I’m back from vacation!!! I just got back from a cruise to New England. Wow, what beautiful sights I have seen. My wife and I left out of Baltimore and cruised to Portland Maine, Bar Harbor Maine, New Brunswick Nova Scotia, Saint John, Halifax then down to Boston. Although the weather was a bit gloomy in the beginning it cleared up and we had the time of our lives. The boat was awesome. The food was plentiful and yummy. The onboard shows and slots were also a lot of fun.
Port One: Portland, Maine – We started our day in Portland by taking a Duck boat tour of the city and harbor. Duck boats drive on land and also cruise in the water. This was my first duck boat ride and I have to say it was really cool. You would never think one of these tanks would float, but it did! We saw lots of lobster boats, some harbor seals giving us a look over, and an osprey close up. After our duck tour we jumped a bus and headed for Freeport. What’s in Freeport? LL Bean of course… I’m not a big fan of LL Bean but there was plenty of shopping in the Freeport area that was more our taste. I had my first of five lobsters in a local restaurant. It was the best of the five.
Port Two: Bar Harbor, Maine (aka Ba harba) – We didn’t get to see much of the local city. We spent most of our day in Acadia National Park. The weather started out a bit overcast and only got worse as the day progressed. The views were absolutely beautiful as we made our way around the Acadia. The bus ride was a white knuckle event. There was a lobster lunch included at a local restaurant for this adventure. Somehow the tour schedule times got screwed up and we were rushed off to have lunch. We never made it to the top of the mountain due to the crappy weather. Acadia was beautiful on an overcast day; I can only image what it would be like on a clear day. With the high-speed bus ride and crappy weather this was just an all right day. We had about an hour in the city after the tour so we got to do some shopping.
Port Three: Saint John, New Brunswick –Our first stop was the Bay of Fundy where we were able to see the falls up close. It was a nice view. After the falls we boarded the bus and drove, and drove, and drove, until we got to Saint Martins. The ride had some really nice views along the way but the roads were narrow, hilly, and desolate. When we finally arrived in Saint Martins we were excited about what we were going to see. Our colonial dressed tour guide had built up quite a bit of suspense. Well, all I can say is our tour guide must not get out much! Yes Saint Martins was absolutely gorgeous, but it was by no means what we expected. The stop consisted of two covered bridges, and some three see caves that had been carved out by tides. Don’t get me wrong, it was a nice stop. The sea caves were cool and we had fun looking for “wish rocks”. Several local fishermen were preparing their boats for the upcoming season. It was nice to see a traditional New England village. On the way back to the dock we stopped at the falls again. About six hours had past so the falls were flowing in the opposite direction. Pretty cool, I must say.
Port Four: Halifax, Nova Scotia – Welcome to heaven on earth!!! Were weren’t exactly eager to set out on another bus tour but this time we were glad we did. This tour took us out to Peggy’s Cove. About forty minutes into the bus ride the beauty of Halifax surrounded us. Rolling granite hills, amazing rocky shorelines and the famous Peggy’s Cove lighthouse filled our eyes and minds with delight. I simply can not describe the beauty that was everywhere the eye could see. We spent a good amount of time at Peggy’s Cove. We climbed the rocky shoreline and took in the sights. We then ventured off to a local restaurant for yet another yummy lobster. Although small it was a good lunch and the locals were friendly. While in Halifax we also stopped at Citadel Hill and the Public Gardens. The Citadel sits atop the harbor watching ominously for the enemy to enter. Probably a scary sight back in the day. I can’t wait to venture to Halifax again. About an hour after we sailed out of Halifax we saw a whale and a sunfish swimming about thirty feet from the boat. It was amazing to see them with our own eyes.
Port Five: Boston, Massachusetts – Honestly we weren’t all that excited to go to Boston. We thought about staying on the ship all day. When we finally dragged ourselves ashore we found out our tour was cancelled because the boat docked late. We decided to take a shuttle to Quincy’s Market. We were really glad we got a look at Boston. The architecture throughout the city was absolutely amazing. Skyscrapers next to old church’s next to new buildings big and small – amazing… We saw that the Boston aquarium was a few blocks away so we ventured over for a look. We spent an hour or so in the aquarium looking at all the cool fish and cute penguins. We ventured back to the market and decided to take a look. There was every store, vendor and food item you could imagine. We purchased some local goods and started sampling some of the foods. We tried “fried dough” and some pizza at one of the local Italian joints. Let me tell you – they know how to make a pizza in Boston!
All in all it was an awesome nine days. It has been a while since we got a way and we really picked some beautiful places to visit. We both agreed we’d have to drive up the coast one day and see everything we missed on this trip.
I wonder how much a house in Halifax is going for? I’m sure Canada needs a good webmaster… Thanks New England – you are beautiful!
Check out all the pictures – Click Here