East Coast Adventure

Once we parked the big chopper from our EPIC firefighting summer, Aaron and I decided to stay on the east coast for one more week for a few reasons.  Unfortunately in our business many of our jobs with the helicopter are “mother nature” related, so once we completed fighting the wildfires in Canada, it was immediately hurricane season and Hurricane Florence was due to arrive on the east coast in a few days and the calls were already coming in regarding our location.  So we decided to sit tight on the east coast for a few days until it made landfall and see if we were needed.  But as most of you know, Aaron and I don’t do too much “sitting” so we caught a last minute 5 day cruise out of Boston that was headed north, out of Hurricane Florence’s direction!  Our stops included Halifax, Nova Scotia, St. Johns, New Brunswick, and Bar Harbor, Maine.  We both needed this time to just relax and unwind from such an eventful and hardworking summer and I wanted to cross off a few more places off my bucket list.  

Our first stop was Halifax.  My parents had been here before on the Fall Colors Cruise, which Aaron and I were beginning to catch a glimpse of and were fortunate to see it from the helicopter the previous year on a ski lift job he did in Vermont.  But we missed this color change by about 3 weeks or so…anyway…the parents told us to go to Peggy’s Cove.  We hired a local driver for a couple of hours who did a great job of pointing out all the local attractions and points of interest.  The weather in Halifax was absolutely gorgeous and we couldn’t have asked for a better day to check out the city.  We really enjoyed our day there and it really was an awesome stop.  We were hoping to catch up with an old buddy Wally Workman but unfortunately our stop was too short…so hopefully next time!

Next up was St. Johns!  Once again, we got a taxi driver to drive us around for 2 hours and take us to the famous spot called The Reversing Falls, which are a series of rapids on the Saint John River that run through a narrow gorge before emptying into the Bay of Fundy forcing the flow of water to reverse against the prevailing current when the tide is high. I’m sure it would have been pretty cool to see it at the times when the tide is actually changing, but sadly our ship left by then….so if this is something on your list…definitely get the times before you go…or I’m afraid you’re going to be sorely disappointed. 

One thing that wasn’t on the list of the cruise ship or really anywhere was this stunning 600 acre coastal park which our driver took us to just to kill some time.  If we had known about it or had done some more research, I think we would have went out there first and spent more time hiking around and spent our whole time here.  It was the Irving Nature Park and it was an amazing little piece of paradise.  I’d say next time…but I’m pretty sure unless a chopper job takes us here…this is a “once and done” kinda town!  We grabbed our last Tim Hortons coffee for awhile and the best beavertail imaginable and got back on the ship.  

Probably our favorite stop on this cruise was Bar Harbor.  We had pre-booked Lulu Lobster Boat, which I would highly recommend.  That mornings visibility was maybe 50 feet, so I wasn’t sure what was going to happen once we got off the ship….which was a feat in it’s own just to get the tender boat ashore!  Be sure to catch the video below.

Bar Harbor is home to the largest parts of Acadia National Park, including Cadillac Mountain (also named after my car evidently), the highest point within twenty-five miles of the coastline of the Eastern United States.   After Aaron and I had an extremely educational Lobster Tour, which really was exceptional, we took a trolley ride up to the top of Cadillac Mountain and Acadia National Park, then came back down for some lobster and wild berry pie!  Another great weather day for sightseeing…minus the early morning fog…but it made for an interesting tender ride!

Once back in Boston we got word that we were not needed for Hurricane Relief Efforts but Aaron’s partner Fred planned to meet him in PA in a few days….so what else to do in the meantime but start crossing off MORE BASEBALL STADIUMS!!!  Ironically, the Boston Red Sox were playing at 1 P.M. the day our cruise got back into port….so we caught Boston vs. Mets and with Fenway being the oldest MLB (built in 1912)….it was an honor to be able to be there and see it in person. 

We stayed the night in Boston and then headed to Baltimore to catch the Orioles vs. BlueJays. Part of my bucket list is not only going to all the MLB Stadiums but getting some pretty amazing seats….most of the time we are close to home plate.  The reason I bring this up is because most of the time these seats cost a little bit of money….but we know this and this is why we work lol…..anyway, we got on SeatGeek to purchase our Orioles tickets and the total came to $16 for the two of us for 4 rows back from home plate!  Now, the weather was forecasted for rain, so we figured maybe that’s why they were so cheap…but worst case, we get our money back….and for $16 bucks we were willing to chance it anyway.  Uh….it turned out to be clear, blue, and 22….one of the best nights in Baltimore….gorgeous sunset, phenomenal stadium, and $16 SEATS FOR TWO!!!!  It doesn’t get any better than that. 

Last but not least, we returned to Philly and caught a night game.  I am left with only 4 more MLB Stadiums to go…..after that….I will need a new focus!