Oh Canada!

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N in the summertime!

Destination:  Nova Scotia!  

Time to go oot and aboot in the Great White North for some explorin', eh?  Or at least in Nova Scotia...

Happy Canada Day!  

Mr. Wonderful and I headed out the day after school got out  for the north....made it to lovely Calais Maine by the first  night and stayed there. Not at the two-star (one?) Calais Motor Inn, but at the one-star International Motel across the street.  Highlight was breakfast at Karen's Main Street diner--I had the McLou Platter (egg and bacon sandwich with homefries instead of the 14 inch pancake).  We got up early so we could make the ferry in St. John's with plenty of time--we had booked the reservation on line and called to double check, and the ferry was due to leave at 11am.  We headed for the border crossing into St. Stephens New Brunswick when Mr. W realized that the time once we crossed the border jumped ahead one hour....panic!!  It was 9:30 by the time we crossed the border, and we still had an hour to drive to St. John's.  Ferry company said we had to be there an hour before....there were some tense moments on the drive due some disagreements about whether or not we'd make it for the sailing or not.  Marital diplomacy was pushed to the limit as we sped down route 1, and Mr. W did actually go over the speed limit!  Not something he does on a regular basis.  Pulling into the ferry lot, I breathed a sigh of relief until the girl in the booth told us the computer was showing our reservation as "cancelled" and said we'd have to run inside to see if we could get on the boat at all.  Serious panic!!  Luckily we were able to get on, but we had to wait until the last minute.

The "Princess of Acadia" from St. John, NB to Digby, NS

Three hours later, we arrived in Digby, Nova Scotia after spending some time chatting with a church group of senior citizens from Florida who were doing a church group trip to Nova Scotia.  The ferry was pretty big, room for 650 passengers.  Lots of spaces to sit and pass the time.  I got some needlework done and some day hope to finish the piece I'm working on...I only seem to do cross stitching when I'm on a plane, train or boat.  Great for sparking conversation with strangers, which is how I got to talking with the church group.  

Originally I thought we'd have time to do the Cabot Trail and see Cape Breton, but due to my extra day of school (grrrrr) we basically lost three days of travel.  Next trip....so we adjusted and covered 1500 miles!  We did a loop from Digby to Halifax along the southern shore up the western shore back to Digby. 

From Digby, we headed along the north shore through beautiful farm country via route 1.  Lots of farms and vineyards and pretty small towns.  It dawned on me that we were headed into Evangeline country!  I still remember the first line of Longfellow's poem, "This is the forest primeval." along with most of the story.  I think I read it in 8th grade?  Of course the signs that said "Evangeline Trail" were a tipoff, but the place Grand Pre is real and actually exists!  Evangeline was fictitious.  It was around 8:30 when we rolled into Grand Pre, and it reminded me of Normandy and the area around Mont Saint Michel.  Very beautiful.  Tons of Acadian flags too.  Mr. W spotted a sign for "Beach Breezes Motel" about 4 miles off the main road, so we headed there.  What  a cute find--if you don't mind rusticness at its best.  However, the setting made up for everything else.  The motel overlooks a bay, and if I had the map I could tell you the name of it--I think Cape Blomidon was in the distance.  Gorgeous, peaceful.  The sunset made up for the rest of the motel and the extremely noisy creaky beds.  Every time Mr. W rolled over, I woke up.  Still, I'd stay there again.  

Sunset over Evangeline Beach

Betcha didn't know that the northern coast is famous for vineyards?  They make wine in Nova Scotia!  

The next day we took off to spend Canada Day in Halifax--time for the Royal Tattoo Parade and Fleet Week to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Canadian Navy.  Halifax was much hillier than I expected! Queen Elizabeth had been there the day before, but we missed her.  It was hot and I managed to get a little sunburned.  We walked around the waterfront, went on a ship, had pitas for lunch, walked around the Citadel and then made our way along the coast to Peggy's Cove.  

