Peggy’s Cove +, Halifax

July 24, 2022May 22, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

We visited Peggy’s Cove, Swissair Flight 111 Memorial, and the “Titanic Cemetery” (Fairview Lawn)

Peggys Cove Halifax_20220724PEGGYS COVE_PANORAMA-1

Peggys Cove Halifax_20220724_DAD0507 — Peggy’s Point Lighthouse

Dessert Together — Goofy pic of Duane and Becky with desserts at Peggy’s Cove “Sou’Wester Gift & Restaurant Company”. It’s a tourist trap but the meal was part of the Adventure Caravan package. The bolo tie strings we are wearing are the Adventure Caravan name tags we had to wear for admission.

Peggys Cove Halifax_20220724_DAD0476 — Swissair Flight 111 Memorial. This was a sobering stop on the way to visit Peggy’s Cove. The morning weather was cool and foggy; a dreamlike setting memorializing the loss of 229 lives on September 2, 1998. The flat face of the memorial is aligned with where the plane crashed about 5 miles offshore.

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Peggys Cove Halifax_20220724UNTITLED_PANORAMA-2 — The landscape that we walked through to get to the memorial included wide areas of smooth stone and stunted/dwarf sized pine trees trying to survive the harsh Atlantic weather.

Peggys Cove Halifax_20220724_DAD0531 — We visited Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax. 121 victims of HMS Titanic are buried here.

Halifax Moose — We saw a moose in Halifax… tourists

Lunenberg: Nova Scotia

July 21, 2022May 22, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

Lunenburg and Mahone Bay_20220722_DAD0414

Lunenburg and Mahone Bay_20220722_DAD0405 — The famous Bluenose Schooner: 1921-46 Champion Racer (replica)

We really enjoyed our visit to Lunenberg: a very picturesque harbor town. The guide and displays at the “Maritime Museum of the Atlantic” helped explain the history of fishing in the area and of “The Bluenose”.

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Lunenburg_20220721_DAD0374 — Old & New Reuse: from Blacksmith Shop to Bourbon Distillery

Lunenburg_20220721_DAD0371 — Ironworks selection

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During a tour of the Ironworks I spotted reused barrels from Heaven Hill and Buffalo Trace Distilleries

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Annapolis Royal, Fort Anne, & Port-Royal, Nova Scotia

July 20, 2022May 23, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

Annapolis, named after Queen Anne in 1710 after the British recaptured it from the French. Lots of history here about the original Mi’kmaq people and later the Acadian people and culture; also many battles over control of the area. Interesting history but hearing about it got old after awhile when every tour guide went over the same things. Samuel de Champlain identified the area as a good harbor and place to settle in early 1600’s. It became a French colony for many years and many Acadians today still trace roots back to the settlement.

Fort Anne Fort Royal_20220720_DAD0260 — Fishing Shack and buoys

Fort Anne Fort Royal_20220720FORT ANNE_PANORAMA-2 — Annapolis Royal is an interesting town to visit. It was attacked 16 times including once during the American Revolution. There are ‘dry moats’ surrounding the fortified areas of Fort Anne.

Fort Anne Fort Royal_20220720_DAD0283 — The Fort Anne munitions house is buried down in the ground. Seems like a really good idea.

Fort Anne Fort Royal_20220720FORT ROYAL NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE_PANORAMA-1 — Port-Royal National Historic Site

Fort Anne Fort Royal_20220720FORT ROYAL_PANORAMA-2 — Inside the Fort

Fort Anne Fort Royal_20220720GOVENORS HOUSE_PANORAMA-1 — Inside a residence

Fort Anne Fort Royal_20220720FORT ROYAL BAY_PANORAMA-1 — Shoreline along Port-Royal

Bay of Fundy Tidal Bore: Nova Scotia

July 18, 2022May 23, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

Rafting on the Bay of Fundy

Nova Scotia Fundy Tidal_20220718_DAD0092 — Our group of “caravaner’s” preparing to raft the tidal bore. Jenny went rafting but the rest of us stayed back to watch and take pics. The most exciting part was watching them struggle down the shoe-sucking muddy bank to wait for the rafts to arrive.

Nova Scotia Fundy Tidal_20220718_DAD0141 — Uh, that water is coming up really fast!

