We had sent our large suitcase ashore because, on previous cruises, getting an elevator in the disembarkation rush was nearly impossible and carrying a heavy suitcase down 4 flights is not fun. Today we had no problem getting an elevator but then had to wait for our disembarkation number to be called because all the people who were carrying all their luggage were let off first. Marlene was lamenting our (apparently bad) decision. I didn’t much care. The 30 minutes we had to wait was no problem – we were still off before 8 am.
We got a taxi. It cost $35. Marlene said we could have saved money by calling Uber. This is the woman who couldn’t wait to get off the ship but was perfectly willing to wait for an Uber to save… what? Maybe $5? Makes no sense.
Besides grabbing a quick breakfast in the buffet we also grabbed two breakfast burritos and 6 hard-boiled eggs. We added these to our food stash which included 6 pieces of fried chicken from the late night buffet. They would be our lunch and dinner on the road.
Marlene’s Camry was still at the hotel. We got some ice for the cooler, put the chicken and eggs in the cooler, along with some water and soda.
We began our 12-hour trek to Florida at 9:30 am.
We stopped for gas about 25 miles out of New Orleans and then, just 30 minutes later, stopped for a flea market and a Buc-ees. We bought some useful stuff at the flea market (a $1 forehead thermometer and a small socket wrench set for me for $10 and some clothes for Marlene) and a souvenir T-shirt for Marlene’s friend at Buc-ees.
We stopped around 1 pm for a bio break and to eat our burritos. The eggs were consumed as we traveled. We stopped at another Buc-ees in Mississippi and again for gas after dark near Gainesville Florida. We had our chicken then.
Marlene drove the final 5 hours. We made it home a few minutes past midnight. 803 miles. Total clock time was about 15.5 hours. But that includes a time zone hour. The other 3 hours were due to the various stops along the way.
A long day of travel. We won’t use New Orleans as a cruise port often. Perhaps never again.