And.... They're Off!

Holy Geritol! A Ship Full Of Old People!!

If you ever need a visual example of lightly organized chaos, go have a look at the nearest cruise ship pier. Hundreds of tourists, dozens of vehicles, a smattering of stevedores and ship's crew, all working to load 2000+ people on a ship. Now, imagine there's more than one cruise ship! That place was a madhouse...

Here's the ship from a couple of blocks away. Damn thing's the size of a 30 story building laid sideways. Royal Caribbean liner, called Cash Register Of The Seas, or something like that.



The Retiree faction was exceedingly strong, but there were more families with small kids than I would have guessed. All manner of people were jumping on the boat. As I'm unloading the parents, this Corolla whips in, blocking in the Cad, and out pops three people speaking some weird-ass language. Probably Croatian or Bulgarian. Something from deepest darkest Eastern Europe. The two men were obviously father and son, and both were (and I'm being polite here) unbelievably ugly. Faces like syphilitic bulldogs. So much body hair their t-shirts look like pillow-top mattresses. The woman with the younger man, OTOH, was unbelievably hot. If that mangy mutt can score a woman like that, I'm gonna have to head over to Rumanigaristania and learn to like goulash. Then again, it coulda been an arranged marriage, I suppose.

Meanwhile, I get the 'rents disembarked from my land yacht, and all their assorted krep is loaded on a rolling cart. There's plenty of stevedores around to help out. With tips, I'll bet these guys make pretty good money.

Here's the parents, off on their adventure. Note the bulky raincoats. This is because there's a whopping 10% chance of rain in the Caymans (and ONLY the Caymans) on Wednesday. Me? I'd just get wet rather than lug a coat to the Caribbean.



After they disappeared into the bowels of the terminal, I wandered over towards the Seawall. Galveston's a pretty bizarre place, all things considered. Look at this...



Avenue Q 1/2? WTF??? That's gotta be a puzzlement for youngsters just learning the alphabet. Never knew letters had fractions in 'em.

Beautiful day. Just a hair over 70 degrees, light breeze, barely a cloud in the sky. Nice salt tang in the air, and not too much traffic along Seawall Blvd.



Lunch at Gaido's cost way too much, but it was pretty damn good. Had a combo plate with grilled shrimp& scallops and a big chunk o' grilled flounder. The bisque wasn't as good as I remembered, but it was still most tasty.

Outside, the Gaido's crab still guards the entrance. That thing's been there as long as I can remember.



I'm back there next weekend to pick up the parents when they return. I imagine their luggage will have doubled in size. I better go call U-Haul and reserve a trailer...