Cycling Life's Highway

 

 
 

September 23, 2019

In the early morning light, we cruised into Portland harbor by Portland Head Lighthouse and two mid -1800 fortifications built on islands. It was another beautiful day to go exploring and Portland, Maine was waiting for us. The ship anchored out in the harbor so we had to take a tender ride into port.

Portland is the largest city in Maine with a population of 204,000. We had no pre-planned tours at this stop so we had the whole day open to ourselves. We spent most of our day walking around the waterfront to Fort Allen Park. The views of Casco Bay were picturesque. We passed by some vintage trains sitting on nearby tracks and realized it was part of the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum. Along with many trains to explore they had a train one could ride that circled the main city peninsula every hour.

After exploring parts of Old Portland, we made our way back to the ship and spent the rest of the day lounging in the sun on the Lido deck while snacking from the taco bar. When the Zuiderdam pulled out of Portland we cruised by Portland Head lighthouse one more time. The oldest lighthouse in Maine was built in 1791. Now the light station is automated, and the tower, beacon, and foghorn are maintained by the United States Coast Guard.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

September 22, 2019

On a beautiful fall morning the Zuiderdam pulled into Saint John, New Brunswick, population 70,000. The ship was moored wharf side in the Saint John River across from the spacious Bay of Funday. Centered in the relatively small city, we spent our day walking around and exploring the city and waterfront. Upon exiting the gangway, we found ourselves at a road running parallel to the shore. We chose to head southeast along the sidewalk towards the mouth of the river. Our walks, quickly led us through an undeveloped area along the river, much of which was fenced off and appeared to have once served some industrial purpose.

After a while, we came to a path that led us through a strip of parkland covering the tip of a small peninsula. At the end of the park area, we turned around and continued to enjoy a leisurely stroll back to the cruise ship berth. As the day was pleasant and still young, we continued past the ship and into the city. We were not especially anxious to undertake a lot more walking because there didn’t seem to be any noteworthy walking destinations in the immediate vicinity of the harbor.

However, we went to sample the local cuisine. Rodge was especially interested in looking for more of his favorite English/Canadian confectionaries – Scotch Mints.  After a 15-minute walk, we came to more complex civilization in the guise of the “Super Market Mall” located in Loyalist Plaza. It was a relatively small, multi-story, indoor mall housed in a non-descript red-brick building. Inside, Rodge found his mints in a small grocery store.

On our walk we saw two decorated salmon sculptures. In the fall of 2017, a partnership between the city’s tourism agency and the provincial government made way for ten sculptures to be placed around the city. Artists from the region added their own designs to help decorate the six-foot sculptures. The salmon were chosen because the Saint John River is a corridor to the fish’s spawning grounds. The painted sculptures were amazing and added a colorful addition to the city landscape.

It was time for lunch and fortunately the bottom level of the mall contained a number of small cafes that featured both indoor and outdoor seating. What followed was another relaxing meal and a taste of some local beer. Afterward, we strolled along the Harbor Passage waterfront. The 1.4-mile paved biking/walking trail led us around the head of the harbor where the sights were breathtaking.