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Post by Ensign Sandra on Sept 28, 2014 2:12:19 GMT
I promised you a story and wrote an absurdly long travelogue instead. I'll serve it up in more manageable pieces and hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did living (and reliving through writing) the events.
love, Sandra
---------------------- The first of several installments:
Our story begins with Ensign Sandra once again having strange ideas about exactly when the festivities were to be held. Fortunately, she remembered to consult Pamski’s itinerary before contracting for passage with the airline. Not that a sojourn at the beach by oneself would be at all unpleasant, but she was so looking forward to the annual reunion of the People Who Don’t Say What.
Looking forward to it with such intensity that she could not wait for the 3 a.m. alarm necessitated by a 6 a.m. flight out of Salt Lake City, a metropolis some hour and three-quarters distant from her home. Wide-awake an hour earlier, she realized that further sleep would be impossible and thus set off on the annual adventure.
Dreary air travel details being of no interest to anyone, the narrative continues with the Ensign’s arrival in the city of Jacksonville in the state of Florida. There she was reunited with her dear friend and boon companion, the previously mentioned Pamski, who arranged the hire of a suitable conveyance. Thus the two set out for their much anticipated destination of St. Augustine, a small community established by Spanish gentlemen in the sixteenth century. History does not record what the previous inhabitants of the area thought of this. After settling their baggage at the hostelry that would be their home for the next five days, the two joined fellow PWDSW Phizz for a stroll along the spectacular white sand beach found on the other side of the road. The ocean does so soothe one’s soul! Frigate and Lady Jamers later joined them for a meal at the dining establishment next door to the hotel.
This occasion established a pattern that the Ensign would follow throughout her excursion. QueueMisstress Mags named it ‘Sandra Says “bring me all the seafood”.’ And naturally so; her own landlocked community offers anything near as fresh in that line, so she must enjoy the fruits of the sea while she may. Upon returning to their temporary dwelling, the friends were thrilled to witness the arrival of the rest of the august company. The final roll included Captain SueB, who was in fact our captain this year, shipoftheline, Phizz, the Otters, and the Cabinchildren (would someone give that man a name, PLEASE?!?). Dearest Mayhem was delayed by some vehicular mayhem—fortunately not involving her own person—and would arrive the following morning. Of course, the previously named ladies were also present. QMMags displayed an advance copy of her latest book, featuring cover art from many editions of the novels of Miss Jane Austen and the QM’s witty and thoughtful observations regarding the same. It may be ordered in anticipation of its November publication through all the usual suppliers. Mr. Nigel Otter and Cabinboy (for lack of a more suitable appellation) then enacted a beloved annual rite by escorting the ensemble to the public bar of the dining establishment.
--------------------- to be continued
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Post by LadyJamers on Sept 28, 2014 12:24:09 GMT
Frigate also had the phrase of she just wanted seafood. My favorite meal, myself, was Stout Brisket Sliders at the Irish Pub we went to. I got an appetizer, which turned out to be bigger than Otter's burger platter. Was offered a skimpy shirt when they ran out of free drinks. Now, why would a nerdy Reubenesque chicky want a slut shirt? By, I digress. . .
I think that Cabinboy is a good name for our "quiet" Horatio Husband, but nothing is better than his real name - DAVE!
Can't wait to read more of your log.
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Post by Ensign Sandra on Sept 28, 2014 18:59:51 GMT
The second of several installments:
[Ed. note: The author's memory of exactly which crew members were involved in any particular action is not to be regarded as definitive. Anyone having information to add is encouraged to do so.] ---------------------------------
The adventurers awoke to a warm morning that promised the riches of the former Spanish empire, namely chocolate and wine. Tours of the Whetstone Factory and the San Sebastian Winery included tastings at both. Their time in the respective gift shops could not be called pillaging, as they did in fact pay for their merchandise. Thursday’s luncheon took place in a former swimming pool which once formed part of an arcade of similarly vigorous amusements for wealthy winter visitors to the city during the Gilded Age. More seafood happened.
The group separated for the remainder of the afternoon and explored the city at their leisure. Ensign Sandra and QM Mags retired to the hotel pool for a reviving swim. Sandra then proceeded to the beach in the company of Frigate, where the two friends enjoyed the waves and a long walk while catching up on each other’s news.
