She works hard for the money!

The boat didn't stay in Newport, New Jersey for long. While we were there I didn't get much of an opportunity to go and do a great deal since I was pretty busy training. I did get off of the boat a couple of times when I had a bit of a break, but it usually wasn't much more than a couple of hours. Many of the times that I did get a break I would spend it napping. With live-aboard owners I worked very long days seven days a week. In the yachting industry 18+ hour workdays aren't uncommon. Live-aboard owners, however, are more uncommon. My boat was a bit of a unique situation.

Our next destination was Essex, Connecticut. When I had taken the job on Golden Boy II it was a month-long freelance position. Their itinerary wasn't my ideal itinerary, but it was a great opportunity for me to get some experience which was great for my CV. When I first got into yachting it was my dream to get on a boat anywhere but the US. Looking back, I am glad that I was able to spend my summer traveling up and down the East Coast. I had the opportunity to travel to some charming places, many of which I hope to go back and visit again one day.

Time for the partying to end and the work to begin...

After I got word that I got the job, I needed to wrap up some loose ends in Fort Lauderdale. I wanted to send a bag of stuff home to my Mom because I had packed more than I needed. Traveling with so much stuff is nothing more than a hassle. I easily sent home half of the things that I had packed. I also had to say goodbye to all of my new friends that I had made. Fortunately, the yachting community is relatively small so you are able to run into friends while you are traveling with the boat.

I left the crew house on a Friday morning and headed to the airport. I had a flight into New York City. The boat was docked in New Jersey at the Newport Yacht Club and Marina, just across the Hudson River. After my flight arrived I grabbed a cab and made my way to the PATH Station to catch a train to Jersey. When I got off the train the captain was there to pick me up. The boat was a couple of minutes away, so he gave me a quick rundown of who was onboard. I was going to get thrown straight into it. I was nervous and excited; in a few minutes I would be meeting my new home/job, my crewmates, and the Mr. and the Mrs..

Newport Yacht Club and Marina

Golden Boy II

Dave, the captain, seemed to be very nice. He was full of energy and very up-beat. When we arrived at the boat he helped me with my bags and showed me to my cabin. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of my cabin. It was very small. There were bunk beds, a small closet, and a combined shower/toilet/sink. For the time being I had the cabin to myself, which was great.

Dave introduced me to my crewmates; all of whom were very welcoming. Julie was our chef from New Orleans. Jolene and Johan were the chief stewardess and the first mate/deckhand. They are a couple from South Africa. After the introductions I got a quick tour of Golden Boy II. Jolene got me a uniform and gave me a bit of time to settle in and unpack.

Julie and I

Johan and I

Dave, Jolene and I

That evening I had dinner with the crew in the galley. Besides our cabin, the only other spot that you can really hang out on the boat is in the galley. There is a crew mess area where we all sit together for our meals. We had a TV in there which was nice since my cabin did not have a TV (all of the other crew quarters had TV's in their cabins). After our dinner I helped with the dishes while Jolene tended to the guest's dinner service. She let me go to bed relatively early my first night there. I had to be ready to work the next morning at 6:30, so she wanted me to get plenty of rest. I had a long day of work and training ahead of me!

Thankful...

This year I am spending my first Thanksgiving completely away from my family, friends and home. I have had to work during Thanksgiving in the past, but I was still able to see my family for a little while, or join some friends for their Thanksgiving celebration. This year is much different. I am away from home, and have no family nearby. I am currently living in the crewhouse in Fort Lauderdale. I am fortunate to be living with some truly lovely people, and we will all be sharing our Thanksgiving together. We are each other’s family this year and we plan to spend the day barbecuing and relaxing.

Being that it is Thanksgiving, I have been thinking about all of the things that I am grateful for and I wanted to share them:

• I am thankful that everyone that I love and care about is healthy.
• I am thankful that I was able to pursue my dream and set out on this journey. I have undergone a substantial amount of personal growth and for that I am truly grateful.
• I am thankful that my Mom and I have become so close over the past year. We were always close in the past, but now I feel that my Mom is one of my best friends.
• I am thankful that my Dad was able to pursue his dream to open a wine bar. I am so proud of him.
• I am thankful that I was able to reunite with Lisa this year. She was such an important part of my life for so many years, and I had missed her a great deal. Thanks to facebook she is back in my life.
• I am thankful for all of my wonderful friends. They are all remarkable and I am a better person for having each of them in my life.
• I am thankful that I am learning to live each day with passion, to slow down and enjoy the beauty surrounding us, and to worry less because everything has a way of working itself out.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Fort Lauderdale...

