Blogs from Nova Scotia, Canada, North America - page 41

Halifax is the home of Canada’s best beer, Alexander Keith’s and also home of man’s largest explosion prior to the atomic bomb. This occurred when two boats collided, one of the boats had a full cargo of ammunition. We had originally planned on staying with a friend from Jasper but when she was no longer available we put out an emergency host request on couchsurfing hoping that someone was feeling charitable. Luckily for us Wayne took us in. Undoubtedly Wayne was one of our most memorable hosts, very unique (but in a good way), very frank and highly comicable! One evening we paid a visit to the Maritime Musuem of the Atlantic which housed an excellent collection of real sailing boats and a good Titanic exhibit. We followed that by a tour of the Alexander Kieth’s ... read more

Most of our time in Nova Scotia was spent on Mike's Mum and Dad's farm. Janet, Mike's Mum had surgery whilst we were there so it was perfect timing in that we got to spend some time with her beforehand and then visited her in hospital afterwards. The hospital was in Kentville, about and hour and a half from Halifax - on the West side of Nova Scotia. We managed to fit in a couple of visits. We stayed overnight at Annie and Deke's, Aunt and Uncle. On the way home from their house in St. Margaret's Bay, we stopped at Peggy's Cove. However, it was swarming with people and we back tracked just further along the road and got a great view of the lighthouse from across the water. After three attempts, we finally got ... read more

Sunday, September 14, 2008 We packed up and left Martin’s River fairly early on our way to Baddeck on Cape Breton Island. Our first stop was in the Halifax area to see the Northwest Arm of the Halifax harbor. According to legend, that is where our great, great, great, great grandfather, Heinrich Strum, was ice fishing when a blizzard blew in and he froze to death in January of 1783. We made a short stop at the Aviation Museum near the airport. In Antigonish, we visited St. Ninian Cathedral. The regular service had already ended, but a special baptism for 5 infants was taking place. We went in and stayed for a part of the service. The paintings on the ceiling were luminescent pictures of Christ. We crossed the Canso Causeway onto Cape Breton Island and ... read more

As I am journaling I've found that the map module on travelblog is no longer working. Every time I try to access a map or make a new one the whole website crashes. Grrrrrrrr. I'm hoping this will be fixed soon because I keep forgetting where I am without the map. We had breakfast with another couple from the US. They were from New Jersey and had also traveled to CBI and Baddeck to look into purchasing a summer home there. I'm jealous. Today we will head west to Digby. As much as I wanted to go around the southern part of Nova Scotia I have to admit I lost that battle and without that much of a fight. I think I'm getting a little toured out and am starting to set my sights on home..... ... read more

A little about Baddeck. Both Cal and I loved this area. Baddeck is on a lake called Bras d'Or (pronounced roughly "bra-door") which is French for arm of gold. It is a large lake right in the center of CBI that is actually an arm of the Atlantic and so salty. There is lobster and commercial fishing. Baddeck is home to many recreational boaters and there were several marinas in the area. Many of the cottages are vacation homes for people living in Sydney and Halifax. It is a very pretty little village. We have considered retiring here although I'd like to see a winter before I make a decision like that. We had a nice conversation with our fellow B & B residents during breakfast and then it was off to the Bell Museum. The ... read more