If I don't do it soon I won't remember

Okay, I've been dragging this out for too long; and if I don't wrap it up...I probably won't remember what we did on our trip...hahaha.
The last part of our cruise we went to St. John and the Halifax. I was looking forward to this glimpse of Canada, since it was my first trip there.
First thing that caught my eye was the French/English signs. Fun! my 40 year old French skills were helped by the fact that A) there was also English on the signs and B) most were pretty self explanatory

Our day in St. John it was a little gray and cloudy. The temperatures were cooler, so walking around was very comfortable, but the gray put a little damper on things.

 Obviously St. John was an older port...but the gray may have emphasized the fact that everything wasn't shiny and new. (At least for me) Also...we didn't venture too far....so most of what we saw was kind of typical touristy stuff.
Nothing terribly exciting....but I will say everyone was very pleasant and friendly.
John and I walked around the town a bit. We stopped in some shopping areas and a small museum.

low tide...dramatic tide change

cool school

               We passed some interesting older buildings as we walked around town

I don't know exactly why...but this little shop intrigued me

After our day in St. John in was on to Halifax. That night while we were en route, was a lively fun night on the ship. I guess everyone was starting to realize that the week was winding down...and they'd better enjoy the entertainment while they could. It seemed like everywhere we went that night....there were people around. In the bars having a drink, playing cards or board games. In the lounge participating in game shows. At the theater...IN THE casino. EVERYWHERE in the casino (waste of time as far as I'm concerned). And the biggest crowd of the week in the Club 6 lounge.
It was a fun night of dancing. The "Theme" of the night was Motown night...so there was a crowd in the early for that. Slowly it morphed into 60's and more music. The crowd thinned out a little after 11:00...but there were still more than any other night. We danced until we just couldn't dance any more...hahah I told the DJ as we were leaving "I like this song...but I really need to go to sleep!" he laughed and promised to play it again the next night. hahahah

Pulling into Halifax the next day I couldn't help noticing how much newer/cleaner (?), more modern ? it looked. Maybe it was a sunnier day.........?

this area with housing and restaurants was down close to the port. There was a nice boardwalk along the waterfront that we followed to the shopping and dining area. There was a lot of activity in the area and it looked like a busy thriving town.

                       John and I went into a small Maritime Museum along the boardwalk.

We checked out the Hurricane Chart in the front of the museum, while we waited in a short line to get in. ON the chart was as a hurricane brewing .(look closely down by South Africa. That was  Hurricane Matthew. It was looking more and more like it was going to track towards Florida. It kept on that track and eventually (a week after we got home) skirted the coast and barely missed us in Florida!

 

After a while,our stay in Halifax ended and  the ship started up and  way back to New York The wind had picked up and the water was very choppy. The good thing is the ship is so large, that you really don't feel it. The day at sea turned out to be wet, rainy and chilly. At least we were safe and dry inside

sampler dessert platter

and the stormy night didn't prevent us from having another delicious dinner and dessert in the Steakhouse.The remainder of our time on board involved eating, dancing , of course, and relaxing as we made our way home.

 Things were winding down...and so were we...hahahaha It had been a fun time, but we were ready to get back to New York and then make our way home. John and I got back just in time to prepare for Hurricane Matthew. I had planned an extra day off after we got back home...and that turned into a few more "hurricane" days. Boarding up the house, stocking up on a few things and just trying to figure out what exactly we were going to do. It all ended well...thank goodness. So in a way...my vacation got extended. Fortunately all we had to do was a little bit of yard cleanup. No damage to our home or anything...just a huge sigh of relief!

impromptu celebration at LongDoggers...because we barely dodged a direct hit from the hurricane

Heading up to parts unknown

After our day in Boston we were off to Bar Harbor ,Maine. Our good luck with the weather continued. We left Boston as the sun was setting...it was a lovely evening.

Our third night on board we had a really great steak dinner. The food was delicious, there was plenty of wine and or champagne, and our waiters took great care of us. It was probably my favorite dinner on the cruise....and not just because  my steak was really, really good....hahahaha Also by the third night the DJ knew we would be in the Club dancing and he knew what we liked to dance to...so we felt right at home.
Our day in Maine was also nice. I think it was my favorite port . Everyone was friendly in town,and it was picture perfect.

It was a bit cooler and the skies were a little gray when we arrived....but the rain had mostly moved out...so we we hoping for a decent day to explore. Martha and Tony weren't interested in any organized tours....and John and I just decided to kind of decide as we went along,

We took the tender to the harbor and then walked up the hill to the park.

 We finally saw a colorful tree!  hahaha on our "Fall Foliage cruise" I figured I better get a picture.

Martha and Tony stayed in town while John and I hopped on a bus that took us  into the Acadia National Park.

It was nice being on the bus because we could both enjoy the views along the way and we didn't have to worry about where we were trying to go . Someone had suggested that we stop at The Jordan Pond House for lunch...and the bus took us right to it.

                                                              Nice view from our table

After lunch we walked down the hill to the pond. I liked the combination of green trees and rocks If there had been some more color....it might've been perfect.
After lunch and a walk around we hopped back on the bus and headed back to town.
  There were lots of fun shops with artwork and interesting gifts and things. Plenty of restaurants, coffee shops and treats too.  John stayed for a little while...then headed back to the ship. I decided to wander around for a bit longer on my own.

                                                                              AHHHHH

 If we had had more time....we might've rented bikes, as suggested by a friend, and explored a bit on the bikes. It seemed like we'd have plenty of time...but actually it was nice to just kind of wander around the town at a leisurely pace. It cleared up a bit as the day went on and that view of the cove from the park...was really great. I would definitely go back to that town sometime if the opportunity presents itself.