Harbor-Hopper-Halifax

Dark clouds are hanging. An Omen for our upcoming departure tomorrow? Oh well, we still have today to check out Halifax which is only 50 km (30 miles) away. Only around the metropolitan area did we encounter some "speeding". But we take it easy, we are on vacation (not really, it's a trip). 

Halifax boardwalk "the wave"

Halifax is the capital of NS with only a bit more than 410K in population and is ranked # 4 of the best cities to live in Canada and placed 1st on a list of largest cities by quality of life (also 2nd place as largest city of the future). It's a clearly laid out city and after a loop around we make our way to the harbor. Despite the yucky weather we walk up and down the boardwalk to get an idea until we later hop onto the Harbor-Hopper.



There are food booth all over the place, but it's way to cold to eat outside. On one end of the harbor is a little mall with nice stores and galleries. An artisan cafe had outstanding croissants and we washed down with a hot and warming cappuccino.  

It's time to hop onto the Harbor-Hopper. A land/water vehicle which will show us the places of interest on land first and then we launch into the harbor. All in all it's take about a well spend hour.

Loading time, all were pretty bundled up and we debated if we should get our rain ponchos as a few drops fell. Actually we were pretty lucky throughout our trip, we never got rained on. We looped around the Citadel, located on a large hill overlooking the easily defended harbor. I did not take pictures during the land tour, due to the black clouds and that "blinking-thing", again....see?...nope, gone already.

On the left is Halifax across the bridge (right side) is Dartmouth
 Halifax's evil twin.  

In the water we go.













What a fun tour that was! I can only highly recommend it if you are ever going to be there. we make a "pit-stop" at the Maritime Museum and found another interesting piece of information.

tough times

Of course Halifax's evil twin Dartmouth is next on our agenda. I am not quite sure what the tour guide lady told us (if at all) why it's called the evil twin. We strolled on the waterfront and as we drive there one can clearly see that it is a "working" community. Was the tour guide lady referring to blue collar vs.white collar? Maybe, who knows.

Dartmouth

Another beautiful day with a lot of impressions. We head back to Bedford and stay at the same motel way in the beginning of our trip. We drive to town to find ourselves a nice restaurant, but could not agree on one. Back to the room, let's try a little later one more time. This is when we actually "saw" that there was a Thai restaurant on the premises. Sounds good and since they had newspaper clippings on the wall "voted best Thai" that is were we went. We were not disappointed. The service was fast and friendly and the food was very good. What more can one ask for.

Back in the room we back our seven things. We will have breakfast at the airport. Wonderful 10 days are coming to an end. Conclusion: As nice as it is to travel in the off-season (less traffic and people), in this case it might have been better going there farther  into the season. As for the weather we are not complaining. Remember, there is no bad weather, only bad choices of clothing. Although, even the locals said it was "not so good" for that time a year. The people are extremely friendly, the guesthouses and B & B's very great and remarkable clean, it was a joy. Driving needs getting used to (they are so (too) civilized). Soon the our own daily rat-race is exactly that, but we will feed of those 10 days a bit longer 'til next time when we say: Let's go....

Ta-ta

Hwy 332 (aka lighthouse route) to Peggy's Cove

In room breakfast with stuff we had before we make our way to Peggy's Cove. But first things first. Just 6 miles east of Lunenburg lays Blue Rock (Village) and is advertised as Lunenburg's answer to Peggy's Cove.  Still a working fishing community with blue slate rocks on the edge of the ocean. We had a little problem finding it, another one of these "blinking situations". I saw some beautiful pictures online. Mine don't come even close. First I'm taking these pictures not from the air, nor is the sun shining. Still, for us is was beautiful.

I love the combination of water, rocks and buildings

sun- show yourself...

Yesterday we drove through Mahone Bay, this time we stop. It seems this is a pretty rich community. We saw some nice houses, all very well kept. I can imagine spending a few days in that neighborhood in the summer, when the town is bustling and one can really appreciate the bright colors of the houses and stroll through the many stores and galleries. 

across the water....and take a look to the right...

