February 5, 2012
My life seems to be captured in song lyrics. The phrase above from John Denver’s Rocky Mountain High seems to capture my feelings as I flew back to the Caribbean to join my ship. There was an expectation of returning ‘home,’ even though I had been with Silhouette and her amazing crew for only 3 ½ weeks.
Once again, and most unexpectedly, my flights from Richmond to St. Maarten were smooth as silk. Having not had smooth travel in some time, I’m not sure I knew how to deal with plane flights that are on time (or even early), with smooth connections, attentive service, and in a half empty place that allows you to stretch out. Yes, I realize that I will now have to pay the price in the future for the blessings of this trip. Cosmic Karma must be kept in balance, after all. I flew on a 9-something flight from Richmond to Charlotte, where I boarded a flight direct to St. Maarten. The last time I flew into the Caribbean, I had arrived in Antigua. That trip led me to a rather ‘old fashioned’ airport with lengthy immigration lines. However, arrival in St. Maarten brought me to a very modern terminal and one of the more efficient immigration processes I have experienced since travelling to Singapore. With only minor difficulties I found my car to the hotel and was quickly transported to my overnight accommodations in anticipation of my ship’s arrival in the morning.
The Pasanggrahan Hotel faces Front Street and backs up to the beach in Phillipsburg. It is an older properly that has recently undergone renovation in many of its rooms. I, of course, did not get one of those rooms. However, despite the more weathered appearance of my room, it did open up through French doors to the boardwalk and beach less than ten steps away. Overall, I’d take the tradeoff. The air conditioning was not quite up to its duty, but the ceiling fan provided enough breeze to make sleeping possible. Fortunately, the few mosquitoes that had taken up residence in the room showed no interest in me. After getting settled, I took a stroll up the boardwalk and watched the sunset as I came back down the beach. Now totally immersed in the relaxation of the island, I continued down to the Greenhouse for dinner, requesting a patio table right along the Boardwalk to keep tabs on the world passing by. A meal of fish tacos and Margarita was capped by a pot of tea and key lime pie, with the ever-changing landscape of local humanity nearby. I walked back up the beach to my hotel, and let the sounds of the Super Bowl lull me to sleep.
The next morning I awoke to the sun streaming through the aforementioned French doors, and was up early enough to watch Silhouette enter the harbor. My heart leapt with anticipation of rejoining my ship. I ate breakfast at the hotel’s open air café, and continued to work online through the restaurant’s WIFI over an endless cup of coffee until my ride arrived at 8:30am. I was joined on the trip to the ship by two young Filipino men, Joshua and Wendell, who had just arrived from the PI, and would be joining the ship for the first time. An hour later, after an interminable delay at the port gate awaiting paperwork, we were driven onto the dock only steps away from our gangway.
It was touching to hear the greetings of ‘Welcome Home,’ as I approached the gangway. The new crew administrator, Lavern, who had replaced Yez while I was away, greeted me. She pointed me to the ship with a chuckle, ‘you know where you are going,’ as she turned attention to my two young traveling companions. I bounded up the gangway to more warm greetings, turned down the I-95 and headed to my cabin to pull my uniform back on so that I could teach a class in just over an hour. There was only one significant difference I noted since I had last been there only days early.
We were now operating under OPP Level 2!
And the adventure continues . . .
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