And Now, the End is Near …

Oh, Canada, you have been fun! We spent our last day visiting Fair Lawn Cemetery where the bodies off the Titanic were buried after they were recovered from the Atlantic by Halifax sailors.  A very sad and solemn place, as many of those who were recovered from the tragedy were never identified; so, there is only the date and their number. Even the body of a 2-year-old little boy was recovered and initially had no identification. I’ve read  recently that he was identified in 2011 as Sidney Leslie Goodwin, although they also admitted he had been misidentified twice before.

After walking along in the cemetery, we returned with our taxi driver, who had turned off his meter and joined us in walking among the stones. He drove us over to harbor area of the city so we could go to the Maritime Museum, which is close to the water and along the boardwalk where we went to see the exhibit for the Titanic. Outside the museum there was a reference to the Titanic and a photo op area.

I was a little disappointed in the exhibit as there wasn’t a lot of information or pictures about how the locals had participated in the recovery but it was interesting to see some of the artifacts. There was also a lighthouse light that was beautiful!

Also in the museum was an exhibit about the explosion in Halifax Harbour on December 6, 1917. The harbour has a narrow passage at one point, and, because of a miscommunication, one boat ran into another that was carrying tons of ammunition. The cargo didn’t detonate immediately and local residents who had heard the accident rushed down to the harbour’s shore.

As a result, many more were injured when the ammo did explode. Hundreds of people were killed or hurt and many–over 500–ended up losing an eye or two and/or were blinded because there was so much broken glass flying out from the explosion.

We left the Maritime Museum and walked over to the Fine Arts Museum to see the Maude Lewis exhibition. I had seen the movie ‘Maudie’ with Linda before we all left on our trips and it was excellent. Maude was born Maude Dowley in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, which is on the very southern tip of the island. She had juvenile arthritis and later rheumatoid arthritis as an adult which caused her to be stooped and suffering with severe pain. According to the movie, she eventually married Everett Lewis who she met when responding to a want ad for a live-in housekeeper he had posted in the local grocery store. Long story short, she worked for and lived with him for a while, eventually marrying him, and ended up painting folkart paintings on the walls of the house and then on boards that Everett would bring her. Her paintings originally sold to folks passing by the house for $1 to $5, but now sell for thousands!

The Art Museum moved their little house from Wolfville, NS, near where we recently visited Digby, to the museum in Halifax.  Coinciding with this exhibit was a collection from a private individual who had bought Maude Lewis paintings over the years and who even owned the sign she had painted to put outside her home for passers-by to see! Her work is very simple and colorful and what we commonly refer to as Folk Art.

I bought some cards of her paintings that I’m going to frame. It really is amazing to see the paintings knowing that she was so crippled with arthritis.

We stopped on the way back from the museums at The Bicycle Thief restaurant and had a light meal. It was nice because we got to talking with a couple from Ottawa who were in town to get her son settled for his second year in college. We all shared where we had been and what we had seen. They are on their way to somewhere in Quebec to spend a couple of nights in a yurt along the shore where they are hoping to see whales and seals and do some kayaking! That’s one of my favorite things about traveling — meeting others and sharing tales!

Well, that about does it. We’re off tomorrow morning to the airport to drop off the car and catch our flight to Newark where we’ll have to go through Customs. We arrive at BWI around 6:30 p.m. and I hope to be home not too long after that!

It’s been grand and I hope you enjoyed my posts!

Barbara

 

 

Thar she blows!

We left our B&B this morning (Thursday) and drove down along the Annapolis Valley through Digby where we stopped to look around and have a bite to eat.  Digby was our original destination for last night and tonight, but we found out there was going to be a Wharf Rat Motorcycle Rally in town and decided we didn’t want to listen to the lovely sound of 20,000 motorcyclists running up and down the main street in front of our B&B! So, we moved our stay to Annapolis Royal and area really glad we did.  There were a lot of bikers in town when we stopped by but they were getting ready for the REALLY BIG rally on Friday when they would close down the main street to everything except bikers.

