Monthly Archives: September 2021

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Farewell Canada, Hello US of A

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Today we traveled a short distance to Lucerne In Maine, Maine, to have a farewell dinner with friends Dorothea and Charlie from Camden. We are staying at the aptly named Lucerne Inn in Lucerne in Maine, Maine. Before we left St. Andrews we took a short jaunt to Minister’s Island. The tides were in our favor as you can only cross the causeway at low tide. We’ve never driven on the bottom of the ocean floor before today. The island is famous as the summer home of Sir William Van Horn. He learned the railroad trade with the Illinois Central Railroad and rose through the ranks. In 1882 he was appointed general manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway and oversaw construction of the first Canadian Transcontinental Railway. He brought the project in under budget and half the allotted time for which he receive a bonus of $1,000,000 in the 1880’s. He used that money to build Covenhoven, his summer home which after multiple additions has 50 rooms, 11 fireplaces, and 11 bathrooms (all built with flush toilets). The house and the barn are the few remaining structures on the island. He bred cattle and Clydesdale horses, farmed vegetables, made butter, cheese, and milk so the enterprise was self sustaining (no doubt due to the workers who made $93 for an entire season).

The causeway at low tide
The barn
The house
One of two silos

We’ve covered over 1,800 miles and had a wonderful vacation. We are very fortunate. But there was one last surprise. When we checked into the Lucerne Inn we were told there was a wedding this evening and our windows looked out onto the tent. Okay, not great but no big deal. Well we didn’t look onto the wedding we looked into the wedding. Literally.

Wayne took a front row seat for the vows.

Dinner was wonderful with one last lobster for the road (a two pounder).

We made it back to our room just in time for the electric slide.

Farewell and safe journeys.

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New Brunswick – Saint Andrews, Kingsbrae Garden

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Note: It seems I forgot to press a “make public” button on YouTube. In case you missed some of the previous videos, they are now public.

We made a change to the itinerary, chopping our planned long drive to Saint Andrews into two days so yesterday we only had a 2 1/2 hour drive. We’re staying at the Algonquin Hotel, a grand dame of yesteryear.

This morning we awoke to fog that quickly burned off and so we nabbed two bicycles and headed out to explore. I read a little about Kingsbrae Garden but didn’t really know much about it. Little did we know the exquisite experience we were about to enjoy. Here’s a little info from the link above. Kingsbrae Garden was created by John and Lucinda Flemer to preserve and maintain into perpetuity the family’s former estate. With the downturn of industry in the nineties, the Flemers wanted to do something about the rising unemployment and recognized that, by creating Kingsbrae Garden, the job opportunities would keep families in this area. Perhaps what sums this up best is a quote from Lucinda Flemer “Even more important to us, here at Kingsbrae Garden, than growing plants is helping our community and the people of this area grow as well”.

Here’s a slide show of this beautiful place as we experienced it today. Recommend enlarging.

After spending about two hours in total peace, we headed to the cafe for an early lunch. Wow, another surprise. The chef, Alex Haun, chose his home town to open his first restaurant after studying at the Culinary Institute of Canada on Prince Edward Island. He is recognized internationally and seems very at home in this beautiful place. The cafe is only open for lunch and a gourmand, ten course dinner every Friday evening. They are sold out for tomorrow. The setting and the cuisine are both exceptional. We lazed over a charcuterie board with homemade pâtés as well as smoked duck. He is deep into pickling and I immediately noticed pickled spring ramps as well as garlic scapes. The chef came to our table and after serious discussion I have the recipes. Raves from me. We’ll go back tomorrow.

We sat outside but would love to have dinner in the dining room, a sitting room of the former estate. Lucinda Flemer is now ninety one years old and lunches daily in the courtyard. Shortly after I took the picture, Wayne spotted her enjoying lunch with her black poodle.

If that is not enough, a Llama took a walk with a six month old goat.

After vacation naps, we had a sunset dinner of oysters and mussels on the wharf just a short boat ride from Maine.

