My wife, Gloria, decided she wanted to see the Maritime provinces in Canada and so we flew to Halifax July 16 arriving in cloud and fog. The weather started out cool, but hid the heat to come. Within a day it was over 30C and humid. We enjoyed the Citadel in Halifax and I began to enjoy some East coast seafood - cod, haddock, scallops, lobster and the best seafood chowders!
After 2 nights (stayed at Dalhousie University) in Halifax, we then drove to Peggy's Cove, the Swissair memorial and on to Mahone Bay staying in a nice B & B. Heading north we went out to Louisburg, the French fishing colony established in the 1750's. It was a highlight for sure to see some of Canada's early history.
From there we headed to Antigonish, Margaree Forks and on to Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail. The weather decided to mist up and rain all along our Cabot trail drive. We stopped at Gampo Abbey, a Buddhist retreat centre well known for one of the teachers - Pema Chodron.
Then on to Baddeck and the site of Alexander Graham Bell museum which highlights the first wireless communications across the Atlantic.
Pictou, Nova Scotia was where we caught the ferry to PEI. Saw Anne of Green Gables site, and then spent 2 nights in Charolottetown and did some driving to the beaches.
We drove over the Confederation Bridge to New Brunswick and headed for the Hopewell Rocks, flower pot formations created by the tides and soft conglomerate rocks. Some of the highest tides occur near here.
Arrived in St. John, NB during some +28C heat and then caught the 3 hour ferry back to Nova Scotia to Digby (the home of world famous Digby scallops!) .
Then we visited Port Royal, another historical area that was part of the story of the huge deportation of Acadians in 1767. This was a devastating event that we really knew nothing about but had a major impact on the resilient Acadians who have preserved their culture well.
We visited some wineries as we headed north through the Annapolis valley and ended up in Wolfville, one of the nicest places we visited in the Maritimes, the best B & B and the best seafood chowder anywhere!
Back to Halifax for 2 days touring the Maritime museum, the ships in the harbor, Dartmouth and city gardens. In all we drove over 3000 kms in a Dodge Charger which was great to drive.
thanks for reading,