The division mustered at 2 bells in the 2nd dog-watch to enjoy a selection of the moving pictures which we all admire so much and which brought us together many years ago. Major Edrington smirked, some not-so-bad men with very bad hair died, Col. Moncoutant introduced the Vege-Matic to Muzillac, Captain Pellew trained the crew in anticipation of the heavy eights rowing competition at the forthcoming Summer Games, and Our Hero’s stray waif was a victim of crossfire while they practiced the 3-legged race. The annual Snot-or-Not debate was once again a dead tie. Your narrator firmly believes that snot was present in the relevant scene. In the second installment of our entertainment, Our Hero and his dear friend set out to sea under the command of Captain James “Mad Jim” Sawyer. Their situation deteriorated rapidly once they had weathered the Lizard. One boy splattered all over the quarter-deck and another was beaten for little apparent reason. It is said that Boris, the sapient hair-piece accompanying Dr. Clive on the voyage, is the only being besides the captain who can hear what the voices tell him. Admiral Pellew flared his nostrils repeatedly, Captain Hammond passed the time plotting nefarious activities to be committed the following year, Lieutenant Buckland dithered, Lieutenant Bush growled, and Mr. Hobbs may have had an inkling of the horror to come when he would later be besieged by fangirls. The man Randall once again entertained the crew with his impersonation of a drunken macaque monkey. Nigel and Cabinboy returned to the public bar, as per established custom.
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Post by LadyJamers on Sept 28, 2014 19:15:22 GMT
They drank St. Augustine dry
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Post by QueueMistressMags on Sept 29, 2014 1:44:42 GMT
Yay! Sandra's telling a story. *jumpy claps*
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Post by Ensign Sandra on Sept 30, 2014 0:12:47 GMT
Part 3:
The morning of International Talk Like a Pirate Day found our intrepid travelers at the showpiece of St. Augustine, the Castillo de San Marcos. The early Spanish military outpost spent most of the 16th Century warding off those who attempted to capture the nation’s annual Treasure Fleet or encroach upon its territory. The most heralded engagement came when the Spanish traveled north to Fort Caroline (at the site of present-day Jacksonville) to dispatch the French encampment. In a very rare occurrence, the Frenchmen did expect the Spanish, and sailed down the coast to have a crack at St. Augustine while their adversaries were from home. The Spanish hot-footed it back, captured them all, and slaughtered most of them. This event gave name to several local landmarks; Matanzas Bay, the Matanzas River, etc. As the friends were to learn so thoroughly, “Matanzas” is the Spanish word for murder or slaughter.
It took the Spanish more than another century to realize that building things out of wood in a very humid climate is an unsuccessful strategy. Nine wooden forts later—some rotted, some burned by British privateers—they finally built the structure seen today from a local stone called coquina. It is a sedimentary rock which can absorb a great quantity of force from projectiles aimed at it, with little or no damage to itself. Clearly, this was a better plan.
Numerous National Parks Service Rangers and volunteers contributed greatly to the enjoyment of the day by dressing in period-accurate costume, detailing the history of the Castillo, and best of all, firing a cannon as would have been done in the early days of its existence. Soldiers holding a virtually impregnable fort have no need to meet Lieutenants Hornblower and Bush’s exacting standards of quickness in loading and firing. The drill was performed at a very deliberate pace which the crew assured watchers was true-to-life. The gun crew captain gave very precise orders in what must be presumed to be fluent Spanish, with an accent rivalled only by that of the Ensign’s brother-in-law for sounding almost completely unlike any ever encountered in whatever of the world’s Spanish-speaking nations one would care to name.
Next the company proceeded to the Colonial Quarter for an entirely enjoyable time spent with a young living-history interpreter/enactor. Young Marsha was most informative about the history of her native community and recounted it while leading the explorers through structures representing those which would have existed at the relevant time period. She paid particular attention to the smithy and the armory, as she is in training as a blacksmith and enjoys making things go boom. The Matanzas incident did feature prominently in her tale. Luncheon in an on-site dining room consisted of still more seafood and a delightful beverage called peach-infused white sangria. No mention was made of its historical authenticity, but if the Spanish colonists did not have it, more pity to them.
