Rhode Island Ruth Reunion

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We slept well enough awakening with a growing readiness for tomorrow when we will be embarking on the Voyage of the Vikings. This last day on the East Coast will find us in Rhode Island later this morning where the plan is to meet up with Rhode Island Ruth. Sharon met Ruth the first time in person on a HAL cruise on the Rotterdam (the same ship we’ll be boarding tomorrow) from Rio de Janeiro that went down to Antarctica and then on to Santiago in early 2008. She had met her online a couple of years earlier when Sharon took her first cruise (to New England) alone after her husband Jim died. Sharon was posting along the way and Ruth provided some very nice and supportive responses that helped her get thru her first solo cruise and realize she would be able to continue cruising even if it was by herself. Ruth was also a widow so understood well what Sharon was going thru.

I first met Ruth, also on an Antarctica cruise on the Veendam that Sharon and I took about five years ago. We hadn’t coordinated with her, we just happened to book the same cruise. And then on our fifth anniversary cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam we found ourselves again on the same cruise in the Mediterranean, and very much enjoyed a shared private tour on the Amalfi Coast. And as an interesting side note, we’ve both booked the same 3-week Alaska cruise next year, and again without any coordination.

Early this morning Sharon raised the objection that the blog has failed to mention her stellar performance in defeating me at Sudoku for two days in a row now; and, she seemed pretty confident that she would extend her winning streak this morning. I believe her exact words were, “I wiped you out, Babe!” We compare scores as percentages that the “Enjoy Sukoku” phone app for the Daily Challenge. She scored 97% yesterday; which, is almost unbeatable. It means that her score was better than 97% of the people who have done this daily puzzle. I complained, “You didn’t even beat me by 5%!” Typical scores for us are in the low to mid-nineties. “Did you leave me any room today?” She smiled, and giggled, “A little room.” We play two Daily Games on this app, one classified as “Intermediate” and one classified as “Difficult”. On weekdays, the “Difficult” game is the practice game or warm-up game; while, the “Intermediate” game is the daily challenge that counts. Any mistake made doing a puzzle disqualifies you (e.g. you don’t get to start over). When you successfully complete a puzzle, the app will tell you your percentile rating. I was really happy with my “Difficult” warm-up; getting a 97%. I was even more happy with the daily challenge where I got 98%. Sharon wouldn’t tell me what she got; which, either means that she tied me and is letting me think I won or I beat her by 1% by how squirrelly she was acting earlier. I’m pretty sure that she didn’t get a 99% or I would have heard about it with something like, “I smashed you, Babe!” She never fails to find just the perfect adjective. (Sharon – Haven’t told John yet but I had to restart mine this morning, so my streak is over. Guess I’ll tell him tomorrow after I win again ? )

This must be the day off for the omelet-maker who we’ve seen up to now at breakfast; because, someone new made my omelet this morning. Sharon had scrambled eggs, bacon and potatoes; so, she was happy with breakfast too. We walked down to breakfast using the side stairs and noticed that the center elevator is still “TEMPORARILY OUT OF SERVICE” as we walked past it to the breakfast room.

Sharon’s cousin Jack had recommended allowing an hour to get to Providence from his experience driving there to catch a flight. We had lunch with him and his sister Mary two days earlier. We missed rush hour traffic and had an easy drive down towards Providence. We found Ruth’s home, where she has lived since the early 1980’s. She greeted us at the door and offered us the sagging chair (her words, not mine), the cat hair couch, or the cat-hair free side, or the comfortable chair. I headed towards the sagging chair as Sharon (with her cat dander allergy) was heading for the cat-hair free side of the couch. Ruth then insisted that I take the comfy chair. Clearly this is where she mostly sits with her computer set up for keeping in touch with her friends. It took a bit of shuffling; but, eventually we did all get settled down for a nice chat.

Her husband Norman had died not too long after 9/11 while they were in Europe. I remember when we were travelling on the Nieuw Amsterdam and Sharon and I were headed on tour to see the Pope in Saint Peter’s Square, she had asked me to retrieve a small rock or stone from Rome. She collects these stones from all over the world that comes from places that she’s travelled and has kept the collection together in a vase (I think) by her husband’s grave. You would not believe how difficult a task it is to find a loose stone between the much large street cobblestones of Saint Peter’s Square. The area is meticulously maintained that there isn’t a loose anything laying between those stones. I had to look for some time before I found one of appropriate size which I was able to retrieve for Ruth. Ruth noted that she’s just passed a major milestone: “I’ve now been widowed longer than I was married.”

