Island views

A common event around the Maritimes are the  all-you-can-eat dinners.   In the small quaint villages, you can find this offering most nights of the week.   Often held in community halls or churches, they have also become commercial establishments and we wandered over to the New Glasgow Lobster Supper restaurant the other night........it was busy !!   It was large open room with long tables and lively conversation and crying babies but we  managed to get a table for the 4 of us and the first course was the world famous mussels of PEI.   

After sampling a bucket and a half, the group declared that the mussels lived up to the hype.   One of us did not enter into this debate and enjoyed her soup.      Next came the salad, mixed green and potato followed by a lobster (size of your choice).   The bread was 'fresh from the oven' as advertised.   After all of that, if one cared, there was various fruit pies, strawberry shortcake and the promise of mile-hi lemon meringue pie.    But, unbeknown to us, you had to get there by 6 to get the lemon pie as it 'always' sells out by then.......well, why don't they just make more if it happens all the time.  !!   The pie also comes with ice cream and you can try several varieties if you already aren't more stuffed  than on Thanksgiving Day.

 We depart this pretty place tomorrow.    PEI is a sharp contrast to the other places we've been..... it is called "The Gentle Island".   It is very pastoral and peaceful.  

 We'll head down near the Canadian border for a couple of days and then cross over into Bangor.

We did make it to a rip-roaring ceilidh (kay-lee) at St Mary's Church.   Built in 1902, it is huge, holding over 600 foot stomping, clapping locals and us.    

 This picture of the interior, shot by P's iPhone, shows the massive soaring ceiling, covered in wood strips.   It cost $20.000 to build back then as much of the materials and labor were donated by the parishioners.    

Today we wandered down the hill for a delicious breakfast at a restored butter creamery.   It is light and airy inside with large 2 story windows.    This picture is terrible but I used the iPhone to try and capture the subtle beauty  of the stained glass depictions on the windows.    They represent the life cycle of the salmon in the bottom pictures and there are about 8 panels....the upper are of various birds that inhabit the area.  The place was very busy or I would have tried to get better access to try and capture the beauty.   

Today I noted a hint of fall in the air......there is just a feel and look about it that is so familiar.    The leaves are starting to flutter down and a few of the trees are turning.   The time has gone by quickly and we only have about 2 months of travel left before we head home for the winter.    But we won't be heading south for awhile yet.....the travel-blog has much more exploring to do.......!

Around the Island.......

When last we talked, I had no decent internet  (still don't) and the view of Prince Edward Island was only thru my eyes....... So back to geography class before we get to the pictures.    We left the Halifax area and drove north across Nova Scotia to Pictou, near where the Confederation Bridge begins.   Built in 1997, it is a beautiful 8 mile span.   The other alternative is a 45 min ferry ride which Dean and Diane did.    Access to the Island is free going North ( by bridge or ferry )but they get you coming the other way....about $7 for a car and over $45 dollars for our house.....the ferry would cost us $107 to go South.   Anyway it was a pretty drive and this pic shows the last segment.   We are camped at New Glasgow, NE of Charlottetown..(about 25 min).  

PEI is noted for it's red sand.   Due to iron oxide in the dirt, it is on the roads, beaches and farm fields.   I bought T-shirts for Andy and Mason that are dyed in the dirt and come out the same color as the sand....they include a package of sand with the shirt.    It is said that there are NO white dogs on PEI. !!

Distances are short and between the lakes, rivers and coastal areas, there is a water view most everywhere.    

It is all VERY picturesque......

We have been impressed with the size of the farms......beautiful patchwork rolling hills, immaculate large farm buildings and brown and white cows dotting the hills.   

