Sydney to Halifax, June 14, 2012

Our day ashore was beautiful.  The temperature was rather hot, but we survived.  We spent two and a half hours walking around this diverse town.  There were many old buildings mixed in with modern architecture.  Starbucks was our first stop.  Then we headed to the park.  The Halifax Public Gardens opened to the public in 1875.  The park united the 1837 Horticultural Society’s garden with the adjacent civic garden created in 1867. It’s one of the rare surviving Victorian gardens in Canada. I enjoyed photographing many flowers and the park landscape.

Beautiful petunias.

This bridge, in the park, was built in 1911.

Continuing on through town we came to the Citadel.  We didn’t pay to take the tour, but walked up the hill to take in the view.  I snapped this picture of the guard.  I think he was sleeping.  😉  Really, though, he was standing in the very hot sun in full dress and wearing that HOT looking hat.  I died just looking at him.

From there we found our way back down to the waterfront.  To cool off, we walked through an indoor mall.  It was called a mall, but was quite lacking as such.  Street musicians have been abundant on our visit to each Canadian city.  Today was no exception. It was a fun day.

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Charlottetown to Sydney, June 13, 2012

Sydney, Nova Scotia was not very pretty.  Some streets that we walked had lovely old homes, but in general, the town was like showing the state of the world’s failing economy.  Many businesses were closed and even boarded up.  We have noticed the failing economy everywhere we have been so far, but this town was not able to disquise it like most do.

Our ship from shore.

This poppy was as large as my hand.  Beautiful.

One of our choices for lunch today, was Mongolian BBQ, poolside on Lido deck.  It was amazing.  I LOVE Mongolian BBQ.  Each day has something wonderful about it and that was the highlight of my day. 

Quebec to Charlottetown June 12, 2012

Prince Edward Island’s Charlottetown was first established in 1720 by 300 French settlers.  The town later joined the Dominion of Canada in 1873. 

We hopped in a small tour bus along with 10 other people from the ship and headed to Cavendish to visit Anne of Green Gables Farm.  Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of the Anne of Green Gables series, was raised in Cavendish by her maternal grandparents.  The home Green Gables was modeled after was that of her grandfather’s cousins.  She visited the home often and walked the woods in the area. 

Green Gables.

Our bus also took us to the seashore on the north shores.  The water is a beautiful sapphire blue and the earth is red.  The contrast was striking, not easy to catch with my little instamatic. 

After returning to the ship was spent some time walking around the shops at the waterfront.  Oh, our tour guide today, told us about the taxes of Canada.  The federal government charge 5% on your purchase, then the Province tax of 10% is charged on that amount.  So you pay a tax on your tax.  I haven’t made any Canadian purchases, as of this writing.   

While on deck watching as the ship was getting ready to leave dock, I saw was I thought was a piece of a plant floating in the water.  Then I noticed more of these plant pieces.  As Tom and I studied them we noticed that the tops were pulsating.  They were jellyfish!  We watched them until we were away.  And because Blogger is very tempermental, I cannot upload any more photos this time.

Montreal to Quebec June 10, 2012

Tom’s store.

Believe it or not, our internal clocks are still on Arizona time.  An alarm must be set if we want to wake up before 8 AM.  After a great breakfast, we got off ship around 10.  Jackets were needed when we first got ashore, but it did warm up enough to remove them later on.

They have such great choice of color.

Old Quebec is a quaint little sea town that began in the 1600’s as a French trapper’s trading post.  The city sits 300 feet above the water on a natural cliff. Feeling that the area had great potential for a stronghold, the French later built a wall all around the city to protect themselves from invaders.  Rumor has it that they were afraid of an attack from the United States.  But, it was the British that decided to invade.  They scaled the 30 foot walls and took over in a short 20 minutes!  Colorful shops line the streets and also beautiful architecture in old cathedrals and the Citadel itself.  I think it might be a fun place to live, if I spoke French that is.  ‘Unique’ people were abounding.  Old Quebec has become my favorite Canadian city.

Royal Palace.

Street musician.

Of course.

Beautiful house in Old Quebec.

Much of the town is built on the side of a cliff.