We chatted for quite a while about what we’ve all been up to and of course about cruising (past, present, and future). Ruth has taken the Voyage of the Vikings cruise 3 times including the very first one which went out of New York instead of Boston. She’s excited that we will get to experience now.

Ruth asked me, “What do you want to eat?” I said, “That’s not a problem for me, I will eat anything.” She agreed, “Yes, you are a human garbage disposal.” She found me handy when we dined at the Pinnacle Grill which offers an amuse bouche. She generally doesn’t find these culinary creations as anything that is consumable; although, I find them quite good. It’s just that I don’t need to eat mine, Sharon’s and hers; but, admittedly I have. “The question is, what does Sharon want. She’s had a lot of Prime Rib French Dips, fish and chips, and Roast Turkey, so I’m guessing she could use a good burger.” “That’s right,” Sharon agreed. “My last burger was at McDonald’s on the night we flew into Philadelphia.” “Then I know just the place,” Ruth said.

We drove Ruth to Chelo’s Hometown Bar & Grille just a few miles down the road as she navigated. They had a variety of food, with a prominent section for burgers. I noticed that they also had Lobster Rolls at market price; but, I was in the mood for a good burger. The Southwest Burger with Jalapeño Bacon sounded like just the ticket for me. I also got a bowl of Portuguese Sausage with Kale. That was an incredibly tasty soup with a nice spicy zip. And my burger was also terrific. Sharon and Ruth also enjoyed their burgers.

Ruth warned us when we arrived that a front was moving in and we agreed that we should be back on the road again before 3:30 PM in an attempt to skirt the impending worsening weather. We returned to Ruth’s home and chatted for a while, before it was time to leave. Ruth had given us guidance on how to avoid traffic, which worked well enough and getting us back into Massachusetts. The skies were darkening, and water began appearing in sporadic drops on the windshield, and eventually escalated into a full scale deluge about 15 miles before our exit. Traffic slowed, and water began to pool in low spots on the freeway surfaces. As we were nearing our exit I moved over into the slow lane. Travelling at about 40 MPH I hit some water that had pooled on the roadway, and then a second pool. Water splashed, but the car continued straight, and I must have thrown up enough water behind me because those cars were no longer following so closely.

We decided to get something to eat before returning to the hotel; so, we went to the same restaurant that we tried the first night. The rain was heavy, and we waited in the car until we thought that we could make the forty feet or so to the front door of the restaurant without getting overly wet. We mostly succeeded. I ordered a bowl of clam chowder; but, really wanted to come back and try the $17 Lobster Roll. Sharon wanted to try the pot roast dinner. The lobster roll came out and I had to check to see if there was a roll there at all. It looked like a Lobster Salad with an awful lot of lobster. The lobster lay on a bed of lettuce that made a platform that completely obscured the bun. After a couple of attempts I concluded that there was no way to eat this by holding it as a sandwich; which, maybe what the chef intended. So, this lobster roll had lots of lobster, which is good, it had some mayo that the lobster was lightly coated with, and there was plenty of unyielding lettuce that strove to make this a salad rather than a sandwich.

In considering all of the Lobsters that I’ve had I would have to give a double nod to, first: The Connecticut Style Lobster Roll (or ‘hot’ Lobster Roll) at the Village Grill that I had in Salem, and second: The Lobster Roll that I had with Jack, Mary and Mike at Joe’s American Bar & Grill. The first came with melted butter, the second with a small but suitable amount of seasoned mayo. Pick your poison.

Sharon enjoyed her pot roast but didn’t finish too much of it since we’d had lunch earlier. It had stopped raining, so we headed back to the hotel which was only about a mile away. There was an accident not far from the restaurant which we must have just missed when driving by earlier. We were able to get thru from our direction but they had the road closed the other way so everyone was being routed up the street towards our hotel but we made it without any issues. From the new tonight looks like the storm did cause quite a few problems. Hope those flying in today for the cruise made it safely.

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