By Charles and Nancy Nevil
New York
New York: The most populous and arguably the most exciting city in the United States, is often referred to as the city that never sleeps. Why would you want to? When you can catch a musical on Broadway, visit world class museums and incredible art galleries, sample an eclectic and varied range of food, and embrace the epicenter of cultural diversity, I can understand you might want to forgo a few hours of slumber. But, if you get the opportunity to take a bite out of the “Big Apple,” I urge you to explore the rest of the east coast like we did on a Silversea Cruise.
New York was chock-full of fun, bustling city streets, and grandeur thrills. Be certain you bring enough money though, as it can get quite expensive. We saw two entertaining plays, reminisced with our friends, dined at some of the most exquisite restaurants, and fought off the rain almost every day. On our quest to find the elusive sunshine, we discovered a lot more earthly gems than we bargained for.
The Statue of Liberty, which is notoriously one of the most famous and popular landmarks in New York, was a definite must see. We arrived at Battery Park around noon and were advised the ferry line wait would take 2 hours. Here’s a good traveler tip: if you want to make that sightseeing trip, get downtown at 8:15 in the morning when the ticket office opens. It will make your wait time to see Lady Liberty much more bearable. We then decided to take a leisurely walk uptown to kill the 2 hour wait time. We walked through the financial district and watched tourists having their picture taken with the Wall Street Bull (a famous sculpture) then stopped once again at the 9/11 Memorial to look at the almost finished new building. Strolling through the charming Soho district with its shops and hotels was delightful, as was Union Square because Charles held a lot of poignant memories there as a child.
One prominent business we had intentions to visit was Eataly, a new indoor food mall, replete with restaurants and great products to purchase. This Mario Battali creation allows you to revel in some of best Italian goodies anywhere. We had a wonderful meal at Pranzo which doubles as a restaurant and cooking school. It was delightful, savory, and a true foodie experience. Speaking of foodies, if you are one at heart and game for a distinctive experience, you should take a food tasting tour of Brooklyn! We booked a tour called the Best of Brooklyn and had a fabulous day walking, eating and learning about the ethnically divergent area.
Boston, Massachusettes
Although boarding complications caused us to bypass the Rhode Island port and cruise into Boston late, we did manage to have a wonderful tour of Lexington, Concord, and the Harvard campus. Not even the endless drizzle could diminish the beauty of these wonderful historical sites and the vivid colors of the leaves. The Boston area is just overwhelmingly fabulous and interesting. It is the America of all of the history books and was made even more intriguing with a skilled guide.
Bar Harbor, Maine
Bar Harbor is a tiny jewel of a resort area, complete with quaint stores and restaurants, and of course, an abundance of lobster. I am happy to report that the lobster is delicious and relatively inexpensive. It was a short but fun visit, with not even a hint of sunshine.
Halifax, Nova Scotia
When dawn broke, there was no blinding sun to greet our ship, but it did not rain and we had a really nice time visiting a Farmer’s Market and then walking along the shore enjoying beautiful views and meeting a lot of very friendly people. In the afternoon, we took an interesting tour that focused on the Titanic. Halifax is where the center of rescue activities took place and where both survivors and recovered bodies were brought.
Sydney, Canada
Sydney, Nova Scotia and Sydney, Australia were both named in honor of the British Lord Sydney. About the only thing they have in common is that they are both on the water, yet they are each unique in their own right. As breakfast ends and the sun makes an appearance, we are taking a pink double decker Hop on/Hop off bus to paint the town red. We really enjoyed Charlottetown and think it would make a wonderful summertime visit. Colorful leaves everywhere? No, but we did have some of the best Ice Cream we have ever tasted from a chain called Cows, who claim to have the best Ice Cream in Canada and we have to agree.
Quebec City
At last, in the waning moments of nighttime darkness on this next to last day of our voyage, we slowly pulled into Quebec City. Yet again, Mr. Sun decided to stay under the clouds and, as beautiful as the leaves seem to be, we can only see them in the gray of day. Nonetheless, Quebec City is beyond wonderful; clean streets and genuine people full of life. Even in the dark of day as sprinkles covered us, we learned to dance in the rain. We can only imagine how beautiful Quebec City is in the summer!
In retrospect, each and every city we explored contributed to our sun seeking adventure. From New York to Canada, and every city in between, the rain, gray, and fog couldn’t stop us from finding fall foliage and vitamin D on our journey. Although we weren’t able to visit one of the ports, and encountered dismal weather for the most part, we had a wonderful time on our trip and found several ports we’d like to visit in the future. After all, when you have lemons, you have to learn how to make lemonade. Overall, we’d recommend the Silversea Cruise to anyone interested in going!
Contact a Silversea Cruises Travel Specialist at 800-300-4567 or click HERE
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