Canada and New England

Cruising on Holland America from Montreal, Quebec to Tampa, Florida.

One Saturday in October, we embarked a Holland America ship in Montreal, Quebec. The weather was unbelievably beautiful for this time of the year with blue skies but cool.

But before embarking the ship, Old and New MONTREAL is a must see. The downtown sector blends into a rich historical past with a bright future to keep Montreal in the forefront. Old Montreal offers one of North America's most remarkable architecture from the 17th-19th century buildings

The ship sailed at 4:30pm for Quebec City.

KEBEC is an Iroquois phrase meaning "the straits" or the place where the river narrows. When the French arrived in the 17th century, they mistakenly assumed that it was called Quebec. Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City, Canada's first permanent colonial community.

Quebec province is about the same size as Alaska. It is a unique place. French speaking territory of nearly 9m people enjoy a distinct culture that sets it apart from the rest of the mostly Anglicized nation. Quebec is an incredibly picturesque city.

We docked at the port in Quebec City. It was a cloudy morning and we could see the multi-turreted castle like facade of the Hotel Frontenac. This hotel is a part of the Canadian Pacific group and is a city landmark and a historic property. From the cliff edge, one can see the harbour and St. Lawrence river below. The streets of the old town, built 400 years ago still follow the original city plan. Quebec has always been a 2-level town. Haute Ville (upper village) is the original elevated section of the city whereas Basse Ville (lower village) is the quaint area below. It looked like an ideal European setting with bistros, boutiques and sidewalk cafes. We could have been walking somewhere in France!   UNESCO added the neighbourhood of the old town, upper town with its fortifications, Citadel and shopping district, to its list of World Heritage Sites in 1985.  New city refers to all construction after the 18th century bastions were built.

A few historic footprints

• 1535 - Jacques Cartier mistakes the native word Kaanata (a group of small huts)

• 1608 - Samuel de Champlain establishes Quebec.

• 1753 - George Washington marches into Monogabela. French troops stop him.

• 1867 - Canada is sovereign under the British North American Act. Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are united as the Dominion of Canada.

• The 250-acre national Battlefield Park was established in 1908 to commemorate Quebec's 300th birthday. Quebec City is now getting ready for the celebration of her 400th birthday in 2008.

Sydney, Nova Scotia

The cruise terminal is located directly across from the ship. Internet, information office, arts and crafts are also found in the terminal. It is a five-minute walk to town.

Nova Scotia is Latin for New Scotland and it is evident on Cape Breton Island. Interesting sites to visit are the Fortress of Louisbourg where one can relive history stepping back in time to 1744 at this fortress.

The Cabot Trail

Alexander Graham Bell (Bell Canada) was inspired by this beauty that Cape Breton offered. Here one can retrace the historic route between the isolated Scottish, English and French Acadian and Mi'kmag communities with some of the most dramatic and unspoiled scenery in North America, including Spruce covered mountains, tranquil rivers and ocean beaches.

Alexander Graham Bell Museum - Bell spent his last 37 years of his life in a beautiful resort village situated on an inlet of the lovely Bras d'Or lakes. The Bell museum is operated by Parks Canada which does full justice to the outstanding accomplishments of the man best known for the invention of the telephone and his contributions in the fields of medicine, genetics, electricity, sound and speech as well as aeronautics and marine engineering. For Black Gold, one can also take a Cape Breton mine experience tour.

It was still cloudy and raining on and off so we chose to walk in old Sydney town founded by loyalists fleeing the American Revolution. Sydney harbour, amongst the most strategic on the Atlantic, played a major role in both world wars.

Whitney Pier Museum devoted to 55 ethnic groups make up the population of Sydney.

Fort Petrie Battery protected the harbour from enemy attack during World War II.

Spirit of the Fiddle - Sounds of Cape Breton is a musical experience unique to Cape Breton Island influenced by the Scottish, Irish and Acadian tradition.

