Facing fears

For two summers I played a gig at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio. Besides being one of the last amusement parks to offer live entertainment, Cedar Point's big attraction is roller coasters. Every couple of years they boast a bigger, faster, leaner, meaner, more upside-downer coaster ride unlike anything the world has ever seen. When I first started work there, I had never ridden any type of roller coaster. I was too afraid to even try. Needless to say, by the end of my time there, I had gotten over my fear by a long shot. I mean, let's face it. There is nothing else to do in Sandusky (a.k.a. The Armpit Of The Midwest) except ride the coasters. It's one of the few job perks we had.

Anyway, it's been a long time since I've been on any kind of thrill ride so you can imagine my trepidation as Ian, Blair, and I made plans to experience the Aquaventure park at Atlantis in Nassau. 

Aquaventure boasts over 7 water slides of various speeds, zillions of pools, a lazy/rapids river, aquariums, various marine life feeding pools, food, sun, and fun. It's part of the GIANT Atlantis resort that I visited earlier with Fran and Mort.

Since Ian owns a small backpack, we loaded him up as pack mule to carry sunscreen, ID, cash, and cameras. The guys a trooper. He didn't complain once…and I went into that pack a million times that day. Catching a taxi from the Nassau port to Atlantis was easy. Feeling comfortable riding in the taxi is another thing. I'm sure this isn't right and I'll have to verify it later, but, it appears that there are no traffic signals in Nassau and very few actual traffic laws. Drivers pilot their vehicles with seemingly no regard for other cars. There appears to be some sort of system where faster moving vehicles have the right of way. It also doesn't help that everyone drives on the left side of the road as opposed to the right in the States like I'm used to.

When we arrived at the resort we quickly found the desk to purchase tickets. We got a hefty crew discount and ended up only paying about 2/3 normal ticket purchase price. After renting a locker to relieve Ian of his pack mule duties, we made our way to the tallest and fastest slide in the park: The Abyss. The sign at the top of the ride said: "Do not participate in this ride if you have fear of dark places, high speeds, enclosed spaces, or heights."

As it turns out, I'm afraid of ALL of those things. That didn't stop me, tho. I'm here to report that I went on every water slide in the Aquaventure park. I'm also here to report that I apparently screamed like a little girl while doing so. BUT…at least I did it them all!

Aquaventure has a "lazy river" area as well. For those not familiar, this is a typical water park ride where guests sit in tubes and relax as a slow current floats them down a man made "river" of sorts. Aquaventure adds to this experience with designating certain areas of the "river" as rapids areas. Here the water flows faster and riders get the pleasure of shooting through the rapids spinning around on the tube. As long as you don't bang your foot or head on the rock walls around you, this is pretty fun. There was an added feature to the "river" that I'd never seen before: a wave generator. While floating slowly down stream, waves are created behind you and come by floating you up in the air and splashing you with water. Pretty fun. Bair, Ian, and I were floating along and a wave passed under us. We survived it fine, but, a woman ahead of us was capsized by the wave. Ian proceeded to point and laugh at this poor woman completely without shame. I've literally never seen anyone have so much fun at the expense of another's misfortune. It was hilarious. She was fine and was laughing about it as well. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

The final ride of the day was the signature slide of the park. Two water slides that take you through a shark tank. The first one we tried, "Leap of Faith" was so fast that I didn't see any sharks whatsoever. The name says it all about that ride. The second one, "Serpent Slide" was slower and ended up splashing down so that we had about one minute floating through the shark tank. Pretty cool to be that close to those animals.

All in all, we had a great day. As they say in Ghostbusters, "We came. We saw. We kicked it's ass!" Actually, to be fair, Atlantis may have kicked my ass a little bit. I definitely left a piece of my butt cheek on one of those slides. A word of caution: when riding a water slide that requires you to sit in a tube…keep your butt above tube level. Enjoy the vid.

New Tradition on Memorial Day?

I don't have a lot of Memorial Day traditions. I know that most people do. Cookouts, parades, parties, and 3-day weekend family get-togethers. I suppose that I used to do all of those of those things on the holiday (especially when I was teaching school band and orchestra), but, I've gotten away from it all recently for some reasons more obvious than others. 

One of my favorite memories from Memorial Day weekend is from when I was teaching school in Michigan. Most band directors in Michigan do a Memorial Day parade on the holiday. Since the villages of Ovid and Elsie share a school district in the open farm land of mid-Michigan, as the band director at Ovid-Elsie High School, the students and I did two parades. One in each small village. We made a day of it, stopping for a complimentary hot dog lunch at the Elsie VFW Hall in-between gigs (thanks again, everybody!). In fact, we did a third ceremony at a cemetery located about halfway between each village after both parades. I would take a small group of students out to perform at the cemetery and usually buy them ice cream afterwards. Needless to say, it was an exhausting day. More so for the kids than for me. They did all the work on the day, I merely helped with the preparations.

