Greetings, readers. Betcha thought I'd gone back to procrastinating, didn't you? Well, I have, but that's not the reason for the long silence. I just got back from a 3-week vacation in New York and the UK.
It started out as a quick trip to surprise my sister for her 40th birthday. I kept quiet about it because...well...it was a SURPRISE. I booked my flight, got a hotel nearby and started anticipating the look of surprise/horror on my sister's face. I planned to find out where she was having dinner with her friends, then just show up with balloons and a gift and watch her pass out in shock. Sisterly love...ain't it grand?
A couple of weeks later, we got a call from some friends of ours who were traveling with a group onboard the Queen Mary from New York to Southampton. They had a spare cabin because someone had dropped out, and they wanted to know if we like to join them. Um, let me think about that for a minute. Dash across the Atlantic on a crammed flight, or take a six-day voyage on a ship with a Canyon Ranch Spa and a black tie dress code for dinner. COUNT ME IN!
I spent the next week canceling flights and hotels and booking new flights and hotels. I read the literature on the Queen Mary and worked myself into a frenzy planning all the things I'd do onboard. An exercise class each day, of course. Maybe a dance lesson, a massage or a soak in the aquatherapy pool. Or maybe I'd curl up in the 8000-book library and work my way through some trashy romance novels. So many choices, and only 6 days!
In the meantime, it became more and more obvious that keeping my mouth shut just isn't one of my strengths. I can plan an event to within an inch of its life, but keeping quiet about said event ties my brain in knots. I spoke to my mum and sister before leaving on the trip and the whole plan almost slipped out SO many times! That's right--I didn't tell my mum I was coming, either. No offense, Mum, but I definitely got my desire to update the world from SOMEWHERE, and I think we both know who that "somewhere" is. :)
Anyway, the planets aligned, my mouth stayed shut, and we eventually found ourselves on a bus to a terminal in Brooklyn to board this:
No, those aren't toy boats in the foreground. The QM2 is just one honking great ship!
In my next post, I'll show you more photos of the ship, the voyage, and the general fun that was had by all.
