A UNIQUE CELEBRATION AFTERNOON

by Marilyn Meshell

In July 2024, my mother, Nancy May, and I went on an Alaskan train trip with Celebration Senior Travel. We stayed in Anchorage and took daily train trips to see other parts of the state. It rained every day we were there, except for one, but that did not stop us. We put on our Celebration provided ponchos and off we went. One of our day trips was to Seward where Debra had arranged for the group to go whale watching. That day was overcast, breezy, drizzly and the water in the port was choppy. Mom and I knew that it would not be a pleasant boat ride for us that day, even with Dramamine, so we chose to remain on shore. Three other ladies decided the same thing.

So, what were we going to do for the next six hours while we waited for the boat to returned to port? Wandering around town for a few hours on a sunny day would have been fun, but less so in the rain. Going back to Anchorage early was not an option because the once daily train back to the city did not leave for seven hours. Never fear, Celebration had that covered. Greg stayed with us, found a spot for us to stay for the day, and plied us with food (it is a Celebration thing!). Greg talked with a few locals and found out about a great fish restaurant that was only two blocks away. Luckily, the rain let up for a few minutes while we changed locations and off we went on our new adventure. The only difficulty those of us walking had was keeping up with those hot rod ladies on scooters.

Greg worked out an arrangement with restaurant management so we could have food and a place to stay for the afternoon. The restaurant was on a couple levels. The staff got us in to the lower part of the building using a side door with a ramp. The room was small so the scooters had to stay outside in the rain. Greg had that covered too. He had the staff wrap plastic over the scooters so they stayed dry. Inside, we pushed together a couple tables in a corner of the room that overlooked the port and that was our spot for the entire afternoon. We ordered drinks and several appetizers to share to keep us busy for a couple hours. Then, the talking began. First up, we talked about traveling: where we had been, where we would like to go, our favorite cities and activities we had done on our travels. We talked about where we had lived and how we ended up in those locations. Time flew by and it was time to order our main meals. All of us ordered some version of fish with fish and chips being a popular choice. Then, talked moved to our families. We learned how people met their eventual spouses and about other family members. We sat back and leisurely enjoyed our delicious meals of fresh fish. We looked out on the port through the rain drops on the large windows. We appreciated being inside on solid ground and not on the deck of a moving boat.

Time flew by and we were down to the last two hours of our afternoon adventure. It was time to order coffee, tea, and desserts. We continued talking and briefly mentioned past jobs and careers before returning to more general topics Finally, it was time to vacate our tables and meet our fellow Celebration travelers back at the charter boat dock. We watched the boats pulling into port and a few minutes later the whale watchers joined us. They told us that the seas were choppy the whole time, visibility was just okay, and some folks experienced motion sickness. That made us appreciate even more our decisions to stay firmly on shore.

All the restaurant sitters agreed that we have a very enjoyable afternoon on our unplanned adventure. Celebration pivoted on the fly and Greg took good care of us and, yes, Greg, really did enjoy his afternoon with the ladies. We could not have asked for more congenial group of people to spend an afternoon with. Our unplanned afternoon was a highlight of our Alaskan Train trip. .