After a miserable week fighting colds and coping with lots of rain, we were ready to leave DC and politics. Our only concern is that we might have trouble following the Nats during the playoffs. Go Nats!
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| We were on Acela Express, #2212 |
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Love the Quiet Car. You don't have to listen to others' cell phone conversations. By using Red Caps, we're escorted on board 20 minutes before general admission and have our pick of seats.
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For the 2nd time we had hotel reservations in Chelsea and it was an easy walk from Penn Station.
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| The view from our window. Not bad - it wasn't a brick wall. |
Dinner was at the hamburger joint near the hotel.
Note label. Who knew there is a Mexican Coke that tastes better than our usual. I really liked it.
Thanks to AMX we had free tickets to see Front Page staring Nathan Lane, John Goodman and John Slattery of Mad Men fame. It was the second time George and I have seen Lane and Goodman together on Broadway. We saw them in Waiting for Godot in 2009. Since then Goodman has lost over 100 lbs. and looked healthy and energetic which was a good thing because when the slapstick stuff started it turned into a very physical production. Lane did a slow slide down a wall that was hilarious but also amazing.
Holland Taylor was also in the play and she was marvelous for an old broad who is my age. We saw her in 2011 open at the Kennedy Center playing Ann Richards in the one-woman play she wrote and played in. She's better known for her TV roles as the sexual predator in "Bosom Buddies" and "2 and a ½ Men".
The surprise of the evening was getting to see Dann Florek, well known for playing the captain on "Law and Order." He was terrific and he's really tall (or everyone else is really short).
Robert Morse was a little tottering but still cute and charming. Let's keep in mind that he's 85. He should get a standing ovation for just remembering his lines.
Front Page was technically in previews. I don't understand how this really works, but I guess it means they could make changes before the official opening on October 20th. I would suggest that they do make changes, especially in the 1st act. It needs to get "funny-upped" (a directorial term used once by Carl Riner to Steve Martin) and the principals need to make earlier entrances. The audience was so eager to see the stars that they clapped for one actor who bore a passing resemblance to Lane. Slattery made his appearance toward the end of the 1st act, the others not until late in the 2nd.
George's cold returned with a vengeance, so we slept in, had a lovely brunch, and went to a movie. Manhattan movie theaters are an experience. We saw Sully in theater 20 in the AMC Empire 25 on 42nd St. It took 6 escalators to reach the right theater. We loved the movie. It was inspiring and George took it as proof that people are too good to ever let someone like Trump become president.
After leaving the movie theater we found 3 guys soliciting money or they would vote for Trump. I made a "donation" to their cause and one let me take his photo. He declared me "adorable." I think he wanted another dollar.
For dinner we went to Hill Country Bar-B-Q.
This is the 1st location out of Lockhart, TX, by the same family that sold George's dad his sausages for the Burkes family restaurant in San Antonio. Seems by the time the Lockhart family had gotten to the 3rd generation, the only way to keep the sons in the bar-b-q business was to let them go out of town and, boy, did they. They now have 2 restaurants in Manhattan, 1 in Brooklyn, and the 1 in DC that we frequent often.
Can't have TX bar-b-q
without some TX cedar.
Being a Sunday night, the big TV was showing the Dallas Cowboys game, which made George happy. I noticed that we were surrounded by really loud college students, especially the table doing vodka shots. I think their dorm meal plans must not have included Sunday evening. I Googled colleges in the neighborhood and found about 15 in less than a mile of where we were. There was all sorts of schools from NYU's medical, dental and nursing schools to the Fashion Design Institute.
Got to have some TX music.
DAY 3 - Monday, October 3, 2016, NYC
All we had to do was get on our ship for the cruise. Since we had to check out of the hotel by noon, we decided to just show up 2 hours early at the pier and hang out. Well, Silver Sea, our cruise line, was ready for us early birds (we were not the only ones). We had a lovely lunch and by 2 pm our suite was ready. Everyone gets a suite and all of the suites are lovely. We were in a standard suite. There are a few that are larger. The ship looks large but because all guest suites have balconies, the ship can accommodate only 300 passengers.
