Tag Archives: Maine

PEI and Nova Scotia

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It’s been several months since we traveled to Canada for our fortieth wedding anniversary, but it’s better late than never to finish up the story of our trip…

In my last post, A Taste of Canada, we had just crossed the Confederation Bridge onto Prince Edward Island. What we hadn’t realized was that it was Old Home Week, a local ‘family fun’ celebration that originated over a hundred years ago.

On our first morning there, we had planned to visit nearby Charlottetown. It looked to be a charming city with a boardwalk and plenty to keep us busy. But as we drove toward the city, we could tell something was up. People were parking along the streets and walking toward the downtown area. Up ahead we could see road closures. Apparently a parade was about to start. We pulled over to re-group and quickly turned around and headed to the north shore of the island instead, away from the crowds.

We found a bike trail in Morrell and spent the morning biking from there to St. Peter’s — about a seven mile trip. We stopped for lunch and then biked back. Such beautiful, peaceful scenery! And a surprise bird encounter along the way. (I should also mention a few other surprise encounters: several other Massachusetts residents spending time on the bike trail that day.)

After our bike ride, we traveled west, following the northern coast, to check out Brackley Beach in Prince Edward Island National Park. Apparently, a rain shower had just passed through, even though we encountered nothing but sunny skies on our way. The rain made the dark sand even darker, almost muddy. Very different from the Cape Cod beaches we’re used to.

We rounded out the day with a stop at P.E.I. Brewing.

The next morning was my birthday. And as a special treat we’d booked a ride on the ferry from P.E.I. to Nova Scotia. This would cut off several hours of driving. We’d never taken the van on a ferry before. I’m not a huge fan of boats, so I had mixed feelings about the whole idea. At least we got to drive through Charlottetown on our way. While we waited to get in the ferry line (we were so early that the ferry before ours hadn’t left yet), we checked out a nearby lighthouse.

The ferry trip lasted about seventy five minutes, but felt much shorter. Before we knew it, we were disembarking in Nova Scotia. We scoped out our reserved campsite before heading to quaint downtown Pictou for an early dinner.

Our campsite backed up to an inlet and offered a beautiful view. The photos aren’t great, but they’re evidence of the Short-billed Dowitcher, the Lesser Yellowleg, and the Great Blue Heron right in our backyard.

The view behind our van was nice, but the campground itself felt more like someone’s hilly backyard and the bathroom facility was extremely ‘rustic’. We decided not to stay a second night.

After realizing we didn’t have enough time to enjoy a coastal drive around Cape Breton, we thought a night in a hotel in Halifax might be a nice change of pace, along with another ferry trip back to New Brunswick. To make a long story a lot shorter, that didn’t work out. We made a ‘non-refundable’ reservation at the Marriott Harbourfront, only to discover that our van couldn’t fit in their parking garage and the parking lot they sent us to, blocks away, was closed. It took a little pleading at the front desk to cancel the reservation. And there was no room for us on the ferry, either. Oh, well.

But before we arrived in Halifax, we stopped in Antigonish for a walk and a bike ride. And a quick peek at St. Francis Xavier University.

We also stopped at Good Robot Brewing in Halifax, right across the street from Halifax Common, a large green space with recreational fields, facilities, and walking paths in between and around them.

We ate lunch and took a long walk around the Common. After leaving Halifax with no place to say for the night, we found a KOA close by. With room for us. Whew!

The next morning we aimed the van toward New Brunswick. After a stop in Amherst, Nova Scotia, for a hike around Amherst Point Bird Sanctuary, we took a detour to check out a monarch sculpture in Dieppe, New Brunswick (thanks, Tricia S.), before landing back at Rockwood Park in St. John, which we’d left a mere four days earlier.

It was drizzling and foggy the next morning as we headed west for one last stop before crossing the border into the U.S. St. Andrews did not disappoint. We first visited Kingsbrae Gardens.

After the gardens, we drove downtown to have lunch in the seaside town.

We left Canada mid-afternoon that day with a bucket-load of memories and a camera card full of beautiful images to help us remember. We spent the night once again parked in our son’s Maine driveway before heading home the next day. And of course, we made a couple of stops on the way: Mast Landing Audubon Sanctuary in Freeport for a walk/run, Mast Landing Brewery, and lunch at Bissell Brothers in Portland.

A Taste of Canada

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We spent two weeks on the road recently, traveling north through Maine and into Canada. You can catch up on the first few days of our trip in Northbound! and Forty Years…and Counting.

After hiking Cadillac Mountain, the rest of our stay at Blackwoods in Acadia was a little more tame. We found a trail just down the road at Sieur de Monts for an easy walk, went back to sit on the rocks at the ocean again, and did some birding along the way.

The day we left Acadia and headed for the Canadian border, we first stopped at Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge in Baring, Maine. We checked out a few trails, including their Woodcock Trail, but, unfortunately, didn’t spot any woodcocks that day.

We left Moosehorn and before we knew it we were at the border and heading for St. John, New Brunswick. The campground was nestled in beautiful Rockwood Park in St. John. We had to drive through the city of St. John to get to the park. And city driving in a large vehicle is not fun. We didn’t feel especially motivated to go back into the city after that.

We spent the rest of our time in St. John at Rockwood Park. There were walking trails, birds, a pond, and even a restaurant. And the food there was some of the best we had on our whole trip. I’m not one to take pictures of my meals, but oh, those lobster potato skins!!

