Day 20 - Wednesday July 19 - Bar Harbor, ME

Goodbye Canada - Hello Maritime USA

So today we said goodbye to our home and native land - but things are dragging on, so we're going to change up the format. Less babble, more pics. Sorry, it's taking too long. 

Just across the Maine border we came across 'yard sales'. These temporary swap meets seem to crop up all over the East Coast in the US. Really just the mall parking lot carnival version of Value Village, but Gord did find a bunch of old matchbox cars for a buck. Not a bad deal. 

Our home for the next two days - this KOA deluxe studio cabin. 

We chose the Oceanside Bar Harbor (Baa Haaba) KOA because of a strong review from friends of ours. And the cabin was a treat. All the creature comforts of home (save the stove - but there is a microwave and a bbq) with an ocean view!

Gord loved that there was a bed in the kitchen! T loved the AC and full bathroom!

Our dining room with ocean view!

Approaching downtown Bar Harbor. It was hotter than it looked.

Gord can make a jungle gym of nearly anything.

The ocean view from downtown.

We were hungry and hot. If only there was a tourist town with a million options. What a minute...

We stopped in for a crepe, a muffin, some lemonade and a smoked salmon bagel.

Gord chose some tentacles at the tourist waste of money store - Theresa was not impressed.

The park and view was quite nice - more so once we were fed.

Back 'home' for some dinner before an evening swim!

The pool was warm and shallow and mostly empty - great for this bunch!

Tomorrow we'd explore a little more, but so far so good.

Bar Harbor, ME - A Sleepy Maritime Town

Day 19 - Tuesday July 18 - Saint John, NB - Part 2

Another Ferry - Now to Picturesque Saint John, NB

So today is our last day in Canada, so let's spend it in a car and on a boat?! We have loved Nova Scotia and today cemented that - driving south to Digby we passed through the Annapolis Valley, which was absolutely lovely. But we were headed for Digby, and a ferry.

The drive to Digby was a nice one.

We got to the ferry terminal just as it was arriving and we were able to watch it unload while we used the bathroom at the ferry terminal. Hannah tried out the driver's seat - terrifying! Before we knew it we were rolling onto the large vessel and taking directions from the crew. It was like a small, floating, parking garage - with tight turns and ramps up and down. But nevertheless we parked, grabbed our necessities, and headed in for the comforts of a largish ferry.

Eyes on the road!

Approaching the hold - it was like a parking garage inside!

On board the TV lounge caught Gord's attention, but they were only playing The Great Wall, so it didn't last.

It was foggy as we crossed the Bay of Fundy. The whales, if there were any, were uninterrupted by prying eyes.

After getting settled Gord wanted to watch some 'show' so we left T and H in the comfy lounge area to head to the TV theatre. They were playing Matt Damin's The Great Wall - it held his interest for about 20 minutes. Then he caught sight of the Scooby Doo playing in the kids area. We headed over there until he got sick of that too. Soon we were back with Hannah and Theresa digging into apple slices and crackers. The trip was across the Bay of Fundy and some of the literature suggested that whales can be seen from the deck, but the fog never cleared enough to make it a possibility, and so we stayed inside for the 135 minute crossing. 

After disembarking from the ship we found ourselves face-to-face with a familiar sight - we were back in Saint John NB! Last time was rushed, frustrating and ultimately disappointing, so I had higher hopes for today's visit. We were staying at the University of New Brunswick at Saint John summer hotel - which is basically a dorm room. We found our way there, 5 minutes away from downtown Saint John, and got settled. It was a suite, and just as you would expect. Basic. Nothing awful, and it was generally clean, but nothing fancy. In any event, we unpacked, changed and headed back to see if we could find some good times in Saint John - maybe a beaver tail? At least a bank for some US dough.

The kids first taste of University life. Hopefully we didn't scare them off.

Downtown Saint John is small, so we easily found a parking spot central to all we wanted to do and began exploring the oldest incorporated city in Canada. We parked acros from the centrally located King's Square park and headed for the famous City Market and waterfront.

Not really impressed with King's Square.

I had great memories of Saint John's City Market...let's see how good my memory is.

 

The market was festive - lots of 150 stuff!

