ECS Days 11 and 12

August 4

After breakfast, we drove around the cove to view Shelbourne. It was pouring rain (and it continued to pour for a couple of hours), but the town is beautiful with well-preserved period houses. Literature says it’s a Hidden Gem, and I agree:

We’ve noticed a lot of monuments to those who have died at sea in many of the villages we’ve passed through on this coast:

Here’s a View of the View on the wharf:

We passed through Shag Harbour (site of the 1967 UFO crash and sinking-sorry, no time to stop at the UFO Museum) and pulled in to Lunenburg in time for lunch.

We decided to ride our bikes along a Rail Trail into town from the Board of Trade Campground (Site 26. $85 for two nights). We got some great pictures along the harbour (including of the Bluenose II which has exceeded its budget and will not sail this year!)

We had dinner at the Fish Shack:

And, no, it wasn’t a Lobster Dinner (Fish ‘n Chips, though), but they give you a lobster which lights up and vibrates when your order is ready:

August 5

We decided on a road trip today so headed up and down Lighthouse Trail between here and Peggy’s Cove.

We stopped in Mahone Bay and caught the famous three steeples from far and near:

Mahone Bay and Chester, in fact much of the Nova Scotia South Shore so far, is beautiful but much more developed and “rich” than the roads we love in Newfoundland (Maybe we’re just spoiled).

On one road, we came across the Swiss Air Memorial in Bayswater, one of the three points that mark the 1998 crash site. It was beautiful and quiet, and we would have missed it had we not taken this route:

We made it to Peggy’s Cove (we were there in 1993, and it is much more commercial and busy than those days). We stayed a very short while and took the typical tourist pics:

When we got back, I took a walk down into Old Lunenburg and took pictures until the battery died:

This was a nice stay. And here’s the view from my chair:

ECS Day 10

August 3

Time for the Yarmouth and Acadian Shores route.

First stop was St. Mary’s Church, seen from our campground last night and fondly remembered and recommended by my friend, Joyce, who studied French in this area here years ago. It’s the largest wooden church in North America and was designed by a simple boat builder. It’s beautiful:

Next stop was the Fishing Wharf in Meteghan, a busy port filled with lobster, scallop and cod boats. We chatted with one of the old boys who said he bought his lobster quota 40 years ago for $1,000 and would sell it today for $400,000. I love these talks:

Fog continued to build as we stopped at Smugglers Cove (you can barely see the secret cave):

…then St. Alphonse Church; the rocks in the grotto are actually carved from wood:

This is the closest I’ve ever come to a confession:

Loved Mavilette Beach with the tide out:

Mandy seemed to be enjoying the drive:

It was such a lovely drive through this very Acadian section. Beautiful houses brightly painted and proudly showing the “Stella Maris” flag and colours. There is a real personality here.

Interestingly, this changed some as we entered the “English” section of the coast. House are bigger with a little less character and the Wesleyan and Baptist churches prevail.

We took the road to Cape Forchu for lunch and a look at the lighthouse (and our rare picture of us together!):

Then we drove Water Street in Yarmouth and headed on to the Lighthouse Route via the Evangeline Trail. We stayed at The Islands Provincial Park (Site 31, $24). This is the view from my chair across the cove to Shelbourne. We could hear really good Bluegrass Gospel across the water (it was Sunday) and later learned that there is a drive-in church in the Home Hardware parking lot (thus the horns beeping at the end of each song):

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: