End of our trip

We are now spending our last evening in the Maritimes. We purposely chose a B&B to relax in for our last day and a half – it has turned out to be the most luxurious one yet. We are outside of Halifax on a lake and have had to make hard choices: canoe on the lake accompanied by loons, go in the hot tub or have a jacuzzi, drive twenty minutes to the longest beach in Nova Scotia and walk alone on the white sand, watch birds in the neighbouring bird sanctuary, play with the three resident Scottie dogs (and watch out for Ruby who loves my slippers) or visit with the interesting guests. We decided to do them all!

Look forward to seeing you soon.

Cabot Trail

Our final day in Cape Breton was the famous Cabot Trail. We had saved this for last hoping that the trees would have started to turn colours. It is just beginning - the sides of the hills have a haze of orange like a dusting of brown sugar. The occasional shocking red and orange tree tells us what we would see everywhere in another two weeks. The river valleys are as beautiful as any we’ve seen, many of them, salmon-bearing, with fishermen standing in the shadows.

We passed through quaint Acadian towns with the now-familiar three-coloured flag with gold star painted on garage walls or flapping in the front yard. We stopped in Chetticamp and watched women practice their rug-hooking, an old skill turned to revenue in the thirties.

This time, the weather did not cooperate and the clouds hanging over us turned to fog as we started our climb. It became so thick that although we could see the car in front of us, the one just in front of that would frequently disappear as if it had gone over the edge! I could see some glimpses of the beautiful forest and rock cliffs beside the road so had an idea of what we weren’t seeing! The clouds lifted as we turned around the top of the peninsula and we did have a chance to see our way down through hair-raising turns – this side of the island was also lush and beautiful but entirely green – no hint of colour yet. The winding road we followed passed one dramatic cove after another with huge pink boulders and crashing waves. This was followed by more river valleys and marsh land. We found it dramatic in spite of half being behind a veil. Imagine what the trip must be like on a sunny day, especially in the full colour of fall!

Inventor, canon fire and coal mines

We’ve returned to Nova Scotia – traveling this time by ferry - and drove up to Cape Breton to stay in Baddeck, the home of Alexander Graham Bell. We are using this as our home base for three days since it is central in Cape Breton. Spent a few hours at the Bell Museum. Neither of us realized what a “renaissance man” he was. Take a curious, creative mind, and add a happy marriage and money, and you have Mr. Bell – inventions in air travel, hydroplanes, hearing, and communication fill room after room. His records were meticulous and his to-scale models are intact and fascinating.

Our next day took us to Louisburg, a reconstruction of an early 18th Century French Fort. Actors in character roam the grounds and guided tours provide important details. Having been to so many forts in Nfld and the other side of Nova Scotia, we are beginning to see the whole picture. It is the best way to learn history!
We then drove to Glace Bay and had a two-hour tour at the Miner’s Museum. We spent an hour in a mine shaft that was five feet high (height of the shaft is determined by height of the coal seam). I found out the reason for us wearing hard hats more than once! We were provided with canes to support ourselves as we struggled our way through the wet, dark mine with our guide, a retired mine worker, shouting the details to us. I realized why he talked so loud when he demonstrated the noise of the electric drill they would have in the background most of the time – you couldn’t work there long before your hearing would be affected. He was very funny and delighted in giving us the details of the difficult job of a miner. But it was also clear that he loved working in the mine because of the companionship of fellow workers who would risk their lives for you.

Lobsters and the Bay of Fundy

Confederation bridge and sleepy PEI

After a drive across the Confederation Bridge, we arrived in pastoral Prince Edward Island. Miles of farmland, farm houses, and villages roll up and down from one red shore to the miles of white sand on the other. We stayed in Charlottetown with the most eccentric B&B owner yet. Conversations with her were long and amazing leaving Bill and I either slack-jawed or in hysterics. I eventually resorted to trying to tiptoe past her door and into our rooms on centuries-old creaky floors! For more entertainment, we went to see Anne of Green Gables, the Musical - playing, as it has since 1965, at the Centennial Playhouse just around the corner from us. It is a full-out, old-fashioned musical and I loved every minute of it. Bill liked it too although he didn’t need a Kleenex at the end…

Two days on PEI and we felt we had seen it. The outlying areas close down at the end of August. As one young woman in Cavendish said, “At the end of August, we change the traffic lights to flashing and look up when a car drives by.” We tried to drive down to the seashore in a Provincial Park but were stopped by a gate that won’t go up now until June.

Wolfville, tides and lobster

Our last stop in Nova Scotia for now was Wolfville – home of Acadia University. We again stayed in a beautiful old inn and spent our evenings downstairs sipping wine in the one of the lounges. We stayed here two nights and made day trips. We drove to see the Bay of Fundy at low and high tide – impressive! We stopped for lunch at Hall’s Harbour, a lobster pound. The boats were sitting on the bottom of the harbour and we sat on the deck looking over them as we worked away on our lobster and butter.

Acadian churches

We drove down the coast and returned by the slow, seaside route to see the Acadian villages. Churches dominate the seaside including the largest wooden church in North America. Its spire is 74 meters high and contains thousands of pounds of cement to act as ballast to keep the spire from being blown over. Bill will remember this leg of the trip for the rappie pie…