ECS Days 7-9

July 31

We debated taking the ferry across to the New Brunswick mainland but decided to head back through Maine. On our way up the coast we stopped at the Saint Croix Island International Historic Site. It is the site of a French settlement begun in 1604. By 1700, the settlers had died, left or were driven out and the settlement vanished. Now the St. Croix River is the Us/Canada border and the site of the settlement has been excavated. We had seen this island from the Canadian side (a corresponding historical site near St. Andrews, NB) several years ago.

It was a lovely stop with beautiful metal statues depicting the story, and I even got my National Park Passport stamped!

We think this guy looked like he was playing hockey:

We got some American groceries, crossed the border again and arrived at the New River Beach Provincial Park (site 95, $25.20) in time for a foggy bike ride and beach walk (and finally some shore birds):

Here’s the View of the View in our campsite:

August 1

It was a foggy start, so we reduced our coastal drive to a trip through Dipper Cove:

We decided against the next ferry (St. John, NB to Digby, NS) and drove to Nova Scotia, We discovered you could try the Beech Hill Park (exit 500 just before the NS province line) or COULD stay at the NS Welcome Centre for a quick overnighter,

We headed towards Minas Basin and the Five Islands Ocean Resort. On our way, we crossed the Bumble Bee Bridge (so funny, it was a metal deck bridge and we indeed sounded like a swarm of bees as we crossed). We got a waterfront cancellation again (site 10, $42) and sat out and enjoyed our spectacular view of the outgoing tide (and this View of the View):

We even saw a Bald Eagle (believe me, I was tracking it when David took the picture):

August 2

We got up early for a real touristy day. First stop was the new Five Islands Lighthouse Park just next to our campground. When this beautiful waterfront was donated to the province for recreation, an early 20th Century lighthouse was moved here and a nice park was built around it (and you could probably overnight here if you needed to). Oh, and this is a View of the View, too)

We drove along Highway 101 to Annapolis Royal which was celebrating Natal Days this weekend. We got to Fort Ste. Anne in time for the trooping of the colours:

The attached cemetery is one of the oldest in North America (we saw a headstone for a 1721 death):

We followed along to the Acadian Coast and stopped at the Eglise St.-Bernard for a quiet moment:

…then got a waterfront site at the Belle Baie Park (site BB, $40). We immediately pulled out the chairs and watched the tide changing:

I walked the beach and found two precious pieces of beach glass, We chatted with neighbours who had placed a plate of old pepperoni on the rocks for the seagulls (we couldn’t imagine why!). But we were glad they had when a little mink appeared and systematically removed each piece then the plate! Great entertainment:

Here’s the waterfront View of the View: