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Cruise to New England and Canada
Anytime is a good time for a cruise.
We set sail for a cruise on the Royal Caribbean ship, The Enchantment of the Seas, with our good friends, Dick and Ann Hayes, and what a grand adventure we had. We boarded our ship in Baltimore, Maryland and headed for our ports of call Portland, Maine and Bar Harbor, Maine, then on to Saint John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Portland, Maine is surrounded by water on three sides and shares Casco Bay with many islands. It's waterfront is still a working port and adds to the local economy Portland is home to seven lighthouses. The city was settled in the 1600 but much of the city's historic architecture is Victorian, built after the fire on July 4th in 1866 which leveled most of the city
Portland was the home town of Henry Wadsworth-Longfellow, who called it "The Jewel by the Sea".
Henry Wadsworth-Longfellow's home
Lobster from Maine. We had a delicious lobster roll. Portland's restaurants have the reputation for serving quality food and the city is named the "foodiest small town in America" by Bon Appétit.
Portland's Head Light Lighthouse
Bar Harbor Maine is so picturesque it is breathtaking, it has become home to many artists. Bar Harbor is the third largest island on the eastern seaboard. In the mid-1800 the ultra-rich built their grand mansions and cottages for their summer homes, the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Astors, Carnegies and Morgans. Sad to say they were destroyed in 1947 by fire.
Bar Harbor is now a town of quaint shops and lovely architecturally unique homes. The terrain is elevated so as you walk uphill from the ocean and then turn around you see a magnificent panoramic view of the Atlantic ocean.
A must to experience while in Bar Harbor is The Acadia Nation Park. The Park was established in 1916 by Woodrow Wilson with 6,000 acres, Acadia now covers more than 49,000 acres thanks to private citizens who donated land. No need to pay for a tour, thanks to L.L. Bean, which has provided free bus service to the park for many years. Since 2002 L.L. Bean has donated over $3 million to support the Island Explorer and Acadia National Park. Of course, you may also hike or bicycle if you wish.
Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada: We are starting to really feel the chill in air and again we hear of the great fire that destroyed over 1600 buildings in 1877. Saint John is located on Canada's southeastern Atlantic seaboard. The location is unique because that is where the Bay of Fundy meets the mouth of the St. John River and is just a 90 minute drive to the U. S. border in Maine.
A main attraction is the Bay of Fundy extreme tides. Twice daily seawater rises and then falls about four stories high. We actually saw kayakers trying to navigate the cascading waterfalls, twists, plunges, and cliffs caused by the changing of the tides.
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada is the capital city of Nova Scotia and the largest city in the Atlantic Provinces of Canada.
We even found Dee Dee's Ice Cream
Theodore Tugboat
The old town clock at the base of Citadel Hill
One hundred and twenty one victims of the Titanic sinking are buried at Fairview Lawn cemetery in Halifax, more than any other cemetery in the world. Most graves have small gray granite markers with the name and date of death. The markers are laid out in a curved shape to suggest the outline of the bow of a ship.
We did have a great time, the crew on the ship could not have been any nicer.
They made us laugh!
Gave us cooking lessons!
We learned how to decorate and carve fruit and vegetables, or maybe not.
Yes we did exercise!
And made some new friends like Sister Val.
Look closely at the guitar, a bird landed on the it and we were in the middle of the Atlantic.
We also ate.
The crew celebrated us.
As usual, Dave and I had a great time. Even if we are not on a trip, life is good and we are grateful!
Copyright © 2008-2015 DeeDee MacDonald
Reader Comments...
| 2012-12-02 19:04:27 "Dee Dee & Dave - great trip - great chronology - it was a cruise to remember. Dick & Ann" - Dick & Ann |
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