A final day of bliss

Our last full day of cruising began today with an earlier breakfast and departure for the final excursion of the cruise, the Red Pagoda.  The group walked directly from the ship through scores of shops which hug both sides of the walkway to the concrete bridge leading to the island wherein the Pagoda stands. It's a beautiful island to behold and Shibaozhai Red Pagoda is a 12-tier red wooden pagoda, the top of which can be reached by stairs. When the three gorges dam was built, the pagoda became surrounded by the rising waters forming an island. Well planned protection measures have been carried out and the pagoda remains a well know attraction for local and foreign tourists.

The rest of the day was at leisure on our ship and was enjoyed by all.  The Captain's Farewell Dinner included a speech from the Captain (original, yes?) and a song of goodbye from the crew.  But we weren't quite done...our Saxophone Quartet is featured in the Lounge tonight...and we were all there to cheer them on!

Side note:  Dr. Unger tells me that a Chinese family is on board who finally got the "guts" to talk to Dr. Unger.  They wanted his autograph as they were in the audience for the concert by the band in Wuhan last week.  SMALL WORLD?   Amazing!