A scene like this means it is time for Kelli and I to go on vacation again.
Mike, as most times, was our taxi.
It was time to hop on a cruise ship and head north.
This sign hanging up indicated where we were headed.
The first thing we did when we got on the ship was quench our thirst…..
with a refreshing adult drink.
Arriving in our room….
And I figured…..
I’d take a few pictures…..
To give you an idea of the size….
of the space we had for 9 days.
I’m thinking about getting some of these backgrounds for my studio….
And Kelli was helping me test them out.
A scale model of our ship…..again..
Back in the room, it was time to unpack.
To maximize what little space we had….
We made sure to put everything away.
Mustering, and this time we were not required to wear our life jackets.
To celebrate our mustering success, another adult drink.
Which lead to a mid-day hangover.
But after a nap, I was ready for dinner.
We checked out the view….
And then made our way to the dining room.
Food….
lots and lots….
of food.
I started putting our plates together to minimize the food pictures.
A self tour of the ship, and we found the casino….which we only used once to play the “push the quarters off the edge” game.
Having the wide angle makes taking pictures like this easy.
Another map, showing our course in a more accurate manner.
Inviting, yes?
From the top deck, looking back down. Fun stuff looking down with the motion of the ship.
To end the night, we headed to the adult only (after 10pm) section of the ship.
It was a disco, and Kelli was gettin’ down.
It was getting late, so we decided to head back to the room.
No creepy towel animals tonight, just a well made bed.
The next morning, and Kelli was already shopping.
She wanted to lay out (we had a day at sea)……
So I let her do her thing….
While I did my thing.
Of course, I brought her treats.
There was live music every day on the pool deck.
Find Kelli.
The halls on the ship seemed endless.
The art auction is always a favorite of ours.
And it was a nice way to enjoy a few hours.
I brought the laptop with lots of movies for us to enjoy.
Of course, we also enjoyed some spa time.
Nice waiting area, right?
I’m actually covered in an algae paste, then wrapped in one of those emergency blankets, before being covered in hot towels.
Formal night, and we love to look sharp.
Funny thing about our table.
We were seated at a table for 10.
And this night we were the only ones at the table.
The cruise was full of guests 50+ or older, and they went to the buffet instead of waiting for the 8pm dinner seating.
Oh well, more food for Kelli and me.
Kelli made me go to a couple shows in the ship’s theater…
And this one was for Bobby Arvon, the writer of the TV show “Happy Days” theme song.
Afterwards, it was on to the piano bar.
We really like the piano player, Kevin Brando.
Kelli helps me get set…….
For my favorite picture from the cruise.
Why? Why do they make these creepy things?
The next day was our first day off the ship, in Portland, Maine.
We decided not to do any excursions, and just find our own way around every town.
So we grabbed a map…
and headed into town.
Portland was a nice little city…
And their merchants were happy to see us.
We found all kinds of neat little shops.
We also found the local brew pubs.
Grittys McDuff’s was our first stop, and had some of the best beers of the trip.
The inside was very much a pub atmosphere.
From there we went to Sebago Brewing Company.
Beers were OK, but the staff had a stick up their ass when it came to tourists.
The bartender begrudgingly took our picture.
Not sure what the heck this means, but I found it to be funny.
Kelli wants a pair of those shades for Riley.
Our next stop was $3 Deweys.
Fresh popcorn…
and more good local beer.
From there we started hunting down a place to get some grub.
Kelli sends her Melting Pot friends a message.
We were recommended Portland Lobster Company by more than one local….
So Kelli ordered a 2 pound lobster, which judging by the lights on the electric lobster……
Was now ready.
Kelli was in heaven. This was her favorite (but far from only) lobster on the trip.
Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!
We stopped by the Victoria Mansion, because it was on not 1, but 2 maps we had. Whatever.
$10 to see the inside of some old house, no thanks. We just did a ring-and-run instead.
Heading to Canada, and not sure if they had these up there, I made a stop.
