We woke up in Spain’s Basque region in the port city of Bilbao. The weather gods smiled on us again today with temps 10-15 degrees warmer than predicted. We packed for cooler temperatures, but that was a small price to pay for the beautiful day. On top of that we all agreed that this was our favorite stop so far.

Our first stop for the day: the old fishing village of Castro Urdiales (think anchovies and tuna) with it’s beautiful harbor lined with tall buildings boasting floor after floor of wooden balconies facing the water. Like everywhere we have been in Spain, the town was spotlessly clean with trash receptacles plentiful, small beautiful green spaces, stone buildings galore, roads paved with huge slabs of rock, and bike paths. Our guide pointed out a public space where pictures and mini-biographies of the recently deceased are posted along with details on the upcoming services in their memory. In small communities people know one another by face, she explained, but not always by name, so the pictures are very important.

We toured the centuries-old stone church that sits on the highpoint of the harbor. It is unique in that there is nothing colorful or eye catching other than the stain glass windows and buttresses which somehow work together to make its simplicity and location overlooking the ocean the attraction. Within yards of this church is a fortress dating to the 1200s that was converted to a lighthouse after French pirates were no longer a threat.

A ride through the beautiful city of Bilbao, a small city surrounded by hills, with stops to visit the Old Quarter and New Plaza completed our tour. It was a real powerhouse of a city in its day with mansions built with wealth from the ironworks lining the route from the pier into the city center. Once iron was no longer king and other industries failed or moved away, the city fell on hard times, but boy has it made a magnificent comeback. A lovely riverwalk, beautifully manicured and colorful traffic circles, and well-maintained buildings make it welcoming. A huge contributor to the city’s reinvention is the draw of the gleaming (as in stainless steel) and otherworldly Guggenheim Art Museum. It’s a modern architectural landmark, a stylized ode to the city’s shipbuilding past, and now an emblem of the city. It is built right on the Nervión River in what used to be a derelict and highly polluted area that has been totally brought back to life since the museum’s 1997 opening. Welcoming visitors to the museum is a 40 feet tall puppy covered in 38,000 plants. Talk about making an impression.

Our guide shared two fun facts on the way back to the ship. First she explained that there are two religions in the area: Catholicism and soccer. The large stadium is commonly referred to as the cathedral as a matter of fact. Second she pointed out the general direction of the limestone mountains where some 6,500 caves can be found. Some have provided protection for paintings for somewhere between 14,000 and 36,000 years!

Our lovely day ended just in time for a quick snack before cleaning up for the evening.

Dinner: We finished the last two Tribe of Mentors questions while we enjoyed another four course plus amuse bouche plus sorbet dinner. My veal chop was the size of Wyoming inspiring Hettie to comment that she has never seen me eat that much red meat.

Entertainment: Shamrock Tenors, Northern Ireland’s premier folk and traditional vocal group. Cyd would have died and thought she was in heaven with their frisky drinking songs, Irish ditties, and ballads. It’s my favorite entertainment so far making it a bang up day from start to finish in spite of the pigeon that pooped on my shoes, hat, and jacket.

Western: 78 and sunny!

Basque Country … say what….?

The Basque Country—stretching about 100 miles from Bilbao north to Bayonne, France—is located in the western foothills of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay.

The Basques have a unique language: Euskara. Unrelated to any other language,
it has its own alphabet and dedicated typeface. 
All the road signs we saw today were in Spanish and Euskara.

Basque nationalism is a point of controversy in Spain. 

Calling all surfers: The natural geography off the coast of Mundaka forms fast,
hollow waves that some surfers think are the finest in the world. 

Basque Country is home to the second-most Michelin star restaurants per capita.

Hopefully Aunt Jerry is having a blessed day because we lit candles for her all over town. Small, stone churches are tucked in every corner, so we popped in to look around and light candles. The churches are all small by comparison with the pilgrimage church in Santiago, but just as lovely in their simplicity.

The ship docked right downtown! Rare, but far and away my favorite. La Coruña has been a port and gateway to world travelers for over 2000 years. In spite of all the history, customs, and culture that could have been awaiting us, we decided to take a day off. We slept as late as we could and then roamed around the dock area. Sleeping until 11:15, admittedly, left us with limited time to explore, but it was enough and made for a relaxing day. Beautifully maintained buildings, clean paved-with-stone streets, an oceanfront walk, and seaside parks made a favorable impression. Dan was in his element when we found a grocery store.

