White Mountains Day

Kancamagus Scenic Highway…say that fast three times.  It is a road less travel through the White Mountain National Forest (Two fer day) that follows the bends of the Swift River through about 35 miles of mid state New Hampshire.  Despite what is happening in Texas, it is still early spring here.  The cherry trees, and hardwoods are just budding…the elms, yes, elm trees, flank the highways.  Just as we have seen pine tree forest destroyed by beetles, last century, it was Dutch Elm disease.  Texas has very few elms particularly in the Houston area….here in New Hampshire, there are plenty.  

Typically, in season you can ride one of the two scenic railways through the forest and see the granite cliffs, waterfalls and gorges along the Swift River.  We are here before Memorial Day, so it is our trusty black rental car.  Post breakfast, with the two cups of coffee on our elm shaded balcony, we headed to Moulton Farm and store.  We were early enough to see the locals carrying out clear garbage bags full of fresh salad greens and baby kale.  Be still my beating bunny rabbit’s heart.  Inside this New Hampshire farm store each shelf held a new item begging to be tasted.  Baked goods, cider doughnuts, fresh pasta, fresher cheeses, greenhouse tomatoes grown out the back door, fresh made chips or roasted coffee.  Do not get me started about the variety of Pickles.   We had planned for a picnic lunch at Rocky Gorge water fall mid drive along the highway.  I came prepared.  I packed a cooler…but not a sharp knife.  TSA still frowns on carrying knives on board of planes.  We made do with an assortment of plastic cutlery and napkins.  

The drive was lovely, despite the grey skies.  As this is shoulder season, before the trains run, we had the road and park pull offs to ourselves.  Other than Park support buildings there may have been all of three houses that probably predated this becoming a national park.  As advertised, the internet GPS was sketchy.  Glad there was not much mystery in what road to take.  We ended in Holderness which appears to have the snow skiing business and related tourism sown up…complete with a couple of Wineries and huge white wooden hotel with red roofs.  On the far east of this scenic Highway, near Conway, there are the various towns of Sandwich.  There is an East Sandwich, Center Sandwich and plain Sandwich.  Can you imagine if we ever move here?  The Pickles of Sandwich, New Hampshire.  The jokes would never end.  

After nearly two days here, the one thing we have not seen are WalMarts nor Amazon fleets…big, little, electric or gas powered.  The Dollar General Store looks to blend in, either an old white washed wooden structure or a new building made to look old. We have seen more of a throw back to our childhood, family stores, business that proudly claim 100 or more years in business.  Coming from Houston, it is as if we had walked back in time.  I can imagine in places like these, Meredith in particular, families have grown up coming to these places in the summer.  Think Dirty Dancing, without Patrick Swazye.  Simple things that create the vivid tapestry of our memories.  It is kind of like Nantucket (no ferry needed), but a local secret that they don’t share.  Chat GPT knows all the cool places.

