OLA: Cruising to the Bahamas, Part 1

Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas docked at Nassau, Bahamas

cruise ship terminals at the Port of Miami

Last Christmas my children gifted us with a special cruise to the Bahamas called ‘The Husker’ Cruise 2012’, organized for the Corn Huskers, University of Nebraska’s football t’s fascination with football comes from his high school days when he was a certified jock, captain of his HS’s  football team in Pittsburg, Kansas. On his first job at Caterpillar, he was moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where all of his children were born. While he was there, the Huskers were the national champions. As a first time cruise, it was special for Bill! As for me, I am trying to find out how cruises fit into our cruising lifestyle! 

checking in at Terminal G

Day 1, Friday, February 24, Departure from Miami

Bill and I got up at 5:30 AM to move the RV to the Orlando Thousand Trails storage area. Then we drove to the Port of Miami (4 hours).  Embarkation was efficient and a huge luncheon buffet was waiting for us at the Windjammer of the Royal Caribbean’s Majesty of the Seas. As soon as we set sail at 4:30 PM, a Muster Drill (we were muster 11) was held to instruct everyone on how to proceed as soon as we hear the loud horn that signals an imminent sea mishap.

Sail Away Party at poolside and VIP Crown lounge

The Sail Away Party for the Huskers group was at the VIP Crown Lounge above the pool deck where the general party was being held. We were next treated to good laughs at the Comedy Show of Steve Bruner at the Chorus Line Theater.  An excellent formal dinner was served at the Starlight Dining Room but we were too tired for Disco with the Seas Macho Men (a la Village People). Unfortunately, we were also too late for the Open Mic Karaoke. So off we went to bed, our day had been long, and we dock at 8 am.

Majesty from the tender Bill rode to go party at CocoCay

Day 2, Saturday, February 25, Arrival at CocoCay, Bahamas

the Majesty, her island, and her passengers

CocoCay is the beach island of the Royal Caribbean. Too bad  I woke up to a terrible flare-up of hives so I spent the morning in our ocean view stateroom, hoping that they will be gone the next day when we go shopping and sight-seeing at Nassau, capital of the Bahamas. Bill brought me lots of fruits from the breakfast buffet and then he took off for the autograph signing session of the Huskers’ greats. After that, he rode a tender to take pictures at the island for this post. There he was rewarded with lots of barbecue and grills for a picnic lunch.

International Belly Flop Contest

Back at the Majesty, I finally mustered the energy to go to Windjammer for the great buffet of afternoon snacks. Then we witnessed an International Belly Flop Competition at the pool, won by a Husker great after which we proceeded to the Husker Talk at Spectrum Lounge, thinking that it would be the Football 101 class I had so wanted to attend so I can better appreciate the game. It turned out to be Nostalgia talk. They all had a good time though, and so did Bill. So I spent my time at the $10 Sale at the Shops and found a silver party bracelet!

Captain's Welcome Reception

At 8 PM was the traditional Welcome Reception by the Captain at the Chorus Line. Many women and some men dressed up for the occasion. But since I had to wear loose clothes so the hives don’t get aggravated, I was unusually underdressed! The Norwegian captain informed us that the Majesty is Ship of the Year in the Royal Caribbean suite of 22. There were 2,216 passengers from 46 countries (1,800+ Americans, 60+ Canadians and the rest, South Americans topped by Ecuadorians) and 852 crew members (his Executive Housekeeper and 253 others are Filipinos). Another formal dinner at 9 and the thoroughly entertaining Randy Cabral Juggling and Comedy Show at 11 PM capped our night.

downtown Nassau as seen from Majesty's Deck

Carol and the Constable in front of the Straw Market on Bay St. 

Day 3, Feb 26, Arrival at Nassau
The third day began with a full breakfast buffet at 8. By 10 we were strolling down Bay Street, main thoroughfare of downtown Nassau. We shopped at the Straw Market, famous for affordable crafts of the Bahamians where I found a loose but stylish dress, Bill found a magnet for our collection and a visor and ball cap for us. It was also thrilling to find Little Philippines Restaurant (there are about 400 Filipinos in Nassau)where we shared a much-missed pancit bijon. Then we visited the oldest church, Church Cathedral, nearby and the oldest of three forts, Fort Charlotte. 

Christ Church Cathedral

Fort Charlotte

............to be continued next week.....