It turns out that Henry Wadsworth-Longfellow was from Portland, ME.
While we didn’t go inside…..
It was interesting taking a walk around the grounds.
The house looked very well maintained.
And I’m sure would have been another very interesting old house to see. (sarcasm)
A very small street festival was going on, so we walked through.
Most cities have this kinda stuff…..
And I really liked this graffiti.
“The Maine Lobsterman”, not to be confused with one from any other state.
After a day in Portland, ME, it was time to head back to the ship.
A panoramic view of Portland, ME.
It was time for another night of dinner.
The food was really good….
again.
Our waiter, Chris, was the same (by chance) from the last time we were on the ship.
Oh, BTW, we were celebrating our eighth anniversary!!!!
This one, on our anniversay day, was not so creepy.
Tonight at the theater was comedian Louis Johnson.
Kelli thought he was OK, while I thought he was very funny.
The next morning we found ourselves in Bar Harbor, ME.
This was the only port in which we had to take a tender to get to land.
It wasn’t that bad of a ride.
and it was a nice change of pace.
Can you see the crab and star fish?
The town was everything you would expect of a tourist trap.
But it made for a nice walk.
We tried to get food and beer here…..
But they had the sign turned the wrong way (or we were too early).
But we did see these umbrellas….
Which helped us find this place…..
But they only sample the beers here, no bar.
So out we went again…..
Through a park….
and into the Carmen Verandah, a “locals” bar.
Our Mecca in Portland.
When we left there, we went to Finback Alehouse.
This place was not so “local”….
And the food wasn’t that good.
We had a little time left, and Kelli was hankering for some Maine Loobsta…..
So we found another tourist-y place…..
And she got her fix.
For those of you counting, this is lobster #2.
She also had the homemade pie.
We walked back down to the port….
And checked the temperature of the water.
It wasn’t that cold (or Kelli would not be standing in it).
She also grabbed a few of these rocks.
Interesting to think about.
Well, we took the tender back to the ship…..
And you can see the ship brings it’s own tender.
After a long day of drinking…..
Some rest was needed.
But with dinner coming……
we hit a show first.
Tonight was some comedic dame who reminded Kelli of Joan Rivers.
On our way to dinner, the center of the ship seemed to be a happening place.
Dinner was again great….
With Kelli and I sampling….
All three courses.
There was an after dinner show in a different “theater” area of the ship…
After which we headed to the piano bar.
By the end of the cruise, Kelli accused me of having a bromance with Kevin.
Apparently I took a lot of pictures of him. Click here for more.
This could almost be a find Kelli picture, if it weren’t so obvious.
You know I love the creepy towels.
Kelli was so happy….
when we got the invite to the returning guest party.
The next day found us in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.
This really is a small blue collar city.
Right off the boat is about the only part in town worth seeing.
For those of you who know my name….
You know why this is of interest to me.
After our stop at Saint John Ale House, we headed into town.
This is the City Market, which was one of the brighter spots in town.
There was also a small park.
We then headed for the newly opened Big Tide Brewing Company.
While the place looked nice…..
and had some fun tables…..
Their beer sucked.
I was going to post this to Facebook, but Verizon had no data service in Canada.
Thank goodness for the fried perogies.
We decided to leave there and go back to Saint John Ale House.
Not mine, but I liked the shadow.
On our walk back to the ship….
I found a cool little skate park.
;I am such a sucker for these things.
The line for the buffet started outside the ship.
Back on the ship, and it was dinner time again.
I’m running out of things to say…
For these food shots….
But oh well.
Sometimes I had two main courses.
After dinner, the waiters did a song and dance.
And after that they served us dessert.
hWe left from dinner, and took up residence at our spot in the piano bar.
We went there every night after the first night.
I won’t bore you with all the piano pictures.
Mothra has invaded our room.
Day 6 of the trip found us in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
From the information center we picked up a list of pubs, and highlighted the brew pubs.
Theodore Tugboat, a children’s favorite in Canada.