You can tell by how low the boats are in relationship to the top of the dock that we are, indeed, witnessing the infamous Bay of Fundy’s low tide!  It’s obviously impossible for anyone on the boats to get to the dock without a ladder….

We walked the main street and checked out a few shops but ended up in a restaurant with a rooftop patio facing the harbor where we enjoyed a bit to eat.

Digby is known for it’s scallops across Nova Scotia and they were indeed yummy!

We left Digby and continued our drive south along Long Island where we crossed the East Ferry into Tiverton. We had reservations here to go whale watching with Ocean Explorations in their Zodiac boats. We were a bit early and went along to the welcome center and picked up some information and purchased some artwork of a local artist as souvenirs. We checked in at the OE office and John, the sales guy, suggested we go visit the lighthouse; so, we drove up a hilly little road to see it. It’s a working lighthouse and the views we spectacular.

We returned to the OE office and talked with John, again, while we waited for the current expedition to return around 3:30 p.m. The boat radioed that they were on their way in and John got us suited up in our one-piece jumpsuits that also act as a floating device should that be necessary.  He assured us that, in 32 years, they’d never had anyone go overboard!!

The other 4 members of our group arrived and once we were all decked out in our new orange suits we headed to the boat. We all ‘gracefully’ boarded and set out at a breakneck speed to catch up with the Right Whale that had been seen earlier and was being tracked by another sightseeing boat. When I say, ‘breakneck,’ I mean breakneck! We caught up and within not too many minutes we got our first sighting of the whale. Here are a few of the pictures. She/he never breached or anything that gave us a great view but it was still exciting….

We also saw harbor dolphins, which were little short guys and a variety of sea birds on our return trip but, sadly, no other whales.  We were out from about 3:30 to just before 6 pm. John had also recommended we eat dinner at the bottom of the island at a place call Levena’s which has a TripAdvisor recommendation and has been on HGTV as a destination for great food. Our reservation was at 6 p.m. and we called to let them know we were running a little late but on our way. We got down there and our table for two was one of 4 tables in the restaurant! It was tiny but the food was wonderful. We both had Digby scallops, and I ordered double-buttered garlic bread and we shared an appetizer of Dilly-Wackers with Ranch–haha!  Fried dill pickles! Everything was great!

We started our trip back about 7:20 and it took about 10 minutes to get back to the Ferry which departed on the hour. We were sitting there in line (we were car #3) and saw the Ferry coming.  In came in and unloaded the cars and trucks that had just come in and then backed out and went out to sea in a really big hurry! I noticed the girls coming out of the food shack looking to see where it had gone, like that was unusual. I decided to go over and find out what they thought was going on and to get some chocolate ice cream–over here their ice cream is delicious. It’s creamy without being sugary–Yum!

Anyway, they were as mystified as everyone else as to where the Ferry had gone but in a few minutes it came back, docked and we all loaded by 8 p.m. The crossing was quick–about 5 minutes–and then we were off on our way back to Annapolis Royal. We cut over from the 2-lane road to TC-102 for the trip back once we were near Digby thinking the trip would be faster. It probably would have been if Maureen and I hadn’t been in such a deep conversation and missed our exit! We had to go about 15 klicks and then turned around and backtracked to our correct exit. Ugh!  I hate driving in the dark on roads I don’t know but we made it back safely to Annapolis Royal and stopped to fill up with gas before returning to the Inn.  We were pooped!

😎

After breakfast this morning we left Annapolis Royal for Halifax.  We took the ‘country road’ Route 1 and passed by some beautiful scenery and quaint little towns.  The closer we came to Halifax, the more the traffic increased.  By the time we got into the city the lines at the traffic lights were long.  Welcome to the City of Halifax, the largest city in Nova Scotia.

