#LilaandMarysCruiseAdventure October, 2022

My friend Mary and I embarked on a mini cruise adventure! We drove from Elyria to Boston, stayed overnight at a comfort inn that allowed us to park our car there for the 7-day cruise, fed us free breakfast, and a free shuttle to the cruise terminal! Terminal! Both drives there and back were fantastic! The trip back was especially fantastic with the views carpeted with codes and reds and yellows and oranges. Western Massachusetts brought beautiful fall colors to life as if we had a gorgeous tapestry the entire way home!

We had three stops in Nova Scotia and two in Maine. Each brought a collection of beauty we could never have anticipated! I think our favorite excursion probably was the ultimate Anne of Green Gables experience! But we were treated to for fabulous excursions and whether that literally parted from the norm to give us beautiful excursions unobstructed by rain and/or high winds! We did witness damage from hurricane Fiona that actually upended 200-year-old trees etc. But that was 3 weeks earlier and recovery had begun and we were able to enjoy some of the natural beauty. Because of this damage, there was less fall foliage but our drive back home more than made up for that.

It was an absolute pleasure traveling with Mary. Mary had never been on a cruise before and I had been on a similar cruise out of New York some years ago. But I’m sure I’m not an easy roommate to live with so I was concerned that we might have some issues. We had none! The nice thing about my friendship with Mary is that were just very simple and honest and open with each other. We each gave ourselves space and time and did most of the things together but not everything!

I feel like I got caught up on a lot of much needed sleep. And we did a lot of steps and excursions and even though my right knee was acting up here and there, it got me through and we enjoyed every excursion at every port we stopped.

The Atlantic Ocean shared with us so much of its beauty and strengths. We left Port a few hours late due to a large container ship that blocked the exit. So we were traveling in a pretty high speed and pretty wild seas for the first night and day to make up that time. But we had a wonderful cabin, interior but very spacious for the two of us. The ship was about 90% full, but I never felt overcrowded or overwhelmed by the crowd! Admittedly, we were about the target age group for most of the travelers on the ship. It was a rather calm crowd if I might say so myself! These New England cruises in the fall are much different than a Caribbean, warm weather type of cruise and so the general mood of the gathering takes on a much more sedate mood!

We played a little in the casino, we shopped a little in the shops on board. The ship, we saw quite a bit of entertainment including a little game show here or there and a funny comedian. We had time to watch and read and enjoy ourselves. Of course the food and drink was fabulous.

Most importantly for me, the time away was perfect. I did have full internet because of some ongoing things at work so I did do some work responding, but I didn’t feel like it was too too much. I’m rather connected with my phone but not to a a stressful point. I think! I do wonder how we got along without them lol

Nova Scotia is Latin for new Scotland and is a nod to the early settlers of this region of Canada. I think it’s especially why I was looking forward to going there. It had much flavor of Scotland which holds a very special place in my heart and always will. A lot of Gaelic heritage is on display throughout.

We did Peggy’s Cove in Halifax which was fabulous. We did Kennebunkport, kennebunk and a bit of shopping to go along with it! That day in Portland, probably the chiliest of All of our excursion days, was still quite lovely. Unfortunately most of the shops were closed for the season lol. Guess we saved a bunch of money there!