A trip of a lifetime: Part III

New York Skyline

It sounds like the trip of a lifetime: Touring the mountains of Austria, taking coffee in Vienna, having a castle all to yourself … much less returning to the United States aboard the “Queen Mary II” and touring New York. Bonnie McGee chronicled her amazing trip to Europe and beyond by sending almost-daily e-mails to her son, Christian, and daughter-in-law, Sarah, in Indiana. Here, she shares excerpts with us of some of her most interesting and eventful times. This is Part III.

Quarantined at sea (never mind the Imodium), Sept. 1 …

Had a rough evening and night. This morning my friend said I should call the ship’s doctor and ask for Imodium. My butler, Andres, delivered my breakfast and asked how I was doing this fine morning. A little tummy problem, I said, and asked if there was a pharmacy on the ship. It was a simple question. He asked if I was having diarrhea in his broken English. Yes, a little, I said. He politely told me to call the purser’s office and inform them.

 Then all hell broke loose.

 They had a nurse come to my room immediately. She took all my vital signs and temperature, listened to my abdomen, then informed me that, unfortunately, I had to be quarantined to my stateroom for 24 hours. I had to fill out three health reports asking where I was for the past five days, what I ate, drank, where and the time I did it. They wanted to know what ports of call I was at, how I entered England, it went on and on.

Then she informed me that a team would be coming to disinfect my room. Andres rang my doorbell and, while standing outside my door, he told me he could no longer be my butler until tomorrow – sniff – then said the medical crew would be my butlers. Next thing I knew, they were donning rubber gloves and plastic aprons to sanitize my room. Out in the hall they had a cart with one man holding a large red plastic bag for the other one to put my bed linens in.

I had a big problem with them keeping the door open while they did this. I slinked down on the couch, fearing that any passengers walking by would be wondering who was the one with the cooties.

A couple of hours later, I received a nice letter from the ship’s doctor telling me how sorry he was to hear I was feeling unwell. He diagnosed it as acute gastroenteritis. OK, I accepted that. Along with his letter was a fact sheet all about norovirus gastroenteritis! Hold on a bloody minute … if I have this, then I got it on the “Royal Queen Mary II!” I used no public bathrooms ever, but I did sleep in their beds, ate their food and drank their water.

On a lighter note, it was a nasty day at sea. The fog rolled in across the Atlantic and it rained – a perfect day to be quarantined, LOL. They waited on me hand and foot with smiles and politeness.

Please hold all your flowers and get well cards … this is the first time I’m enjoying dysentery.

P.S.: Telling someone on the “QMII” that you would like to buy some Imodium is like asking a stewardess if she has a match to light your shoe! BRING YOUR OWN IMODIUM from home and keep your mouth zipped!

Love you all!
Mom/Bonnie

First day in New York …
At 6:30 a.m. the “Queen” docked in Brooklyn. We had breakfast on the ship, then disembarked. Our driver picked us up at 9 a.m.

 Welcome to New York City. This place is electric! Heavy police presence is everywhere, so I had to speak to a couple of New York’s finest.

 After seeing the “Lady in Red” standing in the middle of traffic in Times Square, strumming her guitar, I realized I, too, could get a job in my old age!  
I think she was wearing a thong, and she was wearing red, sequinned, star-shaped pasties. Christian said she was on Howard Stern’s show talking about having a “Turf War” with the naked cowboy!

We stayed at the famous “Colony Club,” founded by a woman over 100 years ago. It is a private women’s Hotel/Club. I took pics of the grand stairway, meeting rooms, library, and roof top restaurant. Very beautiful and girlie.

We had lunch at Ben’s Kosher Delicatessen, then dinner at Fishtales, located in Manhattan.

 I got to see the Ed Sullivan Theater where David Letterman and “Saturday Night Live” are taped! Other sights on the agenda were the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, and others. That’s the coolest part of traveling with my friend, always first class.

 Colleen and Bud Konheim (neighbors in Boca) invited us to tour the Nicole Miller Showroom. My friend was very excited about that, and so was I. It was nice to meet up with someone from home.

The frenzy of Fashion Week …

We showed up at 11 a.m. at Nicole Miller’s showroom. This was just prior to Fashion Week. Bud showed us the entire showroom, the patterns, how the office is run, how it all works. We even saw models strutting their stuff.

Nicole came out and greeted us. “How did I know you were from Boca Grande?” she laughed. “You’re so tan!”

Home at last …

Arrived in Indiana after waiting five hours on the tarmac. Bad weather in New York. It was so good to see the family, and to be home after three weeks. I got Sophia and Libby little Harrod’s tote bags and girly things. Then we went to the zoo.

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