Sunday, June 20, 1993

What a crummy day this turned out to be! It started out fine; we moved the boat to Palm Harbor Marina and got tied up by eleven. I immediately tried to phone Nancy at the Holiday Inn, but there wasn't any answer, which seemed strange. I didn't think of having her paged; I just assumed they were tired from their flight and were sleeping extra sound, so I left a message that I'd call back in twenty minutes. When I called back, there still wasn't any answer, and I was starting to get worried. I asked if there was a message for me, but there wasn't. The next time I called, I was told they'd checked out! The operator refused to tell me what time they'd checked out.
I was in a quandary. How would we find each other? I tried to call Kathy, thinking Nancy might phone Kathy to see if she knew where we were. Got Kathy's answering machine, so I left a message saying where we were. Also phoned Carol and Jim and told them where we were, figuring sooner or later Nancy would phone one of them.
I tried to catch the one-o'clock Tri-Rail train to Fort Lauderdale, not really knowing what I'd do when I got there, but I was ten minutes late. Returned to the boat, ate lunch, and caught the 4:10. The train was half an hour late getting to Fort Lauderdale. Rode the shuttle bus to the airport and the Holiday Inn shuttle bus to the Holiday Inn. Didn't find out anything new, but I left a written note for Nancy in case she came back.
There wasn't time to do anything else except return to West Palm Beach. The last train left at 7:30, and I was miles from the station. Looked for a cab there at the motel, but there wasn't one. I should have phoned for a cab, but I'd looked at the bus map and saw I could catch a bus a few blocks away, so I started walking, forgetting today was Sunday and the buses would stop running early. After a few blocks, I realized I was going in the wrong direction. At that point, I should have returned to the Holiday Inn and called a cab. Unfortunately, I looked at the bus map again and saw that if I kept going in this direction a little way, I'd come to a street with two bus routes, so I figured I'd have a better chance of catching a bus. The "little" way turned into a long way. By the time I reached the bus stop, I suddenly realized it was Sunday and the buses might have stopped running, so I checked the schedule. Sure enough, nearly all had stopped running except this one. About ten minutes later, a bus came and I got on. By then it was too late to catch the last Tri-Rail train, so I decided to go to the Greyhound station and take a bus.
I got off at Broward and started walking towards town, but it was miles, so I waved at every taxi that went by. Finally, one stopped and took me to the Greyhound station.
I was shocked to find out the next bus to West Palm Beach didn't leave until 10:45! But I had no alternative, so I waited. Tried to phone Roy via the Marine Operator, but there was no response.
Fortunately, the Greyhound station in West Palm Beach is right across the street from the marina, so when I arrived at midnight, I didn't have far to go to get to the boat.