So, for the question of the day.  What do Chat GPT, Xfinity (previously known as Comcast), and Cheryl’s Cookies have in common?  About 9 months ago, after much effort on labor’s part to get a new line drop from the Xfinity post (front yard, right hand side of driveway) under the driveway, across the yard to the west side of the house.  The old line was just not doing it.  We had distorted pictures that their technicians knew was their problem, not ours.  I spoke to the Chat bot (virtual assistant and CG nasty relative, we all have a few).  I had been in line for live agents, visited the website, went through the app, been to the store so many times, I am sure the employees thought I had a thing for the Manager.  I even got the store’s only secret phone numbers list to get a live person every time.  Nope, the service guys never made it to our house at the appointment time to fix the problem.  Meanwhile, back on Lakeshore Villa, all the various fiber optic and cell internet providers have dug up our yard, and blocked the traffic on our street. I, finally, with Management’s blessing, changed our internet provider to Tachus.  You need to understand, Eddie loved his X1 remote, he had almost 20 years of experience with their TV guide and during the pandemic learned how to access each new platform as it was added.  He loved whispering “Netflix or KPRC” into the X1 remote.  But we were paying a fortune to watch pixelated TV.  The learning curve was steep.  We needed a Live TV provider, we were reduced to the LG TV remote that has green tape holding the battery faceplate  in place…never mind the Sound Amp remote.  Yeah, I know there are unifying remotes that can be purchased And programmed.  We have done that, did not satisfy management.  So for nine months, we gave Tachus and Hulu Live a shot.  Funny, we now have different problems.  Their Net Meshing system was not right or strong enough for our house….we now have a Netgear mesher.  The other brand had a back door for China to gather information…perish the thought…there is even a Congressional hearing about it, so it must be bad.  We changed all the various variables numerous times and we were still not happy with the quality and ease of service.  When Tachus asked how old our TV was (2017) and said were probably needed a new TV…Management almost lost his mind.  So, one day I put all the events into my buddy Chat GPT and asked it to compose a letter to Comcast (corporate level stuff) outlining our service issues and the fact we would like to return to Xfinity…for better or worse, until death do us part.  Also, asked CG to give me the President of Comcast email address to send my letter.  CG polished my hostile letter thoughts for sure.  I pushed send on Tuesday afternoon after the close of business in New York.  By 9:00 Wednesday morning, I am on the phone with a corporate VP asking me when the District Manager, District Service Technician and some Engineer could come to my house and see about getting us back to the Xfinity fold.  Fast forward, yeah, we are back with the Dark Overlord of the Internet.  I have had to pry the storage box of coax and Ethernet cables that were conveniently located on the top of the garage cabinets and throw said contents in trash. Eddie is still in mourning.    Apparently while we were gone, the coax cable got fatter  and can handle the high speed that is coming in.  Think water hose coax versus fire hose coax.    Everything is Wi-Fi now, no hard wire, but after several Saturdays with our new friends, our house is so well constructed that a steady Wi-Fi signal is not a sure thing.  We are actually hard wired.  The engineer said we might need a new TV or sound amp if we went totally wireless.  In a minor miracle, Eddie has said No, and has not even shopped online for either.  So, while there was not a pre nup signed, we are married to Xfinity until we leave the Lake or they carry us out in pine boxes. I, also,  have a stack of business cards for all the folks up the ladder, my Plan B.  My local Xfinity store manager even showed me where our accounts has a special note on it that says my dealings should be with an Assistant Manager or Manager.  So, the Cheryl’s Cookies.  Eddie has had informed delivery from all the regulars to include USPS, UPS, FedEx, Amazon.  For days he  had been getting info on a delivery from Cheryl’s Cookies.  Mother’s Day…Lauren knows better, George would have offered to cook me dinner.  We scratched our heads.  Tuesday afternoon before we  leave, the package of a three boxes of cookies (thank you tower) arrives on our doorstep.  Thank you card from the President of Xfinity.  Yup…make AI a friend…it has its benefits.  

Do you use AI?

More on Today’s topic in a minute.  A little background, after all, you know I have to give you context for you to make some sense in my idle ramblings.  I am not sure if you have notice at pattern in my writings or not.  We, Pickle people, are soooo very predictable, especially as we age.  Perish the thought.  We use to be good with a fresh pair of underwear and a toothbrush to travel.  Fast forward 50 years, we now required three bags, one each of our clothes and one for the just in case and medical equipment.  Also gone are the days of just climbing on the plane or into the car with no plans or reservations.  We research the hell out of stuff.  Finesse coupons, mileage, shoulder season deals to make sure we are maximizing our dollars.  Old habits die hard.  

Typically, every year around Mother’s Day (read shoulder season) we are not home.  We are traveling.  Cruising was normally our go to, but more recently we have been concentrating on completing my Bingo Blackout board of all 50 states, American Territories and North American countries.  Eddie has already gotten blackout and shouted Bingo, but I want to have that same feeling of finishing my board.  There is also a separate National Park bingo card that we know we won’t complete, but there are bonus points when we get a two-fer that gets two squares (one on each type of bingo card)  on a trip. In the past, I have researched our April/May options and offered a list to Eddie, who makes the selections and I make reservations.  The management/labor dynamic is alive and well at Casa Pickle.  

