Boston to St Johns – The2Johns

We’ve arrived

Arrived at Boston airport, flight was good, picked up the car (Jeep, see car pick), drove a couple of hours to Providence, had a snack then unpacked, nothing much more, travelling day a bit sparse.

Newport

Awoke early so an early breakfast and a chance to use an automatic pancake maker, to go with the hot cinnamon buns. Quickly onto the road southwards to Rhode Island, pausing only to shop for 64 bottles of water which we will need to cope with the 30-35 degree temperatures. Spent the rest of the day in a lovely town called Newport. This was the playground of the rich families who had their Summer mansions there (which they referred to as their cottages). We spent some time visiting one of the homes of the Vanderbilt family – a house called the Breakers. We saw many of the exteriors of other houses during the day, but not enough time to tour them in detail. Took a ride in a bus designed to look like a trolley bus in order to see some of the sights. Had lunch at the waterfront admiring all the boats in the harbour and marinas. Back into the car for a scenic drive along the coast with some lovely views. I think we would be quite happy to move to Newport, but would need a massive lottery win to afford the house we would like.

Cape Cod

Another early breakfast, haven’t tried the optional biscuits (scones) and sausage gravy, but maybe tomorrow? Today we drove down to Cape Cod and drove around stopping where we found something to interest us. Lots of lush greenery and many lovely timber houses and churches. Not time to get to the furthest end of the Cape , but we will be spending two days there in Provincetown during the cruise later in the holiday. One of the first things we encountered driving-on the Cape was a roundabout – not a frequent experience in driving in the USA. Our first stop after crossing the canal on the Bournebridge was in the town of Sandwich where we saw the Glass museum, town hall and the restored Dexter mill which dates back to 1637. We briefly stopped to see the Sandy Neck beach and continued on passing various historic houses and the harbour of Barnstable to reach the town of Dennis. Here we detoured from the road to find a view point at the Scargo Hill Tower. Unfortunately the tower was closed but from the ground, we could still glimpse the views along to the further reaches of the Cape. Continued Eastwards to Brewster to see the Stony Brook Windmill and hear an account of the way the corn was ground, saw the blacksmith in action and a restored old house as well as stall selling work by local artists and producers. The town of Orleans was our turning point as we headed south to return Westwards paralleling the south coast, passing through Chatham and Hyannis. Other brief stops to take in the coastal views and a visit to the Old Indian Meeting House (the oldest church on the Cape dating back to 1684. Final stop was in Falmouth for a pizza and a walk through the streets. A long day, but a colourful trip.

Hartford

Well, we decided against the biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast 9see picture) and couldn’t even manage the cinnamon bun. Another early start as today we were moving on to Hartford in Connecticut, about an hour and a half drive or two if you include the u-turns. Our first visit was to the house of Mark Twain, the author of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and many other stories. It was an interesting house and the guided tour was very good with lots of interesting stories of the family. Unfortunately we were only able to take pictures of the outside of the house. A quick lunch and then a half hour journey to an adventure park where we spent an enjoyable few hours zip-lining, great fun but very hot in temperatures over 30 degrees. Then a drive back to Hartford to find the hotel and a short walk to a brewery for our evening meal and a few drinks!

Six Flags Roller Coasters

A later start today so time for a leisurely breakfast before setting out on a 30 minute journey to the theme park for a day with the rollercoasters. Some great rides and a few left to do in the next few days. Very hot walking around, temperatures still above 30 degrees, but a dry heat today, so not so bad! Back to Hartford in time for a short walk to the brewery for tea or something. Only complaint so far is that we haven’t had any ice cream.

Six Flags Waterpark

Today was a return to Six Flags, but with the intention of spending most of the day in Hurricane Harbour – the water park. It was a little overcast this morning and seemed a little cooler initially. The high temperature meant that the water park was busier than the main park. Yesterday we didn’t have to queue to get on the roller coasters, not the case for the water rides. The rides were all great fun, particularly liked the one which was a cross between the water ride and a rollercoaster. Ended the day back in the main park for another ride on our favourite rollercoaster. Then, back to Hartford for an Indian meal and an early night to recover.

