Still enjoying life in New York :)

Well, it's been another week since my last post....and I still haven't received pictures from Tasha, so I'll just write about last week's events.

Tuesday night I went and saw the Lion King. It was absolutely unbelievable!! I thought it was amazing!! After the Lion King we went and had dinner at Sushi Samba. There was a big group of us at Sushi Samba - most of the crew went as well as the owner's grandaughter and some of her friends.....it was a really good time getting to know the owner's grandaughter. After Sushi Samba, we headed back to the boat.

On Wednesday, the owner's grandaughter flew back to LA. early in the morning. Then Hannah and I cleaned her cabin. After that we rode bikes for several hours. It was great. We went to Central Park and along a bike path that goes along the Hudson River. That night Hannah and I went to dinner on Orchard street at a place called Sticky Rice, then we went to a speakeasy called Raine's Law Room. Then we went back to the boat. On our way back to the boat, Tasha called me and she was heading to another speakeasy so I went and met her.

The next day Hannah and I went bike riding again for several hours in the afternoon. After our bike ride, we went and had a light dinner at Cornelia Street Cafe in the west villiage.

On Friday, Hannah, Tasha, and I went to get our hair cut, manis and pedis. After that we met up with Tasha's friend, Caroline and went to a Ukranian Restaurant for lunch. Then we did some shopping, and my friend Tasha from LSU who lives in Brooklyn came to meet us as well as another New Yorker named Emily who dates deckhand Blake's cousin and lives in Manhattan. There were 6 girls total, and we went to see Sex and the City 2. After the movie, Hannah, Tasha (chief stew), Emily, and I met up with the boys and went to a comedy club. After that everyone except Hannah and Tasha went to a place called Webster Hall. This was three floors of dancing to different genres of music on each floor - very clubby....not really my scene, bt I did have a good time!

On Saturday afternoon, I went to meet up with my friend Tasha from LSU who lives in Brooklyn. I met her in Manhattan and then we took the subway to williamsburg - a subdivision in brooklyn. Hannah came to meet us, and the three of us went to a greek restaurant for appetizers and wine. Phil, Blake, and Blake's cousin Red came to meet us. After the greek restaurant, we met up with some of Red's friends who live in Brooklyn at a bar called the Wood.

Yesterday, I went for a bike ride again for several hours in the afternoon. Last night Hannah and I went for dinner and my friend Tasha came to meet us from Brooklyn. We went to Cornelia Stree Cafe again......and once again it was delicious!!

Today, I was on watch, so I was stuck on the boat all day. I did some cleaning and watched Crazy Heart. Now I'm watching District 9, and I really don't know what's happening, so I think I need to go and pay more attention.

Be back before a week!!! Later :)

New York!!! :)

So, I realize it's been a while since my last post. New York has been great and extremely busy. I apologize for not having any pictures is this post. Tasha takes all the good shots, and I haven't gotten her pictures yet - but soon....just asked her and she said tonight sometime they will be finished so I'll add them in a post tomorrow. In today's post, I'll just write about what I've been up to - which is a lot!!!

So, the last time I wrote was Saturday May 15th - I'll try to pick up with Sunday.....hmmm.....what happened on Sunday.......

Sunday, we were on our way to D.C. Saturday night we anchored in the Potomac off a small town called Eden, Maryland - known for being the town where parts of Wedding Crashers was filmed. The guests left Sunday after lunch and we took off for New York!

Monday, we arrived in New York! We arrived late at night. I got some pretty cool shots as we entered the city from the boat. That night the crew went out to a place called Fat Cat. It was a pretty cool bar. It was huge with pool tables, ping pong tables, and shuffle board. It looked like a college bar; it was really close to NYU....everyone looked young! We stayed there for a bit. I tried to teach myself how to play chess. That was a hopeless endeavor! After Fat Cat, the boys wanted a kebob, then we went home.

Tuesday, we had brunch with one of Tasha's friends who lives in NY. The restaurant was called Cornelia St. Cafe in West Village. It was great! The weather was pretty shit that day, so Hannah, Phil, and I decided to do a bit of shopping. I needed a new raincoat since having left mine in a cabby in Ft. Lauderdale. After shopping, I went back to the boat. That night Tasha and I went to a show on Broadway, Come Fly Away. It is a tribute to Frank Sinatra. All the music is him singing and the show is made up of dancers swing dancing and telling a story all at the same time. It was awesome!! After that we met up with the gang at a restaurant, then Phil, Hannah, Tash, and I went to a speakeasy called La Branch. It was a really cool hidden little bar with the whole 1920's theme going.

Wednesday, we worked some. After work, Tasha and I went to Joe's Pub to watch Jenny Sheinman and Robby Fulks. They sang country and folk type music with a guitar and a fiddle. It was great!! After Joe's Pub, Tasha went back to the boat, and I met up with the Kiwi at a bar. We had cocktails for a bit. He was pulling out the next day to go to Boston, so I'm glad we got the opportunity to hang out!