We arrived at the Atlantica Hotel and they were kind enough to let us check in early and go to our room. I had a shower and did my hair and relaxed before going down to the wharf area for dinner. Our concierge Paul (who wore a kilt!!) suggested we go to one place for chowder, another for the entreé, and another for dessert or a drink. I asked him if Halifax has Uber or Lyft and he laughingly said, “No.  Welcome to 1995!”  We took a cab to the restaurant on the wharf he had recommended (okay, but not great and certainly not inexpensive) then walked along the boardwalk for a bit.

We also went in to watch 2 short movies in the round in the Sea Dome along the boardwalk and the waterfront. The first movie was about a Right Whale that survived after losing its mother when she was hit by a ship, and how she, the baby that was called Calvin, managed to survive.  Evidently it was unusual for Right Whales to survive that young without its mother. Calvin returns to the Bay of Fundy every year and so far has brought back two babies. Our captain yesterday shared with us that Right Whales are slower than other whales and that the whale hunters of old called them that because they were the right ones to hunt!

The other movie was about Canada’s ship the Bluenose, a humble fishing schooner that became a world champion racer and a Canadian ICON by beating its American counterpart in a race around 1923. Both were in the round and very well done. We actually have a photo of the Bluenose II that is the harbour at Lunenburg where we were on Tuesday!

It’s amazing to think they fish in such a small boat in the middle of the Atlantic!

Well, I’m off to bed and will let you know what we end up doing tomorrow.  We’re winding down and are both looking forward to getting back home!

 

Over to Annapolis Valley

Today we moved from Bridgewater on the eastern side of the south island of Nova Scotia over to the western side to an area known as Annapolis Valley. Before we left we had breakfast in our Bridgewater Days Inn hotel and met these two little love bugs who were traveling with their parents. Mom said they were 6 months old and had weighed 3 lbs at birth.  They were such happy babies and just made my day!

Once we had the car loaded we left for our hour and half drive straight across the island but had a bit of difficulty figuring out which direction we needed to go.  Haha!  Once we had figured that out, off we went.  We noticed as we drove along that many of the trees were beginning to show some fall color.

There’s mostly evergreens here, which obviously don’t turn, so you know when you’re looking at a maple or oak tree. The weather today was also a lot cooler–the high was only 63 degrees.

We drove Rt. 8 across and I told Maureen. if there was an entrance to Kejimkujik National Park, I would like to stop. There was, which we found out was THE entrance to the park, and we went in to the visitor’s center to see what we could find out about the partk without taking too terribly long.  We walked around the center and learned a lot about the park. Most interesting to me was that it covered 95,000 acres!

The young man at the information desk told us to drive down through the gate to get into the park. The young lady at the guard house stopped us and gave us a map of the park, and we asked where we could go for a short hike. She suggested the second right which was a short walk to the waterfall. That’s where we headed. We parked and started down the path into the forest which was amazing. Tall, tall trees and so quiet. Not like in the States where you hear and see all kinds of wildlife, like lizards, squirrels, birds, and other types of insects. I didn’t hear or see any kind of wildlife today, except the mosquito in the ladies room. But, I did see a gazillion kinds of mushrooms!

We walked over to the river, hearing the roar of the falls even before we could actually see them.  There seemed to be several levels of the river and falls along the walking trail so it was a very pleasant and easy hike.

I ran into another of my favorites types of ‘people’ too … she was beautiful!

I’m having puppy dog withdrawal and making friends with every dog I meet!

The trail continued to two red Adirondack chairs. We’ve seen these chairs all over Nova Scotia. They’ve been placed on purpose in areas where people can sit and enjoy their surroundings.

We walked back after enjoying a very nice, relaxing time watching the water pass along in front of us and trying out my new selfie stick. We found another bench higher up the trail and tried it out as well. It was a beautiful tree bench–I’ve never seen anything like it.

We left the trail and the park and continued on to Annapolis Royal where we checked in at our lodging at the King George Inn. The owner host met us outside and we unloaded the car. She said something about the room and I said, “We do have a 2-bedded room, right?”  She said, no, but it was a ‘king-size bed and there’s plenty of room; you’ll be fine.’ I was livid. I reminded her that we had emailed and spoken on the phone and each time I mentioned we needed two beds but she kept saying we’d be fine in the king. She had basically taken our reservation knowing she didn’t have what we had asked for. I was totally ticked off and so was Maureen. We were stuck, though, because the town is basically sold out. We get mad every time we think about it. Believe me, I’ll leave a nice review on TripAdvisor and call Booking.com about the whole situation.