WOW: Becoming More Than Tourists

colorful murals on old grain elevators off I-80 in Omaha, Nebraska 

We started this cruising lifestyle right after Bill sold his business in February 2009. We went to the Philippines for a 2-month visit, after which we visited Bill's friend in Taiwan for 2 weeks and flirted briefly with the idea of teaching English there! But as soon as we were back in Seattle, we sold most of our belongings in about 3 garage sales and several listings on craigslist and bought Star, our very first RV. Then we had our condo rented out, off we went to become full time tourist!

We have completed these trips: from Seattle to the Arctic Circle and back to Seattle-July to September 2009,  from Seattle through Mexico to Florida-September 2009 to March 2010, and from Florida back to Seattle-April 2010 to February 2011.  On this last trip, we bought our current RV/dinghy, M’A ‘turn. Then we visited the Philippines and HK for 3 months and now we are on the 2nd month of our 4th trip, from Seattle back to Florida (June 2011 to March 2012)...about 50,000 miles among Star, Vino, & M'A'turn!

Our 5th trip will be from Florida to Nova Scotia to Nevada (April to November 2012) , after which we may return to Asia or begin our European tour! You may see the two maps on our left side bar to see our progress! We started out as tourists, armed with a bucket list of 50 states and 88 countries. Thus far we have visited 27 and 5, respectively…certainly a long way yet to go. But now our 2 boards are heavy with  our collection of magnets and are we glad we bought our Nikon SLR!

A tourist is defined as a person who is traveling for pleasure. We have certainly fitted that description! Just look at our last 3 posts which cover the Great Plains. Driving through the I-80 leaving Omaha and going to Council Bluffs, Iowa, we spotted these huge old grain elevators painted with murals! Then, while our RV’s heating/air-conditioning system was being repaired at Camping World, were told there is a unique rotary jail that served as the county jail from 1882-1969!  Yes, that’s right…rotary!

the model of the rotary jail

The jail has 3 floors and looks like…a large bird cage, actually! It is cranked by hand to let any cell open to a fixed door on each floor which has 10 cells. Designed for 2, sometimes 5 were made to fit each one! The ground floor of the shell had tables for free time.  Efficiency, not only in space but in guards (needed only 2), and security were the reasons for the design. It was discontinued when it suffered a slight tilt and people realized that it could be a fire/death trap.

Carol with an inmate

From this place of inhumane conditions, we next found the Grotto of Redemption. The problem was it is about 70 miles from I-35, our route to Minnesota! That meant about a 3 hour diversion and about $65 in gas. But the little ad on the Iowa travel mag said it is considered to be the Eighth Wonder of the World, much like what Filipinos say of the Ifugao Rice Terraces in the Philippines! So we unhooked our ‘turn, left our M’A at a church parking lot in Clear Lake, Iowa and proceeded to West Bend.

frontal view of the Grotto 

Indeed, the Grotto is a very special place. It is a complex of 9 grottos (Garden of Eden, 3 grottos of the Stations of the Cross, Stable of Bethlehem, Jesus'  home in Nazareth, the Trinity, Ten Commandments, and Gethsemane), made from 43 different kinds of gems. The most delicate stones are in the Grotto inside the Christmas Chapel. They were made entirely by the hands of 3 men. Father Dobberstein, who studied geology in Germany before migrating to America and entering the priesthood, offered to build this shrine to the Blessed Virgin for her intercession when he was with pneumonia.

back view of the Grotto

He became a pastor in West Bend in 1898 and started collecting rocks and gems from all over the US with the help of his right hand, Matthew Szerensce. Work on the Grotto officially started in 1912 and upon his death in 1954, about 80 % of the plan was done. 8 years before his death, Rev. L.H. Greving started to assist him in the parish. Together with Matthew, he continued his work after the death of Father Dobberstein until his own passing in 2002.

Grotto of Incarnation
at the Christmas Chapel

Now the Grotto is estimated to be worth over $2M in materials, priceless in labor!  That was, I thought, a true, though little, pilgrimage! A pilgrim is a person who travels, especially over some distance, to a sacred place as an act of devotion. There was a smile of my face…we are probably becoming more than tourists! And that song I have come to love so much, America the Beautiful, took on greater significance. ‘O beautiful for spacious skies…..O beautiful, for pilgrim feet!

