We awoke to our last day on the Spirit. We were all pretty tired after our hectic schedule of the past week and took advantage of the sea day. We had nothing planned other than a wine tasting in the early afternoon. It was time to spend some time with our friends and look back on the trip. We still have a day in New Orleans and we needed to plan that out as well.
In retrospect, I got more out of the cruise than I expected. The giant expensive taxi was a good platform to get to many places with the least amount of hassle, but, and this is a big but in my books, I did not like having to pile so much in to so little time. Having said that, it was good to figure out where I would go back to and spend more time. Of the destinations, Roatan was by far the best, and will be back there some day. Cozumel was good as well, but would I go back, probably not as a destination, but would be good as a stopping point. Belize and Costa Maya, off the list, been there, done that.
It is now time for the wine tasting. This was excellent. there was maybe 8 people involved and 4 bottles of wine. The math was perfect, half a bottle each and we also polished off the trivia prize bottle. We did learn a lot from the ship’s sommelier . I can now pass myself off as a cultured wino. Once the tasting was over, we had conversations with a couple from Vegas, a lady from France and a wine maker from, this is great, Philadelphia. The obvious question, can you grow grapes in Pennsylvania? Apparently no, but you can ship them in from California and make it in Pennsylvania. He told us an interesting story, once he found out we were Canadian. Apparently a friend of his lives in Alaska, I believe. It was so cold that this person had a machine in his garage that removed his tires each evening and kept them warm so they wouldn’t get squared, then put them back on in the morning. For those of you who have absolutely no idea what I am talking about, in extreme cold, the tires will get a flat spot on the bottom from the combined effects of the weight of the vehicle and the cold. When you start driving, it takes a few rotations to thaw it out and make the tire pliable again. this creates a very short-term effect of a “square tire”. I am pretty sure this friend in Alaska was yanking his chain, just like I would.
Eventually, we finished up our wine and realized it was suppertime. We again began our ritual, aperitifs, Pablo, aperitifs and ending up with more crap entertainment. I found a video of Pablo for you to enjoy. He is a good player.
We wandered the ship’s deck, beginning to realize that we were done this portion of the trip, but tomorrow brings us back to New Orleans, then homeward bound on the final day. I will be doing a final post on New Orleans, what a place, then a final trip entry, summing up the links, costs and recommendations for food and excursions..
Is It Possible To See It All 