The crew once more divided for the afternoon and had various adventures. Ensign Sandra and Frigate returned to the beach in company with the Otters. The sea-bathing was invigorating, as the water was quite pleasantly warm and the waves perfect for bobbing about or body-surfing. Dinner that evening at Meehan’s Irish Pub was enlivened by the appearance of a young lady in the employ of the Captain Morgan Rum Company. Several of our participants conversed with their waiter about their activities for ITLAPD and the young lady subsequently offered complimentary drinks to a table of four. Rum punch is very tasty. It must be confessed that the Ensign deviated from her “all seafood, all the time” plan as, when faced with steak-and-Guinness pie, she offered no resistance whatsoever. The final engagement that evening was a walking Ghost Tour of the city. It was enjoyed to varying degrees by various members of the company and another fine day was concluded.
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Post by Phizz on Sept 30, 2014 5:50:04 GMT
I loved that one of the gun crew at the Fort was a Hornblower fan! He'd read all the books, but had not seen the series. We assured him he would love them! He was also quite helpful with the group photo ... I think he was actually in one of them ... at any rate thanks Thomas for a great time at the Fort and for all the doubloons!
~Phizz
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Post by Ensign Sandra on Oct 1, 2014 13:45:56 GMT
Part 4
Saturday began with a tour of Flagler College, a local institution of higher education housed in what was once an ornate palace of a hotel catering to the every whim of wealthy winter visitors to St. Augustine. A charming young lady student conducted the tour, finishing the dining room that still contains its original stained-glass windows created by a very young Mr. Louis Comfort Tiffany and otherwise decorated to hilt as well. A young alumnus of the college later revealed that the quality of the meals served are not up to the standard of the setting in which they occur. Next to be visited was the historic Ximenez-Fatio House, which served as a high-quality boarding house for many local residents and visitors throughout its long history. A very knowledgeable young gentleman docent shared many fascinating events from that time.
Luncheon was taken by the Ensign and several companions at an eatery in which the food was sublime but the service ridiculous. It may well have been the best paella ever enjoyed by that lady, but the waitstaff and owner seemed very confused by the activities typical to the running of such an enterprise.
If Friday was Talk Like a Pirate Day, Saturday was Get Married in St. Augustine Day. Later reports confirmed the sighting of no less than six such ceremonies as the day’s events unfolded. A motorized trolley tour of the city proved rather dissatisfactory, being marred by the antics of a group who persistently ignored the conductor’s request for respect for fellow riders by keeping conversations at a very low level. Ocean conditions prevented Frigate and the Ensign from swimming at the beach that afternoon, though they did frolic in the shallows and later join QMMags at the hotel pool. The evening meal was a hasty affair from a local take-out restaurant and the entire company repaired to the hospitable quarters of Captain SueB and Phizz. There had been some mention of whist, but it never really happened that evening. The Otters presented their much-appreciated gifts of port wine and See’s chocolates. There was also amusing but ultimately unproductive conversation regarding a group pass-the-pen effort in the composing of Mr. Otter’s father-of-the-bride speech for the nuptials of that young lady, scheduled for the following week. Ensign Sandra then cornered him and performed a very thorough interrogation of his thoughts regarding the couple and the happy event. [It was later verified that she had actually created and delivered such a document, though no word has yet been heard regarding the success or lack thereof of this undertaking .]
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Post by Phizz on Oct 1, 2014 14:29:04 GMT
We got tickets for the trolley ride in a shop that sold many garments and toys made of alpaca. Midshipman Scooter got a new friend (whose picture can be seen in Mags' post in Ahoy from St. Augustine). He is sooooo soft and fluffy! Scooter was totally gobsmacked at this new friend . Still considering names, tho Sweetcheeks is pretty cute! I noticed that a couple more of these darling alpacas went home with other members of our group. Did someone buy a stuffed animal that was not an alpaca? ~Phizz
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Post by captsueb on Oct 2, 2014 0:40:37 GMT
Still have not chosen a name for my alpaca. He will be a companion to my Scooby-Doo.
