Friday, August 5, 2011

Canada, New England and COOL weather...............




Finding Joy


Girlfriends, It is soooooooooo good to be back with you  and the two Rachels today.  You are a bright spot in my week and I've missed you.



 On July 14th, Hubby and I boarded a plane headed towards Montreal, Canada. We were off on our 40th Anniversary trip which began in Montreal.  We decided to spend a couple of days seeing the sites in Montreal before boarding the ship for our Canada and New England Cruise.  It was so nice to be greeted by such cool weather. ~sigh~ 



To make the best use of our limited time there we jumped on the Gray Line tour bus and away we went.  And, I might add, it was just the first of many tour buses we would board over the next 10 days. ~smile~


 One of our favorite stops was the open air Farmers Market.  There was so much beautiful fruit, veggies and pastries.  We enjoyed meandering through.




We boarded the Holland America cruise liner Maasdam on July 16th.  Over the next 7 days we would visit Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Sydney, Halifax, Bar Harbor and then disembark in Boston for a two day stay there.


Everyday involved some type of bus tour so that we could make the most of the time we had at each of the cities.  We were generally only at each  city about 8 hours, so a bus tour seemed to be a best bet.  But, I must admit, we did tire of the bus.  On and off, on and off and there were about 42 of us on the buses.  I'm sure you get the picture. ~grin~ But, we saw some beautiful sites during our tours.



One of many interesting stops was in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  It was here that we met Emard Court.  He is a man in his late 80's, and models the hat he is wearing in the above picture for Land's End catalog.  How funny is that?  He was such a sweet man and very ready to have his picture snapped.  I can only imagine the stories he could have told had we had the time to sit and listen to him.  The tour guide told us that he comes out and meets every tour bus that passes in front of his house.  


The 2nd evening of the cruise was the Captain's Welcome Dinner, so Hubby and I "gussied up" for the occasion .  It was later that evening that hurricane force winds blew up and "rocked and rolled" the ship the entire night.  There were times that we were actually holding on to the bed to stay in it.  Can I just say that we were on the 9th floor with a balcony and the waves were splashing it with water.  Yikes! If we had not had medication, we would have been some "sick puppies."  They had "barf bags" hanging by each elevator. ~gross~ But, we lived to tell about it and our children were sure glad of that. ~laugh~


On the 23rd we disembarked the ship in Boston and went to our hotel, the famed Fairmont Copley.  The first site to greet us was Catie.  
Catie is a black lab and she is the hotel dog.  She lays out in the lobby and greets everyone that comes in. Look closely at the above picture (left top) and you will see the Waterford bowl that she drinks her water from.  She is 9 years old and definitely showing her age, but she is one more loved dog. 




Once we settled in we were back on a tour bus to see the sites of Boston.  Later that evening we would enjoy pizza at Regina's.  It is a "hole in the wall" type place where folks wait in line to get in and eat.  We had heard it was a "must" and we were not disappointed at all.  It was the highlight of our evening. 




There was so much to see and do in Boston but one of our favorites was seeing and touring The USS Constitution or "Old Ironsides" as it is affectionately called. I did not realize the history of that ship until we toured it. 


On Monday the 25th we were homeward bound and we were ready.  I think one of the great things about going is coming back home.  There's just no place like home! But, we made a lot of wonderful memories that we will treasure for years to come.

For more fun reading, check out Home Sanctuary and Finding Joy


Blessings for a wonderful weekend my dears!

 



Lea @ CiCis Corner
Lea @ CiCis Corner

Hi there! My name is Lea. I've been wife to the best Hubby for 44 years....Mom to a son and daughter....CiCi to 4 precious Grans....lover of family and friends....enjoy laughter and a good time....shopper....picture taking maniac....maker of delicious fudge....organizational enthusiast....memory maker....Southern Belle...and most importantly.....a Child of the King! Welcome to my little corner!

15 comments:

  1. Looks like it was a great trip (minus the hurricane rocking the 'boat') ~ Love the colorful market produce... PEI always looks like such a peaceful place... and Old Ironsides! (history buffs here) : )

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  2. Well first of all congrats on 40 years. That is AMAZING!!! Looks like you had a wonderful time. And the two of you are cute cute cute!! I'm not sure we could do a cruise. It's that rockin' and rollin' part that would have us all sick in no time. We all struggle with motion sickness. Might not be a good fit. Glad you are home:)

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  3. What fun, and Happy Anniversary!

    The hubs and I honeymooned in Bar Harbor almost 9 years ago. They were having a "heat wave" (for them... I still had to wear a light jacket at night. ha.) Any of the shops that did actually have air conditioning advertised "Come in! We have air!" It was hysterical to us, because it really wasn't all *that* bad :-)

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  4. What a wonderful trip! When you were in Montreal,you were only about 5 hours from us! I have always wanted to visit PEI! I hear it is beautiful! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!
    Blessings!

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  5. Sounds perfect. I think the bus tours are the best way to go when you have limited time. Can't believe how high those waves were.
    I can only imagine all the ill stomachs!! Glad you were safe.
    I bet the food was wonderful and I would love to have tried that pizza. So glad you had a wonderful 40th anniversary celebration.

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  6. What a wonderful trip it sounded like! Soo glad you had a good time and were able to celebrate your 40 years together in such a memorable way. I don't know if I could do all the rockin and rollin on the ship however...motion sickness and I are REALLY good aquaintances, haha...glad you were able to take something that worked. Enjoy your week-end! HUGS

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  7. Congratulations on the 40 years! It looks like you had a wonderful trip. Thank you for posting all the pictures.

    I hope you have a good weekend.

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  8. Glad you enjoyed your trip. We went to PEI and then down the Maine coast a couple of years ago and we loved it...so beautiful!

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  9. Looks like a great trip and full of memories! Glad you made it back safe and sound and are back with us. ~ Just wanted to let you know Mom had a mini stroke on Wednesday and is in the hospital. When will it end!? :( Hope your dad is doing great today! I know it's a day at at time!

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  10. So glad you went and had a great time (minus the waves--sounds like something out of the Jonah account!). That old guy in the Lands End hat is too funny.

    Oh, and hey--I have eaten at Regina's. Tiny place but so popular and the pizza is great. Also been on the USS Constitution. I like knowing that you and I have stepped foot in two of the same places now!

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  11. Thanks for sharing photos of your trip. Looks like you guys had a wonderful time. I've wanted to do a cruise like that for some time ... DH & I married later, so I don't know that I want to wait until we've been married for 40 years!! ha! Have a good weekend, dear one.

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  12. What a wonderful trip!! We've never done a New England cruise but it looks like one we'd really enjoy. So glad you were able to get away and celebrate your 40 years of marriage - truly an inspiration to me! Happy to have you back, though ;) Love you! xoxo

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  13. phew! i'm glad you survived that windy night!!! happy happy anniversary. may you have many many many more blessed years together. this looks like the best way to celebrate. what a fun time!

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  14. Love all your pictures and even more the reason for all the pictures. 40 years is an amazing testimony to marriage and faithfulness. Love that.

    Love that picture with the Land's End catalog guy. Made me chuckle.

    Always keeping you in my prayers.

    Rachel

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  15. What an adventure! Fun reading your updates on FB too, even though I haven't been commenting there lately...mostly reading about everyone's updates. Love the farmer's market produce. Bright!

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So glad you stopped by and hope you enjoyed your visit. I love your comments and read each and every one of them and I always try to reply to them. Blessings to you this day!