Back in the USA

Greetings from Bar Harbor.  Our soiree' through Canada is now complete and assuming the boat doesn't sink in the next 6 hours, I should be rendezvousing with Sargento de la fuerza aérea muy viejo.  This is an event a long time in the planning.  I spent quite a few months trying to entice him down to warmer climates to no avail, so...."if you can't bring the mountain to juvat, juvat must go to the mountain."

So, Mrs J and I started looking for things we wanted to do/see in the Northeast and we enjoy taking cruises, so we kinda settled on a cruise with additional time on the front or back to make our way to the Mecca of the Northeast, Row Dye-Land.

We've been on several cruises over the years and found that the cruise ships are getting bigger and bigger.  As someone commented here a little while ago, it's just not fun cruising with 5000 of your closest friends (he did also mention something about airplanes taking off and landing on the roof, but that's not an important distinction right now).

So, we settled on a cruise with SilverSeas.  Their largest ship hosts just 600 guests and it's all inclusive, which is nice.  Researching itineraries we came upon this one that has a stop in Providence.

Do I need to cue Yul Brynner? (C'mon...."So it is written.  So let it be")

Unfortunately, reports of sufficient internet bandwidth were somewhat overstated.

So, while I had great intentions of masterful posts on things learned and explored, you will get one more round of tour guide.

When we last we spoke, we were enjoying a bottle of wine in Montreal.  With a little mixup on exactly where in Montreal we'd board the ship and a quick but expensive cab ride, we mounted up and set sail.

First stop was Quebec and we arrived there bright and early.  We decided to see what there is to see.

Found some cannons.

And proceeded to assault the flag in the background of the picture.  Which was where the Battle of the Plains of Abraham was fought.  Given that most defensive positions are well above where the attackers start, this took a bit more effort than was available at the time.

So, no pictures from the top of the battlement.

Walked around a bit, basically making our way down the from the battlements to the shore front, we stumbled upon an auto show which brought Tuna to mind.

Then we made it back to the boat.  Enjoyed an adult libation and a great dinner and called it a night.

Next stop was Baie Comeau.  Got off the boat, it started raining cats and dogs.  Got back on the boat and that was that.

Then we took a trip up the Sanquenay river to a very small town by the same name.  Walked about town and enjoyed a small amount of sunshine.  (Which unbeknownst to us at the time  would be rare on this voyage.)

Back on the boat, back on the St Lawrence and into another charming town named Sidney.  Where we encountered this charming creature.

Which then brought us to Halifax. Fortunately, our parking spot was close in.

The activity for the day was a walking foodie tour of the town.  The first stop was for a bit of Lebanese schwarma, followed by some Indian Curry.  Both quite tasty.

At that point, juvat took a turn on the wild side.

We went to a vegan restaurant. The above dish was served.  It was composed of quinoa, kale, peppers and tofu.  Not wishing to offend,  I partook. 

Not horrible, but was desperately in need of some bacon bits.

The next stop was at a chocolate shop.  Much more to my taste, so good in fact, I forgot to take a picture of the offering. I did however get a picture of something that I could identify with.

We ended the tour at a small bakery with a salted caramel covered chocolate brownie.

Yes....It was good and I'm sure it was good for me.  OK, maybe not,  although we've averaged 10k steps per day.  (Ok it was on my wife's fitbit.  Yes, she takes little steps, so maybe 3K for me, but it's the distance, not the steps, ain't it?)

But we ended up at the Maritime Museum.  Which I'm pretty sure will provide at least two more posts.  But in parting, a couple more photos of interest to some.

For Sarge.

For Tuna

For Beans (It's a Hodgekiss Gun, they didn't have any Swords, Arrows, or Shields.  It was a Maritime Museum, what can I say?)

More to follow when I get more bandwidth.