The Streets Of San Francisco ...

... are stupid.  Or maybe they’re only stupid when you are old and overweight, pushing a baby stroller, and trying to follow Google maps to get to a Target. Let’s examine this concept …

So today Maribeth had an excursion planned. I decided that Everley and I would get off the ship and walk around. After all, Molly and I had walked around this same area only a few days ago, so how difficult could it be? We needed a few things from Target, and I was pretty sure I knew where that was, so no problem. After all, Maribeth said (or at least I heard her say) that it was only a mile or so away. And so I didn’t bother to map it on my phone.

The first hurdle was to get off the ship. I heard the announcement that the gangway was going to be on Deck 1, blah-blah. Blah-blah means I heard it was aft or fore or port or there or here or somewhere or nowhere. To put this into perspective, we are midship (which will come into play later). Anyhow, Everley, her stroller, and I got on the elevator right outside our room and headed down to Deck 1.

I also heard (or sorta heard) the announcement that the only way you could get to the gangway part of Deck 1 was to ride the front (whatever that is in ship terms) elevator down, since Deck 1 did not have a corridor the length of the ship. So, Everley and I headed down in our elevator to Deck 1, only to realize that there was no gangway. Of course I was thinking I had taken the correct elevator. So instead of realizing that I had taken the incorrect elevator, I decided I was at the wrong end of the ship. So we got back on the elevator, got out on Deck 9, headed to the other end of the ship, got on that elevator, and headed down to Deck 1. Where we promptly saw a sign that said the gangway was on the other end of the ship. I remembered about the no corridor thing, so we got back on the elevator, headed to Deck Who Knows, and proceeded to walk the length of the ship to the forward elevator, went down to Deck 1, and found the exit route. Whew! And now we were out on the street, headed for Target.

 

It was easy enough to get to our hotel from the weekend (notice I said easy, not fun). Everley decided to nap, which would end up being a huge plus. I then proceeded up to where I thought the Target would be, only to realize I had no idea where I was headed. So I decided to pull out my phone and do the Google Map thing, which kept me walking and backtracking for a bit, until I wised up and picked the “walking” route rather than the “driving” route. Eventually, 2 or 3 or 17 miles from the cruise ship, we entered Target. Everley, fresh from an hour+ nap, woke up, and we spent some valuable Target time getting our supplies. And a crown, magic wand, and markers.

After we paid for our stuff, Everley was not so keen on getting back into the stroller, which I decided was a must if I was going to get her back to the ship in one piece. So we hung around the elevator lobby until I convinced her (with who remembers what) to get back into the stroller and get strapped in.

I started the Google map thing again, and kept retracing my steps, attempting to get the walking route rather than the driving route. At some point, with a baby treading water because her diaper was so wet (yes, I had a change in my bag, but there was no way I was letting her out of the stroller for a diaper change and then having to do the “get back in the stroller negotiation” thing again), it being lunch time all over San Francisco and lines a mile long in any eating establishment and a baby that probably needed to eat, and the ship being possible 652 miles away, I somehow ended up in front of a Westin hotel, where there were several cabbies looking for employment with their vehicles. I promptly commandeered one and off we were to the port. I have no idea which route Mr. Taxi travelled – but I think we detoured through Los Angeles. At any rate, we were soon back at the port, where Everley got a clean diaper and we both got lunch.

After that, it was time for a nap (for everybody) until Maribeth came back from her field trip. Then Everley spend a few hours in the little kids club while Maribeth and I had dinner at Palos – a nice ending to a super fun (whatever) day!!

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Today was a great day because: Everley time in the big city; strawberry soup for lunch; Everley enjoying the kids club; dinner with Maribeth at Palo; our server at Palo