Home is beckoning…

 Well my friends the time has come to trim our sails, adjust our course and prepare for returning to our home port.  We fly out tomorrow morning with suitcases stuffed to the brim (they certainly aren’t any lighter), somewhat weary legs (from exploring museums, historical sites, trails and beaches) and heads filled with the sights, sounds, stories, friends new and old… and memories of a wonderful exploration of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island (at least as much as we could see in 28 days and 3000 kilometres). Our photos abound and we have been openly accepted and welcomed at every stop and points in between. We feel blessed to be Canadian (recognizing that even we Canadians haven’t set the most honourable standards at times in our history).

J

Gastronomically we have outdone ourselves. From lobster dinners fit for royalty to seafood chowders - the likes of which we had only dreamed of, we could not have asked for more. In fact (sadly) our newly expanded waistlines stand testament to our gluttony. We have some serious adjustments to make once we get home :-)

We will be returning to the west coast with a more educated respect for the people who first carved out a new life in the wild wilderness of the east coast and their descendants who continue to work with and protect the natural gifts (and challenges) delivered by Mother Nature. 

We’ll also be fighting the temptation to install miniature light houses at the bottom of our driveway, hanging colourful wooden lobster trap floats in our trees and painting our house yellow, or blue, or aquamarine with white trim. And, we’ll likely spend the rest of our life trying to create trim lawns that match the beautiful lush green of almost every where in Cape Breton. Oh, and we’re determined to dust off our bodhran and learn how to play it.

This has been an adventure we shall not easily forget. Thank you for joining us as we explored our Maritime provinces.  We hope you enjoyed the journey. We wish all of you the best and hope your own adventures unfold smoothly and with delight.

CJ and Kathy

Bread & Roses, Annapolis Royal

Our journey through the Maritimes is winding down. We arrived back in Halifax yesterday (Wed) and are staying in Trish's mom's building's guest suite until we leave on the 30th. We have driven over 3000 kms and over-nighted in 13 locations; almost all were quite acceptable. Some were exquisite and the Bread & Roses was pretty much the best. Built in the 1880's, it is a beautifully kept heritage property. Jodie and Mark have called it home for just over 9 months and are doing a great job with it. The photos below will speak for themselves. We were there for two nights and enjoyed lounging in the peaceful quiet, complete with all period furnishings. It was like stepping back into the 1800's with the only thing missing, the sound of 'horse and buggy' on the street out front.

As usual with the older Inns, there was no elevator but the stairs in this inn were easier than most having been designed for comfortable climbing with shorter treads. Breakfast was a treat too; eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, English muffins, OJ, coffee or tea. It was lovely and all served with a smile and easy conversation.

We've stayed in several inns of this era, all quite beautiful and well appointed. The Bread and Roses takes the blue ribbon. They even sent us off with a "please write and let us know you get home safely" and a hug.
>
> We were greeted by Liam, the dog of the manor. What a beautiful historic place this is!

Bread & Roses… the place

Music for the Soul

As it happened, we arrived at our Inn located in historic downtown Chatlottetown, just in time.  After checking in and parking our car, we were able to pop down to  The Old Triangle Irish Alehouse, for a bit of lunch, a pint of Irish ale and a couple hours of delightful celtic music. 

The pub's tagline is 

'FOOD FOR THE BODY, 

    DRINK FOR THE SPIRIT and 

          MUSIC FOR THE SOUL' 

and we enjoyed all three. 

One of the regular customers gave us his table as he was leaving and it turned out to be the best in the house.  It was an informal jam session and the musicians came and went as it suited them. The atmosphere was casual and friendly and I had a chance to chat with one of the bodhran players who, at one point, offered me his drum to play.  (I wisely declined. While I actually own one of these, I have barely more than a clue how to play it!). 

Here's a short clip, to give you a taste.  Enjoy the toe-tapping tune,

Kathy

The amazing east coast… and a tragedy in Coquitlam.

Yes; the natural beauty, the tidy and colourful homes and the people of these Maritime provinces… well, it's all quite wonderful. We have been very impressed by what we have, and are, seeing and experiencing. There's so much to tell I'm not sure where to begin so, instead, I will tell you we are well and continuing to enjoy our trip. We're just starting our last week before heading home. These past few days in Souris and North Lake have been filled with research and meet-ups with members of the Beaton family (all related to Kathy's mom) and we've enjoyed miles of driving tours through beautiful countryside and starkly rugged red cliffs and beaches. Tomorrow we head to Charlottetown (hopefully via a walk on Cavendish Beach) where we will spend the afternoon on a self-guided tour. Then we will head south; driving across the Confederation Bridge and heading to Wolfville for a couple days before moving over to Halifax.

As for yesterdays tragedy… I ask that you take a moment to consider the lives and families of those folks who put their life on the line, every day they go to work, so that you and I can live our own lives in relative safety. Please say a prayer, in what ever form you choose, for the family of Constable Rick O'Brien. Rick lost his life yesterday serving the citizens of Coquitlam BC. May he rest In peace and may his fellow officers, also injured, make a full recovery. Thank you to all first line responders who serve on our behalf.

