Mysterious New England by the Editors of YANKEE Magazine

I found a used copy of the GREAT 1970s book, Mysterious New England for a few bucks recently.  It was a very well spent few dollars!

The copyright inside shows 1971, and the book was put together by the editors of YANKEE Magazine.  It is a large volume at 300 plus pages.  The stories are interesting and well written though, making this a very easy to read book for it's size.

The book has many short stories about ghosts, strange people, odd places, and just general weird stories relating to New England.

The writers tell the stories clearly, and there are some pretty good sources mentioned.  One writer talked about trying to find the remnants of an old forgotten town.  They were able to talk to some old timers who remembered the place.

I REALLY liked that about the book.  Being that it came out nearly 50 years ago, it is just generally closer to the sources overall.  I have read similar books that have come out more recently, by newer authors...  and their stories don't have the same authenticity.

This book also reminded me of the almost sacred books I might randomly come across in my middle school library.  Access to books was a bit more limited than now.  There might be 10 books on a topic of interest in a local library.  There might be a few at Waldenbooks in the mall....  So you devoured every book you could find on a topic.

But there were some great ones back then that almost seem to have disappeared.  I feel very lucky that I found this one.

Its strange, weird, and real.  Its very authentic, and unlike some of the more modern spooky books concerning New England, this one delivers.

Our First Cruise on the Norwegian Dawn through Canada and New England!

So..... going on a cruise has been something we have wanted to do for some time.  We FINALLY got around to doing it!  YEAH! 

I am a bit behind on sorting out photos......  So, we did this cruise in late October but... it takes some time to sort photos and thoughts out.

First off, we had a great time.  We enjoyed the cruise, and we were blown away by the food, the service, the entertainment, etc. etc.  Cruising isn't cheap though, and there are some things about it that I wasn't 100% thrilled with.  I guess what I am trying to say is that we had fun, but we both noticed some things about cruising that we didn't like.  As I go through my pictures and talk more about it, I will try to be honest about everything.

So...  where to begin....  Well, we ended up going from Lexington KY to Detroit, To JFK in NYC, to Quebec City.  The cruise went from Quebec City to Sydney Nova Scotia, to Halifax Nova Scotia, to Saint John, New Brunswick, to Bar Harbor Maine, and finally to Boston.  Flying back we went from Boston to Detroit, to Lexington.  Counting our flights, we visited TEN states/Canadian Provinces (including Detroit twice).  This was an ambitious trip!

ALL of the food was great (I will get some pics up later).  The shows were a lot better than I expected too.

Let me get some of the negatives out of the way.  Our room (and the ship in general) was very clean, but our toilet area had a funky smell that never went away.  We talked to others with the same problem.

I have a book that I get postmarked or cancelled at every post office or National Park we visit (I have all sorts of stamps, cancels and stickers from coffee shops, B&Bs, museums, etc that we visit).  Well, I asked at the front desk if there was any sort of special ship cancel.  I was told that the captain did a special stamp, and I should be able to get it if I left my book at the front.  I am reluctant to ever let this book out of my possession, but I left it there, and was told to come back in a couple of hours.  I did, and my book was still "out."  I was told to come back later.  Then later again.  Then the next morning.  So, the next morning I came back, and it was still out.  I asked if I could have this book back (never mind about the stamp), as I wanted it with me as I wanted it with me as I got off the boat.  I still had to wait for it, but I FINALLY got it back....  without the stamp.

The excursions were a bit hit or miss.  AND they are pricy.  I am glad that we did them this time, as this was our first cruise, and we weren't sure of what to expect.  BUT we will be very reluctant to buy them in the future.  One tour guide would point something out and then talk about it as we drove away.  The photo opportunities were limited and rushed.  AND, we felt that some of the guides were a bit expectant of tips afterwards.  The excursions had a rushed feel at times too.

I guess, I was comparing the excursions to tours of cities I have taken before.  Some of the basic city tours I have taken before have a casual feel.  AND they have cost about half to a third of what these excursions cost.

There are some major benefits to the excursions though.  We did a 2+ hour tour of Acadia National Park and it WAS a great way to see the park and get a good feel for it while cruising (and on a bit of a time limit).  ALSO, we had an AMAZING walking tour of Quebec City that was absolutely a highlight of the entire cruise.

More on all of this later........