As has become our habit, we were in The Retreat for tea at 3:30. The draw for me is smothering beyond recognition one scone with clotted cream and jam. Other treats are on offer, but I’ve stuck to one scone. Dan, per usual, started with a scone and then sampled the other delights. From tea we went to the top deck to enjoy our sail-away. We crept out of the beautiful harbor past an old fort with the Tower of Hercules, a still-working lighthouse built in the 1st century, in the distance.

Dinner: I won the Rich Dinner Award tonight wolfing down pate followed by short ribs followed by coconut cremeux. Yum!

Entertainment: The Celebrity Singers and Dancers

Weather: 56 degrees and partly sunny. A stroke of luck we were told since this area has precipitation 200 days out of the year.

We docked in the port of Leixoes about 7:30 this morning and eventually staggered off the ship still ripe with jet lag. We easily found our bus to Portugal’s second largest city, Porto, which is on the Douro River two miles from where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. It begs the chicken and egg question: is Porto named after Portugal’s famous fortified wine or is it the other way around?

Everyone going ashore exited the ship onto an enclosed spiral structure that led to ground level. It was clear plexiglass on one side with a ceiling and inside wall covered in white plexiglass tiles. Quite an impressive welcome to this jumping off point for northern Portugal and quite handy on rainy days I imagine.

Our quick ride into town took us along the ocean and then east where we followed the river to Porto. We passed khaki colored sandy beaches, rocky shores, a launch site for fishermen and their boats, and a net repair station. We drove past the six-lane Arribida Bridge which boasts having the biggest bridge arch in Europe at the time it was built in the 1950s. Our guide explained that naysayers from all over the continent came to see the ridiculous structure and venture a guess as to how long until the silly thing collapsed into the river. The joke is on the naysayers because it is still in use today. By far the most popular place we passed was the Harry Potter Bookstore. A massive crowd had gathered well before it opened. Apparently there are a couple of draws: JK Rowling lived and worked in Portugal and it is presumed she took inspiration for her books from her experiences here, and the interior with its unique staircase has it ranking among the world’s most beautiful libraries.

Porto and Gaia, right across the river, are built on hilly granite terrain. They have a subway, streetcars, cable cars, a funicular, and trains, so it is easy to get around if you are not in the mood to walk.The buildings are either granite, pastel colored stucco, or faced with small colorful tiles in the style of days gone by.

The main stop of the day was at the old stock exchange which was eye poppingly beautiful inside. It was designed to impress foreign countries, customers, and trading partners and inspire confidence with merchants, bankers, manufacturers, etc. Some rooms have magnificent Brazilian parquet floors and others are tiled in mosaic designs. Gustave Eiffel (as in Paris’ famous tower) had an office there which we saw. We thought we were bedazzled by the magnificent solarium with its huge skylight, tile floor, and paintings until we saw the Arab room. Oh my! It has elaborate, intricate plaster walls and ceiling covered in gold leaf and soft colors, stained glass windows, and unique lighting fixtures. We visited the court where small disputes could be dealt with right on the spot. The stock exchange has changed locations leaving these beautiful rooms as venues that can be rented out for, no doubt, a pretty penny. There is a small park outside the entrance to the stock exchange with a large statue of Henry the Navigator, the man largely responsible for Portugal being such a well respected trading partner.

Eiffel designed two of Porto’s six bridges. We walked across one which was fun because it afforded us great views of the river and all the colorful buildings constructed up the granite mountain. It’s a busy river with lots of traffic to include river cruise vessels, small sail boats, and Rabelo boats once used to transport port barrels and now used to delight tourists.

We ended our tour by taking a cable car from the top of the hill to the water’s edge for a quick port tasting before heading back to the ship and the pretty spiral-shaped welcome center that lead us straight onto the ship.

Our half-day tour left us with some free time this afternoon which I spent in the company of a fruit platter and my iPad and Dan spent with mini-egg salad sandwiches and his pillow. He and I met up for a scone and tea at 3:30 before changing and meeting up with Hettie and Ronnie at 5:00 for our standing double date.

Dinner was delicious, as usual, and we continued with the Tribe of Mentors questionnaire. Tonight’s discussion was based on this question: In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your life?

Entertainment: The Knights, three handsome dudes performing songs made famous by Brits who have been knighted.

Weather: 66 and sunny!

We set our clocks back last night and set them forward tonight.

For what it’s worth…

Port’s higher alcohol content, between 16.5% and 20%, sets it apart from that of the average glass of wine at 12%. Hence the reference to it being a fortified wine.

Get this: Henry the Navigator, born into Porto royalty, never actually went on any (as in not even one) voyages! I kid you not. He was able through his government position to finance them however.
His expeditions discovered and colonized the island of Madeira, the Azores, and several of the Cape Verde islands. He also sent voyages along the West African coast, many of which returned
to Portugal with gold and slaves.

