Happy Birthday, Dad!

I was thrilled to realize that I would be able to celebrate my dad’s birthday, July 23, with him this year. I love any reason to celebrate, birthdays in particular, so I am always sad to be away from family on birthdays (it happens more often than not, but it still make me sad). I was even more thrilled because we were scheduled to arrive in Reykjavik, the port he seemed most excited about. The fact that we arrived in Reykjavik two days early didn’t really matter, he was still able to spend part of his birthday there.

I wanted to make the birthday special, but my dad is among the most difficult people in the world to buy gifts for. He doesn’t mean to be difficult, he would be happy with anything, but he has everything he needs and usually can’t think of anything he wants. I joked with my mom that I was going to say, “I brought you Iceland, happy birthday!” but I decided better of it. After thinking for about a week, I asked my dad if he would like to go to Pinnacle Grill, HAL’s “premier” (read: surcharge) restaurant, for lunch. My parents had dinner at the Pinnacle once on a previous cruise and they have had to listen to me describe my meals in delectable detail each time I have gone, so I thought they might enjoy it. My dad agreed that he would rather have that than an object.

Lunch, like every meal at the Pinnacle, was divine. If you ever have the opportunity to eat lunch at Pinnacle Grill I highly recommend the chicken, sun-dried tomato, and arugula pasta. At the end of the meal, the manager surprised my dad with a beautiful chocolate silk cake. We had already had desert, so my parents took it to their room to eat later.

I was not able to have dinner with my parents because of my work schedule, but I had arranged with my friend Joseph, the 2^nd Executive Chef, for a cake. I told my mom to tell the server that Joseph had something for them and Joseph personally delivered the cake.

Happy Birthday, Daddy! I hope you enjoyed it!