by Jim Bellomo | Oct 7, 2026 | Uncategorized
Sometimes the best-laid plans go astray. For Detroit, we didn't book any excursions because we wanted to visit Greenfield Village. It's part of the Henry Ford properties. Our plan was to get off the ship, take an Uber or Lyft to the village, spend the afternoon, and then head back.
Little did we know that on October 1, they switched to Winter hours, meaning they were open only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Since we were there on Tuesday, no Greenfield for us. We tried to find another guide in town, but pretty much everyone we contacted was booked solid. So we decided to do our own little tour.
We got off the ship, walked about three blocks, and found the Detroit People Mover. It's a free, elevated light rail that makes a 20-minute circuit of the city. We got on and rode the entire line, sitting facing each other with a big window behind us. After we completed the route and were back where we boarded, we switched places and did it again. That way we could see what we missed. Total touring time: about forty minutes.
Next, we had heard really good things about The Guardian Building downtown. The entrance was less than 100 yards from where we got off the People Mover, so it was a likely stop. We are certainly glad we did. The exterior (as you can see in my pics) is pretty cool, but the interior of the HUMONGOUS lobby was awe-inspiring (again, see my pictures). After that, most of the group walked back to the ship, but Steve had seen a building that looked to have some pretty cool sculptures on the outside of it, and I could almost see it when we left the Guardian Building, so I set off to take a couple of photos (again, in the photos below).
After that, it was back to the ship for me, with a couple of pictures on the way. One was of an amazing statue of Detroit native boxer Joe Louis’s right arm. That and another statue just about covered my photography for the day…at least until later, when we were sailing away under the brand-new Gordie Howe Bridge linking Detroit, Michigan, USA, to Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Took a few of those as we sailed underneath it.
BTW: If you are wondering why you are getting two posts today, it is because today was the day we were supposed to ride the Special Operations Boats and Zodiacs, but the wind was too high, so we had a sea (lake?) day instead. This ship really isn't equipped for days with nothing happening, so besides some lectures, there was nothing else to do but work on my photos and write. So there you are. Tomorrow is Port Colburne, where we will take a “luxury motor coach” about 40 minutes away to see Niagara Falls. Everyone in our party has already been there, but if I have to stay one more full day onboard, I just might write a novel… and no one wants that.
Detroit turned out to be heaven, but it also turned out to be hell. —Marvin Gaye
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 7, 2026 | Uncategorized
We power away from Octantis on our glass bottom boat.
If you have been waiting for an exciting visit to Alpena, you are in the wrong place. I mean, it was entirely boring, but to be very honest, I kind of feel ripped off on this one. I guess ripped off might be too strong a word. Maybe disappointed is a better word.
As I mentioned previously, Viking includes a shore excursion at every port. Sometimes (though not often) we see one of their other shore excursions (for which they charge) that appeals to us, and we splurge on that one. Over the years of sailing with them, this has paid off. Our Nuremberg excursions, our Christmas Market river cruise a few years ago come to mind. A superb tour with a great guide.
In Alpena, we decided to take a glass-bottom boat tour to see shipwrecks all around the area. The Great Lakes are famous for shipwrecks, and we thought this would be very cool. The only problem was that it was the last day of the season for the glass-bottom boat, and you could tell the crew was rushing to get through our tour (their last before heading south for the winter) so they could go home and pack. Originally, the captain of the boat had told us we would see three shipwrecks. They mark them with buoys so boats can find them quickly. They try to hover over them, but they don’t always find them. As I said, we were supposed to see three shipwrecks. The first one was totally invisible due to murky waters. The second one, we could see the very tops of something. Not sure what part of a ship it was. Then we headed to the third one, and as we got to where it should be, they announced that someone had removed the buoy, so we would not be seeing this one. That was it. For $154. I would not usually do this, but I am going to give you all the pics I took of the “shipwrecks” just to show you what you will get if you do this excursion. Then you can save yourself a quick $154.
After our shipwreck-viewing adventure, we headed to the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, the headquarters of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. We heard all about their work in one of the largest marine sanctuaries in the USA. They help protect nearly 100 historic shipwrecks in Lake Huron, off Michigan’s coast. Through research, education, and community involvement, they’re working to keep these underwater treasures safe for future generations. They also work to stop new invasive marine species and restore the Great Lakes' underwater habitat for native flora and fauna.
We heard about an hour-long talk by their superintendent, a man who is very passionate about his work and an excellent speaker as well. Check out their website by clicking here. They are doing some pretty impressive things up there in Alpena. One reason Viking stops in Alpena is that it partners with the Marine Sanctuary to support education and scientific research.
After the talk, we were back on the tender, headed out to Octantis. It was a fairly uneventful day, and the afternoon off gave me a chance to hit the gym, work on processing photos and do some writing. You can probably tell that from the three quick posts over the last two days. This one will make four.
So here are the photos. Only a couple of them do anything for me photographically. All the green ones are skippable after you see one tiny part of a shipwreck. To be honest, I am not sure what I expected, but certainly more than we saw. Feel free to look at all these on your phones.
Antiquities are history defaced, or some remnants of history which have casually escaped the shipwreck of time. —Francis Bacon
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 6, 2026 | Photography
After sailing through the night, we woke up on beautiful Mackinac Island, Michigan. This is a very different island. No motorized vehicles are allowed anywhere on the island. Everything is horses, horse-drawn vehicles, bikes, and walking. We heard they have an ambulance and a fire truck for emergencies.
It’s a beautiful island, and the people were awesome as well. We were just doing the Viking-included excursion (Viking gives you one free excursion in every port), which was a horse-drawn carriage ride around the main parts of the island. We got to see downtown, the stables, the Grand Hotel (an incredible place with the world’s longest covered porch), and lots of other little sites.