A word about tile. Blue is the most common color which would lead you to believe it was the most readily available and therefor the cheapest. Wrong. The blue color came from cobalt which made it quite expensive back in the day and a way to show off one’s wealth.

Another word about tile. Not only does it reflect the heat of the summer sun, it protects the exterior of buildings from the damp weather.

Happy Birthday Murphy! Here’s to many more.

We docked in Vigo, which is in the northwest corner of Spain very near the Portuguese boarder, hopped on a tour bus, and headed to Santiago de Compostela, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our drive took us an hour and a quarter out of town on an impeccably maintained divided highway. I sat in the very front seat, so I could catch every word the guide said and throw in a few questions if need be and Dan zipped to the back where, my guess is, he dozed the whole way.

Our ride took us over rolling hills lush with vegetation thanks to the rain that is so common in this part of Spain. Eucalyptus trees, imported from Australia, dominate the forests we drove through. Once we found out that mussels, scallops, and oysters are farmed in the bay it was easy to spot the dozens and dozens of wooden platforms essential to the process. We passed lots of small vineyards but did not see any kiwi farms that are now common in the area.

Our day was spent in the old part of the city. For the insatiably curious, here’s its claim to fame. In the ninth century the tomb of the apostle Saint James the Greater was discovered. Pilgrims came from all over Europe following one of many Camino de Santiago routes to reach the city born around the holy tomb. Over time the site has become one of the most important and famous Christian pilgrimage towns as well as a symbol in the Spanish Christians’ struggle against Islam. Destroyed by the Muslims at the end of the 10th century, it was rebuilt the following century. The groundbreaking of the current cathedral took place in 1075, but it wasn’t consecrated until the year 1211. A little quick math tells me it took a whopping 136 years from laying the first stone to consecration. According to our guide this is one of the tree most sacred Christian sites behind Jerusalem and Rome.

We enjoyed a guided walking tour around the old part of town and were then set free to roam the labyrinth of narrow granite-paved streets and passages and poke around in a few shops. Everything from the paved street to the buildings with their beautiful facades is made of granite giving the old part of town a very homogeneous look. The highlight was entering the cathedral and seeing the eye popping, bedazzling, wowzah gold and silver alter which is in total contrast to the simplicity of the rest of the cathedral. Before we left we lit a candle for Josie’s Aunt Jerry.

A lucky coincidence: Only during years when July 25 falls on a Sunday is a small side entrance to the cathedral open to the pubic. This happened in 2021, but because the cathedral was closed due to the pandemic, official permission has been granted for the door to be used this year, and we went through it.

In case you want to be an official pilgrim (and not a day tripper) here are a couple things to keep in mind. No matter which route you follow, you need a ’passport’ of sorts that identifies you as a pilgrim and allows for official stamps along the route. Walkers must cover a minimum of 100 kilometers and those on bike or horseback must cover 200 kilometers. There are three markers set into the stone plaza in front of the cathedral that serve as the official end of the walk. A few very happy groups were taking their photos today in celebration of this accomplishment.

Today’s pilgrims have passports to prove they completed their walk. But what of the pilgrims of centuries past? Because scallops were plentiful in the waters near here and not elsewhere, a scallop shell was the treasured proof that would be cherished for the rest of their lives. Some even chose to be buried with their shell. Understandable considering some walked for years. Shells adorn churches along the many routes and they are used today on markers showing pilgrims which way to go.

Table talk: More Tribe of Mentors questions.

Weather: Lady Luck was on our side today. It rained all the way to Santiago and then abruptly stopped. The sun flirted with us the rest of the afternoon and there was a cool breeze, so even with a high of 60 degrees we were thankful for our coats, scarves, and hats.

Entertainment: The UK’s Laura Broad, a 2013 semi-finalist on Britain’s Got Talent.

Dan’s gambling status: He’s even after two nights on the machines. Down $20 … up $20 … equals even … equals happy.

Dan’s claim to fame regarding Santiago: He visited in 1964 when his family lived in Spain.

Cathedral trivia…

The cathedral can accommodate 1,200 visitors 

For centuries, pilgrims have touched the left foot of the statue of Saint James,
leaving a handprint in the soft stone.

In ancient times pilgrims arrived anytime day or night traditionally spending the first night praying and contemplating in the church. Therefore the doors were never locked. The use of incense
was not only part of worship services but also served to disguise the smell of the unbathed pilgrims.

Today, numerous masses in several languages are held every day. 

The cathedral of Santiago de Compostela adorns the Spanish cent coin.

Our old pals Walter and Cleone spent a few days walking the Camino and attended
a special mass in the cathedral at the end of their pilgrimage.

