Spring Break

Spring break is one of the best times to be in Texas. The weather’s usually nice, and outdoor fun things to do aren’t miserably hot. This year, the kids are obsessed with roller coasters, so we bought Season Passes to Six Flags (which also includes a variety of other theme parks and water parks). Thus far, we’ve spent two days at Six Flags in San Antonio, and two days at Six Flags in Dallas.

The excellent “Dr. Diabolical” drop at Six Flags. The kids are in the back row. We all rode it a dozen times.

The kids spent the actual days of spring break on an adventure trip with their mom to Costa Rica:

While they were out of town, I took a quick four day cruise out of Galveston on the Mariner of the Seas.

To keep costs down, this time I took a Deck 7 “interior view” cabin that overlooked the Promenade:

… but I didn’t spend much time in the room. I spent a lot of time at shows, walking the top deck, enjoying music (“Ed”, a Brazilian singer/guitarist) in the pub, and generally relaxing. The weather was imperfect (very windy with intermittent drizzles) but it was quite nice overall.

Most importantly, I achieved my secret goal for the trip, making some crucial progress in writing my long-overdue book which I’ve resolved to publish later this year.

The comedian (Rodney Johnson) was selling a copy of his book, and he autographed my copy with an inscription (coincidentally) perfect for my goals on the cruise:

Apparently, I was the only person to buy the book on the first day, and at the show on the last day, he asked if I was in the audience (“I am!”), had read it (“I did! Cover to cover!”) and what I thought of it (On the spot, I said “Pretty good”, and emailed him a funnier response later).

I often sit in the front row at shows, and I was called on stage to help Michael Holly with a magic trick (We held a chain and he walked through it.).

My original shore excursion (an adventure park) was canceled, I made the best of it with a short speedboat and snorkeling trip.

30 horsepower isn’t a lot, but it was plenty to jump the waves

After returning the boat, I killed an hour at a pretty swim-up bar.

With just one day at a destination and two sea days, I also booked a “Behind the Scenes” tour of the boat, getting the chance to see a galley, the provisions storerooms, the laundry, the bridge, the engine control room, and backstage in the theater.

The crew work incredibly long hours: 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, on 7 month contracts. I resolved to think of this guy any time I’m feeling overwhelmed with work– He’s working in a windowless (underwater) room, hand-folding thousands of towels per day from a room-sized pile almost as tall as he is.

All in all, it was a busy but great spring break. Now, buckling down to get back in shape (two 10Ks coming up), finish booking various trips (including Kilimanjaro!), and otherwise get back to some semblance of a routine.

-Eric

Impatient optimist. Dad. Author/speaker. Created Fiddler & SlickRun. PM @ Microsoft 2001-2012, and 2018-, working on Office, IE, and Edge. Now working on Microsoft Defender. My words are my own, I do not speak for any other entity. View more posts