I’m back in the Caribbean again after a 3 month hiatus in cooler weather. In true form for the Caribbean, I basked in warmth and sunshine this morning and ran from the rain in the afternoon. I’m not always the Caribbean’s biggest fan, but I must admit that it is nice to be back. I’ve missed the clear blue water and being warm. As nice as it is to be back, I had another great Canada and New England season. Since I can’t quite remember what I did on each cruise, I’ll just give you the highlights of each port.
Boston
Boston was the end of one cruise and the beginning of the next for me this year. That’s sad because I didn’t have as much time in port as I would if it was a normal port day. Don’t fret- I still managed to have some adventures! There were a few days that I just walked downtown and didn’t really get up to much, but one week I went to Salem and visited the Witch Trial Museum. I must admit, this is a piece of American history where I have a large knowledge gap. I couldn’t have told you much of anything about Salem previous to this journey, but it was interesting. The next week I visited Lexington and Concord where the first troops were fired on in the American Revolution. I love the history of Boston and everything dealing with the Revolutionary War, so it was nice to visit a historical site I had never seen.
Portland
I LOVE Maine. Love it! While I prefer the countryside, Portland is a very nice city. Most of my trips here were spent in and around town. While my parent’s were cruising with me, we enjoyed a trolley tour of the city that included a stop at the famous Portland Headlight Lighthouse. My mom really likes lighthouses so I was really excited to finally have them on a cruise were we could go see some. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty terrible that day and our Lighthouse Lover’s Cruise was cancelled. Fortunately for me this wasn’t my last trip here and I was able to go on the cruise later. But, back to when my parents were here, we rode the Narrow Gage railroad along the water front. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a Narrow Gage railroad, but the tracks are about 2.5 feet apart. It was used as a commuter train while the normal gage was used for long distances. The remaining tracks run along side a bike trail that follows the coast for a few miles. I never knew this trail existed and I walked it every Portland visit since finding it.
The week after my parents were there, dear friends of mine from Pittsburgh were in town visiting their son and were able to come down to the ship to see me for the day. We went out to Kennebunkport for the afternoon. It is beautiful there. The downtown shopping area is very pretty and quaint. The homes around town are gorgeous! It is like no place I have ever been. We took a trolley tour around town here too (trolley’s are apparently big in Maine. Who knew?). We saw Walker’s Point- the name of the Bush complex in Kennebunkport. Not a bad summer home. Seeing Kennebunkport was great and spending time with my dear friends was even better!
The following week was my last trip and was when I went on the Lighthouse Cruise. It of course took us to Portland Headlight, but it showed us about 5 other lights as well as taking us close to the Casco Bay Islands. Some of the islands only contain summer homes and have the power shut off in the winter, but some of them are inhabited year round and people take the water taxi to the mainland to work. Some of them even have an island car and a mainland car. The tour took us by Fort Gorges which looks a bit like Alcatraz in the bay. It is now an undeveloped urban park and you can kayak out to it and explore on you own. However, you will need a flashlight to find your way around inside. The outside is very green and looks a bit like the green roofs and green buildings that are all the rage in cities nowadays. I think this one is a bit different though since most of the plant life is poison ivy. Awesome. I wonder if that was put there on purpose when the fort was built. That way even if they were overcome and defeated the enemy would get a nasty surprise.
One of the lighthouses we passed had remnants of a long walkway stretching out on one side with nothing at the end. We were told the bathroom used to be at the end. The bathroom had a straight drop into the ocean. I get a little nervous every time I use a port-a-potty, I can’t imagine using a 20’ above sea level port-a-potty with a clear view of the surf breaking on the rocks below.
On the way back to the pier I got to see a little harbor seal playing in the water and I saw one the next day in Bar Harbor too!
Bar Harbor
My favorite place on earth! Seriously, I adore it here. If I wasn’t afraid of the winters and had a normal life I would live here. I still might some day. One of my favorite things to do is visit Acadia National Park, but I only made it there 3 times this year. The best way to get into the park is to take the Park Hopper bus- a free bus service with multiple lines that will drop you off throughout the park. It takes some planning, but it really is the best way to see and experience this HUGE space. The first trip to the park this year was with my parents. I knew they would love it as much as I did if given the chance so I took them to the Shore Path. This hike starts on a sandy beach called Sand Beach (Creative, eh?). It quickly climbs to granite cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and begins to wind down as you reach Thunder Hole where the water hits the rocks with such force that it occasionally sounds like cracks of thunder (again, another creative name). We caught the bus from here to Jordan Pond House and walked down to Jordan Pond. The foliage wasn’t as great this year as we had hoped for, but it was still breathtaking. And I think I was right, my parents did love it!
My next trip to Acadia took me back to the Jordan Pond House. This time I wanted to hike around the whole thing. I did it and it was amazing. 3 miles before lunch. Beautiful! Lunch was served at the Pond House. Amazing tomato basil bisque and their famous popovers. I had heard of popovers and I expected them to be like turnovers- fruit filled pastries. I was wrong. They are more like hollow muffins made out of croissant type material served with a slide of blueberry preserves. Delicious nonetheless.
