Regatta Cruise #8, 2016

 No 6 or 7.  Dang.  But here's 8.  

Date: Tue, Nov 1, 2016

Subject: My Regatta Cruise #8 

 Me again, Only a couple more weeks to go...lol. New York City. We sailed by the Statue of Liberty around 6am and had to be up to have the experience . Quite a sight. In New York we were once again at the end of a "cruise" for a great many people and the beginning of another to Montreal. 

 For us it was me to say goodbye to Don and Susan among others. Plus we were ge ng a new Captain and Cruise Director. These things can change the whole personality of a ship so it's always interesting. By now we're old hats and it's just another day. We had dinner with Don and Susan and another couple the night before and said our goodbyes. But, as always, we run into them about three more times that night and the next morning before it was actually time to get off the ship. 

 Goodbye, we'll keep in touch, we'll miss you. Hugs. Kinda sad. So it's me to go see the sights and we got off the ship and went to stand in the taxi line. And low and behold, who should be right there at the curb getting into their limo but Don and Susan. By now it's pretty funny about how long our goodbye is becoming. So we do it all again and laugh about how we're always in the same place at the same me. But this is it......goodbye. We waited a bit for a cab and headed down to see the memorial at the site of the Twin Towers. 

Last me I was there was in 2008 with Rachel and there wasn't much to see except a big hole and lots of construction. The last time Joyce was there she had lunch at "Windows On The World". I think I'm right about that. We marveled at the super tall One World Trade Center which is the tallest building in the Western hemisphere. The top disappeared into the clouds. 

Nearby are the 9-11 Memorials and it's hard to describe the feeling of being there and see the space and so many names. It's quite sobering to say the least. I'm taking pictures and look up and, guess who is there doing the same thing? Don and Susan. Yikes. Through our tears of sorrow we had to laugh at running into each other yet again. This time we took photos and the last one you see of the two of them holding hands is truly the last we saw of this wonderful couple. They have been together since she was 14 and he was 17 and I can't tell you how much we enjoyed their company. 

The memorial is a hard act to follow but we took a cab to the Soho area and had breakfast and later to Times Square and had deli pastrami lunch as only New York can provide. Have I mentioned that I was growing? 

On our sail away we were on the Manhattan side of the ship so getting great shots from our balcony was all good. We walked down a deck below and outside to once again sail by the Statue of Liberty. I love New York. Our new captain made himself known by being a horn tooter. He blew the ships horn when passing under bridges and when dropping off the pilot. I liked him right away. Off we go to a lot of places I've never seen before. 

 See you soon, Gayle