Six Flags Revisited

Woke up this morning to a not too good weather forecast of storms, thunder, lightning and a tornado warning for the Southern part of New England. We left for the park at about 9.30 with heavy clouds and a temperature in the mid 20’s. During the morning the clouds lifted and got warmer. We spent the morning in the water park, not so many people here today so got lots of rides in. At about 2.30 the rides were closed as the storm was approaching, so for an hour we sat in the sunshine until the rides reopened (only distant views of dark clouds). A few more rides in the water park and a last go at one of the rollercoasters took us to 5.30pm and time to leave. Just as we got to the car we got the first drops of rain and a bit of thunder. Back to the hotel where rain was off in time for walk to the pub for tea. Taxi back, because a storm came on , heavy rain and lots of lightning, even got text alerts on the phone warning of flooding risk. We’re safe on the 8th floor of the hotel and the storm is passing. Weather forecast is good for tomorrow as we leave for Boston.

Hartford to Boston

Another hot sunny day for our journey to Boston. Our initial plan was to head to the area North of Boston and explore. However, things didn’t go to plan as we first had to make a 2 hour detour to the hotel we had first stayed in at Woonsocket. We had to return to the hotel to reclaim the clothes we had left behind. Not that these were the first left behind items – when we get back to Scotland we have to go to Falkirk police station to reclaim the hats we left in the taxi which took us to Edinburgh airport. Eventually we continued on our way towards Portsmouth (passing Shrewsbury on the way), stopping briefly to collect coffee and donuts from Dunkin Donuts. We arrived at Portsmouth soon after lunchtime and headed to a scenic neighbourhood and the Strawberry Banke museum. This is a collection of about 40 restored houses from the locality and with the aid of costumed guides showed the way people lived in the different houses between 1695 and the mid 1950’s. Because of the earlier detour we only had a couple of hours to look around and would have liked to have stayed longer. Amongst the buildings we saw were the governor’s mansion, an old inn, and the local shop. One of the houses had been divided in half to show a recreation of how it was in the 1700’s and later in the 1950’s. There were lovely gardens and a cafe. From here it was an hour’s journey Southwards to Boston where we dropped off the bags in the hotel before saying goodbye to the car which we returned to Boston airport. Another hot sunny day is expected tomorrow.

Boston

Another hot and sunny day so just right for a long walk! Our aim today was the Freedom Trail in Boston. This is a walking route connecting many sites connected with the American War of independence. We started at Bunker Hill, which was the site of one of the bloodiest battles in the war. In this case the British eventually one but at the cost of having half their troops killed. The battle is commemorated by a monument with 294 steps which climbed to get some views of the city. From here we descended to the naval dockyard where we explored the USS Constitution which is the oldest surviving battleship in the world and which saw action against pirates and the British. The route continued showing us various old churches, historic graveyards, houses and meeting places where the revolution originated (including the decision to dump the tea in Boston Harbour as a protest about paying taxes to the British). We have been on holiday for over a week and today was only the first day we had an ice cream (and somebody had been complaining about this omission). We also saw a demonstration of how the colonists made chocolate, chocolate and coffee being popular alternatives to having to buy tea from the British because of the taxes. During the walk we passed through the Italian quarter of the city and an area full of Irish bars. We finished our walk with a nice Italian meal.

New York

A hot and sunny day. A later start this morning as we were getting a train from Boston into New York which departed at 11.40. Just had a short walk and ride to get into the main station in Boston. We’ve included a photo of the train route map between the two cities. The journey took about 4 hours and for part of it paralleled the coast line and gave us a view of boats and marinas. A short subway journey and what would have been a 10 minute walk to the hotel, except that we went off in the wrong direction at one point. The city day and night images are from our hotel window on the 10th floor. A more complicated journey awaits us tomorrow as we head to the cruise terminal. We’ll keep a diary and update the blog when we can, but may have to wait until the end of the cruise, but you can still track our progress on the maps.