....and here they are, the three churches...

http://www.mahonebay.com

Above's link is to a site from Mahone Bay. Take a look if you like. Now we head toward Peggy's Cove following the lighthouse route. Another small rural community. A must and of course the most photographed lighthouse in Nova Scotia. The parking lot next to the lighthouse and behind the huge restaurant was packed with coaches. The restaurant was full to the max. Maybe because most of the people were older and it was a pretty stiff and cold wind blowing outside. 

Just a few impressions from Peggy's Cove

Monument  

 For our stay tonight we have to back track a little, back to Hubbard's right next to Hwy 103. Dauphinee Inn even has a restaurant, great! Surprise, surprise, the hotel is closed. A little piece of paper tells us to call and somebody will be with us shortly. Sure enough a few minutes later a lady stops and tells us that she is the "maid for everything"...come on in, no, sorry the restaurant is closed, we open on the 15th, no, we do not have any other guests, come on in, make yourselves comfortable and at home, you have it all for you alone, yes you can use the kitchen, use the microwave and store your food the fridge, dine in the restaurant bringing your own food...yada, yada.....un-"bleeping"-believable.

our view as we dine and wine

before we call it a day.

Ta-ta

Making miles

488 km (300 mi) to Lunenburg a bit west of Halifax is on the plan for today. Along the coast we enjoyed the nice scenery before we later hit the highway. Let me tell you something about driving in Nova Scotia. Driving in NS is slow, I mean real slow. Nothing wrong with it if you want to see something, or enjoy the scenery, but often is was tempting to go a wee bit faster. 30-50 km ( 18-31 mph) on rural/urban roads, 80-90 km (50-55 mph) on local highways with a maximum speed of 110 km (68 mph). The highest speed was rather sparse. Going faster or even speeding? Except for Halifax people do NOT do that. Reduced speed ahead? Driver will brake even before they reach the sign to exactly that speed. Passing a car (seldom)...? right back to the right. It was magnificent. Again, with just a few exceptions more then 2-3 km over the limit was rare. We had the feeling that the speeding fines must be very steep so we were good and did the right thing. A total new experience, no hectic, no pushing just friendly and relaxed drivers. 

Harbor of Cheticamp

Along the coast

Cheticamp in the back

Gotta love it...

Another cemetary

We arrived fairly early in the afternoon in Lunenburg which was designated a World Heritage Site (UNESCO) in 1995. After checking in it's time to explore that lovely town. Old town is the best surviving example of a planned British colonial settlement in North America, established in 1753. The town identity has been safeguarded throughout the centuries by preserving the wooden architecture. 

carriage tour?

Bluenose II - NS pride

Old town

Courthouse

St. John's Anglican Church 

Academy

My kinda house

Not bad either

Too bad the sun was not shining, the pictures would have been so much nicer. The walk has made us hungry. So Lobster dinner for hubby and mussels for myself.                                                             

Ta-ta

  

Looping around the Cabot Trail

We left Louisbourg @ 9 in the morning to Cheticamp which is located on the north/western shore of the island. Along that nice drive along the coast we have made Withe Point our first stop where we found this little harbor.

Dark clouds are hanging 

not much to see, but we checked it out anyway.

Before we left that little place we took advantage of the porta-potty. A porta potty in a harbor, right. I can see you frown. Far wrong. This portable toilet was the most clean one I have ever encountered. In fact it was so clean and fresh (yes, fresh) smelling that a lot of places (including restaurants (especially in Florida)) could learn something. Wow...another high score for Nova Scotia.

on our way to Meat Cove

Meat Cove is a rural fishing community at the northern tip of Cape Breton Island. If one loves the absolutely "nothing" you are at the right place. More than once did we think we were lost. Nah...we must have blinked, missed it, again...can't be. Well, since turning around was no easy task we just kept going. 

Oh...some houses, maybe we are on the right track

A pretty bumpy gravel road brought us to our destination A campground at the end of the road. A few small trailers and tents. You better have all you need, because there is nothing around, but a beautiful view.

Up left you see the Canadian Flag, that's were the campground is. Thinking of you Pam & Tom, as we saw some bicyclists taking it all in, you would like it.

