The Celebrity Century Cruise
Here it is, the 23rd of April, and I still love my second retirement! Sounds like I am rubbing it in, doesn't it? Maybe I am, but that is a great feeling. I have now been officially out of work since March 31 when I left my 4-month consulting gig at the new Agency. Since that time, I have taken a Caribbean cruise with Mrs. Ex-Fed and also have just done some relaxing around the house.The Caribbean cruise was excellent. We sailed from Fort Lauderdale to San Juan. There was only a 6 hour stop in San Juan so Mrs. Ex-Fed and I decided to just stay on the ship. The docking area was a taxi ride away from any tourist area and you were advised that walking around San Juan at night was not a very wise idea. It would be similar to walking around the Anacostia area of Washington, DC, at night. There was an excellent singer for the evening show on the ship and that was better than seeing San Juan again.
The ship then sailed to St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. Now, that is a great place to visit. The wife and I took a taxi to a small beach and really enjoyed the gin clear water of the Caribbean. There were plenty of small fish around the rocky outcrops where we did some shallow water snorkeling. The fish swarmed around us when we opened some small packages of cereal from the ship. The sand was white and smooth, the water was clear and warm, and the drinks were mighty smooth, too. I enjoyed some excellent local beers and Mrs. Ex-Fed enjoyed a couple of rum drinks made with coconut milk and Bailey’s Irish Cream. We went back to the ship after several hours of pure luxury on the beach and had a wonderful dinner and then on to the Piano Bar.
The next stop of the Celebrity Century was St. Martin. This is a small island that is actually a divided island. Half the island is Dutch and half the island belongs to France. The ship docked in Phillipsburg, which is on the Dutch side – where most of the shops are. We decided to do a tourist thing and took a catamaran sailing charter halfway around the island onto the French side where we did swimming and shallow water snorkeling on a picturesque beach. There was plenty of rum punch and beer on all parts of the trip! I really enjoyed floating in the warm water sipping on an ice-cold beer – and watching the lovely nudist ladies who were swimming and sunning their shapely bodies right next to where we were swimming. Good thing that Mrs. Ex-Fed doesn’t mind me leering from time to time!
We enjoyed a couple more days at sea with nothing to do except to walk around the beautiful ship, read a good book by the pool or in a quiet lounge, have a tropical cocktail at Happy Hour time (it had to be 4 o’clock somewhere in the world just about anytime), and break into a great big grin when thinking about the employees at the new Agency – or at the old Agency!
Unfortunately, the week goes by too quickly and it is back to the reality of retired life. I felt really great about having a vacation end and not having to think about the commute in the Washington DC traffic each morning. I also did not have to think about projects that were piling up on my desk because no one else had done them while I was on vacation. Once again, readers, RETIRE as soon as you are able to do it! You may be missed for a short time at the office but that is not your problem! Life is wonderful and you should enjoy every moment.
posted by Ex-Fed @ 9:03 PM
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