Speaking of bath - I've been on cruise ships where you could barely turn around but to have a separate tub and shower and a double sink. Wow.
When not watching news, sports, or a movie, we could track where the ship was.
The walk-in closet is almost as big as the one I have at home. The butler is available to unpack and pack for you but I just couldn't bring myself to ask.
We were delighted we were on the same ship as our Baltic Sea cruise 2 years ago. We had the same suite but the delightful surprise was we had the same butler. May and George recognized each other at the same time when he opened the door to let her in. It was a lovely reunion.
May, our butler, is on the left and Ellen, our maid. Both are from the Philippines. They can make more in a few months on the ship than a full year back home.
OK, so the question is how do we afford to travel way above our pay grade. We book 2 years in advance which gives us plenty of time to pre-pay for everything (I would hate to travel and have to worry about the cost at the same time and Silver Sea is all inclusive so no having to sign a bar tab, no tipping, etc.) and we use points for free train travel and get discounts at the hotels, or free nights, through our memberships in hotel awards programs. Our travel rule is if you're going to go, go BIG and we have made a deliberate decision to live in a condo and drive old clunkers (1 is a '99 and the other is an '06) so we have extra funds for travel. While on this cruise, we'll book our next (the Galapagos Islands in 2018) in order to get the extra discount for booking on board.
After the mandatory emergency drill, which for the first time I didn't mind at all - I think it was because we had just seen Sully - it was time for our first party where the key crew members were introduced.
Vicki von Tassel (I'm not making that up and neither was she) was our Cruise Director. She's the 2nd female to hold this position in the history of the cruise line. She started as a performer before getting this wonderful promotion.
I got to know Vicki and, proving it is a small world, George and I had seen her on Broadway when she was in the chorus of Follies starting that good ol' Texas boy, Mac Davis. In fact, we both remembered the particular show because it was the day after Marla Mables, who was the show's ingenue, got engaged to Donald Trump and Mac Davis mentioned it in his monologue, and a dog in the vaudeville segment took a dump on the stage. Mack also had some comments about that too! Hard to forget that show.
The view of the NYC skyline from our balcony before sailing.
By the time we cleared NY harbor, the sun had set.
Day 4 - Tuesday, October 4, 2016, Newport, RI
We had all day in Newport, RI. Here's the lighthouse at the entrance to the harbor.
Transportation to and from shore was on a tender.
On the ride to shore we met the one young couple on board traveling with a 9 month old.
Turns out her father, and very proud grandfather, is the hotel manager on board. There is one other couple on board traveling with their 7 year old daughter, but these two couples are definitely the exceptions. It was like being on a floating over-55 community. It's amazing how many people were traveling in wheelchairs.
We walked around just enjoying the setting. Lovely old town, fun shops, and great seafood.
I love creative shop names so I added these two to my collection.
Saw the following sign and knew where we had to have lunch. Great chowder, or chada as the locals say.
Name and mustache made us think of our dear friend, Tom O'Brien, so we had to buy some souvenirs for us and Renee. Tom was Wilford Brimley's doppleganger. He would often be stopped and asked for an autograph which he would graciously give. We always laughed about what the fans would think when they got home and noticed that the signature said "Tom O'Brien." But I digress.
The lovely Trinity Church on the town green.
Note the flag. Somewhere in Newport is a very rich Texan.
Here's a shot of our home at sea taken from the tender:
The evening was the first formal night on board. George actually enjoys getting all dressed up, mainly because we do it so rarely. The last time was 2 years ago on our Baltic Sea cruise. During our lovely dinner in the Venetian Room we met an interesting couple from Tasmania. There are lots of Aussies on board, but this was the 1st couple we had met from Tasmania. They have been all over the world but were complaining about the 25 hour flight they took to get to NYC. George got nervous just thinking about it.
Following dinner and dancing in the bar, we went to the live musical review. There are 6 performers but one broke his leg so there was some very awkward choreography going on. The team on our Baltic Cruise was so much better that we were disappointed in the show. How quickly one can become jaded.
