Cruisin' through New England

My parents wanted to come out to see the beautiful fall colors of New England and spend some time with their adorable grandsons. They decided to set sail on a New England/Canada cruise, and Justin and I tagged along as chaperones for our two boys.

We drove from Connecticut to Boston and met my parents at the port. Getting out our luggage, carseats, stroller, and other paraphernalia and onto the cruise loading area was crazy/stressful/rushed. To make matters worse, Justin had to leave and park the car, and I was trying to move all of our things with the boys. It was chaotic. But our luggage did get sorted and we got checked in. Phew.

Before we boarded the ship, they had photographers snapping away in front of these backdrops. I was feeling stressed and we almost didn't take this cheesy, touristy photo that now I love so much.

We dropped off our bags in our cabin, grabbed some lunch, and started to unwind. 

But before we could set sail, we had to complete our muster drill.

And then we were off!

First stop: Portland, Maine

We rented a car and drove through Portland in search of lighthouses. We first stopped at Two Lights State Park in Cape Elizabeth.

Exploring a WWII bunker

And then on to the Portland Headlight. It was completed in 1791 and is the oldest lighthouse in Maine.

Dad wants this framed in his bathroom.

Then we drove out to the quiet coastal town of Kennebunkport.

Being in Maine, we just HAD to try a "lobstah" roll. The Clam Shack consistently places on the Top-10 list of best lobstah rolls in New England. 

Their lobstah roll is filled with lightly buttered meat of a 1 lb lobster. Delicious.

Hanging out with my boys in the Adirondack lobstah chair.

We drove back to Portland and visited the Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum. We rode down a bit of the coast in an antique train car.

Windy and cold!

They even let Nolan climb into the engine and blow the horn. He loved it!

But what he loved even more was this miniature sized train and train station inside the museum.

Bar Harbor, Maine

Ahem,..I mean, Bah Hahbah. We didn't spend much time in the town and drove into beautiful Acadia National Park. Picture Yellowstone with an ocean view. First we went up Cadillac Mountain to look over the entire island, but there were so many clouds we could hardly see 10 yards in front of us. We kept driving and saw lots of other beautiful sites in Acadia.

It was still a bit early for peak fall colors, but a few trees had turned into their vibrant fall shades.

Thunder Hole

Grabbing lunch at Jordan Pond 

Oh, it was so cold!

 We left Acadia after seeing only a small tidbit of the park. I think you'd need several days to really hike through the park and absorb the beautiful scenery. Maybe we'll return someday.

Saint John (Bay of Fundy), New Brunswick, Canada 

Waiting for our bus ride

The Bay of Fundy is known for its extreme tidal range--low and high tides can differ by about 50 feet. At Reversing Falls you can see rapids formed by the moving water. Depending on the tide, sometimes the water is traveling up the river and at other times it goes out sea.

Loyalist burial ground

Saint John City Market

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

After the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the White Star Line chartered a ship from Halifax to retrieve the bodies. They retrieved and embalmed as many bodies as they could, and 121 were laid to rest in the Fairview Cemetery. Most of the granite tombstones are simply marked with the date of the Titanic sinking and a number, according to the order they found the bodies (1-306).  

Public Gardens

Beautiful dahlia garden. Love the pompons!

Notice the goose egg on Grant's forehead. Just banged his head on a side table.

Climbed up to the Citadel

The 78th Highlanders guard the entrance to the Halifax Citadel. I tried to make him budge.

This guard was particularly intimidating. He kinda looks like a girl in that skirt, I mean kilt.

On the Ship

You might be thinking, "Where do you put a 9-month old and a 3-year old on a cruise?" Well, this is how we slept in our cabin. Justin on the top bunk; Nolan on the bottom. Grant in the pack and play. Me on the other side. Grant slept like a newborn (read: HORRIBLY) during the trip. Nolan slept through all of Grant's crying. Quite the miracle. Grandpa and Grandma were in the cabin next-door.

There were lots of activities on board to keep us busy. Basketball court (and mini soccer nets).

One of our favorites was the mini-golf course.

As per Mabey-family tradition, we played Bingo...

...and WON! We had to split our earnings with other 

winners for that game, but our take was still $100. Not bad.

Lounging around on the deck.

Having so much fun wore us out!

There was also plenty of great music on board. It was great to sit down, relax, and listen to the guitarist or violin duo.

With my parents on board, they would stay with the boys at night when they were sleeping and let Justin and I go out on our own. Sometimes we would catch a little bit of a show, once we went back for dinner because I didn't get much to eat the first time (most peaceful dinner of the week), and one time we went to a late-night dance party. Of course we would always stop by our favorite spots for a late night cookie and/or brownie.

I think one of my favorite things on the ship was not making dinner and not cleaning up afterwards. I thought the food and service was fabulous and loved trying different items on the menus. Unfortunately our stomachs were only so big.

One of the formal nights

They brought chocolate ice cream for Nolan every night.

Our servers--Saravanen and Wilder. They were so fun to have every night and made the cruise for me. Other staff at the restaurant made sure Grant got his steamed vegetables every night and even offered to make purees. The service was top-notch and I really enjoyed the pampering.

One of those formal nights when we got all dressed up for dinner, we took "Cruise Glamour shots." I would have never thought we would buy them, but they are great souvenirs of our trip.

Thanks for taking us with you, Grandma and Grandpa! It was one of the most relaxing and enjoyable vacations, and exceeded all my expectations. We had a fabulous time!