Cruise Bingo day 4:
Woke up to gorgeous weather. A perfect late spring day on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.
I'm only 25 yards from the hotel room. This photo was from the next morning....so the weather conditions were not as nice. But what a view. After a quick breakfast at the hotel buffet we headed to the corner where a trolley runs up and down the seawall. Only $1. And it includes free transfers to the streetcar (more on that later).
A short drive west down the seawall brought us to the Rainforest Cafe where they have a lazyriver water ride inside the building. Think Pirates of the Caribbean but instead of Pirates....its rainforest type creatures. Not exciting....but not boring.
Then we headed back east up the seawall to the transfer station for the streetcar system. The streetcars are replicas of the ones that used to run up and down the island back in the early 1900's when the island was the playground for the wealthy members of the Houston area. Now...its just a nice, fun way to get around. And did I mention its only $1???
Found a nice Irish pub to have lunch before walking along the main tourist street.
The shops are all inside old buildings and they let you walk around with any open adult beverage that you want to enjoy (much like here in Nevada). Bought my granddaughter a few fun items and then we stumbled across a local arts and crafts fair. Always nice to see local artisans. Saw a booth selling locally made soaps.....I was not impressed by her "shave soap" so I passed on it. Found a guy selling "death sauce" hot sauce. Also not interested. But I picked up a glass seashell from a local glassblower/artist. It sounds like the ocean when you put it up to your ear (yes...I know that the sound you hear is really just the blood rushing through your circulatory system inside your ear canal....but its nice to listen to when I'm being forced to sit at my desk....hundreds of miles from the ocean where I grew up....indulge me just a bit).
Eventually headed back to the hotel and had a fine dinner at the smaller of the two restaurants at the hotel. The main restaurant has been there since 1911 and has super fancy service (with the prices to go along with that service) The smaller restaurant has nearly the same menu and regular service with a much better price. I had shrimp made 4 different ways. Wasn't a fan of the crab-stuffed shrimp (too much crab...not enough shrimp) and the Tex-Mex shrimp was too hot for this gringo.
Then off to bed....tomorrow is embarkation day. Again...a very lovely day on vacation.
Here's some numbers for everyone:
O71
B12
G57
I27
Plus add in Eric's B14 and KJ's B8......that's a total of 6 calls.
Have fun Ya'll.