Sadly my trip to Jordan Pond was on the last day the busses were in service for the year. That means when I wanted to go to the park next I had to walk there. I walked through town, around the Great Meadow Loop, down the Jessup Path, and around the Tarn Trail. All of that led me to the Ladder Trail- aka the steep way up Mt Dorr. It was only a mile so I decided to go for it, although I will admit I was a bit terrified of falling off the face of a mountain alone and no one would ever know what happened to me. But, clearly that fear didn’t become a reality. I made it up in about an hour- a difficult hour. It’s called the Ladder Trail because there are a couple spots with metal ladders bolted to the side of the mountain (I had assumed this would be the case, because as we established earlier they are pretty straightforward with their naming in this neck of the woods). However, I think Stair Trail may have been more appropriate. 90% of the trail is walking up granite steps. Big, leaf covered granite steps that go on for a mile. I don’t take the stairs 10 decks up to my office, yet I decided to take stairs for a mile up the side of a mountain! It was incredible! The view from the top was well worth the effort. I could see my ship in the bay and the entire town of Bar Harbor- basically I could see where I started my day and how far I had come. Mt Dorr is situated between Cadillac Mountain and Champlain Mountain. I visited the summit of Cadillac (via bus) on my first visit to Acadia and I climbed Champlain via the hardest trail in the park, The Precipice, last year so it was nice to complete the trifecta. Going down the mountain was less strenuous, but still a bit tricky- in fact I fell. Some places were nothing but a sheet of granite and it was wet and covered in leaves on my trip. I was alright though and I made it back into town in once piece. I think I covered about 10 miles that day and I loved it! Why aren’t all the ports like this?
Part of Acadia is a bit removed from the rest of the Park and is actually closer to town. It is known as Bar Island. It is the closest island to Bar Harbor and gets its name from the sandbar that you can walk across at low tide to reach the island (again with the crazy naming!). I had wanted to do this for over a year, but I always had my timing wrong. I made it out there this year, but I was afraid of getting trapped out there so I turned around and crossed back shortly after reaching the island.
I also like spending time in the town of Bar Harbor. Very Stars Hollow-y. It looks like a small town that got stuck in time a few decades ago. I imagine that all of the locals know each other. In fact, you can feel a sense of community about town. It’s really indescribable, but you will know what I mean on your first visit.
St. John, New Brunswick
St. John is not one of my favorite stops but I do love getting a big breakfast at Cora’s and walking through the craft aisles in the City Market. Also I enjoy the St. John Pedway system especially since it always rains in St. John. You may not know what a Pedway is. I didn’t. A pedway is a skywalk- a sidewalk in the sky that connects buildings to one another so you don’t have to go outside. You enter the first building about a 10 minute walk from the ship. From there you go the next 5 blocks without going back outside. It’s awesome!
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halfiax has a great waterfront district and I enjoy just taking a walk on the boardwalk although it is usually quite cool and breezy. They also have a beautiful Public Garden and I like to buy lunch nearby and sit on a bench near the pond and eat lunch and read my book.
While my parents were here we went out to Peggy’s Cove- another spot that is always cold and windy. I believe this is the site of the most photographed lighthouse in Canada. It is gorgeous. The granite rocks have been rounded by the crazy wild surf up there. The drive to and from is also beautiful- lots of islands and homes right on the water.
The following week I mentioned to some friends that I wanted chicken wings. They researched it and found a sports bar rated one of the top wing spots in Canada- we went there for the next 3 weeks. Love it! On our last trip we also visited the Discovery Center- a hands on science center. I built a molecule of tryptophan, tried to build a roller coaster, put myself in a bubble capsule, and spun super fast in a chair, among other things. Yes it was nerdy, but it was so much fun.
So that was Canada and New England. I do love it up there. The history. The weather in the fall. The wide acceptance of US currency. All good things for me. Like I said, I’m back in the Caribbean now. St Thomas yesterday, St Kitts today, and St Lucia tomorrow. Hopefully I’m going on a catamaran snorkel trip tomorrow, but I think a few more people have to sign up before they will let us go. This cruise is a 14-day before we start 4 and 5 day cruises. In other words, this is the last time I can relax for the rest of my contract. I do nearly the same amount of work in 14 days that I will soon have to do in 4 days. Yikes! Oh well- I have family visiting in just over 2 weeks and I’m home in exactly 6 weeks!
Random things I couldn’t write a whole post about:
- Yesterday, some one said to me: “I hate to ask, but what ocean is this?” If you have to preface it with “I hate to ask” maybe you should just Google it on your own time without revealing your ignorance to others. I tried to sound impressive so I pointed out that it was technically the Caribbean Sea but also considered part of the Atlantic Ocean. This lady was a guest on another ship. but I should have asked her where she was from. I didn’t notice a significant accent indicating she might not be from this side of the world, but hopefully she had some good reason to not know what ocean her ship that sailed from Florida was in.
- I really like the Amazon.com Wish List capability. I may have mentioned this last year, but it’s how I do my Christmas list now. You simply look up the items you want then click “Add to Wish List” then you can rank the priority of this gift and add comments like size or color requirements. Then other people can go on there and see what you want and even just order it straight from there if they want. Also, you can install a universal “Add to Wish List” button in your browser and you can add things from any website to you list. Cool, huh? Then after Christmas you can go on and remove what you received and save the rest for your birthday or next year. As you think of things or something new comes out that you want, you can just add it to your list whenever. I also only recently discovered that you can build other lists called “Gift Organizers.” So as I get Christmas shopping ideas I can just add it to my Gift Organizer and go back for it later. You can also build profiles for different people that you shop for with what you bought them in the past and it will generate future gift ideas for you. In addition, it stores all of their shipping info so you don’t have to add it the next time. Check it out!
