2025 Oct 11-19, NCL Getaway Cruise 7-Day Canada and New England Round Trip New York, Bar Harbor & Halifax Part 1

 Day 1: Oct 11, Saturday, Flight to New York 

We stopped at Jack's in Athens for breakfast and ordered gravy and a biscuit.

We drove to Huntsville Airport and boarded United Airlines Flight 4240, Group 3, at 7:33 A.M., Gate 2, Seats 4c & 4b. We flew into Washington Dulles, IDA, and arrived at 10:52 A.M. 

We loaded @ 12:17 IAD on flight 3704, gate A63, group 3, Seats 22 B and 22 C. Arriving in New York at 1:49 P.M. 

On the plane, we met several people going on the cruise. Mike and Rhonda Flippo, Mickey and Shelia Hines, who was a retired police officer who worked with my Hubby's brother-in-law. 

We followed our guide to the shuttle, which took us to the Marriott Marquis. 

We took our luggage to our room, R3911, and then we went looking for a place to eat. We stopped at Junior's Restaurant, 1515 Broadway St., which was just across the street from the hotel. 

We ordered Fish and chips, two drinks, and a raspberry swirl Cheesecake, and spent $47.58. Our server was Kevin. 

Walking the Streets of New York 

After dinner, we walked several blocks in the crowded streets. Vendors covered half of the sidewalks. We stopped inside the Disney Store. Took several photos. We came back to the hotel, took a hot bath, and fell asleep. Woke up, watched some TV, then fell asleep. Awoke around 4 A.M. and wrote in my journal.

Check-out time is 11 A.M.

Photos

245-7A.M. Huntsville Airport

246-249 8:14 A.M. Leaving Huntsville Airport

250-262 @10:38 A.M. Flying into Washington Dulles Airport

263-270 @12:30 P.M. Leaving Washington Dulles Airport 

271-275 @1:37 P.M. Flying into New York Laguardia Airport

277 @2:28 P.M. Leaving Airport in Shuttle 

278-296 @2:50 P.M. Travel Long Island, Murray Hill, Turtle Bay, New York 

297-301 @3:45 P.M. Our room 3931 

303 @4:16 P.M. Juniors Restaurant 

Fish and Chips from Juniors 

304-331 @5:03 P.M. Walking the streets of New York 

Day 2: Oct 12, Sunday, Boarding the Ship NCL Getaway.

We bought a Blueberry Parfait and a pastry in the hotel store for breakfast. 

We met our NCL Guide and checked in for our ride to the ship.

I walked around on level 39 for two miles. We went downstairs to the outside covered breezeway to wait for the bus to take us to the ship. It did not arrive until after 12:30 P.M.

We talked to a couple from Indiana that was going on the cruise. The wife was a teacher and on fall break.

Everyone loaded onto the bus, which took us to port 90, where the ship was docked. We went through security, got our key cards, and boarded the boat. 

Our first stop was the American Diner, where I ordered three sliders, fries, and bread pudding. Hubby ordered a salad, spaghetti, and a slice of carrot cake. I could only eat one of the three sliders. 

We walked to our cabin 13168, where I took a nap. My sister called to wish me a happy birthday. I talked to my daughter. She had been cleaning her RV in preparation for a trip to Universal Studios. 

At 5:00 P.M., we walked down to Cagney's Steakhouse and ate dinner. I ordered shrimp skewers, baked potato, sautéed mushrooms, grilled asparagus, and vanilla ice cream.

Hubby ordered steak, shrimp cocktail, broccoli, mushrooms, and apple pie with vanilla ice cream.

After dinner, we walked around the ship. We went to the theater to watch the comedy show. 

After the show, we returned to our cabin, hung up my clothes, and wrote in my journal. 

We watched Hocus Pocus 2 on TV.

The Big Apple 

Photos

332-334 @8:09 A.M. Photos Hotel Big Apple, Wonderful

335-358 @12:26P.M. Port and Ship

359-360 @2:06 P.M. Lunch at American Diner

361-365 @5:42 P.M. Dinner at Cagney's 

366-367 @6:37 P.M. Hotel Lights

368-374 @8:59 P.M. View of New York from the ship

Day 3: Monday, Oct 13, Port Day (the ship had to stay in the port because of bad weather) 

The ship was supposed to leave the port at 5:00 P.M. Saturday, but New York closed the port, preventing any ships from coming in or leaving. So we had to stay on the boat until 5 A.M. Tuesday morning.

I walked around our room area, then went upstairs for 3 miles. I could not walk outside because it was raining. 

We went to breakfast at the Garden Cafe, where I had blueberry yogurt, a pastry, sausage, and cranberry juice. 

We went to deck 6 (Atrium)to watch game shows and trivia. 