We went to the ‘downtown’ area of Annapolis Royal and walked around and grabbed a bite to eat at a little pub. Afterwards we walked along the main street and shopped. I purchased a small painting I liked and they are shipping it back to me. It was painted by a woman named Bea, which was my Mom’s name, and I decided it would be my souvenir. We walked around the boardwalk along the water, a very nice one, and enjoyed all the flowers, rock stacks, and visited Fort Anne.

On the way back to the car to return to the Inn, I met another friendly soul I couldn’t resist! Meet Ruby….

She’s a Husky-Rottweiler mix with blue eyes. She was beautiful and loved to be petted!

We enjoyed a nice dinner at the local Bistro East restaurant and walked a bit afterwards just to get to the car. When we were leaving there was a beautiful sunset and I thought I would share it with you. I love the way it reflects on the harbor that was smooth as glass!

Tomorrow … off to see whales.

 

Water, Wine and Fun Fish

I started out my day today running the washing machine in the hotel so I could finish the trip with clean clothes.  When I packed, I was determined to limit myself to one suitcase and my carry-on bag while putting my toiletries bag inside the bigger suitcase; so, I wouldn’t have to worry with the 3 oz limit–not that anything I take now is bigger than that anyway.  So, I planned to wear things twice during the trip and washing everything I’d worn made me feel better!

We left the hotel around 11 this morning to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Lunenburg.  As usual in towns that are a popular tourist attraction, parking was at a premium. We decided to park in a different (but still close) area of the town where their school was situated next to an old cemetery.  You know how we like cemeteries!  Anyway, we wandered through graveyard looking at the names and ages of the stones and found a lot of German sounding names with a Smith and MacGregor thrown in here and there.

It, indeed, was a lovely town with lots of color and tall sailing ships alongside smaller ones in the harbor.  We wandered through town and at one point met a couple from Houston who had been here since 3 days before the hurricane hit their area and were going to stay for another two weeks. They knew their home was okay, but figured their car, which was parked on the ground level of the parking garage would be a loss.  Wow! I would hate to return to that mess!  Anyway, they kindly took our photo and then shared a recommendation for lunch at the Salt Shaker Deli.

We walked a few blocks more and saw the Deli and decided to go in. I’ve OD’d on fish and seafood the last week and decided I would love to try their personal pizza.  Oh my, it was delicious. It was extremely fresh tasting and had Italian meats, cheese, and Kalamata olives on it.  It was yummy and hit just the right spot in my tummy!  The only sad part was, I wasn’t able to eat it all.  ;-(

We left the restaurant and moved on to shopping!  I loved all the colors of the houses in this interesting little town.

We walked around and went in a little gallery, looking through the painting and prints on the wall while the owner/artist Gail Patriarche shared with us a bit of background on some of the paintings. I bought a collection of small prints of 4 paintings I liked and Maureen bought two paintings which will be mailed to her.

We finished our tour of Lunenburg by walking back to the car a different way and found a lovely monument to those who fought in the ‘Great War.’

We found our car and headed to Mahone Bay, which someone had recommend we also visit.  It’s a bit further inland along the same bay as Lunenburg but seems to draw a lot more sail boats to its waters.  The houses are similar but we agreed that there is probably a bit more money in this town as the homes seemed to be a bit larger and well cared for. There was also a lovely church … and you know how we like churches … but it was being repaired so the shot is a little messy but you’ll get the idea I think.

