BILL AND JEANNE'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURES
CANADIAN CRUISE AND STUFF
24 SEPTEMBER-13 OCTOBER, 2019
(click the thumbnails for a larger image)
On Tuesday, 24 September, JJ and I arrived in New York city for the first stop on our extended adventures in Canada and eastern USA. We stayed for 3 nights in the Hotel Pennsylvania which is conveniently located across the street from Penn Station in Manhattan. We spent all of Wednesday hanging out with Hunter and family and ending the brief visit with a gourmet Korean dinner leaving the usual feeding debris behind for the restaurant to handle.
26 SEPT, 2019 THURSDAY
On this day we were up early for the next phase of our adventure. After meeting with three of our fellow travelers, Lowry, Paul and Nita, we walked across the street and soon were on Amtrak train 69 heading for Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This scenic train ride initially follows the Hudson River, turns more northerly at Schenectady, passes by Lake Champlain and on into Montreal. The border crossing took almost 2 hours as we had to wait for the Canadian customs guys to check out some other passengers who they did not seem to approve of. Anyway, all the passengers returned to the train and off we went arriving in Montreal at about 8PM. After checking into the Hotel St Paul we soon met up with the two other travelers, Bob and Carrie, and now the 7 of us were all set.
I was impressed with how flat and swampy the Hudson River and the Richelieu River (drainage from Lake Champlain) valleys are. These valleys are the northern extensions of the Great Appalachia Valley which goes all the way to southern USA.
27 SEPTEMBER, 2019 FRIDAY
We had a full day to explore Montreal and decided the best way was via Hop On Hop Off buses. We soon discovered that this was not the best option because the city happened to be hosting a huge, peaceful march by young folks. They were expressing their concerns about the negative impacts of global climate change on their lives. Anyway, the streets were blocked off to vehicular traffic and we eventually abandoned the buses and walked to some scenic spots. These included Mont Royal named by explorer Jacques Cartier in 1535. Montreal gets its name from this mountain peak and the views on this lovely day were spectacular. Eventually, some of us gave up all hope for the Hop Ons and called an Uber to take us back to the hotel.
CHAPTER ONE CRUISING
28 SEPTEMBER, 2019 SATURDAY
Today we boarded the ship Veendam of Holland America Line for our 7 day cruise starting in Montreal, up the St Lawrence River to Quebec City and then to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island via the Gulf of St Lawrence. Other stops included Sydney and Halifax, Nova Scotia, Bar Harbor, Maine and ending at Boston, Mass.
We had an easy check in, had a light lunch and then our first dinner in the Deck 7 Rotterdam dining room. All meals are included in the cruise price unless one chooses the more expensive restaurants (we did not). Of course, wine and cocktails are extra and there are ample opportunities to spend more money. The ship does not deal with cash or credit cards while enroute. Everything is charged to our room number and settled at the end of the trip. JJ and I had a $425 credit because of some deal from COSTCO.
29 SEPTEMBER, 2019 SUNDAY
The ship arrived at Quebec City (QC) in the early morning and by 10am we were on our tour bus under sunny skies for our first shore excursion. Our guide taught us some history and civics lessons: Quebec is Canada's largest province, tourism is QC's main industry and maple syrup is a large export product. We visited The Plains of Abraham which is a battlefield park. Named after the land's original owner, Abraham Martin (1589-1664), the field is the scene of a battle in 1759 during which the British defeated a French army and soon took over all of Canada. We also had good photo opportunities there looking over the St Lawrence River which actually drains all of the Great Lakes into the Atlantic Ocean. After a quick look at the Chateau Frontenac and a ride down the hill via funicular we were soon back on the ship and ready for departure and dinner.
30 SEPTEMBER, 2019 MONDAY
This was our only full day at sea. There was nothing much to do except explore the ship, attend a lecture by Cisco, our shore excursion dude and indulge in any of the various amusements offered by Holland America to induce passengers to spend more money.
1 OCTOBER, 2019 TUESDAY
We were late in arriving at our next stop, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI), due to ocean currents or something. Also, we had to take the tender boats to shore since the Veendam was anchored in the harbor with no room at the docks for us. Regardless, by about 11am we were on our tour buses and off to learn about PEI and its place in the Canadian confederation. PEI is the smallest but most densely populated of the provinces and has the distinction of being the birthplace of Canada herself. In 1864 some guys got together to discuss the idea of a "confederation" of the Atlantic provinces and by 1867 all of the western provinces were included; hence, the beginning of Canada as we know it. Our guide, Dave, pointed out that PEI had been under French rule until the British took over in 1750. The Brits were not fond of the French "Acadians" and eventually expelled them (i.e. ethnic cleansing) from the island. Some Acadians made their way to New Orleans establishing the French language influence there.
We made a stop at a spot called Rustica
and Dave told us about the lobster industry which along with potatoes and dairy
is a major business for PEI.
Our next stop was at Cavendish Beach which was being admired by about 1000 tourists including us. At 1pm we reached our main destination, the Anne of Green Gables tourist trap. (Sorry, I meant to say "charming recreation of Anne's home"). The author of the Anne series of popular stories, Lucy Maud Montgomery, lived near here in a similar house.