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Nova Scotia – Cabot Trail, Louisbourg Fortress

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It rained the whole time we were driving to Louisbourg. But, if you’re going to spend a day driving, it might as well be raining. We woke up the next morning to crisp horizons and a clear blue sky.

Our first order of business in this area was taking in part of the Cabot Trail. It is one of the most scenic highways in Canada. We were warned by a school teacher at the Roosevelt Cottage that she had witnessed several travelers burn out their brakes on the steep grades. To get there we took the Englishtown Ferry. It is a cable ferry that traverses a 410 foot channel and only takes about 3 minutes for the crossing. Friendly doggums were on board enjoying the trip.

At the top of one mountain, there was a picnic turnoff. It was the start of the Smokey Trail which is a difficult trail, about 6 miles long ending in a small town. We noticed there was a jog out to a great spot for a view and hobbled out.

After driving for a few hours we stopped in Sydney on the way back. We were thrilled to learn the restaurant had oysters and lobster. Wayne ordered a dozen and I ordered a whole one (lobster number 3). The waiter came running back with a long face and told us they only had four oysters left and they would be on the house. With only four, the presentation outdid the volume.

We made it back to watch the Full Harvest Moon rise over the bay.

Another beautiful morning. That’s the Louisbourg Fortress in the center of our view. After coffee and breakfast Wayne went rock hunting and came upon a whole gaggle of Piping Plovers. Who knew Monty and Rose had so many relatives.

After checking out of our room we headed to the fortress for the main agenda of the day. For the full history, click on the link above, it’s very interesting but here is a taste – The original settlement was made in 1713, and initially called Havre à l’Anglois. Subsequently, the fishing port grew to become a major commercial port and a strongly defended fortress. The fortifications eventually surrounded the town. The walls were constructed mainly between 1720 and 1740. By the mid-1740s Louisbourg, named for Louis XIV of France, was one of the most extensive (and expensive) European fortifications constructed in North America.

Even the guard bunks had fleurs-de-lis on the mattresses.

Typical embellishments surely ordered by Louis.

Sheep were lazy grazing.

The chapel was quite ornate.

And as Wayne said, “Leave it to Louis to replace God behind the altar.”

The place was housed over 800 soldiers.

The ministry of health finally caught up with us regarding our unreported take home Covid tests that didn’t work (long story).

After the fortress we had a five hour drive leaving Nova Scotia and entering New Brunswick for a stopover before heading to Saint Andrews tomorrow.

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Nova Scotia – Cape Breton Island

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This was what we woke up to yesterday.

This is what we did.

I know, living the high life on vacation. Once back to our lodging we could hear very operatic seals on a nearby island. They did a lot of complaining. I took a walk around the property and came upon Franklin and his human swimming in the little beach. Evidently Franklin only goes up to his chest and gets very scared when his paws don’t touch the bottom. He stays in the shallow end. On his trek back up to the house he stopped by to say hi and decided to do a baby Moses in the rushes act.

This morning we set out early for our drive to Cape Breton Island.

On the way we stopped in Baddeck. Beautiful town on Bras d’Or Lake. We had a lovely lunch on the wharf with an incredible view. When there is no whole lobster, a roll will do.

After lunch we toured the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site. Very interesting, but focused mostly on his flying experiments and just gave a nod to the telephone. He fought for eighteen years to be acknowledged as the inventor of the telephone. Perhaps he could have used some help from Ernestine.

Entry to the museum.
Lovely flowers at the historic site.

In 1885, Bell and his wife were taking a vacation cruise along the eastern shore and due to an accidental grounding they discovered Baddeck and Bras d’Or Lake, fell in love with scenery and Scottish culture and built Beinn Bhreagh as a vacation home and eventually lived there year round until his death in 1922. He and his wife are both buried on the estate. The estate is still in the hands of descendants. We tried driving around to find it but were met with a sign reading, “The Bell estate is not open to the public, and is not visible from Beinn Bhreagh Road”. So much for window peeping. Tomorrow the plan is to drive part of the Cabot Trail. Happy trails to you and yours.

