Boston, MA, September 8, 2017

Boston, MA, September 8, 2017

I should say, en route to Boston...it's about 3 pm as I write this. We should be in Boston in another 90 minutes or so.

Everyone is quite mellow despite the odd finish to this cruise. First of all, after two days of grey skies, fog and rain it is a gorgeous day. We had pizza and beer for lunch on the back deck. And a good thing we had that beer (well, actually, beer for Jim, Aperole Spritz pour moi) because at the direction of the Customs & Border Protection officials coming on board after we dock, all bars must be closed and no liquor served while they're on board. WTF! They have to do a face to passport inspection of every single passenger (approx 1400) and I'm guessing the crew, too. The wine stewards are even delivering all open wine bottles to our cabins this afternoon. (If you don't finish your bottle of wine with dinner, they put your cabin number on it and store it somewhere until you ask for it the next time.) "Happy Hour" has just been announced for 3-4:30 this afternoon which makes it sound like we're about to arrive in Bean Town on a dry ship!

For those of us with plans to head home tomorrow, the Irma watch is on. I turned on the TV this morning to see that the storm track had been updated to go through Georgia. Good news? I had that suspicious 100' tall poplar out back taken down before we left, the storm won't arrive in Kennesaw until Monday or Tuesday and I just got the "It's time to check in for your flight" email from Delta. I'm crossing my fingers that our flight will go. We chatted with a lady last night who lives on the east coast of Florida on a ranch with horses. She looked a bit gob-smacked. Her son was supposed to be seeing to the horses, although she wasn't quite sure what he was going to do AND her flight to Florida had already been canceled. The airline rebooked her for Monday and she got a room at the Logan Airport Hilton until then. We had dinner one night a week or so ago with a REALLY obnoxious couple from Jacksonville. I would not like to see storm damage there except for their house on their street. If you'd been at that dinner table you would both understand and agree. Several years ago a particularly mean member of my local quilt guild moved to the coast of North Carolina just months ahead of a devastating hurricane. Karma.

We're all packed and ready to drag it all out into the hallway to be picked up by those elves. This is the day that you bid farewell to your favorites, both passengers and crew. Tonight we're having dinner with a couple of fun Australians and a mother/daughter duo from NY all of whom we particularly like. The Australians are staying on board and heading to Montreal. I'm giving them the 4.10 Canadian as a lovely parting gift.

A few days later...
We disembarked early Saturday morning and went straight to the airport. No problems with our flight but everything into Florida had been canceled. Irma had veered west and was now aiming for the west coast of Florida and was scheduled to hit Atlanta Monday-Tuesday. The Delta guy said plans were already in the works to cancel everything heading south before that. But we got to the ATL on schedule. Lots of Florida plates on I-75 heading north. And then lots  of unpacking. Left with three bags came back with four.

I've downloaded all photos to the computer and have started to edit and choose. Shuttle fly album to follow. I'll post the info for that.

Irma update: we dodged that bullet. We had rain, 5+", but no great downpours or great gusts. No damage at all.