Day 6; Hilo, Here We Come!

Mary is always right!

Thank you for worrying about us, but we are safe and will not be going to Maui; we are headed to Kona instead!

We woke up early to watch the sunrise.  At 7:50 am, I left for acupuncture while Mary stayed behind since she hates it when I cry and scream.  This morning was different; I had to lie on my stomach while he poked me with 18-inch long needles, generally used on horses.  After leaving the Spa, I felt like a human pin cushion.

I decided to risk my life by going to the buffet and getting Mary and me coffee.  Even this early in the morning, the lines were forming, and the grazers were grazing with most of them near the pastries.  I  saw this rotund lady reach out and grab a jelly donut so fast that if she had a gun, she could have beat John Wayne to the draw!

Professional buffetologists can balance a plate loaded with 23.4 pounds of food!

I went to an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet last night… pulled a mussel

Mary made her morning visit to the hospital and saw her patient.  The on-board doctor loves my wardrobe; I wear a different shirt daily!  She told us that she and the Captain wanted to take us to dinner on the 16th.  Imagine that, having dinner with the Captain and the ship’s doctor.

What’s Up, Docs??

We discussed our philosophies and found a lot of common ground.  It’s remarkable how aligned our thoughts and emotions are after 70 years on this fine planet.

We bravely navigated the crowded grazing area, fighting for scraps of food.  When two old ladies grabbed my arm, I politely freed myself and ran for the door.

We brought our small food selections to the 18th floor, where we found our table in the corner, hanging out over the ocean.  We devoured our meal.  I accidentally mixed up our drink orders again, resulting in us getting four wines and four mixed drinks, including a “dirty banana,” whatever that is!  I finished three and a half drinks and brought the remaining wine back to our cabin.  We both tasted the last drink, and I believe it must have been called dirty socks!

Mary and I enjoy spending time together.  I taught her how to read a crystal ball using a brass one on our table.  I conjured up sea monster sea tales.  OK,  she told me stories from the book she is reading, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” by Jules Verne.

Rubba Dub Dub – Thanks for the grub!

After drinking alcohol, as a precaution in case the boat sinks,  we went to our cabin to freshen up and then realized Mary was on the book’s last page.    We went to the library to get another book.   She wanted something lite so she could carry it around easily.  I made a suggestion!

What do you call a South American librarian who is always in a hurry?   Urgent Tina.

We needed another book!

We decided to stop on the Promenade Deck and examine the ocean as the day was beautiful, the sea was calm, and the temperature a balmy 77 degrees.   The ocean is so relaxing; at sea, you get a feeling of how small the land mass is.    We have been traveling 25 miles per hour for five days without seeing any other ships, just miles and miles of water.

The horizon is 15 miles away at our vantage point.

The ship was slicing through the water at 17 knots, pushing tons of water out of the way and making quite a display.   e wake was miles long.

Go, baby, go!

After visiting the library, we returned to the 18th floor to rest until our dinner reservation at the Grille, our favorite spot for its quiet atmosphere and opportunity to catch up.   After all, we were apart for almost four minutes!

She read almost half of the book!

I heard a strange sound and realized the Sandman was visiting Dr. Mary.   I placed a bag over her head to avoid scaring people in the lounge.   She kept blowing the bag off, so I gave up thinking Sleeping Beauty would soon wake up on her own.

She always told me, “I take no naps,” but after visiting the Elks on Thursdays, she always takes a short nap; today is Thursday, so she is on schedule.

Z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z

It was 4:00 pm, so we returned to our room and freshened up.    We had almost an hour, so we sat on our veranda with a glass of bubbly and watched the water go by.   Mary read, and I checked the email and messages.

We had some champagne as we drifted across the sea.

The maitre d’ saved us a table by the window and arranged for our favorite waiter to serve us.    We informed him that on the 16th, we would be dining with the ship’s doctor and Captain at his restaurant.   Additionally, we gave him a secret mission: a) to inquire if the Captain would like a drink (is he allowed), and b) if so, what drink he prefers.

Dinner is served.

I had the best view on the ship!    We discussed the menu and made our decisions.    We would try the fish options, but nothing beats a good steak!  We both had steak!

Seriously?

The surf and turf dish was fantastic – the steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare, and the lobster was juicy and didn’t need butter.

What do you call an annoyed lobster?  A  frustacean.

Simply outstanding!

Our waiter brought Mary’s order to the table with his thumb on the steak.  Mary said, “Are you crazy?  You have your thumb on my steak.” The waiter said, “What, you want it to fall on the floor again?”

Mary’s selection was their 48-ounce side of beef.   OK, maybe it was just 16 ounces, but it looked huge.   The only fat was around the sides, which made the steak juicier.   Mary nearly passed out when the waiter said, “This is the appetizer!”

Mary got the little steak!

Mary had never enjoyed Port before, so I selected a nice 20-years old Tawny Port with help from our waiter.

Port, meet Mary.   Mary, meet Port!

We shared more stories; I even chose a vanilla ice cream for dessert!   I am still puzzled by Mary saying, “I can dress him up but can’t take him anywhere!”

We are enjoying an excellent Port and unique conversations.

This is what “I am done!” looks like.    We were stuffed to the gills and still have a planned visit to the country western music show down the hallway!    We passed it, but it was a country song trivia session, so we kept walking.

Decision time; let’s go crash after the show!

8:30 pm and time for the theater in the back of the ship to open up and get our funny bone going.

We had seats in the second row, and I laughed so hard I almost wet myself.   The comedians were hilarious and added a few innuendos to spice things up, but the show was still family-friendly.  In one segment, a driver was pulled over by his partner, a cop.   The exchange between them had the audience in stitches.

Amazing performance!

We considered returning to the nightclub on the 18th floor, but we must be at the gangway at 8:30 am for zip lini g tomorrow.  Mary kindly reminded me that she brought my Depends.

The last snap of the day is Paul doing the Daily Diary!