No Postcards in Acapulco

Day 10 – 12 October 2026 – Acapulco, Mexico 

 

It was really hot and humid in Acapulco, though my cold has been abating and was mostly a lingering cough.  I thought sure, I’ll spend some time in Acapulco.  We’ve all seen film or photos of the cliff divers, which I thought I would skip – I’m always convinced someone will be injured, it just looks too dangerous and scary!  That would be a definite no.

 

Instead, I went on a quest to find a postcard.  That seemed simple enough, since I couldn't find one in the cruise terminal.  I asked one of the guards, in Spanish – un carte de postales.  He asked (in Spanish) if I wanted the post office – un correo (or something like that).  I had to mime a rectangle, and said in my minimal Spanish “a picture, for to write.”  (“Una pintura, por escribe.”) 

 

Aha!  That helped him understand what I wanted.  He told me to go out, turn left, walk to the light, and there is the store, Sambara, opposito.  Ten minutes.

 

Of course, once I was out of the terminal, there were packs of taxi drivers each with their own spiel:  “I’ve been waiting for you!” or “Oh, I remember you!” or “You will be my first sale of the day!.”  No no no, I’m walking, thank you, no market for me, just Sambara.  Everyone agreed they would have “un carte de postales.”

 

I passed a few people taking a break in the shade by this gorgeous mural, and I asked if there was a name for the man in the mural – “Como es el llama de el hombre en la murale?”  Likely not perfect, but close enough for them to understand.  They said he was “Guerrero” – and that he was a soldier.  At this point, I’m not sure if Guerrero is the name of the man, or if Guerrero means “soldier” – given that guerro is “war.”  Anyway, it really was a gorgeous mural, so I took a few photos from the left so I didn’t get the sun shining into the camera.

 

I eventually found Sambara – a kind taxi driver walked me across the street, because while the traffic lights changed, the walk signal never switched from the don’t walk symbol to the safe-to-walk symbol!

 

It turns out Sambara was all out of postcards.  The kiosks outside had newspapers but no postcards.  So I bought a Peanuts birthday card, in Spanish – and of course I have NO idea what it says!  Way too complicated Spanish for me!  But a nephew has a birthday coming up, so instead of a postcard, he’ll get a Mexican birthday card featuring Snoopy!  It just made me laugh!

 

I walked back to the ship, and that was about it for my day.  (All of this took a few hours!)  I would have liked to visit the gorgeous fort, but it was closed to the public – I’m not sure if that’s because it was Monday, or if It’s permanently closed to the public.  But it’s an interesting fort, with five pointy corners, and can be seen in the mural.  It’s similar to the design of the fort we saw in St. Kitts – very different from the usual square corners we see, these are sort of arrowhead shaped corners!  (If you’ve seen The Pirates of the Caribbean movie, they used that fort as their model.)  I guess maybe it gives a better view of any approaching enemy or marauders.

Storm at Sea

Days 7 to 9 – 9 to 11 October 2026 – Sea Days

 

We were supposed to have a sea day, then a day in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, followed by another sea day.  However, there has been a tropical weather system growing off the west coast of Baja California, Mexico.  It appears to be building rapidly, and is expected to become a Category 4 hurricane in a day or two.

 

On Thursday, while we were in San Diego, our captain and navigation team, in communication with Holland America, looked at all the weather forecasts and decided it would be safer for all the passengers as well as the ship if we sailed out to sea and stayed west of what is currently Tropical Storm Simon, which is in the process of becoming Hurricane Simon.  The upshot is we are skipping our port stop in Cabo, and will have three sea days.  (Very glad to not be on a sailing vessel like Hendrick Hudson's "Half Moon!")