Thursday, we worked until early afternoon. Hannah and I went to Century 21, a huge department store. It was very busy with racks of clothes so close together and really pushy asian people, so we decided to not waste our time there. After that, we walked to Chinatown, then walked up Mulberry St (Little Italy). We had dinner at a place on Mulberry St. Then we walked to Orchard street and went into a place called the Dressing Room. This was a little boutique with a full bar, new designs from up and coming designers, second hand clothes down in the basement, and jewelry - a very cool idea I thought. Then we walked up and down Orchard St. for a while and decided we should definately go back! At this point it was around 9:30, and we had guests coming the next day, so we went back to the boat.

Friday, we worked. Guests arrived in the afternoon. They had dinner and we worked all day.

Saturday, we still had guests. They had lunch and dinner off the boat, so that made for a very easy day for us stews.....just cleaning and laundry. Hannah and I got off around 7:30, and we went for a walk. I'm still not able to jog yet, because of my foot so I'm trying to do anything but lay around in the crew mess and eat!! So, I'm walking when I'm not busy. After our walk we watched Valentine's Day, then off to bed.

Sunday, we still had guests. They got really drunk Saturday night and had a late one, so on Sunday they were dragging as well. They ate lunch on the boat, went to a 3:00 show, then ate dinner on the boat after the show. After dinner they watched a movie and went to bed at a reasonable hour....thank goodness. I was on late on Sunday, so I didn't have to wait up until after 2:00 am like Tash had to the night before.

Monday, the guests left rather early. I worked 10:00 - 4:00. The owner's granddaughter is still on board so we have to watch out for her. She's do to leave tomorrow morning. She left the boat before my shift started and returned after my shift was over, so all I did was cleaning and laundry. At 4:00, I went for an hour and a half bike ride. It was great and didn't hurt my foot at all!! Planning to do that again today as well. After my bike ride, I ate dinner then went for a walk. Later last night, the three girls got ready to take the granddaughter to a speakeasy, but she was tired and didn't want to go , so we stayed in instead and watched Friends.

Tuesday, today - I worked 8:00 - 12:00. I served the granddaughter breakfast and prepped the sun deck for a lunch for two, then my duties were finished. Now, I'm relaxing in bed and letting my lunch digest, then I'm going to go out for another bike ride this afternoon. Several of us have tickets to the Lion King tonight, so I'm really looking forward to that.

Well, that should catch up the ole blog.....will return with pictures tomorrow!!

More Pics from D.C.

These photos were all taken by Tasha. She takes more photos than I do. These follow the blog I wrote earlier today, so you may want to read that one first! They are just photos taken in D.C. on our days out and about in the city.

Picture from the Smithsonian Native American Museum

Hannah and I in front of the capitol..after the Smithsonian and on our way to the HRC.

Hannah reading the front page headline in front of the Newseum.

The White House - Tasha's photographic creativity.

The White House - we think, still taken from the back.

Me and Hannah in front of the back of the White House. We're still skeptical, but there are loads of other tourists so we know it's something important :)

I'm trying to figure out the White House grounds. After seeing this sign, it was unanimously decided that we were definately at the White House. We decided to walk to the other side, so Hannah and Tasha could see the view from their tourist books.

Department of Treasure - passed on our way to the front of the White House.

Hannah, me, and Tasha - now this looks more like it.....and I remember seeing this view! NOt feeling like a bad American anymore :) YAY!!

The Spy Museum

Blake, Phil, and Jaz getting yogurt after the Spy Museum

Cracker Bay from a really cool angle!

New York Bound!

Today, we're leaving D.C. It's been fun being there, but it's time to move on! This morning, with guests still on board, we're heading up the Potomac and will anchor somewhere tonight. Tomorrow, the guests will have breakfast and lunch, then leave, and we'll continue on our way to New York. We should reach NYC sometime Monday night or early Tuesday morning.


Since I've last written, we had a few days off in D.C. to do a little bit of sight seeing. On Tuesday the weather was pretty bad and it was cold! We were off to a late start ;) We went to the Smithsonian Native American Museum. It was so much information! I find that museums make me tired - and afterwards, I would like to have a cocktail.....also, I'm not sure I'm able to do more than one museum per day. After the museum, we went for a walk to the Hard Rock Cafe, you know I'm going to get that T-shirt! (Since moving to FLL, I've managed to acquire three new HRC T-shirts, Hollywood, FL, Nashville, TN, and Washington D.C......next up.....New York!)