We do love ourselves a day at sea, especially when jet lag is in the mix. We slept right through breakfast as a matter of fact, whiled away the afternoon doing nothing of consequence, like exercise for example, and then met for cocktails at 5:00.

We are settled comfortably in our sky suite which is part of what Celebrity considers The Retreat. A few yummy perks come with The Retreat: suite-guests-only lounges, one indoor and one out; a small dining room with foo foo food, amuse bouches, and sorbet to cleanse our delicate little pallets; concierge service; butler service; afternoon tea; in-room snacks; fresh flowers, and an upgraded beverage package. Thank you Hettie for making all these arrangements.

Tonight was one of two ’evening chic’ nights which translates into jackets and ties for the guys and a little bling for us gals. I volunteered to take the lead on table talk, which is just a fun habit we’ve gotten into. I chose the questionnaire that Murphy and Josie turned me onto from the book Tribe of Mentors. Over dinner we shared 1) why our favorite books are our favorites, 2) a recent $100 purchase that has effected our lives in a positive way, and 3) a failure that led to a positive outcome. In light of Dan’s impending retirement this summer we brought a little Agility swag bag for Hettie and Ronnie and they surprised us with a digital luggage scale. Our little gift exchange was part of dinner too.

Entertainment: the Celebrity Singers and Dancers did a feel-good concert with a lot of upbeat singing, dancing, and courageous aerial acts.

Weather: 56 and cloudy

Mask policy: The crew and staff wear masks all the time in public areas. Masks are optional for passengers but a must if the host country requires them. Dan and I have ours with us at all times and plan to use them in high traffic areas.

We set our clocks ahead an hour and called it a day around 11:00 excited to put our feet on Spanish soil tomorrow.

Last night we headed to the airport for our nonstop overnight flight to London with proof of vaccination, negative covid tests, and passports in hand. We zipped through check-in and security (thank you United Global Services and TSA pre-check) and headed straight to the United Polaris lounge where we enjoyed something between a really late lunch and an early-bird dinner in the hopes of grabbing as much shut-eye as possible on the six and a half hour flight to London.

Bleary eyed but enthused, we touched down in London at 5:45 AM local time which was the mind-numbing hour of 12:45 AM at home. Although I kept my eyes closed for five hours of the flight, I did not sleep but looked rumpled and disheveled as if I’d had a great snooze. Dan did not sleep either but, as usual after a long flight, looked like he had just gotten dressed.

Once through immigration and customs, we went in search of the Celebrity cruise rep whose job it was to show us and our fellow cruisers where to board the first bus (at 8:30) for our transfer to Southampton where our ship, Celebrity Silhouette, with its crew of 1,187, was waiting for us.

The upside of arriving on the first bus was the checkin center at the dock was empty, so the process went quickly and smoothly, and we were among the first people onboard. We were seated near the lunch buffet by 11:30 waiting for our cruise peeps, Hettie and Ronnie, to arrive.

Our afternoon was spent connecting to Wi-Fi, doing mandatory safety drills, unpacking, and cleaning up for cocktails at 5:00 and dinner at 6:00. As expected, our evening meal was delicious. I decided to go out on a limb at dinner and order pork belly, a first for me, as an appetizer. The little nibbles of pork attached to the mountain of fat were delicious, as were the roasted beats and vegetable puree, but the fat went back to the kitchen and my curiosity was satisfied.

Hettie and Ronnie (who nodded off a couple of times waiting for dessert) decided to head back to the room after dinner, but Dan and I gutted it out and went to the evening’s entertainment. Celli, a pair of Polish cello players, very successfully mixed humor and upbeat cello music to the delight of the didn’t-know-what-to-expect audience.

The amateur gambler in the family ended his day-one with an hour in the casino and I headed back to the room to prepare for some much needed sleep.

Weather: 67 and sunny

If Hettie and Ronnie ever invite you to spend a week with them at their vacation home in Sint Maarten, jump on it! They coached us through the requirements to get in and out of the country: covid insurance (Visitor Protection Plan), pre-authorization to enter, self monitoring (temperature checks) the first four days in country, and covid test appointments required to return home. They brought hosting to a whole new level by planning and arranging everything from meals to transportation to excursions! Plus their balcony, which overlooks the busy port, is perfect for enjoying beautiful sunsets, colorful bananaquits, gigantic rainbows, el fresco meals, and a great view of the fort where Peter Stuyvesant, one of the first governors of New York, lost his leg to a cannonball while he was governor of the Dutch Caribbean.