In truth, the market wasn't as great as I remember. It was nice to see the decorations and the unique roof (meant to look like a boats hull) but it wasn't the bounty of fresh fruit and veg I recalled, and we were heading to the US tomorrow, so we shouldn't stock up anyway. The art was pedestrian so we didn't buy anything for the house, and after a quick memento for G (ask to see his sun catcher bird) we headed to the water for dinner.

Hannah thought it was just ok.

In reading up on dining in Saint John we settled on the Saint John Ale House. It was supposed to have the best patio, the best food and the most broad drink selection. It is located right down by the water at Market Square along a strip of other similar establishments. We sat down and ordered our dinner, simple fair, and they did well by Gordon to bring him a plate of cucumber, French fries and edible flowers. Dinner was fine, the service was good, the drinks were pretty good (T and I split a flight, and we each found something to our tastes) but it wasn't cheap and it wasn't memorable. Thank goodness it's on the water. 

The patio at the Saint John Ale House was pleasant enough, but you pay significant premium for the view.

Afterwards we decided to stroll around the harbour for a short while before nature called us away. It's not the nicest waterfront as it is still essentially a working port, but the ocean is the ocean, so we take what we can get. We found bathrooms in the downtown mall but little else. The town is simply quite small, and after filling our bellies we headed back to the room(s) for bed. Tomorrow we were leaving Canada until we came home to Hamilton, so we could use some rest.

A lovely on the lovely water.

Can you tell how nervous T is?

Gord couldn't resist riding the tractor at the mall downtown - bug fun in the big city.

Picturesque Downtown Saint John, NB

Day 18 - Monday July 17 - Dartmouth, NS

The Top of Halifax is Always a Pleaser

So one of my favourite things about travelling, and one of the parts most NOT in keeping with my typical methods, is when an unexpected or unplanned event becomes a memorable aspect that you couldn't script even if you tried. Today was one of those days. 

We woke up in Dartmouth and felt rested and refreshed after an evening of luxurious AirBnB accommodations uncertain what the day had planned for us. I had one friend in Halifax, a wonderful woman I met during teachers college, 12 years ago! Sarah and I met the first day and became fast friends - we had hours of class together and spent most of it rolling our eyes at one another and escaping class to go find something else to do. Truthfully, Sarah is a born teacher, and I'm alright, but we're both pretty awful students. Especially when sitting next yo each other. Couple that with some very boring, sometimes condescending tutelage, and you get two would-be teachers fleeing class regularly. 

In any event, Sarah was a very important part of my life for those early years. We spent lots of time together talking about students (she started her career in TO), music, food and life. Sarah vetted Theresa when she came into my life (she was always a fan). And then she moved home to Halifax/Dartmouth. A little while later everyone started having kids and we just lost touch. T would show me a funny pic of Sarah and her kids, or would tell me about Sarah's class via her Instsgram account - but since I'm not on any social media I didn't interact at all and learned of everything only second hand. So when we decided to come East this summer I knew I at least wanted to reach out to Sarah and her fam. 

We played email tag for a few weeks and had some very tentative plans made, but nothing for sure. Then as we were driving south from Cape Breton Island we got an invite to go to Sarah's place for breakfast. Great. 

After breakfast we decided we would play it by ear. Two young families (Sarsh has two gems - Libby's 8(?) and Tom is 5) a long time removed, I think we were both a little nervous to over commit. Fortunately we had little to worry about. 

OISE on Bloor St in TO. Where it all began.

Sarah and her family live just a few minutes away from our lake front retreat and we found it easily. And it was like we'd seen each other last week. Sarah hasn't changed a bit, except that she's wiser than she was even back then. She's still incredibly warm and kind and funny and spectacular. Gord ran up to her as if they were old friends and was talking about how 'funny' she was to Theresa almost immediately. She had made us a huge stack of pancakes and had delicious fruit and savoury stuff waiting as well. The kids took plates into the living room to watch a show while the adults caught up and choked on laughs and pancakes in the kitchen.

And it lasted all day.