This year our choices were New Hampshire and Vermont or the Badlands (think Mount Rushmore  and the two-fer).  Eddie decided NE charm was this year’s choice.  I confess, I knew very little about any of these places, where to go and stay.  Enter in AI.  Chat GPT, Clyde, Genius and assorted other names of AI owned by the alphabet companies were the potential paths.  I downloaded Chat CPT on my tablet.  Pinterest has cheat sheets on how to best used AI.  Are they tracking my question, yeah, but who cares about two older citizens asking questions…we keep our clothes on and do not do anything illegal.  

Once decided where we were going, I asked Chat GPT how to get there, where to stay and what to see, giving it some specific Pickle parameters…like restaurants, accommodations (read 4 star or above, no tents or squatting in the woods), gentle trails, scenic vistas, a selection of sights worth seeing and an unhurried vibe.  Within seconds it gave me a 10 day travel plans. We made or selections and then asked Chat GPT to refine various parts.  For example, it suggested Mills Falls Resort in Meredith.  It sits on the banks of Meredith Bay.  Turns out that there are several places under the Mills Falls Resort banner…some on the water, some perched on the hill.  We asked for a balcony on the water, fireplace, whirlpool tub, and living room…go big or go home.  The balcony rocking chairs are a big bonus, Chat GPT is a fast learner.  Traveling in the shoulder season we don’t get some things, but big nice rooms at a bargain price, yes, please.  We both decided or refined our request for accommodations, I let Eddie decided the day by day stuff, and made reservations at those places or things that needed a reservation, for everything else, I am Eddie this trip. Have not done in-depth research, surprise me. 

Chat GPT flew us into Boston from IAH, non stop. Eddie is best with the one and done flight schedule.    CG made tons of secondary suggestions in and out of Newark.  Yes, that Newark where United is cancelling flights as I write.  Eddie and I both decided a 7:30 AM flight from Boston, with chronically early arrival at 12:30 (EST) and a two hour drive to Meredith would be perfect.  No night driving, no rush hour.  Yes, we would have to get up at 4:30 in the morning, but giving our sleeping issues, we were probably going to be awake anyway.  CG must have known how much we hated the calf scramble at IAH Terminal C check-in.  Our flight was out of Terminal E, and we could check in at Terminal E.  Wow, talk about feeling like we had won the lottery.  Despite this being the first day (5/7) of Real ID, after 20 plus years of deadline changes, we sailed through everything in a matter of minutes.  The longest wait involved getting coffee at the Starbucks  from the app.  I failed to asked CG where the fast coffee location was.  Lesson learned.  

Mid day, mid week, Logan in Boston is an efficient well oiled machine.  Our small Ford Escape has been upgraded to a very tricked out Black Explorer-shoulder season, baby, shoulder season.  The car’s monitor screen is larger than some of our TVs.  Talk about technology driven cars…Eddie’s car is a 2013 that he uses none of the on board systems for, mine I use but default to Car Play where I plug my phone into the system.  So, it took a hot minute for me to pair my phone’s Bluetooth, get the climate control and seat stuff figured out.  I am sure CG could have helped, but Eddie was ready to roll, now!  

The two hour drive to Meredith was uneventful, just as we had requested.  Despite being on Interstate most of the way, it was blissfully void of truck traffic.  We arrived by 3:30 in Meredith. It met our expectation…charming framed houses around a mountain lake, with shops and restaurants galore.  Our room did not disappoint either…the balcony or the sofa by the fireplace is where we have spent time drinking our coffee, reading or writing since we arrived.  The otter swimming by and the loons in the lake have been bonuses.  Thanks,  Chat GPT, you do know how to plan a nice trip.  

Okay, your homework is to download Chat  GPT on your phone or tablet.  This is the future for all of us, you need to get comfortable with it.  It has an Ask a Question prompt very similar to Goggle search.  If you do the “free” (less than 20 questions a day) part, but have an account, it will learn you.  When it comes to things like travel, it will learn who you are (2 people over 70—no crazy nightlight suggestions needed)  and your typical preferences.  The other thing I have ask it for is how much certain household repairs or replacements should cost me where I live.  I do not have to give my information to Angi or Thumbtack to get a price range…and I do not have to suffer from what we call the lake effect on pricing.  We get a phone ballpark quote, then there is the lake upgrade when they come to the door.   Happens every time.  

