Sailed this day nineteen leagues, and determined to count less than the true number, that the crew might not be dismayed if the voyage should prove long. ~Christopher Columbus

My two week self-imposed period of mourning has made me realize several things. You can read about them on my personal blog, if interested.

After the first week, I thought maybe it would be nice to get away from everything for a couple of days. And how fortuitous? Groupon had a deal on a short weekend cruise that was pretty darn cheap. I mean, I thought cruises were in the thousands of dollars. Imagine my surprise when I saw the price! That Groupon sure is good. I called on Tuesday and asked if they had any openings for Thursday, and they did. The cheapest cabin had no windows. I figured that was OK because we wouldn’t be in the room much.

So we drove down to Long Beach California. And there she was, the Queen Mary. We boarded just before 4 pm and were taken to our cabin, which was surprisingly roomy. And surprisingly dark when you turned off the lights. At 6 pm the ship’s horn blew and we were off. But I felt nothing. Such a smooth ride. Unbelievable. I commented to my wife and she started to crack up. About a half hour later she was able to gather enough breath to tell me the Queen Mary has been moored since around 1967. She’s a hotel and museum (not my wife, but the QM). And she’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Well, no wonder it was so cheap! We stayed for two days. I will come back to the boat and our experiences there in several future posts. But the one memorable moment was, the first morning I heard through the walls what I took to be a baby sniffling or crying. Then I realized it was the sound of the next door occupants enjoying each other! The walls are paper thin because the white noise of the engines when at sea would usually mask such connubial bliss!

No longer!