We arrived late Monday evening. Yesterday, after sleeping in til 10:30 am, Chrissy and I started out on foot. Walked from the hotel toward the waterfront boardwalk. I kept looking at people wondering if they were going on SAS and finally HAD to ask a woman dressed in a tencel outfit that I recognized from the Travelsmith catalogue, "Are you by any chance going on Semester at Sea?" She said no, looking at me like I was a freak. Shortly after that a woman asked if we would take a picture of her with her daughter and, of course, I asked if she was going on SAS..and she said YES!!! It was so exciting to find a fellow voyager. Her name is Darcy - from Philly. I could remember that because it was Darcy who did the flowers etc for Carolyn's wedding to Barry.
We walked quite a way and I was thrilled just to be able to do it - (albeit with my trusty cane) thanks, in great part to 'working out' on the stairs at Stacy and CJ's in Indiana for a week. The walk was lovely, though it was pretty humid. A cab driver told us it usually is humid and that they really were suffering recently when the temps rose to the 90's. We cabbed up to the Citadel - a fortress overlooking the harbor and the city. Young men in kilts and fur hats- all college students who do this during the summer- were marching to the music of bagipes and drums. Canons were fired. "Wives" of officers walked back and forth in the hoop-skirted dresses and 'wives' of corporals 'did the laundry'. The views were beautiful with water all around and boats galore.
I have to confess, however, that I've found it a bit difficult to focus on Halifax and the sights we were seeing because I JUST WANT TO GIT ON THAT BOAT!!! I do believe that coming to Nova Scotia would be a very nice thing to do if you had the time to really explore Halifax and to take a couple of trips around the area. Would love to drive the Cabot Trail but time just won't permit.
Chrissy just found out online that the ship will arrive tomorrow morning at 8 and that we should be able to see it from our hotel window. She just set the alarm. I e-mailed the SAS office asking what time I can board. I can't wait!
We had a delicious dinner and great conversation this evening with Nikki McEacheran and her beau. Lovely gal, a friend Justin met at the Angels Among Us walk at Duke last year. Her brother, Tony, is a 6 year survivor of brain cancer and walked from Duke to his home in Sarasota, FL to raise awareness and $ for research. Stacy & CJ joined him for a while near Charleston.
That's it for now. Thanks for your e-mails. I'll try to answer questions through this blog and will reply personally to e-mails when time allows. Hope everyone's well and thanks so much for your support and encouragement in my adventure. Much love to all.
PS: Prayers and good thoughts for the Kennedy Family, huh?
Thanks Mom! 8AM How exciting! You are going to die when you see the SHIP coming into harbor. Not only will you be in awe of the ship, but you're not going to believe that you're actually sailing around the world on it! YIPPEE!!!!!! Oh how I remember the feeling.....xo elise
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