Today we were in Bar Harbor, Maine (pronounced Baahh Haahhhbahh). Bar Harbor is know for its lobster but it is also near Acadia National Park.

Bike Tour

We did a bike tour through the park. The park came to be through large donations from John D. Rockefeller Jr. and a few other men. They bought up the land, preventing it from being developed. After cars were introduced to the island, Rockefeller built a road around the entire park and built separate carriage roads where no motorised vehicles are allowed. They were named carriage roads because horse-drawn carriages are allowed. Throughout the park, the car road and the carriage road intersect in multiple places and in those places, Rockefeller had bridges built to ensure that people on the carriage roads didn’t have to deal with cars. Our tour went on these carriage roads. I think it is best to just post a bunch of pictures and let them speak for themselves.

Getting Into Boston

We got off the boat early this morning because we had a lot of things that we wanted to do in Boston. We took the Subway towards the North End, at the tip of the peninsula that Boston is on. We walked along the Freedom Trail to Paul Revere’s House.

Old North Church

Since Paul Revere’s House wasn’t opened yet, so we went on to the Old North Church (pronounced “Awld Nawth Chuhch”). The church’s most recent major renovation was in 1911 (+/- 5 years) but it was built in 1723 (+/–10 years…ish). The church is an Episcopal Church (the Episcopal Church is the US affiliate to the Anglican Church). The pews are box pews which is exactly as it sounds. There rows of boxes with a pew in them and a door to the isle. The walls were about four feet high but the pulpit is elevated so it is easy to see the preacher. The pews are bought by families in the church. The Revere Pew has been passed down and Paul Revere’s children still own the pew.

Today we were at sea and the sea was very calm so I was extremely happy about that. I was able to do a bunch of activities on the boat.

Morning

We slept in this morning because we didn’t have anything we needed to be up for. After breakfast, I went to help Barry, the Piano Man with an issue with Garage Band. He is composing the score for Shakespeare in the Park and he wanted to duplicate something in another file so I helped him with that.

Today was our last day in Bermuda.

Elbow Beach

When we were trying to decide what to do today we wanted to really experience island life so we decided to go to the beach. We hopped on the bus that goes to all of the beaches. We received a suggestion from one of the locals on the bus to go to Elbow Beach and we got the driver to let us know when we got to the correct stop. After a short walk, we arrived at the beach. The water was very blue, just like at Church Beach, but it was a much larger beach. We walked in the shallow water along the beach in one direction until we got to a collection of rocks. The waves were breaking hard against the rocks and we were able to stand behind them and watch the spray and get sprayed. Then we walked down the beach the other direction for a little while. At some point I went all the way into the ocean. At this point, it was about time to head back to the ship so we left the beach for the last time in Bermuda.

Today we went to St. George’s Island.

Town of St. George

To get to St. George Island we rode the ferry to Dockyard and then took the ferry from there to St. George’s Island. On the way there, a tour guide introduced herself to the people on the ferry saying that she offered tours of the Town of St. George. We decided to join her tour.

Today we went snorkeling and watched the Bermuda Day Parade.

Ferry to the Navy Dockyard

We woke up fairly early to try and make it to a snorkeling tour around some shipwrecks. Unfortunately we weren’t able to do the tour, it’s a complicated story of why we weren’t able to so if you want to hear the details, ask me when I get back. We had already boarded the ferry to the old Navy Dockyard though, so we went. The Navy Dockyard is basically a fortress at one tip of the island. If you imagine Bermuda as a fishhook, the dockyard is at the barb (I think that’s what you call the thing that snares the fish).

Today we arrived in Bermuda, went to a beach and walked some in the town of Hamilton.

After breakfast this morning, I went down to the library to see if there was anyone who wanted to play chess. There was a guy, David, who wanted to play. He was very good (at least compared to me). He won all three games we played.

Today we were at sea and it was fairly rough. The swells were up to 6 metres (20ft). Of course, the ship didn’t go up that high, but it was going up and down quite a bit. Mom spent most of the day in the cabin, only coming out for dinner. I was up more than her. I ate all three meals, but towards the middle of the afternoon it was really getting bad. To cope, I took a Dramamine pill and napped in the cabin. That was most of the day.

Today we did a trolley tour of Boston and then boarded the ship.

Trolley Tour

With our Boston Go Pass we got tickets for the trolley tour of the city. We redeemed our tickets yesterday so that we can use them today (the trolley tickets were good for two days but the Boston Go Pass was only good for three days, but Saturday would be our fourth day). We started out a bit later than the other days, and after a Bruegger’s bagel, we went to go catch the trolley. They were stopped at a light in between two stops but the driver/guide let us on anyway. We rode the tour all the way around the city and the guide explained the various sites.

Today we went whale watching, went to the New England Aquarium and the Science Museum and went up the Prudential Building to the observation deck.

Whale Watching

After breakfast we headed to the dock by subway. Our Boston Go Pass allowed us to do a Whale Watching Tour. We boarded the ship and sailed out to an area about 25 miles off the coast where whales tend to be. There were three Naturalists guiding the excursion. They took notes as we went and recorded sightings of any spouts that we saw. They did this because they are, in addition to guides, part of a research project into whales in the area. We spotted the spout of a Fin Whale. We sailed towards it and when we got near, we cut the engines because you can’t track the whales underwater and you can’t know where they will come up again. The whale stayed close to the ship for almost an hour diving up and down. I got a few bad pictures, but I mainly watched it. At times it was a few minutes between surfacing a, but sometimes it was fairly close together.