We ate at O'Sheehan's for brunch. I ordered French Toast with whipped butter, syrup, and seasonal fruit. We walked back to our room, where we watched The Lion King and took a nap. 

At 5P.M., we went to Teppanyaki for dinner, where we watched our chef prepare our meal while entertaining us. 

Our Chef 

Steak and Shrimp 

The chef cooks our food.

We were served Miso Soup with mushrooms, dashi, tofu, and wok-me.

Next, we were served a seaweed salad with ginger salad dressing.

We watched our cook prepare garlic-fried rice with eggs, served with grilled vegetables and a creamy mustard dipping sauce.

Our main course was grilled shrimp and New York Strip (ASUKA)

For dessert, we were served Green tea cakes with cashew nut butter.

After dinner, we returned to the Atrium area, deck 6, where we were entertained by Voices & Keys Duo.

 Returned to our room, where we watched Ghostbusters on TV.

Photos:

375@7:30 A.M. Replica Getaway

376-377 @8:04 A.M. View from Ship (rain)

379 @10:41 A.M. Brunch (French Toast, fruit, yogurt, pastry, sausage)

380-381 Photos taken at Teppanyaki 

382-397 5:12 P.M. Dinner at Teppanyaki 

398-404 @7:29 P.M. Show Voices & Keys Duo 

Voices & Keys Duo 

405-408 7:52 P.M. View from our room 

409-411 @8:21 P.M. Receipts 

Day 4, Oct 14, Tuesday, Leaving New York, Sea Day 

Got up early and went to Deck 16 to see the Statue of Liberty as we sailed by. 

Statue of Liberty (cloudy early morning )

I talked to several people waiting to take pictures of the Statue of Liberty. It was still dark and overcast, so it was hard to take a clear picture. 

I met Hubby in the Garden Cafe, where we ate breakfast. We watched people come and go through the electric door. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't.

It was funny watching how everyone acted when the door didn't work. 

We went to Deck 6, the Atrium, where we met a couple from California, Susan and Kevin.

Next, we walked through the shops where I bought a bracelet and charms. 

We walked to the Harry Houdini area, where we met up with Shelia and Mikey. We sat and talked for a while. 

At 11:26, we ate lunch at O'Sheehan's. There, I ordered cheese & spinach dip with chips and avocado dip. 

Hubby ordered a coney hot dog with fries and hot wings. 

At 12:30 P.M., we went to the Getaway theater, Deck 7 FWD, to the Amulet of Adventure, The Port, and Shopping Talk. 

There, we each got an anchor and a necklace.

At 3 P.M., we went to Sydney Normas Deck 8, forward, where we watched the last 30 minutes of Carryoaky.

We watched the Amulet of Adventure, Diamond and Gemstones Seminar, where we each received a Nahla Amulet. 

We rested in the hallway where we saw our friends from New York.

We returned to our room until 5:30 P.M., then went to dinner in the Manhattan Room, where we sat with a couple from Virginia. 

For dinner, I ordered baked Fish with creamed potatoes, a Waldorf salad, and a brownie with ice cream.

We returned to our room and wrote in my journal.

At 8 P.M., we went to the Effie Celebration Party at the Effy Boutique store on deck 8 aft, where we received a champagne glass amulet and drank a glass of champagne. 

Photos

412-416 @5:42 P.M. Leaving New York and passing the Statue of Liberty 

417- @ 7:15 A.M. Breakfast in Garden Cafe 

418-420 Sea Day 

426-429 @ 9:54 A.M. Houdini Hallway

Canon EOS R6

5203-5249 @4:15 AM Leaving New York

Houdini Hallway

430-434 @6:15 P.M. Dinner in Manhattan Room 

435 @7:04 P.M. Chandelier 

436-439 @7:17 P.M. Our photos that were taken at Teppanyaki 

Day 5, Oct 15, Wednesday, Bar Harbor, Maine 

Breakfast at the Garden Cafe: I ate French Toast and yogurt. We walked to the Manhattan Room, and at 7:15 A.M., we boarded the tender boat and were taken ashore, where we met our bus driver and guide (Herman).

We rode through Acadia Park for a couple of hours and were dropped off downtown. We walked up Main Street to the Lobster Restaurant, but it was closed. 

We walked through several shops and bought seven postcards, a hat, a boggen, and a sweet shirt. 

We ate lunch at Stewman's along the pier. We ordered lobster, potatoes, corn on the cob, and clams with blueberry pie topped with vanilla ice cream, which Hubby and I shared. We saw the couple from California at the pier. We came back to the ship via tender. Went to our room and wrote in my journal.

