The First Supper

When I arrived at the restaurant in my squeaky clean threads and was seated at the table that was to be mine for the duration of the trip, I was completely alone. The waiters asked me if I was indeed by myself and thought they were dilerious, making faces at me like I had 5 heads when I said yes. It was a little awkward but at the same time, I was sort of okay with it all.

No one else showed up at my table that night, nor the next. I began dining alone as there was no reason to wait. Ordered myself a hearty glass of red wine and went through the courses (6 by the way, thats the way it goes on a cruise ;)

Upon receiving the second course--beef consumme, an older woman, appearing in her mid 50's and extremely healthy looking, came over to my table. She asked if I was dining alone, and if so, if I'd like to join her table next to mine. I smiled and said yes, I would love to. And proceeded to take my wine and soup over to the nearby table. It was very nice of them, and something I now see that they would have done for anyone in my situation.

They were 3 woman from Colorado, a mother and her two daughters. One daughter had just graduated high school, and her step-sister was a junior at William & Mary. Two tan, stocky gentlemen were also at the table, and were partners from Miami. We all had a terrific meal together (I had the veal). A few awkward silences exchanged by people just getting to know each other but still, much less silence than what I would have experienced dining solo my first night on-board.

Throughout our conversation, I learned that Colorado, specifically Boulder, was an extremely health-conscious town and was actually not entirely freezing all 365 days of the year. The men from Miami had both lived in NY before and told me a few of their horror stories and fairytales working and living in Brooklyn.

After dinner I went straight back to my cabin. I was exhausted after such an emotional and eventful solo day.