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Thursday, Nov 21, 2024

The drive to Vegas was a basically uneventful 5 hours. Skies were exciting!

Pulled into Vegas to see some famous sites. It’s been over a decade since we have been here if you don’t count the overnight trip in a motorhome 3 years ago.

Got a room in the Strat for $50 so it seemed like the way to go! Then it was off to explore the city for the first time in well over a decade!

We explored the Neom Museum, a collection of a lot of the retired neon signs from the past!

Wouldn’t be a night in the Stratosphere Hotel without a trip up to the Top of the World! Views of the strip and the “Sphere” kept our cameras happy!

Then we called it a night. The next morning we were up in time for breakfast before the real reason we came this weekend…

We meet up with my nephew for lunch. Haven’t seen him for many years. It was fun to reconnect and catch up on how he’s doing. We find out he is a dealer in one of the large casinos on the strip. He is happy with what he is doing. We are happy for him and the people he has in his life.

We then check in to our next hotel. we will stay here for the rest of the weekend, the Hilton Grand Vacations Resort. Around sunset we cross the street to ride the Monorail to visit the Strip. The ride takes us right next to the Sphere. Who knew the pixels on the Sphere were the size of hockey pucks? We also get a view close up of the Flamingo (That I stayed in decades ago). The Flamingo is on the short list to be demolished to make way for a new baseball stadium!

Views of the Strip renovated into a Formula 1 Race Track are eye opening! Getting a view of the occasional race car practicing and qualifying are fun. Security is such that getting photos of it are virtually impossible. Guards keep you moving and views are blocked by walls. We come across Homeland Security Officers and they are conversational and fun to chat with.

We head back to the hotel and call it a night. The next day, Saturday, we get breakfast at The Omelet House. Back to the Hotel, we attend a Timeshare Presentation which is the real reason we came up to Vegas. We have been attending these presentations for over 40 years. Then we say ‘No’ and collect our gift. This time the gift is 25,000 Hilton Honors Points, LOL. This will get us 5-6 nights stay at different Hilton Hotels. We have received many sets of luggage, tv’s, rental cars, and hotel stays over the years!

Then it is off to the Monorail and another trip to the Strip to see more sights and glimpses of the race track again.

Tonight, we visit the Paradox Museum, a collection of optical illusions.

Then we boarded the Monorail to go back to the hotel. We are just in time for the F1 Race! We watch the Race live in our room. Formula 1 is an exciting 90 minutes! Then we call it a night! We woke on Sunday to beautiful skies and a view from our room.

We kick back today and when evening comes, we head for Downtown (different than the Strip). We check out the “Fremont Experience” and boy has this place changed! The last time we were on Fremont Street we drove it in a car. Now it is totally a pedestrian street. Even the sky is now a roof, illuminated with LED screens and images galore! Live music from many venues cover the area. You can ride a Zip line down the street for a mere $150 each. To rich for our blood for a 90 second ride.

We hear about a “Speakeasy” and we go in search of it. Finding it online, it even gives us the code word to enter. Locating it is easy, especially if you are outgoing and talk to people on the street. We step down the darkened steps and ring the bell. A small sliding window opens in the door and dark eyes greet us. I speak the code word and the window slams shut with a bang. Did I get it wrong?

Then the door opens are we are welcomed inside! We are told there is a wait for a table but seats at the bar are available. So to the bar it is! Jazz, Blues, Ragtime and Swing music is playing by a Ragtime Band. All the employees (and several customers) are decked out in period costumes. The atmosphere is lively. Our Bartender is tossing drink cups around with obvious talent and we visit with other patrons. All are having a great time!

We ‘stumble’ out and pass through the Fremont Experience. We get to our car and we are done for the night!

We wake on Monday and have breakfast and then casually head out for the trip home. The traffic is light and we tool along at 75 mph until we get to the Cajon Pass. Traffic snarls. Eventually we come across a complete semi tractor trailer that has driven strait off the side of a cliff. We never find out the fate of the rig or driver. So the trip home takes us 7 hours.

Tuesday, May 8, 2024 The trip home

We awake early and get a taxi to the airport. We both seem to be ready to go home. We haul our luggage inside and get it checked in. Armed with just our carry ons, we are directed down two flights of escalators into US Customs. Yes, you heard me correctly! US Customs in Dublin, Ireland! We have never heard of this before. Our flights are taking us to Boston where we’ll change planes to travel on to Los Angeles.

There are restaurants here so after we clear Customs, we get a bite to eat for breakfast. When it comes time to board the plane we go back up two flights of escalators directly into the Gate! The flight to Boston is comfortable and we have food and wine offered to us as well as spacious seats. The flight is a little over 4 hours and my cell phone camera gets a little use.

The approach into Boston is different from approaches I have seen before. Usually, the approach is over water (plane traveling northwest) and gives the impression that the plane will land in water as the runway is built out into the ocean. This time we fly over many scenic islands and we see land right before touching down. Very interesting! It turns out we landed with the plane flying almost due north! I’ve landed in Logan Airport dozens of times and always with the northwest approach!