We visited a very small museum dedicated to the rich history of this small slip of land, the smallest island in the world divided between two countries, France and the Netherlands. It was actually claimed for Spain in the late 1400s by none other than Christopher Columbus! When its 34 square miles were divided in 1648, France got the northern sector, 60% of the landmass, and the Dutch got the remaining 40% in the south. The French side is called Saint Martin and the Dutch side is called Sint Maarten. The island lies about 190 miles east of Puerto Rico and was sadly home to many enslaved Africans who were imported to work cotton, tobacco, and sugar plantations located on both sides of the island. After the abolition of slavery in the mid-1800s, plantation culture declined and the island’s economy suffered until, in 1939, Sint Maarten received a major boost when it was declared a duty-free port. The economy received another shot in the arm when tourism started developing in the 1950s.

Today Princess Juliana International Airport is one of the busiest in the Eastern Caribbean. Snow birds and tourists come to enjoy the 37 beaches on the island as well as delicious food, a laid back atmosphere, sunshine, and recreational activities (think steepest zipline in the world!). American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine brings just shy of 7,000 students to the island plus staff and faculty. Thousands of day trippers on the many cruise ships that pull into port head to the beach or tour the island or go into town to stimulate the economy. Speaking of town, we checked out the two main cities on the island: Marigot on the French side and Philipsburg on the Dutch side. Marigot has signage in French, bakeries and pastry shops with traditional French items, and grocery stores with loads of imported goods. Sales people speak in French or accented English. Philipsburg, on the other hand, had not a hint of the Netherlands other than some grocery items in the large, well stocked stores. We visited both the French and Dutch handicraft markets that are slowly recovering from the last devastating hurricane, the damage from which is still abundantly evident on both sides of the island. We bought souvenirs and a few gifts, but the big bucks were spent at Kay’s Jewelry Store. Hettie is on a first name basis with the owner, sales people, and jeweler, so she was welcomed with hugs, high fives, and fist bumps and we received a warm welcome as friends of hers. With Hettie’s help on my first trip to the island in 2016 I bought what I call my family ring, a ring with one stone for each member of the family. We now have three new members, so I traded in the old ring for one with three additional stones. Bob, my salesman, was a huge help with this purchase and also repaired a few things I brought along.

Saint Barthelemy, St. Barts for short, is only a 45 minute boat ride away, so we decided on a whim to check it out. We docked in the capital and only town, Gustavia, which is situated on a well-sheltered, yacht-filled harbor lined with impeccably maintained designer stores, government buildings, and high-end restaurants. Because its rocky, arid soil couldn’t support plantations, the population of the island is mostly of Swedish and French descent. The official language is French. This 11-mile-long, 2.5-mile-wide upscale paradise has no public transportation or bus system. Most travelers rent a car, motorbike, scooter, or bicycle, but we opted to conquer it on foot. We strolled, explored, window shopped, visited two old churches to light candles for Josie’s Aunt Jerry, and enjoyed an expensive lunch at Shell Beach, one of 14 public beaches on the island. With six miles under out belts we were back in the center of town where we stopped for $5.70 Coke Zeros and $5 scoops of ice cream. If the yachts in the harbor were not a big enough clue, the price of our treats along with the Porsche taxi we spotted were sure signs that this is a playground for the well healed. In total contrast to all the opulence was a handsome, well-fed rooster proudly strolling right down the middle of the sidewalk.

When we went through immigration at the ferry station in preparation to leave, the gentleman noticed that we have a French last name. He asked where Dan’s family hailed from in France and we told him we only know they immigrated to the States from Canada. With our tickets and passports stamped we settled in to wait for the ferry. About 10 minutes later the immigration fellow strolled over and explained that he has more than a passing interest in genealogy and he had done a quick check to see where Dan’s relatives originated. He even went to the trouble to print a map of France and mark the city of Chaumont. Wow!

Our lovely week sped by and before we knew it we were packed, had negative covid tests in hand, and were settled in at the chaotic, busy, noisy airport to wait for our four-hour flight home. We left laden with a duffle bag of pate and other delicacies, fun memories, and gratitude for all the effort Hettie and Ronnie put into our visit. They could easily go into the hospitality business! We’re giving them five gold stars!

….Fun Facts about Sint Maarten/Saint Martin…

Although Euros and Dutch Antillean Guilders are the
respective official currencies, the dollar is by far the most common currency.

It boasts the oldest open border in the world.

For over 400 years, salt was a main source of income. The natural salt ponds
provided the salt needed to keep food and goods fresh on transatlantic journeys.
One of my two favorite roundabouts has an impressive multi-piece monument dedicated to salt pickers.

Philipsburg is the only capital city in the world located on a beach!

St Maarten’s own Guavaberry is the official Pirates of the Caribbean rum (rhum) at Disneyland Japan.