Boston to Montreal – June 9, 2012

Rising at 5 AM got us on the road by 6:20 this morning.  Being a Saturday, the traffic through Boston was light.  The first two hours went by quickly.  The scenery was pretty, but rather monotonous through New Hampshire.  Vermont, however, was gorgeous!  We had to stop at the four hour mark while in Vermont and look for a Starbucks.  That way my chatter would help keep Tom alert. 

Because we took a red road into Canada, we were the only car entering at the boarder in Quebec.  No waiting in line.  The boarder officer was very friendly.  Farms were abundant as we drove along through the countryside.  They are more primitive than those we have seen in the U.S.  Metal roofs are common, I suppose to shed heavy snow. 

Tom with our ride.

We crossed a cool bridge into Montreal from which we could see our cruise ship in the distance.  Thanks to our TomTom we drove right to the Hertz facility with no trouble.  Although the cruise terminal was just a mile away, we opted to take a taxi rather than toting our suitcases across town.  

Boarding the ship was as easy as pie!  We enjoyed lunch and a walk around the ship while waiting to leave port and head out onto the St. Lawrence River.  The weather was warm, very warm, while we stood up on deck and watched as the ship entered the river current and headed out.  The captain informed us that the speed of the river current is six knots and causes a little bit of rocking.  I like the rocking, but I must say, this was the calmest cruise we have ever been on.

Of course, this made me think of Nicole.

Vermont is beautiful!!

Click to enlarge and see our ship.

 

Plattekill, New York, June 17, 2012

Good morning!  We are currently here in Plattekill and will be until tomorrow when we head to Maryland.  The KOA here has a very slow internet service, so I cannot upload any photos.  Not wanting to blog without the photos, I am waiting until we get to the next stop.  Hopefully, they will have a faster service.

Happy Father’s Day to all of the wonderful dads out there!

Boston – June 8, 2012

South Station.

We drove our car to the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal and left it there.  Next Saturday, it will be waiting for us when we disembark from the Maasdam.  From the cruise terminal parking lot, we walked over two miles through town to the Boston Common, a very large park.  On the route we stopped for lunch and walked through a Summer Street Market.  The streets were closed to traffic.  I stood in the middle of the intersection and took a picture in all four directions. 

Sun shining through tree in front of Macy’s.

In the Boston Commons park we were greeted by Mennonites at several locations passing out tracts.  Further on in the park, we heard them singing hymns.  

The weather was warmer than I like which sapped my energy.  We walked about three miles total and I was too tired to walk anyplace else.  So, we headed over to the Hertz office, picked up our car, and headed ‘home’ to our hotel in Plymouth. 

Also, near the park was another old cemetery.  The dates on the markers were mostly 1800’s, not as old as the one in Plymouth.  

Today in Boston, I learned that people walking are very friendly and people in cars are not.  Rudeness abounds here.   If I lived in the city, I would not use a car.  The traffic continued all the way to the hotel. 

Tomorrow we are driving to Montreal, Canada and boarding the Maasdam for a seven night cruise.  You won’t hear from me until we return.  

Street Fair

Street Fair

Mennonite Choir.

Cemetery.

State House

Cape Cod – June 7, 2012

Have you ever driven to Key West?  Well, driving to Provincetown, Massachusetts is similar, just shorter.  The road is banked on both sides by lots of trees and green growth.  No views except for snippets here and there.  The road is called Pilgrims Highway for a while then I noticed signs that read, “Grand Army Highway of the Republic”.  Yes, we are a republic, not a democracy.  I don’t think many people know that. 

Also noticed were flags hung from many of the over passes along the highway.  You may click on any of my pictures to view them larger and in slide show mode.  That way, you can see the flags with more detail. 

We traveled the highway all the way to the end and then turned left to drive into Provincetown.  The speed limits varied from 20 to 60 along the highway.  Since being here, I have noticed even more how radical the East Coast drivers are.  Stop sign?  What’s that?  Seriously, they do not stop, unless they absolutely have to.  In a “California stop”, at least you slow down as you roll through.  Here that is not the case. 

The sky was just beautiful as we got closer to Provincetown.  We had no rain all day, just beautiful skies with lots of sun.  No jackets were required.

And here we are driving into the little seaside town.  These old cities here are very cute.  Electric lines are strung everywhere.  Did you grow up long ago when electric lines were everywhere like this?  I did.  Having lived in more modern cities for the past 40 years, I have forgotten all about how messy it looks with wire strung all over. 

