New England Trip on Sumner Evans

Montreal, Quebec, Canada -- Day 2

Sun, 05 Jun 2016 09:44:00 -0600

Today we rode the entire hop on hop off circuit and walked around the Montreal underground city.

Tim Hortons

For breakfast we decided to go to Tim Hortons. It’s the thing to do in Canada. I got a coffee. Because that’s what you do at Tim’s.

Hop on Hop Off Bus

It was raining very hard as the weather report predicted so we didn’t want to do anything outside. (We were extremely glad that we’d done all of the outside stuff yesterday.) The hop on hop off bus was a double decker bus with an open top, but the bottom was covered. We had to walk to the bus stop though, and we got pretty wet doing so.

End of Cruise and Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Sat, 04 Jun 2016 19:00:00 -0600

Today we disembarked from the cruise and went to a few sites in Montreal.

Disembarkation and Arrival at the Hotel

The disembarkation went smoothly and we were able to get a taxi to the hotel very easily. We were unable to check in to our room, but the hotel stored our luggage and the concierge gave us some information on where to go to get the hop on hop off bus of the city.

Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

Fri, 03 Jun 2016 19:00:00 -0600

Today we went on a walking tour of Quebec City.

Lower Town

Quebec City is divided into two parts, the upper town and the lower town. The dividing line is a tall cliff, so the upper town is literally above the lower town. The lower town is the part of the town closest to the water and therefore closest to the place where we docked.

At Sea (Sailing the St. Lawrence River)

Thu, 02 Jun 2016 19:00:00 -0600

Today we were at sea. I managed to stay fairly busy but it wasn’t a very exciting day. I played some chess and ping pong and went to the show, but other than that it wasn’t an interesting day. Tomorrow we are in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada so it should be more interesting.

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Wed, 01 Jun 2016 19:00:00 -0600

Today we went on a car tour through Prince Edward Island and then we walked around a bit in downtown Charlottetown.

Car Tour

Our guide took us on a large loop around the center of Price Edward Island (PEI). If you think of the island as a U with the straight parts lopped off but fat in the middle, you have a pretty good idea of what the shape of the island is. It takes about 5 hours to drive from one end to the other. We drove around the right part of the “fat” part of the island. We drove north to the North Shore then along the shore before curving back around and driving back to Charlottetown.

Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada

Tue, 31 May 2016 19:00:00 -0600

Today we went on a bus tour which took us to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum.

Alexander Graham Bell Museum

The Ride to the Museum

On our way to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum, our guide talked about a few interesting things about Sydney, Nova Scotia, and Canada in general. (He also said some of this on the ride back, but I’ll just summarise it all here.)

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Mon, 30 May 2016 19:00:00 -0600

Today we went to the Canadian Immigration Museum and the Halifax Citadel.

Our original plan was to do a Segway tour of Halifax, but because of the weather, the tour was cancelled. We were very disappointed, but we still had plenty to do today.

Immigration Museum

The first thing we went to was the Immigration Museum at Pier 21, the main entry point for immigrants to Canada. Pier 21 was the Ellis Island of Canada. Pier 21 is right next to the cruise port terminal, in fact, we came into Building 22 so it was super easy to get to the immigration museum. The museum had exhibits on the history of immigration to Canada, the Pier 21 immigration process and an exhibit about the sinking of the Empress of Ireland, the worst maritime disaster in Canadian history.

Bar Harbor, Maine

Sun, 29 May 2016 19:00:00 +0000

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.

Boston, Massachusetts

Sat, 28 May 2016 19:00:00 -0600

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.

At Sea

Fri, 27 May 2016 19:00:00 -0600

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.

Hamilton, Bermuda and Set Sail

Thu, 26 May 2016 19:00:00 -0600

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.

Hamilton, Bermuda -- Day 3

Wed, 25 May 2016 19:00:00 +0000

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.

Hamilton, Bermuda -- Day 2

Tue, 24 May 2016 19:00:00 -0600

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).

Arrival in Hamilton, Bermuda

Mon, 23 May 2016 19:00:00 -0600

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.

At Sea

Sun, 22 May 2016 19:00:00 -0600

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.

Boston, Massachusetts and Set Sail

Sat, 21 May 2016 19:00:00 -0600

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.

Boston, Massachusetts -- Day 2

Fri, 20 May 2016 19:00:00 -0600

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.

Boston, Massachusetts -- Day 1 -- Lexington and Concord

Thu, 19 May 2016 19:00:00 -0600

TL;DR We went to Lexington and Concord.

Starting Out

Our first order of business after we woke up was to eat breakfast. There is a Bruegger’s Babel store on the same street as our hotel. After a bagel, we rode the Red line subway to Cambridge. We walked over to the car rental place and got our car. Then mom drove up to Lexington (I would have driven, but it’s illegal). Our first stop was the Minute Man Visitor Center. We watched a short film that explained the events of the Battle of Lexington and Concord.

New York, New York to Boston, Massachusetts

Wed, 18 May 2016 19:00:00 -0600

Today was primarily spent travelling by train from New York to Boston. We woke up and got ready to go on the train. Our hotel is literally across the street from Penn Station where we caught our train. We grabbed some breakfast for on the train and then waited for the track to be announced. We got on the train fine and finding seats was not a problem. The ride was fine and I was able to catch up on my blog post from yesterday.

New York, New York -- Day 2

Tue, 17 May 2016 19:00:00 -0600

Although it’s the 18th, I’ll be writing this as if it were yesterday.

TL;DR today we rode the Big Bus tour bus around Lower Manhattan. Then we walked to the Intrepid Museum. After that we went biked around in Central Park and went to the Rockefeller Complex.

Big Bus Tour

We started our day by getting on the Big Bus tour, the tour we got tickets for yesterday morning. The bus stopped right outside our hotel which was nice. Unfortunately we had no idea the exact location it would stop so we wandered around asking people. We managed to find the correct spot and board the bus. There was a guide who gave information about the sights we were seeing from the bus. He was a New York Native who grew up somewhere near Central Park. We drove past a bunch of interesting sites in downtown New York. Everything from museums and monuments to Wall Street and Broadway. I would elaborate on what we learned, but that would be a lot of writing so I won’t. Besides, judging by the dismal number of views I’m getting on my posts, you probably don’t care anyway.

New York, New York

Mon, 16 May 2016 19:00:00 -0600

Today seemed like a really long day because it was. We started out at 07:45 and arrived back at the hotel at 23:00 (11 PM for those of you who don’t understand 24 hour time).

TL;DR We went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island then to the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Then we did a bus tour/entertainment thing and then went up the Empire State Building.

Denver, CO to New York, NY

Sun, 15 May 2016 20:52:00 -0600

Today my mom and I arrived in New York, New York. We made it through the Denver TSA Security fairly quickly, and got to our gate with plenty of time. We boarded the plane without issue, but I had the fortune of sitting in front of a baby who kicked my seat throughout the flight and screamed when she wasn’t kicking. (Maybe a slight exaggeration, but not much of one.) I was able to plug in my headphones and sleep through a lot of it.

Going on Another Trip!

Sat, 14 May 2016 15:24:00 -0600

To celebrate the end of my senior year, I am going on trip with my mom to New England. We will be going to New York City, Boston and then taking a cruise which goes to Bermuda, back to Boston, and then to Bar Harbor, Maine; Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; Quebec City, Quebec, Canada; and Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A few days of the cruise we will be cruising the St. Lawrence River. We will spend a day or two in Montreal and then fly to Atlanta where we will meet Hannah and spend time with friends and family in Georgia.