English is the first language of locals. Most Sint Maarteners learn Dutch as a second language though.
The local government also uses it when communicating with the Dutch government.

We woke up in the land of Elvis, my first celebrity crush!

Mist and a low layer of fog hung over this historic city that lies on the Chickasaw bluffs above the river where the borders of Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee meet. In the distance the de Soto bridge, all decked out in seasonal red and green lights, welcomed us to the land of music, the Liberty Bowl, Sun Studios, Saint Jude’s, Beale Street, Graceland, pork barbecue, and the Gibson guitar.

Our guide this morning started out by saying, in his southern drawl, “As they say around here, the Mississippi is too thick to drink and too thin to plow.” He was born and raised in Memphis and quite proud of his city. He mentioned the example of his ‘white elders,’ however, and the need to reeducate himself over time on some of their teachings, particularly on race relations. He spoke of this on the way to the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr., visiting the city in support of a sanitation workers’ strike, was murdered by a sniper in 1968. A large wreath hangs on the second story balcony railing where Dr. King was standing when the fateful shot was fired from an open window across the street. The motel now houses the National Civil Rights Museum.

Jacqueline Smith worked at the Lorraine Motel for $10 a day and also lived there for 11 years. She was its last resident, as a matter of fact, and staunchly opposed its becoming a museum. At the time of her eviction she promised, “If I can’t live at the Lorraine, I’ll camp out on the sidewalk out front.” And she has held true to that promise for just shy of 34 years. Her main objection is based on her belief that the $27 million used to renovate the motel into a museum was not in alignment with Dr. King’s beliefs. We met with Ms Smith on our way back to the bus.

Our city tour took us through the renowned medical district, past the mansions on millionaires row, and down to the Orpheum Theater and Beale Street. We passed a number of Elvis-as-a-young-man locations like the public housing project where he lived with his parents; the movie theater where he worked; his high school; the Arcade Restaurant where he had a private booth; the iconic Peabody Hotel where he went to the prom and signed his first record contract; the amphitheater where he performed live for the first time; and Sun Studios (think Million Dollar Quartet). The holy grail for Elvis fans is obviously Graceland, but we had been before and didn’t have time for a second visit this trip.

Our last stop was at the Memphis Pyramid which was built in 1991 as a sports arena but is currently a Bass Pro Shop megastore which includes shopping, a hotel, restaurants, a bowling alley, archery range, ponds with live ducks and alligators, and an observation area at the top. It is by some measures the tenth-tallest pyramid in the world.

On the way back to the boat we were brought up to speed on the 1862 Battle of Memphis, one of only two purely naval battles of the Civil War. It lasted less than two hours and was fought in front of enthusiastic spectators watching from the bank of the river. Our guide described it as a Three Stooges sort of affair with poor decisions on both sides. Memphis surrendered before lunch and spared itself from being burned and sacked. With its infrastructure intact it could sell cotton to the North and contraband to the South throughout the war. One might consider it a lucky loss.

Our guide closed with a quick review of the tragic tale of the SS Sultana, a paddle-wheel steamboat which was sabotaged across the river from Memphis. The war was finally over and most of the passengers aboard the grossly overcrowded (seven times capacity) vessel were Union soldiers returning to their families from Confederate prison camps. The boat mysteriously exploded and burned on April 27, 1865. It is acknowledged as the greatest maritime disaster in U.S. history, even outnumbering the death toll from the Titanic! This tragedy, overshadowed by the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, has long been overlooked.

Dan, Cleone, and Walter grabbed a quick bite between tours and did not join me for lunch. Planning on staying on board this afternoon I headed to the dining room for a leisurely meal. Al, also alone, asked if he could join me. It was a treat to hear his stories about career (engineer turned professor), his marriage of 76 years (anxious about the new covid-19 variant, his wife stayed home), music preferences (exclusively classical), and his Navy service leading up to WWII including in Key West where he often ran into Ernest Hemmingway!

While Walter explored a car museum and Cleone and Dan went to the Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum I read, relaxed, and walked the top deck. We have to be on dry land before 8:30 tomorrow morning to allow the crew ample time to prepare for their next and last-for-the-season guests who will be coming on board at noon for their cruise south, so I thought it might be wise to do a little packing too.

Our last meal and entertainment were just as wonderful as all the rest.

We’ll be leaving tomorrow morning happy with our decision to spend the holiday on the water.

Fun Memphis facts….. 

Pre-presidency, Andrew Jackson was one of its founders.

Memphis grew into one of the largest cities of the Antebellum South as a market
for agricultural goods, natural resources, and the slave trade.
After the Civil War it became among the largest world markets for cotton and lumber.