Day 5 - Wednesday, October 5, 2016, Boston, MA
We opted to take a group tour to see Lexington, Concord, and Harvard. Time was limited but since we had never been to Lexington and Concord it was interesting. We had a very Bassten (Boston) tour guide. Her accent was actually charming but her use of "OK" at least 3 times per sentence was highly irritating. The good news was the weather was perfect. Bad news - hordes of tourists at Harvard. There was a large number of Asian tour groups. Maybe they were checking out where they want their students to go to school.
Harvard Library - had to restrain George to keep him from going in but no time on this trip. A good excuse to return though.
On our way to dinner we ran into Fernando. He was our cruise director on our Baltic Sea cruise but this time he is a passenger traveling with his family. He has been promoted to the corporate offices after over 30 years directing cruises all over the world. He is also legendary within Silver Sea. Hugs were exchanged but I don't believe for a minute he remembered us, but who knows. There's a reason he's legendary.
Dinner was fun because we were put at the Cruise Director's table. Also at the table was Nancy Leach, the on board cruise consultant. We had just had our initial meeting with her before dinner to discuss our options for going to the Galapagos. Having them at the table was a great way to get some behind-the-scenes information.
Day 6 - Thursday, October 6, 2016, Rockland, ME
We took the tender to Rockland, Maine, without a clue what we were going to find. Turns out it's a charming small town with a terrific Wythe Art Center with exhibits of Andrew and Jamie Wythe's work. Rockland was the summer home of the Wythe family. Since we are familiar with the Wythe art museum in Brandywine, DE, it was fascinating to be able to connect the two.
The first thing we saw off the dock was the local farmers' market.
I also managed to find a local yarn shop and purchase some yarn. It's fun to knit something using yarn purchased on trips to have a different kind of memento of our trips.
Another sign that fall is really coming.
Day 7 - Friday, October 7, 2016, Halifax, Canada
We arrived in Halifax during a heat wave. We opted for the Hop-On-Hop-Off tour bus but didn't do much touring because of the heat. George did find a really cool tobacco shop.
Scenes in Halifax
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| Tour guide blamed the heat for the condition of the street lamps. Actually there were part of a city-wide art project. |
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| Passed a US sub on our way out of the harbor. |
This was our one day at sea. There was lots to do on board - games, lectures, cooking demos, etc. I took the tour of the Bridge and George spent most of the day reading. The tour of the Bridge was conducted by the 1st mate who was from Crimea. His life story was as interesting as the details of the Bridge.
At 5 pm we joined our team for Trivial Pursuit. We were "adopted" by the Aussies which was wonderful. We've never met anyone from Australia who is boring and this group is no exception. It was four couples who had already been traveling all over the US for a month before getting on the cruise. We didn't win but if prizes had been given for the team that laughed the most, we would have won hands down.
Team Aussie/TX Bar-B-Q
We were put at the table with the Lecturer - the on-board historian who offers lectures on each port-of-call. He was fascinating. After graduating from West Point and putting in his years in the Army, he had been traveling all over the world as a tour guide for over 30 years. This year he is turning 70, getting married, and for the first time in his adult life has an address on land - he just bought a home in Alabama. He met his fiancé while teaching a ballroom dancing class. Also at the table was a couple from Oregon. She was a retired administrative lawyer. He was a drunk. Nuff said.
Our after-dinner entertainment was a couple singing operatic arias. Turns out they really are a couple and part of the 6 singers team on board. Our singers were dropping like flies. Besides the one with the broken foot, another had just come down with laryngitis. These two were terrific and thankfully healthy.
Day 9 - Sunday, October 9, 2016, Sept-Iles, Canada
We arrived in Sept-Iles at 9 am. (Why do the French waste so many letters - why the "p" if they aren't going to pronounce it?) We did all the touristy stuff in the morning so we could have a room-service lunch and watch the Nats v. Giants. Sept-Ilea is like Amarillo with a river. Not very charming but it did have a terrific history museum. We followed our travel mantra - never pass up a history museum. This one confirmed the notion that humans can survive no matter the challenges. The average temperature during the winter is -22 degrees. The river freezes enough for hundreds of cars to be driven out to the owners' fishing shacks where there's a hole in the ice where they can sit and fish. The saws for cutting the ice are amazingly long because of how thick the ice is. They also have some amazing local photographers.