 

This is at the same time at the southern Gulf of Mexico coastal USA is expecting Hurricane Isiaias, and eastern Mexico is likely going to have bad weather – so it seems as if the storm season has suddenly become way too busy after a rather slow start.  And poor Mexico is getting a one-two punch

 

The crew is putting together extra activities to keep the passengers occupied.  Richard and I, however, are pretty good at keeping ourselves busy.  On top of all this, I’ve caught a cold, so I’d be spending the day in the cabin anyway.  I wore a mask last night and ate dinner solo in the dining room, trying to contain my germs.  Cruise ships are definitely somewhat like petri dishes, a small enclosed environment where germs can spread and multiply easily.  (I’m blaming the tender trips to and from Santa Barbara, there were quite a few people sneezing and coughing as we bounced along the waves between ship and shore.)

 

Eh, I have books to read, photos to edit, blogs to write.  I manage to find plenty to do, even with an unexpected extra day at sea.  I also have an extra box of tissues from our room stewards.  And lots of movies on the TV.  I’m set.

 

9 October 2026 – After dinner, I stopped by the casino to play on the dragon machine I like.  There was some promotion going on, and the person at machine number 1234 won free play.  It turned out that person was across an aisle from me, so she jumped up and the people came over to give her the free play money in her account.  Then they announced the persons immediately to her right and left also won!  Her husband was to her left, and he was given $$ in free play.  Then they came over to me, since I was the person to her right – and voila, I had $50 in free play!  Wow, how crazy!  And exciting!

 

10 October 2026 – We began the day with bright blue skies and seas, plenty of sunshine.  By midafternoon, the sky was overcast, and the ocean a steely blue grey.  I’m not sure if the current or wave direction changed, but the splashing sounds changed dramatically.  Simon has been upgraded to a Category 3 storm, and predicted to become a Cat 4 before landfall.  It looked like he may be dragging some clouds and rain behind him!

 

11 October 2026 – We changed time ahead one hour as we’re beginning to turn east along the coast of Mexico – not that we can see land, we’re still too far out to sea to even spy a faint outline of land.  Our weather has changed and the ocean is rougher, with swells and deep troughs, and the water is a steely grey.  Skies are overcast with dense clouds, and the air is increasingly humid.  No rain, but it does look ominous.  My cold seems worse in the mornings, so at this point I’m staying in our room both to baby my cough and stuffy nose, as well as to not spread this thing throughout the ship.

 

 

Old Friends' Day

Day 6 – 8 October 2026 – San Diego, CA, USA

 

I was especially looking forward to our stop in San Diego.  Not that I had a particular destination in mind. Rather, I was meeting up with an old and dear friend from my Peace Corps days in Liberia in the early 1980s.  Three of us lived up-country in the small village of Fissebu, and taught at the Zorzor Rural Teacher Training Institute – or ZTI, as if was known across the country.

 

RP from California and RW from Michigan shared a mud-brick house, and taught math and science (respectively) to in-service and pre-service teachers.  They were both second year volunteers, while I was a brand new baby volunteer assigned to the curriculum center at ZTI.  My job was to teach how to design and create educational materials to those same teachers in training.  I eventually added teaching Development Psychology to my job, and the two men also taught at the elementary/junior high school on our college campus.

 

As the only three Peace Corps Volunteers in our town and campus, we sort of became our own little family, often having meals together, playing cards together, even dealing with a student demonstration and riot on our campus.  (Really.  R and R stood in front of the director to protect him; I tried to do so but the women students pulled me away, afraid I’d be injured.  Instead, I went to the larger town four miles away to alert the Superintendent of Education what was going on at our school; he called in the military, which was definitely not what I had anticipated!)

 

At any rate, we became close friends, and have stayed in touch.  Haven’t seen each other in thirty-something years, though I did attend RW’s wedding.  But RP and I scheduled meeting up during our time in San Diego.

 

It was wonderful.  Some people just stay friends without having to re-acquaint themselves after decades, and we just sort of continued our conversations.  Or maybe different conversations but the same connection.  Whatever, there was still the same closeness and bond as always.