Now, most people who have been to Nova Scotia tell you that you have to see Peggy's Cove.  Tiny colorful fishing village with a lighthouse and some great rocky landscapes to explore.  We parked at the visitor's center and started our trek to the lighthouse.  It's only a 5-10 minute walk.  The lighthouse has the obligatory gift shop, so it was packed with busloads of senior travelers with cameras and grandchildren who needed gifts.  Insanity.  Everyone has a camera, and it's hard to go to a place like Peggy's Cove, walk around and avoid getting into people's shots.  However, it really is a beautiful spot, and I did see some picture opportunities.  But my camera wasn't in my pocket....it was in the car.  Thyroidlessness strikes again.  I trekked back to the car (Mr. W offered, but I figured it was my issue and he should explore the rocks) and back to the lighthouse again.  Ugh.  By this point I was pretty tired since it was near the end of the day.  Bonus though--by the time I got back, the buses were leaving!  We had most of the rocks to ourselves.  Click, click, click!  

Next stop was the SwissAir Flight 111 memorial, and then on to Lunenburg for dinner.  Scrumptious fish cakes and salad at the Magnolia Grill (melt in your mouth fresh haddock) and a night in Bridgewater.  Fireworks went off for Canada Day (Happy 143!).  

After that we covered miles and miles and more miles of highway along with some detours along the coast.  What did we see?  Trees, trees, rocks, and some more trees.  Move three miles inland and bam, no more people.  We ended up in Yarmouth for the next night, and it was a little depressing.  The ferries from Maine used to come in to Yarmouth, but the provincial government said they couldn't subsidize the ferries, and they stopped running. Businesses are closed and the place is a ghost town.  I wonder if they'll be able to get them back next year?   

The coast up to Digby from Yarmouth was beautiful again (fewer trees, more people), and we made stops along the way while listening to Acadian music on the radio.  I could make out every 4th or 5th word.   We stayed in Digby, had dinner at the House of Wong and caught the 8am ferry (on time) back to St. Johns. Since Digby is the "scallop capital" of Canada, I had scallops.  Chinese style.  It was actually pretty delicious.  It took us the rest of the day to reach Bucksport, Maine after a stop in Ellsworth at the Big Chicken Barn used books/antiques store, and we spent the night in Bucksport before heading back home.  We got home late last night, and I've been doing laundry all day.  

Top floor of the Great Big Chicken Barn in Ellsworth, Maine

I did do some more family research on Mr. W's family (they were "two-boat Irish"), and it looks like his great great grandmother's sister may have lived in Bucksport at one point with her family and her parents.  I'm still waiting for an email to confirm this, but that would be pretty freaky.  I have some summer work cut out for me!  I really need to get back to searching for my dad's side of the family, but I think they're hiding out on me.  That's another story altogether.....

So, I suppose I should mention my thyroidlessness?  I had bloodwork today for a TSH and cancer marker check, and I know that the meds are too low.  How do I know that?  Don't forget that I left my camera behind at one of Nova Scotia's most photographed spots....I also lost my keys in the car.  I'm having serious brain fog issues--memory lapses, confusion, processing issues....it's not constant, but it happens.  It's soooooo frustrating when it happens, and I found myself reminding Mr. W frequently about my "diminished mental capacity".  Energy levels were mostly ok, but it seems that I crash every couple of days between 3 and 5pm--totally exhausted and basically shut down.  Coffee seems to be the only thing really wakes me up again, but then I'm wired at 1am and can't fall asleep.  Thank God for Tim Horton's, Canada's version of Dunkin' Donuts.  I survived a couple of high activity days (Halifax was brutal) and didn't have to sleep in much.  I figure Dr. N will increase my dose, and I'm hoping that will halt the mental slide.  That really does scare me, because I have always been able to hold vast amounts of useless info in my head, especially at school.  I'm starting to have to write things down, but then I lose the list.  Luckily I have the summer to figure out a new way to cope, because I'm screwed in the fall if this keeps happening!  

On a positive note, my weight has stayed amazingly steady.  I'm going to work on losing some of it this summer, but I haven't ballooned up a ton like I feared.  I'm not happy with the way I am, but it's not as bad as I had anticipated either.  

And, my nose has stopped hurting!  It's not 100%, but getting better.  My taste buds seem pretty good unless I burn them--then my taste is gone again for the day.  No metallic taste.  The seafood was soooooo yummy.  Same for all the various ice cream I sampled!  Nice to be able to enjoy food again.  

All in all, it was a great week.  Great weather, amazing seafood which I indulged in to make up for the month on the LID, great quality time with Mr. Wonderful (except for the ferry incident and aftermath), gorgeous scenery, friendly people and new places to explore....great way to start off the summer after such a lousy 2010...