EXPECTATIONS, THAWED
We’ve cruised the seas
A time or two
And reported the news
Now, at it again
Here’s what I choose
To see
I lied to my wife
A boarding eve of disappointments
Led to complaints
And my whining
I promised Carole, “No more.”
But there is a kernel here
Worth letting grow
When the weather's cold
I glorify warm places
Burden our vacations
With too many expectations
And herein lay the kernel
And my lie
The more elaborate the
vacation
The more complicated the
trip
The more opportunities
for things to slip
Embarkation eve
Cozumel?! Grand Cayman?! Key West?!
Then our hotel's classy restaurant, busy,
turned us away
Plan B
More casual beach cafe
With walls of glass and a
sunny view
At night, a darkened cage of
echoed noise
And ordinary food
Plastic glasses serving
ordinary wine
You, too, might be tempted to whine
My wife, not easily deterred
Suggested a return to plan A
For dessert
As promised
My whining
No longer
heard
But inscribed here
My lie
Not exactly a man of my word
Complaints aside
When our cruise got under way
Somehow, the world
In its marvelous complexity
Decided it was time for some levity
Note this chuckle
From an attendant's comment
At the mandatory safety drill
"If you're quiet, it will last quicker."
GRAND CAYMAN ISLAND
This is what we came to see
Great sand
Sunny, warm
Seven-mile Beach
Long, narrow
Wavy today
And sloped
Wading challenged me
Beginning my slide
Down the far side of eighty
But, how about this?
The Royal Palms
Bistro, beach-side
An opportunity to explore Caribbean rum
In the shade
And on the side
An unexpected encounter
Fellow cruiser
Francis, alone
Somewhat beside himself
Carole invited, listened, tried to hear
But never quite got near
Speech impediment (seemed
more)
Ended up sharing fish tacos and a
smoothie
We were able to decipher
That he was from Utah
And drinks without alcohol are cheaper
For me, left hand drive
A Cayman UK surprise
Thankful to just ride
COZUMEL
Surprise fun
Doing chocolate, Mexican
Not indulging
But learning
Its history and how it is made
For thousands of years
Mayans served
A spicy
watery drink
Cows introduced
later by the Spanish
Who ultimately took it
all to Africa
From where most of our
chocolate comes today
We were taught how cacao
beans
Are grown, aged, dried
And blended with spices
Cinnamon, cactus, chilies
and vanilla
To name a few
Hands-on
We sent beans and vanilla stems through
Our hand
operated grinder
Once more, with sugar
Molded, signed
Finished and bagged
Then sampled
White chocolate with coconut
Dark chocolate with a variety of spices
And cacao concentrations
Paired with Mexican wines
Chocolate nerds! Who knew?
Our chocolate in tow
We taxied back toward port
To check out bracelets
At a jewelry store
And reminisce with Kevin
In a shop for Puebla artisans
about the city of Puebla
And a collegian’s visit sixty
years ago
Center stage, a modern day musician at the mall
With amped flute, voice
and guitar
Back on board
A Mexican evening
Under the stars
At the Lido
pool
Mariachi music, local
Others strolled
Full costumed cool
KEY WEST
A chilly early morning walk
Then a trolley
To the U. S. mainland's point
Southernmost
And on to
The Hemingway House
Interesting posters and artifacts
As well as numerous descendants,
cats
Several of his books were written
there
Between five a.m. and two
Interesting tales
Of his lives, after two
Several wives, the outdoors
Wars and inherited bi-polar
Then on to Truman’s Little
White House
And some Harry surprises
“Dewey Defeats Truman”
original Chicago paper
Typos and all
Thanks to a 1948 labor strike
No reprints available
The firing of MacArthur
Five star general, popular
But full of himself
The president's poker table
Where he and his buddies circulated a gun
The “buck”
As they decided whose
turn it was to deal
On his work desk, the sign
“The buck stops here”
TRIP BACK
Fun, we agreed to say
Though it now comes less
easily
Again, expectations
This time, home's familiarity
Never mind the cold
FLL not helping, overwhelmed
With Sunday cruise ships overload
Lunch on the plane to DTW
Then a dark bus
ride through the snow
With a driver who could not
stop punching the accelerator
Safety measure?
Nervous foot?
Drive-you-crazy ride
But safely home
Though too late for most of
the Super Bowl
DRK, 1/27/18 – 2/4/18