After my week in New York City quickly came to an end, it was time for me to head down to Fort Lauderdale to set out on my yachting career. I had arranged to stay in the Neptune Group crew housing when I arrived. Crew housing is similar to a hostel, but for yacht crew. It is very affordable, and it is a great way to network with other yachties. Crew house accommodations vary from house to house, but you are essentially staying in a fully furnished house which includes cable, internet, washer & dryer, bed and bath linens, kitchenware, etc..

Crew House Kitchen Area

Crew House Common Area

I was slightly nervous and extremely excited to meet my new roommates. I knew I would be meeting lots of new people from all over the world, but I really wasn't prepared for the whirlwind of fun, excitement and partying that was about to become my life for the next three weeks. As soon as I walked through the door I was instantly greeted by Guy from South Africa who was very eager to help me with my bags (South Africans are some of the most polite people I have ever encountered). Soon after I met the rest of my roommates. There were sisters Brooke and Ashley from Bermuda, Jane from New Zealand, Emily and Georgia from the US (and some other girl that was from the US who was super sketch and got kicked out so I can't remember her name).

This was unlike any living situation I had ever experienced, but I imagine it could be equated to living in a college dorm. The biggest difference is that there are constantly people arriving and departing, so the dynamic of the house is continuously undergoing change. I met so many people and made some truly remarkable friends during this time.

In a previous post I had mentioned that I had to take the week long STCW course. Fortunately Brooke, Ashley and Georgia were enrolled in the same course with me, so the four of us set off to class together early each morning after a night of hard partying. I honestly don't know how we made it to the class each day, but somehow we managed!

The STCW course was pretty basic. It covers personal safety and survival, first aid and fire safety. My favorite part of the course was the fire safety. We got to dress up in full fire gear, including the breathing apparatus, and fight fires. I feel that it is something most people should try to take so that they better understand fires and how to fight them.

After the STCW course was complete I spent a great deal of time hanging out with my roomies at the beach, the pool, bars, etc.. We were all having such a great time that we weren't in a huge hurry to avidly search for work until the beginning of week three.

Guy at the Embassy Suite's pool

Rolf & Brooke at the beach

Ashley & Rolf at Waxy's

Molly & Georgia

To find work in the yachting industry you put together a CV, similar to a resume, and register with various crew agents. Once you register with a crew agent they set up an interview to get to know you a bit. Crew agents help you look for work on boats, so it's beneficial to sign up with several crew agents so you can get as many leads as possible. There are other places that you can post your CV, such as the Neptune Group's website, or at Smallwood's. And another avenue to find work is to walk the docks early each morning with your CV in hand. Walking the docks is also a good way to find daywork. Some boats may require a little extra help for a project, so they hire a dayworker. This is a great way for someone with no experience to obtain a little which is good for the CV. Also, dayworking can often lead to a full time position.

I was fortunate. Once I decided to find a job, it happened very quickly. I hadn't even been out to walk the docks yet. A captain saw my CV posted on Neptune Group's website and gave me a call. The boat wasn't in Fort Lauderdale so I wasn't able to see him for a face to face interview. We chatted for a few minutes over the phone. He told me he would call me back in about 10 minutes to let me know if he wanted to hire me. About 2 minutes later he called back and offered me the job. This happened on a Wednesday afternoon, and he wanted me to fly to New Jersey to meet up with the boat on Friday. This is where all of the fun and craziness ends, and where the hard work began.

NYC...

The first time I visited New York City was when I was in high school. My Dad took me on a trip to Washington D.C. and NYC during my spring break. It was a great trip, but we had a limited amount of time in each city so we were a bit rushed to see as much as possible. My absolute favorite part of our trip to NYC was when we visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We only had a few hours to explore the museum, which is no where near enough time to check it out, but the exhibits were phenomenal. Since that trip with my Dad I have been eager to go back and commit an entire day to exploring the MET's exhibits.

The MET opens at 9:30, and so I was sure to be there as soon as it opened so that I could spend as much time as possible in the museum. The MET is by far one of my favorite museums I have ever visited. My favorite exhibit is the Egyptian exhibit, but they are all pretty spectacular. I spent the entire day there, and it was once again one of my favorite things that I did while visiting.

Justin and I walked a lot while I was visiting. In the evenings after dinner we would walk along the outside of Central Park. It was a nice way to end the day and walk off our meal. One evening while on our walk I glanced ahead and saw a raccoon staring directly at us as he was making his way to the trash can. Upon further inspection there was another raccoon with him. We stopped in our tracks and watched as they rifled through the trash for their dinner. A moment later another one came crawling over the wall to join them. And then another! It was pretty cool to watch them. And they were completely aware of us; and not scared at all.