This is a picture of the Capitol building. The girls, Tash, Hannah and me, are headed to the HRC for a T-shirt and some cocktails! The Capitol and me The Capitol and me. Tash and Hannah make fun of me because I'm good at pointing things to the camera. One of my first weeks on board, Hannah was using me as a model to take pictures of some of the safety equiment and exits in the cabins. After a few shots, she asked me if I'd ever worked as a flight attendent because I was so good at pointing.....like to the exits on a plane maybe?

The Capitol Building

On our way to HRC we passed a place called Newseum. This is a museum about the history of printed media - such as newspapers, etc. In the front of the museum, they had a front page headline from every state on display. I took a picture of the front page from Louisiana - the picture, seen below, shows a half naked shrimper-man with his fly down....welcome to Louisiana.....or should I say Acadiana Parish!

After Hard Rock, Tash went back to the boat, and Hannah and I met up with the boys and watched Iron Man 2. I thought it was great, and I think I should watch it again!

We had Wednesday off as well so we got up to do more sightseeing. The day was much warmer than the day before and no rain!! First we went to the White House. As seen in the pictures below.

Me in front of the Washington Memorial

The White House - the good side! :)

We took a cab to the White House, and he dropped us off on the street in the back of the White House. Well Tash, being Russian, has all these tourist books that show the White House from the front view - which is the picture above. When the cab driver drops us off, we see the back view, which is the picture below....

Tash asks the cab driver if this is the right house. The cab driver says, "This where Obama sit!" Hannah, who is Australian, tells Tash to double check her guide book - Tash looks at me and says, "you're the American. What do you think?" I said, "Yeah, I think this is it" I wasn't even 100% sure, which was a bit embarrasing! But I hadn't been to D.C. in over 10 years, so we took some pictures of the backside - there were a ton of tourists and tour buses, so we decided that it must be something important. Then we walked around to the front, and there she stood - exactly as Tash and Hannah had seen her in the guide books! At that moment, I realized that I had actually never seen the White House from the rear either....which made me a feel a little better!

After the White House, we met with the boys and all went to the Spy Museum. We were there for a couple of hours. The Spy Museum had the same effect as the The Native American Museum - tired me out!! Hannah and I left early for some frozen yogurt and shopping. We met everyone back up at the frozen yogurt place, then headed back to the boat for a bit of relaxing. Later, Hannah, Phil, Blake, Jaz and I went to eat dinner, then we met up with Terry and Scott and went back to Mr. Smiths's Piano bar in Georgetown. We stayed for a short while, then headed back to the boat - had to work early the next morning and guests were coming on board that afternoon!

Thursday and yesterday guests have been on board, so it's been work, work, work......and today as well! Yesterday our boat entertained some politicians, not sure who they were - I was stuck in the laundry room most of the day.....but one of them did require secret service. Anyway, that's pretty cool. Our owners are extreme replublicans, so they like to fundraise for "could be" republican candidates and entertain republican political figures.

So, yeah, that's about it.....we're moving now. I'm working till 8:00 then plan to do a work out! My first one in almost 2 weeks......oh no!! I'm starting my life change today! I'll keep you posted on how it's going ;)

First meeting with owners......a success? :-)

Guests came on board Friday around noon! The owners, G and R, a pilot and his wife, another pilot, and their secretary and her husband. It was very chaotic as they were walking down the dock. All the crew running from the crew mess to the aft deck to greet them. Hannah carrying champagne glasses half full with orange juice, and I was carrying a wine bucket with the chilled champagne. Hannah runs out and correclty orients the champagne glasses just so on the bar, and I'm still carrying the wine bucket - I strategically placed it next her champagne glasses hoping to Got that wast the proper thing to do. Then I met G and R - they are fabulous!! They are very down to earth and very inquisitive. I told them I was souther and R said, "Oh good someone who will eat grits with me!"

For the rest of the day and Saturday I was doing laundry while Hannah and Tash handled the service - this being my first trip and all, they let me stay down in the laundry room - which honestly I didn't mind! So, Friday I was washing the crew clothes, towels, placemats from lunch - but first I had to spot check the placemats for grease stains then wash them, then spot check again, then dry them, then iron them! At 5:00 pm we do bed turn downs, so we get the guest beds ready for bedtime, add a chocolate to the pillow, check the bathrooms, make a diamond with toilet paper (some toilet paper origami) I can't wait to do it at one of my friends houses! :)

Sunday was pretty much the same thing. G and R give us their laundry as well. We have laundry bags in each of the guest cabins as well as the owner's cabin, but most guests aren't on board long enough to have us do their laundry, so we really just do G and R. I had to chuckle to myself on Saturday when I found myself ironing the laundry bag that goes back into their cabin and will hold her dirty clothes the next day.

On every trip the owners have on board, the last night they like to have a buffet style dinner with the crew. This time we had a Mexican themed buffet. They really like to eat off of paper plates at these buffets which works out really well for us, the girls, the ones that have to clean the dishes! ;) It's a nice way to unwind and for me to interact with the owners!