Along one of the paths around the pond, we spotted a series of monuments that had been erected celebrating the provinces of Canada.

Our plan was to spend two nights each in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. Neither of us had been to these provinces, so we wanted at least a taste of each.

After two nights in Rockwood Park, we drove from the campground toward Prince Edward Island, making our way through Fundy National Park.

We stopped at Hopewell Rocks in the Bay of Fundy, an attraction recommended to us by more than one person. The tide was receding, so we were able to go down onto the beach to see these huge rocks up close. Apparently, when the tide comes in, the water rises as much as fifty feet! So, our timing was perfect.

From Hopewell Rocks we drove to P.E.I. over the eight-mile long Confederation Bridge. Later that afternoon, we arrived at our Campground in Harrington, P.E.I., just north of Charlottetown, which we intended to explore the next day.

But when we pulled into Pine Hills RV Park, we discovered we’d arrived in the middle of ‘Old Home Week’. It felt a little like landing in someone else’s neighborhood back yard where everyone knew each other and were ready to party. Oops!

We adapted and revised our plans the next day. But more on those new plans later… 😉

Forty Years . . . and Climbing

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We hit the road for two weeks recently to celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary. You can read about our first stop at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in the previous post, Northbound!

That night, we parked in our son’s driveway in Winterport, Maine, before heading down to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park the next day. It was a rainy drive over the bridge onto Mt. Desert Island. We drove to Bar Harbor and walked around a bit in the drizzle before checking in for a night at the Bar Harbor KOA campground.

It rained overnight, and the van rocked most of the night in the strong wind gusts. I kept waking up wondering if the next gust would tip us right over! In the morning, we drove through the fog toward Blackwoods Campground. It was early and check-in time wasn’t until noon, so we pulled over at Seal Harbor Beach to stretch our legs.

With a little more time on our hands, and as the fog lifted, we found Canon Brook Trail just down the road from the entrance to Blackwoods.

We checked in to our Blackwoods site a little after noon and found the Cadillac Mountain trailhead that starts inside the park.

We planned to do a sunrise hike the next day, on our anniversary. Starting inside the park would add 0.7 miles to the hike in each direction. So, in the end, we decided to skip the extra part at the beginning and drive out to Route 3 where hikers park along the edge of the road to do the South Ridge Trail.

We went to bed at 8pm and set our alarm for 2:45am. We actually woke before the alarm, dressed quickly, ate a breakfast snack, and drove out to the road. We weren’t the first vehicle there, nor the last. After donning our backpack, camera vest, and headlamps, we started our Garmin watches at 3:20am to record the climb.

Hiking in the dark is an experience like no other. I thought I’d be totally stressed out by the possibility of running into a bear. But the concentration it took to keep up with someone whose legs are a lot longer than mine, while making sure we could find the blue trail markers ahead of us, left no room for imaginary bears.

At times, we could see headlamp-light from other hikers in the distance, behind us and ahead. We ran into a couple of pairs of hikers who were struggling like we were to find the trail in certain places and we managed to help each other along the way. There were only a couple of extra-challenging spots but the two-hour, 3.5-mile climb was a good workout. The sky began to turn red before we reached the summit and I was worried we’d miss the sunrise.

But we made it to the top with time to spare. As we neared the summit, we could see headlights from cars that were driving up the mountain road. The parking lot was almost full and people had chosen their spots along the rocky summit to view the sunrise. We found a spot and waited, using the time to eat our second breakfast.

After the sunrise, I overheard a young couple nearby wishing each other a ‘happy anniversary.’ I had to say something. Turns out they were celebrating their first anniversary! When we told them we were celebrating our fortieth, they wanted to know our secret. We offered some wisdom, but really, as anyone knows who’s been married for a long time, love is a day by day decision.

The hike back down felt like we were on a whole new mountain. We could see where we were going and we could take in the view that had been hidden from us in the dark.

We took it easy for the rest of the day. The ocean was just down a short path and across the Park Loop Road. The rocks were warm and the water’s calming rhythm was mesmerizing. We even caught a glimpse of a few birds along the way.

Early risers get sleepy pretty early in the evening, so bedtime came soon after an early anniversary dinner at Galyn’s in downtown Bar Harbor. And that gave us a chance to dream of the next adventure to come. 🙂

Northbound!

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Forty Augusts ago, we travelled north to Canada as a newly married couple, visiting Quebec and Toronto and coming back home by way of Niagara Falls. To celebrate the last forty years, we’ve headed north again.

But this time we’ve veered northeast through Maine instead, on our way to New Brunswick and beyond.

First stop, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay. . .

It was a beautiful day and the trolls were calling. If you’ve never been there, you may not know about the five (troll) art installations by Danish artist Thomas Dambo. We only saw three of the five, but they were impressive.

Before we found any of the trolls, though, we visited the butterfly house. It’s almost magical standing in the midst of countless butterflies flying overhead, all around, and even at your feet.

So many of the flowers were at their peak of color. Everywhere we turned, the landscape made me smile.

In addition to the troll sculptures, we found some stone creations and other interesting artwork.

We even found evidence of fairies at the end of the Back Woods Trail near the river.

It was a beautiful, relaxing afternoon. I highly recommend you put a stroll through the gardens on your to-do list this summer. And try to find those two trolls that eluded us.

After our visit, we headed to our son’s house in Winterport, just south of Bangor. We spent a rainy night parked in his driveway and the following rainy day visiting downtown Bar Harbor. It’s off to Acadia National park after that. A story for another day.