Not a long post, but I just feel like I should wind up the report at sea. I won’t be at sea much longer. We sail back to New York Harbor and tomorrow morning it’s back to the real world.

Well, so to speak. Getting in to New York City just in time for Halloween may not qualify us for the real world. Maybe it’s just our way-station.

I’m ready to be done. This morning I had the strong feeling that I was just plain overdosing on all the good stuff, idle time and PEOPLE. When you think of it, it’s exactly the opposite of the environment that monastics need. I’m far from being monastic, but I feel a sort of melancholy that’s totally out of place in a situation where your every need is being anticipated and provided (or over-provided) for.

But that’s not to take anything away from the last two ports:
* Boston was a lot of fun. We got onto a tour-trolley thing, and I think that’s the only way you could possibly do Boston justice. It’s too big to walk around and it’s not really made for foot traffic. The automotive traffic was pretty awful, owing to the influx of people for the parade that I suppose went on today, but that’s why you want it to be someone else’s problem. And our tour guides, besides having the best Cliff Claven accent a person could ask for, were rock-steady with the traffic mayhem and gave fascinating details. (Did you know that in 1919 a tank full of molasses exploded in Boston and killed 21 people?) Boston has a wealth of history that is really overwhelming. This was my second trip there, and I anticipate another three or four before I feel like I’ll be done ogling over the landmarks.

* Newport, Rhode Island — well, that was another story. The weather kind of tanked on us, turning from damp to drizzley to rainy. And I goofed on the time of our excursion, so we were just left to our own devices. But I don’t mean to say it was a waste. Actually, the short time that Greg and I were actually looking about just made it obvious to both of us that there’s actually so much to see and do in Newport that we’ll have to make our own trip back here. It is Old Money that didn’t fall on hard times, and the “cottages” — absolutely incredible summer home mansions of the well-to-do — have to be seen to be believed. We toured one of them — The Elms — and I’m still thinking about it. Might be another blog entry in there somewhere.