Arrival at ship

Another hot and sunny start to the day. After breakfast we started to make our way to the cruise terminal. A subway ride took us to the south of Manhattan where we took a ferry across the river to take the light railway which took us most of the way to the terminal. With two other people we hitched a lift on a bus to get a taxi for the final mile to the boat. We thought we were early but there were already hundreds of people waiting to board. Found our cabin and the time for lunch and time to explore the ship. Sailed away at 7 pm , passing the Statue of Liberty and a close view of downtown Manhattan. Dinner and a watched a couple of shows

Sea Day 1

Another hot and sunny start to the day, and a lazy day at sea. After an early breakfast just time for a wander round the ship and sitting watching the waves go by. Then on to lunch, followed by an afternoon of comedy (and a game of bingo thrown in) which just left time for an ice cream or two. By which time it was cocktail hour, dinner, another cocktail and a late night show. Finally to bed for an early start in the morning for our first stop.

St John Canada

Woke up as the sun was rising. Much cooler and overcast first thing and had rained during the night. As we were at breakfast we arrived at the port and by the time we started our tour the sky was brightening and ultimately it was another hot sunny day. Our tour was a six and a half hour bus tour of the city and the surrounding area. St John is a small city with a population of just over 70,000 people, but its claim to fame is that twice a day the bay experiences the world’s biggest tides (seas rise over 25ft between high and low tide). The vast volume of water entering the bay is such that with each high tide the river feeding into the sea is overwhelmed and reverses direction. We started the day driving through the city and hearing a little about it before heading to the river and the rapids. At this time we could see the direction of flow during the high tide. From here we went to explore the local market, which had a lot of really good produce. In the market was a stall with a banner saying that they were selling imported exotic produce, these goods included Irn Bru and Scottish crisps. Another stall had a greater range of British produce, such as HP sauce and Tunnock’s tea cakes. We continued on the New Brunswick’s oldest Irish bar where we had a glass of the locally brewed Moosehead beer and were entertained by a singer. A longer drive out into the country through woods and passing lakes (noticed in passing, the Loch Lomond road) took us to a stop for lunch at the fishing village of St Martins. Here we had some corn chowder and delicious fresh scallops (alternatives were available). Retraced our steps back to the river in St John and saw the changes in height of the water and direction the river was flowing in during low tide. Time then to return to the ship which is now sailing back to the USA, so we have to change our watches back an hour tonight ( extra hours sleep, except that it isn’t because we’ve got to get up for an early start tomorrow).

Bar Harbor Maine

Another bright sunny day as we sailed into Bar Harbor.
After an early breakfast we rushed for our 8am appointment with US immigration.

The conversation John had with the officer started as follows…

“Officer: “Where are you from?”
“John: “Scotland”
“Officer: “Oh, whereabouts?”
“John; “Just outside Edinburgh”
“Officer: “Have you seen the Kelpies?”
After that it was plain sailing.

As the ship was anchored offshore we took a tender to the town of Bar Harbor. This is a beautiful place to arrive at, it is situated on a very large Island with lots of smaller islands surrounding it. Our morning started with a minibus tour of the highlights of the Acadia National Park. Very scenic with lots of trees and lakes. Our first stop to admire the view was from the top of Cadillac mountain (albeit only 1500ft), a good vantage point to see the islands and on a clear day (as it was as you can see quite far. Continued round a twenty mile loop to see some of the views. We stopped to see the ‘Thunder Hole’, this is a place where the waves come crashing into a small inlet making a thunderous roar, although the tide was low when we were there but still got the effect. Also saw a beaver dam which had turned a trickle of a stream into a large lake. Returning to the town it was time for lunch. Since we had another tour booked for 1pm our time was limited and we HAD TO MAKE DO with coffee, blueberry pine followed by and ice cream. The afternoon was a three and a half hour trip out to sea in a catamaran with the hope of seeing whales. We went at a fast pace to cover about 30 miles in the first hour to the first location, saw various sea birds and lots of a large fish called the Ocean Sun Fish, but no whales. Sped on to various other locations. It was about time to he’d back to port and we had just gone back inside when a whale was spotted at the last minute. We watched a mother and calf humpback whale for quite a while and were thrilled with the experience. Got the last tender which was waiting to take us back to our ship and shortly after, sailed away.

