Barbara J. Hamby

sign-up for our email list

Our Last Day at Sea

Enroute to Beijing

After being rocked to slumber and sleeping soundly all night, we awoke to heavily overcast weather and more rocking and rolling in the whistling wind out in the Yellow Sea. We had coffee in our cabin and Al went to breakfast while I showered and dressed. After my breakfast, I came back to the cabin to read and watch CNN accounts of the earthquake in Indonesia.

We read until lunchtime. When I went to lunch, I saw musicians setting up near the pool on deck in the wind and rain. They did have a canvas cover over their heads but it provided little shelter. I thought of my son Kurt and all the times he’s played drums in all kinds of weather.

I could find no place to sit when I got my lunch so took it to our stateroom to eat. Al went to the buffet later and I joined him for tea and dessert while he finished his lunch. I thought about taking a picture of the dessert table in the buffet to show my doctor when I get weighed next time. Al and I stopped on our way back from lunch to drop a few dollar bills in the penny and nickel slots. Very few.

When we returned to our cabin, we didn’t see many other ships , just lots of dreary gray sea. I heard the wind and saw water splashing the balcony rail and the sliding glass doors.

In early afternoon, I walked through the shops on board and bought a marked-down tee shirt and a pocketbook to read on the plane flying home. I priced packaged snacks to take with us and decided to take our chances buying food in Beijing. There are reportedly convenience stores and possibly even a market near the hotel. I’m quite sure the five-star hotel we’re booked in won’t serve food in our budget bracket. We don’t like all the dining pomp and circumstance anyway.

For supper I had a sandwich made from a roll and some meat and cheese I brought back from the lunch buffet

I debated with myself a while about going to the evening musical, but decided to rest instead. We have another tour tomorrow into Dalian, then we come back and pack, preparing to leave the ship on Monday morning.

We will go to the Presidential Hotel in Beijing. I understand it’s a three-hour ride from the port into the city. Monday afternoon we go from the hotel to the Great Wall, a six-hour tour.

We went to bed early to be up and prepared for a 9:00 a.m. departure the following day.