Sunday and Monday

Audrey finishes our saga...... Sunday morning I woke up early (6:30) and knew that I would be unable to get back to sleep. I crept down the little bunk bed ladder, gathered some clothes in the dark (amazingly they matched, sot of!) and then showered and dressed quickly. I left the room in a hurry, wet head and all, not wanting to miss even a minute of the fun that I just knew was happening everywhere at that very moment! Imagine my surprise when the hallways were empty!

I was able to catch an elevator immediately (which never happens unless an entire ship is making up for too much to drink or staying up until the wee hours the night before!) and this should have been a harbinger of things to come. I went up to Deck 11 where I was sure that I would find a huge group of Warbrides gathered around a breakfast table, giggling and having fun like we always do when we get together. The greeter at the elevator met me with, "How was your shower, fun?" which threw me until I realized that my wet hair was giving me away. lol!

I entered the dining room and to my surprise, there were very few people up ad about. I walked through the entire Windjammer Cafe a couple of times and didn't see even one Warbride. Walking outdoors to get a better view of what the day had to offer, I realized that we were far away from the coast because land could not be seen from either side of the ship. I decided that maybe it was a good idea to go back to the cabin an see if I could fall asleep again. As I passed the cabin next to ours, I heard Jenny and Tonya's voices coming from inside so I lightly knocked on their door. I was thrilled to find that they were headed up to grab some breakfast. They asked if I would like to join them. Heck yeah!

Everything you have ever heard about the food on cruise ships being unbelievably good was certainly true on the Monarch of the Seas. Their breakfasts are just spectacular. I think that every imaginable breakfast item an be found there and it's always displayed in the most amazingly attractive fashion. You almost don't want to touch it!

While we ate we talked about everything under the sun, including how Jenny came to be the author of her own book, Cary Grant, A Life in Pictures. Such an interesting story!

All that sun renewed everyone's appetite and several of us decided to check out the ship's Sushi Bar. The food was great and although the service was kind of slow, we didn't mind because we were in no hurry. Everyone was enjoying the feeling of camaraderie that sitting with a group of Warbrides always brings – and whale watching. For hours whales had been circling the ship and it was mesmerizing trying to spot one surfacing. Suddenly though, we realized that time flies when you are having a good time and we had to rush to get to the meeting room for Sunday afternoon's CV get together.

We played a game that I am sure all of you are probably familiar with, Concentration. It's a game that Esther and I used to play occasionally when we chatted online, way before we ever considered co-hostessing a Caryvention. One of us would find a picture with all kinds of tiny details, let the other look at it for 20 seconds, and then ask as many questions as we could come up with – for the one who had studied the picture for 20 seconds to answer. It's a lot harder than it sounds but great fun at the same time.

At one point, Jenny, the author, cracked us all up after adamantly arguing that we could see Cary's tie in this picture. She jumped up to show us... and pointed to the man standing right next to Terry – obviously not Cary Grant! We all laughed but she knew that we were laughing with her, not at her!

Since we were playing this at Caryvention I was worried that everyone would tie for first place because these ladies are good! In the end, though, Tonya and Jenny were tied and we had to play a tie breaking round. Tonya ended up winning the prize but everyone really was a winner because a great time was had by all!
 

After the game, we watched To Catch a Thief together. It's always such fun to watch a Cary movie with fellow fans!

Jenny came up with a new theory for Cary's striped sweater. In other scenes he's wearing the exact same style sweater but totally different color. Jenny is sure that they saved money by having a reversible sweater for Cary!  

The meeting broke up when the movie ended so that we could get back to our rooms to get dressed for dinner as well as pack up our suitcases, which had to be out in the hall before midnight.

Dinner that last night was bitter sweet. It's funny how attached one gets to their waiters on a cruise. I have always heard that this is true, but now I know it firsthand. In just three short days, I felt like I had known Shawn for a long time, an he certainly knew all of my preferences from the first time he waited on us. For instance, he brought me coffee after dinner every night without even asking because I had ordered some the first night.

People had been coming and going to most of our meetings because we had made them optional as we wanted everyone to have a chance to enjoy the other activities that the ship had to offer if they so chose. We decided this would be a good time to take a group picture because it seemed like most everyone was there. There were some steps in the corner of the room and the tallest of our group stood on the top steps. Then the rest of us arranged ourselves so that everyone could be seen. Joan's guests, Cheryl and Phillip kindly offered to take the pictures and we lined our cameras up in front of them. They snapped a few shots with each. Just when we figured we were done, another Warbride would enter the room and we would have to start completely over! And then it seemed like the picture taking was complete – but no, yet another Warbride would show up! Finally it was finished, a nearly complete group picture had been taken! Thanks Cheryl and Phillip. You were good sports!

There was a game planned for Sunday evening's meeting (Wheel of Fortune) but we didn't have time to play it. L Oh well, never fear, this game will resurface at some Caryvention in the future! We were totally caught up in visiting and enjoying each other's company and after all, that's what a Caryvention is really all about.

Time for the final Cary movie approached and Esther's "Mom," Sandy, sang (click for video) the opening song of An Affair to Remember for us. She has an absolutely beautiful voice and we were all really touched. Afterward, she signed her CDs for us, which we purchased for a minimal price. The we watched half of the movie before taking a half hour break to make sure that everyone had all of their luggage packed and out in the halls – and to get a quick bite to eat.

When everyone returned to the Voyager Room, we continued to enjoy the champagne (there was way more than we expected!) and we watched the last half of An Affair to Remember. When it came to the part where the kids sing, we handed out sheets of lyrics to The Tiny Scout and Tomorrowland so that instead of running off to get something to eat or fast forwarding like we usually do, we embraced this most favorite part of the movie (NOT!) by all singing along! Renee prepares to sing Tomorrowland by putting a green scarf on her head! Cynthia had never seen the movie and it was fun to experience her first time with her. The ending had me in tears (like it usually does – but on a larger scale because seeing a movie on the big screen always affects me more strongly than a regular TV viewing and then as the final CV movie came to its conclusion, we reluctantly said our good byes and went to our cabins.

It wasn't until Esther, Jan and I were walking towards the elevators that I realized that one of the three of us had had a little too much champagne. Can't tell you just who, that would be gossiping, but it wasn't me and it wasn't Jan J.

As before, the second my head hit the pillow, I was fast asleep. All too soon, chimes were heard in the halls, alerting us that it s time to get up and going. I showered and dressed and headed off to the dining room.
 

Sandy lives not far from the route Esther and I were taking as we headed towards our respective homes and so we took her to her apartment and visited with her for a few minutes, not really wanting to leave but finally having to.

We stopped in Bakersfield to grab a bite to eat and Esther took off the motion sickness patch behind her ear. Suddenly as she stood there, it seemed like the ground was moving beneath her feet but when we got into the car and got moving again, she was fine. Strange! Esther drove me home and we sorted through things a little bit before deciding that anything that belonged to her, I could mail to her and vice versa. It was so sad to see her drive off because that was proof positive that our great adventure was at an end.

My husband brought home Mexican food for dinner and I can hardly remember what we talked about. I fell asleep before 7 pm and I didn't wake up until 8 the next morning, except to get up at midnight and public the week's GTM. I forgot to make it public though, so no one as able to see it. Hehehe. Man I was tired for a couple of days!

I'm so thankful for having been given a chance to co-host this Caryvention with Esther and Jan. It's been the experience of a lifetime and one that I will never forget.