Nola/Mexico Cruise Adventure Part 9
Several months after the trip.
Home.
The following morning (2/2), my friends and I went to Sea Day Brunch. Then we went to the Lido Deck to hang out and catch some sun. It was warm for a little bit, but became cloudier and cloudier as the morning wore on. At some point, I had a cheeseburger for lunch. I love these build your own burgers because you can load them up dozens of pickles.
I ran into Amber and Raven and they invited me to hang out and have a shot. I initially declined, but they insisted and Amber paid, so I obliged.
There was an announcement for the Groove for St. Jude donations and the promise of a private dance party for all who bought a t-shirt. I bought a t-shirt and waited in anticipation for the dance party, but it never happened.
Eventually, it became overcast and began to sprinkle. We went back to the stateroom. I shaved and showered and then went to the promenade to write and drink water.
I met up with my friends in the lobby at 6pm. I had a Manhattan with rye whiskey. (If you haven’t noticed, I drank a different booze every day/night of the trip: bourbon in NOLA, rum on the first night of the cruise, gin on the second, tequila on the third, beer on the fourth, and whiskey on the fifth. My friends and I had fun comparing my behavior from one night to the next depending on which beverage I was drinking. I think my friends liked “beer james” the most and “gin james” the second most, which is weird because I usually lose control when drinking gin. Gin is my go to liquor when I really don’t give “a f,” as the kids say. “Whiskey james” was liked least by my friends and, while I loved it at the time, later decided that I liked “whiskey james” the least, as well – which is also weird because whiskey usually doesn’t have that effect on me… in hindsight, I wonder if the shot that Amber bought me earlier in the day had an unpleasant side effect when the whiskey was added later on).
We went to dinner in the dining room and I had a chicken thing. The servers sang a song to tune of “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” It was about how they were sad that we were leaving and that they enjoyed serving us. It was a little weird when they sang, “So hold me and smile at me…” Um… like, I don’t think we are really to that point in our relationship… so, how’s about a high five?
After dinner, I got another drink. I had a Caribbean Manhattan at the Alchemy Bar. My friends found me there and we went to the comedy club in the Aft Lounge. We were sort of late, so we sat in the back, which was fine by me. The boat was rocking quite a bit at that point, or was it the whiskey?
My friends called it a night and I found myself at the piano bar. Somehow, I got chosen to pick a song to sing, so I did “500 Miles” by the Proclaimers. I think I also did “What’s Up” by Four Non Blondes. There was a fun group and the piano guy got everyone talking and laughing. I liked the piano guy’s personality: quiet and humble. Amber and Raven came to the piano bar at some point. Amber drew this picture in my note book.
Raven told me about the one man whom she had met and who I saw her with from time to time. She said in sort of a shocked voice, “you are not going to believe how old he is!” “How old,” I said. “He’s 40!” I got the impression that she thought that 40 was really super old… “He looks good for 40,” I said without really any excitement about finding out how old he was. I caught Raven looking at me a little more closely at that point. I wondered if she was suddenly seeing how old I actually am.
At some point I ended up with another drink and I went to karaoke. I sang “500 Miles” there as well and then did "The Fresh Prince of Bel Aire" theme song. The rest of the evening is somewhat of a blur. I ended up in the club where I ran into Adam/Alan. He was talking to some women there and invited me to join him. I got talking to a woman whose name I could not recall… however, I found out her name was Tori. You see, I had – apparently, because I don’t remember doing this – given her my notebook at some point and this is what she wrote:
She also wrote her number on the next page with the comment “NY Don’t forget.” Clearly I forgot…
Although, I did text her a few days after returning home and we messaged for a bit. She friended me on facebook, but unfriended me at some point (likely due to opposing humanitarian/political beliefs). She was married, anyway… which makes me wonder what we talked about at the club and why she gave me her number…
But, I digress.
I was quite sick from all the drinking that night. Somehow, I managed to survive the night thanks to my friends. The next morning, we left our room at the last possible minute because I could barely move. We had breakfast and then disembarked. I booked a hotel for a few hours, so that I could get a little more sleep. I was in bad shape. I'm not entirely sure what McKenzie and Kylie did while I was passed out on the bed. We made it to the airport and boarded our plane that afternoon. We switched planes in the evening and eventually landed in Albany. we collected my car from Park, Ride, and Fly and I drove us back to my place at midnight. My friends got in their car and headed back their way. I passed out on my bed and slept forever.
I had a really great time traveling with my friends. It was even fun planning the trip. The next trip I take will definitely be solo, though. There are pros and cons to each. When you travel with people, you are instantly sharing the experience. However, you also have to deal with their whims/moods and are unable to completely indulge in your own whims/moods. When you travel with people, you have to be cognizant of others’ needs while being unable to completely indulge in your own. The biggest con to this whole trip was that I felt rushed whenever I sat down to write. I had to force myself to keep up with the happenings, which I was still unable to do. I’m a little sad that my journalings don’t fully capture the scope of the trip as I was unable to fully immerse myself in my own thoughts as I wrote. My friends, while very fun, were a distraction from that. When you travel by yourself, you are mostly left to your thoughts and so you are fully immersed in them. And there is just more time to write, specifically, at dinner when you are not distracted by conversations. In a perfect world, I would travel once a year by myself and once a year with friends. That would be ideal. I would get to enjoy the best of both worlds in that way. Currently, I can afford a trip once a year. Although, that will likely change over the next few years and I may be able to take two or even three trips a year.
