Book It to Bermuda Part I

Can a week have transpired since we docked in Boston and disembarked from the Jewel of the Seas, since we bid farewell to Birdie and Matt, Chris and Ryan, and all the other Gatherites and authors aboard ship? I suppose it does if one has been on the road ever since doing book stuff and doing the driving to get to those events.

But now I'm back. I took a nap (it helped as my brain had died). I'm here to tell you about it. But what part shall I tell? About my "Meet Beryl Singleton Bissell" event on the high seas that were so wild it forced me to sit while bringing a special intimacy to the program? Or, what I'd really like to talk about which is that Birdie is exactly as she writes -- beautiful, scintillating, funny, warm, and totally delightful. And Chris is as brilliant and thoughtful and wise and courageous as we'd already garnered from his Gather activities.

 Then there were the companions that accompanied Birdie and Chris. An Italian hunk named Matt charmed all the women at our table while simultaneously uttering profound, articulate, and artistic insights that provided a wondrous foil for Birdie's sparkle and Ryan broke everyone's heart. The big, gentle guide dog sat quietly next to Chris and did his best to fit unobtrusively under tables and next to chairs and in bus aisles. His favorite position seems to be laying his wondrous heavy head against Chris's leg (and if one was lucky against their leg). Yet when Chris takes him off duty he turns into the young dog he is. He leaps and bounds and gallops. I think Horseshoe Bay must have been one of his best romps during the cruise because he really churned up that pink sand on the beach.

So let me post some photos here of our table and our trek with Chris to the beach because in a case like this, photos might very well tell it best.

One view of our table from left to right, Birdie, my husband Bill (unseen), my cousin Beryl from Ottawa and her friend Pat Mattieson, and Chris. Ryan is under the table. Sorry.

Another view of beautiful Birdie, my Bill, Julie Rogers, Matt and sorry, the back of Chris's head. Ryan is still under the table.

Ryan is charming without uttering a word. I was sitting across from Chris and Ryan on the bus so this was the best I could do. The guy next to Chris really was smitten by Ryan.

Horseshoe Bay with Chris and Bill. Ryan is off checking the beach, and Birdie and Matt are frolicking in the waves and too far out to catch on my digital. They'd gotten there before us despite the rain, not realizing that we were bringing the sun with us and that the rain would stop as soon as we got off the bus. Perfect timing.

Beryl in the lovely town of St. George -- a not to be missed site, but don't trust Fodors. The Water Street Cafe they laud has never existed according to the tourist agency. We walked the length of Water Street several times before giving up and dining at the Cafe Gia -- a wise choice as it had good food and an outdoor terrace to eat it on.

Bill hasn't smoked in 30 years but he just had to buy a Cuban Cigar in Bermuda . . . and smoke it. I am pleased to announce that this lapse has not proved habit forming. 

Gathering before "Meet Beryl Singleton Bissell" event in the Safari Room aboard ship.

See that podium behind Beryl as she reads talks about writing and her first book The Scent of God . That podium was moving and I was grateful I didn't have to hang on to it. My chair stopped its desire to join the audience.