They’re Washing The Deck

There are funny stories that husbands and wives share. Such is the tale of our first cruise around 25 years ago.

I was trying to be romantic (in the small way I’m capable of being romantic) so I asked Helaine to take a late night stroll around the ship. As I opened the door all I could see was the wet deck and water running down the sides of the lifeboats hanging above it.

“They’re washing down the deck,” I said.

No. Actually it was pouring! That piece of romance was put on hold. We laugh about it today.

The story comes to mind today because we were docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I woke up, walked to the curtains, pulled them aside and opened the door to our balcony.

“They’re washing the deck,” I shouted back at Helaine. She knew what I meant.

It was rainy and chilly in Halifax today. That didn’t keep us in. At one point we’d toyed with booking a tour to the iconic lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove. That would have been money down the drain today!

We waited for a rainfree moment to head for land, but that was short lived. I asked Helaine if she wanted her raincoat? Back I went.

I’m not mentioning the raincoat to sound chivalrous. The story’s here to let me talk about walking the stairs on a ship.

Except for our first moments on the Glory when we had three bags to move we’ve taken the elevator once. Every other time we’ve moved from deck-to-deck we’ve used the stairs.

Getting the raincoats today meant eight decks up and eight down plus whatever elevation the gangway from the second deck to the dock added… and this was my second trip in that hour!

Stairs are our shipboad tradition. There are plenty of elevators and they seem to be the favored mode of transportation by everyone else. We just use the stairs. It’s now an obsession.

Oh Canada, you are neat and polite and we’re glad to be visiting you–even in the rain.

Halifax is a lovely little city with new construction that shows a great appreciation for the waterfront. As we walked the boardwalk there were boats and the harbor on one side with office buildings and condos on the other.

You’ll havev to wait for my pictures to be posted but many of the buildings in Halifax, especially the older ones, are built of stone. This isn’t a screwin’ around fifteen minute city. These folks are hearty and here to stay. Stone construction is a statement.

Even with intermittent sprinkles our walk was nice. Shades of Disney, on the way back you have to walk through a craft market to get to the gangway. We did some damage with t-shirts and maple syrup.

It’s past dinner now. We are headed south toward New York City. We’ll be there Saturday morning.

Outside the rain has turned to fog–pea soup thick! This part of the Atlantic is known for that.

Every minute the ship’s fog horn lets loose for five seconds. It will probably be that way through the night. Oh, and the captain’s driving with his low beams.

We expected a different cruise than what you’d find heading into the Caribbean and we’ve gotten it. We’re having a great time.

Note: Because of the poor Internet onboard I’ve hardly answered any email or looked at Facebook. I’ll catch up over the weekend.

Poor and expensive Internet is also the reason so many typos have snuck into the blog the past few days. My error checking is usally done online which isn’t possible right now.