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Nova Scotia – Eastern Shore

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Yesterday we drove up from the Southern Shore district to the Eastern Shore. It was about 5 hours and we hoped to drive the shore route but construction in and around Halifax put a lid on that. We settled for the quicker inland route via the Trans-Canadian Highway. It was cloudy and rainy all day, good for a drive.

Our lodgings sit on a small peninsula perfectly situated so we can see the sunrise over the Atlantic on one side and walk around the building and see the sunset on the other side. Here is last night.

And here is this morning.

Eastern View
Western View

Amidst all this natural splendor, the Nova Scotia government has just approved a “Space Port” project in Canso to launch low orbit satellites. I think they should just keep launching from Flordia and jettison the governor.

Perfect morning for breakfast on the deck, especially when we are joined by two of our hosts, Teddy (terrier rescue), and Franklin (Bernese Mountain Dog). When Wayne asked David, one of our human hosts, “Are they named after the Roosevelts?” David replied, “How American of you to think we would name our dogs after your dead presidents.” Franklin is more food motivated than Teddy.

I’m realizing that all I have is pictures of landscape. Well, the fact is, there just aren’t very many people here. Almost every walk on a beach or trail has been devoid of humans. That was true this morning when we took the Black Duck Cove Trail. We are in the county of Guysborough which we think is a much classier name than “Boystown”.

Who knew we would walk right past the Western Union transatlantic cable relay station.

I don’t know if I’ll post tomorrow, wifi here is basically two Dixie cups and a string, evidently the transatlantic cable doesn’t boost the speed. Enjoy your day as we have ours.

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Nova Scotia – Piping Plover

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Somewhat cloudy today so we took it easy. After breakfast we headed to Carter Beach. It has to be one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve seen. White sand, dunes, a salt marsh.

It’s home to several nesting Piping Plovers. Maybe it’s the saga of Monty and Rose of Montrose Beach that thrilled me when one just appeared hopping along the beach.

The little bird put on a show scampering around the waves.

Major naps this afternoon and Prince Edward Island mussels for dinner, oysters for Wayne. Also, Here’s the decoder to Nova Scotia weather.

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Nova Scotia – Day Four, Lunenburg

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Our current lodging is across the street from Summerville Beach Provincial Park, home to many a Piping Plover. It’s especially beautiful at sunset. As the sun lowers in the west the angle of the light amps up the beauty and creates very long shadows. We took a stroll to celebrate the beautiful day and crystalline horizon.

As always, click to enlarge

Someone spent time etching in the sand.

And with typical precision, Wayne left footprints.

We took a day trip to the town of Lunenburg. Founded in 1753, the town was one of the first British attempts to settle Protestants in Nova Scotia. In 1995, UNESCO designated it as a world heritage site. While touristy, the town hasn’t lost charm. It’s filled with original brightly colored structures, many of which were the original homes for early settlers eager to profit off the port and sea.

St. John’s Church was built during the French and Indian War, using the wood salvaged from an older disassembled church building. When King’s Chapel in Boston, Massachusetts, was expanded, its new stone structure was built around its original wooden church, which continued to be used. Then, when that new stone building was completed in 1754, King’s Chapel’s old wooden frame was disassembled from inside, removed through the new building’s windows, and shipped to Lunenburg.[3] Early on 1 November 2001, St. John’s church suffered significant damage by fire. It was restored and re-dedicated June 12, 2005. (Thank you, Wikipedia) As you can see, they are still tending to it with care.

Lunenburg is still an operating port town with many buildings occupied by the marine trades.

Why are flowers are so beautiful in coastal climates?

On a cautionary note, if you happen to be in Lunenburg, avoid the Dockside restaurant at all costs. You order a whole lobster, ask that it be served “whole” and you get dismembered limbs on a plate. See you tomorrow.

