New England and Canada Trip - Part 3

Bar Harbor, Maine

 

Pronounced by the locals, "Bah Habuh", Bar Harbor is a town I could easily live in and be very happy there, I think.  Dave and I loved it!

 

We had to tender (take smaller boats to shore) from our cruise ship.  The short ride to shore was everything you would expect a New England coastal town to be.

 

 

There was a US Government shutdown still in effect.  But Dave and I were determined to see Acadia National Park, even though it was officially closed.  Since Phil used to work for the National Park Service he had a friend who told us that, although cars weren't allowed in the park, walkers and cyclists were unofficially allowed.  So we rented bicycles at the first place we found after coming ashore.  The lady at the counter said, "So you understand, the park is closed.  But here is a map showing the biking and hiking trails and here are directions to get the closed park,"

It was about a two mile bike ride to get to Acadia from downtown.  The ride along the way was beautiful.

Always afraid of being cold, I wore a down vest under my coat and brought an additional coat in my backpack "just to be safe".  Overkill. 

 

 "Sneaking" into the park, past the barricades.

 The lady at the bike shop told us that it would probably be too difficult for us to bike to the top of the highest mountain in the park - Cadillac Mountain-but  that people have done it.  We decided to take the challenge.

 As we began our ascent we could see our cruise ship in the bay. (Behind the hill in the middle)

 The ride to the top overlooks Frenchman's Bay.

The autumn leaves were beyond belief.  I loved the contrast of the blue ocean as a backdrop.

 

 

There's our ship again.

 And again.  It kind of became our point of reference as we continued our climb. By that time I had shed my coat.

 

 

 We had the park almost completely to ourselves.  We did come across people several times and were glad to have them take a shot of the two of us together.

 

 Eagle Lake.

 Frenchman's Bay, with it's lovely little islands. (And our ship again)

 

 Three hours later, we made it to the top of the mountain.  What a view!

We were told Cadillac Mountain is the tallest mountain on the Northeastern Seaboard. 

 My token "nature shot".

 View from the top.

 

The trees formed a canopy on some parts of the road.  It was so nice to not have to worry about being hit by a car.

 

 

 What took three hours to climb only took one hour to descend. Dave was loving the homes we passed as we came back into town.

 

 

 We figured we burned enough calories in four hours to justify some blueberry pie, which Maine is famous for.  So, Dave googled where the best blueberry pie in Bar Harbor was.  It was easy to find with our phone GPS and "oi la" we were there!  We were starving so we got a cup of clam chowder first, which turned out to be the creamiest we had ever had.

 The pie was unbelievably good.  Hot, with ice cream, made it even better.

 

 

 As we took the tender back to the ship we were very content with our day on shore.

 

Afternoons and evenings on the ship meant some fun family time.  We enjoyed the Name Game and Dominoes and just visiting.

New England and Canada Trip - Part 2

Portland, Maine

Dave and I were working out in the fitness center on the ship as the sun rose. And we had this view from the treadmill of Portland, Maine, where our ship had docked early that morning.

 

 Dad Grose turned 91 years old on this day.  As we were leaving the cruise ship there was a man with a guitar who sang "Happy Birthday" to him and gave him a free CD of his music.

 We walked along the streets of this seaside town for awhile.

 We had made reservations with this lobster company for the afternoon.

 As we started out on our lobster-fishing experience we passed our cruise ship.

 This was a fort used during the War of 1812.

We had to don these plastic aprons since we were handling fish and lobsters.

 Our captain and head fisherman pulled up a lobster trap from the water.

 

 I got to help.

 

 

We passed several lighthouses.  This one is the oldest working lighthouse in the USA.

 

 

This Korean family was on our fishing trip.  They loved dad and sang Happy Birthday to him as well.

 

 We bought these two lobsters that we helped catch for $5 each.

 

We took our live lobsters to this restaurant right next to the dock and they cooked them up for us.  It doesn't get much fresher than that.  We demolished them along with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob.

 Later that evening, in the dining room of the ship, the waiters all sang to dad.  Our cruise also included four concerts with Michael Ballam and he sang to dad that night, too.

I think he had a happy birthday. :)

New England and Canada Trip - Part 1

Boston

Dave's dad took us on another wonderful cruise.  This time not all of his kids and spouses were able to go.  There were nine of us cruisers this year:  Dad, Dave and I, Dale and Becky, Elaine and Russell, Sandy and Phil. This was a 7 day cruise to New England and Eastern Canada.  We began the cruise in Boston.  We got there on a Saturday evening.  We took a cab downtown to grab a bite to eat.

Faneuil Hall

We had delicious food at Quincy Market.  This is a horrible photo, but all I had to show of this unique place.  It reminds me a little bit of Covent Garden in London.

Dave googled the "best place for clam chowder" and this guided us to eat at the Boston Chowda place in Quincy Market.  It did not disappoint.  Nor did the lobster roll.  Oh my!

We started off this trip with a culinary bang. Mmmm

I couldn't resist a photo of these huge macaroons.

Our hotel was in Chelsea.  I snapped this shot of the bridge from the taxi window.

Hanging out in the hotel.

The next day we went to church at the Cambridge 1st ward.  Then went back to the hotel, changed and took a cab to the cruiseport.  Our ship was called the Brilliance of the Sea.

Looking back at the skyline of Boston as we sailed off to our week long adventure.

 Every night of the cruise we ate together at this table in the dining room. I loved our view.  During the course of the week we saw whales and dolphins out of that window.  Some were very close to the ship. 

Dave and I have to have at least one virgin pina colada every time we cruise.  "Cheers" to the start of a very enjoyable week.

Lily's "friend party"

Holly's kids to get have a birthday party with their friends every other year.  It was that year for Lily.  She didn't want to leave anyone out, so she ended up inviting 17 girls to her party. Ha!  It was a costume party and Miss Lily was Dorothy, complete with ruby slippers.

 

 

 

 Holly and Cody just moved into their new home and the unfinished basement is a perfect place for 18 crazy little girls.

 

 

 Almost all of the girls are in the Chinese immersion program, like Lily is.  While they were eating, they would burst into song - in Mandarin!  It was adorable.  I got it on video, but try as I may, it would not upload onto this blog.

These girls may be a bit hyper, but they sure were a bunch of cuties.  It was fun to get a peek at this party.