Aboard the Viking Star

Finally all unpacked and laundry finished and time to reflect on a great journey on the Viking Star.  We enjoyed a wonderful "repositioning" cruise that took us from Montreal to Fort Lauderdale - with many wonderful stops along the way!  

We were happy to arrive in Montreal on time with no flight delays...hoped to interview for Global Entry at the airport but the office was closed and had been since Covid began.

Beautiful view from our stateroom.

Toured the amazing cathedral in Montreal...

Learned that the main aisle slopes downward to mimic the flow of the St. Lawrence river.

This was a first for me...I did see battery operated candles in churches before, but I never saw a way to pay for your candle with a credit card !

Quebec the next day....lovely old town.

Wonderful day exploring the historic city.

Next stop was Saguenay... a small town with great scenery.

Beautiful churches and this pyramid memorial to people lost in the terrible flooding in 1997.

Found a lot of Little Free Libraries along the way, but this one was "the coolest"!

We got to spend an extra morning there as our stop at Prince Edward Island was cancelled due to damage from Hurricane Fiona.  The island did not have power and was not accepting any cruise ships.  I was sorry to miss that stop and the Anne of Green Gables tour...but enjoyed the extra time to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Loved the spa pool with the warm water and great loungers.

Waffles !

Seemed like there was always a reason for the crew to pass our champagne...

and Afternoon Tea.  What bliss...with beautiful music and delicious treats.

The food on this cruise was AMAZING!

Next stop was St. John, New Brunswick 

I always seem to find the libraries and the bookstores...

Interesting area with "reversing falls" when the tide changes.

Next stop was Bar Harbor, Maine...and Acadia National Park.

Chowder and toasted cheese for lunch...

This shop sold lobster ice cream !!!

Back on the ship for a wonderful lobster dinner!

Then next day arrived in Portland, Maine - 

What a beautiful city.

Our tour out to the light house was not until the afternoon so we explored on our own -

The last existing watch tower in the U.S.

Another little free library where I found a book I wanted to read...will add a book to a little library in my neighborhood to keep the idea going.

Lovely walk along the bay and enjoying all the sea captain's homes.

We found the restored area near the docks with lots of shops and places to eat...

By the time we made it back to the ship my Fitbit said we walked over 15,000 steps....so I indulged in gelato and dessert...and wine at lunch!

We were lucky with weather the entire trip....rained a little as we visited the beautiful lighthouse.

The rocky coast of Maine was really gorgeous...then it was on to Newport, Rhode Island.

Trinity Church

Loved the stained glass

The pew where George Washington worshipped...

The kneelers are from when Queen Elizabeth visited in 1976 and worshipped there with President Ford.

We walked around the harbor and looked at some of the huge yachts.

Like stars on the water....a wonderful day!

Back to the ship for another Afternoon Tea time.

Cannot say enough about how great the crew was - they all wore masks to keep us safe. (We wore masks in the airport, on the plane, on any tour bus, and in the theater.)  Viking crew treated us royally...remembering what we liked to drink, our names, and our cabin steward took care of our every need.  

And once again...the food !  This was surf and turf...and both the lobster and filet were done to perfection.  The portions were huge...so much so that several times we asked for half portions.  We are usually very careful with our diets and try to eat healthy.  On this trip....forget about it!   We have vowed to be more moderate on the next cruise....we shall see.

The closer we got to Fort Lauderdale the warmer the weather became...we enjoyed the infinity pool and hot tub at the back of the ship.  

It was a fabulous trip - we saw so much nature and history, enjoyed fabulous food and wine, met a lot of interesting people from all over the world, and spent time just relaxing and watching the water!

Can't wait for the next trip...coming in March!

Do you like to cruise?  River?  Ocean?  What cruise lines do you enjoy?  Please leave a comment below - I love hearing from you!

Thanks for stopping by Our New Vista - have a great week!

Neat Things That Followed Me Home...

Neat Stuff That Followed Me Home...

Feels like Fall around here - and some new things followed me home from a few places during the last few weeks.

Did a "Target Run" this week and was happy to see the Mrs. Meyer's Fall collection.  I had pulled out the last of what I purchased last year in Apple Cider scent and used it all up yesterday.  Love the Fall Leaves scent and it will make cleaning up after dinner fun.

I will admit I have a thing about dishes.  I love them - and downsizing meant I did get rid of some of our sets.   Our everyday white dishes ( that can be dressed up or down) had seen better days.  Stumbled upon these in our local Boscov's - do you have Boscov's near you ?  They are simple and I love the textured edges of the little beading on the sides.  I am a bit of a perfectionist...

So, when I got them home and washed them I noticed that one mug had a "blip" on the handle - right where your thumb would be - and one of the dishes had mark on the edge.  I had purchased two sets of 4 and when I was leaving the register the clerk told me to save my sales slip and if there were any that were not right to bring them back.  I was skeptical - but I took those pieces back and they exchanged them for two others in an open box used for display.  We have been loving our new dishes...the mugs have such a nice "feel".

I have been seeing these Blue Diamond pans advertised on television and thought they looked interesting.  Our pots and pans are Analon brand and about 15 years old.  They have held up great - except for the frying pans.  I was able to get this Blue Diamond pan on sale at Kohl's - and I had a coupon and 20 dollars in Kohl's Cash - and it was on sale - so it was a steal.  I was tempted to purchase the entire pots and pans set, but wanted to try this one first.   It is great - eggs slide right out and it cleans up well.   I don't think I will purchase the set, but I am on the lookout for the large, deep, covered fry pan.