What are we missing by being in Meredith during the shoulder season.  Traffic-the charming two lanes roads and traffic circles are bumper to bumper.  The summer Bank of New Hampshire Concert series that includes Keith Urban, Shania Twain, James Taylor to name a few.  Yeah, we are good.  Tomorrow’s question is what do Chat GPT, Xfinity and Cheryl’s cookies have in common…and a review of the White Mountain National Park (two-fer day) Highway drive.  

And the Winner is….

Not that thing…best oyster according to Eddie, silly you.  After exhaustive research from the coastal waters of Maine to the rain soaked streets of Charleston, Eddie has put in the research on the best oyster-raw or fried on the eastern seaboard.  And we have the Master Card receipts to prove it.  Drum roll if you please…it is the Southwest Sensation from PEI (Prince Edward Island), with second place going to the Virginia standard of Old Salty’s.    

Remember back in the day when Pappa’s on 59 (now I-69-they grow big so quickly) use to post on the outside marquee in the winter/holiday months Oysters $3.95 a dozen (followed by the fresh lobster $12.95 a pound) ? We did both specials.  Eddie would come home from work with that wild eyed look and said we were going out to dinner.  The boy could do some damage.  Once the kids left home we would bring our other oyster loving friends and do some serious damage.  The shuckers could not keep up.  Once they realized they had heavy duty eaters, our table would have a designated shucker.  Those days are long gone…the going rates are $3.50-4.00 per oyster…per oyster, you read it right.  No more 10-12 dozen on the half shell.  Since we have done limited excursions on this trip, Eddie decided to find the best oysters on the Eastern Seaboard, that tells you everything you need to know about Eddie’s adventuring spirit these days.  Today, with storm clouds and rain soaked streets we walked the mile to PearlZ on East Bay port side in Charleston.  We came to Charleston together in 2019, but Eddie has come here for years on Federal Court work and assorted boondoggles-I mean conferences.  October and November are usually the months of Low Country Oyster Roasts…byosk-bring your own shucking knife.  Some parties even gave them as party favors…one can never have too many oyster knives with a sexy leather belt pouch.  Oyster Bars in Charleston are like Nail Bars and Mexican Restaurants at home…one or two on every street corner.  There must be an oyster mafia as the prices/selection are pretty much the same every menu you glance at.  

PearlZ was the place on the way to the Charleston airport we discovered 5 years ago.  They have a couple of locations, today it is the one closest to the dock.  Neither rain nor humidity was going to stop Eddie from his oyster date.  Charleston humidity…next level, think New Orleans after a rain storm.  So glad I did not put any effort on my hair before leaving the ship.  We arrived a little before 1:45…the place does not open until 2:00…like I said very much like NOLA.  They took pity on us and let us come in early and get our oyster on.  I am only a casual oyster eater…I don’t think I have ever committed to a full a dozen…more of a one and done kind of gal.  Eddie had the two mentioned above, and a fried oyster platter that he said was the best he has had in a long time.  I had a mixed grill skewer with the usual suspects of shrimp, scallops, salmon and unicorn fish….please do not tell my grand daughters I ate a unicorn fish.  When we got back, I looked it up…figured the foodies had renamed some not appealing sounding fish name with unicorn fish.  Nope, unicorn fish, sturgeon fish and tangs (think Dory) are all part of same group.  They have a slight horn on the head.  So, unicorn fish…it is what for dinner…wonder if that is at our H‑E‑B.  

As we retraced our steps, I went left towards the Charleston City market and Eddie went right back toward the ship and a post oyster nap.  Charleston understands the tourist market well.  This is a 4 block area in middle of Market Street that for over 200 years have housed the City markets.  Today, it is home to local sweet grass weavers, artists, tee shirts and souvenirs…all out of the rain and sun, some with fans and some more like small shops with Air Conditioning and bathrooms.  It is fun to wander the market…whether I bought anything or not.

I am on the back side of my upper respiratory stuff…based on the sights (masks) and sounds (coughing and nose blowing) everyone else on our ship signed up for the same excursion.  Eddie is late to the party, but the coughing began this morning…great souvenir.  We seem to keep picking up this same souvenir every time we get on a ship.  We arrive home Saturday afternoon late.  I have been watching Rafael with interest.  Looks like we are not going to have a visitor….George quipped that if the government is really controlling the weather, we need to stop given them our Itineraries.  Until our next adventure…. 

