About that... I've had several requests to report on our adventure. So, here's a quick update.
An adventure it was. We arrived at our designated time: 11:30 am. By 4:00 pm we were receiving our checked luggage back from the bowels of the ship and headed to a local hotel.
Why? You ask. Apparently, a 1931 Chinese birth certificate and a valid Florida DMV ID were not going to be sufficient for border patrol to allow my 94-year-old mother-in-law back in the country.
For clarification: you do not need a passport for a cruise to the Bahamas. Normally, a birth certificate and other US government picture ID should suffice. Her birth certificate specifically named her parents both as US citizens, etc., but had she tried to reenter the country from international waters, she might have been sent back to China where she was born. (She was eight years old when her family returned to the US.)
The cruise folks asked if the rest of us wanted to proceed on to the ship. We thought it best not to leave her in her wheelchair at the terminal.
To their credit, all the cruise company's employees were mortified about the rejection.Â
I'll leave it to you to ponder the ironies.
So, we had a marvelous dinner at our hotel in Cocoa Beach. Our trip was to have included my birthday (Saturday) so here’s us sharing a massive fudgy slice of cake compliments of the restaurant.
Now, look again at the photo. See the guy sitting at a table behind us? While loading our luggage on Friday, we met this fellow in the hotel parking lot. Turns out he's a science fiction writer. My husband, a voracious reader of sci-fi, had fun talking with him and received a signed paperback in the end. His name is Rick Mullins. All of his work is listed on Amazon. A fun bit of serendipity in a small, small world.
On Friday, after a yummy hotel breakfast buffet and some hang-out time, we made our way home.
So, I spent yesterday chipping away at all those colored flags decorating my manuscript.
And so, we chalk all that up to experience and carry on! I hope you’ve had a great week without too many hic-ups.
— Lausanne
Lausanne- Thanks for sharing this. Particularly the bit on not needing passport for the cruise. I'm sure that'll come in handy at some point. Hope you're well this week. Cheers, -Thalia
Oh no! Crisis averted, at least. I hope you all get an amazing do-over sometime in the near future :-)