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Nova Scotia, Day Three – Ferries

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First, last night before hitting the hay early we managed to catch the Reversing Falls of Saint John. The Saint John river flows into the Bay of Fundy whose tidal range is about 16 metres (52 ft). The average tidal range worldwide is about one metre (3 ft 3 in). In one 12-hour tidal cycle, about 100 billion tonnes of water flows in and out of the bay, which is twice as much as the combined total flow of all the rivers of the world over the same period. All that water heads into the Saint John river which at low tide has a waterfall cascading into the bay. At high tide so much water goes in the falls literally “reverse”. It’s the kind of thing a tourist does and then says to themselves, “So, we saw that.” Here’s a short video so you get the “drift”.

As always, click to enlarge

Before going home for an early night we headed to Steamer’s Lobster for dinner. Lobster number one for me, two servings of oysters for Wayne.

Now, on to the ferries. Traveling through the maritimes inevitability requires boarding ferries. In the last two days we have taken three, one from Campobello Island to Deer Island, one from Deer Island to L’Etete, New Brunswick, and today the ferry from Saint John to Digby, Nova Scotia. First thing you see on the Campobello ferry is, well nothing. Just a ramp going into the water. That’s Eastport, ME across the bay.

The ferry arrives, two cars disembark and we board.

The next ferry was a little larger and since there is no bridge access to the mainland it is run by the Canadian government so there was no charge. Maneuvering through the maritimes must be very tricky, lots of turns and twists, sharing of the shipping lanes (ferries do go both directions) and always close to shore.

The ferry to Digby is a different story, eight decks, two of which hold vehicles, and a strict boarding protocol which requires you check in an hour and fifteen minutes before departure which for us was 6:45 AM. Up at 4:30 AM for boarding at dawn.

The ferry backs out, turns around and heads across the Bay of Fundy.

Two hours later, like Brigadoon (I had to), Nova Scotia appears out of the fog.

See you tomorrow.

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Nova Scotia Day One and Two

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After an uneventful flight from Chicago we landed well ahead of schedule in Bangor, ME, where we picked up our transportation for the next two weeks. After a stop to pick up some groceries, we headed to Lubec, ME, for the border crossing. It was very uneventful, smooth, and the border guard was our first taste of Canadian politeness. Time was slipping away and little did we know that only one restaurant remained open on the island and by the time we got to our little cottage even that was closed. There was Nikki’s Convenience store a stone’s throw away so we trotted off and found only frozen pizzas as an option with no way to cook them. They suggested we trot quickly to the Village Market which had some pre-made sandwiches and homemade taco soup. We got back just in time for sunset and had our repast at the picnic table just outside our door.

As always, click to enlarge photos.

Morning greeted us with clear, blue skies and plenty of sunshine. The tide was at low (more about the tides in later posts) and the detritus left behind gave the gulls a hearty shrimp breakfast. The first agenda item, and the reason for stopping off at the island was to visit the Roosevelt Campobello International Park. It was absolutely fascinating and we had the place almost all to ourselves. Two wonderful, knowledgable guides took us through and had answers for any and all questions. Two first ladies declared the park open, their respective spouses laid the cornerstone, and the Queen Mum declared the visitor center building open for business.

The park was lovely and well maintained with loads of flower beds. Only the Roosevelt cottage was open but others were available for window peeping.

  • Roosevelt Cottage

We then headed off to see the two lighthouses on the island. The first, Mullholland Lighthouse is on the south tip of the island and if you go down the stairs, it’s just a short side stroke away from Lubec, ME. It appears the border wall has yet to reach Lubec. . .

The second was the more famous of the two, Head Harbour Lightstation. It is only reachable during low tide, and for good reason. The tide can rise 5 feet in only an hour. We were there at close to high tide.

We topped off our first full day sitting in the sun in attempted whale watching. I did happen to catch a few dolphins doing their thing heading out to sea with the tide.

Sorry for the short post, but I was backed up due to miserable wifi. The theme tomorrow is “Ferries”.