Day 7: Rockin’ and rollin’

After three days of relishing barge-like tranquility, we learned last night that we’re really on a boat. Gale-force winds and 15-foot waves combined to make this tub sway like Gilligan’s hammock. The better half was the greener half until she downed some ginger (who knew that was an herbal treatment for seasickness?) and then Dramamine.

On the up side, the rockin’ was making the dice roll nicely down in the ship’s casino. While the greener half recovered, I collected a nice pile of green. See how long that lasts…

Today’s stop was Naples, which we’d heard mixed things about (lotsa crime, great pizza). It is a weird place: There’s more construction downtown than in the Oklahoma highway system because of a subway expansion that’s gotta dodge a lot of historical foundations. And you can never wait for the green light to cross the street – just suck it up and leap into the maelstrom. They always stop. Or almost always.


The history was picturesque but middling – I really got into this major midtown street that felt like an alleyway lined with pushcarts. It began with more bookstores in two blocks than all of Dallas-Fort Worth, and then gradually included every possible retail product – clothes, fruit, mini-squid (pictured at left) and the most godawful baby dolls you’ve ever seen (too gruesome to photograph). Think the bastard children of Bratz and trolls.

No doubt about the day’s highlight, though: the pizza. Hit a joint called Trianon where nobody spoke English except the trio of crew people from the USS Eisenhower dining at the next table. Split a proscuitto/mushroom combo that had tastebuds dancing with abandon.

Rock on!