Our ship didn't leave the port until 5:30 P.M., and the sunset was beautiful. We sat in the lobby above the atrium and watched them make flowers. My stomach started hurting, so I went to the restroom, but that didn't help. I felt sick to my stomach, so I went back to our room. From our room, I watched the ship leave port. I got sick, took a shower, went to bed, and slept all night. Hubby went upstairs to get dinner. I couldn't eat anything. I just went to bed. 

Photos 

440-442  @6:12 A.M. Sunrise Bar Harbor 

443 @ 6:27 A.M. Breakfast 

444-446 @ 10:16 A.M. Moose Store Bar Harbor

447-445 @10:30 A.M. Wood Store 

Canon EOS R6 

5255-5359 @7:11 AM Acadia Bar Harbor, Maine

5360-5387 @8:21 AM Town Bar Harbor, Maine 

The Wood Store 

446-477 @10:42 A.M. Main St Stores Markers park 

478-481 @11:28 A.M. Lunch at Stewmans along the pier

Blueberry Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream 

Potato and Corn on the Cob 

Lobster, Corn on the Cob 

482 @1248 P.M. Whale at Pier 

483 Receipts 

484-491 @446 P.M. Port Bar Harbor

492-440 P.M. Inside Ship Chandelier 

494-497 @525 P.M. Leaving Port 

✈️✈️✈️1994 ~ Feb 19-22, Trip Berwick, Maine, to visit a friend

I am looking forward to seeing my friend, Velma, and the snow-covered grounds of Berwick, Maine (This is the first time I ever flew by myself)

Waiting for my flight to Portland, MA 

Day 1: Wednesday, February 19, 1994

To prepare for my trip, I packed cuddle duds, sweaters, coats, gloves, jeans, and boots.

Maine is as far northeast in North America as you can travel to the United States.

The average temperature for this time of the year is F. 35, And the average snowfall is 12.

On February 19, I flew on Delta Airlines from Huntsville, Al., to Atlanta, Georgia, and from Atlanta, Ga., to Berwick, Maine.

Velma was waiting at the airport when I embarked on the plane, and she greeted me with a hug. 

We collected my luggage, and we rode to her apartment.

I unpack, we eat lunch, and then we head out to see the sites.

We stop in Somersworth, New Hampshire, for what I do not remember, which borders Berwick, Maine on the Southwest side. 

The major routes that pass through Berwick are 6, 9, and 236. Berwick is 1/2 hour from the Ocean and one hour from the mountains.

Velma said they have just built our first Walmart store here in Berwick.

We stopped at Velma's insurance company, and she introduced me to her co-workers.

Our next stop was a large building that houses a crowded, quaint tavern. On the second floor, there was no elevator, and we had to walk up several steps.

Velma took me to visit her friends at the police department, which is located at 11 Sullivan Street, Berwick, ME, 03901. 

That night, we went to a Country and Western club where we danced to the Boot-Scootin' Boogie.

Riding in Berwick, Maine

Town Hall of Berwick, Maine

Portland Airport

Portland Airport

Traveling to Boston, MA

Day 2: Thursday, February 20, 1994

Today, we are going to visit Velma's daughter. She lives in the Bay area outside Boston, about an hour's drive.

Velma's daughter greets us at the door and proudly shows us her newly remodeled old home.

Her home has two bedrooms upstairs, and the living area is downstairs. 

It has a view of the bay and has several large oak trees growing in her backyard.

We are served lunch, and after lunch, we ride into Boston.

The traffic is terrible in Boston, and it is easier to park and ride the T.

So we parked, headed for the ticket counter, and boarded the T.

 The T is the first subway ever built in the US, with excellent graphics walls. 

"FIVE CENTS FAIR LASTED TWENTY-FIVE YEARS"

"PARK STREET – THE FIRST SUBWAY BUILT IN AMERICA. " 

1897 is the year on the subway wall. 

Boston has the oldest subway and bus system in America, the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority). 

A ride on the MBTA or to the locals, called "The T," is an adventure visitors to Boston should try. 

We get off the T and walk around, stopping at one of the indoor malls (where we all grab a cup of hot chocolate) and then walk to Cheers Pub to eat dinner.

"Bull Finch PUB" Cheers is located next to Hampshire Hotel at 84 Beacon St., Boston, MA. 0210-3421, and its telephone number is 617-227-9605. 

We order cocktails while waiting for our food to be served.

You can get a souvenir glass with "CHEERS" BOSTON written on it for an extra four dollars.

Velma and I each paid the extra four dollars for the souvenir glass.

The walls of Cheer are covered in pictures of Kirstie Alley, Kelsey Grammer, and Rhea Perlman.

Velma and I get our picture taken, standing in front of this picture.

Tourists still flock to Cheers the Beacon Street Bar, which inspired the Cheers television series, which ran for eleven years. 

In 1989, while I was at MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida, I had the opportunity to contribute to the making of a skit called Cheers.

