Day 5 of the food Cruise              

This was going to be an easy day of shopping at Cozumel. We were excited to start the day and we were finally figuring things out on the boat; how to get around, where to go and not go. We knew in the mornings not to go to the buffet tables where everyone else were walking around like zombies, trying to grab whatever fleshy thing you lay in front of them. It was best to go to the dining hall and be served. That particular morning was nice; we got sat at a nice quiet table for two. I will admit I did miss the enjoyment of chatting with the other people at a table, you never know who you might meet.

I had eggs benedict and some fruit. FYI; Lemuel Benedict, a retired Wall Street stock broker, claimed that he had wandered into the Waldorf Hotel in 1894 and, hoping to find a cure for his morning hangover, ordered "buttered toast, poached eggs, crisp bacon, and hollandaise." Oscar Tschirky, the famed maître d'hôtel, was so impressed with the dish that he put it on the breakfast and luncheon menus but substituted ham for the bacon and a toasted English muffin for the toast. I believe my wife had some French toast, which I was hoping to snag a bite, because it looked very good. The breakfast really was the highlight for the meals on the trip. We enjoyed our nice quiet breakfast together and began our day at port.

This was a short trip at port and really was not a lot of time to explore. We spent the whole day shopping, more about what we bought and saw at www.when-life.blogspot.com. It was a hot day and I was in need of something to drink, so we went into a local store to get something. You typically would not think of it, but all the labels were in Spanish. Yes a Coke still says Coke on the bottle, but all the ingredients and writings were all in Spanish. We were kind of fascinated by this as we looked at the candy bars and chips. It was the same packaging, but with different writing. Uh duh, we were in a different country, which spoke a different language. I still felt a little like Indiana Jones finding something unique, but that just shows that I really don’t get out that much. By the way a Sprite tastes the same in Cozumel as it does in the U.S.

So after an afternoon of shopping in the hot sun we were ready to get back on the boat for lunch. We were in the mood for something normal. I was surprised to hear my wife suggest pizza. I acted like it was an o.k. suggestion, but deep inside I was doing back flips. So to the pizza buffet we went. I got a Calzone and a slice of pizza. It was a nice afternoon; most people ate at a local restaurant that was just off the port. So for once the buffet was calm, except for this one kid who tried to cut in front of my wife. I was sitting at my table watching all unfold before my eyes. I saw the kid running from the outside; he came into the dining hall with no shirt on, and was going straight for the pizza. He didn’t care who was in front, he grabbed a tray and tried to push his way in front of my wife. I was thinking of the excuse I was going to have to give to the parents on why their kid had pepperoni up his nose, but my wife did the right thing. She just slightly pushed the kid back. It was great; it was not a hard push or anything. She just stepped back in front of him. The kid had a look of shock on his face like he didn’t know what just happened.  Personally, I think the kid should have been hoisted by his swim trunks up the flag pole and his parents be allow to smack him around like a piñata.  But all ended well.

Dinner time was simple. I did not see anything interesting on the menu. So, I went with a hamburger. I figured you cannot possibly mess up a hamburger. Guess what…. They messed up a hamburger. I was so disappointed. It was as if while we were at port and off the boat, the chefs went into everyone’s cabin and cut the soles off of shoes. I took a little glance at my shoes just to be sure. I was so hoping I could once again use the advantage of ordering double off the menu, but there was nothing else I wanted. I did have a nice chocolate dessert and was tempted to order another just to prove my point that these people did not know who they were messing with. But, it was time to close things down and my wife and I took a nice walk around the boat. We walked passed the 24 hour ice cream bar and I did some damage there so I could sleep knowing that my stomach was satisfied. Don’t forget to check out www.when-life.blogspot.com to read about the rest of our Cozumel adventure.