Day 719: September 14, 2026 – Somewhere in the South China Sea

Our shipmates have their unique skills, and Maui Jim’s specialty is root beer floats. He is a master of the process and comes prepared with all the fixins, tools as well as ingredients. I naively thought it meant just root beer and ice cream, but learned the secret ingredient is vanilla vodka. Vodka feels like pouring acid down my throat, so I generally avoid it. But mixed with two scoops of vanilla ice cream and A&W root beer, it was pretty darn good. The event is by invitation only, and on this night, Michelle and I scored an invite.