We moved on from Mahone Bay because we wanted to make it to the Lunenburg County Winery before they closed at 5 p.m. We got there in plenty of time and it was a lovely little winery.  I did some tastings of their fruit wines and loved the strawberry one.  They are made from the respective fruits — strawberries, cherries, blueberries, pears, etc.  I bought a few bottles as souvenirs and the wine is being shipped. The owner Heather was a lovely lady who had really enjoyed her visit to Virginia and enthusiastically shared where she had gone and what she had seen.

I also loved the flowers around her tasting room and parking lot and took a photo of the hydrangea bush that was so pretty.

We finished our day with a dinner of really good fish & chips at the local Best Little Oarhouse in Nova Scotia.  The owner/host was Rugged Dude — his legal name, by the way — and evidently he had, at one time, a fishing show on Canadian TV that, according to him, was a great hit!  It certainly sounded like he enjoyed himself anyway!

Maureen wants me to turn out the light; so, more tomorrow!

 

Going South

We left Whycocomagh, NS, which is on the north island of the country, and headed south along TC 104 to Truro and caught TC 102 south from there.  We had a little difficulty maneuvering around Halifax but finally found our way to Rt. 333 to Peggys Cove where were wanted to visit along the drive to our next stop in Bridgewater.  Luckily it was a beautiful day and the trip, although a little more crowded on the roads than we’ve dealt with recently, was still light compared to our roads at home.

Peggys Cove is on the tip of a peninsula that goes off the eastern shore of Nova Scotia and is well known for it’s setting on a rocky coastline and it’s beautiful lighthouse.  We also stopped on the way down to visit the monument to the victims of the Swiss Air Flight 111 crash back in 1998.  Here are pictures of the monument first and then of Peggys Cove.

The picture in the middle is from the monument towards Peggys Cove.  You can barely see the lighthouse on the point but also notice how very rocky the shoreline is.

 

Luckily the weather was gorgeous and we even got hot, but the high was only supposed to be 72.  Today the temperature is predicted to be no higher than 65!  We are heading over to Lunenburg and Mahone Bay today to visit and I’ll try to post tonight on our experiences there.  Just FYI, Lunenburg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the headline picture of my blog is a photo of the town.  More later ….

Beautiful Wedding for a Beautiful Couple!

The whole reason for my trip to Nova Scotia started with an invitation to the wedding of my good friend and former co-worker and boss Vince Patton. Vince is the kindest man I know and has had a lot of heartache in his life but he’s never let it get him down and is the first one to boost up others.  He lost his first wife years ago and has been single since and, as the story goes, a close Coast Guard friend arranged for him to meet a close friend of hers and it was love at first site!  They got engaged last December, I think it was, and married this past Saturday in a lovely wedding ceremony in Sydney, Nova Scotia, where the bride Melinda is from and where much of her family still lives.  Here are a few photos ….

 

It was a fun event and I think everyone there was excited to share such a momentous occasion with Vince and Melinda. I know they’ll be happy together as they complement each other so well.  Congratulations to you both and hope you have ‘A Wonderful Life’ together!!

Once we had recovered from the wedding we left the next morning to continue our trip touring Nova Scotia.  Art and Linda (my former AFCEA boss and now friend and her husband) followed us in their car to Baddeck on Lake Bras d’Or to visit the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. Bell, who was born in Scotland also had a huge home, Bein Bheregh Hall, in Baddeck and died in Baddeck in 1922. I believe he also had a home in the Washington, DC, area, as that was referenced in some of the exhibits.

       Bell and his wife …

I did enjoy the museum and loved the flowers and the view from the hill overlooking the lake.

      

We went our separate ways after the museum and Maureen and I continued on the Cabot Trail, which started just south of Baddeck, and cut across the island to the northern segment along the same western shore we drove before the wedding.  We stopped along the trail for ice cream we found in a little camping grounds that also had a go-cart track and bouncy house for the kids. We saw a lot of what we would call Mom & Pop campgrounds all over Nova Scotia and PEI, too.

Once we crossed the upper island the scenery became much more dramatic.  These are pictures along the coast just before we got to Cheticamp.