The largest employer in the city is FedEx making the Memphis International Airport
one of the two (with Hong Kong) busiest cargo airports in the world.

The annual blues festival pays homage to Memphis being one of the birthplaces of the blues.
Memphis is credited with huge contribution to the development of soul music as well.

Memphis has also been called the birthplace of rock and roll thanks in large part to my boy Elvis, one of many musicians who launched careers from the city’s famous Sun Studio. Close to 25 percent of the earliest inductees in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame came from within a 100-mile radius of Memphis.

Christmas is in no small part about gift giving and American Cruise Lines has not dropped the ball in that regard. We’ve found gifts on our beds most nights: a ball cap, insulated beverage container, winter scarves, lined knit caps, large canvas totes, note cards, insulated vests, and small canvas totes. Because we participated in a survey we even got a bottle wine to take home. Had we chosen to go to breakfast with Walter this morning we would have received gloves! (I now curse last night’s ice cream and popcorn!) We exchanged gifts with Walter and Cleone and, like most of our fellow passengers, participated in a Secret Santa exchange as well, so we are laden with gifts to take home.

To fill our lazy day on the water there were lectures, trivia (music, movies, musicals) games, a church service, art classes, gingerbread decorating, a sumptuous Christmas buffet, and entertainment! Ship to Shore, our daily program, offered this lovely Christmas toast.

May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light.
May good luck pursue you each morning and night.
May you always have walls for the wind, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you, and all your heart might desire.
May you have warm words on a cool evening, a full moon on a dark night, and
a smooth road all the way to your door.

The day served up lots of giggles and two good laugh. Walter and Cleone’s battery operated dancing Santa hats were priceless and took everyone by surprise! The other big laugh was in response to a joke that goes something like this: What is the correct pronunciation of the word pecan? Pe-con or pe-can? Answer: pe-con is a nut and pe-can is a container left under your bed in the event nature calls in the middle of the night. Having nothing to do with Christmas, belly laughs, or nuts, here are three smile-worthy jokes I’ve stolen from this week’s Ship to Shore.

1. I asked my dog what two minus two is. Not surprisingly, he said nothing.
2. Seagulls fly over the sea because if they flew over the bay they’d be called bagels.
3. What did the ocean say to the beach? Nothing, it just waved.

Our day passed quickly and we found it both relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

For the insatiably curious…..

The American Melody, launched in August of this year, has a capacity of 175 guests and 57 crew.
We are sailing with 102 passengers. Passengers and crew have been fastidious about wearing masks whenever we’ve left our rooms … except to eat and drink.

If water travel is not your thing you can always drive the length of the Mississippi
on the Great River Road National Scenic Byway which traces the course of the river
for 3,000 miles through 10 states. Tempted?

The Mississippi River, third-largest river basin in the world behind the Amazon and the Congo,
collects water from 31 states. 

Two people have swum the length of the Mississippi: a Slovenian distance swimmer in 2002 and an American Navy combat veteran in 2015.

The Mississippi River is 200 miles shorter than the U.S.’s longest river, the Missouri.

Water-skiing was invented on the Mississippi.

The river is between 20 feet and 2 miles wide.

We woke up 70-ish miles upriver knowing we had a full day ahead exploring what was once a small village, named for a Methodist minister, located on a bluff at the mouth of the Yazoo River. It was incorporated in 1825 and soon prospered as a shipping point. Shipping point equals money and merchants, hence the antebellum neighborhood we visited.

Back in the day the centerpiece of the neighborhood would have been Christ Episcopal Church, founded in 1828. Its impressive stone Gothic Revival exterior is in contrast to its simple, warm, and welcoming interior. We were hosted by the pastor who shared its proud history highlighting the use of the basement as a hospital and the fact that services were held daily during the Civil War. The organist popped in to share the history of the organ and play a couple of hymns. She finished each song with jazz hands. Pews dating to 1900, two Tiffany windows, and a recently refurbished, temperamental pump organ with 951 wood pipes are its show pieces. One of the stained glass windows has a fascinating story: it was made in memory of a prominent congregant who died from a hat pin wound. Seems the dye from her hat had arsenic in it which was transferred from the pin to her scalp when she accidentally stuck herself while securing her hat. In recognition of the generosity of the pastor and the organist for giving up part of their day on Christmas Eve, our guide presented the pastor with a cannon ball. As in heavy, real, Civil War-era canon ball.

The two homes we toured were in total contrast with one another! The first one is owned, lived in, and shown by the great-great grandson of Jefferson Davis and his wife, our guides for this portion of the day. It amounts to three small mercantile-class antebellum homes cleverly combined into one. The small rooms are nicely decorated with modern and period furnishings. We were free to roam around and imagine what life was like when these modest homes were built in the 1800s.

