The Severed Cortex

Today's the day we catch the ship. We start off with the most ridiculously overpriced $6.50 breakfast consisting of nothing but power carbs; bagels, toast, english muffins, etc. It's a far cry from the surprisingly good meal last nght. After breakfast we gathered our things and met in the lobby for our complimentary free ride to the ship. We were packed in like sardines, but it wasn't too bad. Our co-passengers were from Cedar Rapids, IA, a lovely family, where it turns out the father is a principal. We regaled the son with some of my shenanigans of growing up the son of a principal. He took careful notes despite the protestations of his mother.

Once we arrived at the ship, our check-in procedure was painless. Less than 15 minutes later we were on the ship. The rooms didn't open until another 45 minutes or so. While we waited we went to the Windjammer buffet hall and had some food. Overall the buffet wasn't too bad. I needed to eat some real food anyway.

After eating, we walked around the ship, eventually winding back at our room. As expected, it's very small, but once we received our luggage we found enough room to put everything away. It's always amazed me how much you can adapt to your surroundings. When I worked on towboats I was able to cram a month's worth of clothes in one duffel bag. Sometimes that was even with a small guitar amp packed in too.

Once we got everything put away we had a drink in the Schooner bar. I questioned whether the Indian bartender's name was really Xavier. He told me that all the crew used fake names. Interesting. At 4:30 we had a mandatory life preserver drill. It seemed like I was the only one who took it seriously, but I learned later on that my nephew took it seriously too. After the drill we were underway and Nancy and I watched from Deck 4 as we left the Miami harbor.

Our dinner time is 6:00, which is not what I would have chosen; I would have picked the 8:00 seating. I also would have preferred to not sit at the same table as my family because I would have liked to meet other people and of course charm them with my wit and storytelling. However, I realize that dinner may be the only time I do see my family. The meal, notwithstanding the dinner company, (I don't mean that in a bad way) was very good.
I had:
Smoked Fish Tapenade on Crostini
Caesar Salad
Herb Crusted Atlantic Cod and garlic mashed potatoes in a burre blanc sauce.
Apple Pie
Coffee
2005 Sauvignon Blanc ... I forget the vintner, but it was from California

After dinner Jen, Nancy, and I went to the Schooner bar to chat. We did get to see the first nominee for mother of the week here. Some woman was drinking to excess at the bar. She had her kids sitting in the lounge next to us. At one point she brought them 'kiddie cocktails' and made a big deal of it. The kids were unimpressed and bored. I commented that this is how it all starts for them. After awhile, Nancy went to the room because she had a headache. Jen and I went to walk around the shops, eventually stopping at the wine bar because we thought there was supposed to be a wine tasting. There wasn't. I had a flight of wine called 'The Godfather' -- Pinot Grigio, a white and a red Coppola, and a red Italian that I wasn't familiar with. Mom and Dad joined us but after 15 minutes Mom and Jen left. Dad and I hung around and talked baseball and cars before I decided to go to bed. Nancy was sound asleep and didn't budge when I made noise getting ready for bed.