Culver City P.O.: 2022

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Disney "Magic" Cruise, 2022

Our ship, the Disney "Magic"

We had reservations to visit Europe in July 2020, when the pandemic hit. Not only was our land tour of Spain canceled, but so was our Disney cruise From Barcelona to Dover, England. Disappointed, we nevertheless transferred our deposit to a cruise through the Panama Canal the following February, but it, too, was canceled. Finally, last week, we got to take our cruise—this time a six-night round-trip voyage from NYC to Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the Disney "Magic." Our goal? To see the fall colors rarely seen in Los Angeles.

This was our third Disney cruise, so not many surprises, though the experience—and service—was stellar as always. We boarded our ship in the Port of New York, after successfully passing a COVID test at the dock terminal. Lunch was waiting for us as soon as we came aboard. At 4:45PM, the crew and several Disney characters greeted everyone with a raucous and rousing show topside. We then went downstairs to prepare for dinner. We like the "early seating" (5:45PM) so we can digest our meal well before bedtime.

Never a dull moment on the Disney "Magic," even though we spent two entire days at sea. We enjoyed "Broadway-style" shows at night and a plethora of onboard daytime activities. Though there were lots of folks our age on the cruise, we (of course!) won the first "name that tune" contest of the trip: snippets of rock 'n roll songs from the '50s/60s. We also made new friends while waiting on line to meet some of our favorite Disney and Marvel "characters."

Highlights of our much-too-brief Disney "Magic" trip included dinner at the Animators Palate dining hall. Not only was the food excellent, but on our first night, scenes from animated Disney movies were projected on the walls surrounding the tables. I wasn't the only one wiping away happy tears. Then, on our fourth night, a highly imaginative show encouraged diners to create their own cartoon characters, which amazingly came to life before dessert! Luckily, we had wonderful dinner companions all six nights at table #57. Could it possibly be coincidence that the only other passenger who worked in radio was also seated at our table? I think not. Tim and new friend Jeff had lots to talk about!

Ahoy! Aboard ship, still docked in NYC

Crew and characters welcoming everyone before heading out to sea

Top deck: Not so hidden Mickeys

And more!

You know you're on a Disney cruise

when your captain is a mouse!

Ship's lobby decorated for Halloween

Me with Mickey at the helm in the

ship's lobby

Passing the Statue of Liberty at sunset as we head out to sea

Day at sea: Getting our steps by walking around the ship.

3 laps = 1 mile

Winning "Name That Tune." Our prize: Mickey luggage tags.

(Are you seeing a theme here yet?)

Photo op with Captain America

And Jack Skellington, plus girlfriend Sally

My personal fave: Thor!

Night entertainment in the Walt Disney Theatre

Dinner show in Rapunzel's Cafe

Eating a hot dog poolside

Our silly cartoon characters that came to life in

Animators Palate. Can you guess who drew which?

The boat ride was wonderful, but so were the onshore tours. So please keep reading below!

NYC to Halifax and Back Again

Disney "Magic" and tender boat to Bar Harbor, MN

Bar Harbor, Maine

After a day at sea, we docked off the east coast of Maine and took a small tender boat into Bar Harbor—which everyone warned us is pronounced "Bah HAH-bah"—a small town on Mount Desert Island, most famously known as the gateway to the Acadia National Park. Despite gloomy predictions, the weather was crisp and sunny—perfect for a hike through the woods. We were hoping to see fall colors. Our first day ashore did not disappoint.

Riding in a large motorcoach, we spent several hours touring Acadia National Park, created about 100 years ago when local millionaires, like the Rockefellers, donated land to preserve the area's green foliage. Today the area is home to celebrity millionaires, such as Martha Stewart and Dick Wolf, creator of the Law and Order franchise.

Sadly, a huge portion of the park—and Bar Harbor—was destroyed by fire in 1947. But, as devastating as this was, the good news is that other types of trees, like birch, beech, maples, etc., grew in place of the conifers, resulting in the beautiful yellow, orange and red leaves we now love. Hundreds of tourists were visiting the national park when we were there, even though it was a Wednesday in the middle of October! Lucky for us, we had excellent tour guides to lead us away from the leaf-peeping crowds.

Glorious colors!!

Creeks!