We went to the park. We talked more while the kids played. We went back for an amazing meal of quesadillas and salads and more fruit. Then the kids played in the yards while we sat and laughed some more on the back deck. The boys fought a bit, 5 and almost 5 is a tough age socially, but when we decided Hannah needed a real break and Sarah and her fam deserved some time NOT entertaining, the boys cried at being separated. Our 'breakfast' visit lasted all day and a strong friendship was revived. We have made plans to stay connected once we get home, friends this good don't just come sround that often, and Sarah has family in TO so comes to 'upper Canada' fairly regularly. A great and unexpected part of this trip! 

Sarah and Tom greet us on the steps of their lovely home. 

The playground at Libby and Tom's school was a big hit for our young man. Cooooool!

Tom and Libby were generous and gracious hosts all day.

Gord was unhappy to leave, but notice his take away bestie - couchepy, the couch (sweet) potato! Leave it to a drama teacher to give my kid a pet sweet potato.

The best friends they didn't know they had - minus T, the camera woman.

After that we went 'home', packed a bit and planned our next move. Tomorrow we had a long drive to Digby in order to catch an 11:00 am ferry - we had to get on the road by 7:30, no small feat for this small army. Luckily we fell into an easy slumber with sore stomachs from all the laughing and a few more great memories.

We never even made it to Halifax, never went out-crawling, and we didn't care. A great day had by all! For what more could we ask.

How Can We Talk the Kids Into a Pub Crawl?

Day 17 - Sunday July 16 - Dartmouth, NS

Back to Civilization - Dartmouth/Halifax

So today we bid adieu to another great location, our temporary home away from home at Ingonish Beach on Cape Breton Island, NS. As you may remember, my foolishness and love for sweet jams 

left us with a dead battery and me up much of the night waiting on a CAA tow that never came, and then driving around the deserted roads to charge the battery once a kindly Cspe Bretonner helped me out so badly needed jump. Once I got back to the tent with a charged battery I needed to unwind a bit, so I decided to walk to the beach. The sky-was-amazing. Constellations popped up all over and the Milky Way was just that. It was just what I needed. Tomorrow we had s long drive down to Dartmouth and I needed it, so thanks night sky.

The night sky in Cape Breton was one of the best surprises of the trip - and a great way to relax after a stressful evening. 

We said goodbye to the Ingonish Beach in the morning and headed on the road, but not before G got to say goodbye to his new bestie...

Parka WAS at the campground this morning and was able to get not just one hug/high-fives, but two! He was satisfied, if a little star-struck, and we piled into the car with clean dishes, full water bottles, and  a compass pointed south.

The twisty roads of the 'highlands'. Not boring.

The pics really don't do it justice. That's real steep and real impressive.

We couldn't leave the Cape without a goodbye feast, so with some Tim Horton's bagels and other pastries, a cut up cucumber and some blue berries we enjoyed a lake side lunch in Port Hawkesbury. The traffic din was quietted by the long grass and buzzing ticks and before we knew it we were all full and ready to continue our southern journey. 

Our lakeside dining spot. Unexpected, but lovely.

From there we aimed straight for Dartmouth. It was our home for the next two nights and we were looking forward to the city comforts (and were desperately hoping for laundry). The drive was long and uneventful and once we left the twisty-turns roads of Cape Breton Island we could cover quite a bit of ground quickly. The long distance to the big city took only a few hours. Hannah slept most of the way and G watched another movie - travelling parenting at its finest!

We got into town around dinner time (4:00 is our new dinner time) and were blown away by our digs. It was a 'basement', but not really. The place was full of windows and lake views (Loon Lake, look it up) - it seems we had found a relatively unknown lakeside community where Dartmouth and Cole Harbour (yes, that Cole Harbour) meet up. What a gem. We stumbled around our new oasis dumb-struck at our luck.

A lovely entry indeed.

A living room full of sun.

A spacious family room with all the creature comforts of home.

T and Hannah's room rivalled any of our digs so far.

And the deck views were the proverbial cherry on the top!

Sufficiently impressed and unpacked we ordered a pizza and a salad and T hit the showers. We relaxed and revelled in our new found luxury. Gord found a copy of Mouse Trap and our night was set. 

We ate, sipped and watched a movie - it was a relaxing night indeed.

Gord's new favourite game.

Tasty pizza, not just a clever name.

The views got even better as the sun went down.