The area is dotted with golf courses....while out exploring in the early evening, we came across this red fox ambling across a fairway of a course near the water.....Diane said they also saw one and it seemed oblivious to traffic and people.     Somewhere in our travels, we read that red fox were raised here as an industry.....(.I need to find out more about this so that my blog is informative and historical because I know it's not just about the pretty pictures. : )  

All around  the Maritimes, the culture keeps ties to the past.....music is a big part of their lives and a popular pastime is the ceilidh ( kay-lee).   We encountered these in Cape Breton as well. (This picture was of a ceilidh near the Charlottetown wharf the other day.....the young teens were very good and nimble on their feet)   At local community halls and churches you can  find postings  of a ceilidh several evenings a week.   With fiddles, and bagpipes and song and dance, these are lively and popular events.   We have plans to go to one on Saturday night at the "Historic St Mary's Church".....we'll let you know.      

P E I

Yes, we have NO pictures.  !!     The internet is soooo slow that I tried to download one picture and after 20 minutes, it was still grinding away.  

We left Nova Scotia yesterday after several drizzly foggy days spent being kind of lazy.   That area is lovely, scenic, great weather most of the time and has very friendly people.   Real estate prices are much higher than up at Cape Breton and it has a very seasonal crowd.    The info said that the area was popular with Haligonians (Halifax) and Americans for their summer homes and lovely sail boats.

We had about a 6 hour drive north to Prince Edward Island.    Grey skies made for a pleasant drive and we shared the burden.....of course, I get the busy traffic, the narrow roads and the loooooooonnnnnng bridge.   He gets the multi-lane roads and maneuvering in and out of campgrounds.    To get to PEI from the mainland is a beautiful 8 mi bridge (2 lane).....and then comes the rolling hills and cultivated fields of many colors.   Potatoes grow everywhere.    The British Isles heritage is obvious and I feel right at home (My grandparents were from Cornwall).     We are at New Glasgow Highlands CG snuggled into a leafy campsite.    There is no satellite but we have a couple of Canadian TV stations and spotty wifi.   Dean and Diane are a day behind us, having to wait for a UPS pkg.   And, we're also being stalked by Ron and Cay.   Ron worked with Paul and we met them in Pa and attended their lovely wedding at Quiet Valley, a working farm from the 1800's.   Anyway, they are in a smaller RV which enables them to get close up and personal to many areas.....they started in Quebec, moved on to Labrador, down to Newfoundland, over to Cape Breton to join us and then to the Peggy's Cove area .....we have had some good times around the campfires.     We expect that they will find us again in the next week.!!

So, I'm off to take more pictures of this pretty place and hopefully, one of these days, I'll be able to post them.  

Tourist fatigue......

 Yesterday didn't start out all that promising.......

But later, the skies cleared a bit and we set out for Halifax, taking the more scenic route.  On the above map, we are at Glen Margaret, just southwest of Halifax on St Margaret's Bay.   We headed down the bay to an area near Peggy's Cove.  

Most of the coast looks like this.....

A mile or so before Peggy's Cove, we came to the memorial for SwissAir 111 which went down 5 miles off the coast  9/2/98.

This area has seen more than it's share of tragedy with the loss of many ships , the Titanic and a huge munitions ship explosion in 1917 that destroyed much of Halifax.

We opted to visit the harbor in Halifax and skipped all of the war sites and historic buildings and grave yards and haunted sites and assorted breweries and tours.     The harbor is nicely done and makes for a good walking trail.   The Disney Cruise ship was in port.     Across the bay was this lighthouse, one of so many we've seen along the way but always worthy of a photo.....

Mike said he wasn't impressed with Halifax ( I believe he used a bit stronger language) but that's probably because he didn't take a ride on Ted Too

This was a ship of some importance I think but by this time it was drizzly again and my feet were wearing out as well as my interest in history and ships and famous battles...........

We ended up at one of our favorite spots on the way home...... a Chapters store which is a carbon copy of Barnes and Noble with a little Pottery Barn thrown in.   AND it had a Starbucks and so many tempting books.......

Moving on down the road.....

It's map time again.....  We left  Cape Breton Island around 9:30 yesterday....after an easy 5 hour drive

we arrived at a scenic area west of Halifax called Peggy's Cove.   We will stay here a week before heading north to Prince Edward Island.

