January 14-15, 2012 - Homeward Bound

Saturday - At Sea

We had planned to spend our last day aboard the ship sunning on the deck, but that plan changed when we stepped outside to discover that it was about 60 degrees outside.  Brrrrrrrr!  Instead, we spent most of the day in our cabins, packing our suitcases, resting and watching movies.

Around 4 p.m., Joel and I went downstairs and found a martini tasting in one of the lounges:  five different kinds of martinis, including a chocolate one.  Sign us up!

On the day we boarded the ship, room service had called to say that someone had ordered a cheese plate for us and asked when they should deliver it.  We didn't even need to ask who had sent it.  We told them we'd call them when we were ready for it, but we had been so busy that we hadn't asked for it, yet.  This was the perfect time.  When the cheese plate came, all of the people in the lounge "oooooh'd" and "aaahhhhhh'd" over it.  There was an assortment of cheese, crackers, fruit, celery, carrots, and tapenade.  "Our travel agent sent this to us!" I told our fellow tasters.  "You've got a great travel agent!" they said.  I agreed!  It was too bad that I didn't have any of her business cards to distribute, for I believe I could've drummed up some new clients for her!

BTW, chocolate martinis are the stuff!

Sunday - New Orleans

One last breakfast aboard the ship, one last "Wake-y WAKE-Y!" and it was time to go.  We got our luggage, hailed a cab, and went to the Amtrak station.  It was way too early to board the train, so we decided to check our luggage and go exploring around New Orleans.  (Thanks to our liquor purchases, our suitcases were much heavier on the return trip, and we had to do some re-distributing of contents, right there in the middle of the train station, to get them all under the 50# weight limit.) 

We took a streetcar to the French Quarter and walked around a bit.  We sat on benches in Jackson Square, listening to the bells of St. Louis church and watching artists paint.  We had time for lunch on Bourbon Street before taking another taxi back to the train station.

It was 10 p.m. when the train pulled into the station at Memphis.  It was almost 11 by the time we got our luggage, and midnight by the time we pulled into our driveway at home. 

This was a terrific trip, made even better because Pennie and Gus had joined us, but, geez, it was good to be home!