THAT OLD DEMON RUM

Today will be a first on this trip. I'm going to go ashore! We docked at Montego Bay in Jamaica early this morning. The bay was a beautiful sight in the early morning sunlight. We continue to be blessed with perfect weather.

When I looked down from the balcony, the people looked like little ants all scurrying off to their destinations.

After breakfast, Frank loaded me up in my wheelchair and away we went. It's so nice to have such a competent and skilled driver. After all, I am at his mercy!

He pushed me through what I called Tent City. It was where all the local vendors had stationed themselves to try to lure the tourist into their cubicles before they headed off on tours. This is a shot of all the tour buses waiting for their passengers. There were more than you could possibly count.

They primarily had the same "junque" to sell that you can see everywhere else you might travel in the world, only this had a Jamaican flair to it. Not to sound unappreciative, but you can find most of these items at the Flea Market in Santa Fe.

There were some paintings by local artists that were quite primitive but very nice. My problem is that I don't really have a spot for one other thing in my house.

I didn't take many photographs because every vendor was trying to get you into their cubicle to give you a deal. Several even said that their prices were better than wholesale. I did see these tams with the dreadlocks sown into them and though about getting one to show our cousins in Kansas. They would have loved it!

One thing that Frank DID find for me though, was a Jamaican boyfriend to bring home with me. He kept calling me his Sista. At least his dreads were real and not attached to his hat!

If I had my druthers, he was not the type I would have had in mind. My thoughts seem to run more along these lines ;-)

There was a man playing the guitar and singing when we arrived and when we sailed away, he was still singing and playing. Don't you know that his voice and fingers must have been very, very tired!

I really got the feel of how big the ship was when I was on the ground looking up. It was the first time I had seen this for myself and this is only the back third of the ship.

These chefs were on their way somewhere so I wanted to get a shot of them off duty. I wonder what they were up to.

Our main plan of attack once we got inside the terminal was to purchase some good Jamaican rum, the real reason for our shore excursion.

Papa left me outside while he went inside a duty free shop and made the purchase. The help was really interested in his "money clip". When we travel he puts his cash on the outside of his credit cards and then puts double rubber bands around the entire thing. This serves two purposes. First, it can't slip out of your pocket and second, a pickpocket would have a very difficult time taking it out without your feeling his or her hand in your pocket. He's done this for years and so far so good.

While he was in the store, I took a closer look around. Their Customs desk left a lot to be desired. The customs agents seemed more interest in looking at the tourists than they did seeing what they might be carrying.

The terminal was fairly big, attractive and very clean and well kept. The shops inside had a little more variety if you were interested in hats or T-shirts. At least they had them in large sizes. I guess they were used to catering to cruise ship passengers who didn't know how to stay away from the buffet lines!

Once Papa had made his purchase we decided to go back on board for lunch. I'd had all the excitement I could handle in a morning.

Once on board, we had to check our purchases with the customs officer on board. She will have it delivered to our room before we get off the ship since you're not allowed to bring "spirits" on board.

When we were back on board we decided to grab a quick bite in the Windjammer.
This is the kind of trouble you can get into if you eat at the buffets!

Since it's a buffet which is open almost 24 hours it's an easy place to get a fast meal.
They have everything you can imagine there, but we prefer to eat in the dining room and be served.

As an aside, when I weighed in at Weight Watchers, I had lost 2 3/4 pounds when we returned from this trip. I'm thoroughly convinced that a lot of this is because we did not eat at the buffets. Everyone, including me, tends to take more than they really can eat at a buffet and I don't know about you, but I'm a charter member of the "Clean Your Plate Club", so I can't afford to do that.
When we finished lunch, Papa decided he needed a little "lie down" after pushing me around all morning and while he napped, I journaled and read my book.

We went outside on the balcony after we dressed for the evening and took one last look at Tent City.

The sun was setting and it was a beautiful sunset indeed. The perfect end to a perfect shore day.

The show this evening was in the La Scala showroom. It was a movie theme and was called "Music in Motion".

The production featured selections from films such as All That Jazz, and Moulin Rouge. Bob Fosse certainly changed the style of dance for movies as well as Broadway and I love it. Lots of "jazz hands" and hats.

They even had one very exciting Bollywood number which paid tribute to Slumdog Millionaire.

The costumes were beautiful and they weren't even designed by Bob Mackie ! The young singers and dancers were exceptionally talented and we thoroughly enjoyed the show.
Tonight is Italian Night in the dining room and our waiters have promised us a surprise. We started with cream of garlic soup, a spinach salad with tomatoes and mozzarella followed by garlic shrimp. I guess they called the menu Italian because of all the garlic. We finished the meal with puff pasty filled with zabaglione. The photographs are in the reverse order of how the meal was served but everything was still delicious.

After they finished serving dinner, all the waiters disappeared. Then suddenly we heard singing and they paraded around the dining room singing Italian songs and waving white napkins. They all had big smiles on their faces as they lined up on the staircaise for a standing ovation and thundering applause. It was delightful.

The dining room can seat 2000 guests and there are over 250 waiters that serve us. It's quite an impressive sight to see them all together. If you look very closely, you can see them gathered together on the balcony and on the staircases at one end of the dining room.
After dinner we went back to our suite and found this handsome fellow waiting for us.

I took his sunglasses off and tucked him in bed between Frank and myself.
This is our last port of call but I have one more blog to post of this trip. Lots of loose ends to tie up. Hopefully it will be entertaining. Until then ....
XOXO, Pcasso