Cruising With Mike: The $399 Sailing (IX)

Trip Report Contents 

Part One: Introduction & Planning
Part Two:  To Boston & Sailing Away
Part Three:  Bar Harbor, These Are Tender Times
Part Four:  Cloudy and Windy In Halifax
Part Five:  Seeing the Sun In Sydney
Part Six:  Sunny Charlottetown
Part Seven:  Down the Saint Lawrence, a Day “At-Sea”
Part Eight:  Québec City.  Again.
Part Nine:  Into Montréal; Out of Montréal (This Installment)

Part Nine:  Into Montréal; Out of Montréal

As the previous Saturday—departure day—had taken too long to arrive, this Saturday—return-home day—came much too soon.  The previous night the cabin had been too hot and muggy and the sleeping wasn’t that easy for me.  When the alarm went off at 6:40, I was pretty much awake, so I didn’t delay getting out of bed and into the shower.  Mike opted to sleep a little longer, so I again went to breakfast on my own.  I’d have been happy for the company, but I was okay having a melancholy moment on my own, watching vacation quickly slip away.

Having seen the breakfast menu already six times, I knew what I’d have for my final breakfast of the cruise:  French toast, fruit plate, a glass of fresh squeezed OJ, and a couple of cups of coffee.  At the table next to me were the ladies from the piano bar Hen Den, a dozen or so gals traveling together, always in the piano bar for name-that-tune; other cruisers who had become familiar were around everywhere; the staff who had become everyday to me were serving and buzzing about.

I really enjoyed savoring my last breakfast and taking in the last bits of vacation.  But, I knew that final preparations awaited in the cabin and that we’d soon need to get out and make way for the next passengers.

We were ready and headed off the boat at about nine o’clock or so.  We decided to keep our bags with us, so we had nothing to reclaim and could just proceed to the taxi queue, which was long but moved quickly.  The taxi we ended up in was an old, smelly rattletrap.  But, the gas pedal did indeed work and we were in for a hold-on, crap-your-pants, tailgating, thrill-ride to the airport.  Our flights not until after one o’clock, we were in no hurry; the taxi driver was, however, hurrying for all of us.  We were thankful to get to the airport in one piece!

Since Mike was on a non-stop into National Airport, and I was on a connecting flight, on a different airline, here we parted ways.  We exchanged wishes for a pleasant onward journey, thanked each other for a great time, and went to our respective check-in counters.

Check-in for me was pretty easy and I was through immigration and customs within about a half-hour after getting out of the rattletrap taxi.  Mike and I passed each other once in the duty free shop, but lost track of each other again.  I spent my time in a café, reading and answering emails, and was soon off to Atlanta, and then to National Airport.  A delay out of Montréal notwithstanding, smooth travels home to round out a really fine trip.  Thanks Mike, for being such a great travel companion!