American Cruise Lines - Day 2 - Yorktown (Part 2)

We arrived back at the ship while lunch was in full swing in the dining room so I left Dad to run upstairs and dump my camera and our coats in the room.

I went with the Mixed Green Salad - an option I'd have in some form several times this cruise.

My entrée was the Barbecued Chicken Salad which seems to translate to pile some slightly seasoned cut up chicken breast on the same salad fixings, top with corn, and add a little cup of BBQ sauce on the side. I appreciate the thought of letting me test the spiciness of the sauce before dousing everything in it and the freedom to add however much as I wanted. The chicken was nice and tender.

Unfortunately I neglected to take a picture of the full page menus left on our table at lunch today and that's the only place that listed the dessert options. I believe this was some sort of bread pudding?

After lunch we returned to the cabin where I sat out on the balcony people watching until it got too warm. We had changed our mind about doing the Historic Yorktown Trolley last night when we heard that only the first ride of the day would get narration. Now Dad decides to change his mind again and head out on the trolley on his own. He has a lifetime senior pass to the National Parks system so he can get into any park for free. He stopped off at the battlefield and the Visitor Center before coming back to the ship 1-2 hours later. Unfortunately, he opted not to bring his phone on the trip or take my camera so no pictures to share here. He did report that even though the most narration he got was "and here is such and such," he felt it was worth visiting the places themselves.

While he was away, I headed down to the Chesapeake Lounge to participate in the first art class led by guest artist Mary. Each day at different times she would lead a themed art activity and today's was Abstract Art with watercolors. We each got a palette of the 3 primary colors of red, blue, and yellow along with a cup of water, brushes, and a 5x7 piece of cardstock style canvas. She gave a lesson about how to create the look of random waves of color by painting, making a path with water for the paint to follow, and blending the colors to create some dark and some softer hues. 

It was a nice communal activity and I got to meet one of the four people onboard also from my little town within Baltimore. I took a little creative license and altered the described pattern to showcase my initial underneath the colors. Mary's husband stood by helping to fetch enough cups of fresh water to float another ship but it was a little unnerving how they both alternated between helping and criticizing. Last I checked we were all adults just doing this for fun, don't need to be yelled at for not getting up to stand over Mary while she showed an example versus watching from our tables where we worked. Yes, I'm aware my artwork wasn't going to end up in the Smithsonian, I don't need it to be fixed and corrected on how I'm using too much of this color or making an area too dark. 

By the end, the little bit of paint I had mixed with water in the big part of the palette per Mary's instructions had somewhat dried and was now stuck. We were instructed when done to wipe down our mixing side of the palette and I cleaned it the best I could. Mary's husband came by to collect the palettes and reprimanded me for not having cleaned it as "I'm not the only one to be using these palettes." I explained that I did try to clean it but the rest is dried and stuck on there. He wasn't pleased but walked away. I took that to be my cue to be dismissed and took my artwork with me back to the cabin. Mary had told us that we should take them but not lose them as she wanted to do a show at the end of the week. 

Dad managed to come back to the ship just in time for the afternoon delivery of warm cookies. Shocker I know! This time there was more made but in smaller sizes. The waiter took the time to start with us who were painting so I was finally able to try a cookie.

I went back up to the room to relax while Dad headed down to the lounge for Rachel's talk on the history of tobacco. He seemed to enjoy it.

According to the schedule, tonight's cocktail hour was supposed to feature "the dynamic trio of colonial drummers who will come aboard and perform for 30 minutes." This was to take place at 5:30PM so when I first saw that listed, I thought how interesting considering we were to leave Yorktown for our next port at 5:30PM. Were they planning to swim back or float on their drums after walking the plank? Excited to see this presentation, we made a point of getting down to cocktail hour a little early with camera in hand. Soon we feel the ship's thrusters kick on and the deckhands are working to help us pull away from the dock. Everyone's enjoying their cocktails and snacks but no drummers are showing up. Finally Ali is asked about it and she reveals that they couldn't make it. 

Ahh well, I shall eat my disappointment in the form of artichoke dip and crackers:

Dinner service tonight was much better and faster.

For my appetizer I chose the Barbecue Bacon Wrapped Shrimp:

For my entrée I chose the Crab and Mushroom Penne Alfredo. Not sure the point of that crostini but it was hard as a rock and the white stuff had solidified in place.

Within these first few days, it was revealed that they'd run out of chocolate ice cream which bothered Dad to no end. He rightly pointed out how flavors like chocolate and vanilla should be what you always have in stock. It doesn't help that he'd happily eat chocolate ice cream for dinner and dessert if you let him. Instead I went with cinnamon ice cream. Definitely tasted like cinnamon but don't get too attached, it too had run out a couple days later.

After dinner we decided to skip tonight's entertainment (track singer) in favor of returning to the cabin to watch the Ravens play the Patriots on Sunday Night Football. Have to represent the hometown and it was a very fun game to watch!