We land in Boston and because we cleared Customs in Dublin, it is now a domestic flight to Los Angeles. We find the new Gate and check in for the 5 hour flight home. This flight is not as spacious and food and wine have to be purchased. What’s up with that? But I shrug it off and put my cell phone camera to work! I even get a view of LA’s new SoFi Stadium on the approach into LAX!

Our friend Tony picks us up in Los Angeles and we tell him stories of our trip on the way home!

Monday, May 6, 2024, Day 63

Our last breakfast on the ship! We disembark at 9:30AM after saying some last goodbyes to shipmates. Our ride shows up right on time and drives us to Heathrow Airport. We check in and go through security and sit for a shared pizza and wine. Suddenly we find out our plane is boarding and we don’t even know the Gate number yet!

So we scramble and find the plane and board without any issues and all is well. We take off on time and it is a short flight to Dublin, Ireland. We clear customs quickly and get our bags. Then it is off to the taxi rank where a taxi van pulls right up and we load all of our 6 bags (4 check in bags and 2 carry ons). It takes about a half hour and we are at our hotel in downtown Dublin. We get checked into our small room but it is only for one night and we head off in search of fun things to entertain our cameras with!

Pub after pub after pub after pub after pub we walk by. I’m sure you get the idea. But we are in a very old historic city and it is beautiful! We make our way to the river for some more camera entertainment and we are not disappointed.

We have traveled and walked quite the distances today and are getting tired. We come across a lady with a megaphone that turns out to be a Palestinian protester. We cross the street so we won’t have to walk by her. We walk back towards our hotel and stop at the “Trinity Venue Bar” and order hard cider for Elee and a Smithwick’s Irish Ale for myself. Then we order seafood chowder and beef stew for dinner and all is good.

We chat amicably with some locals and a fun time is had by all. The we finally walk back to our hotel to retire for the evening. We have an early alarm set for the morning for our flight home!

Goodnight!

Friday, May 3, 2024 Day 60

The seas are getting a bit rougher as we head back to Tilbury (London) and I am enjoying the rougher seas. Elee is displaying her Water Color Paintings this morning with her art group. There are a lot of talented people on this ship, Elee among them! I break away for morning trivia and our Team wins!

All of a sudden, there are announcements on the ship for a specific crew member to report to the engine room. In a short while, the announcement is repeated. Then a Red Alert is called. An incident apparently occurred around 7AM. At 11AM, the captain comes on and explained that a crew member seems to have fallen overboard around 7AM and we have turned around to go back and start a Search and Rescue Operation.

Meanwhile, the planned events continue on the ship. I have a ‘sound check’ for our Ukulele Concert at 12:30PM. Then I show up for the concert before 2:30PM. The concert goes from 2:30PM to 3:05PM and I manage to pull off most of the songs successfully. Then I make it to ‘Carpet Bowling’ and there is comraderie among the usual players.

On the way back to our room, we spot the second session of Water Color Art displayed and stop to check it out. I repeat myself, there are some very talented artists on board!

We arrive back in the vicinity of the last known sighting they ship has of the missing crew member at about 3PM. Now, if someone went in the water, it is over eight hours later. The water is cold. The ship zig zags back and forth in the area. There is a helicopter and a search plane also looking. Spain has search and rescue vessels involved and it is a sad afternoon for all involved. There are more than a few passengers aboard that complain that we are participating in this. For those people I say, “Get a life! I hope your loved one never goes ‘Overboard'”

The crew member is never found and it casts a somber note on everyone. Add to that the ship will now be 14 to 16 hours late getting back to Tilbury and we wonder what we will do as we had plane flights that will need to be changed.

Then it becomes a normal At Sea day with the exception that a lot of people exchange contact information to stay in touch with those people who have become friends. Later, in the Purple Turtle we are treated to a small performance by a few of the singers.

Saturday, May 4, 2024, Day 61

Today is a normal At Sea Day except there is no Ukulele class. That part is over. Trivia and games carry on as usual with more collecting of personal contacts to keep in touch with new friends. The whist group puts out paper and everyone puts their contact info on it. Photos are taken of the completed sheets for anyone wishing to stay in touch. A WhatsApp group is formed. In the Palladium, the crew bids us ‘adieu’.

After dinner, the entertainment crew puts on a final farewell show in the Palladium and it is fun.

Sunday, May 5, 2024, Day 62

For the most part, today is a regular At Sea Day with trivia and card games, carpet bowling and general mingling with new found friends. The Palladium shows a movie and there is Music Bingo in the Purple Turtle. The ship docks in Tilbury around 8:30PM. It should have docked at 7AM but due to the delay with the man overboard, we are late. The ship will allow us to stay on overnight and we will disembark tomorrow morning.

They look almost alien, but are actually a relic of Britain’s military past: the Maunsell Forts. Built in the Thames Estuary to defend the United Kingdom from air raids during the World War Two, the forts have been decommissioned for more than 50 years.

Our ship has traveled 35,851 NM (Nautical Miles) in its RTW (Round The World) journey! We joined it in Singapore and traveled 15,971 NM with it. Slightly less than halfway. We did a complete RTW trip in 2020 and I hope some of you followed that! This has been another Bucket List Trip! Stories to tell and experiences to remember!

We have arranged for a new flight out at noon tomorrow and cancelled our original flight for this afternoon.