Provincetown

Arrived at Provincetown while having breakfast. A warm morning which for a while turned overcast and humid, but then cleared to a lovely day. This is a lovely town, which started as a whaling and fishing port because of its large natural harbour. Then in the 1900’s started attracting the wealthy and artists and writers. After breakfast we took the tender off the boat to explore. The town has two main streets, full of attractive old buildings used as shops, restaurants, bars and guest houses. It was nice to spend the morning walking the streets and browsing. After a light lunch of a lobster wrap and the veggie equivalent we took a short walk uphill to the base of the Pilgrims Monument and the associated museum. The monument is a high tower overlooking the town. It was built as a commemoration of the landing here by the Pilgrim Fathers on the Mayflower. This was the first place they landed before sailing on to Plymouth and the Plymouth Rock. We climbed to the top of the monument by a series of 126 steps and ramps to gain an excellent view of the town and bay. Before tea we took a guided tour on a trolley bus to see the sights. By this time it was time for tea and then on to see a show – an acrobatic circus style performance which was very well done. This took us up to about 1030pm and while some of the ship continued to explore the bars and clubs, we decided to return to the ship and bed.

The following morning we had a late and leisurely breakfast before returning to the town for another look round and taking the opportunity to go parasailing. We were taken out on a boat, strapped in a harness and tied to a parachute which took us aloft. Fine views as today was another hot and sunny day. Landed quite gracefully back on the boat. Light lunch today as have been eating too well, so we settled for an ice cream in a chocolate waffle cone ( most expensive ice cream we’ve ever bought – over £15 for two). Time for a last look round before returning to the ship mid afternoon ready to sail away at 5pm.

Sea Day 2

Beautiful sunset last night and then sailed into the fog ( hot and humid)which lasted until midday when the sun cleared it. A lazy day which started with another comedy game of bingo, followed by liqueur coffees and cake for lunch and a party round the poolside in the afternoon. So just a few photos of the ship for you to see.

Return to New York

Early start to the day to get breakfast before leaving the boat at 8am. Then the crossing back from New Jersey to Manhattan, a subway ride and a short walk to the hotel. We are on the 18th floor and right outside the window is the Empire State Building. Thunder and lightning at tea time, but very hot, it then dried up so we went for a walk. Nothing planned for the next few days, just relaxing after the cruise.

Coney Island

Woke up to another hot sunny day. Breakfast didn’t live to the standards we have been used to on the ship, but we coped as best we could. Took the subway away from Manhattan across the river and into Brooklyn. We had decided to spend the day in Coney Island visiting the fair. This is the American version of Blackpool, but was great fun. The oldest attraction is the 90 year old wooden roller coaster which we rode a couple of times. Despite its age it was a really thrilling ride and quite a long one. We also had a good soaking on the log flume ride, which helped to cool us down for a few moments. The other ride we did was again one of the older rides – the big wheel, which gave great views of the whole park and the beach. The wheel was unusual in that some of the carriages rocked their way round a small track while the wheel rotated (see the video). Then an hour long ride back to Manhattan and dinner before walking for an hour along 6th Avenue to get back to the hotel, stopping off at the French Pastry shop along the way to get pastries for breakfast tomorrow.

Last day in New York (This trip)

Another bright sunny and hot day. After a nice breakfast of French pastries and coffee we set off on the subway uptown to visit The Cloisters. This is part of the Metropolitan museum and is devoted to medieval art. The building is laid out like a medieval abbey with cloisters and gardens full of plants from that period of history. Within the museum were stained glass windows, tapestries, sculptures and other objects from European churches and everyday objects like playing cards and chess pieces. This was a good place to go on a hot day as it was a cool and shady building. After lunch in one of the gardens we returned to the subway and travelled from one end of Manhattan to the other. John had decided that we hadn’t spent enough time on open water, so we headed to the Staten Island Ferry. This is quite an expensive ferry ride but was worth it for the views (actually is a free ride, so excellent value). From the ferry we had excellent views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Downton Manhattan, the cruise port we had sailed from and the path that we had taken when we had sailed out of New York just over a week ago. While we were on Staten Island we found a nice viewpoint to sit and watch the ferries whilst sipping cocktails and enjoying crab cakes, shrimps, salads and fries. Returned to the hotel and visited Times Square again on the way. Flying out tomorrow night so this will be the last post for now.

Images

Videos

Sailing Away

Map

Out Cruise Ship Route from New York To Canada