Vacation post #3

We're on the road in Ohio, finally returning home from a 13-day trip outside of Michigan. We have driven through eight states (Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida) as well as one day on a small island owned by Royal Caribbean (Cocoa Cay) and one day in Nassau, Bahamas. We also spent time just gently traveling in a cruise ship in the Atlantic to our ports of call.

Long vacations are strange because one loses all sense of time. Since ordinary routines are broken, our ways of measuring our days go completely out the window. So two weeks can feel like two months. It feels like we have been gone for way more than 13 days, at least to me.

I don't know if I'll be able to cover the whole vacation experience in one post, especially since I'm pecking away at a tiny keyboard on my phone--in the car. I can at least talk about the cruise.

So about the Royal Caribbean cruise: I had no idea what to expect, and had never envisioned myself on a cruise, nor did I care if I ever took one [With one caveat: I often see the Viking River Cruise commercials on TV and think they look fun]. I have to say, though, the cruise was a blast and I'd gladly do it again, though left to my own devices I'd spend more time relaxing in a folding lounge chair on the deck. I didn't have much chance to do that.

Here's the thing about cruises: they are whatever you want them to be. One could eat and drink through the whole cruise, or spend every waking moment in the pool, or never leave the casino, or simply read a book or sunbathe on the deck. Heck, a recluse could even spend most or all day in his or her cabin (though that sounds like a complete waste of time and money to me).

As for me, I never set foot in the casino, and did no shopping in the myriad stores on the ship. I drank multiple mixed drinks throughout the day, took a brief dip in the pool, went on all the excursions (the tour of Nassau was a major highlight) and greatly enjoyed the meals in the dining room. My only major egret is that I wasn't able to see more shows on the ship (since there is non-stop live entertainment).

I'll return for more vacation talk later.