Thursday, September 21, 2006
Cruise Part 2
We left on Sunday and I think that Monday was spent at sea, steaming toward Mexico. While there was probably a lot to do on our ship, our goal was to head to the pool deck, catch some rays and drink a few cocktails. Which we did very well. Beer was not cheap on board the ship, it was $3 a pop. We would order round after round but at one point we ordered a case which cost $72. 3 guys, 24 beers = 8 each so I'm sure we felt good that evening. The pool deck was fun, everyone was rowdy and I had brought along a whistle from my friend's wedding shower (he's a coach, hence the whistle with his favors. Why I was at a couples shower is another story) and I would blow it periodically and yell "everyone out of the pool". It was probably funny the first 3 or 4 times but that whistle would get used too much over the next few days.
We kept seeing a large group of people wearing Oakland A's hats and would come to find out that they were staying across the hall from us. These Oakland "fans" would eventually become our friends and would invite us to visit them near Barcelona, Spain (see the archives for that story).
That evening after dinner we hit the casino. I played blackjack although I wasn't very good at it back then. It would be a few years before I memorized the "book" and could play well. So I'm playing blackjack and Tony is at a nearby table and Shepherd is playing craps and all is good. I hear a bunch of yelling and screaming but that's normal at the craps table. A little while later, a guy comes up and sits at the table and we strike up a conversation. Turns out he's from Cleveland so we talk a bit. Then he utters the now famous line "man, I was playing craps for a while but there's a really drunk loud guy over there and I had to leave". Around then, I hear Shepherd yell out "Mama needs a new pair of shoes" and the guy next to me says "that's the guy I was telling you about. Do you know him?" to which I quickly replied "no, I've never seen him in my life". Eventually, Shepherd came over and we would see "Tony" (not our Tony) a lot over the next few days. And when I moved to Cleveland and would knock off early on Fridays to visit Thistledown Race Track, who did I see but Tony. We always talked but I haven't seen him since he passed out drunk in a pool of nacho cheese vomit at the racetrack.
There was a limited room service menu on board the ship. It was free and open 24 hours, which is a recipe for disaster for guys who have been drinking at the pool deck and in the casino all day and night. When we got back to the room that evening, it seemed like a good idea to get something to eat. The kitchen was closed but they said they could bring us some iced tea. We order 12 of them and ended up using them as bowling pins. There were lemon wedges everywhere in that room.
Above is a photo of Kevin, Tony and me in the room.
We left on Sunday and I think that Monday was spent at sea, steaming toward Mexico. While there was probably a lot to do on our ship, our goal was to head to the pool deck, catch some rays and drink a few cocktails. Which we did very well. Beer was not cheap on board the ship, it was $3 a pop. We would order round after round but at one point we ordered a case which cost $72. 3 guys, 24 beers = 8 each so I'm sure we felt good that evening. The pool deck was fun, everyone was rowdy and I had brought along a whistle from my friend's wedding shower (he's a coach, hence the whistle with his favors. Why I was at a couples shower is another story) and I would blow it periodically and yell "everyone out of the pool". It was probably funny the first 3 or 4 times but that whistle would get used too much over the next few days.We kept seeing a large group of people wearing Oakland A's hats and would come to find out that they were staying across the hall from us. These Oakland "fans" would eventually become our friends and would invite us to visit them near Barcelona, Spain (see the archives for that story).
That evening after dinner we hit the casino. I played blackjack although I wasn't very good at it back then. It would be a few years before I memorized the "book" and could play well. So I'm playing blackjack and Tony is at a nearby table and Shepherd is playing craps and all is good. I hear a bunch of yelling and screaming but that's normal at the craps table. A little while later, a guy comes up and sits at the table and we strike up a conversation. Turns out he's from Cleveland so we talk a bit. Then he utters the now famous line "man, I was playing craps for a while but there's a really drunk loud guy over there and I had to leave". Around then, I hear Shepherd yell out "Mama needs a new pair of shoes" and the guy next to me says "that's the guy I was telling you about. Do you know him?" to which I quickly replied "no, I've never seen him in my life". Eventually, Shepherd came over and we would see "Tony" (not our Tony) a lot over the next few days. And when I moved to Cleveland and would knock off early on Fridays to visit Thistledown Race Track, who did I see but Tony. We always talked but I haven't seen him since he passed out drunk in a pool of nacho cheese vomit at the racetrack.
There was a limited room service menu on board the ship. It was free and open 24 hours, which is a recipe for disaster for guys who have been drinking at the pool deck and in the casino all day and night. When we got back to the room that evening, it seemed like a good idea to get something to eat. The kitchen was closed but they said they could bring us some iced tea. We order 12 of them and ended up using them as bowling pins. There were lemon wedges everywhere in that room.
Above is a photo of Kevin, Tony and me in the room.
