SVCC Tour: Day Three, Part Three

The first post in this series is here.  The second is here.  The third is here.  The fourth is here.  The fifth is here.  The sixth is here.

After the glorious concert the choir gave on Sunday afternoon, it was time for a change of pace, so we headed to the waterfront for dinner on a harbor cruise.  When we got there, however, we were quite early (a nice "problem" to have during a tour, when time can feel crunched and the stress level can rise quickly!) so, with time to spare, some of the group headed into a shopping center right on the waterfront.  Those in our group who were familiar with that area remembered that, once upon a time, it had a lot of neat shops in it; but disappointingly for us (at least, for those in our group who like to shop) ;-), the shopping center had seen better days and was practically empty.

Back outside we headed, into the beauty of the warm sunshine, and found a better way to occupy our time: singing.  :)

It was enjoyable to us chaperons who were standing to the side to watch the faces of people who were passing by behind these choristers; it was obvious that this unexpected gift of music brightened their day.  This performance didn't quite turn out to be a flash mob worthy of being put on YouTube, but almost.  ;-)

Meanwhile, other choristers were finding other fun ways to spend their free time, like playing corn hole (or watching people play corn hole)...  :)

...hula hooping...

...and the perennial favorite, chatting.  :)

When the time came, we eagerly boarded our boat for the evening...

...and enjoyed a splendid cruise on the harbor.

You want to know the craziest thing about it?  I didn't take a single picture while we were on the cruise.

I have no idea why not; I'm simply flabbergasted.  Maybe I was all pictured-out, after taking so many earlier in the day.

Well, without any photos, I'll try to use words to capture some of the fun of that cruise.  We ate yummy pizza...some of us (myself not included) ;-) danced to the music being played by a DJ...we enjoyed the sights on the water as we floated along...and of course, lots of conversations were happening.

For me personally, the two things I enjoyed most were, first, a very fun game of Skip-Bo with Abby, Alex, Ellie, and Josiah (I especially enjoyed the chance to talk--really, for the first time--with Abby, Alex, and Ellie; it was good to hear their take on life) :) and second, a talk with Missy, one of the other chaperons (again, that was really the first time I had talked for any length of time with her).

I love hearing people's stories.  I'm enthralled by the process of going beyond face-only recognition and learning something about who they are and what makes them tick, and this cruise gave me a chance to do that with a few more people in the choir.  Joy!

When we returned to shore, the bus wasn't there yet, which wasn't too bothersome since it gave us time to form the famous SVCC interlocking-hands circle and sing "Siyahamba" together.

A special way to end a special day with a very special group of people!