It’s a Miracle!

 It’s a miracle! After ten days with Sir Richard/Eddie and his dapper wooden cane and brown fedora, Eddie has been healed!  He no longer needs his cane to walk.  Seriously, after a week on board, it was obvious he is out gunned by the other cruisers.  There are more pieces of expensive medical equipment for whatever your infirmity might be here on board Nautica.  Our fellow passengers are almost all of a certain age…read I am on the young side of this spectrum.  Yes, there are pockets of 50ish folks (Cuban American that live for the casino to be open), but by and large it  people that prefer a smaller ship, excellent food (you can even get a lobster on a burger-foodie wet dream), and lots of butt powdering.  You can sort the groups by medical equipment and shoe wear.  There is a range of footwear that looks like a catalog shoot from Foot Solutions.  (Read High end shoes that are built for foot issues and comfort and are decidedly unflattering)  Then there is the walking and rolling medical equipment-did not even know some of these existed.  It took Eddie a week of observation to decided that his cane looked a little affected, but not much medical value.  Did he say this, no, but he concluded it was not helping his hip problem.  Duh, could have told him that, it is too short…thanks, Amazon.  

Today in Portland, we decided that we had actually had enough lobster and could do lunch on our own at Eventide Oyster Bar.  It ranks as one of the best places on the eastern sea board to get fresh raw oysters. Portland, Maine, is everything a charming New England town should be..with excursions to and from Peggy’s Cove for the iconic picture of the colorful cottages on the tidal pool to a red and white lighthouse on the rough rock coast/cove entrance…  Eddie was so excited about fresh oysters from the Maine coastline, he actually memorized the map on how to get there on FOOT…like I said, it is a miracle!  

Back to Eddie and Oysters…we walked the mile to Eventide…a mile because Eddie got lost. Yeah, his memory is not as good as it use to be…nor his directional compass.  I  had pregamed this place and knew it was both popular and did not take reservations except for tables of 6 or more…on Resy..two weeks out starting a midnight.  It is a smallish affair…think the size of our living room, dining room and foyer, with a bar area/shucking area about the size of my kitchen work space.  There were 3 picnic tables inside, ledge bar seat by windows and standing ledges on the back wall.  There are 10 picnic tables outside that could seat six, so I guess that is what a reservation would get you.  It is 30 degrees outside, sunny, but not on our side of the street.  We do not own clothing for this kind of weather…another one of those passenger identifiers.  No cute puffy jackets on Team Pickle…we would look like the Michelin men…so thin windbreakers with long sleeved cotton shirts, it is.  We arrived at the hostess stand and put our name on the list-30 minutes if we wanted to sit on a bar stool in the window, 2 hours for picnic table seating inside.  There were few hardy souls sitting outside, so instead of walking for next 30 minutes until I receive a text, Eddie plopped down at the first picnic table facing the door, and gave the hostess his glare.  It worked, old people on outdoor picnic tables telling incoming customers of how long the wait would be (yes, he did that).  I think it was all of 5 minutes.  Eddie still has the power to intimidate people  a cold stare…no cane needed.  

Now for the Oyster review.  East coast and Gulf Coast oysters are on the same branch of the animal kingdom chart, but they are so different.  Gulf Coast oysters are large, with heavy shells and only truly salty and safe in the cold months of year.  East coast oysters are smaller, with petit shells and have different salinity based on the type.  Eddie opened with a dozen of 2 each of the chef selection…plus a lagniappe of two common NE oysters.  He determined the pink striped variety was the best and ordered a second dozen along with a lobster roll dressed with brown butter.  Service and  barstool turn over is fast…you are not going to hang around, it is slurp and go kind of place.  I had a blue tuna roll and cup of clam chowder.  Eddie was a happy camper when we walked/skipped back to the ship.  Miracle, right?

The other activity of the day was presenting ourselves to the CBP (US Border patrol) in the cruise terminal.  Instead of waiting until the end to stamp your passport, they want to do it in the first US port that your ship makes.  We have done this numerous times in numerous countries, so this was not something new.  I guess they are looking for random gray terrorists among us.  We were given rather vague instructions on how this was done, but found out from the dining room manager that it would after the CBP people had eaten their Hamburgers with lobster, which he had scheduled to be ready at 11:30.  Like I said, it is a small ship, no secrets.  