I must congratulate Ensign Sandra on her calm with the obnoxious passengers on our trolley ride. I, on the other hand, was very tempted to shout, "why must you speak when you have nothing to say". Several attempts to shush the large family in question fell on deaf ears. I expected the children to ignore the requests, but not the adults. Get them over the side, with dignity.
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Post by Ensign Sandra on Oct 2, 2014 1:51:18 GMT
Still have not chosen a name for my alpaca. He will be a companion to my Scooby-Doo. I must congratulate Ensign Sandra on her calm with the obnoxious passengers on our trolley ride. I, on the other hand, was very tempted to shout, "why must you speak when you have nothing to say". Several attempts to shush the large family in question fell on deaf ears. I expected the children to ignore the requests, but not the adults. Get them over the side, with dignity. I'm one of ten children; you learn not to stew over things you cannot control......or at least to recognize that you're doing it and then refocus your thoughts.
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Post by shipoftheline on Oct 2, 2014 15:21:32 GMT
I am enjoying the travel recollections immensely. My pictures made it to the hard drive. I will attempt to load them and share this weekend.
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DianeGretnaGreen
Commander
Anxious For Promotion
Gathers Heather for Dr. Syn (alias The Scarecrow)
Posts: 751
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Post by DianeGretnaGreen on Oct 2, 2014 16:00:08 GMT
Sounds lovely.
Welcome back to everyone!
Yours Aye,
Diane
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Post by LadyJamers on Oct 2, 2014 18:30:24 GMT
The one kid on the trolley ride kept saying - can we stop here? At the fort and some other places & was told no. They got off at the winery. Me expects the adults more childish than the kids. I was sitting near the kids.
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Post by Ensign Sandra on Oct 3, 2014 13:56:18 GMT
The rest of the story:
On Sunday morning the Ensign left her slumbers some considerable time before the dawn in order to observe that event at the water’s edge. It was an enchanting experience to watch the light change over the course of a couple of hours. She did, however, track a regrettable amount of sand into the hotel breakfast room afterward. After several crossings of the street, Frigate, Lady Jamers, and the Ensign repaired to the beach for a final soaking-up of sun, sea, and sand before the looming onset of winter. They later joined the QM at the hotel pool once more for some conversation and a quick dip. Pamski spent the day celebrating a family birthday in Daytona and Mayhem toured Cape Canaveral.
Several of our adventurers whiled away the afternoon playing whist, tatting (only Mags did that, as only she can) and generally puttering about. A few people opted for an evening sail cruise aboard the Schooner Freedom. This was as lovely a time as previous such have been at other gatherings. The trip downtown to the marina revealed a very interesting fact vis a vis city life versus country life. Big-city driver Mags was completely unfazed by the prospect of parallel parking, while Ensign Sandra, who was actually at the wheel at the time, quailed at the thought. A quick fire-drill-later and Mags found a pull-in spot. Wouldn’t one know?
Everyone gathered one last time for movie viewings in which a lovely young man with very good hair, a crazy old man, and a youth not long out of school gave their lives in service to their country after a great deal of running about, blowing things up, treachery, and frank idiocy on the part of that wretched Marine guard. Not to mention deck-showers. One didn’t imagine that deck showers would be forgotten, did one? No, of course not. After that, Mr. Hornblower further revealed his absolute lack of understanding of behavior on land by getting entangled with the daughter of his landlady. Maj. Cotard sneered but eventually came around, Uncle Charlie proved to be a very bad man, though also, it must be noted, one with verrrrry good boots! Mr. Orrock showed himself a very capable young gentlemen and Mr. Hammond did not. Wolfe was his repulsive self and a great deal of blood was shed on the beach. More things went boom in spectacular fashion. Mr. Hornblower went and said what he quickly realized he should not have and the audience was left with that priceless expression of trepidation on his face.
At the conclusion of the entertainment, the Mouldy Canvas Bag Swap proceeded as usual. A coloring book featuring Mr. Benedict Cumberbatch was the most sought-after of the prizes. As no location has yet been determined for next year’s event, the passing of the telescope was omitted this time.
Shortly after breakfast the next morning, the company parted ways for another year and set out on their respective journeys. In the words of the late, lamented Mr. Kennedy, “you should have been there!”
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