San Francisco

We pulled into San Francisco and passed under the Golden Gate Bridge around 4:30am.  We decided not to get up to watch it…..preferring instead to watch the sailaway in the evening.  I had been looking forward to this port for some time as my parents came up to the ship to see me!!  We were finally allowed off the ship around 11:30 am, having had to wait for guests to clear immigration.  Nick signed off the ship today, so we piled him and his luggage into our car to take him around San Fran a bit before dropping him at the airport.  We were able to get some great views of the Golden Gate Bridge from a pier, and then walk across a little bit of it too, take photos of and drive down Lombard Street, and have soup in breadbowls on Fisherman's Wharf.  It was a really lovely sunny day, and we made the most of it.   

After dropping off Nick, we returned to the Queen Elizabeth just in time to get my parents on board for a tour.  The gangway security were kind enough to extend our deadline half an hour so that we could have a proper tour.  I loved showing my parents my ship.  It was really fun for me, especially since this time I could take them to the crew areas.  After they disembarked, I just barely made it back on board before my shore leave expired at 7pm.  I ran into several other musicians on the gangway, out of breath having maximized their time ashore until the very last minute.  I was lucky enough to have been off at night, so I didn't have to worry about anything other that being back before the ship sailed, which was nice.  

We let go lines just before 9pm, and made our way out and under the Golden Gate Bridge, while my parents braved the cold to watch from the pier.  We were escorted by a news helicopter taking aerial footage since this is our ship's maiden call to San Fran, which my parents later got to see on the bay area news.  As we passed under the bridge, we sounded our horns, and the bridge actually honked back at us.  It sounds three blasts as well, which was cool.  We were all out on the forward deck enjoying the sight as we went underneath.  It was a neat experience.  I m so glad my parents got to see me off on my world voyage as I left the west coast! 

Now we are on our way two Hawaii, on our second of 4 sea days.  So far the Pacific Ocean is not living up to its name.  Nothing I haven't survived before, though.  Everyone loves a little rock and roll.  

Cabo San Lucas

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, is right at the very southern tip of Baja California.  It is a tender port for us, always making it a bit difficult for crew to get ashore.  We were lucky enough to sneak on a tender at 9am, they let a few crew go at a time on each boat and we were the first in line.  When myself, Nick and Jane got ashore we took another small boat over to "Lovers Beach", which is located just between the high cliffs and rocks that mark the very tip of the cape.  Our boat driver Carlos showed us a few sights on the way, like some sea lions and tropical fish underneath our glass-bottomed boat.  We spent an hour exploring the area of the beach while we waited for him to return for us, and then walked the 20 minutes or so into town.  The climate is very dry there, but the weather was perfect.  I can imagine it is quite miserably hot in the summer.  February is a good time to go. We had some great Mexican food for lunch, which was our main goal.  Fresh, homemade guacamole….yummy!! I even tried some tacos that had tofu in them…..very odd flavor combination.  We walked back to the ship slowly, did a little shopping along the way, and were very satisfied with our day.