Mexican Riviera Cruise with WONDERful Souvenir in the Works! 6/7 PTR Link!

[Leshaface]

I left us off at Kennebunkport eating our Lobster Roll. Some more pics:

Love the detailed sign!

When we got our Lobster Roll, the gave us a coupon for bogo ice cream around the corner...and who can pass up a BOGO! Sorry no pics of the ice cream, but it was delicious! It was time to head out of Kennebunkport and up to Portland!


(Pics on our way out of Kennebunkport)

And eventually Portland was within reach!

Driving to the hotel

And here's our hotel

The Eastland Park Hotel in Downtown Portland is really nice, but very old. The location can NOT be beat however. We could walk EVERYWHERE! Here is our room:

The room is incredibly large! But as you'll be able to see, the bed is MUCH too far away from the tiny tv:

The view from our room:

Not too bad right!?

So we brushed our teeth and got ready to start walking around finding stuff to do, since we had no real agenda, but to just walk around..

cont in next post

 

[Leshaface]

Continued from last post


So we just started walking:

We went into lots of shops and one kitchen shop in particular, had the CUTEST pug dishes ever! I've never seen anything like them, so I bought two! Found out they are rice dishes.

LOVE this bottom part of the bowl!

They're very tiny, so I use them to portion out my greek yogurt and ice cream sad2

We literally walked all over the place, bought some souvies for my mom, bought a stuffed lobster for my pug, etc. It was pretty muggy out, so we decided to go sit down someplace for a drink. I looked up sports bar on my phone (seriously, I LOVE my phone in situations like these) and found there was a sports bar not too far from where we were standing called Rivalries. Cool place! We drank a few beers and watched ESPN for a bit.

By this time, we were starting to get hungry since we didn't have an official lunch. We would have had dinner at the sports bar, but I had read some great reviews on yelp regarding a certain restaurant, so I had my mind set on that.

WELL, on the way to that restaurant, there was a large kiosk doing boat tours to go see the lighthouses (we had originally planned to eat an early dinner so we could drive around to see the lighthouses, I mean, we're in Maine after all!). DH went to go see what was available and LUCKILY the last cruise for the Lighthouse Sunset Harbor Cruise was set to leave in 15 minutes! We couldn't pass this up! So we bought tickets and waited in line to board the boat.

This is what I had my eyes set on for dinner! Glad it was so close!

We get on and find out there's a bar available. Dan got me a glass of white wine, and he got a cranberry vodka We're so weird. I'm pretty sure we were the only ones to order alcohol.

And off we go!

Our first lighthouse!

Cont in next post

 

[Leshaface]

The guide was SUPER informative! He gave lots of information about the houses here in these photos. I remember one thing in particular how one of the bottom floor of one of the houses was glass so you could see the water! CRAZY! And all of these homes you can ONLY see from the water.

This lighthouse is the most photographed Lighthouses in all of the US

I'm not remembering what this island is called, but what I remember the tour guide saying was that all the children had to go to school on the main land. Which meant they had to take a boat to school, then a boat back home. And the guide said, he knew a mother who had 3 children and lived on this island. All 3 of the kids were all different ages so all 3 had different schools to go to, which meant different times for the boats. So her full time job was riding the boat back and forth EVERY DAY, all day. I couldn't imagine.

Some more pics of our cruise

Heading back to shore:

It was such a fun harbor cruise! I definitely recommend it for anyone. However, not sure how much kids would like it. It lasted for an hour and a half and some of the kids on this cruise were getting very restless after the first 45 minutes.

As soon as we got off the boat, we immediately went to over J's Oyster restaurant to put our name in. It was a 40 minute wait, but I was determined to eat here. We got in after about 20 minutes (btw, while we were waiting, more and more people just kept coming and putting there names in at the podium. Couldn't believe how many people were willing to wait!)


I didn't take much pictures here because we were starving! But I did get a picture of my clams because it was very different from how we eat clams in CA.

Here on the East Coast, the 'foot' (I think that's the right term???) is still attached to the clam when they serve it to you. So you need to pull it off yourself, put it in the broth to clean it off, dump it in the butter, and THEN eat it. Quite a task, but oh so worth it! Our meal was absolutely terrific!

It was getting late and we had another busy day ahead of us, so we headed back to the hotel, taking pictures along the way of course!

 

[Dream426]

Loved your update. That boat ride looked really nice. Loved your pictures from it. That last picture of the lighthouse looks like the lighthouse that we have here on Long Island in Montauk.

