American Adventure
From 30th September 2008 to 30th October. Extracts are from the P & O cruise log.
Artemis passed by QE2 docked at Southampton, for the last time. QE2 was on her last trip before going to Dubai.
"Artemis made landfall with the Portuguese island chain of Maderia in the morning. She arrived at her anchorage position South of Funchal at 0655. The tendering service commenced at 0800." The tall ships were in so there was only room for the Costa ship to berth. Artemis and Saga Rose anchored outside. A few photos show the ships and Maderia. Mum and I visited the tropical gardens at the top of the cable car. On the way back to the ship we saw the record attempt of the longest chocolate cake to be be made. I think it was going to be 15 metres.
After Maderia there were seven days at sea before arriving at Port Canaveral. The weather was sunny with scattered clouds with a temperature of 25 degrees. On the one day it rained the temperature was 27 degrees. Ospreys were common here and I managed a photo of one on the lagoon trip and one perched in a tree on a walk to the nearby beach.
Three big ships were with us at Port Canaveral and they left first - hence the big hand wave. They may have been big with one having a shopping mall as long as its entire length but none had much deck space, unlike Artemis. No fights about lounge chairs on this small ship!
Charleston was a lovely town and we had a slow carriage trip around the old buildings. Alas no good photos for the blogsite. This one is from the sailaway and is of Ron and Cath and Pat and Ken (in the middle), our dinner companions.
Next stop Baltimore where Mum and I pottered around the Inner Harbour. I took a ride on the water taxi in the afternoon after catching up on e mails.
"At 0754 we arrived at our berth in Norfolk, Virginia. We berthed alongside the floating museum that is the USS Wisconsin which is permanently berthed in its current position."
We only had the morning here. I left Mum in an enormous shopping mall and went for a walk looking for the mermaids dotted around. I went through a college campus and talked to the three students in the photo (the one in the middle was hiding). They asked me to take their photo and we chatted about what I was doing and how they would like to go to UK.
There were two days in New York and I was hopeful of getting a few iconic photo shots from the ship. Unfortunately we arrived in the dark and due to a faulty radar on board we left in the dark. Mum and I went to see Legally Blonde the musical - very enjoyable. We were lucky enough to be only 20 minute walk to midtown New York. My memories will be of Central Park and the memorial at St Paul's Church of 9/11. I failed to take photos of either. However, there was a memorial on a fence nearby which I managed to snap from the tour bus.
We stopped at Newport and Mum and I pottered around and devoured a plate each of calamari at the seafood festival. On our way to Boston we experienced "winds up to 55 knots during the night, which is a Force 11 on the Beaufort scale." Luckily Mum and I were stocked up with seasick tablets and were fine. We were late into Boston though and our meeting with my cousin Neil and his wife Karin. We had lunch in Little Italy and caught up with all the family gossip.
On to Bar Harbour which is most people's favourite port. Clam chowder and blueberry pie were on the menu for Mum and I here.
Now six days across the Atlantic towards Vigo and UK. "On the 22nd of October 2008 Artemis experienced Hurricane Force winds. At 1600 we recorded winds over 64 knots, which is defined as a Force 12 (Hurricane) on the Beaufort Scale." I found this out after I had done my afternoon exercise of walking up and down the stairs during the 'hurricane'. I obviously had my sea legs then!
At Vigo, Mum and I took a coach to Santiago de Compestela where we had four hours to do our own thing. The cathedral is beautiful and I bought postcards of it as my photos could not do it justice. We tried the tarte de Santiago (almond tart) but not the octopus (featured below) which is also a dish of the region.
To finish with - more photos of Ron, Cath, Pat, Ken and Mum. I nagged Ron to wear this shirt and tie again for the photo, as I liked the combination.
Artemis passed by QE2 docked at Southampton, for the last time. QE2 was on her last trip before going to Dubai.
"Artemis made landfall with the Portuguese island chain of Maderia in the morning. She arrived at her anchorage position South of Funchal at 0655. The tendering service commenced at 0800." The tall ships were in so there was only room for the Costa ship to berth. Artemis and Saga Rose anchored outside. A few photos show the ships and Maderia. Mum and I visited the tropical gardens at the top of the cable car. On the way back to the ship we saw the record attempt of the longest chocolate cake to be be made. I think it was going to be 15 metres.
After Maderia there were seven days at sea before arriving at Port Canaveral. The weather was sunny with scattered clouds with a temperature of 25 degrees. On the one day it rained the temperature was 27 degrees. Ospreys were common here and I managed a photo of one on the lagoon trip and one perched in a tree on a walk to the nearby beach.
Three big ships were with us at Port Canaveral and they left first - hence the big hand wave. They may have been big with one having a shopping mall as long as its entire length but none had much deck space, unlike Artemis. No fights about lounge chairs on this small ship!
Charleston was a lovely town and we had a slow carriage trip around the old buildings. Alas no good photos for the blogsite. This one is from the sailaway and is of Ron and Cath and Pat and Ken (in the middle), our dinner companions.
Next stop Baltimore where Mum and I pottered around the Inner Harbour. I took a ride on the water taxi in the afternoon after catching up on e mails.
"At 0754 we arrived at our berth in Norfolk, Virginia. We berthed alongside the floating museum that is the USS Wisconsin which is permanently berthed in its current position."
We only had the morning here. I left Mum in an enormous shopping mall and went for a walk looking for the mermaids dotted around. I went through a college campus and talked to the three students in the photo (the one in the middle was hiding). They asked me to take their photo and we chatted about what I was doing and how they would like to go to UK.
There were two days in New York and I was hopeful of getting a few iconic photo shots from the ship. Unfortunately we arrived in the dark and due to a faulty radar on board we left in the dark. Mum and I went to see Legally Blonde the musical - very enjoyable. We were lucky enough to be only 20 minute walk to midtown New York. My memories will be of Central Park and the memorial at St Paul's Church of 9/11. I failed to take photos of either. However, there was a memorial on a fence nearby which I managed to snap from the tour bus.
We stopped at Newport and Mum and I pottered around and devoured a plate each of calamari at the seafood festival. On our way to Boston we experienced "winds up to 55 knots during the night, which is a Force 11 on the Beaufort scale." Luckily Mum and I were stocked up with seasick tablets and were fine. We were late into Boston though and our meeting with my cousin Neil and his wife Karin. We had lunch in Little Italy and caught up with all the family gossip.
On to Bar Harbour which is most people's favourite port. Clam chowder and blueberry pie were on the menu for Mum and I here.
Now six days across the Atlantic towards Vigo and UK. "On the 22nd of October 2008 Artemis experienced Hurricane Force winds. At 1600 we recorded winds over 64 knots, which is defined as a Force 12 (Hurricane) on the Beaufort Scale." I found this out after I had done my afternoon exercise of walking up and down the stairs during the 'hurricane'. I obviously had my sea legs then!
At Vigo, Mum and I took a coach to Santiago de Compestela where we had four hours to do our own thing. The cathedral is beautiful and I bought postcards of it as my photos could not do it justice. We tried the tarte de Santiago (almond tart) but not the octopus (featured below) which is also a dish of the region.
To finish with - more photos of Ron, Cath, Pat, Ken and Mum. I nagged Ron to wear this shirt and tie again for the photo, as I liked the combination.
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