My Journey in Poetry

[I haven’t tried writing poetry since I was a kid. However, on a whim I decided to use rhyming couplets to describe our trip that began February 10 to catch a cruise from Fort Lauderdale on Valentine’s Day. I shared it with my friends on the afternoon our ship left as a way to tell them that I would be “off the grid” for a while. This certainly isn’t great poetry, but I thought I’d go ahead and share it on my blog as well.]

[Day 1]
Weather predictions forced a change in plans,
So we departed early on our trip to distant lands,
Instead of Tuesday night, we left Monday after work,
Because "Snowmageddon" was making folks berserk.
Must cross the Piedmont before it snows,
'Cause Southern drivers don't know how it goes.
Listened to the car radio as the Mountaineers won,
Met up at Hico, then drove to Princeton.

[Day 2]
Left Princeton listening to 93.1 Radio Gilligan,
It will be a long time before we make it back again.
All's well till Huntersville--then SNOW!
White out thru Charlotte made traffic slow.
South Carolina rest area the first stop of the day,
Watched the amazed Mexican kids in the snow play.
Fortunately the temperature kept above 32,
So roads stayed safe like they are supposed to do.
By Columbia the snow had turned to rain,
On I-26, big trucks in the passing lane.
Stopped in Orangeburg for gas and a late lunch,
We tried "Fatz" and liked it a bunch.
Arrived in the "other Charleston"--went out to explore,
Historic buildings, scenery, and food places galore.
The Noisy Oyster is where we finally decided to eat,
Robbie had told us that it couldn't be beat.

[Day 3]
Leaving a day early gave us an extra day to kill,
The Charleston Aquarium was for our time to fill.
But all our plans went up in smoke,
When Amtrak cancelled our train--no joke!
Amtrak decided the weather was too bad,
So driving to Florida was the only option we had.
Forced to cancel reservations and make new plans soon,
By the time we got things reset it was already noon.
Driving south on 17 we stayed below the freeze line--nice!
Our roads were all safe but the treetops were ice.
Eventually the state of Florida we did enter,
Drank free citrus juice at their welcome center.
We watched the car thermometer all day long,
Rising from 34 to 77 made Anna burst into song.
Passed Jacksonville, Daytona, and Cocoa Beach,
Until darkness and t-storms finally determined our reach.
We opted to stop at Vero Beach for the night.
Ate seafood dinner next to the ocean--what a sight!

[Day 4]
Woke up in Vero with lots of time and not that many miles,
So we left I-95 and took the old roads for some smiles.
Enjoyed the palm trees and beaches down Routes 1 and A1A,
Even rolled down the windows to delight in the day.
Went through Fort Pierce for the first time since 1984,
Enjoyed drawbridges up, Jupiter's red lighthouse, and more.
Arrived in Fort Lauderdale and met a friend for dinner,
The Riverside Market Cafe was certainly a winner!
Back to the room and into our bed,
With vacations dreams filling my head.

[Day 5]
Left the hotel with our bags in hand,
Headed for the port on the shuttle van,
It took a while getting through the processing line,
But when finally on-board, everything was fine.
Our room is nice--it's a beautiful day!
We've just a few hours before anchors aweigh.
We'll be offline all the time while we are on the ship,
So I can't reply until we return from our trip.
One last thing before our ship sails out of sight:
Happy Valentines Day to all, and to all a good night!

A view of the snowstorm we drove through
between Charlotte, NC and Columbia, SC.