 

[Pinkocto]

My mom receives catalogs from various baking and sweets companies, and she just showed me this donut pan and donut mix from Sur La Table...then I got to thinking, couldn't you make your own sugar-free glaze/drizzling/frosting? Since you're not affected by bread, you could still have this. It will just take a little bit of work on your end though.

Thanks for the suggestion, I've thought about making them myself before. I'll have to look that item up.

Love the update! We used to go visit friends up there every summer when I was younger. It's almost like a different world. Love all the pictures

 

[Shell54]

Love your Maine photos. Such a beautiful coastline..and your photos of it are great. My friend loves Ogunquit, Maine and I really want to go next summer. There is an adorable cafe there Amore that she raves about and they have a website where they sell darling mugs and their delish coffee. Iam all about the food and beverages

 

[Leshaface]

Loved your update. That boat ride looked really nice. Loved your pictures from it. That last picture of the lighthouse looks like the lighthouse that we have here on Long Island in Montauk.

The cruise was so nice and relaxing. We had a nice small table right by a large window and the doors so we always had a seat. It was completely empty on the bottom part of the boat, everyone was up on top. And because of that, it felt like our own private sunset cruise!

Thanks for the suggestion, I've thought about making them myself before. I'll have to look that item up.

Love the update! We used to go visit friends up there every summer when I was younger. It's almost like a different world. Love all the pictures

You're so right about it being a different world! I couldn't believe how incredibly nice everyone was wherever we went. Especially in Boston! It was wonderful!

Love your Maine photos. Such a beautiful coastline..and your photos of it are great. My friend loves Ogunquit, Maine and I really want to go next summer. There is an adorable cafe there Amore that she raves about and they have a website where they sell darling mugs and their delish coffee. Iam all about the food and beverages

Thanks Shell! I'm all about the food and beverages too! There was so much more that we wanted to see but so little time. DH really wants to go back someday soon. He absolutely loved Maine more than Mass.

 

[Leshaface]

I was SUPER excited for today! BOSTON DAY! I've always wanted to go here and never thought I would really get here once in my life. So I was thrilled!

We got up and grabbed some coffee at this place called Coffee By Design. They made some GREAT black coffee. And the only reason we did this instead of Dunkin was because this was closer to us. Don't worry, we did stop and get some Dunkin at the halfway point.

Getting CLOSE!

Our hotel was actually located in Cambridge. While I would liked to have stayed smack-dab in the middle of Boston, our location was SUPER convenient for the subway. Also, I was trying a few times daily, to bid on a hotel in Boston, with no luck. I eventually landed a Cambridge hotel for about $175.00. Had we not have used Priceline, it would have been close to double.

We stayed at The Charles Hotel located right by Harvard. What a gorgeous hotel and perfect way to end our last night on our tour of N.E.

Now THIS is the coolest thing EVER!!

A T.V. in the flippin BATHROOM! Isn't it POSITIVELY SHOCKING!?!? LOL! I was able to do my hair and makeup the next morning WHILE watching the news and not missing anything! This was beyond brilliant!


cont..

 

[franandaj]

BTW reading your PTR and being intrigued is keeping me from doing mine! The sad part is that I'm at DLR and on the DIS, but I'm hoping to meet up with another DISer before we head to dinner which I'm hoping will be any minute now!

We went into lots of shops and one kitchen shop in particular, had the CUTEST pug dishes ever! I've never seen anything like them, so I bought two! Found out they are rice dishes.

They're very tiny, so I use them to portion out my greek yogurt and ice cream sad2


We get on and find out there's a bar available. Dan got me a glass of white wine, and he got a cranberry vodka We're so weird. I'm pretty sure we were the only ones to order alcohol.

And off we go!

I have a set of Chinese Rice Bowls and that's what I use for my cereal and ice cream. Sad that those are the actual portion sizes, but it does help. And those bowls are sooooooocute!

I always like to have a glass of wine for a cruise like that! Sometimes two! Those houses and Lighthouses are amazing! I wonder if the houses cost as much as some of the mansions in Beverly Hills!

I didn't take much pictures here because we were starving! But I did get a picture of my clams because it was very different from how we eat clams in CA.

Here on the East Coast, the 'foot' (I think that's the right term???) is still attached to the clam when they serve it to you. So you need to pull it off yourself, put it in the broth to clean it off, dump it in the butter, and THEN eat it. Quite a task, but oh so worth it! Our meal was absolutely terrific!

I grew up eating clams on the East Coast and I was so eager to have them when I got back there a few years back. I guess it was that "foot" that actually grosssed me out, guess I didn't have the right attitude!

