This day at sea was very relaxing. I spent some time on the balcony, reading, but the main features were the 3 (count ’em – 3) trivia contests, the formal dinner, the Thursday Night Football game on the big screen under the stars and a late night at the casino. I also got some very nice sunset photos, two of which I have included here.
We (Carl and I and friends Pat and Bobbi) did well at the morning trivia, coming in third out of about 20 teams. The topic was “Where am I?” and the answers were all cities. If we had been just a bit more knowledgeable about Brazil we would have come in second.
The most entertaining contest was the midday trivia which was entitled “Terribly Twisted.” The contest consisted of video clips from commercials from all around the globe and the challenge was to pick the product being sold from a multiple-choice list. The commercials were hilarious and we actually did quite well – a tribute to our twisted minds, I guess. We teamed up with 2 women from Oregon who apparently were as twisted as we were. We didn’t win but we did better than I expected.
Dinner was formal, with broiled lobster tail, Beef Wellington and several other elegant dishes on the menu. I had escargot to start (quite good) and Beef Wellington as the entree (also very good but not as good as the ones I made many, many years ago). I wasn’t going to have dessert, but the waiter forced a Pistachio Dome on me – a chocolate-covered chocolate mousse with a pistachio center. I ate it all.
I went to watch the NFL game on the big screen. It was a blowout in the first half with Minnesota leading Pittsburgh 23-0. It turned out to be a competitive game with Minnesota winning 36-28, but I went down to the casino instead of watching the second half. I could have saved $50 by watching the entire game. Down $200. Carl, however, won about $100 at roulette.