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Halifax is the British heart of Atlantic Canada, a maritime metropolis and the capital of Nova Scotia. Halifax is home to 5 universities. Nova Scotia was explored by the English, but settled by the French, Irish and Scots, all except Halifax which was founded by George M. Dunk, Earl of Halifax. One of the greenest cities, it is located on a hilly peninsula surrounded by one of the world's great harbours. Fortresses crowned the hills in the early times and pastures surrounding them. A few of the grand fortresses survive and the pastures have been turned into parks. Halifax has all the vibrant activity and cultural opportunities of a much larger city with a population of 114,000 people.

The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic - Displays of the explosion in 1917. The world was reminded of Halifax and its maritime heritage again with the release of the Titanic, a popular motion picture. The port was a key operations base in the recovery of the HMS Titanic. Fairview Cemetery is a local attraction where more than 100 people were buried. Rows of granite headstones inscribed with the same haunting date April 15, 1912.

Pier 21 - A historic site at the cruise pavilion is the nation’s only remaining immigration shed. Nearly 1m people arrived at the pier between 1928-1971. THE CITADEL is easy to find. The looming Georgian style clock tower on George Street will lead you to the Citadel. The fortress was built in 1749 and reconstructed in 1856. The thick walls collapsed regularly in spring thaws supplying builders with steady seasonable repair work.

Peggy's Cove - A drive along the coast will bring you to Peggy's Cove which is a rustic and charming fishing village, situated on a narrow ocean inlet with huge granite boulders. This is Canada's most photographed sites. One can visit the lighthouse and eat at the popular local restaurant offering majestic views of the craggy coastline and picture perfect lighthouse which also functions as a post office.

In the 1840's, when Charles Dickens passed through Halifax, he referred to the province House, the seat of government and Canada's oldest legislative building, as a gem of Georgian architecture.

We set sail for BAR HARBOUR, MAINE.

The sun came out through the cloudy skies on arriving in Bar Harbour. All guests go through US Immigration here. Tenders then take guests to John B. Ellis Pier on Main Street.

BAR HARBOUR has its historical roots in the grand resort era of the late 19th century. Bar Harbour is on the eastern side of Mount Desert (Monde Zair) Island. Samuel Champlain named the island L’île des Monts Desérts (Island of the Bare Mountains). When Bar Harbour was established in 1796, Maine was still a Massachusetts province! 200 years later, one will still get a heated response if one asks a Maine resident about the pre-state period. Mid 19th century, painters were attracted in search of new landscape subjects. Customers began to enquire about the beautiful scenes in their work. Soon tourists were coming to Bar Harbour and rail and steamboat travel in the 1850's brought more people. New York and Boston millionaires bought properties here and for almost a century, Bar Harbour was an exclusive high society resort. In 1947, fire brought disaster and dozens of lavish homes and forested areas burned down when the blaze broke out. More than 17,000 acres had burned, more than half in Acadia National Park. The golden era of Bar Harbour as a resort was over! Today, Bar Harbour is 'quintessential Maine'! Pleasant place to stroll, the small seaside community has been a favorite summer resort for many years.

Acadia National Park is the 7th most visited national park in the U.S. Lobsters are the highlight here. Stewman’s restaurant right next to the port is good for fresh lobsters and clams and even export to clients abroad.

16 October 2007 - Newport, Rhode Island

We entered the Rhode Island sound and the ship embarked the pilot for Newport, heading north where the ship anchored off Goat Island. Sunny skies, warm and beautiful weather. Guests take the tender to the city of Newport. Rhode Island, also known as little Rhody and the Ocean state, is the smallest and most densely populated state. One of the chief ports in Rhode Island in addition to Providence and Quonset Point, is the lovely city of Newport. It is home to 2 religious monuments, the friends meeting house (1700) and the Touro Synagogue (1763), both the oldest such buildings in the U.S.

NEWPORT was founded in 1639 by some of the same settlers who followed Roger Williams from Massachusetts. Following a devision in that settlement, William Codington moved himself and his followers to the southern end of the island and established what is known today as Newport. By 1720, the city by the city ranked with Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Charleston amongst the top five commercial centres of colonial N. America.

Newport has an excellent harbour and renowned for its beautiful beaches and in the past it was the playground of the rich and famous, the Vanderbilt family to name but one. The award winning museum of Newport history is well worth a visit. Follow the story of the 17th century English settlers who founded the community in an effort to foster on religious tolerance. There are many mansions of interest but some of the more noted properties - WantonLyman-hazard House and Edward King House. Other mansions of interest: Ochre Court, Cliff Walk, Belcourt Castle.