After the parades, I typically went over to my good friend (and OE Athletic Director) Rex Peckens' house for a cookout and hang. Rex and I became friends when I started at OE and have remained so ever since. At Rex's farm, there was food, drink, and family. Rex and I would usually find some time after eating to thrown around a baseball. A simple game of catch. Nothing fancy, but, it's certainly something that I can remember doing on warm Memorial Day afternoons and early evenings surrounded by corn fields in mid-Michigan.

When I moved with my family years later to Indianapolis, I remember playing catch (not necessarily on Memorial Day) with my neighbor and friend Robert Stapleton. Rob's a former baseball player and so trying to keep up with him in velocity and accuracy was a challenge for me, but, one that I enjoyed every time we strapped on the gloves to play.

Maybe it's not necessarily the tradition that I miss…it's the act of hanging with friends with nothing else on our collective plates that I would like to continue. 

So, this past Memorial Day I happened to be in Miami at port. My friend from Indianapolis, Jen, was also there on a business trip. She and a friend were staying at the South Beach Hilton turning the work weekend into a belated birthday celebration for Jen. Since I was in port for the day, Jen invited me over to hang by the pool with them for the afternoon. It was an awesome time. Weather was beautiful and sunny. We sat by the pool, sipping champagne mixed with pineapple juice, eating frozen grapes and fruit plates. We swapped stories and swam a little bit spending the afternoon laying around in the south Florida sun. Not a bad way to spend Memorial Day. 

Seems like I got some of my Memorial Day tradition this year after all. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Yikes

So, I'm on the crew shuttle heading back to the ship this week. Now, the shuttle ride is a trip in itself. I do worry if I will make it back in one piece during those rides. The shuttle drivers all drive angry.

Anyway, we screeched to a halt at a stop light on and I noticed a guy doing 3 things simultaneously one spot ahead of us.

1) Riding a moped (no helmet)

2) Listening to iPod with headphones

3) Texting

Incredible. Next nominee for the Darwin Awards, anyone?

Taking stock at the midpoint

It's roughly the midpoint of my contract here on Majesty of the Seas and by coincidence it's Memorial Day weekend (for myself and the other 21 Americans onboard) and with that comes one of the greatest spectacles in all of sports - The Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. Even though my seat this year is not as close as I was last year (I was sitting with my cousin Jeb in the bleachers of Turn 4 when the leader Hildebrand hit the wall on the final turn of the race and ended up finishing 3rd), the race is on ESPN and so, I'm enjoying it from the comfort of my cabin. Ian has never seen the race, so, I'm filling in the gaps for him with the little knowledge that I do have. Predictably, he's asleep already just after the start. This year I'm rooting for Tony Kanaan. A veteran driver who has led the 500 seven times, but, has never won. Let's go, TK!

I have never been a big fan of auto racing. I have a general knowledge of the sport and can hold my own in a short conversation about racing, but, I'm not a "have to watch the race this weekend" type of person. This race is different this year, though. Seeing these images on tv of the track, the crowd, the race, the weather, the golf course, the city of Indianapolis…it brings back a lot of memories for me. Just one year ago I was living in Indy, married, raising a family, working at ITT, playing gigs at night and on the weekends, playing golf, and had a circle of friends that I saw on a regular basis. It never even entered my mind that my life path would alter drastically.

Wow, how things can change in a year. 

Now my daily view is made up of the sun and surf of the Caribbean. I play trombone for a living, practice all the time, it's been months since I've been cold, and communications with my circle of friends on land happens though strictly electronic means. My role as father and husband has been replaced by someone else and I'm strictly taking care of myself. Some days that's a blessing. Sometimes though, like when I'm watching the Indy 500 today, I wonder what it would be like if I was still living in that other life. That world seems still close to me at this point. I feel like I'm on vacation from that life plan. Still feel as if I might step off the ship and go back home to married life, Ted, ITT, and The Jazz Kitchen somehow. 

Not sure what all this means, really. But, it's part of the ship life for me, so I'm sharing it here. 

So, in summary, I spend this Memorial Day weekend away from family, barbecues, auto racing, crowds, golf, and (perhaps most importantly) junk food. I do miss one thing from Memorial Day last year...the corn dogs at the Brickyard. Heart stoppers, to be sure, but SO GOOD!

Say it ain't so, Joe!

Joe Rodriguez, who signed on the same day as me, has left the ship to pursue other endeavors. He wants to open a recording studio and possibly enter the Air Force. Best of luck to you, Joe! Stay in touch!!

Joe...why are you holding a pen?

