Ketchup Number 3

 We spent some time at home after our trip to Oregon and Washington, primarily to enjoy the fruits of our limited garden. We planted a yellow squash plant and a watermelon plant. The watermelon plant was joined by a volunteer watermelon plant and we were briefly overloaded with watermelon. The squash plant kept us busy for a month or more, but the watermelons were awesome!

Twenty one and a half pounds of delicious sweet goodness! For two weeks we gave watermelons to the neighbors, the gardener, the heavy equipment operator up the road, and....ourselves to the point of anguish! We've saved some seeds and hope to recreate the "garden" next year!

So...having a little time available in late September, we decided to use the credit the Norwegian Cruise Lines "gave" us two years ago when Covid canceled the trip we had scheduled to Alaska. This time we wanted to catch a glimpse of Fall Colors in the North East, so we booked a week-long cruise that left from Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, and finished in Boston, Massachusetts. Trying to stretch the trip and take advantage of the included airfare, we flew into Montreal and spent a couple of days enjoying a brief tour of the city. The building in the lower right with the white storefront is the hotel we stayed in. Called a boutique hotel, the Chateau Notre Dame is a renovated building that dates from the 1800's. The first floor is business footage, but the upper floors are apartments. We didn't know it at first, but the apartments are designed to be rented on a long term basis. We didn't get a chance to use the kitchen facilities or spend much time there, but it was a wonderful place to stay and was convenient to Old Town on one side and the Basilica Notre Dame on the other. We spent a good bit of time walking old town and shopping!

It rained during the evening on one of the days we stayed in Montreal, so we watched the activities on the street below, called Rue de Notre Dame Qwest. It took me most of two days to finally realize that "Qwest" meant "west".

The cathedral Notre Dame is undergoing renovation, but was still available for a tour. It was interesting that the church is active, with Mass being said on a regular basis, but a visit to the Basilica will cost you $15 US! I wonder if the congregation has to pay to attend Mass!

The city is lit up at night like ..... a city.

Friends Ed and Rosemary were our traveling companions. Rosemary was a travel agent in a past life and she and Ed have enjoyed over 25 cruises! They were a great help navigating the intricacies of cruising.

Montreal was the site of the Winter Olympics and the ski jump building is still in use in the park where many of the events took place.

So many old buildings in downtown Montreal trace their past to the 1600's. We didn't have time to research the history of downtown other that to talk (as best we could) to locals. Interesting buildings!

Many of the buildings in downtown were decorated for Halloween. This building near our hotel was particularly fun to see!

On the second day in Montreal we took a bus tour of the city. There were so many things to see that we needed a tour guide. Montreal is primarily a French speaking city, and the tour guide was phenomenal in his ability to speak both English and French. He would speak a sentence or short paragraph in one language and then immediately, without a pause, repeat it in the other. By the end of the tour we felt like we could speak French!

Just a block away from the Basilica, we admired one of the many sculpture gardens scattered throughout the city.

The tour took us to the Cathedral of Saint Joseph, with an appropriate statue.

One last look at the street in front of our hotel, and then it was time to wander off to the ship.

We were scheduled to board the ship and sail off into Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island almost immediately, but hurricane Ian had other plans for us. NCL decided to stay in Quebec another day, so after we settled into our cabins (no....not staterooms...) we cast about for something to do in Quebec. Well, another bus tour of the city fit our needs. At one time there must have been a competition to build the most unusual structure in the city, because there are buildings that will stretch ones imagination!

Quebec City consists of the Lower Town and Upper Town due to the steep cliff separating the area along the St Lawrence Seaway and the plains above. The most famous landmark visible from anywhere in the city is the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac Hotel. Standing proud on the very top of the cliff and commanding a view of Lower Town, the River, and the Plains of Abraham just outside of Upper Town. The Plains of Abraham today is a huge park similar to Central Park in New York City, but was the site of a battle between the French and English on September 13, 1759. The area was used for grazing, housing and farming and was named for Abraham Martin, a fisherman and river pilot nicknamed The Scot, who moved to Quebec City in 1635.

Our bus took us through some (again) of the most picturesque old buildings, most dating from the 1700's

The city was built as a fort, and a protective wall was built for protection. The French, who settled the area in the early 1600's were continually fighting the English, who came up from the colonies in the south, hoping to expand their empire. Several of the gates in the wall still exist.

Much of downtown Upper Town has been transformed into restaurants and shops, but with a distinctive French flair. We wished that we had time to wander around. Maybe next time, but not in the winter!