Dave, a lifetime resident of PEI, shared a few more bits of information and observations. These included pointing out the island's red soil, reminding us that the main attractions include Anne, the beaches, golf and seafood and the 1997 completion of the Confederation Bridge which connects PEI to the mainland.
We completed the day on board with dinner, watching a show about planet earth and a warning from our captain that he expects up to 60mph winds during our passage to Nova Scotia. This announcement prompted some discussions about possible sea sickness.
2 OCTOBER, 2019 WEDNESDAY
We arrived at Sydney, Nova Scotia in the early hours under light rain and cool weather. The 60mph winds never happened so concerns about sea sickness were for naught. Jeanne and I did not buy a shore excursion for this day but he rest of our group did a tour of the Alexander Graham Bell museum. They thought it was very interesting but poor visibility hampered general sightseeing opportunities.
Jeanne and I went ashore and wandered around town and stumbled upon an interesting museum. It was the Cossit House which was once the home of Reverend Cossit who fled from Vermont in about 1780 and established his church in Sydney. He was wealthy, studied at Oxford England and remained loyal to the British crown during the American revolution. He and many other loyalists were encouraged by King George to move to Nova Scotia and the king even gave them a year's supply of goods to make the transition easier. Most of the tour of the house was about the reverend's poor wife who had 10+ children, did all the house work and died at 46 years. The reverend lived to 71 years.
3 OCTOBER, 2019 THURSDAY
We had an early start for our shore excursion in Halifax, NS under clear, sunny skies. Our guide was full of good information and not very funny jokes. "Do you know how hard it is to find clean, funny jokes?" Anyway, we soon learned that Gaelic is the second language here, that the location for the second Anne of Green Gables books was modeled after Halifax, that there are lots of glacial "erratics" here which are left-over from the last major glacial periods, that 70% of Maine lobsters are from Nova Scotia and that Anna from the "King and I" lived here and was a friend of Lucy Maud Montgomery.
We drove by some graves of ship Titanic victims and of victims of a 1917 horrendous explosion when an ammunition ship ignited. We visited Peggy's Cove which is a very picturesque and popular spot and I later visited the Pier 21 immigration museum. The local folks are very proud of their Scottish heritage and cultural diversity.
4 OCTOBER, 2019 FRIDAY
Wow, this was our last shore excursion day! First we had to turn our clocks back one hour to Eastern Daylight Time having departed the Atlantic time zone and to go through a customs inspection since we were now back in the USA at Bar Harbor Maine. We enjoyed a visit to the Acadia National Park with its magnificent views of rocky coast and woodlands. Also, the Park Service provides convenient and free bus transportation around the park.
CHAPTER TWO DRIVING
5 OCTOBER, 2019 SATURDAY
Our cruise concluded upon our early disembarkation from the Veendam in Boston. After saying so long to our traveling companions, Jeanne and I rented a car and spent the day visiting with Buck and Sarah who live in Danvers, MASS just north of Boston. Danvers is the site of the old Salem Village best know for the witch hunts of 1692. Since October is Halloween month the city of Salem cashes in on witch frenzy by having weekly street fairs and opportunities to dress up in silly costumes. We went to the street fair along with the entire population of Massachusetts on this lovely Fall day. Buck and Sarah live in a house originally built if around 1680s and was the actual home of a notorious young girl, Ann Putnam, Jr. Ann and her young friends apparently amused themselves by accusing some neighbors of being in leagues with the devil. The resulting witch trials resulting in the hanging of 19 women, crushing with rocks of one man and 5 deaths while in prison all during a 3-4 month period in 1692.
6 OCTOBER, 2019 SUNDAY
We commenced our long drive south by heading on down to Cape May, NJ for an overnight stay after a long and not much fun 9 hour drive from Boston. We were very impressed with the Cape May beach community and the fine mansions which also serve as bed and breakfast facilities.
7 OCTOBER, 2019 MONDAY
At 9:45am we were on the Cape May-Lewes ferry which crosses the Delaware Bay and connects NJ and Delaware. It was then a pleasant enough drive to Williamsburg, VA after crossing the impressive Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.
8 OCTOBER, 2019 TUESDAY
We had a full day in Williamsburg for looking at stuff and relearning some US history so we bought our tickets ($80 total) for admission to the various venues. We strolled the streets and toured the Capitol Building and Governor's Palace. The palace was the residence of the royal governors who were the king's representatives during colonial days. The last royal governor for Virginia was a Lord Dunmore who fled Williamsburg in 1774 after American independence movements were started. Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson resided in the palace as the first and second governors of the state of Virginia.
Later we made a quick drive over to Jamestown via the Colonial Parkway. Jamestown was actually the capitol of the colony of Virginia until the capitol was moved in 1699 to the more comfortable location of Williamsburg.
9, 10, 11, 12, 13 OCTOBER, 2019 WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY
The rest of our trip was spent in and around Charlottesville, VA with family and for my mini-reunion with some classmates from the Aerospace Engineering Class of 1964 at the University of Virginia. On Friday we drove over to Richmond for a luncheon visit with cousins and then on Saturday up to Washington, DC area for dinner with Don and Pat. Finally, we had an uneventful flight home to San Diego and this excellent adventure was over!
THE END