When doing this in the past, there are line lice…just like on airplanes…don’t want to wait until it is their turn…jump to front.  Nope, not happening here…this is a group of color within the lines baby boomers.  We wait until we are called…no terrorists, no line lice.  

Rolling on the River

 Remember how I mentioned in a previous post that there were two Oceania ships in the Quay in Montréal?  De ja vu all over again…Viking Summer Sailing 2023 without Covid Jail.  Insignia is Nautica’s “sister” ship, doing a one week Montréal to New York run with us.  We all know what that means—-another game of rock, paper, scissor…and our captain will lose.  Bottom line, Insignia will park next to the dock and we (Team Nautica) will anchor and tender to shore.  

The small town of Saguenay is almost at the end of the Saguenay Fjord off of the St. Lawerence River.  Excursions include fun things like going to a paper mill, paper museum or a pulp wood factory….in the rain…No thanks, we have been to Laurel, Mississippi-many times-and know what making paper smells like. It is a classic fjord, with a river, glacier formed mountains on both sides, that eventually meets a larger body of water. This fjord is much  wider than those in Norway, Alaska and Chile, not quite as picturesque. The shape of this fjord acts as a wind and current funnel…so both anchoring and tendering will be that something extra on todays’s stop.  The weather…cold (30 degrees), overcast with a strong chance of rain.  Eddie rolled over and said “Let’s sleep late, and decide”.  About that time the anchor dropped, and dropped  and dropped some more…definition of a fjord…deep water …Suite 6002 is right above the Theatre and the anchor porthole…metal chain on a steel ship hull.  Special.  Once dropped, Eddie attempted to go back to sleep….we are facing into the wind (and current)…to maintain our position, the Bridge must engage the bow thrusters…every two minutes.  Wow!  Glassware, remotes and our dental work all bounced around…every two minutes all day long.  And to think we paid extra for this treatment.  We had probably laughed more (between the bow thrusters engagements-lest we bite our tongues) at ourselves than usual on the trip so far.  

Because we are so far north, with darkness setting in before 5:00, I have had my handy Aurora App set to alert me to the Northern Lights in my area…it knows where I am and have give the okay to send me notifications.  In both May and earlier in October there has been heavy solar activity-So the Northern Lights have been visible as far south as Tennessee.  Where we are, the lights are more common but it is cloudy…but I am waiting for my phone to indicate that the skies is green, orange and purple.  So far, nothing, but I remain hopeful as we will be sailing the St Lawerence River for the next 36 hours with almost no light pollution…read day at sea.  

During the night, Eddie and I both became aware of the extreme motion of the ocean.  A couple from Houston that we met in the Airport before departing chuckled when we told them our room number. Larry  and Connie are veteran Oceania cruisers.  Larry said we should be prepared for “X” sleeping.  Yup, we are “X” sleeping as we have hit heavier seas and the bow of our ship is digging into each and every wave.  Think roller coaster in bed.  We assumed the “X” position with Eddie hanging on with his left hand, me with my right and our one leg crossed over the other person’s to prevent rolling out of bed.  We are having fun now!  Can I get a Wohoo! Wait, it gets better.  The tonnage of our boat is probably 1/3 of what we are accustomed to, so even the smallest of wave action makes for a interesting day.  We know from past experience on much larger ships that a little sick tablet goes a long way…but also makes one sleepy.  We once again assume the “X” position and waited for the seas to calm…36 hours later.    No green and purple skies, but lots of green and purple passengers…is there an App for that?  

