Friday December 17th 2021. Cousin Dean's Family and Riverboat Dinner Cruise
The day's schedule was to visit Annie's cousin Dean and his family at their place somewhere southeast of our apartment. Annie had the address which I loaded into Google Maps and off we went. It was about a 30 minute drive and once we arrived we realized the address was of the Damac Hill 2 complex and not the specific unit. There were hundreds of units and we had no idea which one. It took some time but ultimately we were able to contact Mercy, Dean's wife and she provided their complete address. When we arrived they were out front making sure we didn't miss their place. They had just moved into the place a couple of days before and were very happy with it. Mercy took Annie on a tour of the place, a three bedroom townhouse, while Dean and I enjoyed some coffee and discussed our life histories. Dean was employed for several years as a mechanical systems trainer at a aluminum extrusion manufacturing facility close by. Once Mercy and Annie finished the tour they joined us for coffee and some tasty dessert. I was a bit surprised at their son Scott's accent. I'm not sure I can describe it but it was very pleasant. He was very well spoken and interesting to talk with. Annie and I had scheduled a riverboat Dinner Cruise for the evening and it forced us to cut short our visit.
After we left the Damac complex we drove through the desert. Being Friday there were campers everywhere. Apparently a lot of families spend the weekend, which is actually Friday and Saturday, camped in the desert. We saw hundreds of campfires as we drove along. I would have loved to try that sometime. Apparently ATVing the endless sand dunes is a popular pastime there.
We made our way to the Marina Mall Parking Garage. I think we had to go to the last level before we found a spot. Wearroved to the boarding spot at Pier 7 a few minutes early and took a few more photos of the amazing buildings surrounding the marina. With all their lights it was even more breathtaking at night.
The boarding process was pretty straightforward and we were quickly on board and made our way to the bow and found a table on the port side. I really like where we were but it was a bit busy with everyone taking photos.
Dinner was buffet style and everything was delicious. I think I made three trips. We sailed by the Ain Ferris Wheel. The world's tallest. It could easily bee seen from the balcony of our apartment. Later we sailed past the Atlantis Resort and made plans to visit there in the next few days.
It was a beautiful clear night with a near full moon. A perfect setting and I was so happy to be sharing such an amazing experience with Annie. It was only slightly lessened by my stupidity towards the end of the cruise.