Rain? What rain? I can’t see a thing.

So there you are, hurtling through space (except you're on a highway in a strange to you country (Nova Scotia) in your, new to you, little red rental 'sports car'. It's not really a sports car (it's a Hyundai) but it has a roaring six cylinder in it and you've had occasion to prove it can go from 0 to 80 in a matter of seconds (desperate times call for desperate measures).

But today is different. The highway lanes are narrow and the traffic is moderate. The speed limit is 100 kmh and most of the drivers think that's what they're supposed to be doing, even though it's bucketing down with the heaviest rain I've seen. So, back to where I (not you this time) was hurtling along the highway. I was only doing 80 or 90 (trying to stay out of the way of the lunatics) which was plenty fast enough for the conditions. We were doing Ok until a couple things happened at once. First, I realized there was a structural problem with the highway. Ruts had formed where the car tires tracked; ruts deep enough to collect a lot of water - enough water to cause cars to lose steerage and deep enough to set off waterfalls of water that flew up and over, landing on the windshield of the following vehicle. THAT's when control of the car became a problem. But the last straw was when the rain was coming down so hard the windshield wipers, on their fastest speed, couldn't clear the window. I couldn't even see my own hood. And THAT's when I slowed down even more and bailed off the highway onto a back road before something worse happened. Time, lives, whatever… are not worth the pace.

The last hour of todays drive was along a beautiful country road, decorated on both sides by colourful Nova Scotian homes sitting pretty on rolling, lush, green, freshly mowed lawns that went on for acres. That’s when the rain backed off and the sun began to peek out … and we crept into Antigonish, our destination for the day. We arrived in one piece with a shiny clean car, exhausted. Tomorrow's a new day and a much shorter (hopefully drier) drive to Pictou. Hope all is well with each of you and your highways don't have ruts. CJ

A quick note

Just a quick note to remind those of you who are receiving the blog posts by email… don't forget to click on the 'read more' button and move yourself to the actual blog where the photos and colours are much better. Thanks. This is the third of three posts sent out this morning. Enjoy.
PS: the ‘best’ view of the blog post is on your computer or iPad :-)

Amazing clouds…

Tropical Storm Lee has produced some beautiful skies… right in front of us.

Some adventures just can’t be planned…

> A friend of mine recently suggested perhaps we planned this adventure so as to actually experience, first hand, a true hurricane. I saw the humour in the suggestion. I also recognized the hints of reality and truth in it. Of course we did not hear about Lee and then decide to journey east. This trip has been planned since pre-COVID. While there was a whisper about a tropical storm developing, there was no certainty about where, when or if it would continue; and so we carried on with our preparations and trip. After responding to my friends email I decided the 'story' was worth sharing. It went like this…

> Hi there… thanks for the chuckle. Well, you’re a little bit correct. Some thought we should cancel the whole trip. Others didn t even know about the hurricane, and a few thought (even after all the planning, effort and cost to get here) we should turn tail and skidaddle on home. None of those options appealed to us so we worked out a plan that would see us as safe as family + geography + weather forecasts could make us. When Kathy's cousins (Sally and Jim) offered us the old home to hunker down in… the plan was set and here we are; safe and sound, catching up on our reading, travel log notes and storm watching 😀
>
> I must confess, having a view of the ocean (from our hill top) that goes all the way to the horizon… and being able to watch the waves as they are first blown away from the shore and then, as the wind clocks around - just before dusk - they are being blown towards the beach… is fascinating. I've even been able to keep an eye on the fishing boats tied up in the small harbour below our hill and, as far as I can tell, their breakwater has protected them well. There's also a bench on the veranda we can sit on (mostly protected from the wind) and watch the scene unfold before us.
>
> I have also been fascinated with the clouds throughout this 'adventure'. It seems to me this past year has seen many different and spectacular cloud formations; yesterday was no exception.
>
> The wind did pick up last night and it blew fairly hard but our wonderful heritage home stood strong and didn't appear to mind at all. Everything remains in tact and, while the power did go out at one point, it was back on within the hour. Not bad service for being out at the end of Mabou Mines Road.
>
> I've just checked our weather source (Windy) and the winds here are currently about 25-30 km (less than some we had to deal with sailing down the coast). Lee is moving north - up Nova Scotia and Cape Breton today and 🤞will be history tomorrow (Monday). The storm damage you are seeing on TV is mostly in the Lunenburg/ Halifax area as well as up the Bay of Funday. We are north of there and on the north western shore of Cape Breton. We are fine and hope to continue our exploration of Cape Breton tomorrow. Our plans will firm up once we're sure Lee has moved on.