 

[Leshaface]

BTW reading your PTR and being intrigued is keeping me from doing mine! The sad part is that I'm at DLR and on the DIS, but I'm hoping to meet up with another DISer before we head to dinner which I'm hoping will be any minute now!


I have a set of Chinese Rice Bowls and that's what I use for my cereal and ice cream. Sad that those are the actual portion sizes, but it does help. And those bowls are sooooooocute!

I always like to have a glass of wine for a cruise like that! Sometimes two! Those houses and Lighthouses are amazing! I wonder if the houses cost as much as some of the mansions in Beverly Hills!



I grew up eating clams on the East Coast and I was so eager to have them when I got back there a few years back. I guess it was that "foot" that actually grosssed me out, guess I didn't have the right attitude!

Ooh a DIS meet! How did it go!?

Omgosh, aren't the portions so small? But i'm actually pretty full after I eat something out of them. But I think it's just my mind telling me that i'm full because I see an empty bowl in front of me

Wait, are you saying you didn't have any clams the last time you were back East?! Oh man, they were so succulent! Much more than our clams here on the West Coast.

 

[Pinkocto]

That tv in the bathroom is wild! Love the windows in the hotel room.

 

[heathsf]

Oh my gosh I was so far behind but now I'm all caught up!

I wouldn't worry about PV being unsafe, everyone knows "Mickey is a safety nut" (that's what we were told on our segway tour at Epcot) and DCL wouldn't take you there if you would be in danger. You're going on an excursion with the cruise line which is good. I just wouldn't go wandering around away from the touristy areas on your own. I was told the same think about Jamaica when I cruised there and that's why we stuck with a Royal Caribbean excursion for that port and I felt very safe the whole time - and I'm a worrier so that's saying something.

Your mini trip to New England looked like a lot of fun. I've never been to Maine but I'd love to go. That sunset lighthouse boat tour looked like a lot of fun. So when exactly was this trip?

 

[Leshaface]

That tv in the bathroom is wild! Love the windows in the hotel room.

Haha isn't it crazy! It was completely ideal though! Wished I would have had time to take a bath and watch tv

Oh my gosh I was so far behind but now I'm all caught up!

I wouldn't worry about PV being unsafe, everyone knows "Mickey is a safety nut" (that's what we were told on our segway tour at Epcot) and DCL wouldn't take you there if you would be in danger. You're going on an excursion with the cruise line which is good. I just wouldn't go wandering around away from the touristy areas on your own. I was told the same think about Jamaica when I cruised there and that's why we stuck with a Royal Caribbean excursion for that port and I felt very safe the whole time - and I'm a worrier so that's saying something.

Your mini trip to New England looked like a lot of fun. I've never been to Maine but I'd love to go. That sunset lighthouse boat tour looked like a lot of fun. So when exactly was this trip?

Hi Heather! Yes, right now i'm not too worried about PV. Although if I hear anything as it's getting closer, i'm sure i'll be worried.

We went to New England July 10 and came back July 13. It was a very short trip but an awesome experience! I"m looking reliving it again through all my pics!

 

[bangzoom6877]

Oh wow the Neelys have a place in NYC now that's news I can use I watch their show on The Food Network. We take the train in to the city all the time to see plays and visit friends so I must try this place. Also you have Krispy Creme in Brooklyn??? Hmmm not fair Lucky you though! The last time I had one was on the Dream.

I love the Neelys on the Food Network too! They're so adorable and they make such great food. I use their wet ribs recipe and it comes out so awesome! I haven't bought BBQ sauce in over 3 years because of that recipe...I always make my own now, even if I use it for chicken or pulled pork instead of ribs!

No, we don't have krispy kreme in Brooklyn...I totally misunderstood your post, sorry. I thought you were talking about Dunkin' Donuts. I don't know where my head was, somewhere in the clouds maybe? So please don't drive into Brooklyn searching for krispy kreme! Although, they used to sell it at a local gas station...not sure if they still do, but there's something I don't really like about buying donuts at a gas station, so I never did!

Oh that's right the Neely's! Thank you! Please check out that place soon! I love watching the Neely's on the Food Network. They make such a great team and make some delicious food!

I was talking to my mom yesterday and asked her if she was familiar with Swiss Colony. Then she said, remember years and years ago when I used to buy Petit Fours? That's where I got them from! The petit fours were soooo good! I always knew it was winter time when those delightful treats came in! She had stopped buying them for whatever reason, but now because of me (well, really because of you ) she's looking into ordering some petit fours again! ..