My last day in NYC happened to fall on the 4th of July. Which also happens to be the Nathan's hot dog eating contest. And since the contest takes place at Coney Island, there was absolutely no way that we were going to miss it. It was pretty awesome. There were so many people there to watch. I had happened to watch it the previous year on TV. I couldn't believe how many changes my life had gone through in the past year and that I was actually going to be watching the contest in person this year. Kobayashi was the winner last year. He almost won again this year. Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut tied after the 10 minute race, but Chestnut ended up winning in overtime. It was pretty intense!

As soon as the contest was over we took off. We didn't want to deal with the massive crowd any longer than was necessary. We headed off to O'Brien's Irish Pub for some lunch and some drinks. After lunch we decided to walk around and find a good spot to watch the fireworks display later in the evening. Everyone seemed to have the same idea as us; the streets were filled with people. After finding a suitable place we headed off to McFadden's for some cocktails. Unfortunately, it began to rain. It was looking as though the fireworks weren't going to take place this year. We headed back to our spot to wait it out just in case they were going to go off. Finally, they were able to shoot off a display close to where we were at so we had to hurry and move so we were able to see them. It was a little disappointing, but still a great day nonetheless.


And so that ends my trip to New York City. Thank you Justin for your hospitality. I had such a great time.

The Big Apple...

I arrived in NYC on a Friday evening. I was so excited to go and visit Justin in his new Manhattan apartment. We spent Friday evening catching up since we hadn't seen each other for quite some time.

Saturday we walked from his place to Central Park. The walk was astounding; Justin lives on such a beautiful street. I couldn't get enough of the architecture. Every block we would walk down something would catch my eye. I would point it out to Justin and he would always say that he had never noticed it before. It was a lot of fun to explore the city together. Justin showed me a lot of cool places that he has found while living there. And I was able to show Justin NYC from my perspective by bringing things to his attention that he had never noticed, which happened quite often!

One of the buildings on Justin's Street

Central Park made for a beautiful walk as well. The park was bustling with people out on their Saturday strolls. While exploring the park we got caught in a torrential downpour. Of course we weren't prepared with umbrellas, so we stood under a tree to wait it out. We had to wait for quite a while, but the rain was nice to watch anyway.


Saturday evening we headed to Little Italy for some dinner at Casa Bella. After dinner we walked around and explored Little Italy when we stumbled upon Ferrara Cafe. This cafe was packed, so we decided that we would get some dessert and check it out. This was a wise decision. Their desserts were like eating a little slice of heaven. Little Italy was touristy, but the food was well worth it.

My priority on Sunday was to go to the Guggenheim Museum. I had never been and always wanted to see it, so off we went. The architecture of the building itself makes the visit worthwhile. The exhibits were also phenomenal. I highly encourage anyone visiting New York City to take the time to explore the Guggenheim. You won't be disappointed.


Monday I met up with Justin in Chelsea for lunch at Kiku Sushi. After lunch we walked to the Chelsea Market. Justin used to work in this area and he had stumbled across the indoor marketplace. The building used to be a bakery, but it was more recently refurbished into a charming little marketplace. We enjoyed a scoop of gelato as we explored the shops. This is another place that I recommend visiting if you are in NYC.



Justin had to get back to work, so I set off on my own to explore the great city. I walked by Ground Zero to see the progress they have made thus far.


Next I walked through Rockefeller Park. I literally just stumbled upon it, and it was a lovely discovery. It lies right along the Hudson River. I followed it along until I reached Battery Park. Battery Park pales in comparison to Rockefeller Park. Rockefeller Park is so beautifully maintained. Battery Park is often overrun with tourists looking to visit the Statue of Liberty. As I walked through Rockefeller Park I felt as though I had discovered one of New York City's hidden gems. This is where the locals picnicked with their families. As I left Rockefeller Park and made my way into Battery Park it's as if I entered into tourist hell. I went from a splendidly manicured park to a deteriorated and chaotic park within minutes.


Justin works in Brooklyn and he wanted me to meet him at his office when he was off of work so we could hit up a pizza place he had discovered. I decided that I wanted to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge instead of taking the subway into Brooklyn. This was a great decission on my part. Everything about the bridge is exquisite. The architecture, the view. I can't believe that I had never made the time to visit the bridge during my prior trips to NYC. In my opinion, if someone has a very limited amount of time to visit New York City, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge should be very high on their priority list. I took so many great photos of the bridge, but I think it's pretty much impossible to take a bad photo of it.