We are off on a trip in the future and needed new carry on luggage - something with wheels.  We had nice tote bags that matched our luggage, but they got heavy carrying them through the airports.  We found these American Tourister models at Kohl's at 50% off...and I had a 30% coupon so we grabbed them.  I think they will be perfect for our carry on item and hold enough so that we will have some clothes if our luggage gets lost.  Been hearing horror stories of people not getting their luggage for days....or even for the entire trip.  I know there are folks who can go for an entire two weeks with just this size case - I am not one of those people.  We will check a bag and carry this with us...or roll this with us!

Fortunate to have a Talbots outlet near my home and they were having a big sale.  The stripped top is summery and will be for next year, but the T by Talbots top is going to be a great travel item.

And, of course I had to make a stop at my local Dollar Tree...where I never leave empty handed.  The Hallmark greeting cards they sell at a discount price are worth the trip, but some other great things made it into my basket...

These name brand (peds) trouser socks are a great color variety and I needed some new ones for the Fall and Winter.  6 pair for 1.25!

I can never have too much glitter....

Dollar Tree tea towels/dish cloths are not the best quality - but they are cute and I like to keep some on hand to wrap around a loaf of homemade bread to take as a hostess gift.

Had to pick up these...soon it will be time for pumpkin muffins and these will be perfect! You can find the recipe I have been using for pumpkin muffins for many years here - 

Pumpkin Muffins

More glitter filler....found some in bronze and gold, too.

And...could not resist these skeleton salad tongs!  Not sure if we will be entertaining anyone during the Halloween holiday, but I had to have these!

And...all of the Christmas and Winter items were starting to show up in Dollar Tree this week.  I made myself not even look...until I see what I tucked away from last year.

What has "followed you home" recently?  I would love to hear from you - please leave a comment below.  Thanks so much for stopping by Our New Vista !

 

So Long, Summer!

Once again, summer seemed to fly by and it's Labor Day Weekend.  I've been spending the last, lazy days of summer enjoying time on the porch...reading some great books.  And, making sure to enjoy these last days of the season.   The beautiful wreath above is not mine and is not on my door.  Last weekend John and I went for a morning walk in downtown Lancaster and happened on this amazing scene.   What an interesting decoration.  Oh, and we took the short drive to downtown to visit the Lancaster Public Library.  The library had a summer reading program for adults...for each book you read you filled out a short form - author, title, rate the book 1-5 stars, and describe the book in three words.   At the end of summer a drawing was held from all the entries.  I was thrilled to be a winner!

My prize was a great tote bag filled with three new books, plus a gift card to a local restaurant that has great soup and sandwiches.  What a win-win....I had the pleasure of reading some really great books and I won a prize.   Watch for a post on "what I've been reading" lately in the future.

After picking up the prize, we walked to Lancaster Southern Market....an old market building that has been remodeled and used as a food hub and shared working space.   You can read more about this unique place here - 

Old Friends/New Place for Lunch

The market was not yet open for lunch when we arrived, but the great little coffee shop at the entrance was open so we stopped for some tea, a cappuccino, and delicious coffee cake.

And then continued our walk around Lancaster....

The great Seasons oil and vinegar shop was not yet open...

and we strolled past an old movie theater that has been converted to apartments.  I love that they did not disturb the beautiful tiled entry...and that they kept the flavor of the place with old movie posters.

Stumbled upon this little shop that also was not yet open....but we definitely be on my list to return and visit soon. 

Summer sunflowers growing in the city were so pretty.

Once the calendar turned over to September though, all of my summer decorations in our home were looking tired, and I was eager for Fall.  I usually have a bright patterned cloth cover on the side table between our chairs, and have some matching pillows scattered on the sofa and chair.   I was not quite ready to retire the bright summer colors for the deep, dark ones I use for late Fall and Winter. So I was excited to find this fabric while shopping for some other items at our local Walmart.

I thought it was the perfect blend of late summer/early fall colors  And it was a precut 2 yard piece that cost only $10.97 !  That is a bargain price compared to what a decorator fabric costs at a local fabric store.  I will say that the weight is not quite as heavy as a Waverly fabric, but still very nice.

I took the old topper off of the table ( you can see it is more colorful...I usually put that out in mid May and keep it on till Fall)

and laid it on the fabric...cut it out, leaving enough fabric to turn the edges under.

I did not sew the edges...I used "stich witch" bonding  and just turned the edge under and pressed it to hold.

It worked great...quick and easy.

I had enough fabric left over to make two pillows...but just for the front of the pillows.  I found a pillowcase that I was not using and cut that up for the back of the pillow as the color went well.

A simple edge on the back pieces...and just made a fold over backing.

The finished product!  I love the colors with the dark chairs...

This pillow looks good on the sofa and blends with the moss green pillows...

And one more pillow on my favorite chair, too.

I was inspired to dig out some Fall leaves and decoration and will spend this week getting my Autumn decorations displayed.

Hope everyone had a great summer, a fabulous Labor Day Weekend...and is ready for Fall.

Do you change your home with the seasons ?  Let me know - leave a comment.  I love hearing from you!

Have a great week !