Tag Archives: Royal Caribbean

February 10, 2020 · 5:35 am

Fall Foliage Cruise — New Brunswick; Reversing Falls


Reversing Falls — outbound flow

On October 15, 2019 Adventure of the Seas sailed into the Bay of Fundy and made port in the city of Saint John, New Brunswick. Here we caught up with a really great tour guide — Diane Howarth of Go Fundy Tours:

Diane Howarth of Go Fundy Tours

First stop, not even outside Saint John yet, was to view the famous Reversing Falls rapids on the Saint John River. Before we get to the Reversing Falls, however, let’s talk a moment about Diane and Go Fundy Tours. Go Fundy Tours is owned by Diane and her husband, so it’s a family affair. This tour was simply magnificent, and one of the best of the entire trip. We wound up visiting several places twice that day, several hours apart. That might sound redundant until you realize that the Bay of Fundy is subject to huge water level swings between high and low tides. This means that the landscape changes dramatically throughout the day.

Reversing Falls, across from Irving Pulp & Paper

One of these changing landscapes is the Saint John River, and the difference between high and low tides causes the rapids here to reverse course, peaking about every six hours, twelve and a half minutes. The pictures you see under cloudy skies were taken at about 7:15 a.m.

Reversing Falls — outbound flow

During this time it was low tide, and the water was flowing dramatically into the Bay of Fundy:

Reversing Falls — outbound flow

In most places around the globe (not to be confused with that exciting mystery novel The Globe), the average swing between high and low tides is 3 feet 3 inches/1 meter. Because of tidal resonance from the funneling effect of the Bay of Fundy, however, here the average is 43 feet/13 meters!

Reversing Falls — outbound flow

To show you the difference, here’s the same area photographed just four hours later, as high tide was starting to flow into the river:

Reversing Falls — inbound flow

But a short one-minute video is probably a bit more dramatic, so:

One last look before heading off to our next Go Fundy Tours stop with Diane Howarth:

Crow Island

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February 7, 2020 · 5:35 am

Fun Photo Friday — Portland, Maine Part 2


Sailing Past Fort Scramwell

A last look at Portland before we set sail back toward Canada and head into Saint John, New Brunswick:

St. Croix
Monochrome Amongst Colors
Portland Head Light headlight
Maine Lobster
Shoreline

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February 5, 2020 · 5:35 am

Fall Foliage Cruise — Lunch at DiMillo’s, Portland, Maine


Tour boat heading back into Portland Harbor

Our boat tour was almost at an end, and Ursula had planned for us a lunch at DiMillo’s by the Water. This floating restaurant is actually inside an old ferry that has quite the history: Built in 1941 as The New York (service between New Castle, Delaware and Pennsville, New Jersey); sold to Virginia in 1951 and renamed The Norfolk (service between Norfolk and Hampton); sold in 1958 to Rhode Island and renamed The Newport (service between Newport and Jamestown); Sold in 1969 to the city of Pawtucket, R.I., and used as a youth center art colony; changed hands yet again in 1977 to the Setaucket Yacht Club of Port Jefferson, N.Y. for use as a clubhouse and for boat storage; and, finally, sold in 1980 to the DiMillo family, and opened two years later as the restaurant you see here in today’s article.

DiMillo’s is housed in a former ferry

But before we get to lunch, let’s enjoy the final few moments of our tour boat excursion:

Portland by tour boat

Now let’s had back into DiMillo’s Marina:

DiMillo’s Marina (floating restaurant in the background on the left)

If you’re looking for DiMillo’s on the Water from Commercial Street, you won’t see the actual restaurant as it sits way back at the end of the marina. You will find on the street, however, this convenient landmark:

DiMillo’s on the Water by land

I neglected to photograph the interior, and in retrospect that was a major omission on my part. It’s beautifully appointed inside. But let’s get down to the food, starting with a look at DiMillo’s lunch menu as of October, 2019:

DiMillo’s on the Water menu

Ursula opted for her usual, which by now you know means seafood chowder. Her taste was starting to go, apparently from a head cold, but rich, thick with seafood, and quite good:

Ursula’s seafood chowder

I splurged and ordered off the dinner menu. I went with the ‘Admiral’s Portion’ of the ‘Lazy Lobster’, which is lobster already liberated from the shell and served in butter. Along with it I opted for the cheesy polenta, which was okay but not great (I prefer my own crispy polenta):

Doug’s “Lazy Lobster” (admiral’s portion) with polenta

There was nothing disappointing about the lobster, however. It was quite a good size portion, as you can see from this closeup:

Closeup of “Lazy Lobster” in butter

After lunch Adventure of the Seas was less than an hour from departure, and we really didn’t want to miss the boat, so to speak, so we started hoofing it back to the ship. As we approached the ship, I decided to take this photo of disused pylons protruding from the waters alongside the cruise ship dock:

Old, disused pylons in Portland Harbor

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