New England Cruise: Boston

After the cruise was over *sniff, sniff*, we disembarked and had a few hours to tour Boston before our plane left. It was a whirlwind of sightseeing that included a trolley tour and a boat tour. I especially enjoyed seeing many of the sites that I talk about with my fifth grade students during our Revolutionary War unit. Unfortunately it was raining almost the entire day, but being from Seattle, it didn't bother us too much!

statue of Paul Revere

famous Old North church where Paul Revere was instructed to hang lanterns to let the colonists know which direction the British were coming from - "one if by land, two if by sea!"

U.S.S Constitution

old British Parliament building, right next to Boston Massacre site

this marks the spot of the Boston Massacre

Samuel Adams - a patriot who organized The Revolution

The Great Hall

Massachusetts State House

 views from the harbor boat tour 

Thanks for a fabulous trip, Mom and Dad! We can't wait for our next adventure :)

New England Cruise: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Port #4 was Halifax, Nova Scotia. At this port we toured historic churches, a citadel, the Province House, and the Maritime Museum. At the museum we learned more about the Titanic and the Halifax Explosion of 1917. I had no idea that Halifax suffered a nuclear explosion that killed 2000 and injured over 9000. This explosion was the largest nuclear explosion prior to Hiroshima. It was caused by two ships colliding together in the harbor, one of which was filled with TNT.

We also learned that Halifax was one of the closest ports to the Titanic's shipwreck site. Because of this, Halifax sent several ships to collect the bodies of Titanic victims. These victims are buried in a Titanic grave site cemetery in Halifax.

Moving on from this history lessons . . . here are some pictures!

we spent the morning walking along the boardwalk

Province House

 Catholic church - this church survived the explosion in 1917, but there is a piece of the anchor that is embedded near the front of the church. Pieces of the anchor can be found scattered about Halifax from the explosion. 

the church is located on this hill, so you can see how far the anchor had to travel in order to land that far from the harbor!

Fort George on Citadel Hill

 Public Gardens

Maritime Museum

a chair from the deck of the Titanic

Once we were back on board the ship we raced to compete in the dart competition. And what do you know. . . I actually won! I think everyone else was just as surprised as I was. All the men in the bar were chuckling at first when I joined in and asked, "How do you play?" I guess I had some beginner's luck haha. 

. . . and our favorite towel creation - the monkey!

New England Cruise: St. John, New Brunswick

Port #3 was Saint John, Canada. While we were here we saw the reversing falls, Fort Howe, and explored downtown. 

Reversing Falls: Water always flows downhill and toward the ocean right?? Well, not here! A strange phenomenon, known as the reversing falls, is when the level of the water can rise 28 feet in just a few hours. At high tide, water comes into the harbor and into the river with such force that it counteracts the current of the river and the flow of the river is reversed!! 

in this picture the river is actually flowing uphill - so cool!

these rapids here are created by the reverse of the current

After viewing the rapids, our group split up. Brodie and I wanted to go look at Fort Howe (which was at the top of a very steep hill), and the rest of the fam wanted to go downtown. Our hike up to Fort Howe was certainly an adventure!! We didn't realize there was a nice paved pathway on the other side of the hill. The only side we could see was the "ghetto" side (in the words of Brodie) 

The only path we could see looked like this. . . but that didn't stop us

after lots of bushwhacking, we finally made it to the top!

Following Fort Howe, we explored downtown. We visited some historic churches and did some shopping! By the end of the day Brodie and I had walked over 12 miles

I was so excited to find Crunchie bars!! This is my favorite candy from New Zealand, and I didn't know that Crunchie is also sold in Canada! 

When we got back to the ship we participated in the mini golf competition! Dad scored 1st place with Brodie in 3rd place. 

another towel creation - an elephant!

New England Cruise: Bar Harbor, Maine

Port #2 was Bar Harbor, Maine! Such a beautiful place and probably my favorite port of the cruise. We took a bus tour, explored the harbor, and did a quick hike in Acadia National Park. 

at low tide you can walk across a sand bar to get to an island that is part of Acadia National Park. We did a short hike to the top of the island hill in order to get a good view of the harbor

enjoying the view!

towel creation #2 - an eskimo