Home.
The following morning (2/2), my friends and I went to Sea Day Brunch. Then we went to the Lido Deck to hang out and catch some sun. It was warm for a little bit, but became cloudier and cloudier as the morning wore on. At some point, I had a cheeseburger for lunch. I love these build your own burgers because you can load them up dozens of pickles.
I ran into Amber and Raven and they invited me to hang out and have a shot. I initially declined, but they insisted and Amber paid, so I obliged.
There was an announcement for the Groove for St. Jude donations and the promise of a private dance party for all who bought a t-shirt. I bought a t-shirt and waited in anticipation for the dance party, but it never happened.
Eventually, it became overcast and began to sprinkle. We went back to the stateroom. I shaved and showered and then went to the promenade to write and drink water.
I met up with my friends in the lobby at 6pm. I had a Manhattan with rye whiskey. (If you haven’t noticed, I drank a different booze every day/night of the trip: bourbon in NOLA, rum on the first night of the cruise, gin on the second, tequila on the third, beer on the fourth, and whiskey on the fifth. My friends and I had fun comparing my behavior from one night to the next depending on which beverage I was drinking. I think my friends liked “beer james” the most and “gin james” the second most, which is weird because I usually lose control when drinking gin. Gin is my go to liquor when I really don’t give “a f,” as the kids say. “Whiskey james” was liked least by my friends and, while I loved it at the time, later decided that I liked “whiskey james” the least, as well – which is also weird because whiskey usually doesn’t have that effect on me… in hindsight, I wonder if the shot that Amber bought me earlier in the day had an unpleasant side effect when the whiskey was added later on).
We went to dinner in the dining room and I had a chicken thing. The servers sang a song to tune of “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” It was about how they were sad that we were leaving and that they enjoyed serving us. It was a little weird when they sang, “So hold me and smile at me…” Um… like, I don’t think we are really to that point in our relationship… so, how’s about a high five?After dinner, I got another drink. I had a Caribbean Manhattan at the Alchemy Bar. My friends found me there and we went to the comedy club in the Aft Lounge. We were sort of late, so we sat in the back, which was fine by me. The boat was rocking quite a bit at that point, or was it the whiskey?
My friends called it a night and I found myself at the piano bar. Somehow, I got chosen to pick a song to sing, so I did “500 Miles” by the Proclaimers. I think I also did “What’s Up” by Four Non Blondes. There was a fun group and the piano guy got everyone talking and laughing. I liked the piano guy’s personality: quiet and humble. Amber and Raven came to the piano bar at some point. Amber drew this picture in my note book.
Raven told me about the one man whom she had met and who I saw her with from time to time. She said in sort of a shocked voice, “you are not going to believe how old he is!” “How old,” I said. “He’s 40!” I got the impression that she thought that 40 was really super old… “He looks good for 40,” I said without really any excitement about finding out how old he was. I caught Raven looking at me a little more closely at that point. I wondered if she was suddenly seeing how old I actually am.
At some point I ended up with another drink and I went to karaoke. I sang “500 Miles” there as well and then did "The Fresh Prince of Bel Aire" theme song. The rest of the evening is somewhat of a blur. I ended up in the club where I ran into Adam/Alan. He was talking to some women there and invited me to join him. I got talking to a woman whose name I could not recall… however, I found out her name was Tori. You see, I had – apparently, because I don’t remember doing this – given her my notebook at some point and this is what she wrote:
She also wrote her number on the next page with the comment “NY Don’t forget.” Clearly I forgot…
Although, I did text her a few days after returning home and we messaged for a bit. She friended me on facebook, but unfriended me at some point (likely due to opposing humanitarian/political beliefs). She was married, anyway… which makes me wonder what we talked about at the club and why she gave me her number…
But, I digress.
I was quite sick from all the drinking that night. Somehow, I managed to survive the night thanks to my friends. The next morning, we left our room at the last possible minute because I could barely move. We had breakfast and then disembarked. I booked a hotel for a few hours, so that I could get a little more sleep. I was in bad shape. I'm not entirely sure what McKenzie and Kylie did while I was passed out on the bed. We made it to the airport and boarded our plane that afternoon. We switched planes in the evening and eventually landed in Albany. we collected my car from Park, Ride, and Fly and I drove us back to my place at midnight. My friends got in their car and headed back their way. I passed out on my bed and slept forever.
I had a really great time traveling with my friends. It was even fun planning the trip. The next trip I take will definitely be solo, though. There are pros and cons to each. When you travel with people, you are instantly sharing the experience. However, you also have to deal with their whims/moods and are unable to completely indulge in your own whims/moods. When you travel with people, you have to be cognizant of others’ needs while being unable to completely indulge in your own. The biggest con to this whole trip was that I felt rushed whenever I sat down to write. I had to force myself to keep up with the happenings, which I was still unable to do. I’m a little sad that my journalings don’t fully capture the scope of the trip as I was unable to fully immerse myself in my own thoughts as I wrote. My friends, while very fun, were a distraction from that. When you travel by yourself, you are mostly left to your thoughts and so you are fully immersed in them. And there is just more time to write, specifically, at dinner when you are not distracted by conversations. In a perfect world, I would travel once a year by myself and once a year with friends. That would be ideal. I would get to enjoy the best of both worlds in that way. Currently, I can afford a trip once a year. Although, that will likely change over the next few years and I may be able to take two or even three trips a year.