L.A. to Miami

New Year, New adventure

I'm on my second cruise in, what, 4 months? I originally wanted to take one of those Trans-Pacific cruises from Los Angeles to Japan but I simply had too much to do before its departure (mid-February.) That deadline, having come and gone, got me thinking of where to go next. Asia was simply going to have to wait a bit. I looked around and found this one, going from Los Angeles to Miami via the Panama Canal. And so I thought, hmm, why take a 5 hr flight when instead, I could simply lounge, gorge myself at daily buffets, catch a show or two and gradually make my way eastward across the Caribbean. 

Hee hee, so here I am. 

Now I thought my previous ship was big with its 14 levels or so. But it pales in comparison to this 20 level behemoth with close to 5,000 passengers. It seriously takes me 15 minutes to get anywhere! And as before I vowed to not take the elevator. My legs are gonna look fiiiine!!

The itinerary is 7 stops with a full day of sailing in between. It'll visit Cabo San Lucas & Acapulco in Mexico. Then Guatemala; Panamá City; go through the Panama Canal; stop in Cartagena, Colombia; George Town in the Cayman Islands and finally arrive in Miami 2 weeks later. I'm excited about Acapulco. The 1960s playground of the rich and famous..I just wonder if it still has any of that "old world" sheen left. 

Cabo San Lucas

I'm onto these little old ladies who scurry down the stairs to grab the nearest tender to the shore. They keep muttering as an excuse "I have to catch up with my husband." OK, I guess that's a possibility. But when the same woman does it to me on the way back from shore to ship...tsk tsk shame on her. Not known for keeping my silence I ask her "did you ever catch up with your husband or is he simply avoiding you?" She glares at me and goes to the other side of the dock to try her luck there. 

I don't know what Cabo survives on other than tourists. Every shop is, in this order, a bar, a restaurant, a tee-shirt shop, a pharmacy. And repeat and repeat on down the block. 

At the port, I felt a bit sorry for the older men as the pharmacy criers would saunter over and in a not-so-silent-voice, "señor, you want viagra cheap?" But not to me.. oh no, it was "señor, you want hair? We got pills for that!" The gall!?!

Sea Days

As I mentioned, every other day is a slow cruise day at sea. In fact it got to be so low energy that most nooks and cranies on the ship were littered with sleeping bodies. It looked like an ether bomb went off and everyone simply passed out where they were. It's quite disconcerting. 

Then the next day, with the port in sight, all stupor vanishes and a hectic nervous energy takes over. It's quite enjoyable going from one extreme to another. And I too got caught in its grip. Lazing one day, running around the next. 

At Sea

Last night I watched my first hypnotism show. She brought volunteers on stage and proceeded to hypnotize them. The level of disbelief in the audience was revealed when one of the ladies completely flopped down asleep in her chair within minutes. The gasps of astonishment reverberated throughout the theater. The contestants went on to do silly things but what interested me was finding these people after the show and asking them about their experience. And I did. One lady I spoke to was fully cognizant of what she was doing (i.e. using her shoe as a cellphone) but couldn't stop herself from complying with the request. Another guy didn't remember a thing and had to be shown a video of what he did. That's scary!

The next day, the hypnotherapist held a seminar on the uses of hypnotherapy and ultimately to sell her services. But before the sales pitch, she had the audience do an exercise in relaxation (akin to a guided meditation.) At the end of the exercise, which felt like only 5 minutes, we were shocked that over 20 minutes had gone by! 

Acapulco 

Finally made it to this town. My first attempt was over 25 years ago when I had been invited to a wedding at the Acapulco Yacht Club (o the circles I used to run in) but Hurricane Pauline came barreling through and put the kibosh on those festivities. So today was a long time in coming. 

Went to witness the cliff diving, went to several lookout points and drove through town. All in all..meh. This place might have been all the rage from the 40s to the 60s but I think the veneer (or sheen, as I worded it earlier) wore off starting in the 70s when all of the new money for resorts went to the development of Cancún and other resort towns along the pacific (i.e. Mazatlàn, Puerto Vallarta, Ixpata, etc..) I'm glad I saw it though but I don't think I'll be back. 

Guatemala 

This spot is new (it seems) on the cruising scene. The port is tiny but it serves as a linchpin to excursions into the interior, especially Antigua, an old colonial town, being the star attraction. I've been before so I wasn't up for an 8hr excursion. Instead, at the port, a small replica of a typical Guatemalan village was built to cater to tourists who just want to stretch their legs a bit and walk off of the ship. And it's darling! Which begs the question: why can't all of the villages and towns in this country be cleaned and fixed up? It might be a bit mean to say but most of the towns here are filthy, grimy, smelly things. This place wasn't. Obviously it can be done so, why don't they? 

Now don't get all preachy and try to explain to me the colonial... social... economic... blah blah ramifications blah blah. I'm telling it can be done by the mere fact that I'm standing in the middle of this place and it's gorgeous!! 

Panama City

Boy has this city changed. More towers & definitely more money. The nightlife part of town has moved to the old colonial section known as Casco Viejo. It used to be abandoned, with just building façades precariously held up by slanted support beams and 2x4s. Interiors had rotted out, weeds everywhere and the whole area was a bit sketchy. But over the intervening years, the buildings were fixed up with lots of investment from the government and foreign capital. Now it's hip with rooftop bars, restaurants and boutique hotels. The old entertainment district in the meantime was done in by covid and has been completely abandoned. Seriously, it's a total ghost town. 

Panama Canal 

First time going through. I've been to the Miraflores locks before and that was instructive and fun. This time the ship went through the newly constructed locks that are for vessels too large for the old locks. What's interesting now is not the length of the ships but their height! We passed with just a few meters to spare under the Bridge of the Americas so it must be timed with the tides as they are quite dramatic here:15 foot tidal swings.

After the first set of locks then it's a leisurely "stroll" along the old Chagres River which, with the locks and several dams turned into Gatun Lake (the largest man made lake in the world.) It took the better part of the day, entering at 6 a.m., exiting via another set of locks on the northern (Atlantic) side at 6 p.m. 

I'm sure y'all remember from geography class that Panamá is in the shape of an "S" laying on its side and so the canal goes up & down (north/south): from the Pacific to the Atlantic. And to be slightly nerdy and cerebral, in the ship's library I found a copy of David McCullough's book on the creation of the canal. I was enthralled. And I was in a hurry to finish it too. Nothing like some light reading of 600 pages in 5 days (I found it the day before entering the canal, for those of you who are checking the math of the elapsed & remaining cruise days.)

Cartagena 

My favorite city in the Americas. Gorgeous Spanish colonial walled city. I won't get started because then that's all you'll read for the next 4 pages! You just have to go. 

George Town, Grand Cayman 

Ain't much to this town. I'm surprised that it had so little to offer. No real center, no gingerbread homes, no nothin'. However, up the coast is Seven Mile Beach. The quintessential Caribbean white sand beach with turquoise clear water. 

Final thoughts

So this got me thinking: What am I seeking? And yes, being quite critical of most of these places... I think in the end I'm looking for a place in time. In essence, to find that funky, low key beach town. Akin to the Caribbean Islands or Mexican beach towns in the 70s. I remember working in Cancún in 1990 and driving down the coast, about 1 hr to the beach at Akumal. We'd drive right onto the beach, the description of which is beyond words due to its beauty. The blues of the water, the greens of the jungle leading to the water and the blinding white sand. Of course now, 30 years on, that entire coastline has been completely over developed with hotels, restaurants, bars, tacky tee shirt shops.. I know, progress... but still, it makes me wistful. 

And so the search continues...