Nova Scotia Fundy Tidal_20220718_DAD0111 — Took a long time to get down the bank. Seemed like there was plenty of time to explore while they wait for the rafts to arrive… At high tide, the water is up to the top of the bank where people are standing (where the dark brown mud turns to light brown dirt)

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Nova Scotia Fundy Tidal_20220718_DAD0168 — I think that is Jennie with the baseball hat; seated in back on far left. Understandably; once back at camp she couldn’t wait to shower off the mud. The tune to Gilligan’s Island keeps playing in my head…

Nova Scotia Fundy Tidal_20220718_DAD0190 — Splashing in muddy tidal water. Tide is just beginning to come in. Note the high water line on bank in background… The average tide, around the world is about 3 feet. The tide here can be more than 50 feet. Another interesting trivia bit (per Wiki) is: by volume, twice as much water flows in and out of the Bay of Fundy in a day as ALL the water in all the rivers of the world, combined…

Bridge High — Nearly High Tide at the Bridge

Bridge Low — Nearly Low Tide at the Bridge

Pier High — Old Pier at Nearly High Tide

Pier Low — Same Old Pier at Nearly Low Tide

Nova Scotia Fundy Tidal_20220718_DAD0240 — Driftwood and tidal marsh grass

Prince Edward Island: Charlottetown, Cavendish, and around

July 15, 2022May 23, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

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PEI Green Gables_20220716_DAD0051 — Cavendish Beach along the Gulf of St Lawrence. This sandy beach reminded me of Indiana Dunes National Park back home. We saw very few sandy beaches on our two month tour of the North Atlantic area.

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PEI Charlottetown_20220714UNTITLED_PANORAMA-1 — St. Dunstan’s Basilica Cathedral, Charlottetown

Lobster Dinner — We ate at Fisherman’s Wharf; Lobster Suppers in North Rustico.
We had lobster several times. It was fun to eat lots of lobster on the trip.
Lobster is delicious but fresh caught, pan fried cod is even better.

Scallops Blackstone Grille — While on subject of seafood: we had several dinners of fresh scallops cooked in a sea of butter on Jennie’s Blackstone grille. Most of the meals on the tour were provided but on days they were not we often cooked on the Blackstone grille. Jennie also cooked up some “Bacon Jam” which was delicious.

Cape Jourimain Lighthouse & Confederation Bridge

July 13, 2022May 23, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

Confederation Bridge_20220713_DAD9841 — Cape Jourimain Lighthouse (New Brunswick)

Confederation Bridge_20220713_DAD9837 — Becky & Paula pose for a quick photo before fast-walking back to the car to avoid being devoured by mosquitoes. Paula is a friend we enjoyed traveling with. She was part of the caravan group and was always ‘on the search’ for lighthouses.

Confederation Bridge_20220713_DAD9842 — An old photo of the original development. All that’s left now is the lighthouse.

Confederation Bridge_20220713_DAD9833 — 8 mile long Confederation Bridge; opened 1997. It connects two Canadian Provinces (New Brunswick and PEI). There is no cost to cross entering PEI but they get your $50.25 when leaving to go back to ‘the mainland’.

Acadien Historic Village Provincial Park

July 12, 2022May 23, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

Acadia Village_20220712_DAD9826 — The Acadian Historic Village was an interesting visit and rather picturesque. I don’t have much to say about this stop so I’ll just leave it at pictures. The history of the Acadians is interesting and rather tragic. You can read about it here if interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Acadians

Île Bonaventure Island and Percé Rock National Park: Percé, Quebec

July 8, 2022May 23, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

This was the first point in our trip that I was really overwhelmed and astounded by the natural beauty. I felt like we were part of a “National Geographic” expedition. The town of Perce is similar to Bar Harbor; very touristy. Perce Rock is unique and cool but the boat trip out to Île Bonaventure (Bonaventure Island) Migratory Bird Sanctuary is an experience of being embedded in wild nature. Don’t pass up the boat trip.

Perce Rock and Bonaventure Island_20220708UNTITLED_PANORAMA-1 — Percé Rock (Pierced Rock)

Bonaventure Island_20220709_DAD9333 — Taken from boat ride to Bonaventure Island

We had a big Lobster Boil. Lobsters are delicious but a lot of work to get to the meat without the right hardware. We enjoyed having lobster pretty much whenever we wanted and at very reasonable costs. We were getting tired of it by the end of the trip.

Video’s from boat and from hike on Bonaventure Island

Bonaventure Island_20220709_DAD9671 — Northern Gannet’s nesting. Adults have about 70″ wingspan

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Bonaventure Island_20220709UNTITLED_PANORAMA-4 — In 1971, everyone living on Bonaventure Island was evicted (about 36 family’s). Some of the homes are still there.

