New England Cruise

Just returned from a glorious week in the New England States!!  We left last Saturday, flying into Boston and spent two full days there.  We had a wonderful private tour of the city by Dave’s cousin, Karen.  She took us all over, driving us to some of Boston’s highlights. After that, she made us a wonderful meal while we sat around sipping wine and catching up. We had so much fun with her!  We stayed at the Marriott Envoy Hotel right next to the harbor.  The views were spectacular!   On Sunday, we woke up early and went for a long run around Boston’s harbor.  The hotel offered a scrumptious breakfast and with our bellies full, we headed out on the Freedom Trail.  No trip to Boston would be complete without walking the Freedom Trail and visiting Mike’s Pastry.  It’s so hard to decide which cannoli to order!  

Lobby at the beautiful Marriott Envoy Hotel

  

Dave waiting in line for a famous cannoli

Some of the beautiful cobblestone streets of Boston, that’s me window shopping 🙂

 

Taking another selfie in Boston

Boston Harbor

View of harbor from our hotel room

On Sunday afternoon we ubered to the Cruise ship terminal and boarded the Serenade of the Seas for our week long cruise!!  Once we left Boston we headed for Portland, Maine.  The temperature was awesome (70 ish for early October), we wore light jackets while we biked the 6.5 mile loop on the Eastern Promenade Trail. The best part of biking was not just the beauty of Portland but the fact that we met up with some bikers who had just finished a 41 day bike ride from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine.  They were part of the Trek Travels biking group.  It was great being right there to see them finish!  What great timing to be able to see them complete that journey.  We both agreed next year we might try the same trip…we will see. It did prompt me to browse through the Trek Travel website to see what trips they do offer.  Lots of great ideas! Our adventures in downtown Portland led us to a couple of breweries and some shopping. 

Portland to Portland bike trip, 41 days of biking!!

One of the many pubs we visited on this cruise!

After Portland, the next stop was Bar Harbor, Maine.  We loved Bar Harbor.  We rented bikes and rode about 20 miles through Acadia National Park  The views of Eagle Lake, the mountains, and our ship anchored off the coast of Maine were amazing! After the ride through Acadia, we had a lobster roll and a blueberry beer (with real blueberries) at a no frills Lobster diner. We ate outside on a picnic table. It was very enjoyable and again the weather was perfect. Shopping in Bar Harbor was also grand. Many nice and unique shops in the quaint downtown area where we purchased a winter hat for Dave and a scarf to add to my collection of scarves!

Doesn’t look like much on the plate, but believe me, the Lobster roll with a cold Blueberry beer was absolutely delicious!

At Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor

Our cruise ship in the distance.  Picture taken from Acadia National Park on the bike trails.

Next stop on our cruise was Saint John, New Brunswick. We enjoyed visiting the city market and the Reversing Falls.  We ran from the ship to the falls for a total of 4.5 miles. After our run, we stopped for a cold beer at a tavern near the port. They even let Dave behind the bar to pour his own brew. Day 5 was spent on the ship relaxing!  We ran 4 miles on the ship’s track, worked out in the gym and swam in the pool.  The weather was so warm and sunny! Dave swam every day in one of the ships pools.  The ship was of course beautiful.  Lots of activities to keep you busy and of course each night lively entertainment!   Our last stop was in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  I think we liked this stop the most.  We took an excursion to Peggy’s Cove- a working fishing village and we just loved the scenery and the old world feel of the village. The downtown area of Halifax had a lot of history to offer and also much to do. The public gardens were very nice and the view from the Citadel was amazing. As always, we tried a few pubs on our walking tour around the city. We even got a back massage on the pier, from a local entrepreneur, before boarding the ship. The last day we spent cruising on the ship heading back to Boston.

Peggy’s Cove- Halifax

If we ever go back to Halifax, we will make sure to stop at this bar again.  Super cute with a great selection of craft beers.

View of Halifax from the Citadel.

Before boarding the ship we decided to get a massage from a local on the boardwalk.

So this picture might sum up the whole vacation…see how relaxed Dave is, give him a few days off work and a craft beer and he is a happy man 🙂