A free black man was hired by a local cotton broker in 1856 to build a mansion for his bride. The contractor accomplished this with the assistance of his enslaved workforce. Life and entertaining on the grand scale for which the mansion was designed were short lived because the war reached Vicksburg in 1863. The owner and his wife are credited with saving the neighborhood by designating the home, now known as the Duff Green Mansion, as a hospital for both Union and Confederate soldiers. It was a home again after the war but later served as a boy’s orphanage, the Salvation Army Headquarters, and now a bed and breakfast and event venue. The 15-foot ceilings, large rooms, grand furnishings, impressive entryway, and long porches certainly make the impression the original owners had in mind.

The most popular attraction in Vicksburg would have to be the 1,800 acre Vicksburg National Military Park. A committee of both Union and Confederate veterans established it in 1899. It boasts more than 1,400 monuments, tablets, and markers, more than any park in the National Park System. Our guide did a wonderful job of explaining the importance of and devastating losses incurred during the 47-day game-changing battle that took place here. Having sole control of the Mississippi River was vital to winning the Civil War. When the war started in 1861 the Confederate had control. As the North developed its navy the tide started to turn and at the end of the Siege of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, they had total control. This victory ended major offensives in what was then the West. 

It was explained to us that the Confederate pretty much knew the Union would be heading to Vicksburg sooner or later. So, about a year out they started preparing the battlefield. We were asked to imagine the landscape now overgrown with vegetation as rolling, open spaces that soldiers from both sides would be forced to run up and down like the moving targets that they became. A few beautiful, rolling, green fields have been cleared to assist in imagining what it must have been like.

After the park was established, states were invited to design and pay for monuments honoring those who served. Illinois decided on an eye popping replica of Rome’s Pantheon. It is one quarter the size of the real deal and includes the circular opening in the domed ceiling and the sloped floor that allows rain to drain away. The forty-seven steps in the approach represent each day of the siege. Sixty bronze tablets line its interior walls, naming all 36,325 Illinois soldiers who participated. Ohio, by contrast, decided to place an individual monument for each of the 39 units that participated. Wisconsin decided on a 122 feet tall column with an eagle on top, bronze tablets with 9,075 names, and a relief tablet at the base of the column picture a Union and Confederate soldier with hands clasped in friendship. Maryland and Virginia, minor players in the siege, have small plaques outside what is now the park.

Besides the monuments, the park is also home to the USS Cairo, one of seven ironclad gunboats that prowled the Mississippi River and connecting shallow waterways, menacing Confederate supply lines and shore batteries. In spite of its armor plated exterior it was sunk on a cold December morning in 1862 and lay under a blanket of silt and mud until it was discovered 102 years later.

On the way back to our vessel we were offered more fun facts. For example, the average age of a Civil War soldier was 27. Civilians in Vicksburg slept in 500 caves during the siege. Cannon from battlefields were collected and stored in various locations after the war and later redistributed willy nilly to parks and memorials, meaning the 127 cannon in this park most likely did not see action here.

By dinner tonight our brains was stuffed to overflowing with all the things we had seen and learned. It was a great Christmas Eve day topped off by a wonderful meal and an invitation to watch It’s a Wonderful Life in the common area. I am not proud to say that after Dan was settled in watching the movie and Walter and Cleone were tucked away in their room I enjoyed an ice cream sundae. Not fond of chocolate ice cream, I just ate the vanilla scoop and went back to the makeshift theater and got another sundae and ate its vanilla scoop. As I was stashing my half eaten sundae dishes in an out of the way location I spotted the popcorn delivery guy and grabbed a bag on my way back to the room. A little Merry Christmas Eve splurge! No breakfast for me tomorrow.

Did you know…..

Word for the day: loess

In the 1800’s Mississippi riverbends were littered with the remains of hundreds of riverboats.
Congress passed the first federal steamboat safety regulations in
the Steamboat Act of 1838, but it was sadly unenforceable.

Coca-Cola was sold exclusively by the glass at soda fountains throughout the country until 1894
when a candy store owner in Vicksburg decided to bottle it. He was the first to do so.
He used a variety of containers until the custom Coke bottle was introduced in 1916.

Mississippi followed South Carolina becoming the second state to secede from the United States.
In Vicksburg, Jefferson Davis gave his first address as the President of the Confederate States of America. 

Men owning less than 20 slaves were expected to serve in the war.
Ownership of more than 20 slaves provided an exemption to service.
We were not told what happened if you owned exactly 20.