While at our campsite this past two weeks, we saw a constant parade of family dogs.....I regret not getting a picture of each and every one of them.....instead of postcard-like pictures, it would be a blog of special family dogs.   In the states, we see a lot of little white dogs...mostly Bichons or Lasa's .....or the large and hairy....the retreivers, the labs and one day, TWO newfoundlands.....how long would you have to clean to get rid of all that hair every day ?????   Camped across from us was this elderly statesman,  Max....he had a look of many years and much wisdom.    Also, parked near us on weekends only was a carbon copy of our Laddie......the haircut, the stockiness and the face were the same but he was not friendly and I preferred not to bother him with my camera.  (our Laddie of 17 years...a Westie..was a people dog).

So, we are camped across the road from this view. (this was taken last evening but it is not much brighter today)   We headed out to breakfast this morning and 

it seems that there is a Kodak moment around every bend. ......   But today, the fog looks persistent and it is chilly so that will wait for another day.

It seems strange to be back in civilization with major stores, a Costco, Subway and McDonalds....AND we have TV again.   After all those weeks without it, it was positively luxurious to watch the Olympics last night.    I hope I don't get lulled back into it instead of the good reads on my list.

In family news, Becca has left her Fairy Godmother wand and pixie dust behind and will head back to college shortly.   We'll miss having her in Florida.    Her brother Alex, the one with all the broken bones and pain from lacrosse, gave that up to be a caddie for the summer.    He's an excellent golfer and was able to walk among the stars while carrying the bags at Cherry Creek CC in Denver.....aside from the generous tips, he rubbed shoulders with John Elway and Peyton Manning..........AND, he was selected as their CADDY OF THE YEAR ....   Way to go Alex.    We are soooo proud of all of our grandkid's wonderful achievements in their daily life but every  once in awhile, one of them steps out of the box to really WOW us !!



 

Cruising with eagles........

The days are winding down here in the Cape Breton area.   We had a list of 'things we want to do' before leaving this perfect place and one of those was golf.    We had our choice of beautiful links courses, historic courses, #1 rated courses or the one we played on.    We haven't played in a couple of months and are not one to spend a bucket of money "on a good walk spoiled" so we chose the local 9 hole course that is being refurbished by it's new owners.   It was flat, no water, few traps and few golfers.     One of us played really well and one of us just had a good time.    It was a good warm-up for the next course down the road.                            

On one of our first trips into the quaint and charming Baddeck, we saw this ship on the bay.....it is the Amoeba and goes out for pleasure trips several times a day.     On Friday, we hoped onboard for a  90 minute sail.    It holds 40 and we grabbed the front seats, near the bow for the best photo-ops altho we had no expectations except postcard  scenery  

Most everyone climbed up to the bow to do their Titanic thing.....I asked someone to take our pic after we gingerly made our way to the tiny platform and hung on in the breeze and motion.    She did not get the coastline in but you get the idea.    Yes, we both have a lot of extra hair on this trip......!

When the sails are fully opened , the tilt of the deck is quite pronounced ( I"m sure there's a proper nautical term for that).

And then, off in the distance came this eagle, heading right towards us......I was amazed and managed to fire off some shots....(actually, I took 289)

Initially, I thought this was a very lucky happening.......,and then learned that the crew throw a fish out at each sailing and over the years, this bird has learned to get her lunch the easy way.    The above pictures are a compilation of 3 fly-by's that this magnificent bird made.   I'm not sure how I feel about them 'baiting' the bird for a show.....sort of like feeding the sharks for divers I guess except the eagle probably can't turn us into lunch.   ( Is that my phone I hear ??  .National Geographic for sure !! )

This is the eagle nest.....it has lived here for 30 years as a pair....(they mate for life).   (There is a large bird to the right of the nest...assume it is an eagle)

Much less exciting is the Alexander Graham Bell mansion, just a short walk from the nest.   He owned 700 acres and the family resides in the several residences.    The last occupant of this place was a 101 yr old granddaughter who died this summer.    There is a Bell Museum in Baddeck which is quite extensive and interesting.

And this stands at the entrance to the Baddeck harbor......There is a picture on every corner.