Two Month Update

So I did see Bye Bye Birdie at the Stadium Theatre with Fabi. It was ok...I prefer the movie. They didn't do the title song, Bye Bye Birdie, which is the whole point of the show. I did see my friend Kat, which was nice! :) August 30 Kristin and I went back to NYC to see Cabaret. I spent the morning at Governor's Island again, to see the new hammock grove, playground, food court, and walking path(which was AWESOME!! Great views of the Statue of Liberty from this new section!) and I was hoping to go to Surprise House, but it didn't open until 2, and I had to be back for Cabaret. Maybe next year! Cabaret was awesome!! Alan Cumming is truly the man...he needs to be the only MC ever! Michelle Williams as Sally Bowles I was not thrilled with at all. I liked her as Jen on Dawson's Creek, but I do not like her portrayal of Sally at all. Sept 1 was Labor Day, and it was so hot out! My friend Tony and I went up to Boston, to the aquarium(I don't see much of a difference with the new renovations...to me, the $24 entrance price is hefty!) We walked around by the Harbor too. A nice day! Sept 5 I left for my cruise! I went to Montreal, and explored Montreal for the day. We found the Science Centre, which was free(thank god!) with my Boston Museum of Science pass...I would have been upset if I had had to pay, as it wasn't that great a museum. We also went to a farmer's market. We were excited to find a Ben and Jerry's! Sept 6 we boarded our boat, and set sail along the St Lawrence River for Quebec City! Our show that evening was a taste of all the performances we could see on the ship. They also gave us a sail away BBQ, which was great! I also won a bottle of champagne in one of the boat raffles. Sept 7 was Quebec City, and we went to St Anne de Beaupre Cathedral, which was a beautiful cathedral with carved pews, portraits, mosaics...it is also the church of miracles, so there are two columns of crutches, where people who needed them came to that church, prayed, and left not needing them. We also drove around the back roads looking at old houses, root cellars, and bread ovens. Then, we went to Montmorency Falls, which is a higher Waterfall than Niagara, (but Niagara is prettier, in my opinion!) After our tour we walked around the city, went to another farmer's market, where we had delicious gelato and bought maple syrup. We also took the funicular up to where Chateau Frontenac, the world's most photographed hotel, is. At night we had a guest piano man, Ryan Ahern, perform for us. He was fantastic! This evening, I won a bracelet in one of the raffles! Sept 8 was our day at sea, we saw a lecture on the Halifax Explosion of 1917, which I had known the bare minimum about-namely, Halifax had an explosion, Boston rushed to their aid, and as thank you, Halifax gives us our Christmas Tree in the Common every year. There was a bit more to it...back in WWI Halifax closed its harbor at 7pm every night. Any boats outside had to wait til the next morning. Well, one of the boats was carrying explosives. It was not labeled. The next morning, the harbor opened, and it was foggy, as Halifax is known to fog. a boat in the harbor was coming out, the boat with explosives came in, they didn't see each other til the last minute, and collided. The crew on the non-explosive boat all perished, while the crew on the boat with explosives survived because they jumped ship before the crash. The crash spread through Halifax, sending glass flying everywhere. There were 2000 casualties, and many many people who were left blind due to the flying glass. A telegrapher sent one final warning message out to incoming trains, warning them to stay away due to the crash. He lost his life, but saved hundreds of others, making him a hero! Boston came to assist right away, and the rest, obviously, led to why we now get a tree from them yearly. Haunting story. Our entertainment that night was Bob Mackie's Broadway, which of course, was my favorite of all the shows! Sept 9 we arrive in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. I LOVED PEI!! It was reminiscent of Martha's Vineyard, small, charming, seasonal. We had COWS Ice cream there, which was easily the best ice cream in Canada, true to their claim! We saw Anne and Gilbert, the musical, which is Canada's longest running musical. I expected it to be cute at best, but it was really, really good! Based on Anne of Green Gables, which is popular there, as it took place on PEI. Our entertainment that night was a comedian who was very funny! His shtick was joking about things that are real, which made it funnier! Sept 10 was Sydney, Canada. Sydney was also charming, but not much to do. We walked around the town, and realized everything was in the building outside of our boat! It is also home of the giant ciedleh fiddle. The fiddle is HUGE! 9 years old, built of steel, can actually be played, but they pipe music through it. Also inside were a farmers market, a craft show, a lighthouse which doubled as a theatre about the giant fiddle, a museum, and The Spirit of the Fiddle, which is an awesome show filled with Irish music with Cape Breton Island influence! They gave us a poutine bar on the boat that day! I loved poutine! Our show that night was supposed to be a fiddler, but they missed the boat...so we had a newly weds type game, which was really funny! Also that night was the Indonesian Crew show, which was pretty cool to see different cultural dances and songs! Sept 11 was Halifax, Canada...the day I'd been waiting for! I was excited for the Maritime Museum, which had the most extensive collection of authentic Titanic memorabilia! It didn't disappoint, either! The rest of the museum featured model ships, and other ships that had sunk as well. It also had life size models of famous figures from the War of 1812, and a parrot, Pierre, that spoke mostly French, but could ask me for a cracker in perfect English! We also went on a Duck tour of Halifax, which took us by the Citadel, around the city, and of course in the harbor by the Pier where our boat was docked and the Halifax explosion took place. After that we walked by the Harbor, shopped at a farmers market, and then boarded the boat for cupcake tea. Our show that night was a rock n roll/country show. Sept 12 was Bar Harbor, ME...back in the States! We had to take a tender to Bar Harbor, and then we took Oli's Trolley through Acadia Nat'l Park, which was beautiful! We stopped at Cadillac Mountain, another area where there were gardens, and Thunder Hole. It was such a gorgeous day! After that we walked around the town, cute shops, again, very Martha's Vineyard-esque! We will definitely be going back to ME! This was our last night on the ship. The show we had was Dancing With The Stars, where regular people learned to dance with the show staff, and the best one went on the next round, which is a big competition with all the boat winners at the end of the year. It was really fun to watch!! Sept 13 we arrive back in Boston! It was nice to arrive in my own state, with no stress of flights! I was tired, but far less tired than I would have been had I flown! I went to my friend Shirley's house at night to hang out and see people who weren't 85+!! (On Holland America, they tend to cater to the very elderly population!) Sept 21 was NYC! Kristin and I went in for the Broadway Flea Market, which was fabulous, as always! I spent $35 and got a lot of books, and of course my snow globe, and some pins. I also did lottery and won $37 tix to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch, with Andrew Rannells...who was better than Neil Patrick Harris, in my opinion!! 12 rows from the front also made a HUGE difference, compared to the back of the theatre, where I saw Neil!! Now it is October...October 4 I saw My Fair Lady at Ocean State Theatre, which was FANTASTIC! I would see another show there, def!! Upcoming events include Awesome 80's Prom at the Stadium Theatre with Leah on Oct 10, Salem with Alaina on Oct 11, NYC with Fabi on Oct 18, a benefit for my friend Andrea AND a baby shower for my friend Christina on Oct 25, a wedding for my friend Caity on Nov 1, and RI comic con on Nov 2. Hoping to go back to NYC 2 more times before the year is up, maybe a Wednesday day trip, and Dec 20(weather permitting!) Also planned are the Cape symphony on Dec 5, FL on Dec 13-15, and some shows at PPAC scattered in!