to boot! After dinner clean up, the four of us adjourned to their lovely living room, and the conversation continued till about 11, when we all went off to bed!

When we got up and out this morning, Mike was alone, as Nancy and Sammy had journeyed to the Dog Park, and some fun for the four legged kids, and conversation for their Moms. No strangers to conversation, we joined Mike in the back yard, and converse we did! When Nancy got home, she proceeded to assemble a great ham and egg breakfast for us all, and over good food, with good friends, we had more great conversation. As our time with our friends came close to ending, we realized that it really didn’t matter if we did big things, went for a ride, or just sat around their pool. The conversation flowed, and it was obvious the four of us were very comfortable, and frankly, that’s something that doesn’t always happen. Susie and I are so glad that we reconnected with Nancy and Mike, so glad that they asked us to stay with them, and so happy to find that a great relationship still exists!

It was with much sadness that we left their house, and it was with lots of hugs, promises to stay in better touch with each other, and the hope of Susie and I, that our two good friends can journey to Ocean City, and be our guests at the beach next summer. I’m sure that if this two days proved anything, next time we all get together, there will be lots of great conversation!

So off we went to Interstate 10, and the 4 hour or so trip to where we find ourselves tonight, Fort Stockton, Texas. Our whole trip was on Interstate 10, and at first we thought we were looking at a 5 hour trip, but then realized that before we got to Fort Stockton, we passed another time zone, Right now we are back on the Central Time, so suddenly we lost an hour of our day. The advantage we had of gaining that hour, when we crossed into a new time zone from east to west, is evaporating as we go back east, and very quickly it was 6:30 PM! Susie had planned to do some laundry tonight, and we were fortunate again that the facility was on our floor. The only problem was that as the washing and drying went on, the time got later. Our solution tonight? Well, as the drying cycle was in progress, we ran out to a McDonalds that was down the road, and picked up Two All Beef Patties, Special Sauce, Lettuce, Cheese, Pickles, Onions, on a Sesame Seed Bun. Yes, two Big Macs! We wondered if anyone not our age can recite that jingle? Not a gourmet meal, but something we haven’t had in months, that was quick, and satisfying. Had we waited till after the clothes were dry, we probably wouldn’t have gotten to a restaurant till after 8, so this worked tonight for us!

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As I write this, it’s after 10 PM, but since we just changed from Mountain to Central time, its not that late for us. The good news is that I’m all caught up, and back on track with the blog. That’s good, but as we ship out on the Liberty of the Seas a week from tomorrow for 2 weeks, I realize it won’t be the last interruption of this blog before we drive back to New York. Still haven’t figured out what I’m going to do, but fear there will be an interruption again, but as that’s still 7 days away, let’s just have fun in the present, and not worry about it.

Tomorrow we start 3 nights in San Antonio. The River Walk, the Alamo, and a fun time for all…I hope! See you tomorrow!

R New Adventures

Come with us as we journey through our next chapter

On the Road Again!