The narrow streets began to make me claustrophobic.  I am not joking.  High season is July and August.  Swarms of people were all over the streets today.  I cannot even imagine being here a month from now. 

A sign read, “Dead End”.  Get me outa here!

 

 

 

 

Lunch was eaten at a little restaurant called The Coffee Pot.  Tom had a turkey club with a Barq’s rootbeer.  I had a pulled pork sandwich with a frozen mocha cappuccino.  Tom is spoiling me rotten with a fancy coffee very day! 

Waiting for lunch at The Coffee Pot.

The beach at Provincetown.

A church viewed from the pier.

Pilgrim Monument

The Amazing Town of Plymouth – June 6, 2012

Wow!  I had the most amazing day walking around the little town of Plymouth today.  I took more pictures than you would care to look at.  Sarah Glover, you would have LOVED this place.  Plymouth is a photographer’s paradise. 

Our first stop was Burial Hill.  I took 46 pictures in the cemetery alone.  Reading tombstones is a great experience.  I have been to many old cemeteries, but this is the best one, yet.   

The graves and their markers are not placed in any orderly fashion.  Family groups are, however, grouped together, but nothing is in rows.  As we walked around reading the stones, we were reminded of how many children did not survive to their second birthday.  Mothers lost many of their babies in those days.  The parent’s markers are, in general, the larger markers with their children’s markers near theirs, but in a smaller fashion.  You can see the groups in my photos.

 
 There are many pictures that I am not including.  We had a wonderful afternoon.  Lunch was at a quaint eatery called Pebbles Restaurant.  We had fish and chips which were fried to perfection.   I said to Tom, “We have to get the fish and chips, because we are on the East Coast.”  If we were in Mexico we wouldn’t order Chinese food, right?

After lunch we continued through town and came upon a Maui Wowi and Tom bought a nice ice-blended espresso for me.  Mmmmmm mmmmm.

Oldest grave 1681.

After we left downtown Plymouth, we went to several shopping centers.  We hit every store in each looking for silver flip flops and a white sweatshirt to replace those that I lost.  We didn’t find either.  However, I managed to get four pair of shoes during all of this shopping.  🙂

Now my feet are tired from all of the walking.  I am going to go soak them in the tub and then rest up for another day of walking tomorrow when we head out to Cape Cod. 

Beautiful view of Cape Cod Bay from Burial Hill.

Court House.

Sign on the sidewalk.

Random memorial plaque downtown.

Memorial Clock downtown.

This is what my studio would look like!

Mayflower II

We ate lunch here.  Delicious!

Fried Haddock and fries.

Of course, I had to have a coffee for dessert.

I love the postcard sky and the lovely shutters.

Historic home built in 1637.

Beautiful Bed and Breakfast.

St. Peter’s Church 1876.

Niagara Falls to Plymouth June 5, 2012

It began with bright sun then clouds descended.  We had no rain, just a little misting here and there.  If you want to live where there are no traffic rules, move east.  Speed limits and traffic signs mean nothing.  I think it’s the people’s revenge for toll roads and continuous road work.  I, personally, can’t wait to get out of here. 

 

 The further east we traveled, the more clouds we encountered.  The New York countryside was very pretty.  Many farms dotted the landscape with the most common color scheme being black and white.

Traffic increased as we drove across Massachusetts, as did the speed at which they traveled.  The heavier the traffic the faster they went!  

 

 

Sandal’s final resting place.

I forgot to tell you that on Saturday Tom tried to roll down the driver’s window and it would not budge.  It’s broken, for the third time.  Not wanting to roll it down and then have it not roll back up, we have not made any further attempts to roll it down.  This means that we have to open the door to pay the tolls.  And that brings me to today’s story.  When I wear flip flops, I take them off to drive.  I don’t think they are safe for driving.  Anyway, I take them off and stuff them to the left side of my seat.  Then, when I stop, I put them on before I open the door to get out.  At toll stops, I am not getting out.  We stopped at a rest stop to use the restroom and I had only one sandal next to the seat.  I knew right away, it fell out when I opened the door to pay the last toll two hours earlier.  Grrrr…  They were my favorite sandals. 

Now, we are in a hotel in Plymouth, MA for the next four nights.  My blogging should continue through Friday night, then you most likely will not hear from me again until Saturday the 17th.