 

RP picked me up – our ship was docked right in town, and it was just a short walk up through the terminal and pier to arrive on one of the main streets in downtown San Diego!   He decided we should spend our time in La Jolla, a smaller town a bit northwest of San Diego itself, but more picturesque.

 

We walked, we talked, we had a delightful seafood lunch at a rooftop café overlooking the Pacific waves breaking on rocky cliffs and sea walls.  We talked about updates in our lives, our families, relationships, retirement and changes in our lives while being retired.  All those things people talk about when they only see each other every few decades, or talk on the phone a couple of times a year.  

 

We also walked around Sea Port so I could buy a postcard – and more talking.  Actually, some of our talking was also about having spent two years in a developing nation such as Liberia, and how eye-opening that was for young people from the US to experience such a different place and culture.  How out of context we were there, and how much we didn’t understand, how much was going on that we really had no clue about, all the subtext that is inherent in any culture.  And how strange it was to return to the US, still ourselves but also so completely changed inside and thus not the same people we had been prior to those two years in a very different country.

 

There are some people who just seem to understand each other without having to explain everything, and R and I always fit together that way, just understanding each other in an intuitive kind of way.

 

So it was a wonderful day.  Some friends we don’t need to see often to know that we care about each other.  But when we finally do spend time together, it somehow is extra special.  And this was just that kind of day.

 

 

 

Lovely Santa Barbara!

Day 5 – 7 October 2026 – Santa Barbara, CA, USA

 

Today our ship anchored in the harbor and we took the tenders in to town – it seems that Santa Barbara either doesn’t have or doesn’t want a large pier and cruise terminal right in town.  However, since we were anchored quite a way outside the harbor, we had some large swells and there were pauses in helping passengers into the life boats used as tenders!  This definitely delayed our getting ashore, and it was already a very short day.  Oh well, life at sea means being prepared for changes.

 

Our tenders dropped us at a small dock near a marina, so I wandered across the nearby beach to dip my toes in the Pacific Ocean.  Chilly water, especially since it was such a nice sunny day!  Mission number one completed!

 

I found a couple of mosaics embedded in the sidewalk near the marina, and had to take photos.  They were a great introduction to this artsy town!

 

I only had about two hours in town, given the delays getting in and the early departure.  But Santa Barbara has a free bus around town – or maybe a free bus service for cruise ships.  There were four stops on the bus: down near the marina; in town near the information center; farther into town at the historic courthouse, one of the oldest in the US (or something like that); and near the train station, which just happens to be across the street from the information center!

 

One of the friendly welcome volunteers said that the info center was a good place to pick up postcards, which was the other item on my to-do list.  She added that the info center was a few doors up from the best ice cream spot in town, so of course, now I had TWO items on that list to accomplish!

 

I rode the free bus through to stop number three, figuring this way I’d see both the old Spanish mission as well as the courthouse, which was a lovely building.  Most of Santa Barbara seemed to be built in the traditional Spanish Southwest style, a lot of clean lines, light colored cement or stucco, arched windows, and terra cotta tiled roofs.  Lots of palm trees and brightly colored flowers and buses.  Spanish and Mexicans style tiles here and there, and a few corners with hand-painted scenic tile benches!  The town really is very charming, nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Sierra Madre mountains – I think this would be a very nice place to live!

 

Once I finally made it to that information center (which has very clean restrooms!), I bought my postcards.  I received directions to McConnel’s Ice Cream – easy to find, since they have a big sign outside their shop saying “Yum!”

 

Oh my, SO many flavors to choose from!  The young lady said that the Dutch chocolate was a milk chocolate, so I opted for the single scoop with two flavors, the coffee (which had dark granules of ground coffee in it), and the espresso chip, also dark coffee with flakes of dark chocolate!  Yes, anyone who knows me realizes that these were fabulous ice cream flavors, and I was very happy to enjoy Santa Barbara’s world-famous ice cream!  (Really, Time magazine listed McConnel’s as “the best ice cream in the world.”  Or at least according to a sign in the shop.)

