Seward, AK

Well here we are! I finished my first complete cruise! We are in port at Seward, AK. It is a small harbor town located in the bottom curve of Alaska about 120 miles south of Anchorage. This morning I got to sleep in...it was glorious. I then proceeded to catch up with the family via the phone. I called my dad and both grandads to wish them Happy Father's Day. it is amazing to think about the generational wisdom passed down from father to son. I talked to my own dad for about 40 minutes this morning. He was full of questions about cruise life. I am so thankful to have a dad who takes an actual interest in what I do. I meet guys in the entertainment world who have moms that are really invested, but it is a whole different story when you meet one with a dad involved. My dad has always been a a huge support for me. He has seen practically every show I have done and always does it with a spirit of joy. He is dedicated for sure. When I was young my dad was gone a lot on business and we never really began building a strong relationship till I was in high school. Sometimes I think that performance is what brought us closer together. Regardless, I am proud to call my dad....dad=) I know that he is proud of me and respects me for following my dream. He has always told me that he wants nothing more than for me to be happy. Knowing I have this support is what keeps me going on somedays.

After catching up with family, I noticed a flyer in the crew hall for a mission that has a non denominational church service for crew members in Seward. I grabbed my friend Liz and asked if she wanted to go and on our way we picked up our cast mate Cameron too. It was a cute little house close to the port. Upon entering it was kinda like coming home to grandma's. They had fresh backed chocolate chip cookies waiting with fresh coffee. The pastor who runs the mission use to work on a ship years ago. So he is very familiar with ship life and our schedules. It was nice to have message geared for the ship and how we face life every day on board. We all sat around the family room and sang some songs. I played chords on the piano, while alex played guitar, and the host, Kathy, played her Dajembe (I know I butchered that spelling). It almost felt like church camp, we sang songs in spanish, indonesian, and english...so cool. I had never played with other musicians because my chord playing ability is limited, but I felt like I did a pretty good job of making a joyful noise...even if it wasnt always the prettiest...haha. Everyone was so welcoming. They also rent out DVD's to crew members since we come back every 2 weeks. There WiFi is super fast and they also have desktop computers for crew members who don't have laptops. Today Paul talked about perseverance. It was a great reminder of not giving up in the face of trials. It was a very encouraging message and made me remember to pray about my purpose for this contract besides performing. After service they served us mango salsa and homemade lasagna...yummy! I tell you that I have got to stop eating so many cookies. I feel like they are everywhere! I had three at the mission.

I was going to go to the gym when I got back to the ship but it is closed till 5:30 for tours since today is embarkation day. We have a tech  run through of our welcome aboard show at 5 and then boat drill at 7:15. Performance of Let Us Entertain You at 9:30 followed by a midnight run of Southern Nights to make sure it is in our bodies still! Not much else to update at the moment. I hope all is well in everyone's world. Miss you guys! OH and if you want to send me mail while I am in Alaska...basically through september then the address is as follows:

Cruise line agencies-Juneau
1330 Eastaugh Way #4
Juneau Alaska 99801 USA

MS Zaandam
Attn: Cruise Director
Brad Southards

I look forward to hearing from you all! Remember you can always e-mail me to at Bradscoffee@gmail.com! Love you guys!

I also uploaded a picture of our ship and our show room and opening night of on the air with Ashley Bell!