Day 13- The Most Beautiful Steak In The World

November 30th was our first official "at sea day", meaning we were not visiting any ports that day and would instead spend the day on the lovely Mediterranean Sea.  And by lovely, I of course mean choppy waters that make you want to vomit everywhere.  Right from the moment we woke up that morning, the boat was rocking and battling some challenging weather.  Seeing as how there was not much we could do about it, it was in our best interest to just go about our business as usual and not act as if we were trying to hold our intestines in. 

Once breakfast was forced into my stomach, I made my way down to the main theater on the boat to take in a speaking engagement from Bob McElwee, a retired NFL official. While it may not sound overly exciting on paper, as a huge football fan there is nothing more exciting than hearing firsthand accounts of what it's like to be involved in a Super Bowl or how your "buddies" with some of the greatest men in American sporting lore.  Yes, this is what now excites me.  Listening to a 77 year-old man talk about their past life in the presence of 500 other men between the ages of 65 and 115.  My next stop of the day was back at the poker tables, and as would become a common theme on the trip it ended badly for me.  The rest of the day was spent lazing about, watching movies, and doing other things that you would imagine all the fat, lazy people do on cruise ships.

That evening, Colleen and I made dinner reservations at one of the onboard specialty restaurants, an Italian Steakhouse called the Tuscan Grille.  Anyone familiar with cruising will know that while the food is included in the price of your vacation, you can elect to go to some "higher-end" restaurants for a bit of extra money (in this case $30 each).  With that being said, we put on our fanciest clothes (see: Brent in his Wal-Mart dress shoes) and headed down to the theater to take in the variety show that was playing that night.  It was around this time that the motion of the ocean really started to get the better of me and I began to feel nauseous.  With my stomach now feeling like it was upside down, we trekked to the Tuscan Grille for dinner and it became quite clear that I was probably not going to be able to eat.  Here I was, sitting down for what was probably the best meal of my adult life and I couldn't stomach a damn thing.  I took one bite of my appetizer and had one spoon of my soup, all the while making numerous trips to the bathroom thinking that I was going to hurl at any moment.  When my magnificent, tender, juicy, filet mignon finally arrived I could barely hold myself up in my seat.  Here I was staring at the finest cut of beef I believe I had ever seen and all I could was force down one tiny nibble.  Colleen assured me that her lobster fettuccine was quite delightful, and poor Brenty was left to wonder "what-if".  All I can say is that I am proud to report that our bottle of Pinot Grigio did not go to waste and despite my body's best attempts I made sure that we finished every drop of it!

With dinner in the rearview mirror (and unfortunately not my stomach), it was time yet again for us to attempt to get some sleep despite the volatility that the ocean was putting forth on our ship.  As was the case a couple of nights prior, it appeared as though we were in for a long night.  Colleen convinced me to try and drink some ginger ale, which I coupled with our newly purchased acupuncture bracelets.  Throw in some Pepto Bismol and motion sickness ear drops and I figured I would fall right asleep.  If only!  Eventually, my Pepto-ear drop-ginger ale-bracelet combination allowed me to go sleep, but not before wondering how many more of these rocky nights laid ahead.

~Brentski~