No Good Deed goes Unpunished

Monday morning in Montréal has arrived and it is time to pack our bags and leave the sound of jackhammers and street construction and board our ship-Oceania’s Nautica Waiting for us a mere 1,000 meters at the Alexandra Terminal/Quay of the St Lawerence River.  Hey, we are in Canada.  They use meters (metres in French) not feet.  For those of you who struggle with conversions, think 10 football fields. Guess what/who does not get excited about a 1,000 meter cab ride-especially when you can’t “pull up” to the front door of the cute boutique hotel that Eddie selected? That would be cabs and Uber folks, they basically have said Not It.. I knew because I inquired…pregame, right?  We will have to retrace our steps from Saturday night, cross the street, down the block, then cross another major thoroughfare and walk the 3-4 football fields to where you give them your baggage.    Hmmm, each of us have two rolling suitcase, and I have a tote for important crap and IPads, a purse. Then there is Eddie/Richard’s hat and cane, like the Cabbie said “Not It”.  When I explained all of this to Sir Eddie on Sunday morning, he groaned as only Eddie can.  His response was “We’ll see.”  

Not to be left out of the construction obstacles, Hotel Nelligan joined by moving the front desk to a new location, and totally walling off the previous lobby/check in area while we were sleeping soundly in our bed.  Here again, the mess, the wet float and tape and the wet floors…

Not to mention there was no signage for either the wet floor nor the location of the new reception lobby and exit doors made for less than an easy exit.  I feel a nasty Yelp review coming on.  Eddie and I wheeled our baggage through the newly created maze and out the door of the boutique hotel…down the warped wooden planks and the 1000 meters to where not one but two Oceania ships were waiting to welcome us aboard.  Hat, cane, two bags…he did it.  But not without a lot of cheerleading on my part…heck I knew I forgot to pack my megaphone and pompoms.  

On Wednesday before we left, our TA (Travel Agent) and Oceania contacted us (Eddie got the email while I was out errand running) of a last minute upgrade to a Vista Suite from our Penthouse Suite.  The 800 square feet suite with a 200 square foot balcony and two bathrooms had stars in Eddie’s eyes.  I know the look well when he told me about the email when I got home.  He had already made up his mind that we would be doing (read paying for) the upgrade.  This is our first Oceania cruise, he wanted it to be the best.  You know our motto-there is good, better and best…sometimes you just start with best and save money because you did not buy either good or better…Eddie logic.  This is an older ship, but has been extensively remodeled within the last two years…bright, light with lots of bling.  This is only 650+ passengers, about 1/3 the size of our usual Celebrity ships.  Checking in is never fun, but with our new and improved location/status, we skipped the lines and went straight to our suite at 11:30.  Yup, it was everything Eddie desired-short of his recliner.  Location you ask-sixth floor forward, port side, bow of ship.  Hmm…our butler let us know that while we are under way, the balcony is locked and furniture and cushions stowed lest they become flying objects.So much for using the balcony-even though the temps are hovering in the 30-40’s.    There those safety regulations are.  Oh yeah another couple of things we have learned in the last few days.  The anchor is close, as  well as the bow thrusters and Nautical Lounge on 5 directly below us.    Each of these little things have made themselves known to us in their own special way.  Veteran Oceania cruisers have chuckled when we told them where we were on the ship…guess this is Oceania inside joke.  Eddie thought he was doing something special for the trip…no good deal goes unpunished.  

Another Pickle Adventure Begins

Bonjour!  armed with my elementary school French (yes, I am that old, French was considered the international language)  and a few phrases from the Paris Olympics,  Eddie and I are off for a pre cruise visit to Montréal.  Montreal and Quebec like to pretend that they are attached physically to France.  Most from the French Province of Canada speak both French and English, but like to make us Americans work for the little things…so, a little Merci, Si vous plait goes a long way. Throw in Le chat est sur la table-translation the cat is on the table…one of the few things I remember…valuable,  n’est ce pas?  A life of various experiences and menus, we can usually keep from ordering fried calf brains or something equally as gross off a menu if they do not have an English menu.  Enter the ever popular QR code menu.  Nothing says five star dining like a menu on your smart phone.  

