eddie from ohio cruise report: part 2

In which our intrepid heroes continue their qu – aww, forget it.

So I left off during Friday’s all request show, but didn’t mention the show itself, which was mighty fine. Some unmentioned high points: Robbie, near halfway through “So we’re not taking a break, so if some of you need to go ahead, you can go. But we are keeping track of which songs you’re leaving during”; Julie’s sister dueting with her on “Closer To Fine”; the audience participation during “Horse”; the dancing that started during “Operator” and went through “Old Dominion”.

Setlist

Next up was the “prom” – the formal dress dinner on the cruise (and free drinks during the Captain’s cocktail hour). Formal pictures were taken, and dinner was excellent. Late night in Jane’s bar was good; “Bohemian Rhapsody” made a reappearance, Joe Murphy did “I Left My Heart In San Francisco”, and she even played “Going To The Chapel” for me and Jill.

The next day in Cozumel was excellent (except for the part where I left my sunglasses on ship and the closest place charged me $18). While Jill and my sister tried Snuba, I went for the real thing – scuba diving. It took a while to actually get there; we had to wait for the boat, take a 30 minute boat ride to the dive shop, then another 15 minutes to the dive site. I was hot enough from being in the sun I didn’t even consider a wet suit, and I was happy to get in the water. The first dive was ok – visibility was great, but my dive buddy hadn’t dove in two years and sucked up his air too quickly, so we were out in about 20 minutes. The second dive was great – we were drifting along the reef, checking out the fish, when my buddy spotted a shape. It was an eagle ray with a 6 foot wingspan, and it did 3 lazy turns around us before heading off.

Saturday afternoon was the question and answer period – which started with some bad news. Eddie’s mom had fallen and hit her head the night before, and while she seemed fine, she had gone to a hospital to get checked out, and Eddie left with her. The q & a went well, with good questions about favorite venue, most sparsely attended show, and Mike’s flatulence.

Once again we showed up in Jane’s bar. “Bohemian Rhapsody” was now a staple, and many more. Jill and I stayed for a while, then went to enjoy the midnight Mexican buffet and chat with our pal Debbie.

Sunday afternoon started with the photo of all the Edheads. We convinced Jane to come by, then everyone shouted for her to be in the picture. Next, the trivia show, which I thought I had a shot at, until we got to the “bridge” part, where you had to identify songs by the lyrics of the bridge. That knocked me right out. Finally, the unplugged show. Just Julie, Mike, Robbie and their guitars, unfortunately in a noisy room (they encouraged us to sit up close).
Best part: the introduction of “Very Fine Funeral” that was longer than the song, to let us in on a band in joke on why they call Robbie “Bobby” sometimes (I don’t think writing about it can do it justice). And they dedicated “Best Of Me” to me and Jill. Umm… thanks.

Setlist

That night we said goodbye to our wait staff – table favorite: Juarte (“darlink” and “blah blah blah”) – she got a big tip. Next, onto Doc Holliday’s were we watched “Music Power”. Julie and I argued – she was convinced they were just lipsyncing and I was convinced they weren’t. Perhaps we’d both had a little much to drink.

We made our final appearance at Jane’s bar. She was a little upset, as we showed up around closing time, but Mike charmed her. This time Julie, Mike and Robbie all showed, and each took a solo turn, besides joining in on the requisite “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Take Me Home, Country Roads”. My favorite moment was when they asked for requests, and Jess piped up with “Old Dominion”. Certainly a very different version – a cappella, with everyone in the bar singing along.

We left not long after that (it was close to 2, and I was getting up at 6:30), and got a little bit of rest. We got off the boat early the next morning, then spent a final day in the French Quarter in shorts and t-shirts, before heading back home to find temperatures in the 40s. Brrr.

[Originally published through the edheads email list]