 

We grabbed a bite to eat at the Happy Crab with a great view of the water and then headed back to our next overnight stop at the Fair Isle Motel in Whycocomagh.  It was another Mom & Pop motel-type of lodging similar to that we would have seen here in the States back in the ’50s and ’60s.  Adequate by all accounts but a little rough around the edges. Great water pressure in the shower though!  😎

 

 

 

A Village, A Lighthouse, a Fort & Lunch

We left Antigonish about 11 a.m. for our trip from south island of Nova Scotia to Sydney on the north island.  It was an enjoyable trip and we made a stop in Iona to visit the Highland Village that depicts the life of the Scottish Gaelic community from the mid-1750s to the 1920s. It was very interesting and the story tellers at each stop in the village spoke Gaelic initially and then English to tell the story of where they were and how they were living. They were in period dress and many were working at a task of the day, such as spinning wool or shoeing a horse–similar to Williamsburg, VA.  Here’s a few shots from the village that includes some wonderful scenic shots.

 

We moved on from the Village to end our day at the Hampton Inn in Sydney, arriving about 3 p.m. Friends Art and Linda, from DC (I used to work for Linda at AFCEA), were also in Sydney for Vince’s wedding. Later in the evening we picked them up to attend a Meet & Greet at Vince and Melinda’s home for friends and family who were also in town for the wedding the following day. The house was packed and it rained a bit so we were forced to stay indoors. That was a shame because they back up to the water and the view (especially had we had the opportunity to see the sun set) was beautiful!

This morning before the wedding, Linda and Art picked us up to drive over to Louisbourg to see the original French settlement of Nova Scotia.  I especially want to thank Art for driving! It was nice to have a break and be able to enjoy the surrounding scenery on our drive over.

Louisbourg was only about 45 minutes away so the trip was quick and before visiting the fort, we stopped to see the Louisbourg Lighthouse.  Again, beautiful scenic shots from there.  We took our first group selfie (yeah) and checked out the water view from the ocean side of the north island.

We left the lighthouse and drove over to the Louisbourg Fort for a visit.  Again, staff were in period costumes and shared their stories with those visiting. They spoke French here! Of course, they also spoke English and we enjoyed seeing the Fort and the town that was built back in the mid-1700s.  The weather was threatening so we skipped seeing the church on the hill (got a picture of the steeple!) and opted to go over to town and have lunch.  We picked a little place called the Lobster Kettle Restaurant.  Yummy food and a great view from the back deck –only we ate indoors because the rain had started!

After a wonderful lunch, we returned to our respective hotels to get ready for the wedding.  It’s late now, so I’ll share more on that in my next post. Nite-Nite!

On our way to see the Hopewell Rocks and beyond …

We left PEI around 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, August 23, for Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick, Canada, to see the rocks that have been carved by the drastic ocean tides in the Bay of Fundy.  It was a dreary, rainy day and we weren’t sure how the visit would go, but we moved along with our plan to see the rocks.  It took about two hours+ to get there and, yes, of course, it was raining when we arrived. We bought our tickets to see the rocks and also to take the shuttle thinking it would keep us dry until we got to the observation deck.  Wrong!  It was a 8-seater open golf cart, but the drivers were entertaining.  At least my rain jacket was long enough to keep my seat (mostly) dry! We arrived at the observation deck and started down the (at least) 5 set of stairs to the beach and this is what I saw …

The tide here varies by about 50′ twice a day and, as a result, the rocks have been carved by the sea to look like a bunch of flowers … that’s why they are called the flowerpot rocks! So cool ….

 

 

Here are more photos:

A little explanation …

The ‘floor’ was rocky and sandy but luckily not muddy!

Me and Maureen

It was an amazing thing to see!

It was really a fascinating place to visit and should be on your bucket list, especially on a pretty day!  That said, there were lots of people there that day and only the first of 3 parking lots was full.  With sunny weather, I imagine, it would be packed!

We left Hopewell Cape and started our drive into Nova Scotia for the next 2 days in the Antigonish (AN ti go nish) area at the north end of the southern island of Nova Scotia. We had a reservation for a 2-night stay at an AirBnB.  The drive was pretty non-eventful but the rain continued to fall until we passed the Truro area on TC-104 (Trans-Canada 104).

