Road trip!
My good friend, Brian, and I have decided to take a road trip. We want to drive to Boston and check out some things there, then head northeast towards Maine and the Canadian Maritime Provinces. We really don't have much of an agenda and will be playing it by ear as we travel. I'm not convinced this is the best way to take a road trip, but sometimes it works out. We'll see!
We're leaving early on Tuesday morning, 23 July, and we should make it to Boston by late afternoon or early evening. There is one thing in particular that I want to do while in the Boston area, and that is to visit the homesite of John Adams and his family. I'm a great admirer of John Adams and I think Brian and I would both enjoy seeing where he lived back in the day.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013 Boston, MA
We did the trolley tour of Boston. It was okay, but I remember taking a similar tour with my Mother back in 1990 which was more enjoyable. It was a different tour company as well, which may be why I liked it more. I remember the weather being very nice that weekend for the most part. The day was warm this time and we saw most of the familiar tourist sites in town. Walking was a bit of a pain for me, but next time I'll put on my knee brace.
My two favourite stops on the tour included Faneuil Hall, the birthplace of American freedom (to quote the brochures), and then the USS Constitution, which I've seen before, but which is always fun to see up close again.
We also took the T over to Cambridge where I showed Brian where I used to live when I worked there in 1990. We walked down to MIT and found the place overrun with Asians. I guess this is to be expected! Visiting these old haunts brought back memories of our 7 months working on the Window of Knowledge project -- not all of them good! But all in all, it was a wonderful experience for me and I have no regrets having taken part in it.
Thursday, July 25. Boston, MA
Our only agenda item today was to visit the John Adams homes and that is what we did. It was overcast and rainy, but walking through the great man's homes was very fascinating and educational. Unlike the jingoistic tour guide on our trolley tour yesterday, the tour guides we had today were very pleasant, informational and helpful. Of course these are National Park kinds of people and perhaps a step or two over a guy that drives the trolley all over Boston. At any rate we had a good visit with the ghosts of the Adams family, then headed northeast towards Maine.
We spent the night in a small town on the coast of Maine called Rockland. We ate dinner in a small, un-air-conditioned restaurant after the owner practically dragged us from the street! I felt good about eating there, even though it wasn't the best in the west. I have respect for anyone who tries to make a go of it in the restaurant business, and I was happy to help this guy out.
We were to discover that air-conditioning was not something to be taken for granted the further north and east we went. Considering that the weather was wet, humid and warm, I found myself making sure that we had AC wherever we were. When it was possible! It was not always possible!
The next day we crossed the border into Canada at Calais, Maine/St. Stephen's, New Brunswick. These two cities, separated by the St. Croix River, apparently have a very close relationship and share some municipal utility responsibilities, e.g., the fire department. Brian was particularly fascinated by the fact that the St. Croix River existed in Maine as well as in Minnesota and that it is a border river there as well as in Minnesota/Wisconsin. Unfortunately it was raining like crazy when we crossed the border and there was flooding taking place in both cities. We had to take some detours in order to get onto the highway to St. John, NB. Later that evening we saw the news reports that St. Stephen had been hit especially hard by downpours and that the flooding was actually quite serious there! I guess were lucky to get through it as easily as we did.
July 27, 2013 St, John, NB
We spent one night in St. John. We really didn't get to see a lot of what was going on there, but we did have supper at a restaurant overlooking the St. John River which has a so-called "reversing waterfall." This is a function of the high tides they have in this area. The river flows over cataract/waterfall when the tide is low, but when the tide is high water rushes back the other direction. In the high tide waterflow, there really isn't much of a cataract or waterfall to be seen, but it is obvious the water is moving in the opposite direction.
The next day we caught the ferry from St. John to Digby, Nova Scotia. It was a pleasant journey that took about four hours. It was quite windy but the seas were not high. One could sense some motion as we made our way across the Bay of Fundy, but nothing that caused any sense of mal de mer. Then we drove from Digby to Yarmouth on the south west coast of the island and spent the night. This was the last night of overcast and rainy weather. The next morning dawned bright and sunny and we were off to Halifax!
Having driven along coastal highways for quite some time now both Brian and I were a little tired of all the quaintness and beauty that we were being exposed to. This has happened to me on more than one occasion. I particularly remember in the summer of 2005 driving through the Canadian Rockies with Robbie and thinking, "I can't stand to see one more incredibly beautiful sight around the next bend in the road! Give me something boring for a change!"
However, when we came to Lunenburg, about three quarters of the way to Halifax, I insisted we turn off the highway and visit the town famous for the Canadian schooner "Bluenose." I was really happy we did! We ended up staying quite a few hours in town, having lunch looking over the harbour as the little schooners and gaff rigged sloops sailed back and forth while we ate. It was absolutely beautiful! There was live music being performed down by the docks, and I talked Brian into taking a sailboat cruise in the harbor that evening - even though I was concerned about the wind. My concerns were well-founded when the winds dropped to practically nothing and the captain had to bend on the "iron sail." Still it was a lovely trip which took us past the place where work was being done to the current incarnation of the Bluenose. I was disappointed it wasn't in the water or available for visiting, but it was good to see her even sitting on ways.
