Monday, August 7, 2017

East Coast Travels - Nova Scotia

When we boarded the ferry from Saint John to Digby we got something to eat and then Q and I had a nap while Dave and E explored the ship and then watched some of the movie, Lego Batman.  The ship is really nice and comfortable and a much more pleasant journey in the summer than in the fall and winter, when I've taken it before. 

Coming into Digby.

Leaving the ship.  We passed the Pines, the site of Maud Lewis's house, and some beautiful scenes.  The road between Meteghan and Yarmouth leaves a little to be desired.  We had to take a quick pit stop in Yarmouth to feed Q his meal since he couldn't wait until we got to Shelburne.  

 In Shelburne and were greeted by my parents, some supper, and this beautiful sunset.  


The next morning, Dave went for a run in the old railway tracks.  He saw a dead rabbit and a dog that may or may not have been a coyote.  When he got back he went for a dip in the river.   Q crawled around on the grass for a bit too. 



Then we went for a walk on Dock Street.  It was a beautiful morning. 


We stopped in for a coffee at the Bean Dock and look who we ran into?!  Our friend Brad from Halifax, what are the chances!  He had run a 10K in Barrington that morning (his sister in law and her husband had run the half marathon) and then they decided to stop into Shelburne on their way back to the cottage in Petite-Riviere.





The hanging baskets in town have always been this beautiful.


After lunch E and I went for a walk along the shore on the rocks and climbed up to the walking bridge. 


We played some t-ball in the commons as the sun set. 

Mom even came down for a few hits.

The next morning E was invited to go on the neighbour's boat to fish.  Dave went along too and then the dad (Leigh) took them all on a little harbour tour.   They even got to visit the real Boxing Rock (the namesake of the local brewery).



In the afternoon we went up to the school to play on the playground, although the weather wasn't great.  After supper we tried out the neighbours' kayaks.  




My house in the foreground through the trees

This is a Japanese Beetle that was eating the blueberry bushes, beautiful but destructive.  Our neighbours bought a trap and it seemed to be working. 

Local brew

The next day we went to Charlotte Lane for lunch.  I had a pasta with both fresh salmon and smoked salmon in a creamy sauce, delicious, but Dave had my favourite meal the potato rösti with fried egg and side caesar salad.

After lunch we played some Wii and then went for a walk to Tim Horton's.  Along the way we picked some wild blueberries. 

In the evening we had some deer visitors.

The next day, Tuesday, was better weather.  I took E out on the kayak sitting in front of me.  He just wore his swimmer, but later we borrowed a kid's life jacket and he got to go into his own kayak, with a tow rope. 














We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming (and playing some Wii). After supper we went to the Dairy Treat (which I know has a different name now but I still call it this) for a flurry. 

I didn't take any photos the next morning when we went to Welkum Park for a swim.  The beach is on a lake so the water is warmer, and there is a playground.  We stayed for a bit, had some snacks, and then decided to order cheeseburgers from Scotia Lunch to take home.  We ate them on the deck. 


We walked up to Boxing Rock later in the afternoon to buy some beer and enjoy some samples.  I wish the food truck had been open but they only open Thursdays to Sundays, unfortunate for us.


The next morning we packed up the car and headed to Halifax.  But not before a breakfast bottle from Nana. 

There are a few things we would have liked to do while in Shelburne - visiting the Sandy Point Lighthouse Beach, Roseway Beach, Islands Park, the museums, a bubba sub, Scotia Lunch pizza, etc. but it was hard to do it all when we had a few days of bad weather and a baby who needs to nap, but we did enjoy the things we did do.

When we got to Halifax we went to my cousin Emma's where we were staying.  Had a bite to eat, Dave went for a run, Q had a nap, and E watched the iPad.  Then we all got ready to go to the funeral home for my Uncle Robert's wake.  He died before we headed east but the visitation and funeral was not scheduled until the end of the month so we were able to rearrange our trip to be in Halifax for these events.  It was a sad evening but we heard so many wonderful stories about him. He did a lot to help his staff, friends of his children, colleagues, and others, but he would never have bragged about it so it was really nice to hear some of these stories from the recipients of his goodwill.  

The next morning, Friday, was the start of the Tall Ships festival in the Halifax Harbour.  We stopped in to see my aunt, and then continued downtown with my mom to meet the out of town cousins for lunch at Saltys.  We have a little pull at this restaurant (owned by my late uncle and my past employer) so we got the prime spot upstairs ;)  The food was as good as always.   We ordered some calamari and mussels to start, they were amazing, and all of the kids enjoyed them too.  Fish and chips was a popular choice for the table, but I scallops with a side spinach salad. 










Then we all went for a walk along the waterfront and we saw some Tall Ships.  The Halifax waterfront is a bit of a disaster right now, there is so much construction and practically zero parking.  We managed to find spots but I couldn't imagine being a tourist who wouldn't know their way around.





The others went for a ride on the Harbour Hopper but since E and I had just gone the year before, we opted out, and instead found a parking lot full of bouncy castles and other games.  E had fun there instead. 



We had parked near the Citadel and since E enjoyed the one in Quebec City so much we decided to go for a quick tour around before going for supper.  I wish we had had more time since we barely scratched the surface. 















We had dinner at my aunt's house to celebrate a couple of birthdays.  Her niece made a beautiful dinner of slow cooked salmon with a lovely salad and potatoes.  She is very talented and we were fortunate to enjoy her cooking (the next day she whipped up some salmon and potato cakes with the leftovers, delicious!)


Happy Birthday to Sean and Janet!  The cake was also homemade and amazing. 

The next morning, Saturday, was the funeral.  There were three speakers, my cousin Emma, my mom, and CBC Radio host Don Connelly (also a close personal friend of Robert's).  We were also treated to a solo by Irish singer Denis Ryan.  It was all pretty perfect.  There was a reception in the church hall afterwards and we got a family photo while we were all dressed up.  

And a silly one.

We stopped in at Emma and Sam's to change our clothes and then we went over to my aunt's where the family and some close friends were going after the service.  It was a happy mood, with some washer toss, more good stories, and a few drinks. 








The next morning we left Halifax at 5:00 am to head home.  We stopped at the Aulac Big Stop for some breakfast and to meet up with Dave's cousin Dennis.  Then it was onto Hartland, NB, for some Covered Bridge Chips.


We reached our hotel in LĂ©vis around 3:00 and went to St. Hubert for supper.  As soon as we sat down, E lost his loose tooth!  We held onto it for safe keeping until we got home and the tooth fairy visited us there.



Up at 5:00 am the next day, a quick stop for gas and McDonalds breakfast and we were on our way again.  We hit traffic on the DVP, of course, but other than that we had pretty clear sailing.  We pulled into our driveway around 2:30 that afternoon which left lots of time to get groceries, do laundry, and get ready for the rest of the week. 

Phew, a great trip!! 
If you're interested, I updated our Quebec post with some of the photos from our real camera.  You can also read about the New Brunswick leg of the trip here

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