New England/Canada Cruise. Day 3. Vacationland.

We woke up this morning around 8, already docked in Portland, Maine.

We had a quick buffet breakfast and then made it off the ship around 10:30, which was about 30 minutes later than we had planned. Our first destination was to be the Portland Observatory, about .7 miles away from the cruise port. Tzvi called an Uber, but mama said it was a nice day and we might as well walk. So we did. Uphill, in 90 degree heat, pushing a stroller, for almost a mile. It was dreadful. It also seemed like we were walking through a seedy area.

they’re so into beer in Portland that they have taps on their cars

This man joined our walking group. We named him Glenn.

We finally made it to the Portland Observatory, a maritime signal tower built in 1807. To be clear, it’s not a lighthouse – it’s a signal tower to communicate with ships coming into the port. The tower is all wood, has no ac, and is 103 steps to the top. We waited a few minutes and then got a guided tour from a fairly large man with a white mustache who looked like he would be from Maine. It was so hot. It was a very informative tour and everyone else enjoyed, and Hallie was a little bit difficult during it. We made our way to the top, stopped on each of six levels to hear about the tower. At the top were very nice views of the whole city which I took in for a hole 30 seconds before having to go back downstairs with Hallie.

our tour guide. We named him Earle. He looked like an Earle.

After the tower we were all beat already, so we abandoned Tzvi’s original plan to go to the Wadsworth Longfellow House, which was about a mile away and promised another (what we predicted to be poorly ventilated/air conditioned) walk-through. Instead we walked around the Old Port area. We got iced coffees at a place called Bard Coffee, then tried to buy Tzvi a Starbucks mug for his collection of city mugs, but they were sold out (as were all Starbucks in Portland).

We stopped at a famous donut shop called The Holy Donut, where we bought a dozen Maine potato donuts (one of each kind). Then we went to a bakery called Standard Baking Company, where Tzvi bought an entire loaf of sourdough bread, a pear frangipane tart and a vanilla madeleine. All was delicious. The donuts were really great – kind of like a cake donut but less heavy, though still cakier than a fried donut, and the flavors were really powerful.

After the bakery people were hungry and tired. We had a seen a fast casual place with vegetarian options a few blocks back, but my parents weren’t willing to walk back, so we split up and they went back to the ship. The restaurant was called B Good. I ordered a kale and tofu salad with avocado and Tzvi ordered a veggie burger with gouda cheese. We ordered just a plate of cheese for Hallie. When the food came, the salad was missing the avocado, the burger was missing the cheese, and we didn’t have Hallie’s plate of cheese. The waitress apologized and they got us the missing items and all was delicious. We also got fries with ketchup, which Hallie of course devoured. After lunch we walked back to the ship, stopped to buy Hallie stickers at an overpriced paper store. I think it was something like 20 cents a sticker.

Once we got back on the ship we ate a bunch of donuts and then changed into bathing suits. We took Hallie to the splash pool, which she loved and played in for almost an hour. The Croatia vs Denmark world cup game was on the big screen over the pool and people were very excited about it, especially once it went to penalty kicks. We got a cocktail. Nice afternoon.

We went back to the room to shower and change for dinner around 5. At 6:30 we went upstairs to Giovani’s Table, the specialty Italian restaurant. When we walked in I saw a sign for a cupcake decorating class. I inquired and found out its at the same time as the galley tour we want to take! Why would they make two food related activities at the same time? I told the man my issue and he empathized. He then said he would show me the cupcake kit that everyone goes home with later in the meal. We sat at our table and started with bread. It was okay, all had some sort of olives. They gave us this great roasted garlic though, like what we like to make at home, except better. Maybe they poach it in oil or something.

“Don’t want to take a picture with Daddy!”

you can see the observatory at the top of the frame, and see just how far uphill we walked

I started with an arugula salad that was drenched in salt. Like they should’ve just called it a salt salad. There was so much salt that it was actually crunchy. Tzvi had a caprese salad and a tuna tartare, which he said were fine but a little bland. For the mains, I had gnocchi with tomato sauce, which was eh. Tzvi had eggplant parmesan with a “side” of tagliatelle and cream sauce (it was a full sized entrée, which he ate almost all of). Tzvi also ordered the day’s special ravioloi “for the table” and then ate all of it himself. Again, all a little bit bland but he enjoyed. For dessert they brought around a cart and scooped tiramisu onto Tzvi’s plate and chocolate cake onto mine. It was fine. Mid dinner I was shown the cupcake kit. Its cute. We’re going to have to check out the menu for the brunch that accompanies the galley tour and then decide.

After dinner we went down to deck 5 where they were having a $10 watch sale. My father was very excited because he loves the Cruise Club $10 watches. When we got to the table though the woman said, “sir, your watch is inside” and pointed to the expensive jewelry store. Then he told her a story about how he tried to have the band replaced on his Cruise Club watch but it cost $18 to repair (more than the original cost of the watch). The woman didn’t really understand and just tried to sell him a different watch.

My parents went to see the comedy show and we went to the dining room to say hello to Mohamed and Ritchie (Hallie’s other friend, the dining room supervisor). Ritchie was busy but we saw Mohamed, who told us it wasn’t a strong menu in the dining room so we didn’t miss much. I said I wasn’t too happy about the desserts at the Italian restaurant so Mohamed said “you want to sit? I’ll bring you something.” Well of course we did. We sat and enjoyed a grand marnier soufflé, which was better than any of the desserts we had at the Italian place. He brought Hallie blueberries. We also chatted with Mohamed a bit and learned about Mauritius.

When we were done we went back to the room, put Hallie to bed, waited for my parents to get back, and then went back out to the 11 pm comedy. It wasn’t great. Some jokes about how we were spending two days in Maine and how there isn’t that much to see. Something else about how sad being a Mets fan in, and something about how the holy land is Boca Raton. Eh. After comedy we went to the 70s party on the promenade which was fun. Good day.

It’s fun to stay at the Y       M        C       A — It’s fun to stay at the Y M C A