Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2005. Mattie was three and half years old and we snapped this photo of him in front of one of his favorite restaurants. He loved this spot because it had a little pond with fish and turtles. Sitting and eating wasn't something he really liked doing. So whenever we ate at this restaurant, we always took breaks while eating to come out and visit the fish and turtles. Given that, this became the backdrop for our 2005 Christmas card.
Quote of the day: He that will not sail till all dangers are over must never put to sea. ~ Thomas Fuller
It was day 2 on the ship..... another all sea day. The wind is certainly dying down from yesterday. Which I greatly appreciate since by last night I felt very sea sick, despite being on dramamine. This is the first cruise where I am taking a double dosage of dramamine and also taking zofran for nausea. Thankfully I have a zofran script since I suffer from migraines. As it helps with nausea associated with sea sickness. On top of seasickness, I am fever and have a sore throat. I feel like I swallowed a porcupine, and at this point, I am sick of tea with honey.
This morning, my mom and I attended a lecture series on Martinique. The lecturer's name is Cherilyn May. She is a charming British woman who clearly is happy to share her Caribbean knowledge with us. She educated us about Mt Pelee. The volcano on Martinique. As she was describing the volcano, the image of Mt Vesuvius located in Italy popped in my head. Both of these volcanoes decimated towns and people.
The volcano's eruption in 1902 destroyed the town of Saint-Pierre, killing 28,000 people in the space of a few minutes, in the worst volcanic disaster of the 20th century. The eruption, left only two survivors in the direct path of the blast flow: Louis-Auguste Cyparis survived because he was in a poorly ventilated, dungeon-like jail cell and Havivra Da Ifrile, a young girl, reportedly escaped with injuries during the eruption by taking a small boat to a cave down the shore, and was later found adrift 2 miles from the island, unconscious.
After the volcanic eruption, Victor Depaz (who was fortunate to be off the island when the volcano eruption took place) came back to the island and replanted the 600+ acres with high end blue sugarcane. This rum is actually called rhum. An abbreviation from the term rhum agricole, this type of rum can only come from Martinique. And while most rums are distilled from fermented molasses, rhum is made from fresh pressed sugar cane juice.
It was a captivating presentation and she said by the time we finish her five part series, we will feel as if we have visited the CIA. Which is ironic, because we live in DC, but given the nature of the agency, we have never seen any aspect of the CIA. Linda explained that whatever she shares with us, was declassified and was evaluated by the CIA before she could present on Princess Cruises. Her stories were wonderful and engaging, so much so that many audience members stayed after her presentation to ask questions.
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