Happy 250th Birthday, America!!

Here we are - Day 179 of a 180 day Around the World cruise! In spite a very disappointing itinerary change, it's still been a great experience. We've visited places we've never been before, seen things we've never seen before and made friends with people we didn't know before.

It's such a special holiday for our country, and Vista is doing all they can to honor it. I'm unsure of the current stats but when this voyage began there were approximately 100 Canadians, 100 British and 700 Americans. While we celebrated with Canada a couple of days ago, there is a whole other spirit onboard the ship today! Add to that the full coverage of the celebration in Washington, DC and NY, people wearing their most patriotic clothing, pool and deck parties with an emphasis on American food (and more FOOD) - that's the way July 4th is celebrated onboard!

patriotism + chocolate = yummy!

 

I enjoyed watching the coverage of the celebration of America's 250th birthday, including the sailing tall ships, military flyovers and fireworks. We have lots to celebrate every single day. Yes, America has its problems but we are still blessed to live in the greatest nation in the entire world!

There's been a festive spirit onboard all day with people dressed in whatever red, white or blue attire they could put together. Some even wore celebratory headgear. I wonder, did someone really think that far ahead when they were packing?

The food is always good on the ship, but kudos to the culinary team for outdoing themselves yesterday! All kinds of food was being served in 3 different areas of the ship. Our plan was to cruise through all 3 and then decide what we wanted. However, we never made it past the Terrace Cafe to find out what the other offerings were. The brisket was the absolute best I've ever eaten - anywhere. I won't mention what else I had but there definitely was no calorie counting going on. I seriously have to settle down when we return home! 

After dinner there was singing and dancing on the deck until well past our bedtime. 

2 different bands played

Below is our cruise director, Peter (Pee-tah) from the UK. It's safe to say that shoes are his thing. We actually saw a video of him modeling his shoes today. He has probably 50 pairs of dress shoes on the ship and they are all over-the-top ridiculous. The shirts he wears are quite memorable as well.

 

Peter, our cruise director

 

one last sunset over the Atlantic

a nice way to end our cruise - July 4th Deck Party

 

Our last church service was this morning and we've been saying goodbye to friends we've made. We've been packing all day, trying to figure out what goes in checked bags and what goes into our Luggage Forward bags. It takes some figuring out because the latter doesn't allow any edibles, liquids, medications (even OTC ones), electronics or anything with batteries. This rules out a lot. There are also weight limitations on all bags - checked and Luggage Forward. So packing is trickier when following all of these restrictions.

Add to that, ALL bags (except carry-ons) have to be placed in the hallway by 9 pm tonight. Of course we still need to reserve toiletries and clothes for tomorrow morning. And we must be out of our room by 8 am for a long day of travel tomorrow.

We're thankful that we've been able to complete this trip Around the World. Of course we've missed home, family, friends, Chick Fila and Tex Mex. We have lots of "make up" stuff to take care of in the coming weeks, not the least of which is a trip to the hairdresser for me! Thank you for following along and keeping in touch over these last months. You've encouraged me to keep on!