Our first stop was Hart & Thistle.
We had a really good IPA there…..
And Kelli had Lobster #3.
We then set out to walk uphill to the next pub….
Which made me feel like a nut.
Along the way we did some shopping, and Kelli scored that cool bag from Rock Candy.
More of that wonderful urban decay.
We sampled the beers at Rouge’s Roost, but they were undrinkable…….
So we moved along to Rockbottom Brewery (unrelated to the chain).
Their beers were OK, so we had a round, and then…..
Moved on to The Henry House.
I didn’t like their own beers…..
So we had a different beer made locally.
It was pretty good!!
Being on the ship, I was a little out of the loop on the news.
The mussels sucked so badly we didn’t finish them.
Our last stop of the day was Garrison Brewing Company, right next to the ship.
No bar, but reasonable samples and an outside drinking area.
Getting back on the ship, and Kelli and I were the last 2 guests on.
Waiting to leave, Kelli enjoyed an ice cream.
We decided to play some shuffle board.
I won, of course.
The area was very scenic on the ride out of port.
In an effort to keep the before dinner pictures unique, we had to find some interesting places to take them.
I’m really surprised……
That with all the food we ate…..
I only came home with a few extra pounds.
Seriously, the food never stops.
I stopped back in the room to switch my lens, and found what I guess is supposed to be a swan.
Afterwards, it was back to the piano bar…
To listen to Kevin play some music.
The next morning, I brought Kelli breakfast in bed.
We then got dressed for running and hit the tread mills.
Later that evening, we got dressed to head out, but had to change.
Turns out it was the second formal night, and the returning guest party.
We were short on time, so I didn’t get a second picture of us in the room.
But I made sure to get a picture of us together later.
First, we had to eat more food. For those of you counting this was lobster time #4, and she had 5 tails this time.
When in Rome.
Total hotness.
A stop by the piano bar…..
And then back to the room for the creepy vagina thing.
Before we undressed, I snapped a picture of the outfit we changed into.
When we arrived in Boston, we grabbed a cab….
and headed to Quincy Market.
In the center was a cool dome.
A block away was the site of the Boston Massacre.
It’s now a museum.
Crazy to think this was where the flames of the American Revolution were first ignited.
A little history for you.
Boston has since grown in size.
Across the way is Faneuil Hall
We headed back to Dick’s Last Resort for a few beers.
The service sucked, but that’s their shtick.
If you like veggy burgers, I recommend theirs.
Hotness, again.
Check out the balloons and hair.
With a thunderstorm and the end of the day coming, we hopped a cab back to the ship.
Boston was great, but now it was time to head back to Baltimore.
It was time to get ready for dinner, again.
And here is that night’s before dinner picture.
We passed by the piano in the center of the ship….
But it was here we were headed.
We had to get a little pre-dinner piano action.
By this point…..
We had been eating so much…..
It was getting difficult to keep eating….
Honestly, I was still feeling full from the night before.
Afterwards we caught a few tunes……
Before heading back to the bat cave.
Our last day on the ship, and Kelli and I grabbed some breakfast.
Ah yes, happy as can be.
It was supposed to look like a heart.
Last night, and we got totally goofy.
The seas were rough, and they placed barf bags all over the ship.
To help fend off the pounds…..
Kelli and I never took the elevators while on the ship.
We also ran three times on the tread mill.
The waiters did another song and dance routine…
And we enjoyed the last bit of food they would bring us.
Kelli poses with our waiters…
And then we posed with our dinner mates, Dennis and Hazel. They sat with us every night except the one night we dined alone (they don’t do formal night).
Back to the piano bar for our last night of fun.
We closed the place down every night.
And tonight, Kevin’s fiancée JC joined us.
A few other crew members joined in the fun.
She also sings in a few of the shows we never went to see.
Back in the room, it was time to pack.
So sad to go home.
The next morning, I brought her coffee in bed.
We then headed topside….
Before pulling into port.
Kelli was happy to see Riley again.