I definitely want to check out the Neelys' new restaurant ASAP, but we don't go into Manhattan that often...and of course October is a very busy month. But we will get there eventually. I want to take the boys to Rockefeller Center this December to see the tree, and walk around the city when it's all decorated. I think they're old enough for that now. We can hop on the subway from Rockefeller Center and eat at the Neelys' for dinner. It seems like a great place to go in the cold weather...lots of delicious meat!!!

Sure, sure, just blame me for finding the wonders of the Swiss Colony again! Naa, seriously, I'm glad your mom is probably going to order the petit fours again...they are still really delicious, and it will take you back to when you were little! I also like their breakfast varieties, and their cheeses are very good too.

The other day we went out to Long Island, to go apple picking. Well, no apple picking available because of the recent hurricane and other terrible rain. BUT...we were able to pick some very nice tomatoes, peppers and eggplant! I am making eggplant parmigiana for dinner tonight! And I am going to make a fresh salsa from the tomatoes and peppers we picked. And with the extra eggplant, I will make eggplant salad. We did go to a local farmer's market and bought some apples there...honeycrisp, our favorite kind!

On the way home, we decided to go to the Tanger Outlet for a little shopping. We went into Harry & David, and it was amazing...I love that place! I bought 2 types of pancake mix...one Pecan Praline and the other Apple Cinnamon. I made the pecan praline yesterday for breakfast and it was delicious! I also bought cinnamon maple syrup which was great with the pancakes!

And speaking of making breakfasts, when I went to the bakery a few days ago to get the cake for Rosh Hashana, they had chocolate challah bread! I bought one for our family dinners, one for my sister, and one for myself. On Thursday morning, I made french toast with it...heavenly!! I wish they sold this all year, but then again, I would eat it all year if that were the case!

 

[Jackson's grammie]

So glad you enjoyed your mini trip. Next time go back during the leaf season. Super spectacular. As you probably quessed I am from the Boston area and it really is a very special city.

 

[Dream426]

My husband and I went to Boston years ago when we were dating and had a lot of fun. That hotel room looks really nice. Love the tv on the mirror in the bathroom. That is awesome. The only thing we didn't like were how the bars closed so early. We are used to them staying open all night into the morning...haha Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip in Boston. We did a lot of site seeing and the history there was a lot of fun to see and hear about.

 

[sica1799]

I wouldn't worry about PV being unsafe, everyone knows "Mickey is a safety nut" (that's what we were told on our segway tour at Epcot) and DCL wouldn't take you there if you would be in danger. You're going on an excursion with the cruise line which is good.

We are back!! Had a blast. I have to work on a TR of course I will say that PV wasn't so "pretty" and I wished I did an excursion there. There wasn't anything "on the beach" and they are actually doing tons of construction on the beach. Most of the stuff looks like they have nightclubs and such, but of course those are at night. It just wasn't very interesting there. I didn't feel unsafe, tons of mexican police were all around with thier ginormous guns sooo I doubt anyone wanted to mess with them.

Cabo had TONS to do. We did the salsa & salsa, it was fun, but so hot DH was sweating buckets (even in the inside a/c area we were in) so we had to quit halfway through the lesson. I think I would have rather done the Mexican cooking in PV and did more "wing it" time in cabo since there were plenty of activities offered off ship.

We got Lion King 3D aawwwhhhhsome!!!

We did get flooded in our room from the bathroom floor vents.....that sucked big time....BUT in a nutshell they took care of everything upgraded us, arranged for us to go to Palo-free of charge & cleaned the luggage that got wet. Soo I can't be too mad & can laugh about it now. Ok....I will stop for now before this turns into a trip report! LOL

 

[Pinkocto]

We did get flooded in our room from the bathroom floor vents.....that sucked big time....BUT in a nutshell they took care of everything upgraded us, arranged for us to go to Palo-free of charge & cleaned the luggage that got wet. Soo I can't be too mad & can laugh about it now. Ok....I will stop for now before this turns into a trip report! LOL

Whoa Nelly! I can't even imagine that happening So glad they took care of you guys. So glad you had a great trip!

 

[Leshaface]

I definitely want to check out the Neelys' new restaurant ASAP, but we don't go into Manhattan that often...and of course October is a very busy month. But we will get there eventually. I want to take the boys to Rockefeller Center this December to see the tree, and walk around the city when it's all decorated. I think they're old enough for that now. We can hop on the subway from Rockefeller Center and eat at the Neelys' for dinner. It seems like a great place to go in the cold weather...lots of delicious meat!!!