We had dinner at Grimaldi's Pizzeria. I must say, as far as pizza goes this place has some of the best pizza I have ever had. It was amazing. During dinner I told Justin about how much I had enjoyed my walk across the bridge. Now, he lives in Manhattan and works in Brooklyn, and he had never once walked across the bridge. So I suggested we walk across it after dinner so that he could see how truly amazing it is for himself. And I was excited to see the view from the bridge at night since it would be an entirely different perspective. Justin also fell in love with the bridge, but how could he not?!



More to come.....

I'm Still Alive...

So, I have been a little MIA for the past, I don't know, 4 months. I know, I am such a slacker. I have had every intention of updating my blog, but I have been so incredibly busy that I haven't had much time. My life has been a whirlwind over the past 4 months. I have seen and done so many amazing things. My goal is to spend the next few posts catching up on where I have been and what I am up to. After that, my goal is to write a post at least once a week. But, first things first, my trip to NYC...

Lucky Strike...

After Sonny got off of work Thursday evening we had big plans to get a Chicago style deep dish pizza followed by some bowling. We decided to grab a cocktail at a new Latin restaurant before we headed off to dinner. As soon as we set foot in De La Costa I was smitten with the place. We sat at the bar and I instantly knew that this would be a great place to order a mojito. Mojitos are one of my favorite cocktails, but unfortunately they are difficult to make. This usually means that I am disappointed when I order them. This was not one of those times. I was partaking in one of the best mojitos that I have had in a very long time. I could tell this was going to be a start to a great night!

De La Costa

After I finished my mojito (okay two mojitos, I couldn't resist!) we headed to Giordano's for some deep dish pizza. After all, it's not a true visit to Chicago without having some deep dish pizza. The place was packed, but it was well worth the wait.

Bowling was next on our evening agenda. Sonny and I have been planning on bowling since we met about 3 years ago. We were supposed to go the first night we met, but it never happened. Since then we have been talking ourselves up about how great we are at bowling (which is so not true for either of us) and promising to kick each other's butt when the time would finally come for us to bowl. Well, this was the night. We headed to Lucky Strike Lanes, which is one of the coolest bowling alleys I have ever been to. We had a blast. And in case you were wondering, we each won a game, so we tied.

Friday evening we headed to dinner at Cafe Ba Ba Reeba which is known for their tapas and their sangria. I used to go the the Cafe Ba Ba Reeba on the strip in Las Vegas. It's a fun place to eat with a great atmosphere. After dinner we headed to Zella. It's a splendid little bar with an alluring patio area. We didn't stay out too late because we had a big day ahead of us on Saturday.

Saturday morning we headed off to the market to stock up on tailgating supplies for a Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban and Leann Rimes concert at Soldier Field. We were out there all day long, but it was a lot of fun!

Tailgating madness with Soldier Field in the background

I really wanted to go to the Field Museum since I had arrived in Chicago. I was planning to attend during the week when Sonny was working, but he said he would like to join me so we went on Sunday instead. Over all, I was pretty disappointed with the museum. It wasn't really what I was expecting or hoping for. The only worthwhile part of the museum, in my opinion, was the Evolving Planet exhibit, which contained the dinosaur fossils. I also got to see Sue, which is the largest and most complete tyrannosaurus rex fossil yet discovered. It was pretty impressive, but much smaller than I had always imagined.

Sue

This is where the Chicago saga ends. I had an amazing time and was so fortunate to go and do everything that I did. Thank you Sonny for being such an amazing tour guide. My trip wouldn't have been the same without all of your planning and efforts and for that I am very grateful.

I am in New York City now, so the New York narratives will be coming soon...

Picturesque escapades in the city...

Late Tuesday morning I decided to head off to the Art Institute of Chicago on my own. I love to get lost for hours upon hours exploring museums, and since Sonny was at work this was a perfect opportunity for me to do so. I was pretty impressed with the art exhibits at the museum. They had a decent selection containing Picasso, Matisse, Seurat, Monet, Wood & Hopper just to name a few. They even had an Egyptian exhibit which I have always been fascinated with, but it hardly compared to the Egyptian exhibit at the Met in New York (which I will be visiting again next week!).

Picasso

Monet

Seurat

Wood

Hopper

Later in the evening Sonny and I headed to Navy Pier. He had challenged me to a game of putt putt (which he totally kicked my butt) and he also wanted to show me the view from the Ferris Wheel. The pier was a little touristy, but it was fun to experience it nonetheless.




Wednesday afternoon I met Sonny for lunch at Rivers. We sat outside at a table right on the river. The food and the atmosphere were superfluous. Sears Tower is just down the street from Rivers, so I headed over there right after lunch. Sears Tower is another touristy attraction, but the view up there is spectacular.



To finish off our day we headed to a White Sox game. It was fun, but not nearly as fun as the Cubs game. There was a different feel at the Cubs game; the people there seemed to be more energized. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to experience both.