The Great Voyage

♪ It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.♫ 

     It's also hard to go on a road trip by oneself, for the first time.  I knew this would be a tough endeavor.  I've never seen a movie by myself.  I've eaten out alone once, prior to this trip.

     I didn't really feel like a solo adventurer until the morning of June 2nd, when I woke up early to bid my mother adieu and catch the Cape May-Lewes Ferry (here).  Suddenly, I realized....this is it.  No turning back.  It was with a heavy heart, and a heavy suitcase, that I left my mom in New Jersey.  Don't worry, she had a car, to get back to NY.  What do you think, I would just leave her there?  Geez.

To be honest, I was very nervous.  I have never taken a ferry you drive onto before.

Also, there were seagulls following in the wake of the ferry for the whole journey.  Cute?  No, more like, Alfred Hitchcock.  I mostly sat on the other side of the boat.

(Note the sign says PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE SEAGULLS)

At first I sat on the side benches outside, feeling lonely and missing my mom (what, who just turned 30?)...but then I got cold in the shade, and bored, so I ventured around the ship.  Here are some shots:

Walking on the rocking vessel was very difficult - especially on the upper deck.  Attempting to stroll casually by the ladies in the above picture (distance left), I inadvertently walked directly at them.  "I feel drunk!" I exclaimed.  "You look like it!" they shouted back.  We had a good laugh.  (Ferry jokes.)

I visited the gift shop and, after knocking a few things over, eventually purchased a fish book for my little cousin, Hailey, to present to her once I arrived in North Carolina:

Isn't she cute?  Yes, that's sunscreen, not the book.  Fail.

By the time we could see Delaware in the distance, I was ready for the rest of the journey.  I think listening to Queen on my shuffle helped boost my confidence, a little.  We are the champions, my friends. 

I'm the king of the world!  OK, it wasn't the Titanic.  Thank God; sinking would have sucked.

What a funny little rite of passage this was.  I left behind an old "me", without realizing it, when I got onto this ferry.  I drove into sunny Delaware and didn't look back.

~A