Halifax, Nova Scotia

We joined forces with our new friends from Chicago and met up with our driver and van for the day.  This time however, we discovered that our driver had to breathe into a little machine before starting the car and then every 20 minutes while driving.  So we are assuming that this guy had more than one DUI and this was a device that monitored his blood alcohol level.  Apparently, if he had been drinking, the car wouldn't start.  Lucky for us, he hadn't been drinking!

Our first stop after about 45 minutes of driving was the town of Lunenburg, established by German immigrants that were enticed to Nova Scotia with the promise of land and a job in the fishing industry.

It was a cute little town with brightly colored buildings.

We learned that the little decorative touches around the windows are a distinct German design, but I can't remember what they are called.

This is St. John's Anglican church founded in 1753.

The interior had beautiful stained glass windows and lots of carved wood.  The columns were carved and painted to look like marble.  It was really amazing.

This area by the harbor has a Tribute to Fishermen.  Each column represents the points of a compass and contain the names of those lost at sea as well as the names of the vessels lost at sea.  It was interesting that some years, hundreds of men were lost, while other years only a very few.

The fishermen's tribute from the hill (above) and up close (below)

Our next stop was Mahone Bay, a darling town with a scarecrow festival in progress.  These are not your normal scarecrows and every house and practically every business had a display out front.

 I'm just chillin' with the girls......

 ....while Mark hung out with the boys.

 Bank humor

 The royal wedding

 Loved the paint job on this house

This is a REAL duck.

This is the place where we stopped for lunch:  seafood chowder, lobster salad sandwiches, and pumpkin cheesecake for dessert.  Very tasty.

Love the brightly colored buildings here as well... just what I think of when I think about eastern coastal towns!

After lunch we headed for Peggy's Cove and the rain starting pouring down.  There were also a ton of buses of tourists there at the same time, so between the rain and the tourists, photographic moments were a little difficult!

We returned to the ship and that night we had another towel animal waiting for us at bedtime:

The next day was a sea day and we headed back south into the storm that had been following us up the coast and I believe there had been a tropical storm somewhere out by Bermuda.  The seas were angry that day, my friends... But no seasickness ensued for us.  We weren't supposed to open our balcony doors because of wind and high seas, but that didn't stop me.  I loved the clouds.  The sea doesn't look that bad, but I'm about 10 stories up, so it is to tell.

It was another formal night and our menu included some delicious items:

Mark couldn't decide between prime rib and lobster, so he had both!

Our server, Fan, brought extra lobster tails for everyone.

This is our beverage server, Victor.

That night our show was "The Unexpected Boys" who do a very good impression of The Jersey Boys.  It was  a really great show and with the boat rocking, they were very light on their feet as they danced, sang, and did a little comedy.  Quite adorable, really.  They were selling CDs afterward and I couldn't resist getting my picture with them.