New York City to Quebec City. And Back. Oct. 5-20, 2012.

We just returned from a two-week trip that included four full days in New York City and a ten-day cruise on the Norwegian Gem that took us to Quebec City and back to New York.  While the weather could have been better, we had a good time.  This was our second visit to New York City.  The first one, however, was very brief.  We only had a day to visit before we departed on another cruise last February.  So having four days in the city was a treat. 

On the first day, we met with Steph's nephew Martin, who lives in New York.  After lunch, we went to the Empire State Building, where this photo was taken. 

 

This photo was taken looking toward lower Manhattan.  You can see the gray skies that were typical of our trip.  The tallest building in the distance is the New World Trade Center, which is nearing completion.  A better photo of the new building is coming up later.

 

This photo looks in the opposite direction, overlooking midtown Manhattan toward Central Park.

We spent a lot of time just walking around.  This included Central Park, which was not far from our hotel.  The park is so immense that we only saw a small part of it.

 

One of those walks through Central Park took us to the American Museum of Natural History.  This institution for scientific research and education has collections that include more than 32 million specimens and artifacts.  Some of which even reminded us of home.

 

This one, for example.  This lava sample from Mount Rainier is 93,500 years old.  The column like structure is the result of rapid cooling against a glacier. 

This museum is a dream for fans of dinosaurs.  For example, this skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, which was collected in 1908 in Montana, is one of few T-Rex specimens on public display.  Most museums only exhibit casts of fossils.  Hmmm...for some reason, I can't get the song Bang a Gong out of my head.

 

What's a trip to New York City without taking in some shows?  On our first day of the visit, we went to the half-price ticket stand in Times Square and came away with two tickets for that night's performance of Spiderman.  Lots of high-flying fun, and Spiderman even landed a few feet away from us a couple of times.  Before we left for New York, we had bought tickets for Chaplin, a musical that had just opened.  As it turned, we would have been better off waiting to buy our tickets; the woman setting next to us had a much cheaper ticket.  But we had no regrets as it was a wonderful show.  Go see it if you ever have the chance.

 

One of our goals for this trip was to see live performances of both Late Night with David Letterman and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.  And we succeeded on both counts!

 

Our tickets for the Letterman show were on Monday, October 8.  Our seats were just a few feet away from the band.  Believe me, they're every bit as good as they're cracked up to be.  The main guest was Jack Hanna, who brought his usual menagerie of wild animals.

 

The next day, it was on to The Daily Show.  You had to get in line early to make sure you got tickets, so that's Steph walking up to get a place in line while I took the photo.  Jon's guest was Ben Affleck, who was promoting his new movie, Argo.

 

Getting tickets for both shows is a bit of a challenge.  I won't go into all of the details.  However, if you ever have an interest in seeing either show, I can provide some tips to improve your chances of getting tickets.

 

The next morning, it was off to the cruise terminal to begin our journey to Quebec City (and points in between).  This photo was taken as we cruised by lower Manhattan.  It provides a much better view of the New World Trade Center.

 

Shortly after, Lady Liberty bid us farewell as we headed out to sea. 

Our first port of call was Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Probably the biggest attraction there is Peggy's Cove.  However, we were at Peggy's Cove a couple of years ago, so we didn't see the need for a repeat visit. 

 

Instead, we went to the Halifax Citadel, a fort built in 1856.  Here we see the hourly changing of the guards.

 

Here's a view of the inside of the fort.

After leaving Halifax, we headed for the St. Lawrence on our way to Quebec City.  We were hoping the timing would be right to see the fall colors.  And it was.  I'm sure a little sun would have made the colors much more vibrant.

 

We arrived in Quebec City the afternoon of Oct. 14 and remained there until the following evening.  Founded in 1608, it's one of the oldest cities in North America.  The building on the top of the hill that dominates the skyline is the Fairmont La Chateau Frontenac Hotel.

 

On the first afternoon of our stay, we took a walking tour of Old Quebec.  It's an area of narrow streets and lots of small shops.  Beyond the street going up the hill is a cable railway known as a funicular, which we later rode on.  By the way, here's a tip if you ever take a walking tour of Quebec City in October.  Whenever you think you wearing enough layers of clothes, add one more.

 

On day two in Quebec City, we boarded a tour bus headed to the countryside for two stops.  The first was at Montmorency Falls and the second at the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre.

 

The people here are very proud of the fact that Montmorency Falls is taller than Niagara Falls.  And, yes, it is impressive.  But to paraphrase Lloyd Bentson, I've been to Niagara Falls, and you're no Niagara Falls.

 

From there, it was on to the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, which attracts about a half-million pilgrims every year. 

 

Here's the view from the inside.

 

After Quebec City, there were two ports before arriving back in New York City.  The first was in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.  I wish we could have seen it on a sunny day because it appeared to be quite beautiful.  Reminded me a little of home (and not just because of the rain!). 

 

Our last stop was in Sydney, Nova Scotia.  Honestly, there wasn't a lot to see there.  Except the sun!!

 

Lastly, what blog entry that involved a cruise would be complete without a towel animal created by our cabin attendant?

