Reverse Columbus Day

So today the holiday celebrates the European who dared sail into the unknown to discover our "new world."  It's funny -- Wifey and a band of merry people came home from a trip on the seas.  That was the second reverse of past days: when we sailed out of New York Harbor, it occurred to me that my grandparents all sailed INTO New York Harbor a bit over 100 years before, to give our family a czar-less life in America.  Our digs were a lot nicer on this opposite voyage...

Wifey and her BFF Edna both have milestone birthdays -- Edna's was yesterday, and Wifey's is 12/25.  I'm not allowed to mention that the number for each is 5 more than the old Jimmy Carter imposed speed limits during the 70s energy crisis...

Anyway, they decided on a "fall foliage" cruise, where you sail to the Canadian Maritimes in search of colorful leaves, and listen to the never ending struggle of two Brooklyn raised women to properly pronounce "foliage." They keep saying FOIL-age...

I checked into prices for a suite on Royal Carribbean -- the line we had gone on several times before, and found to be fine. A suite on their ship cost about $3000 for the week per couple. I figured we'd take it. Not so fast...  Edna had cruised on Silver Seas, and reported that there was "no going back" to the "regular ships." This resonated with me, as I don't travel that often, but when I do, I happily pay for luxury. It's no fun staying in a Comfort Inn once you've tried the Ritz Carlton.

Whether it resonated with me or not, Wifey put her foot down -- we WOULD sail Crystal -- supposedly just like Silver Seas. The week long cruise was about $10K -- more than three times the other quote. So we booked the trip.

Without going into the spoiled details of "first world problems," let's just say the Crystal ship was no better than Royal, or Celebrity, the other lines we had tried.  The food was excellent, and we drank our share of premium liquor, but overall, the six of us laughed a lot at the mediocrity dressed up as first class.  And we were clearly in the minority. Most of the people we met were on their 10th or 20th trip -- mostly older folks, clearly with plenty of dough, who were amazingly loyal to Crystal.

No matter. Deb, Norman, Marc, Edna and Wifey and I had a terrific time. We toured Newport, and its glorious mansions. In Boston, Wifey and I walked in the very hot weather, and met old friends Sheryl and Mark on Newbury Street.  In Bar Harbour we drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain, for spectacular views, before a great lobstah bake on the way back to the ship.

I finally got to see the Bay of Fundy. Due to Crystal's crappy excursion, it wasn't too much Fun...what are ya gonna do?  In Halifax, we endured a comically mean and boring guide who wouldn't shut up as we drove to Peggy's Cove -- also gorgeous. On the way back, we stopped at at museum to a ship wreck whose name I can't even remember -- since it wan NOT the Titanic and had no movie about it starring DeCaprio.  The museum was far less impressive than my friend Mike's living room displays of historical stuff...

Still, we laughed a lot, and heard some great music. Our favorite was a gay fellow who kept opening his sets with Alan Parsons Project songs, to the delight of Norman and me.  After three martinis one night, I told the fellow the joke about the "9 inch pianist."  It seemed he avoided us after that...

The night before the ship pulled out of the harbor, Wifey and I had dinner with D2 and Jonathan, at Quality Meats.  The evening just highlighted for me how much I miss them -- I hope very strongly they complete their NYC adventure soon, and come home to Miami.

In the mean time, mission of celebrating Wifey's birthday, although 2 months early, is complete. If we're going to wildly overspend money, let is always be on celebrations.  In that vein, I have a much larger kettle of fish to pay for next September...

As for Columbus Day -- in Miami, it's no big deal, except for the naked, wild Regatta out on Biscayne Bay -- an event I only attended once, back in college.  I guess you need lots of Italians in your city to really make a big thing out of Columbus Day.  But I, for one, appreciate his 1492 sail of the ocean blue.  My family has thrived in the US -- so much so we can leave it happily, and gratefully return home to it. And even wildly, and laughingly, overpay for the privilege...