Johanna and Pieter are friends from Kwadendamme, a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. We met on a Holland America cruise around the British Isles in 2025, when we shared the same dinner table every night.
When Mother and I learned that we would have a day in Rotterdam during our 2026 cruises, we contacted them to see if we could get together. It turned out that they were on the cruise line’s late-notification list. If a cabin became available as late as one week before a cruise set sail, they could book it at an incredibly low price. Sure enough, two days before the cruise, they received the notice and were able to come aboard. We arranged for them to be seated at our table, and we enjoyed two more weeks with them instead of just a few hours.
Their next cruise after our joint cruise in the Baltic was a fall-foliage cruise from Boston to Quebec. The ship was scheduled to stop in Eastport, Maine. We had previously driven to Portland to visit friends whose cruise stopped there, but this was our first time visiting Eastport.
We left Farmington at 6:30 in the morning so we could reach Eastport by 10:45. Their ship was originally scheduled to leave at 3:00 p.m., but because it had lost time during a late departure from Portland, the departure had been moved up to 2:00. We didn’t have much time together, but we were determined to make the most of it.
The ship had docked at 7:00 a.m., so Johanna and Pieter had already explored Eastport on foot by the time we arrived. Mother had read an article about things to do in Eastport. In addition to Raye’s Mustard Mill—America’s last traditional stone-ground mustard mill—and the Tides Institute and Museum of Art, the article mentioned Polar Treat in nearby Perry, which is famous for its root beer floats.
I had texted Johanna ahead of time to ask what they would be interested in seeing and doing. I remembered from our meals on board that they enjoyed dessert as much as I did. She confirmed that they liked sweet treats, especially ice cream, but they had never heard of root beer or a root beer float. So Polar Treat won out over the mustard mill and the fascinating institute, whose motto is “Bridging Borders, Exploring Boundaries.”
And so ice cream won the day. Having such a short time together was also a deciding factor. We took the 13-minute drive to Perry through typical Maine countryside, surrounded by pines and other trees. A few were beginning to show a hint of fall color, although it was still early in the season.
Pieter ordered his favorite: vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce. Johanna, however, took a chance on the crazy notion of putting ice cream in a soft drink and tried root beer for the first time. Mother and I both ordered root beer floats.
The ice cream was a hit, and the time we spent together on Polar Treat’s screened-in porch was wonderful, even though it was far too short. We know we will see them again, whether we share another cruise or visit a port near each other’s hometowns. We are already looking forward to it.
