Date: Jan 2, 2007 10:22 PM
Subject: Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Roatan Island, Honduras
The island is about 40 miles off the coast. We have been here before. There was nothing much to see. It is mostly a lower priced place for tourists from the main land. There are nice houses being built for people from all over the Americas including the US. So are restaurants and bars.
There is no dock on this island so we have to tender in. It was windy and pretty rough so they were thinking of passing this place. Finally they decided to go ahead and start tendering. They cannot anchor because it is too deep and then suddenly becomes too shallow. They have to maneuver with the engines all day to keep the ship's tender landing dock on the leeward side of the ship.
We started the day off right. We visited a place on the ship we had not been to on this trip. The doctors office. First of course, came breakfast. Then if we still had time we planned to visit the doctor. He is only open until 10:00 AM and then again at 4:00 PM unless it is an off hour cabin call which costs $20 extra. Can't afford that. We can stand the pain and discomfort unless of course it was me that was sick. But it wasn't. It was just Bobbi. We did make it out of the restaurant by ten to ten so we did go to the doctor. Bobbi has had very red eyes since yesterday and a little goo coming from them. The doctor examined her and said her eyes were red. I told him that was an excellent diagnosis and he must be a really good doctor to figure that out so quickly but if he would read the form the nurse had us fill out, he would see that was why we were here. With the reflexes of a highly trained professional, he didn't hesitate a second with his instant reply to me. It was, get out of here. No sense of humor. But he told Bobbi that it looked like allergy. Did she try new make up? Yes, she did. She was in a hurry and bought drug store make up instead of her usual movie star stuff. She would only be able to use that really expensive stuff. How did I know this one was coming? Oh lucky me.
This must be a great place for freighter ships, not. Everywhere you look is a rusting ship wreck. At about noon we decided to go ashore. They were having a beach BBQ. This line does not do your normal back yard lunch BBQ. There are waiters everywhere. Food is served on good china with real stainless dinner ware. The burgers are big thick ones and there is always steak and their great fries. If I have not mentioned it, they make the best shoe string French fries in the world. McD only wishes he could make them this good. But they also have baked potatoes and the list goes on. Today was no exception.
The tender ride was a little rough and the driver could never pilot my boat. He smashed into the ship on one end and the dock on the other. It's a good thing they have these tenders/lifeboats covered in heavy rubber. They are twin screw and not all that difficult to handle.
We landed in a beautiful place. It was all man made, but if you knew that or not, still gorgeous. There are no real beaches on this side of the island. This is the leeward side and must not get enough wave action to crush the rocks into sand. The stuff here is really dredged up smashed shells. The beach looks very pretty but is very hard. There are still large piles of this sand waiting to be spread when some gets washed away. There were more then enough nice beach chairs and chaises. Lunch was in a permanent building. It was open air with a high fiberglass roof being held up by posts and there were plastic tables and chairs underneath.
They were serving all kinds of hard and soft drinks. The food was as good if not better then I expected. You just have to get a table then send your wife to get you food. She has them pile a plate full and then a waiter from the ship carries it too the table while wifey dear walks with the waiter telling him how mistreated she is for having to work so hard to supply lunch for me. Who cares? It's worth not having to get up myself. Besides, she enjoys complaining. Better to the waiter then me. He doesn't care either.
Lunch was excellent. There was a terrific singer with great musical equipment. He did Calypso and soft rock all during lunch. He sounded like Jamaican and not local. After, we took a walk down to the far end of the beach. A portion was roped off for a non private area where there was a large bar for the public. Both sides had plenty of facilities and showers. Both sides had some very pretty girls in bikinis. Wakes up an old guy right away.
I thought dinner alone would be nice tonight but Bobbi thought I should have it with her so we got a table by ourselves with our usual waiter, Joey. Art and Muriel. If you guys remembered how to get these on your computer, Joey asked where you were as did the head waiter. I don't know how to spell matra dee but it was really that guy. The food was fantastic last year but this new chef is even better. The pastry chef is far better. The deserts and breads are much better.
The main entertainment is a classical pianist. I'm sure you are aware of how much I love that stuff. So I am typing this for a while and then we will take in some singer or something in one of the other lounges.
Just after dinner we took a walk by the stores. It helps Bobbi to feel she got her shopping fix. I happened into the jewelry store and after looking at some of the things I remarked how pretty a pair of diamond earrings were. Some times I can be just plain stupid. I know the wine at dinner was no help but I had no business anywhere near a jewelry store. It always gets me in trouble. And then to remark about a pair of earrings being pretty? Where was my head at? But Bobbi did me a big favor and let me ask the guy how much they were. Wasn't that nice of her. He opened the case and took them out and looked at the price code on the back. Bobbi's reply was, oh they are less then ones you got me last year. I then made another big mistake. I hope you guys are writing this stuff down so you don't make these mistakes. I said yes but still far too much. Now this is a really classy jewelry outfit. You don't walk into Tiffany's and hondel over prices. This must have been a cheap bunch on this cruise and they hadn't sold much. He says to me, how much do you want to pay. I said $35. He thinks I'm really funny. He didn't know I was serious. He then makes an offer I could easily refuse. Problem was, Bobbi couldn't. I said, you told me you didn't want anything and I should not ask you. You would just say no. Now she is going to do me a big favor and say okay. You can buy them. I replied that I hardly ever wear earrings. She goes on to explain what a big favor she is doing me by letting me buy them. I guess I'm real dumb because I still don't understand how this is a favor to me and that I should be grateful. I tried my best. I signed the sales ticket Sam Gordon. He just laughs at that too and changes it to my name. He says everyone knows who you are or I would have asked for your room card. What did I do? Why does everyone know who I am? I suddenly get this strange feeling. I am really being conned. I must be the only one this ship that is really paying for the cruise.
We get back to the room and find a gift in a box. A nice thermos type stainless steel drinking mug with a closeable top. Nothing says who it is from or why it was given to me. Bobbi must have told the jewelry store guy we were coming there and she was going to do me a favor and let me buy something. He must have sent the gift in advance.
Confused Sherm Out.
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