Since the last blog, we have had two port days: Bar Harbor and Saint John. Remember that the itinerary will be in reverse order the week you are on board.
Bar Harbor is a tender port, meaning that the ship drops anchor in the harbor and you have to take a lifeboat or some type of boat to get to town. We tendered over at 11am and walked around the quaint town for a couple of hours. There are lots of shops, maritime museums, and restaurants. At 1pm, we started our excursion to Acadia National Park. The guide was very knowledgeable and pointed out lots of historical sites along the way. The weather in town was awesome (65-70 degrees), but at the Cadillac Mountain Summit, the winds howled at about 50 miles an hour and the visibility was almost nonexistent. We were fortunate to see lots of fall foliage on the way up and throughout the tour. We made a few stops on the way down, one at Sandy Beach and one at Thunder Hole. I enjoyed the tour! Some people we met on the tender had gone whale watching and said it was safe to recommend that tour too.
Today, we arrived at Saint John, New Brunswick at 7am. Jan and I rented a car and enjoyed a beautiful drive along the back roads to the village of St. Martins. The tide was out so the adventurous people got to explore the caves. We drove through some covered bridges and arrived at Sussex, which is about 80 miles from Saint John. Sussex is a cute town with lots of extravagant murals on the sides of many of the businesses. The fall foliage along the way was outstanding. We are so hoping it will stay this way for you next week; the trees are full of such beautiful hues of red, orange, and yellow!
Check out some of our photos at - http://cardplayercruises.com/2014canada/
Still remembering how stressed we were from almost missing the ship in Portland, we got back to the ship in plenty of time for tribond trivia (missed one answer). We are going to ‘70s Musical Name That Tune next. Oh yes, then a much needed nap!
I hope you are enjoying the blogs.
Travel safely,
Linda Johnson
Card Player Cruises