The better known first stanza is for America’s natural beauty which we have certainly visited as tourists. But the second is for America’s human beauty which we are also discovering as pilgrims! After all, Bill and his forefathers were pilgrims and I may have just become one! When we visit Wisconsin, we plan to make another little pilgrimage to Holy Hill, suggested to us by our friend, Didi Manarang, Deputy Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs in the Philippines. And we will embark on more!

Rounding Out Our Great Plains Adventure: OLA

a covered bridge from the 'Bridges of Madison County' in Winterset, Iowa

We were fearful for the next day when we had to cross the Midwest (the breadbasket of the US where the land is very fertile, ideal for oats, wheat, and corn. Central Luzon, the rice granary of the Philippines seems like a speck against these vast green and amber waves of grain, the graceful grain terraces, and the wind turbines that power them). There had been so much swelling of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers due to early melts, we didn’t know what to expect, and we had heard about the devastation.

grains terraces on the Great Plains

The Great Plains is that section of the Midwest that is the most flat, covering the states of North and South Dakota (except for the Black Hils), Nebraska, and Kansas. Often described as having the most homogeneous (and monotonous) topography of any part of the US, the region experiences the greatest extremes in temperature and climatic conditions. Winters are cold, with frequent snowy blizzards, while summers bring hot, dry winds. Before we left the eastern part of South Dakota, it was over 100 degrees!

wind turbines at dusk

The Great Plains also experience more tornadoes (remember Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz?) than any other region. Joplin, Missouri, close to the southeastern tip of Kansas was most recently devastated by a killer tornado. When the region was first being settled in the late 1800s, periods of good rainfall attracted a large numbers of settlers. Then several years of drought that turned fields into dry wastelands, discouraged them. The worst dust bowls occurred in the depression years of the 1930s.

the Corn Palace at Mitchell

It is only fitting that a proud testament to the hardworking people stands in Mitchell, South Dakota. The world’s only Corn Palace was started in 1882 and is rebuilt annually from 275,000 ears of corn at a cost of $130,000. Using 12 different colors of corn and trimmed by grass, rye, wheat, etc., an artist’s design is executed on a building shell. This year the design theme is called ‘American Pride.’ In Sioux Falls, the Missouri River is broken by pink granite rocks that create a pretty system of little waterfalls. 

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Sioux Falls in the city of the same name

Boys Town, a national landmark in Omaha

Just southeast of the Badlands are the Sand Hills of central Nebraska but we didn’t know so we missed them and the famous Chimney Rock. But it was a pleasant surprise to know that it was in Omaha, Nebraska where Boys Town was born. In 1917 Father Flannagan bought Overlook Farm and dedicated his ‘home’ to the care, treatment, and education of at-risk children. There are now 14 centers in America saving millions of children. Between Omaha and Council Bluffs is also the longest pedestrian bridge linking 2 states. 

the longest pedestrian bridge connecting Nebraska and Iowa

Bill's first home in Omaha, Nebraska

Bill started his family in Omaha, where, after working for a year at Caterpillar Tractors’ HQ in Illinois (where he met his late wife), he was reassigned. All three of his children were born there at the very first house he ever bought.  He had just graduated from Pittsburg State University in his hometown in Kansas when he joined the earth-moving equipment giant. And it was also in Omaha where he moved on to Burroughs which finally brought him to Seattle, where thirty-five years later we would eventually meet!

sections of I-29 that hugged the Missouri River
 between Nebraska and Iowa, submerged by the river's flood waters

Rosemary, Jack, Bill, Joe and Susan,
with Bill in Kansas City

So we also drove to Kansas City to meet his only sister, Rosemary, her husband Jack, and her children Joe and Bill, and Susan, Joe’s wife. Ordinarily the trip from Omaha to Kansas City would have taken 3 hours at most. It took us four hours and 15 minutes, each way! I could not believe it. Memories of Manila floods that leveled our tiny home beside an overflowing creek welled in my mind as I saw flood waters, being released from dams, submerge big sections of I-29, a huge American freeway!

John Wayne's birthplace in Winterset, Iowa

But before we moved on, we stopped at Council Bluffs, Iowa where we had our RV checked out at Camping World. While they worked on the heating/airconditioning system, we discovered that the famous Bridges in Madison County was just 2 hours away in Winterset. That is where Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep denied each other the love of their life!  And the town is also John Wayne’s birthplace!!! His home is just the right size...if only it were yellow! How is that for rounding out our adventure in the Great Plains?

Malcolm X's birthplace on the same street at Bll's Omaha home

Next Stops: Minnesota and Wisconsin