Bonaventure Island_20220709UNTITLED_PANORAMA-6 — Percé Rock from Bonaventure Island

Bonaventure Island_20220709UNTITLED_PANORAMA-5 — Boat captain pointed out that Percé Rock looks a bit like a “horse standing in the water, getting a drink”

We went exploring little towns along the coast and found a wonderful little restaurant/craft shop. I ordered a pizza and Becky ordered chowder. Both were different than we expected but delicious. Pizza was brie cheese, bacon, and arugula. I wish I had a picture of Jennie’s grilled cheese sandwich. She generously let us taste a bite. Best grilled cheese we’d ever had. I was 67 years old when I learned there is something called “bacon jam”. Brie cheese and bacon jam make an amazing grilled cheese!

Phare de la Pointe-Mitis Lighthouse & Reford Gardens

July 6, 2022May 23, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

Garden and Lighthouse_20220706_DAD9102 — Phare de la Pointe-Mitis Lighthouse (at Ville de Metis-sur-Mer)

Garden and Lighthouse_20220706_DAD9059 — We visited nearby Historic Reford Gardens (Jardins de Métis), a national historic site of Canada. Famous for the Himalayan blue poppy and being one of the most northern gardens in North America.

The gardens (and the gardener) have an interesting history; here’s a link https://jardinsdemetis.com/en/

Pointe-Au-Pere Lighthouse – Rimouski

July 5, 2022May 23, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

Pointe-au-Pere Lighthouse_20220705_DAD8964 — Pointe-Au-Pere Lighthouse. This was our first stop on a ‘travel day’ from Quebec City to the town of Perce and Bonaventure Island (on the very eastern tip of the Gaspe Peninsula). July, 2022

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Pointe-au-Pere Lighthouse_20220705_DAD8959 — Interesting rocks in this area. Many were thinly layered and brittle/crumbling.

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Garden and Lighthouse_20220706_DAD8991 — Others rocks were smooth and wonderfully patterned – like an expensive pillowcase

Genesis 28:11 describes Jacob using a rock for a pillow. This would have been a great one…

Garden and Lighthouse_20220706_DAD9003 — Canadians love their lighthouses. They even build little roadside models of them. Here Jenni & Roni, pose with a model of the lighthouse we will see at our next stop (along the way to Bonaventure Island at Perce).

Québec City, Québec

July 3, 2022May 23, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

Quebec City_20220703_DAD8809 — 1893 Beautiful Le Chateau Frontenac Hotel (now a Fairmont brand) was one of the first Grand Canadian Railroad Hotels. It is in the ‘upper’ old town area. Roosevelt and Churchill met here in a secret WWII Conference August 17–24, 1943.

Quebec City_20220703_DAD8820 — Old homes surround the Joan-of-Arc Garden (Parc Jeanne d’Arc). This is a sunken garden area of the ‘Plains of Abraham’ where British and French fought. Interesting trivia: this garden is where the Canadian National Anthem (O Canada) was first played in 1884.

Quebec City_20220703_DAD8815 — Joan of Arc

Quebec City_20220703STE ANNE_PANORAMA-3 — Sainte Anne De Beaupre Shrine (Basilica). We visited a couple weeks before Pope Francis came to speak with the local indigenous peoples/tribes. Tour guide said the whole area around Québec City was getting ready for the visit.

Quebec City_20220703_DAD8863 — Beautiful ornamental columns and capitals

Quebec City_20220703_DAD8872 — Artwork and ornamentation everywhere and lots of reference to indigenous peoples

Quebec City_20220704_DAD8905 — Séminaire de Québec 1663. Oldest educational institution in Canada. Love the simplicity of this entry.

Quebec City_20220704_DAD8942 — Fresque des Québécois in Old Québec’s Place-Royale. Mural illustrating some history of Old Québec.

Quebec City_20220704_DAD8938 — Notre-Dame-des-Victoires (Our Lady of Victories). There is a bigger Notre-Dame church on top of the hill. This second, smaller one was allowed for practical reasons because in winter it was too hard for clergy to get down the hill and too hard for invalids to get up the hill.

Quebec City_20220704HOTEL_PANORAMA-1 — One last pic of Le Chateau Frontenac Hotel

Acadia National Park / Bar Harbor – Maine

June 28, 2022May 23, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

This was our last stop before meeting up with the caravan group. We did some shopping and eating in Bar Harbor then visited the Hull’s Cove Visitors Center. We drove up to Cadillac Mountain for an amazing vista then drove most of the self guided Loop Drive. I expected Acadia to be more ‘wild/wilderness’. Maybe if we had been there longer and done some hiking it would seem different. But Bar Harbor is now sort of a built-up tourist trap and while the coast is beautiful, the loop drive was packed with slow moving traffic and no place to park. I got the ‘been there’ stamp and I’m done.