We’ve come to learn two major differences between Canada and the US while driving the highways in Nova Scotia.  First of all, the exits are numbered in sequence and are not based on mileage as ours are now in the US. This would be okay but there are also extremely few distance signs letting you know so-and-so town is so many kilometers away. And, by the way, I love driving 110!  (which is only 68 miles an hour) 😉

The other thing is that their exits don’t have (normally anyway) the eateries and gas stations like we do.  The exits only have signs similar to this …

      

We were especially fond of and could identify with the ? in the middle!  The other thing is the ‘services’ are normally in the towns and not really at the exits.  You might find one here or there that has a gas station and a restaurant but the restaurants are true restaurants and not fast food. Sometimes there will be a station and, say, a Subway together but the sign won’t tell you what’s there–you have to exit and see.  Oh, and you pump your gas first and then go in to pay, –like we used to before everyone started driving off without paying!

After traveling across the island to wonderful views of evergreen trees and more and then more evergreen trees, we arrived in Antigonish about 3:30 p.m. in one piece and fairly sane. We had called our host to expect us and she greeted us and showed us our accommodations.  The apartment was a little rough and was without AC, which, with the humidity, was very uncomfortable. Maureen shared that with Jyotsna, our host, and she offered to let us move without holding us to the payment since we were unsatisfied with the space.  We were certainly pleased with her, though, and hope she does well with the AirBnB. I think she must lease it as a student rental during the school year, as it has that ‘look’ and there is a University nearby.

With Jyotsna’s help we found accommodations at the Coastal Inn a few miles away in the direction we would be traveling; so, we were okay with the move.  It turned out to be a drive-up motel (which is very normal here) but the beds are wonderful; so, we are happy campers!

We had one day in this area before moving on to Sydney for the wedding and decided to drive up the Ceilidh Trail (pronounced, ke-lee) along the western side of Cape Breton.

Maureen and I both have Scottish and Irish heritages and found the whole Scottish feel in this area a lot of fun. We left about noonish and drove up to Inverness and saw stunning views of the coast along the way.

We decided we’d never seen that little bush before that was growing around the Welcome Center. It’s really pretty!  The picture on the left is from the northern Island looking over the Canso Strait.

We continued our trek north along the coast to beautiful views of the water.

The view of me on the bridge was taken at Inverness.  The last one is off the coast as we drove back south and the sun was beginning to set.

We stopped for lunch at the Celtic Music Center in Judique (ju-dic) and were able to enjoy the traditional Celtic, toe-tapping, music by a duo who were really good.  I’m trying to find out their names and will share when I get that information.  Anyway, they were extremely good and the so was the food!

We knew we wouldn’t see any lighthouses; so, decided we would seek out the churches along the way.  So many look to be very old and we loved the cemeteries with the old gravestones that were almost always adjacent or nearby.

We haven’t been successful in getting the lobster we had heard was so abundant here but came to find out the lobster season is in June and July and the fishermen are no longer fishing for it (sad face). On the way back yesterday we wanted to try one more time but couldn’t find a good seafood restaurant that was open.  That’s another thing, during the week, everything closes at 5 p.m., including some of the restaurants! We did see one pharmacy that was open till 9 in Inverness but the gas stations closed as well!  (By the way, gas stations are few and far between here!!!  You really have to plan ahead.)

We ended our day by having dinner at Mother Webb’s across the road from our motel and here’s a picture of the best steak and baked potato I’ve had in a while!

Yummy!

No wonder the place was packed with locals!  I guess it didn’t hurt that I had 3 glasses of wine either.  We shared how much we enjoyed our meal with the manager Tony and he gave us glasses — beer mug for Maureen and a wine glass for me — with the Mother Webb logo on them as souvenirs.  He was very nice and the whole staff was helpful and upbeat. A great meal and we will definitely recommend it to those who we meet at the wedding this weekend that live here or are traveling around!!!