Lunch in-room was great but the Nats not so much.
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| We had to stream the game as there was no TV coverage available. |
After a lovely cruise up North America's longest fjord, we spent the afternoon in Saguenay, a lovely community of 146,000 residents.
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| The statue commemorates the miraculous saving of a man who fell through the ice on the river. |
The economy is being boosted by the tourists coming via cruise ships. This year 17 ships came and next year 52 are already scheduled. We took a bus tour during the afternoon. Our second stop was at a goat farm where I had a unique experience. I met the Angora goats that were sheared to make the yarn I purchased. I also saw where the yarn was spun and dyed.
These are the female Angora goats.
These are two of the five very happy male goats. They "visit" the females twice a year.
They also have Angora rabbits.
My purchases. So soft!
Day 11 - Monday, October 11, 2016, Quebec City, Canada
Early morning photos taken as the ship sailed into port.
This was our 3rd visit to Quebec City. We love it!
Our desire was to see sights not seen on previous visits so our 1st stop was the Nationale Assemble. We had an interesting tour and I was amazed at how large in comparison the building is to the one in Richmond, VA. Of course, our VA capitol is much older.
The architectural details were lovely.
The General Assembly Hall
Next we went to the top of the Observation Tower for a stunning 360 degree view of the city and the surrounding area. Great weather and gorgeous skies gave us great views. It was almost too bright for photography.
New Town
St. Lawrence River with Chateau Fontenac, the world famous hotel, and our ship visible in the shot.
The Plains of Abraham, where the British defeated the French in 1759.
We enjoyed a lovely lunch in a small cafe just outside the historic district. After a leisurely lunch, we strolled through the district and back to the ship.
Shops and sidewalk cafes were decked out in autumn decorations.
This is a large example of a "trompe-l'oeil." La Fresque des Québécois is a painting on the side of a building depicting some famous citizens and typical street scenes.
A close up of one of the scenes in the painting.
One of the many hills we encountered on the way back to the ship.
Day 12
The stroll back to the ship turned out to be not such a good thing for my poor ol' back. We opted to stay on board and just enjoy the views of Trois Rieves from the deck.We arrived in Montreal and made it to our hotel just before the deluge began. It rained all afternoon so we enjoyed our Hilton upgrade to a suite - full kitchen, living room and kingsize bedroom with a large screen TV in each, and a bathroom with separate shower and a 2 person whirlpool tub. Had dinner in and watched the Nats blow another post-season. With the Nat's it's always next season.
Since we had spent a week in Montreal during the Jazz Festival we weren't disappointed that we didn't do any touristy things. We were just too tired. It's hard work being on vacation!
Day 13
We took Amtrak from Montreal to NYC. It's a gorgeous trip because from the Canadian border you run parallel to Lake Champlain. Fall colors were about a week prior to peak but still beautiful. During the fall Amtrak adds an observation car between the border and Albany. It has to be removed because it's too high to go through the NYC tunnels.
Lake Champlain
All around us in our car were 20'somethings from all over the world. One couple was from Belgium but he was originally from Holland and she was from South Africa. The young man in front of us was from eastern Europe and we helped him pay $6 to get his passport stamped. All travelers not from the US or Canada had to do this and they had not been given advance notice that it had to be US cash. In exchange, he bought us afternoon snacks using his credit card.
We arrived in NYC at 9 pm and went immediately to the hotel where we had stayed at the beginning of this trip. This time they showed us some love and upgraded us to a lovely room with a terrific view of the Empire State Building.
Day 14
Back home on Amtrak. We encountered our 1st "hitch in our get-along." The train was 35 minutes late heading out due to equipment problems. Given the logistics of this trip, not a bad record.
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