Hiking through the trees

Stopping for a selfie

More color

Diverse foliage

Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

Saint John was our next day's adventure. Another small town, but with colonial roots. We took a two-hour "foodie tour" of the downtown area. The most famous attraction is the Saint John public market, located inside an 1876 building and rather small, compared to other markets we've visited in Canada. Tim did sample "dulse," a seaweed product that's high in iodine and potassium—our group was not impressed! We were, however, very impressed by the town's Pomodori pizzeria, which has won numerous awards. Who knew?

Colorful but small public market. That's Tim

peaking over our "loyalist" tour guide's shoulder.

Me enjoying Pomodori pizza!

Halifax, Nova Scotia

A true high point of our trip was spending an entire day in Halifax, the provincial capital of Nova Scotia. Lots of history here, including being the burial site of over 100 passengers who died on the Titanic. Halifax is fully exposed to the Atlantic Ocean and so has seen its fair share of hurricanes. Still, of all the places we visited, this is the one I'd move to if we had to live in Canada.

Our first stop was the public garden, a beautiful Victorian space established in 1874. Some modernists apparently want to update the grounds, but I say "No!" I loved the plants, especially the small collection of dahlias, which are the garden's specialty.

From here, we visited the Titanic gravesites—very moving—and then on to Peggy's Cove, a picturesque fishing village on the edge of nowhere. Very blustery, but happily the rain held-off until we got back to the ship. It was a bumpy boat ride back to NYC.

The public garden's gazebo, built in honor

of Queen Victoria's 60-year reign. Elizabeth

visited on her 60th anniversary year.

Outstanding dahlias

More!!

One of the many heartbreaking Titanic tombstones

Picturesque Peggy's Cove

Lobster traps

Local art

In front of the famous lighthouse

Monday, May 23, 2022

America's Canyonlands

Sunrise over the Grand Canyon

We had tickets to visit Spain, in July 2020, when the pandemic hit and canceled all tourism. Rather than get our money back, we "banked" our deposit with the tour company, Tauck, in hopes that someday we'd be able to travel again. That opportunity arrived earlier this month.

Though we visited the Grand Canyon together many, many years ago, we had never seen Bryce or Zion canyons and so decided to take Tauck's 8-day tour of "America's Canyonlands" through Arizona and Utah. Travel was by air-conditioned motorcoach and Tauck made all the arrangements—hotels, restaurants, and land and water excursions. Guests were responsible for their own travel to and from the tour. It was a bit rough living out of our luggage—each passenger was allowed only one large suitcase that had to be packed and ready by 7AM every morning!—plus we stayed in 7 different hotels over 8 nights. But as you can see here and over the four blog posts that follow, we had a fabulous time. We highly recommend Tauck for your next tour.

With COVID still very much in play, I was not yet ready to fly, so we rented a car and drove to AZ, where we met the rest of our crew. But first a visit with family in Phoenix and a day trip to see Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's former residence and training school, which (happily) was also hosting an exhibit of Chihuly glass sculptures. We spent the night at the Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale.

Taliesin West

Bell tower

Chihuly artwork

Another angle: Taliesin West

The Westin—very nice!

Yucca in bloom

Next stop: the Grand Canyon (see next blog entry) . . .

The Grand Canyon

Looking north across the Grand Canyon

From Scottsdale, we drove through Sedona to the Grand Canyon. Except for the two of us, all our co-travelers were from either the South or the East Coast and so very few had ever seen the Canyon. In fact, most people said this was the main reason they booked the trip. To make our journey more fun, we were encouraged to collect "passport" stamps at each stop—a clever way to get tourists to stop inside every national park tourist center.

Our tour guide was adamant that we arrive at the South Rim before sunset, so our driver maintained a quick pace despite frighteningly strong winds, which dogged us the entire trip. We indeed arrived before sunset. Our first stop: Mather Point for our first view of the Grand Canyon. Though I'd seen it before, it was impossible to wrap my head around its immense beauty and so I burst into tears instead! What a glorious sight! I was not the only one moved to tears.

Clouds rolled in by the time we settled into the Kachina Lodge, so sunset wasn't as spectacular as we'd hoped. But we all rose by 5AM the next morning to see the sunrise. We then ate breakfast at the legendary El Tovar Hotel, originally opened in 1905. All dark wood beams and rustic charm. By noon we were back on the road again, first to the Desert View Watchtower, on the east end of the Grand Canyon, and then north to Lake Powell and Glen Canyon (see next blog entry).