 

North to Alaska

We just returned from our latest cruise.  We boarded the Norwegian Pearl in Seattle on May 27 for a seven-day cruise to Alaska.  It was our second cruise to Alaska, this one almost exactly ten years after the first.  As far as the weather was concerned, it was a good news/bad news situation.  The good news is that we didn't get a lot of rain.  The bad news is that we didn't get a lot of sun either.

After a day at sea, our first stop was in Juneau, Alaska's capitol.  We got a special tour of the Juneau area, including the Mendenhall Glacier, from Steph's friend, Paula.  Back during our college days at Bemidji State University, Steph and Paula were close friends.  Paula was one of Steph's bridesmaids when we got married.  Not long after, Steph was one of Paula's bridesmaids in her wedding.

This was the first time they had seen each other in about 38 years.

Our next stop was in Skagway, which was a gateway to the Klondike gold rush.  We boarded the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad for train ride up to White Pass.

While some of the cliffs were quite steep, the views were spectacular.

We passed by this steel bridge, which was built in 1901 and was the largest cantilever bridge in the world at the time.  Fortunately for us, it is no longer in use, and we rode on a much newer and less scary bridge!

We've arrived at our destination!  After the engines moved to the other end of the train, we rode back down to Skagway.




After Skagway, we headed off to Glacier Bay National Park, which many consider to be the highlight of an Alaska cruise.

As we approached the glaciers, there were many small icebergs in the water.  This photo demonstrates what we all learned in science class -- most of the iceberg is below the surface of the water.  Fortunately, the icebergs we encountered were not nearly large enough to turn the Pearl into a modern-day Titanic.

This is the Margerie Glacier, which is a mile wide and 21 miles long. 

Adjacent to Margerie Glacier is Grand Pacific Glacier.  Because the Grand Pacific Glacier moves much more slowly than the Margerie Glacier, it isn't able to shed the rocks and soil it carries, giving it a much "dirtier" appearance.

Our next stop was Ketchikan.  This was our one rainy day of the trip.  We just walked around downtown for awhile and didn't go on any excursions.

Our final stop was in Victoria, BC.  Because it was a brief stop and we've visited Victoria several times, we stayed on the ship.

Lastly, for all of you Dale Chihuly fans, this is one of his glass sculptures in the atrium of the Pearl. 






Our next cruise is this fall.  We're going to spend a few days in New York City and then take the Norwegian Gem on a 10-day cruise to Quebec City and back.

Frigid New York City and Warm Bahamas (Feb. 24-March 4)

We recently returned from a visit to New York City and a cruise that took us to Florida and the Bahamas.  This was a family trip as our daughter Sabrina, son-in-law Bryan and granddaughter Chloe joined us in an early celebration of our 40th anniversary (our actual 40th anniversary is August 19).

This was our first ever visit to New York City, though we only had one full day to see the city.  This photo was taken in Times Square, and as you can probably tell, it was quite cold that day.  The temperature was in the 40's, and it was quite windy.  We're returning to New York City in early October and will have four full days there before boarding a cruise ship that will take us to Quebec City. 

One of our stops was Rockefeller Center, where we took the elevator up to the Top of the Rock Observation Deck.  This view looks out over Central Park.

This photo is in the opposite direction.  In the foreground on the left is the Empire State Building.  Just to the right in the background, you can see the Freedom Tower, which is being built on the site of the 9/11 terrorist attack.

On the following day, we boarded the Norwegian Gem for our cruise down the east coast of the United States to Florida and the Bahamas. 

This is the party on the pool deck as we were leaving New York City.  You'll notice no one is in the pool.  Did I mention it was really cold in New York?

Fortunately, it would get much warmer.  Chloe had fun in the pool and going down the water slide.  Here, she's playing with Daddy.

And here she is poolside with Grandma.

As we were nearing The Bahamas, we passed through a bit of rain.  Afterwards, I went out on our balcony and saw the brightest double rainbow I've ever seen.

One of our ports was Great Stirrup Cay, which is a private island owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines.  We had lots of time on the beach and had a nice picnic lunch.

One of the features of Great Stirrup Cay is the Hippo Water Slide, which Norwegian describes as the world's largest inflatable water slide (40 feet high and 175 feet long).  You can see Chloe on the flat part of the slade.  We were quite surprised that she went down the slide.

Another port was Nassau, The Bahamas.  This the view of downtown Nassau from our ship. 

Our main form of exercise was walking on the Prominade Deck, which goes all the way around the ship.  Over the course of the week, we did a lot of laps.

Norwegian Cruise Lines partners with Nickelodean to provide entertainment for children on the cruise.  Chloe is a big fan of Dora the Explorer and her cousin Diego. There were even photo opportunities.  Chloe was a little to shy to go up alone but was just fine being with her Mama.

One day when we returned to our cabin, we found that Norwegian had sent us this plate of chocolate covered strawberries.  We're not sure what entitled us to this surprise, but we decided it was best not question it. 

Speaking of chocolate, one evening featured the chocolate buffet.  This chocolate creature was standing guard.

On the final morning of our cruise, Lady Liberty welcomed us back to New York City.  We're looking forward to our return in October.