On this trip, Eddie selected our pre cruise accommodations and the restaurants that where we would be dining.  He also selected our activities from a list I had curated 6 months ago.  After his selections, it is my job to procure to necessary reservations tickets and arrange for transportation.  Our pregame is pretty strong…and this trip is no exception.  I researched the Montréal airport to determine how and where customs, baggage claim, and transportation was located.  Bless you You-Tubers out there…I tend to be a visual learner.  Nothing screams tourist/low hanging fruit like older travelers with mouth gapping wide and blank eyes, or looking into a phone.  I like to armed myself with knowledge from the internet, so I looked as if I know what I am doing, no low hanging fruit here.    Eddie armed himself with a brown suede fedora and wooden walking cane.  Think Sir Richard Attenborough in Jurassic Park (1993).  We all know Eddie is a thespian at heart and loves a good role to play.  This time Eddie selected a slightly infirmed, yet well heeled traveler, to proud to use a medical walker or cane.  Insert eye roll.  Well, once we deplaned in Montréal, Sir Eddie went into Sir Richard mode.  Low and behold, if the airport golf cart did not do a three point turn to pick us up and whisk us quickly (I have whiplash)  to the customs hall…No, I did not pregame that one.  Our golf chariot placed us on the private elevator and we were in the Customs Hall with 100 machines to speed us along.  I had already completed the Declaration form online through their app. (Not our first Canadian rodeo) Among these 100 machines are about 4 Canadian custom officials that are there to help people with the technology.  A rather tall official spotted Eddie, I mean Richard, and I and took him by the arm and completed the process and walked us out Line 1.  It happened so quickly that we were done before anyone else on our flight had even walked the 85 gates to this area.  Needless to say we beat the luggage.  Guess Eddie/Richard knew his audience…Oscar winning performance.  To the Sortie (that is French for the Exit) and transportation.

There is the car park, friends and family pick up and then transportation for hire.  Taxis have a door (23) and it is usually 30 minute wait, Uber/Lyft at Door 28, less of a wait, but my pregame said that they can not use the diamond lanes and there were major road closures between the city and airport.  Limos on demand are through Door 24, no wait, pricing only $25-35 more than a taxi to the city.  Guess which Door Eddie picked.  Those of you that had Eddie in a limo on their Bingo card can black out that square.

After all the years of travel for work with  large crowded hotels, Eddie prefers smaller boutique hotels.  Must haves include either a bar and/or restaurant and convenient location. He selected the Hotel Nelligan in Old Town, near the wharf.  He was insistent it was Number One.  About two days before we departed, we received an email from Hotel Nelligan advising of some minor inconveniences with the roads in Old Town-both in French and English.  We are from Houston, orange barrels and open streets don’t scare us.  This inconveniences did not appear that bad until we actually tried to get the hotel.  The entire street/block was blocked and open.  Our limo driver could get no closer than the corner.  There was a one lane of warped wooden boards to the hotel’s entrance, which was not clearly marked…it is currently 6:15 pm (EST)-no lights (but for a few people’s cell phone flashlight apps).  Obviously, our friends to the north do not have OSHA regulations for work sites in commercial areas or experienced lawsuits when people fall down and break an ankle.  We check in and stow our bags in a lovely room on the fourth floor overlooking the construction pit.  Yeah, there is no OSHA regs here.  As it is the weekend, and work stopped on Friday and will not resume until 7:00 on Monday, we thought it was safe to crack the windows. Did I mention we are right under the Terrace Lounge.  You have been to our house, we don’t do heat and prefer open windows when temps dip below 50 degrees…29 degrees rate a crack.   Eddie and I have always equated lounge as a quiet affair…Nope,Nope Nope…party til 3:00 AM loud music and  loud voices all of my favorite lullabies.  Eddie closed the windows around midnight…guess he needed to watch a You Tube video on French window closing, as both were open in the morning.  

We spent Sunday strolling the non open streets of Old Montréal.  There are plenty of store fronts that remain empty, but Eddie managed to find some outstanding restaurants for our meals.  We both wanted to see the Notre Dame Basilica of Montréal, not to be confused with the  Notre Dame Cathedral-of Quebec…apparently the French franchised and trademarked the Notre Dame concept back in the day.    The ND of Montréal did not disappoint.  The French and the Italian know how to build and adore a Church…even though the architect for this particular ND was an English Anglican from New York.  The Greek Revival altar area comes alive with a color palette not normally used in churches.  It was exquisite.  Meanwhile, in the park out front was a group of 250 or more protesting the war against the Palestines…Flags, keffiyehs in black and white on the men’s heads, loud music and yelling over a microphone.  Yeah, after our trip to Vancouver last year, we included the “peaceful demonstration” and “police in riot gear” on our travel bingo card.