Wow! What a trip …

Maureen and I arrived into Halifax and safely made it through customs and to our rental car.  We had reserved an intermediate SUV and when we checked in, they tried to give us a Jeep Wrangler.  Absolutely not!  We were going to be doing too much driving to travel a thousand miles in a Jeep.  We waited a few minutes for another car and, low and behold, a Chevy Trax came in!  Once all the paperwork was done, we headed out and I was the designated driver.  We headed north through Truro and over to Pictou to catch the Ferry to Wood Island, Prince Edward Island.  The day was beautiful but we didn’t really get to view the eclipse (we could only see 42% of it anyway) because we landed in PEI as soon as it was scheduled to begin there.  The ride across the Straight was fun and uneventful for us but not so much for the Husky and German Shepherd that were on board.  I felt so sorry for the Husky who was complaining the whole time … poor thing.

Landed and unloaded ourselves and the car okay and off we went to see PEI.  We had two night’s lodging at one of the Honeysuckle Cottages in Vernon Bridge.  Cute little collection of houses and we were in the loft of one of them.  Three apartments in all and the gardens were lovely!  Our host Levant was very kind and accommodating and a gentleman in helping us get our luggage up and down the stairs in the unit.

In our basically one day, we had planned to spend it lighthouse hunting and started off with a great find in Murray Harbour on the southeast corner of the island.  It was a beautiful little lighthouse that still worked (although I don’t know if sailing vessels actually used it).

We took lots of photos and then we moved on and stopped by a home that had a sign out front telling interested individuals (us) to stop at Out of Our Minds Gallery ‘by chance or appointment.’  I called and asked if she was open ‘by chance’ and she said sure to come on in.  We did and it was wonderful seeing the artwork and meeting both Sandi (Komst) and Mel (Giddings). They were so gracious and fun to talk with. Maureen made a purchase and Mel gave us each a notecard with his artwork on it.  It’s so interesting meeting new people on a trip!  They gave us some recommendations on things to see places to stop and one of those was the Harbour View Restaurant in Murray River where we had lunch before continuing on our trek along the coast.

We went to Basin Head and Greenwich at the recommendation of Sandi and Mel but were disappointed when neither had lighthouses–nice beaches, but no lighthouses. We did find one more (on another beautiful beach) before we headed back to our lodging for the last night on PEI.

 

Almost time to leave ….

I can’t believe our trip starts in only two weeks!  We have one more planning session scheduled for tomorrow to finalize the itinerary and see if there’s anything else we want to add for optional activities. Our trip itinerary is already 6 pages long!  We also adjusted a copy of the itinerary for our family and friends so they’ll only have our scheduled stops and lodging contacts for emergencies.  They’ll have to follow our blog, too, to see what we are actually doing … just like YOU.

I’m also looking into getting a personal VPN for us so we can do any necessary banking while we’re gone and feel confident that the connection is secure.  I’ll let you know which one we pick and how well it works for us during the trip.  If you have any recommendations for one you’ve used and like, please let me know on Facebook.

I’m also meeting my former boss, now friend, Linda for breakfast tomorrow morning since she is also going to the wedding of our good friend Vince in Sydney, which started this whole trip.  After breakfast at First Watch in Fairfax, we are meeting Maureen and we’re all going to see a movie called ‘Maudie’ about a Nova Scotian artist that lived in the Digby area.  Really, Maureen and I just want to check out the scenery since Maud Lewis lived so close to our planned stop in Annapolis Royal.  😎 . 

After the movie, Maureen and I are going over to my friend Marti’s house (who’s out in Colorado at her 2nd home) for our, hopefully, final planning session.  Since we live about an hour+ away from one another, it’s an in-between, convenient location for both of us. One of our earlier meetings at Panera went on for almost 5 hours; so, we would rather have a quieter place to meet, talk and plan.  Thanks, Marti!!

I’ll keep you posted on how our day goes and what we accomplish.  We’re getting excited!