Poker night

No Limit Texas Hold 'Em anyone? We play three times a week onboard. It's for low stakes and 2nd place wins their buy in back, so, this game is really all about good times. And occasionally alcohol. Okay, for some people it's a requirement! Check out some pics below.

Briana would tell you that a little JD helps with the "hold 'em or fold 'em" decisions.

A typical result for "Team Jack"

Heads up play for the big bucks!

Our eventual champ (for this game anyway), Andi.

A Comedy of Errors

One of Wynton Marsalis' Rules for Better Practice is "seek out private instruction." I took the opportunity to follow this advice this past Friday by taking a lesson with Dante Luciani who is the professor of jazz trombone at University of Miami. The lesson went well and I came away with several pieces of information that will help me in my practice sessions. However, the process of getting to the lesson was like a drunken stumble through an obstacle course.

Since my lesson was scheduled for noon I woke up at 7:45 am to head down for a good, solid warm up. My plan was to warm up early, leave the ship by 9:15, take the crew shuttle to down town, metro mover to Government Station, and then the metro rail to University of Miami. From there I would walk across campus to the school of music with an ETA of around 10:30. This would give me plenty of time to look around the school, tour the campus, and check everything out before my lesson.

It did not go as planned. Friday is our turnaround day in Miami. Guests from the previous 4 day cruise leave the ship in the morning and new guests come onboard for the 3 day weekend cruise. Guests leave in an orderly fashion by group number (similar to boarding a plane). Before they leave, one of the areas that the congregate to wait is in the theater. So…with people in there…so much for the warm up space.

Undeterred, I decided to abort Plan A and head off the ship to warm up at U of M. After a quick breakfast of 3 hard boiled eggs, I grabbed my trombone and laptop and made my way down to the gang way. In order to get off the ship in the US, crew members need to have any carry on items x-rayed including shoes and socks. After going thru a metal detector, we are then subject to a pat down before putting back on the shoes and socks and continuing off the ship. I know it sounds extreme, but, you get used to it. After getting my shoes off and my bags on the scanner, I heard one of the security officers say:

"Sir, where do you think you're going?"

"Um…University fo Miami?" 

"The ship is not clear. You'll have to wait."

So, back on with the shoes and back with the bags. I went back to my room to wait. When I got to my room I realized that I was $1 short for the shuttle ride to downtown Miami. So, I woke Ian up and borrowed a buck from him. After about 10 minutes (and feeling like a bad roommate for waking up Ian) the ship cleared so I was able to head out.  

After clearing security, I stepped off the gangway and out to the shuttle area of the port. Crew shuttle service runs between the ship and downtown Miami. In a perfect world, shuttle vans would leave about every 15 minutes or so from the ship. However, the drivers wait until the shuttle is overflowing with passengers before leaving. This morning, I sat in the crew shuttle for 25 minutes with 3 other people without moving at all. I was starting to get worried about making my lesson on time in order to get a good warm up in, so, since the driver was going to stay until the shuttle was full, I decided to walk to downtown.

It's not a long walk…on a nice day. This was not a 'nice' day by walking standards. Temperature up high as well as the humidity. It didn't help that I was wearing a black shirt in anticipation for being back onboard very close to boat drill (where I have to be in uniform) and carrying a backpack and trombone. I made it across the bridge in about 20 minutes, but, was soaked with sweat and had to take a break to cool off and hydrate (sounds dramatic, but, it's true!) at the Starbucks in the Bayside Mall. 

After polishing off my water at the cafe (and finding that my computer had zero battery and needed to be charged up), I decided that the only way to make the best time to the lesson would be to catch a cab. The Metro Rail, while reliable, is also takes a reliably long time to get anywhere. I still held out hope for arrival at the Frost School of Music in time for a good warm up, short break, and then the lesson.

Luckily, I found a cab right in front of Bayside and hopped in. Of course, with everything else going so well this morning, it should come as no surprise that the cab driver got lost on the way to the University. Furthermore, when we arrived on campus, there was construction happening that not only didn't allow him to get close to the School of Music with the cab, but, made it very difficult for me to get in on foot. 

When I finally got to the School of Music it was a ghost town due to summer break. Many doors were locked and it took me a long time to locate the proper building and Dante's office therein. I sat down in the practice room to warm up at 11:19 am. 41 minutes before my lesson was to begin. Not cool, man. Not cool.

After the lesson, Dante was kind enough to give me a lift back downtown. I met an Indianapolis friend of mine, Jen, who was in town on business for a quick drink at Elwood's Pub. Then I hopped back on the shuttle to get back to the ship. There was a bumper sticker on the inside of the door in the shuttle where I was sitting. I have no idea what it means, but, I took a picture anyway.

Awkward.

Hopefully, my lesson at FIU will be a better experience this coming Friday.