Fantasy Island -- Between Key West and Galveston in the Gulf

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Between Key West and Galveston in the Gulf

6:26 am Ship time.

Sun will rise shortly. We are back at sea, heading towards Galveston from Key West. We pulled out about 3 pm yesterday. We will arrive about 6 am TOMORROW, so we have another full day and night at sea ahead of us. There is a layer of black but not too thick clouds. The sea is much calmer than it was when we came out last Sunday. It seems a little warmer too. Yesterday was our first day of sun – except for some in Nassau. Even Freeport in the Bahamas was cloudy.

I finally have nothing to do and enough rest to start working on my book and perhaps do an audio test of the new microphone today – believe me, there isn’t much else to do on a ship but sit, eat, play the machines in the casino, or sleep. At 20 knots not much is happening very fast, even in the ship’s hot tubs. The pool temps are 59-60 degrees so no one is near them. At Freeport, there were zero people in the snorkeling line for the same reason. Air temps were in the mid 60’s to 70.

I like all three stops – Nassau, Freeport and Key West. Key West was the most interesting. The Key West guide said it gets very HOT and HUMID in the later summer months. But it was beautiful, blue and COOL when we were there. Very walkable, or you could rent a bike or a scooter and not worry about getting lost when the entire city is almost 2 miles by 4 miles in size. You either find the highway to the next island towards Florida or end up back where you started. The end of US 1 is near where the 90 mile marker is on the southern most part of the U.S. – next stop Cuba. I was surprised to find out that there are over 700 islands BEYOND Key West – but no bridges go to them and most of them are deserted except for 20 or so. None can be reached except by boat. I’ve attached a photo of Key West from the ship – the big red building in the Museum, which was originally built as a Custom’s House, a must-see.

It’s been a nice trip. Very relaxing – 5 days without even a cell phone ringing and little Internet because of the cost. After a busy year it was a perfect way to unplug for awhile and get away from the constant media blitz on the issue of the minute. The force of it really hits you when you finally turn on the TV or get back on the Internet – which everyone did with abandon when we got to Key West after days at sea and in the Bahamas where international rates would apply. Suddenly cell phones were everywhere as people checked messages and touched base back home. Then back at sea the phones disappear.

I would say about 1/3 of the passengers are fighting obesity, but none of the crew are. Almost to the person they were slim and trim. The lady serving our dinner table is from the Indonesia. She said she has two kids that are about 6 and 10. She spends 7 months on the boat, serving people like us day-in and day-out. Then they get 3 months home, then its back to 7 months more on the ship. Imagine that kind of separation.

But it is a job when many back home don’t have them. It lets them save some money. The young man serving alcohol said he was from Kyrgyzstan – which is one of those Asian mountain areas near Russia. On the boat you see the same crew every day for a week so there is a chance to get to know something about them if you ask (I doubt many did – most were focused on ordering and their tablemates). He was a very nice young man who said he was saving money and would eventually return home.

The passengers range from elderly and those on scooters to young people with babies, a lot of Texans who love being able to drive to the port -- and some from places like Arkansas and Oklahoma, Chinese, Blacks, etc. – a real mix of people. Breakfast and lunch they have open seating so you get to meet different people from different cities and that’s nice because it is always someone different. At dinner you have the same group – but I noticed the table next to us that everyone went somewhere else after the first night. LOL.

I almost dread plugging back in the cell phone tomorrow – one gets used to being relaxed. Once we plug in, the news of the minute will be sucking us into the black hole of debates and issues. I highly recommend taking the time to check out of it at least once a year. I almost feel ready for the real world again. LOL.

Next big event is BREAKFAST. That starts in an hour so it’s back out to sit on the balcony, and watch the Gulf of Mexico roll by….Got to get off this -it is costing 40 cents a minute just to upload,and even that does not happen fast through the satellite! LOL