TTFN from beautiful Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. CJ

On the eve of Hurricane Lee

Hi everyone. We've had several inquiries as to how safe we are and I just want to reassure you we have a plan and expect to be safe and secure. As the rule goes… if you don't prepare, bad things could happen… so in true Capricorn fashion we have (likely) over-prepared. Hurricane Lee is weakening and the area we are in, and the area we are going to hunker down in, should enjoy a much weakened wind event. There will be rain of course and there is a chance we may lose power for a day or two but please be assured, the old Beaton homestead is safe and standing proud (having endured many hurricanes). Sally and Jim have been wonderful and have invited us to come back and stay there will Lee passes by. What better place to hunker down with good books (and flashlights, a small camp stove to augment the BBQ if power does go out, a fridge and freezer full of food and permission to help ourselves and a water system that keeps on running even when the power goes out. So there you have it. Worry not.
You may not hear from us for a few days but we'll be fine.

We've been travelling the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton these past few days. Even though heavy mists have enveloped the park we have seen some amazing beauty provided by Mother Nature and some grand land and sea scapes. We have lots of photos and will put a showing together for our next post (after Lee has passed). We hope all is well with each of you and your hatches remain battened down whenever necessary. TTFN. CJ

PS: the Beaton family home is in Mabou Mines (in case you're looking for it).

Mabou and family

Kathy and Sally on the front lawn

The front of the old family home

Kathy and Jim on the beach in front of the home

Staying ahead of Hurricane Lee (so far :-) we headed out of Lunenburg and took the trail to Mabou to visit Kathy's cousin Sally and her husband Jim. The old family home (the very house Kathy's grandfather was born in) sits high atop Northumberland Straight and, with over 300 acres, stands like the grand damn of the area. Built in about 1850, Sally and Jim (who actually live in New Glasgow) have been keeping the house in good shape and stay here often. The views out to sea are splendiferous and the home itself is filled with antiques and family history. This has been a great opportunity for Kathy to learn more about her family history and to catch up on the lives of many cousins, aunts and uncles. The photos are just a sampling of our time. 

Hope all is well with each of you and your winds and rain continue calmly. CJ

Follow-up Plan

 Hi all.  I’ve had a few enquires about our safety and Hurricane Lee… so here’s the plan. We leave Mabou tomorrow morning to head up and into Cape Breton. We’ve been looking forward to doing some beach combing and hiking along the Cabot Trail. The good news is we could do the whole drive in a day but have chosen to slow that down and take a few days. We will, of course be monitoring Lee and have made plans A and B depending on whether or not he makes land fall.  Plan B (that would be the plan for IF he arrives) includes getting ourselves back to this lovely old family home that has withstood decades of hurricanes and is fairly protected. We will be safe here and, if need be, we can hang out here for several days while things calm down.  So, there you have it. With or without Hurricane Lee we will be safe and continuing along the plans for our east coast experience. I hope all of you are tucked in and enjoying fall.  TTFN. CJ

Thursday, Sept. 7th. Lunenburg

Beautiful flowers, busy bees doing their job

More wonderful 'sea time' on the shore and on the water. We are quite smitten with the vibrant colours and traditional housing architecture everywhere we go. Both were very evident along the shores of Lunenburg Harbour… and best viewed from the water. We were lucky to secure a room with an (almost) front row seat to the bustling and touristy harbour docks; and we spent most of our time exploring said docks and nearby shops. 

Kathy had kindly arranged for us and an old friend (well, she's not that old but we've known her for ages :-) to experience a harbour sail on board a sea-going schooner. Several ships were secured along the docks and we thought we'd spied our 'ride' only to discover a much different craft was indeed our destination (photos of both). We had a blast nonetheless and Trish even took a turn on the helm. We had a great day visiting and enjoyed the sun setting over Lunenburg Harbour, as viewed from our personal balcony :-) 

Today is now Friday the 8th and we are overnighting at Berry's Motel. It's quite something (not) when viewed from the street but, true to the telling, reviews on Google confirmed it a worthy stop and so we did. Our room is freshly renovated and clean as a whistle. We are content. Tomorrow we press on to our destination (Mabou) and a meet up with Kathy's relatives. Thus will begin a 'gathering of the clan' and several days exploring Cape Breton and more. I'm not sure how much connectivity there will be in Mabou so no worries if no posts for the next several days…. Until I write again… CJ

SV Eastern Star - the ship we sailed on

The SV Theresa E. Connor - not the ship we sailed on, but the last Bluenose Grand Banks fishing schooner, now employed as park of the Lunenburg Fisheries Museum 

 

Trish (on her first ever sail) and Kathy

Colourful buildings along the Lunenburg shore

Another beautiful piece of maritime history

Kathy enjoying the ride

CJ likes it

Captain Trish at the helm

Our view from our balcony at the Rum Runner

A better view … sunset.

Colourful street-side in front of our hotel

Tasting the local brew

We spent several hours in the wonderful Fisheries Museum

One of many of Lunenburg’s landmark historic churches