Sunday night I was on late duty, which means I go to bed when the last person goes to bed. The guests decided to watch The Big Lebowski so my day finished just after midnight. That can make for a long day, but on Monday they were gone! Because I was on late duty Sunday night, I was able to sleep in a bit on Monday. I was set to start at 9:30 and lucky for me - the guests left around 9:30. So, once again everyone congregated on the aft deck and on the dock to hug the owners farewell, wish them a safe flight, and tell them we're looking forward to seeing them again next Friday. After they left yesterday, the girls proceed to clean the cabin bathrooms and stip the beds - then we had the rest of the afternoon off!! :)

Yesterday afternoon, Hannah and I wanted to go play put-put golf, but for some reason it's only opened on week days after May 31st.....so like most typical girls, we turned the day into a day of shopping! We went to U St. and walked around and searched a few boutiques. I walked away with a new purse and silk scarf. I wore both out last night, and I'm wearing them again now....so I suppose it was a good purchase!

Last night the girls went to eat at Jaleo, a Spaish tapas restaurant. Sarah Red from Louisiana Lagniappe - she lives in DC now - came and joined us for dinner. After that Sarah dropped us off at a place called Blues Alley where we watched a blues singer, Robin McKelle. Then we went to a piano bar called Mr. Smith's in Georgetown. It was a great night with the girls!!

Today and tomorrow we're hitting up some museums. It's cold and rainy so we're looking for inside events for the afternoon.

The pictures below are from last night!
Me and Red

Tash, Hannah, and me
The four of us...

Me and Tash outside of Blues Alley

Washingon D.C.

We arrived in D.C. on Wednesday around 1:00. It was a beautiful day!! In fact everyday has been a beautiful day so far!! The pictures below were taken as we were arriving into D.C.



Washington Monument The Capitol Building

Capitol Yacht Club - where we're docked.

Once we arrived in D.C., we found out that the original plans to have guests on board Friday to Monday were changed because the owner wasn't feeling very well. So, we were given the next four days off with plans to start work back up on Monday. But yesterday, we found out that the owner and his wife have decided to come tomorrow until Monday, so no more weekend off....welcome to the yachting industry! :)



Wednesday night the crew went to a Washington Natioinals vs Atlanta Braves baseball game. The braves won YAY!! After that we went to a place called Capitol Lounge. Yesterday, we had the day off so the girls went and had a late lunch at a tea room. Hannah and Tash went walking around the city, and I headed back to the boat. There's a little bar just next to the marina so I went with the boys for an afternoon beer. Terry, the Engineer, and I went to Capitol Lounge again for a bit then headed back to the boat for an early night.



Today the girls had to work to get ready for the owners to come tomorrow while the boys went and played golf. Now, I'm sitting in the crew mess listening to 90's Hits on the Satelite and trying to figure out what my next move will be :-)



Below is a picture of Hannah and me at the baseball game.

trekking through the Atlantic.....

So....we're off! Our boat left Direktor Shipyard yesterday morning! It was a hot beautiful day and we pulled away from the dock just before noon. We entered into the intercoastal and then went east into the Atlantic. Once we entered the Atlantic the waves picked up....of course and so far the only side effect I've had of this constant rocking motion in the desire to sleep!! It has been literally rocking me to sleep like a baby!! It's kind of awesome!!! While we're travelling, I have two 4 hour watches a day. I'm on watch from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm and 10:00 pm - 2:00 am. There are always two people on watch, so don't worry dad and christine - I'm not driving the boat alone ;). Basically, it's our job to keep the guys in charge awake....especially at night time, and it's always better to have two sets of eyes compared to one.....especially at night time! While on watch, there are some things we have to log every hour such as: sea temp, air temp, wind dir, wind speed, weather conditions, bearing (or degrees we're heading), and then we log our lat/long on a log map - I think this is the coolest because I have an obssession with maps, and it's kind of cool to see where we are in relation to land. The rest of the time I do whatever I want. I'm usually sleeping, but today, I did a fun little workout - most of it was trying to keep my balance while holding 15 lb dumbells :) I think I burned more calories trying to stay upright then I did actually doing the squats and lunges.....but it's better than nothing right? Below are some pictures of us pulling out of Direktor's Shipyard yesterday.

Tasha is in a photography class and this is her being a photographer :) She submitted this shot to her teacher....it's a pretty cool picture.

Blake, Tash, Jaz, and meSome more of Tash's photography skills and me being her model....

Me and Hannah posing for Tash.

Me, Hannah, and Phil

So, this morning while on watch there were dolphins swimming along with us at the bow of the boat. Below are the pictures I got!! It was super exciting!!! Below are the pictures I took.