The Real Destination

Dearest Rachel –

Well, we’ve finally made it onto the ship; and as you’re probably aware, this is the real destination for this week. While Miami is much nicer than Chicago at this time of year, especially in terms of weather (while the prices, even downtown, are much more reasonable than back in the ’burbs, even), and the Caribbean is a fine place to visit as well, it’s the ship that’s the star of the show, especially when traveling with a newbie like Lars.

You’ve heard me say before that, while I’ve been able to deal with traveling on my own, it’s not as enjoyable as doing so with someone else. There’s something to be said about bouncing your impressions about a place off of them, and hearing what they think about the same; sometimes, someone else’s enthusiasm rubs off on you, when they see things with a different perspective, and stirs your own sense of wonder, thereby preventing you from becoming jaded about the experience.

To be fair, his enthusiasm isn’t the “gee whilikers” type of awestruck reaction that many first-timers get. He’s gone places and seen things in his life, some of which I’ve never (and quite likely will never) done or seen; it takes a lot to impress him. That being said, he seems to be impressed, if in his subdued, mannerly way.

While the two of us were making our way around, I was also sending these pictures back to everybody at home. Originally, I had thought to merely keep in touch with Daniel, and keep him posted about where I was and what I was doing, but I eventually decided to forward them to the full group. Maybe I could, by doing so, pique their interest in the destination that is this ship – or its sisters.

You see, it would be nice to be able to carry on the tradition that Dad set of taking us on a generational family trip on a regular basis. However, since it seems unlikely that Daniel will ever be more than himself – no spouse, no grandchildren to dote on – that sort of thing would have to be applied to our old circle of friends, it at all possible. From there, what needs to be done is to show them the various wonders of the place so as to get them to want to get their schedules in order to do something like this. Consider; the only one we’ve so manage to do this with is Ellen, and it’s shocking to realize that was nearly eighteen years ago when to four of us did that.

But what is sufficient to get someone’s attention? That, of course, differs from person to person, and in some cases, I couldn’t begin to guess what it might be.

It occurs to me that, despite my best intentions, I will probably be using the elevators a lot more than I did on the Serenade. for one thing, this ship is taller by five decks; for another, it seems that Lars has an issue with his ankle. He can walk for miles with few ill effects, but an ascent of a floor or two gets to him more than he expected it would. Time takes a toll on us in different ways, it would seem, honey.

I should also mention that shepherding him around (although, why am I doing that? He’s more than capable of making his way around himself, and we do have different interests from time to time) alters how I approach this whole trip, especially in terms of recording my impressions. I did take some video footage, but I find myself pinched for time to edit and upload it. Moreover, getting the time to get away by myself and write this to you is proving to be more of a challenge as well. These happen to be solitary pursuits, and when you’re not solitary, it’s more difficult to find the time to pursue them. Maybe I’ll just do them in chronological order, but with a week’s delay, as if I’m starting next Sunday; that’s how this ship rolls (or would that be floats?), after all.

And there are a number of places I haven’t shot yet, either; this is just the beginning. I actually have barely managed to figure out how to get from one place to another on board ship. I’m afraid that, by the time I do, it’ll be time to go home.

Still, until then, I’ll do my best to keep you (and the gang) posted, so keep an eye on me, honey, and wish me luck. I’m still going to need it.