Travelogue #1 (5/7 – 5/8) *Edit for Photos*

I’ve decided that rather than condense my trip into a single entry and risk forgetting something, I’m just going to reproduce the journal I kept while I was traveling. I’m even listening to Jimmy Buffett to keep me in the island mood. ^_^  At any rate, if it bores you, feel free to skip it.

7 May 2011

5:00 AM MDT, Colorado Springs

I’m all checked in for my 6:30 flight to Atlanta. It might be a good idea to remember for next time that most of the desks are devoid of people before 4:30 AM. On the plus side thought, there was virtually no line to get my bags taken care of. And the TSA agent saw me hovering, unwilling to leave my suitcase, and took care of it first.

Going through security here is easy enough. I didn’t get the pat-down because they were too busy feeling up old ladies. Seriously.

Now I’m just killing time at the gate. I got a chai from the coffee shop — the spices usually help settle my stomach. When I’m done I’ll grab some water and a snack at the TravelMart.

 

11:50 AM EDT, Atlanta

Layover. Fortunately, Atlanta is a much larger, busier, and therefore more accommodating airport than Colorado Springs. I discovered my next gate with only moderate difficulty. It was a relief to be on the shuttle between concourses after the other-worldly feel of flying.

I think the only part of flying that I like is landing. It’s fun seeing the ground rise up beneath you, then touching down and realizing just how fast you were actually going. I like finally feeling that motion and speed.

I was almost completely surrounded by soldiers, though not all of them in uniform.

I’m excited — I think I may have a window seat on the flight to Connecticut.

At my gate in Atlanta:

 

10:10 PM EDT, Norwalk, CT

I’m at my grandmother’s house for the night, my parents asleep in the next room. Grammy tried to make me a comfortable bed, but it’s a bit more rickety than I’m really comfortable with. My mom helped me move the mattress onto the floor. Grammy’s heart is in the right place, but her execution is a little shaky — rather like the bed.

The flight to Connecticut was good — I did indeed have a window seat so I just rested my head against the window and listened to my iPod.

I’m still feeling a bit light-headed and shaky. I don’t know if it’s residual from the movement of the airplane or if my super-oxygenated blood is making me fuzzy. Of course, it could be a little bit of both.

I miss Alan. I often give the impression of being quite confident and "take charge." In reality, I tend to me a on the anxious side. It’s when ‘m with Alan that I feel sure of myself. Or rather, I feel that win or lose, we’re in it together. I can ask him my stupid, nervous, anxious questions without feeling humiliated because I know he doesn’t judge me.

And now I’m trying something so new and I don’t have him with me to help assuage my anxiety.

We’re leaving Norwalk at 11 AM tomorrow. We should be at the harbor by 12 and on board the Norwegian Gem by 1 PM. I don’t think we’ll get our bags until around 8 PM, but I’ll hardly need it. I’m throwing a long-sleeve shirt in my backpack in case it’s chilly, plus my books and camera and this journal. Everything else will be fine in the suitcase. I won’t need any of it until bedtime, except possibly my sunscreen and I can take that out.

On that note, I think it needs to be bedtime. I may still be on Colorado time, but it’s been a long day, no matter how you choose to look at it. And I’m feeling a bit nauseous.

~Lizzie

8 May 2011

10:00 PM EDT

On board the Norwegian Gem, en route to Bermuda

I suspect cruising may be the only decent way to travel. Of course, I’m saying that after an evening of wine and karaoke. Let me start at the beginning.

We left Norwalk at about 11:00 AM and arrived in good time at Pier 88 on the Hudson River. We handed over out bags and proceeded through quite a lengthy check-in process. There was a minor issue with the tickets because my mom and I weren’t on my grandmother’s ticket. It was quickly resolved and was mostly just a matter of showing our passports to absolutely everyone and standing in line.

If I based my opinion solely on this afternoon, I would have said we were in for a rough week. None of the staterooms were ready until 2 o’clock so there were far too many people in a limited number of public spaces. At last the rooms were ready! My mom and I milled about to avoid the rush.

Unfortunately, when we got to what we thought was our room, the keys didn’t work. The cruise line had upgraded the room, but never sent the new information, so we were five decks too high. Luckily, the new room has an ocean view. The first one had no windows at all. And because we’re lower down on the ship, should be hit rough water, the movement will be much less than on the upper decks.

At 3:30 PM we went to a safety briefing, then up to the 13th deck bow to get a good view as we left New York. We left the pier at 4:00 PM and passed under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge at 5 PM, at which point I went back in to see if our luggage had arrived.

Alas! It hadn’t. Because the original tickets had been for one room, our luggage tags were for that room as well. It took a bit longer and was a bit complicated, but we got it.

We had dinner, unpacked, and the my mom and I went to karaoke in the Bliss Ultra Lounge. She sang "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan and "Edelweiss" from The Sound of Music. I sang "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World and "I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers. I got some compliments so I think I did pretty well.

And now I’m back in our stateroom, settling my mind to sleep. I have my iPod ready beside me in case Grammy’s snoring wakes me up. She’s infamous for it. More tomorrow.

~Lizzie

Pier 88 and the Hudson River:

(This is a shot ofthe underside of the Verrazono-Narrows Bridge. The camera isn’t zoomed in at all. We really were this close.)

I’ll edit this a little bit later to add some photos from New York.

~Liz