by Paula Johnson
Fishing was done at Clearwater, and now time to head toward Miami and board the Queen Elizabeth. But first, we had another important stop along the way.
A special friend and classmate of mine, John Pettit, lives with his wife, Gail, in Sarasota just 5 minutes off I-75. As with many retired people, our schedules were full. The only time we could squeeze each in for a visit was on our way passing by toward Miami.
Though John and I have been family friends and classmates throughout our entire lives, this was a first meeting for John and Curt and for Gail and me. We enjoyed a wonderful time together, but the drive to Miami was a long one, and soon to be longer.
I had put the address of the hotel into GPS, and away we went. The traffic and highway layout into and throughout Miami is multi-layered and under construction. I thought I was glad for GPS.
When we had “arrived at your destination” it was NOT our hotel. It was A hotel, just not ours. After several tries to locate our hotel, it was apparent that GPS was not our answer. I pulled into the Mom and Pop hotel and entered the nice lobby.
When I explained my plight to Mom, Pop came to the desk. He was a delight from the start. He explained that I had indeed reached the correct address, but unfortunately for me, there was another exact address on the south side of the Miami airport.
Much to this social science teacher’s joy and comfort, he rushed from the lobby to his office and returned with a MAP! Yes, a real fold-out glossy paper map. I think he could tell from my age that I had seen and used one before.
He unfolded it and rearranged it to our area of Miami and proceeded to mark our present location and spoke as he drew the directions around the east end of Miami airport to the south side and how to find the same street and address of the hotel I needed.
Well, youngsters, it worked like a charm. At breakfast the next morning I overheard two other groups of guests describing their horror stories of trying to get to this hotel. That made me feel very lucky to find another cartophile in the sea of Miami.
All the reasons for choosing this hotel went as planned: room ready, transfers to the port in the morning prepared, easy parking and leaving my car for 9 days done, a way to return to the hotel after the voyage in place, and breakfast in the morning for Curt.
Those years of herding the Edison Jr. High 8th graders through O’Hare, to D.C., and touring the greater D.C.-Williamsburg areas have really paid off in my “golden” years. Arriving at the Miami port terminal, taking care of luggage, finding the entrance (interpreting directions), and having all documents (ship and country) in order did help the stress level.
The ship was new to us. We had never taken a cruise on The Cunard Line. Curt found a deal on the website Vacations To Go. We were able to take advantage of the 68% off a balcony and get a handicapped room to boot.
The Queen Elizabeth is a British ship luxury cruise liner, much like the Titanic, but minus the iceberg! It is smaller than many other cruiser ships – we had less than 2000 passengers aboard. Because it is a luxury liner, there are no zip lines or rock walls to climb. The experience was quiet – I only had one 10-year-old run into me in the hallway.
Curt had a scooter this trip, and his independence was worth every penny. We each explored areas of our own interest – Curt sent in search of food and entertainment places, and I sought out reclusive areas to read.
A favorite for me was The Garden Salon on the Lido deck near but not part of the pool. Curt found a place for us to spend many an evening: The Queen’s Room with a huge dance floor in front of the band’s stage.
Unpacked, we spent the Sail Away on our balcony watching Miami fade out of sight.
We had been rerouted to avoid the hurricane. So, two ports off the list, and two new ones added. Life is good.
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