We recently went on a fall foliage cruise. We visited a few places in Canada and came back into the U.S. to visit Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York. The first thing we noticed on this trip is we were among the youngest on the boat by, let's say, 25 years! We definitely understand...it is hard to get away this time of year with school schedules! We were blessed to have Ryan's parents help us in this area. They stayed with the boys and carried on thier normal daily schedules, which was extremely helpful. Other than the market going WAY down while we were gone, our trip was very pleasant and a welcome break from daily life. We were able to stay one night in New York before getting on the ship. We visited a few of NY
highlights and saw
South Pacific.
From New York, we sailed all through the next day and night until we r
eached Halifax, Canada.We went on a double decker bus tour through the city. This photo to the right is in their public garden. After this tour, we took a bus to a beautiful fishing village called, Peggy's Cove. This is a picturesque village that has been in many famous paintings and photos with a 'lonely' lighthouse standing on the rocky shoreline. The photo below is of the village, followed by a photo of the lighthouse. We didn't get many photos of this lighthouse because it was freezing cold and windy!
Here is a sign warning about the rocky shoreline, cold water and slippery rocks you had to walk on to get close to the lighthouse. My hair was always in my face here. The wind was crazy!!
We left here and sailed to St. John's, Canada.
Here we took an all day tour to a small fishing village called St. John's. We were looking at the
Bay of Fundy, which has the highest tides in the world. We also got to see some fall foliage here as we traveled away from the coastline a bit. To the right, the locals say this is the only place in the world where you can get to covered bridges in the same photo...interesting, huh???
Some of the fall colors we saw along the road back to St. John's. We were able to get some fairly good photos while on the bus. Even though Ryan made fun of me, my tendency to become motion sick gave us a front row seat on most buses!
On the shore along the Bay of Fundy, caves are carved by the waves of the high tide. Obviously, we were there at low tides. We walked in the caves. It was amazing to see the power of the sea.
Next, we headed back to the U.S. This was our favorite spot, Bar Harbor, Maine.
We toured Acadia National Park. It was very nice. We saw lots of beautiful leaves and interesting rocky coastlines.
My parents traveled with us on this trip. Here is a photo of them with our ship faintly in the background At this spot, we had stopped for fresh blueberry pie and coffee. We all agreed it was the best blueberry pie we had ever had!
Mom and I among some beautiful trees in Acadia National Park.
We left Maine and set sail for Boston. We took a city tour and then took the subway toward Fenway Park. Our boys had begged for souvenirs from Boston, specifically Boston Red Sox merchandise. I guess I am to 'new' of a fan to the sport of baseball to truly appreciate the greatness (as Ryan says) of Fenway Park.
Our last stop was Newport, Rhode Island. At this point, we were tired of tours and decided to venture through this city on our own. We found a place to eat that had great clam chowder and seven flat screens for Ryan to watch the t.u game. We found these little motorcycle type vehicles to rent. We drove around the mansions on the cliffs along the shoreline.
We ended the day back on the ship with this gorgeous sunset. We feel blessed to have had a safe trip, a good time with my parents and very thankful to Ryan's family for keeping the boys back home!
I actually remembered this year to take the boys for pumpkin pics! That is an accomplishment for me these days, especially considering Ryan has been gone all week. Rylan and Caden are now old enough to realize this is a yearly event. They don't seem to show the same excitement about it as I do! This year was extra painful for them because I made them get haircuts on the way to the pumpkins! You can imagine the grief I received. Just having to change clothes and agree to smile was bad enough but adding a haircut on top of that was just asking to much! But, with a little bribery....all went well!
Yikes! Rylan is really growing up!
Hudson was trying to be very agreeable with this situation but we just couldn't get him to hold a 'normal' smile! Notice the scratches and bruise on his head, one is from a golf club and the other from a football...boys!