At that time, they would choose volunteers from the audience to be in the show.

By the time we left Cheers, it was dark. We walked up Beacon Hill toward the Capitol Building, stopping to take pictures. 

We could see the frozen pond in the park below from the Capitol Building.

People were ice-skating on the frozen pond.

As we walked back to the T, the cold wind whipped around the tall building. We rode back to Velma's daughter's house and spent the night.

Riding the Subway, T

Riding the Subway, T

Riding the Subway, T

Riding the Subway, T

Riding the Subway, T

Velma and I at Cheers 

Velma and I at Cheers 

Velma and I posing next to the Cheers Gang

Velma and I have a drink before dinner at Cheers

We are having a drink before dinner at Cheers

Capitol Building Boston MA

Capitol Building Boston MA

Day 3: Friday, February 21, 1994

It has always been a dream of mine to take a sleigh ride in the New England area.

For some crazy reason, I have always associated the Christmas Holidays with snow and sleigh rides in the New England States. 

Maybe it was the Saturday Evening Post print of a snowball fight by J. F.  Kernan. Or the Deadman's Hill sleigh ride by Norman Rockwell. Or it could be a Victorian Christmas by Thomas Kinkade, where you can feel the warm yellow glow from the windows of every home as you watch Santa ride down the street in his sleigh.

It was my last night in Berwick, and we still had not taken that sleigh ride. So, we drove to Maple Brook Farm, where they have sleigh rides but are closing up for the day.  

I said, "Please take us on a sleigh ride, for tonight is my last night in Maine." So, the owner hooked up his draft horses and his wooden sleigh.

Maple Brook Farm is also known for its potbelly pigs, and while the owner was hitching his draft horses for the sleigh ride, he let us hold the squealing, squirmy pig.

It was a night I will never forget. 

A full moon shone down on the forbidden snow as we rode through the woods on a snowy night. 

The only signs of life in the snow were the wagon wheels and hoof prints of the large workhorses as they slowly pulled the wagon (sleigh) through the snow. 

What an excellent way to end my visit with my friend and to have a childhood dream come true. 

My wonderful trip to Berwick to visit my friend has now come to a bittersweet end, and I must return to work.

Maplebrook Farm 

Maplebrook Farm holding Potbelly Pig 

Maplebrook Farm holding Potbelly Pig 

Posing in front of Horses and Sleigh 

Taking a Sleigh Ride

Maple Brook Farm 

Day 4: Saturday, February 22, 1994

Velma drove me to the airport in Portland, Maine, where we said goodbye.

My flight is headed to LaGuardia Airport in New York.  

 "The LaGuardia airport is on the waterfront in the Borough of Queens, New York City. LaGuardia handles mostly domestic flights and is only 9 miles from Midtown Manhattan. It is named after Fiorello LaGuardia, the former mayor of New York. It is the smallest of New York's three major commercial airports."  

At the airport in LaGuardia, I bought my daughter a T-shirt that said New York.

One of her dreams is to visit New York City.  

I quickly called home to tell my husband that I had landed in LaGuardia and was waiting for my flight to Atlanta.

While I was on the telephone, an announcement said that because of the weather, everyone flying to Atlanta had to board another plane. 

I looked around and everyone was gone, they had boarded the plane. I almost missed my flight.

I quickly boarded the plane, and I was seated between two men. 

The man sitting on the right of me was originally from New York but had moved to Atlanta, Georgia. 

The man on my left was from France, now living in the United States.  

The man from France and I started a conversation about the entire flight to Atlanta, Georgia. 

We were served dinner during the flight, and the man from France and I kept talking.  

The Atlanta, Georgia, man said, "I have never heard two people talk as much as the two of you." The man from France was going to Atlanta and needed more information about it, so he struck up a conversation with the man from Atlanta. 

The plane landed in Atlanta, and I said goodbye to both men. 

They said goodbye to me and started walking and talking to each other. 

I walked to the waiting area for my flight to Huntsville, Alabama.  

That flight took a little over one hour. 

My husband was waiting to pick me up at the airport.  

My trip was quite an adventure. I got to visit my old friend, take a moonlight sleigh ride, eat at Cheers in Boston, and make a new friend on the flight home.

February 19-22, 1994 Berwick, Maine

Delta Airlines 

Leave Huntsville International Airport (HSV)

Arrive at Atlanta International Airport (ATL).

Leave Atlanta International Airport (ATL).

Arrive, Berwick, Maine Airport 

Leave Berwick Maine Airport

Arrive at LaGuardia International Airport 

Leave LaGuardia International Airport

Arrive. Atlanta International Airport (ATL)

Leave Atlanta International Airport (ATL)

Arrive Huntsville International Airport (HSV)