 

I walked back to the shuttle bus stop, and chatted with a few passengers from our ship.  A small bus came by, but was full.  By now it was after 1 PM, and we were told the last tender would be at 2 PM.  A number of us opted to walk the three-quarters of a mile back to the tender dock, given that it was a sunny and warm (but not sweltering hot) day. 

 

Of course, the large shuttle bus drove by as I was walking back, but oh well, it really wasn’t a major walk.  I managed to find bird of paradise flowers along my walk, as well as a sidewalk mosaic.

 

Then back to the ship in time for a late lunch, and maybe a little afternoon nap.  In actuality, I finished painting a calla lily I had started while waiting to be called for the tender.  And listened to a great jazz saxophonist a few decks above the atrium in which I was sitting.

 

 

 

 

When Being Helpful Goes Wrong

Days 3 & 4 – 5 & 6 October 2026 – Sea Days 

 

There are things that seem to happen only to me.  I really don’t know why – maybe it’s thinking outside the box.  Or not knowing there’s a box.  Or just that I try to help resolve situations before they become worse.  Or that I’m just doing things outside the routine or outside the norm.

 

I really have no idea.  I just know that things happen to me that never seem to happen to anyone else.

 

At any rate, today’s event:  I was minding my own business after lunch, editing photos on my computer while sitting in one of the comfortable seating areas on the ship.  I had eaten a lovely brunch, skipping dessert so I could justify attending what was billed as a “cupcake afternoon tea.”  Sounds delightful, right?  (Photos of from former afternoon teas, not our shipboard cupcake tea.  Mostly New Zealand and Australian tea.)

 

I finished up the photos, closed my files, put away my laptop.  Headed to the ladies’ room for a quick visit before going to the dining room for tea.  Used the facilities, flushed, and on my way out of the stall I realized the toilet had flushed itself again.  I paused at the doorway, unsure what to do.  The next thing I knew, I heard the toilet flushing and flushing and then overflowing and water splashing all over the tile floor.  (I only peed, so the issue was not me!)

 

Now, overflowing toilets are problematic anywhere.  But they are even worse on a cruise ship, because wet carpeting will wick all the water under the metal walls and throughout an entire wing of the ship.  Been there, done that.  (See our blog about a visit to Tobago in 2017.  We didn’t go ashore because our toilet got stuck on the “flush” function, and flooded our cabin as well as four or more cabins down the hall.)

 

I saw the “Emergency!” button in the toilet stall, and figured well, this is an emergency.  Not a medical emergency, but a maintenance and plumbing emergency.  So I pressed the button, thinking it was the quickest way to call for assistance.

 

I washed my hands and ran out into the hallway, looking for a staff person.  I found a young man who possibly worked at one of the bars, and told him the situation – and asked if he could call maintenance or plumbing or someone.  He said he would.

 

I began walking to the elevators, and suddenly a young woman in a grey and white uniform came rushing through, carrying some orange bag.  I ran over and asked if she was a service personnel on the ship, she said yes, but she’s running to an emergency in the bathroom.  And d’oh, it hits me – she’s from the infirmary and thinks there’s a medical emergency!

 

So I said wait, I’m the one who pushed the emergency button, it isn’t a medical emergency!  The toilet is stuck on flush, it’s flooding the bathroom, and I thought I should make sure some staff person knows so it can be fixed before someone comes in, slips in the water, falls, and then you really do have a medical emergency!

 

She looked at me, thanked me, and who knows exactly what she was thinking – it was definitely one of those looks teachers give students who try to help and somehow make the situation worse.  (I know the look!)

 

I skedaddled out of there, and went to my cupcake tea.  (Normal afternoon tea with lots of mini cupcakes in various flavors.)  At least I was reassured that someone on staff knew there was a problem in that bathroom.  That it would be dealt with and fixed, and that the water wouldn’t run on indefinitely.

 

But oh, I did feel like the inept and clueless student getting “that” look from the adult!