Dave had some work colleagues/friends who were presently navigating the high seas on a cruise ship and today's port of call was going to be right here in Antigua!
"What perfect timing," he exclaimed, "let's rent a car and show them around!".
So we got ourselves a side-to slip in Jolly Harbour Marina, which allowed us to give Banyan a bit of a much-needed Spa Day, would allow our guests to clamber onboard with ease and comfort, and reserved ourselves a car for pick-up the next morning.
The first few minutes in the min-van had us questioning exactly where everything was, what side of the road we were to drive on, where exactly where we going and what our plans for the day were going to include!
"Hello, what's this?"
"I have no idea", I replied, proceeding onward with my habitual modus operandi which is to press any and all the buttons in random order until
something happens, and all this usually to Dave's annoyed chagrin type of raised eyebrow look, all with a smile of course.
Before long we were on our way, I with map in lap, navigating Dave towards St John's, getting stuck in a bit of red light traffic, eventually finding our way through one way narrow streets with 3 foot ditches on either side, so
"Drive careful" I yelped as I pointed him towards the right hand turn, left hand turn, don't go there, and oh, right in there is the parking lot, where the attendant directed us in. All the above not an easy feat to do given the much higher than normal volume of people and car traffic due to the cruise ship being in town, and oh you could just feel the excitement in the air !!
Truly, the most hazardous part of the whole operation was not in the driving on the wrong side, the one way and generally unmarked streets or the deep ditches instead of sidewalks... It was trying to safely navigate our way amongst the throngs of ladies offering to braid my hair, sell Dave a T-shirt, or invitations of,
"Come, look, at my precious jewellery, spices, crafts... I have something you want, come over here, come have a look" sing-singed the ladies in the pretty colourful garb. And oh, add to this, the tour-guide guys, milling about, maps in hand, hopeful in their offering to take us
anywhere our hearts desired, for a fee of course.
We managed to survive all that and kept on walking towards the waterfront,
where the cruise ship was docked.
It was lovely to walk about the relative early morning quiet in the pretty little side streets, watching the store shutters open, the sidewalks get swept of debris, the smiles... all while waiting for the cruise ship announcement that the passengers could disembark.
Before long everyone was acquainted and re-acquainted, Hugs and Handshakes were shared all around, and we began our journey back to the car, chit-chatting non-stop.
Not much you can accomplish with just a few short hours, but we had great fun visiting Nelson's Dockyard
and its old fort-type remnants of buildings,
followed by the impressive views at the Look-Off,
as yours truly had donned our tour guide masks for the day.
A stop onboard Banyan for a quick lunch, a walk to the beach afterwards... and then it was already time to head back to their cruiseship and wave good-bye.
It truly was a great day. Reliving old memories. Making new ones. Which had me reflecting on Friendships.
One of the hardest adaptations to this cruising type of lifestyle was to "leave" our way of life, our friends, to pursue this travelling and cruising dream. And in the months that have since passed, we've sadly acclimatized to having lost contact with some people, and surprisingly shaking our heads with pleasure as we've established a renewed contact with others. And all the while throwing friendship lines out to fellow cruisers and travellers along the way, forging more great relationships as we navigate these waters.
It is true what they say, it is not about what you have or what you accumulate over your years. Part of the Journey that is so important, no matter where you are, what you are doing, or what your Dream is: it is often about the people you choose to spend your time with, isn't it?
So here's to Friends. Old and New. Met and Un-Met. Hugs and Handshakes to all of you, our dear readers. Glad to have you onboard.