This was the last stop, before the ship would turn around and head back to New York. I’ve never been to Saint John before. Have to say it was a nice little town. And as I have learned later in the day, we had the Europeans to thank for the beautiful architecture.
Sailing off to the last stop on this cruise, Saint John, NB.
We have docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Population of 390,095.
In a few hours we will be leaving the US waters and will be arriving in Canada.
If you’ll be visiting the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company and Museum make sure to ride the narrow gauge train. For a total of $10 you’ll get admission to the museum and a ride on the Polar Express. The train ride takes about 40 min traveling the 1.5 mile long railroad along the waterfront of Casco Bay.
Located in Portland, ME, the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company and Museum has a number of artifacts from 19th century and early 20th century, including several rail cars from that era.
The gauge is defined as the distance between rails. In the US the “standard” is 4′ 8.5″. Any distance less than that is considered “narrow” gauge. From the late 1800s through the 1940s Maine had five common carrier two-foot narrow gauge lines.
The Portland Observatory was build by Captain Lemuel Moody in 1807 as a maritime signal tower. Captain Moody asked the local business man to create a logo in the form of the flag. For a fee of $5 a year, he would fly the flag when the ship with supplies for that business was approaching. When their flag was up, they would know to line up the dock and the workers and be prepared for the arrival of the ship.
Until he developed that system, a lot of chaos was happening when ships arrived. They were not seen as they were approaching and practically were suddenly appearing in the harbor. Having the flag signals in place announcing the ship arrival greatly increased the efficiency of the harbor. During that time the Portland Harbor became the 4th busiest on the East Coast.
The tower remained family operated until 1923, the year when a two-way radio was invented. The tower was turned to the city in 1939 and designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2006. To this day the Portland Observatory offers panoramic views of the city.
We’ve arrived in Portland, Maine. Population of 66,318.
On the way to Portland, ME.
The first stop was Boston, at the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal. We decided to stay on the ship and enjoy a less crowded environment.
