OnTheJourney

Yeah we hadn't planned on walking all that far after exploring the commons area. Had a great time up there. We took the boat tour from the Farmer's Market - most informative and enjoyable also.

Yeah that would work real well.

That would fit with the description I'm seeing on the Bermuda Train website: "Our Dockyard tour starts alongside the cruise ship at Heritage Wharf. The driver gives a commentary of the Naval Dockyard, describing its rich history from the 1800s & its contribution to Bermuda History. Key landmarks include the Martime Museum & Clock Tower Mall as you drive past the shops & buildings on Camber Road. From there you'll continue on to Freeport Drive & turn left onto Craddock Road, heading towards the Lagoon Park. Here passengers can see a tidal lagoon with fish & birds in their natural habitat. The tour continues west along Malabar Road, with the driver explaining Bermuda's unique rooftop architecture & how we catch our rain (including a look at an above ground water tank). Once over Watford Bridge, the train pulls into the layby beside the Yellow Fever cemetery. The driver then returns along Malabar Road back to the Naval Dockyard."

Well, shortly after that Sky episode we figured we gotta get back out on the water fairly soon, so we did a Celebrity cruise the following October of '19. Gotta say, though, that everytime there has been a lifeboat drill and they sound the general alarm, it goes right through us and takes up back to when hearing that alarm was the real thing. We've done 3 cruises with Viking since that Northern Lights trip.

Good one! Not that I'm aware of.

Yeah for sure. Same sorts of memories for me with my grandfather's cabin. Funny story - when I was quite young he built a sort of cement slab presumably to use as a bench. It was L-shaped, and he had me put my handprints in the wet cement on the top. Fast forward a few decades - when DW and I went to Memorytown one of the first times, we drove in search of the cabin. She had never been there. I couldn't believe that I actually found it after so many years. Best part, though - place seemed deserted so drove down to it, walked over and, sure enough, the slab with those handprints (and I think my initials as well) was still there. WHY I ddin't take a picture of it is beyond me. Really should have. Never went back after that. I suspect by now the whole area might have changed. Did alot of map googling of roads in the area where the cabin at least should have been, and nothing looked even remotely familiar. That's also really cool! Like I said, it was a great thing when it first started. Members had access to the golf course, country club and pool, but then eventually they took all that away from them. The biggest complaint from people who stayed there over the years is that it was too spread out, being that Tanglwood must have bought property all over the place, so you had to drive to everything - some things were like 20-25 minutes apart. Not ideal for families with young kids. The clubhouse burned down to the ground...TWICE! Given that it was started and run by an insurance company, that really made me wonder. We drove up to the ski are where my dad's unit was, and it became quickly apparent that it became a privately owned community - no longer part of Tanglwood. I think the only units they still have are those lakefront right along 507. Really unfortunate. Last time we were up that way we tried this place: https://www.nurnbergerbierhaus.info/ Felt like a LONG drive from Mt. Pocono up on 196 / 191. Food was certainly good, but it wasn't the Alpine.

That's so cool. My daughter grew up being so exposed to stuff like Star Trek, science museums that we'd take her to, Sagan's "Contact", etc. that she pursued it, got her doctorate and is now a scientist at CalTech working on NASA's Near-Earth Object Surveyor Program. She really likes it, but I'm sad at times that she's so far from PA!

That's so awesome! Small world. My financial advisor has a place on Cove Point Club - likely not that far from you. Yeah I remember when those big casinos came to town with the heart-shaped tubs, etc.! Quite honestly, it never meshed with my experience of the Poconos, starting when I was just a kid and used to visit my grandfather's cabin near Thornhurst. Sort of grew up boating on Wallenpaupack. Then, DW and I honeymooned at a place called "Memorytown USA" near Mt. Pocono. Still called Memorytown only they dropped the USA and it's now "Lakeside Inn & Cottages". It had gotten really run down for years, and then new management turned it into a gold mine with ATV trails, a fancy wedding barn venue, spruced up the dilapidated cottages, and what was a quaint tavern serving lunch next to their small lake changed into a high-priced gourmet restaurant. Food's great, but I miss the old place. They used to feature "beers from around the world" - and it was no exaggeration. Separate menu with beers from loads of different countries. My dad, when he retired, bought a timeshare at Tanglwood (near Silver Birches). Had 2 weeks in July and so used to enjoy boating. When he passed, my mom was still paying the yearly maintenance fees until we decided to can it since she hadn't used it in probably 10 years. Deeded it back to Tanglwood since, as many people lament, there's not much market for selling timeshares. This was our first time at Silver Birches and really enjoyed it. To me, it's more the spirit of how I always thought of the Poconos. Great restaurant onsite also. I'm not very familiar with that west side, having always come up on 507. My dad's timeshare was off of 380. Tanglwood had some of their units up at the ski area. It was a great timeshare - at first - till things started to go south. The members lost alot of what was initially promised to them. And, some things they did promise would happen in the way of further development never did. Great memories, but it was time to get my mom out of it. One thing we REALLY miss is that, following (and primarily due to) covid, the terrific German restaurant up at Honesdale closed - "The Alpine". Food was SO good. They have a huge deli there which is still in business. I don't think the restaurant will ever reopen as much as they've said they would like to. That whole area - Honesdale, Hawley - I'm super familiar with.

