Roatan

Nov 22nd
Roatan, Honduras

Yet another visit to a country I’ve never been to, but today unfortunately had a rub. Because of the new dance cast, the band was needed to perform tech runs, or practice shows where the dancers could go through the motions and the singers get used to singing with a live background. So after an early boat drill and a rehearsal directly after around 11:00 (which started 40 minutes or so late), we lost most of the day. I got off with Brandon as soon as possible and had about 90 minutes in port before the 2:15 crew return time. It was a really interesting place though, somewhere that you might see on a travel channel, think it looks really cool, but not really want to go there yourself. The city was really small and just built along the water front with one main road, the shops were all very small and dirty, the people all looked fairly impoverished, and it wasn’t as nice of an area as Cozumel, or even Belize. But, it was still really great just because of the authenticity of the city. It felt local and fairly undisturbed by the tourists, especially if you found the right places to look. The area was beautiful and the weather was really hot. We just walked down the main road aways, Brandon bought some sunscreen at a little shop, then we stopped for lunch. We went to some crummy looking local place and had some of the best fried chicken ever! It was so good, and both of us ate for a total of $8, less than that even. Following the lunch, we departed the also somewhat dirty establishment hoping we didn’t pick up tapeworms somehow, and started walking back. Brandon had paid with a $10, meaning he got some change back in the local currency, and seeing as we’re unfortunately not returning to that port, we needed to find a place for him to spend it. We ended up buying what turned out to be what Brandon knows as Leachy(sp) Nuts. I guess these things grow in the area, and in there shell, look like red gerbils with spiky hair. So it’s not the most inviting thing to eat, but you pull it out of its skin and it really has a great taste. He bought the bag and we walked back to the ship taking pictures and eating these weird things. After getting back, we had another tech run, followed by a rehearsal for the show that night. We then played two shows for this singer named Delisco, who I guess won some big reality TV talent contest. He had a great voice though, and we played some good tunes including a Stevie Wonder Medley. Long day when all was said and done, I never worked that long in one day on the ship, as far as actually being on stage playing is concerned.
I guess I should mention that today is Thanksgiving. Unfortunately though, only the US celebrates it, meaning about 99% of the people who work on the ship couldn’t care less about the holiday. Thankfully, the mess is part of that 1% and I was able to have a nice dinner with the usual turkey, ham, potatoes, pumpkin products, and what ever else I’ve been accustomed to over the past 22 years with my family. But it seems like everyone had a good holiday back at home, so I’m glad for that, and all the emails that my family sent me. And of course, I’ve got to be thankful for the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving in a place like Roatan where I’m having a great time playing music and seeing the world, who could ask for anything more right now? And I’m certainly thankful for all my blog readers!
Tomorrow is a sea day as we make our way back to Florida, where we will make the change over and quickly head out on the next cruise. Thanks for reading and happy turkey day!