[Bruce MacCullagh]

Here is my mom's reply to the answers in this thread:

Thanks, we did not know that. We only saw her come into town on many of our "walking dates". We could not afford to go aboard or even ask the prices on the theory "if you have to ask the cost, you can't afford it".

There is a family story from this same time period: While on one of these "walking dates" they purchased a pineapple. The rest of the date was spent sitting outside, cutting the pineapple with a metal fingernail file, since they didn't have a knife.

While they never made it aboard the Avalon, they have traveled on the Belle, without realizing that the experience on the Belle was similar to what was offered on the Avalon.