Sure, sure, just blame me for finding the wonders of the Swiss Colony again! Naa, seriously, I'm glad your mom is probably going to order the petit fours again...they are still really delicious, and it will take you back to when you were little! I also like their breakfast varieties, and their cheeses are very good too.

The other day we went out to Long Island, to go apple picking. Well, no apple picking available because of the recent hurricane and other terrible rain. BUT...we were able to pick some very nice tomatoes, peppers and eggplant! I am making eggplant parmigiana for dinner tonight! And I am going to make a fresh salsa from the tomatoes and peppers we picked. And with the extra eggplant, I will make eggplant salad. We did go to a local farmer's market and bought some apples there...honeycrisp, our favorite kind!

On the way home, we decided to go to the Tanger Outlet for a little shopping. We went into Harry & David, and it was amazing...I love that place! I bought 2 types of pancake mix...one Pecan Praline and the other Apple Cinnamon. I made the pecan praline yesterday for breakfast and it was delicious! I also bought cinnamon maple syrup which was great with the pancakes!

And speaking of making breakfasts, when I went to the bakery a few days ago to get the cake for Rosh Hashana, they had chocolate challah bread! I bought one for our family dinners, one for my sister, and one for myself. On Thursday morning, I made french toast with it...heavenly!! I wish they sold this all year, but then again, I would eat it all year if that were the case!

Gasp, I forgot about Harry & David. You are the WORST influence on me, I swear!

Speaking of Eggplant, at the end of March/beginning of April, I started my first garden which included Eggplant and Watermelon (which never grew for me ). Well about 3 weeks ago, I knew my garden was pretty much done producing (zucchini wasn't producing as much and neither was my tomatoes) so I let my garden grow. I went out there this afternoon to look at the jungle of overgrowing vines and what do I find?? 2 Eggplants that are growing and 4 WATERMELONS! What the heck?! I thought these were all Summer veg/fruit?! Anyways, i'm going to watch them for the next week and see how much bigger they get so I can actually use them.

I'm excited for Apple season. I found this AMAZING cake recipe that i'm dying to try and have been waiting for it to be cooler. I'll probably bake this next week some time.

So glad you enjoyed your mini trip. Next time go back during the leaf season. Super spectacular. As you probably quessed I am from the Boston area and it really is a very special city.

I would love to go back there during the Fall. I can only imagine how gorgeous it all is and how nice the weather is during this time

My husband and I went to Boston years ago when we were dating and had a lot of fun. That hotel room looks really nice. Love the tv on the mirror in the bathroom. That is awesome. The only thing we didn't like were how the bars closed so early. We are used to them staying open all night into the morning...haha Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip in Boston. We did a lot of site seeing and the history there was a lot of fun to see and hear about.

We were so exhausted from sight-seeing that day, we didn't even make it to a bar that night I would have loved to go to an authentic Boston bar....whatever that means.

I'll probably update the rest of my trip tomorrow

We are back!! Had a blast. I have to work on a TR of course I will say that PV wasn't so "pretty" and I wished I did an excursion there. There wasn't anything "on the beach" and they are actually doing tons of construction on the beach. Most of the stuff looks like they have nightclubs and such, but of course those are at night. It just wasn't very interesting there. I didn't feel unsafe, tons of mexican police were all around with thier ginormous guns sooo I doubt anyone wanted to mess with them.

Cabo had TONS to do. We did the salsa & salsa, it was fun, but so hot DH was sweating buckets (even in the inside a/c area we were in) so we had to quit halfway through the lesson. I think I would have rather done the Mexican cooking in PV and did more "wing it" time in cabo since there were plenty of activities offered off ship.

We got Lion King 3D aawwwhhhhsome!!!

We did get flooded in our room from the bathroom floor vents.....that sucked big time....BUT in a nutshell they took care of everything upgraded us, arranged for us to go to Palo-free of charge & cleaned the luggage that got wet. Soo I can't be too mad & can laugh about it now. Ok....I will stop for now before this turns into a trip report! LOL

I was reading about your excursion on the other thread and mentioned that you HAVE to do a TR! There are a few people on this thread that would definitely go over and read it.

 

[Leshaface]

Sorry i've been MIA folks!

Been trying to research more about the cruise (especially since the first MR sailing just returned this past Sunday).

But tomorrow i'm definitely updating the rest of my New England trip since I don't have to make dinner tomorrow!