Sea Day - Tuesday July 30
We are babies cradled in our comfy bed while the ship gently rocked us to sleep. The night went by fast and we were refreshed and ready for another dip in the hot tub. Again we saw no one.
Back to shower and change for coffee and breakfast. We went to the International Cafe for a coffee card. White Chocolate Mocha is delicious and Vince got the breakfast muffin to go with it.
We found a quiet spot near the outdoor pool next to the Horizon Court. I decided to go in an see what they had to choose from. I settled on Spinach Tofu Soup to which I added tomato and pumpkin seeds. I also had a handful of walnuts and pecans. It was a lovely breakfast.
As we were sitting there an elderly woman comes up to us and says, "Well you two are certainly up early"! We look up and she gets this look of horror on her face. "I'm sorry, I thought you were my daughter and son-in-law except (as she pointed to Vince) you have less hair than him. She was talking a mile a minute, waving her arms around and apologizing like crazy. I reached out my hand to hers and held it still for a second, looked in her eyes and asked her name. She smiled and said, "I am Shirley" "Nice to meet you Shirley........make sure to tell your daughter hello for us! We could hear her giggling as she walked around the corner.
Lunch was at the Crown Grill for their Pub Lunch Day. Vince had Bangers and Mash and I had the Ploughman's Lunch which was Ham, pickle, cheese, pate, lettuce and chutney you have with crusty bread. I loved the pate the best.
Watching the ocean go by while Vince is happily sorting through all his pictures from the last couple days. I am writing our adventures and waiting to watch the move BIG with Tom Hanks playing on the MUTS (Movies Under the Stars) giant outdoor screen. We saw the movie many years ago and it has always been one of my favorites. It still is!!
Dinner - We went to the "Anytime Dining Room" and were ushered upstairs to the "Traditional" seating dining room where we were placed at a table for 2 with the most amazing waiter, Louis Gabriel. We were seated for no more than 2 minutes when Louis came over to apologize for the delay and 2 more minutes went by when the Head Waiter came to apologize for the delay.
Vince and I both had the Alaskan King Crab Legs as a starter and we wanted to share a Caesar Salad and Louis was having none of it and he told Vince he would have his own salad! I had heard you could ask for a main dish in appetizer size so I asked for the Salmon and he looked at me like I was crazy, but in a comical way. He said he would look for the tiniest Salmon he could find. I said, "Child Size"? He said jokingly, "Don't push!"
When Vince told him he wanted the Pad Thai I nearly choked on my water!!! Then I looked at him like he was crazy!!!! After we go to Ubon Thai twice a week for Pla's food??? Boy is he ever going to regret this!! A few bites later he asked me if I wanted to try it. I glared at him because....you know pay back is a bitch. I know it was for all those times when I pulled something out of the refrigerator, opened the container, smelled it and said to Vince, "Here, taste this and tell me if it is bad".
In the movie Big with Tom Hanks there was a scene where he is at a party and a pretty woman told him to try the Beluga Caviar. Now, remember in the movie he is a 13 year old in a man's body.............So he takes a huge spoonful on a cracker an pops it in his mouth. Well..............a few seconds later he is spitting it out on the floor, gagging and wiping his tongue with a napkin. It is one of the funniest scenes of the movie! Yep, that is exactly what I wanted to do when I took a bite of the Pad Thai! It was all I could do to swallow it.............good for white people!
After I took my first bite of salmon and I continued to chew for several minutes longer than I should.....kind of like trying to soften a rubber band, I tried to figure out what to say when he came over to ask how it was? I told him I did not want anything else, but the fish was dry. After coaxing me, he brought me a skewer of seafood and I again found a new type of rubber fish.
He came over to ask how this plate was and I blushed as he raised his eyebrow and asked me what I ate? I said, "Look, I had a scallop and a piece of fish, can I have ice cream now?" Louis looked at me with a raised eyebrow and in a voice he would say to a 6 year old that did not finish dinner to his expectation, "NO" and walked away. By this time I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes.
He came right back, picked up my plate and asked me if my water was ok and told me not to cry. Laughter ensued when he asked what kind of ice cream I wanted. He then asked if I wanted 2 scoops so I told him, "No, I want a half of scoop!" Then he was laughing.
I folded 2 paper cranes and gave it to him for him and his assistant and thanked him for a very fun evening.
We went for a walk after dinner around the outer deck and saw a group of 8 people bundled up against the weather sitting on the starboard (land facing side of the ship). They had hugely expensive spotting scopes on sturdy tripods and a GPS tied to the railing. I stopped to ask what they were all about and found out they are a group of birders documenting sea birds and birds in Alaska. They are out from dawn to dusk watching for any birds they can spot. The woman I spoke to said they spotted a rare Hawaiian Kestrel and then with disappointment in her voice she said they also saw a pod of dolphins right along side the ship. Now THAT is a true birder!
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