October 22 - At sea in the Gulf of St. Lawrence

Yesterday we were docked in the little community of Baie-Comeau, which is in the Côte-Nord region of Québec on the St. Lawrence River.  The town itself was founded in 1936 by a man named Colonel Robert R. McCormick.  He was the publisher of the Chicago Tribune newspaper.  He traveled up the river looking for a place where there was a good source of black spruce which was the preferred lumber to be made into pulp to make paper for newspapers.  He decided this was a good spot and a paper mill was constructed.  Since then a hydro-electric plant was built nearby.  Additionally an aluminum smelter was built and one of the largest grain warehouses in Canada.

You know there's not a lot to see when I post a photo of the ship

There’s not a great deal to see here and once again the tours offered were nature hikes and I’m not a nature hiker.  There was a shuttle running to the tiny downtown and I took that.  There were local volunteer tour guides on the bus and they were quite interesting.  The two on my rides were retired paper mill workers who were delightful old gentlemen. The highlights they pointed out were the local jail which they said had the best view of the river in town and the main office of the paper mill.  There was a main street which had a few stores and a café that had this interesting Halloween couple sitting at a table out front.

Here's the jail with the best view in town

A charming group at the little café. They even had their pets with them.

I found a store that sold knit hats and gloves and I bought  both.  I forgot to pack a hat and somehow I lost one glove and both my head and hands were cold.  After walking the block I returned back to the ship.  That was my visit to Baie-Comeau.

In the afternoon I went to Trivia and joined a team looking for additional people.  A name was chosen the day before so we are the “We meant to say that” team.  We didn’t do very well; we placed fourth.  But it is only a game so I’m not despairing.

I dined at a table with the comedian who did the show the night before. It was an okay table.  One end dominated the conversation and the volume was very loud.  At my end there was a lady who complained at the end of the meal that she was still really hungry and was going to go up to the Colonnade to get something else to eat.  She wasn’t a particularly large woman so I don’t know what was up with that.

The highlights of the day were the show and the club afterward.  Seabourn is trying a new entertainment concept and they have a cast of six who all both sing and dance.  The show was fantastic!  Afterwards I went down to the Club, and boy what a difference from the first few nights! The band and the trio played great dance music.  One of my fellow passengers had a word with the cruise director yesterday and the musicians were alive.  I stayed until nearly midnight and then called it a night.  We moved our clocks forward an hour overnight.

Today we’re sailing in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and aside from one island this morning I haven’t seen anything.  Since it’s a sea day we had trivia at noon.  We blew the last question so no winnings today.  Aside from that it’s a quiet day and I’m getting into the sea day routine which I love.  That’s it for now.  Tomorrow we’ll be at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and I have a tour booked which I think will be fun.  I’ll keep you in suspense until then.

The only land I've seen all day.