This is reputed to be the oldest residence in Quebec City. I can't remember the exact date of it's construction, but it would have been in the 1620's!

Driving a 45 foot long bus through narrow streets has to be a real trick, but our experienced (I hope) driver did a yeoman job, all the while giving us the English/French translation of the sights.

Just outside the Chateau Frontenac, there is a central Visitors Center with a beautifully landscaped park.

After a two day delay, we finally set sail. Calm seas and warm temperatures made for a great experience.

The first thing we had to do was check in and make sure the Captain knew what he was doing!

And then, on to the delights of a cruise ship!

We woke up to a foggy, dreary day in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Settled by the Scots the town retains much of its Scottish heritage. Kilts abound even in this inclement weather!

Again, a bus tour was the order of the day. The tour destination was Peggy's Cove, a windswept and barren land whose history lies in fishing. The weather had turned to full on cold rain, accentuating the unfriendly area that hardy souls call home.

There is, of course a lighthouse, so we had to walk out and check it out.

The bus tour was supposed to also stop at the cemetery where many of the victims of the Titanic disaster are buried, but again Ian had other plans and the road to the cemetery was not passable.

Our next stop was Bar Harbor, Maine. The day was again bright and sunny, if a bit cool and windy. The harbor is beautiful, and we were treated to a trip on an enclosed lifeboat into town!

Sunsets and cloud formations were a marvel after the hurricane had passed.

The lifeboats were a marvel of modern engineering, with survival equipment and supplies that would last for many days.

Back to the ship.

At our last stop in Portland, Maine, we were scheduled to take an afternoon sail aboard a schooner, but Donna came down with a bug, and all we could do was wave at Ed and Rosemary as they sailed by!

After disembarking in Boston, we picked up a rental car and drove a couple of hours south to Cape Cod. We had left the ship early in the morning, so we had the afternoon to explore the area around Hyannis. A bit of research led us to the Kennedy compound, but we found the way into the residences blocked by private security.

We did, however, catch a long distance glimpse of some of the compounds residences.

Oh, I forgot to include the departure arrangement left by the cabin steward. Cute!

On our second and only full day on Cape Cod, we scheduled a ferry boat ride to the island of Marthas Vineyard. Again with the rain, but the half-hour ferry ride was just fine.

The dock at Marthas Vineyard welcomed us with more rain, but we persevered and took a walk around town. The tourist season had ended by the time we were there, the first of October, so several shops were closed. We ducked (no pun intended) into a combination coffee and ice cream shop to assess our day, and came up with...a bus tour!

Marthas Vineyard is a much larger island than I had expected, with lakes and rivers and many secluded areas. As we passed along the main road, we watched for mailboxes with famous names on them....never did see any.

It's easy to see what the climate is on the island by the moss on the fences!

And, of course, the obligatory lighthouse!

Sorry, no pictures of Bostons Logan Airport....I don't want to remember anything about it. Miles upon miles of concrete and steel with a tram circling it. Too many people for this old cowboy. The trip home, however, was interesting. A short hop to Newark, New Jersey, and then a plane home introduced us to the intricacies of flying 6+ hours in an Economy seat with a carryon under the seats in front of us. We smiled at the number of people standing in the aisle or standing and leaning over their seats to try to relieve the cramps and discomfort. The attendants had a very difficult time distributing the pretzels!

Once home and settled, we needed to address the problem of having too many vehicles. It became evident that two pickups was overkill, so Satchmo had to go. We had owned this truck for 20 years and put 170,000 miles on it, so it was sad to see it go! I didn't expect so much interest in an old truck, but we were able to sell it within a week. Satchmo? We tend to name our vehicles, and at the time we purchased the truck we were spending a good bit of time in New Orleans, enjoying jazz and such.....especially trumpet solos.....you get the picture.

The weather on the west coast in October was unseasonably warm, and the watermelon plants we had left to fend for themselves decided to produce another crop! The first crop tended to weigh about 20 pounds each, but in this crop the largest watermelon was 14 pounds. Not quite as flavorful as the first go-round, but an unexpected treat nevertheless!

As a fitting close to this post, the Maple trees in the front yard have reached their full fall color. It's quite a bit later than the east coast and upper midwest, but beautiful anyway. The trees creep up on the color change, then are spectacular for two days, and then begin to loose their leaves. Wish they lasted longer!

We're settling down for some Thanksgiving and Holiday cheer with a couple of birthdays thrown in. A few more projects to do to the house and the rv, and then we'll be ready to roll.