Comfort Level

Cruise #7- First of all, congratulations to Mike and Courtney. I wish I could have been there. I hope everything went according to plan. I'm sure it was a good party and it would have been nice to see everyone all spruced up. This week I stayed on the ship again in Grand Turk and got some things done. People have been asking if I am still enjoying life on a ship. When I say people, I mean, Mom. I think this is the coolest job I have ever had. I am so busy all the time that I don't have time to think about my lack of privacy. Every week new people get on the ship. So the conversations never seem to get stale. There is always something new to talk about. If it weren't for the fact that I can't come home on a regular basis, I would sign a longer contract next time. Ship life is one that suits me. Plus, on top of everything I am gaining experience in a professional theatre. I said before I left that I would have taken this job if it was on land. I still feel the same way. Especially, now that I have learned the shows and can sit back and enjoy them.

Our fly-ons for this cruise were Marcus Monroe, Leighann Lord, Jerome Dabney and Anthony Acosta. Marcus as usual was awesome. I like doing his shows because it isn't like doing real work. It feels more like hanging out. Leighann is a comedian. She gets a pretty good response though her comedy style is not what I generally find funny. Mostly, female perspective jokes. Jerome is a Motown singer. His act involves a lot of dancing similar to the Temptations. In fact, at the end of his show he brings four guys on stage to do a synchronized dance with him. Anthony Acosta has started reading my blog so I have only nice things to say. He's cool. Really, you have to believe me. Just ask him.

Half Moon Cay this week was full of mosquitoes. There apparently had been a storm there several days before we arrived. As most of you know, puddles are good for creating new mosquitoes. I got back to the ship with many bites. I took the first tender out again and enjoyed an early morning swim. Then, once the guests arrived I got out and walked around the island. My goal for the day was find the lagoon that I have been hearing about. I followed the nature walk to the back side of the island. It was less than impressive. It reminded of lake Oconee. Not to knock our home Lake but compared to the beauty of the front side of the island it was rather lame. I had to fight through thick brush to get to the shore. From there, I continued along the trail back to until I got back around. I saw several types of lizards and birds. This how I got eaten up by the mosquitoes. I stopped to take pictures here and there. Every time that I did this I would get at least three mosquitoes on me. After such an early morning I left around noon to go back to the ship.

In Nassau, I got off the ship with Jenn(lighting tech), Jay(guitar soloist), Greg(sax), John(piano soloist) and Matt(drummer). I had seen a park on one of my walks a couple of weeks ago and wanted to go but didn't have time. I organized a trip to get some food and carry it to the park for a picnic. Bad Idea. We bought some gyros in town and walked to the Clifford Park. It was pretty much an overgrown soccer field with an old building next to it. From where I was standing a couple of weeks ago it looked pretty cool. The old building was the Advanced Guardhouse and Artillery Barracks for Fort Charlotte. It was interesting but hard to get a good photo of because of the soccer field and giant parking lot and " useless crap" vendors in the back. Oh, I also got bit by some kind of horse fly while I was there. I had a welt the size of a quarter on my ankle. After that disaster I walked around town and found a monument for the Bahamians who fought in the Great War. Also, took pictures of some pretty cool buildings while I was there.

I got off as soon as we could this week in New York. Greg was meeting a friend up town and I tagged along. We went to Gray's Papaya. They are supposed to have the best hot dogs in the City. They have been featured in movies and such. The hot dogs were good but I was surprised to find out that the best thing there was their papaya drink Quite possibly the best thing I have ever put in my mouth. After parting ways with Greg I met up with John and Matt. We went to The Empire State Building. It had spectacular views of New York and New Jersey(not so spectacular). It was cool but not much to do there. We looked around for about an hour and came back to the ship.

Picture #1- Jerome Dabney's show. If you look on the right side of the streak you can see his outline. It is hard to get quick shots in low light because of the slow shutter speed. The Miracle Orchestra is behind him.

Picture #2-A Curly Tailed Lizard on Half Moon Cay

Picture #3-Some kind of Iguana on Half Moon Cay. I saw several that were at least twice his size. The bigger ones run away when you approach so I couldn't get a shot of them.

Picture #4-Advanced Guardhouse and Artillery Barracks for Fort Charlotte at Clifford Park.

Picture #5-Monument to those who served in "The Great War".

Picture #6-Office Building in Nassau.

Picture #7-Wall Street from the Empire State Building.

Picture #8-Me with buildings coming out of my arm pit(not on purpose) at The Empire State Building.