Yeah, thanks. I had done some research and found it on their website: Ocean + RIver voyages. Surprised that it's the only one. You'd think there would be more trips they could stack together. I like that combined itinerary alot. Never tried Viking river yet.

whereabouts?

Without fail, those episodes put my wife to sleep every time!! We have the book, as well as several others. I took along his one called "Billions and Billions" to read while on the trip. Cornell University is interesting to drive around also, since the whole area is gorges (gorgeous? lol) Hiker's paradise up there. Never knew there were so many waterfalls - something like 150. The one pic, of the really tall waterfall, is higher than the American side of Niagara.

I think we got to all of them except Neptune and Pluto

Had a heck of a time finding his grave. Were it not for some local people out on a walk in the cemetery, we'd never have found it. The Sagan planet walk in downtown Ithaca is really neat also.

Recently took a trip to Ithaca and the Cayuga Lake area in NY. Due to all the rain, the waterfalls were amazing. Lovely area in the Finger Lakes if you've never been. From there we headed down to Lake Wallenpaupack and stayed at a quaint resort called Silver Birches.

That Ledges area reminds me of Flume Gorge and other places at Franconia Notch in the White Mts., NH Huge boulders.

Interesting...how come?

Ah..so it was on the Neptune. I'm tempted to put those two cruises together. I think I remember occasionally seeing Viking advertising a combo river / ocean itinerary. OK...just found what you did. https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/specialty/river-and-ocean-voyages/index.html Strange that they don't offer more like this. There have to be more individual itineraries that could be stacked.

Bumping up this older thread. Isn't there a way to book a cruise with them online without jumping through any "request a quote" hoops?

Do you recall exactly where it went? Just within the dockyard area or farther?

Yeah...first and last time for this itinerary for sure.

Thanks. To make it a B2B is really the only reason I booked the Bermuda cruise. I started with the 9-day CA/NE and then looked for what I could add on to it. True, but if I go to the beach, DW will likely stay on the ship - beach is just not much her thing anymore, so hate to mess up plans for dinner onboard and have to make her wait.

Hey, it happened in olden days, so, why not? https://www.facebook.com/HistoricUK/posts/onthisday-in-1236-king-henry-iii-of-england-aged-28-married-12-year-old-eleanor-/1028985539268601/ So much back then was, as it states, for political alliances, land ownership, etc.

So this was a package offering from Viking, or did you pick out the two trips that coincided?

You got that right! I got tired just reading it 😄

What Viking cruise are you doing? Loving the pics. Brings back memories of our Northern Lights cruise on the Sky back in '19. Unfortunately never got to Stavanger though, nor made it to Tilbury. OK...found it by looking back several pages: https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/baltic/viking-shores-and-fjords/index.html Looks real nice. You'll really enjoy Bergen. That's where our Northern Lights cruise started following a pre-extension in Oslo. That Vigeland Park is really quite unique! We loved our time in Oslo. Stayed at the Thon Opera Hotel. That was a really cool idea to do B2B with a river trip out of Basel, especially since otherwise either trip individually is only 8 days. I don't care to fly that far for less than 2 weeks. I'd be tempted to try Viking River sometime. Looks like your first trip with Viking also. They're a class act, I think. We feel they're a cut above both RCL and X. Just wish they sailed out of our two local ports. What ship are you on?