Deana King: July 24 - August 1: Canada/New England Family Cruise

Our cruise plan came together quickly. We realized that Austin, Amanda, and I all had the same week off! This phenomenon hadn't occurred since Austin began college in 2008. We decided to take a family vacation and settled on a New England/Canada cruise. Once Alan confirmed that he could take the week off as well, we began making plans. Connie Wise - best friend ever - came to our rescue and stayed at the house with Rylie.

We left on Friday, July 24 and flew from Atlanta to Charlotte. Our connection was delayed 3 hours because a tire change was needed. We arrived in Montreal around 2 AM. We caught the free shuttle to Novotel. I expected a dive, but it was a very nice room. My head hit the pillow at 2:48 AM.

Beginning our family vacation!

Saturday, May 25 - We headed to the ship! We are sailing on Holland America's Maasdam. We are enjoying the cooler weather. Dinner was excellent. We took in the entertainment and then headed to the casino.

Austin's "KSU" shirt started a lot of conversations. The people boarding the ship behind us were from Fayetteville, GA. And this is one of the last pictures of his khaki shorts. At lunch, mustard got on his shorts and it didn't come out.

Sunday, July 26 - Today is our 29th wedding anniversary and we are in Quebec City, Canada. We used Tom's Port Guides (found on the internet) to help us decide what to do at each stop. For this location, we chose to do a walking tour of Old Quebec. The elevation rises quickly so we took the Funicular up and then walked back down toward the ship later in the afternoon.

View from departing the cruise ship.

Chateau Frontenac - hotel - towering above

On the street in Old Quebec. Very pretty.

Another street view.

The funicular that provides a ride to the top instead of taking the stairs.

In front of the Chateau Frontenac when you get off the funicular.

Inside Chateau Frontenac

"STOP" in French

We walked up to the Plains of Abraham. You can see the ship in the background.

Today is Sunday so most of the churches are having services. We were able to walk into Santuaire Notre-Dame du Sacre Coeur. The interior picture is below.

Part of the wall surrounding Old Quebec.

The frog in the Parliament Building fountain.

Free tours were given of the Parliament Building - in English and French. In Quebec, if the sign is national, it must be in English and French. Otherwise, French is the predominant language. This room is inside the Parliament building where government officials meet.

The Parliament Building and the fountains/gardens across the street in front of the building.

The Senate room which is used for conferences.

A light rain fell while we walked.

Outside of City Hall - 29th anniversary for us.

At the cannons that lined portions of the walled city.

View of the street from the top of the stairs.

A giant mural on the side of a building.

Alan being goofy.

Monday, July 27 - This is our only day at sea. Very relaxing. We met by the pool. When they rolled the roof back, Amanda wrapped up in a blanket because it was so chilly. We are not missing the 90+ degree weather in Atlanta! It is also our formal night.

The lights by the stairs are yellow. We thought these made us look jaundiced so we found another location for additional pictures.

Now we aren't quite as yellow.

Tuesday, July 28 - Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island - This was one of my favorite places. It had rolling hills. The landscape was just beautiful. This island is the setting for the Anne of Green Gables books. I haven't read them nor has anyone else in the family so we weren't very interested in all of the Lucy Maud Montgomery sites, but lots of people were. We were more enthralled with the scenery.

Alan exited the ship first and went to Founder's Hall to catch the shuttle to the rental car location. I made the kids stand by the giant lobster for a photo op.