The Weather Saga in Nova Scotia

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Our trip saga is almost a weather saga. The first day in Grand Pre , Nova Scotia, it was in the mid 60's and rainy. We went to the public library for some internet work. We then drove to Cape Split, a narrow arm of land into the Bay of Fundy, but by the time we got there it was so foggy you could barely see anything. Still an interesting drive. We ended the day with a walk through the Acadia University campus and gardens and a visit to a local winery. The next day we got up to cool, but potentially only partly cloudy skies. Decided to drive to Freeport on Long Island for a whale watching trip. Weather good on the way, but when we arrived it was cloudy, we were the only takers and the trip was canceled. All was not lost, however, since there was a tour going from Brier Island, just a 5 minute ferry ride away. It was a cold 5 hr. trip with 2 hours to get to where the whales were, but we came prepared with layers of clothing - a shirt, sweater vest, hooded sweater and raincoat; exercise shorts under jeans and gloves and socks. David was equally well prepared. It was well worth the trip. Saw several groups of humpback whales over an hour of watching. Spectacular animals. Skies stayed mostly blue and we were warm most of the time. Ended up being a great day.

Our last day in Grand Pre was warmer, but pretty gray. Our campground was only 2 miles from the Acadian Heritage Center so we walked there and spent a couple of hours looking through the exhibits and watching a movie about the deportation of the Acadians in 1755. I had never realized the number of people deported (about 10,000) or how many places they were sent to - New England, the Caribbean, France, England and eventually Louisiana. Most who made it to Louisiana went back to France first. Virginia refused to let any come there. Not that different from people fleeing Iraq and other places now except these people were provided transportation (very poor transportation) out of the country. Sad story. I bought Longfellow's Evangeline to read before we got to Grand Pre. I never realized the wide distribution of this poem and how it became an icon to the Acadian people. The Acadians were very industrious and built a phenomenal dyke system in the Grand Pre area reclaiming huge amounts of tidal plain for farmland which still exists today. Our walk from the campground overlooking the beach to the heritage center was through reclaimed land below sea level so very easy to see what they had accomplished.

Woke up the next day to sunny skies and warmer weather. Wore a tank top without anything over it. Amazing how warm 72 can feel after a week in the 60's. Drove south to just west of Halifax to a campground in Hubbards. It is right on the beach at St. Margaret's Bay. Nice sandy beach and for the first time since Baltimore we put the kayaks in the water and used them. The beach attendant lady gave lots of tips of things to do and places to eat in the area. She recommended the Shore Club right next to the campground for dinner. Since her brother and sister-in-law run the campground and someone else in her family runs the Shore Club we thought she might be a little biased, but decided to take her advice and try it. Best meal we have had on the trip. Four entrees to choose from - lobster, steak, chicken or vegetarian lasagne. What do you think we chose? Along with this you get an all you can eat salad bar, all you can eat steamed mussels and dessert. The steamed mussels alone were worth the meal. They had a large steam container with 2 very large drawers that they kept filled with mussels. The mussels were the best I've ever had and the lobster was also very good. All in all, a superb meal.

The next day was beautiful. Bestday we have had since our first day in the Bar Harbor area. Blue skies without a cloud in sight and high 70's. We drove the Aspogotan Trail around the tip of Margaret's Bay stopping to see several sandy beaches and some small fishing villages along the way. Spent most of the afternoon in Lunenburg which is a restored fishing village. Doesn't live up to its hype, but had a very interesting maritime museum and aquarium which we visited. Got a good tip from one of the museum guides on yarn shops in the area so bought some Canadian wool at the Black Duck in Lunenburg. We then drove back to camp through Mahone Bay to stop at another yarn shop. Mahone Bay is a wonderful little village right on the bay with much better shops and views than Lunenburg. The yarn shop there, Have a Yarn, was fantastic. Wide variety of yarns. Bought some Irish wool to make a felted hat and some wool and silk yarn hand dyed in Nova Scotia. Wonderful day.

We then spent a day in Halifax. Again a gorgeous sunny day in the high 70's. Halifax is a pretty city with a number of historic sites including The Citadel, an early fortification over the city. The harbor area is very nice. Had a great day just walking through the harbor area and to The Citadel. Also had to spend time at a computer store getting our computer worked on. Internet access had gotten corrupted. Hopefully all fixed now.

We drove today to Cape Breton Island in the northeast part of Nova Scotia. Have met a number of people that have all raved about the beauty of driving the Cabot Trail which circles the island. It is again cool and rainy. Hope the weather is nice tomorrow or Saturday so we have good views on the drive. Hopefully we be able to get some more kayaking done in St. Patrick's Channel.

This Sunday, July 1, is Canada Day which parallels our Fourth of July. Will be interesting to see what festivities they have. We were afraid we wouldn't get a space in a campground over the weekend, but no problem.

Until our next chapter - David and Barb

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