Once we returned from our tour (which lasted about an hour), we were on our own in town. Kathleen did some shopping, and I went off to walk and take pictures, which you can see below. I will let the photos and captions tell you the rest of the story.
You have to get to Mackinac Island once or twice, and, of course, coming up to the Mackinac Bridge is just awesome to me. —Tom Izzo
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 6, 2026 | Photography
We boarded Octantis on Friday, but this cruise also included an overnight in Milwaukee on the first night. So when we got up the next morning, we were scheduled to take an overview tour of the city we had spent the last two nights in. That worked for us because a "luxury motor coach" overview tour takes you to the outskirts of town and into residential areas we never got to see. That was the case with this tour, but there was a twist. It turns out that Viking hires the same group of local tour guides as the food tour we took last week, so when Kathleen and I got on the bus, who should we find in the tour guide seat but our old buddy Paul. We knew right then that even if we saw the same stuff, we were in for an entertaining tour. We weren’t wrong.
The tour took us into those residential areas and included two one-hour stops. One of the stops far exceeded my expectations, and the other was a snooze fest. They should skip it entirely, except for a drive-by. First up was the good stop—the Harley-Davidson Museum. I had no idea that Harley was based in Milwaukee, but that’s where they started, and their museum is a masterpiece showcasing everything about the coolest bikes in the world.
When we first arrived, our “luxury motor coach” dropped us off right in front of a large group of riders getting ready for a sunny Saturday run. Their bikes were gorgeous, especially one particular bike. The owner of that bike saw me shooting him and asked if I could take a couple of photos to send him. I gave him my card and hope to hear from him because I really like the photos I took of him. It was really fun connecting with him. When the group was finally all together, they roared out of the parking lot one at a time, each showing off his bike. The rider I had connected with roared past me, keeping his eye on my lens the entire time.
One thing I may not have mentioned in my previous post about our food tour was that our guide, Paul, was also a photographer. As we went into the museum, he walked over and said, “Look for the wall of gas tanks. It makes an awesome photo.” He was right. It did. And so did more of the exhibits than I expected. See the pics below.
Our second stop on the “luxury motor coach” tour was the Pabst Mansion, built by the founder of the Pabst Brewery, the maker of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer…or, as we like to call it, yellow-colored water. This is the stop I mentioned should have just been a drive-by. Inside the home (which, as you can see, is beautiful outside), the house was cluttered and typical of a rich guy’s home from the 1890s. It also had a mildew-and-rot smell. I went in but couldn’t find a single thing worth wasting a pixel on. So, as you will see below, I took all my photos in and around the Harley-Davidson museum. The rest of the tour was excellent, and much of that was due to Paul’s narration.
After we returned from our “luxury motor coach” tour, it was time for lunch. Then Octantis sailed out of Milwaukee, and we waved goodbye to a city we liked a whole lot more than we ever thought we would. We (just the October Bunch) went up to deck six, where we could take some great pics…see below. I got a couple of the Art Museum with the wings open. A beautiful building.
I love Milwaukee! I'm going to be in Milwaukee 20 years! I'll be here so long, they'll be sick of me!—Giannis Antetokounmpo
by Jim Bellomo | Sep 23, 2026 | Uncategorized
Not sure if you remember this, but we have a group of six people who travel every October. We call ourselves the October Bunch. We have traveled together every October since 2023, when we sailed on Oceania’s Vista from Montreal to Miami. Since then, we have done river cruises on both the Douro in Portugal and the Columbia River. And since it is almost October, we are off to sail again with the Bunch.
The October Bunch includes me, Kathleen, my brother Steve (of the famous Steve test of restaurants), my sister-in-law Jamie, and our incredible Florida friends Mike and Cathy. Kathleen and I have been traveling with Mike since 2005, and I consider him one of my two best friends in the world.
This year, our trip will start in Chicago this Saturday, and we will spend four days touring the city. We haven’t been there together since 2013. (I was back in 2014 to deal with my youngest brother’s death, but that doesn’t count as a city visit. Jamie and Steve have been there most recently, and our other two Bunchers haven’t been there for more than 25 years.)This should be fun.
We are in Chicago from Saturday afternoon until Wednesday morning, when we rent a car and drive north to the home of cheese and beer—Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I am pretty sure none of us have been there before. We stay two nights at a really cool hotel (which you will see when we get there). Then, on Friday morning, we board the Viking Octantis for a seven-night cruise that takes us to five of the six Great Lakes (we don’t get to Superior).
We are very excited about the cruise because, after all our years of cruising, this is an entirely new kind of ship we have never been on before. In fact, as cruise ships go, only two like it exist in the world: Octantis and her sister ship, Polaris. Octantis holds only 374 passengers in 187 staterooms, so it is much smaller than a Viking Ocean ship and larger than a Viking River boat.
As an expedition ship, she spends most of the year in either the Arctic or the Antarctic. On the way between her two main destinations, she visits the Great Lakes and the Caribbean. This gives us a chance to check her out. She has a lot of very cool gear, including Special Operations Boats for exploring, Zodiacs, and even two six-man submarines (John and Paul). The ship has a scientific lab for oceanic exploration.
You can see our route at the top of this page. We love where this cruise ends… when we sail into Lake Ontario (NOT Lake America) and disembark in Toronto, one of our favorite cities. We will spend the night so we can see our good friends Tim and Perry. It’s been way too long since we last saw them.
That’s the coming two weeks. I will be blogging away, and as always, I will have photos. I hope to use what I learned in Belgium two weeks ago on this trip.
“An account of an expedition is not a novel. Therefore, an authentic account can never be given, let alone written down by someone who was not present.” —Reinhold Messner