Our park brochure mentioned "The Bog", aka Cape Brenton Highland National Park. It features a short 0.5 km ( 0.3 mi) self-guided trail and signs along the way explain life in the bog. A bog is a wetland that gets water only from rain and snow. Therefore plants and animals that live in bogs must adopt to the low level of nutrients. Peat and moss, some conifers and rhododendron (some look like orchids to me). Green frogs, moose, dragonflies can live here, too. 

pitcher plant (meat eating plant)

conifer

apparently not an orchid....but what do I know ;-)

What a great place. Too bad we did not see any moose, just some of the very dark green frogs. Listen closely so you can find them sitting on a leaf floating in the water. It was pretty cold and overcast up there. Nevertheless we spend almost an hour on that 20 minutes walk. Looking here and there, reading the signs, trying to figure out the vegetation and really "see". I am always amazed what mother nature is capable off. So glad we stopped there, it was well worth is, despite the weather.

Ceticamp

Ceticamp, our place to call it a day. A short stroll to the harbor before it started raining. Back in the room the horrible news about Orlando. What a shame. During our trips we seldom turn the TV on, mostly to check the weather but most channels were covering the tragedy.

That red lighthouse in the back is were we had a pretty good dinner. It was more a pub with a stage were one lonely guy was playing rather Keys style (Grandma's Feather Bed...thinking of Donnie) than Arcadian music which we would have expected since that was announced on the sign outside to lure one in. Another glass of red wine before we call it a night.

Ta-ta

Fort or Fortress and other questions

You may or not know the difference between a fort and a fortress. Well, we were not clear on that so we asked. A fort is a strong or fortified place occupied by troops, usually surrounded by walls, ditches and other defensive works and a permanent army post (formerly) a trading post. A fortress is also a fortified place (sometimes as a group of forts) which most often include a town and civilians. Now we are all on the same page. 

That's how it looks today

Back then is was a busy town The fortress was more then just the military. At it's core, Louisbourg was a thriving civilian community made prosperous by a profitable cod-fishery ("in cod we trust" was there motto) and strong ties reaching across the Atlantic. During it's peak it was the third busiest port in North America.  More than a dozen buildings are open to the public where you can experience life through "animators" of all ages, from wealthy merchants to poor soldiers how life was in the 18 hundreds. From 823 people living there in 1719 the population increased to 4174 in 1752.     That nice looking horse was not meant as a toy but for punishment. Please, be seated and have some weights put on your legs. I am sure you get the drift what pain one must have endured during those hour-long"seating's" We have spend the whole morning meandering the premises.  On our 3 miles drive back to our hotel we had to make a stop at one of the nicest place for.....

...that's right, a cemetery. We saw quite a few always located on the water. Serenity pure.

Now it was time to get ready to find out more about the Boot's to Root's Festival. Everybody knew about it, but nobody could tell you where or when. Yeah, they have "heard" about it, but no...there is nothing...absolutely nothing going on...What the heck? Well, there is a dance going on later tonight @ the DAV...maybe you go there? OK, but first we need to attend the Beggar's Banquet. Directly located on our premises we had to be there 1/2 hour early in order to get dressed before we participate in that spectacle, with live music and a nice dinner.

Isn't he one handsome guy?

E Voila...

And of course, Rupert charmed the local "tavern girl, Sabrina" or was it the other way around?

After the Banquet we headed into town and do some dancing. We found the DAV, but there were no people in there. Just a few locals. All looked at us like...you want to...WHAT? Well, the music starts at 9 pm but people will usually show up by 10 or 11 pm. I mean really, that town was dead as it is, why would the people wait so long for something to happen? Blink, again. We never figured that out.  So we walked a bit around discussing whether to wait or not, strolled by our diner from last night. The restaurant was already closing up and it was not even 9 pm by then. A pick up truck drove by us twice. The third time they stopped right next to us. A nice friendly couple (locals), a big dog in the back. ""Are you guys hungry...looking for a restaurant...well "that' one is closed, but there is one more...you be lucky if it's still open if you hurry.""  Like I said before, darn unbelievable this people from Nova Scotia! 

Somewhat disappointed we went home and to bed. Tomorrow is another day.

Ta-ta