A one hour long ferry ride will take you from Newport to Providence (across from the Marriott Hotel). Boston and New York are not far either. Summer months are full of tourist and Newport is very crowded. The best time of the year to go is autumn and it was warm and sunny even in October, so one has to be lucky with the weather too. We walked a lot and visited the wharfs and had a lovely lobster lunch at the Mooring on Sayer's wharf. Shops and bars and restaurants open around lunch time and tourists still visit Newport until Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve and then things start slowing down until spring.

We were off to our next port of call - Charleston, South Carolina

Once we picked up anchor in Newport and disembarked the pilot, our ship headed south for three days at sea. During the night and day, we sailed past New York and Cape Fear following the eastern seaboard south to Charleston, South Carolina.

CHARLESTON was formally established in 1670, although there were earlier colonial homesteads. South Carolina's oldest permanent community lines a narrow peninsula bounded by the Ashley and Cooper rivers, which join to form a natural harbour. The port has figured prominently in American history, most notably as the place where the first shot of the civil war was fired in April 1861.

Conde Nast ranked the city of Charleston amongst America's top ten visitor destinations eight years in a row. Charleston has a quaint and closely packed brick, stucco and painted wood homes accented with magnificent gardens of fragrant roses and vibrant bougainvillea line the orderly streets. In the back streets of the city, we even saw Georgian redbrick mansions and porches with tiers of stately classic white columns. Charlestonians have always exhibited a remarkable facility to regroup and rebound but the 19th century restoration efforts were interrupted by a series of destructive earthquakes. In 1886, the worst of the tremors hit Charleston and toppled many of the old buildings that had survived the war.

Fort Sumter, which is administered by the National Park Service, is built on a man-made island strategically located in the middle of the Charleston. Tours from Liberty Square, a short distance from the cruise ship harbour terminal, takes you to the fort and guided tours last approximately two and a half hours. The city market is located in a historical district. The low roofed sheds were built in 1841 to house fruits and vegetables and fish markets. Handcrafted basketry and hats are also found in this facility. A variety of antiques are also sold here. The politically questionable Confederate Museum is housed on the main building on Market Street between Meeting and East Bay. This museum recalls a painful period in American history. Many of Charleston’s stately old mansions are preserved as museums. The following short list got us started on our trip.

RAINBOW ROW, 83 through 107 East Bay Street, is so named for a line of 14 houses that are painted to match colours in the rainbow. Good subjects for photography. A wealthy local merchant built NATHANIEL RUSSEL HOUSE on 51 Meeting Street in 1808. EDMONDSTON ALSTON HOUSE on 21 East Battery Street built in 1825 with splendid views of the harbour. HEYWARD WASHINGTON HOUSE built in 1772. George Washington stayed in the home in 1791. DRAYTON HALL, heralded as one of the finest standing examples of American colonial architecture was built in 1738. It is a perfectly preserved home and is the only Ashley River plantation house to have survived the Civil war intact.

Well worth a trip is to take a horse carriage ride to see the historical city and the stately mansions and listen to the guides tell you all about the history of Charleston.

Old southern cotton plantations, such as Boone Hall plantations was built in 1681, and re-constructed in 1935, using the ruins of the original house as building materials. Lower floors can be toured and several movies about the south have been filmed at the site.

Charleston has more than 150 churches, a truly staggering number for its size and earned its unofficial nickname "the holy city".

Charleston has many beaches near the city such as Sullivan's Island, pristine beaches and a local favorite, Isle of Palms and Folly Beach Park. Kaiwah Island, just outside Charleston offers a ten-mile expanse of pristine coastal habitat.

Southern cooking - Crab soup tops the list of local delicacies, but fried Okra, and black eyed peas also get you into the real spirit. Cornbread or grits is served with everything and 'wine of the south' is the local sweet tea.

Final port of call on this 10 day cruise - Tampa, Florida

If you are planning to spend some time in Florida, it is recommended to transfer to St. Petersburg and stay in a hotel on the beach and enjoy the beautiful sunshine!