I AM SPIRITLESS

With Super Bowl only a day away, I was not surprised that the public relations company that handles the Spirit Cruises informed me of a "Sailgate Party" and invited me to partake.  I had previously been on a few of their cruises which involved a sailing around the New York Harbor, food, drinks, and dj.

Living in New York, a sightseeing cruise is more than a "been there, done that".  But for anyone who has not experienced one, it should be done.  Some have themes, such as the time I went to see Spiro Gyra perform.

Let's begin with what was supposed to happen according to the public relations company that handles Entertainment Cruises.   I first thought that I would be going on the ship called the Bateaux, a more elegant boat that's mostly glass so that you can see everywhere and basically no body blocking the view....great for photos, too.   The boat was to be boarding at 11:30 a.m. and it was "first come, first serve" regarding seating.  I checked on all of this that day before, just to make sure.

The Bateaux was not sailing, but rather the Spirit of New Jersey and the seats were reserved.  I had to board up the ramp and then climb down a flight of stairs.  When I entered, I saw a handicapped bathroom.  WHAT?  How does one who is more handicapped than I get on board?  If there was a way to board directly to that main floor, why was it not suggested for me?

The theme of this party is Super Bowl, yet other than my wearing an outside Giants jacket, there was one couple that had a shirt or whatever that bore the name of the team they were rooting for.

So, what did this all have to do with Super Bowl.   The buffet had "tailgate" food.

I had met a staff member who said that she ran the food.  The food did start with hor's d'oeuvres being passed around and we were then served a shrimp cocktail. The shrimp was pretty tasteless.  Like it was cooked, frozen and then thawed out.  Okay, I have to admit that having Fairway's no-chemical shrimp spoiled me.

No problem with drinks...I tried a few of their signature drinks and they were quite tasty.

Prior to the buffet opening, we sailed over to the New Jersey side to pick up more passengers.  So, I guess it was the first time that I saw the New Jersey port. 

We sail and the "food" woman came over and offered to go to the buffet and get a plate of food for me.  I thought that was just nice of her.  She told me what was on the menu asking if I wanted....I turned down having a pretzel.  I asked as to whether they had chicken wings.  She asked how many did I want. I asked her if the wings are whole wings or wing parts.  She said that they were parts and very large.  I wondered why she thought that my asking for 5 wings seemed a lot until she brought over the plate.

It was a chicken breast.  (There was a pretzel on the plate as well). I asked if they had wings and she said that this is what they had.  I told her that I do not care for the white meat and she offered to get me another plate.  Now, my friend had a chicken leg.  Does this woman not know the difference between white meat and dark meat of  a chicken, let alone a wing.  No chicken was brought over. You would think she'd bring over a thigh, at least.

A bit later we saw a nearby person eating chicken wings.  My friend went up there to get them for me.  I also had spare ribs and an awful macaroni and cheese.   I think the use of Velveeta would have been far better than what was on it.  Not sure if it was the cheese as much as it being overcooked...not like the crunchy kind of overcooked....just overcooked.

All of the food was tepid....you know...on the warm side, but not quite warm enough.  I was not interested in building my own hot dog or having sausages.  Where is the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile when you need it?

People were dancing and it certainly appeared that everyone was having a fabulous time.  Birthday celebrations were announced.  It was a success for others.

I'm making my own Super Bowl party at home!