We love to cruise, but we hadn't been cruising in awhile. When Princess Cruises offered a great price on a New England/Canada Cruise, we jumped on it. Itinerary: New York; Newport, Rhode Island; Bar Harbor, Maine; St. John's, Newfoundland; and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
In September 2010, we--along with several friends--boarded the Caribbean Princess in New York City to set sail out of Brooklyn, past the Statue of Liberty, past the sky scrappers, past boat sightseeing tours in the waters near our ship.
What a sight! We would have to wait to explore New York until the ship returned in seven days.
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| Side streets in Newport, Rhode Island |
Our first stop: Newport, Rhode Island.
We've never spent much time on the east side of our country, let alone in the upper eastern region and we were looking forward to seeing the New England states. As we pulled into port, the first thing we noticed were the boats. Sailboats, yachts, lobster, and crab boats filled the harbour.
With limited time in port, we found the city bus and headed for the Cliff Walk. For us, this was an easy, leisurely, free, stroll along the ocean in front of mansions and statues and college buildings and second homes to the rich and famous. We wanted to do more exploring than just the Cliff Walk, so we didn't go into the mansions.
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| Cliff Walk |
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| More Cliff Walk |
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| Marble House |
Yet many of them, such as the Marble House, are open to the public for a fee.
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| Tennis Hall of Fame |
We stopped at the Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum
http://www.tennisfame.com/museum-grounds on the way back for some clam chowder before meandering side streets back to the dock. We loitered on the working side of the docks and found wire cages stacked neatly in rows and a place where, if we were staying in the area, could purchase fresh lobster and crab.
Boston, Massachusetts.
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| Port of Boston |
There is where you can follow the Freedom Trail
http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/visitor/visitor.html, visit
The Old North Church, and the cemetery where Paul Revere is buried. There is Boston Creme Pie (not what we expected, but delicious nonetheless) and then there is Cheers! And we saw them all. But boy were we tired at the end of the day. Partially because we decided to walk from the pier. It was several miles, from the pier, over bridges, past the sky scrappers, into the downtown mall, all before we reached the Boston Common. Then add the Freedom Trail onto that and you have one long, long walk on a hot, hot afternoon. The Freedom Trail (at least at the start) is a red brick road. Most of our time in port was spent following the trail to its end. We took the ten block deviation to Cheers--but we thought it was worth it.
Boston is filled with history and architecture and charm and shopping and dining. At the end of the trail, we caught one of the taxi-like water ferries back to the city. It was a wonderful, put-your-feet-up-and-quit-walking way to end the day. Go to Boston. Enjoy it. We only had a glimpse of this city and we definitely plan to go back.
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| Graveyard where Paul Revere is buried |
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| Boston Creme Pie |
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| Old North Church |
Bar Harbor, Maine. Lobster is what this quaint little community is known for. And it is delicious. I tried the lobster roll and it was not what I expected. It was better. I would have loved a couple of these and wish the ship would have served them for dinner that evening.
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| Lobster Roll |
During the morning, we explored Bar Harbor on foot. There is a peaceful walking trail along the water called Shore Path. Since it is along the water, we could see the ship (we had to be tendered into this port) anchored nearby. We enjoyed late summer flowers and the lovely, large homes, bed and breakfasts, and hotels along the path.
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| Shore Path |
The trail ends up in the downtown area so a person could shop their way back to the boat. Neither my husband or I are shoppers, but we did a bit of window-looking as we trekked back toward the pier for our afternoon tour. We decided to see Acadia National Park
http://www.nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/index.htm.
The tours are on school-like buses painted green. Our driver and guide was an older gentleman with a penchant for educating us on the merits of the park. There are several ways to see this park. I enjoyed the tour, the guide was tolerable, but I wish there had been more time to walk some of the trails. That is the sad part about cruising. There is not enough time to fully explore the area. I always tell new cruisers that cruising is like an appetizer plate, a sampling of different ports. My explanation proved true in this instance. I would have loved an entree'. Oh, well, there is always next time. The park is green and lush and the ocean bangs against the rocks. If you like the outdoors, I'm sure you'd like to see Acadia National Park.
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| Inside Arcadia National Park |
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| Arcadia National Park |
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| Arcadia National Park |
Please see remainder of New England and Canada Cruise September 2010, in Part II.
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