We finally hit the road again and arrived in Halifax and found a place to stay.
While in Halifax we walked around the downtown area and visited a children's science museum of sorts. It wasn't really much to crow about, but we enjoyed our time there watching the kids get excited about science! We then walked to Government House and took the tour where we saw pictures of royalty and politicians and even one or two commoners. Across the street was the old cemetery which contains many ancient gravestones, including the burying place of General Ross, the man that burned Washington, D.C. and attacked Baltimore during the war of 1812. He is considered quite the hero in Canada and Great Britain For reasons which are never taught in American history classes. His burning of Washington, it turns out, was in response to the Americans' burning the capital of Upper Canada, York (now known as Toronto). Turn about is fair play!
Brian was intrigued and delighted to discover an informational sign outside the cemetery which explains "why we are not Americans." In this series of pictures and words, the War of 1812 is reviewed and Canadians are shown how the Americans were repulsed time and again from invading their country. Brian loves this stuff! I must say, I enjoyed it myself!
Unfortunately it was raining fairly hard while we were in the cemetery so we didn't take time to look at too much of what was there. After the rain slowed, we headed back downtown where we passed a Catholic bookstore which Brian wanted to visit, but I assured him that if we went there it would be "an occasion of sin for me." So we passed it by. A block down was a lesbian bookstore called Venus Envy! This store we had to visit.
The store was an interesting place full of books and toys and even some items of gay male interest, but best of all was the proprietor, a beautiful blonde young woman who took time to talk to us about living in Canada and Halifax in particular. It turns out she's from California originally but had moved to Canada permanently to live with her partner and their daughters. Brian asked her if the Catholic book store down the street ever receive shipments meant for Venus Envy or vice versa. She replied that yes, this happened a lot but that they were good about bringing over each others packages when necessary. Brian got a kick out of thinking how the Catholic bookstore would react to receiving books and other materials meant for the gay and lesbian community. He is such a perv!
July 30, 2013
The next day we headed for Pictou, Nova Scotia where we planned to take the Wood Islands ferry to Prince Edward Island. This ferry trip was a little more than half as long as the one from New Brunswick to Nova Scotia.
PEI is a beautiful island and we decided to start a circumnavigation heading towards East Point, the easternmost point of all the Island. There aren't many large towns on the island and the population in general is quite small. We did make a point of making our way to Singing Sands Beach, which Robbie had mentioned as a place we should check out. The weather was overcast again and damp, but things had cooled down a bit. We ended up in staying at a small, primitive motel not far from Singing Sands Beach, called the Singing Sands Inn. There was no air-conditioning in this facility, but the owner was kind enough to lend me a fan which enabled me to get a relatively decent nights sleep in spite of the humidity.
The next day dawned bright and sunny, and we decided to make our way as quickly to Charlottetown as we could. After our appropriately primitive continental breakfast at the Singing Sands Inn, we hit the road and were in Charlottetown by noon. I won't say that I would never stay in this motel ever again, but I might try checking out other options on the island. Being close to the beach was nice however, and if that is your object, then staying there makes sense. Personally I would've preferred a B&B, but Brian doesn't like those.
The next day we finally reached East Point and stopped to visit the lighthouse there. Again, very beautiful country along the ocean. I bought a couple of locally thrown cups and a T-shirt for Robbie. I would really like to come back to PEI for an extended visit. I sense there's a lot to see and do here!
July 31, 2013 Charlottetown, PEI
Charlottetown turned out to be a delight! We had a nice hotel room, and the town itself is not very large. In fact, it is smaller than Woodstock! The population is only about 32,000 and the main part of town is small enough to walk around and see everything. I loved it! The Harbour area is quite touristy, but then again, we were tourists! We had a fine lunch and enjoyed some very nice music while watching boats sail into and out of the Harbour.
At this point in our trip, we decided that we were ready to head home. So the next day we headed for Miramichi, New Brunswick across the Confederation Bridge. I was rather shocked at how much it cost to cross the bridge, but I guess the ferry is even more expensive. There was work on the bridge so we were delayed a little, but made it back to the mainland in good time. Our visit in Miramichi was short. We ate lunch, made a quick visit to the graveyard to see if we could find any of Brian's ancestors, then hit the road heading across the barrens of New Brunswick!
Robbie and I had made this trip back in 2005. At that time I don't remember the road be as rough as it was this time. It needs a lot of work. On the other hand, as Brian pointed out, it is a secondary road. There was very little traffic on it and very little to see other than trees and hills. I kind of wish we had taken the northern route which was only a few minutes longer. For one thing it would've new territory for me.
We made it as far as Lévis, QC that night. Again it was raining and ugly. We turned off the road and took the first motel that we saw, the Motel Lévis! I went in to ask about a room and the entire conversation took place in French, I am happy to say. We got a room on the end of the building, and to my great surprise and relief there was both an overhead fan and a window air-conditioner in the unit! I turned the AC on, then we left to find someplace to eat dinner. We ended up at a Italian restaurant just down the road. The food was very good as was the service and we were happy about our stop until we got back to the hotel. Then Brian decided the place was moldy and he didn't like it. But we were stuck, and as far as I was concerned it was cool and dry and I slept very well, thank you very much!
Brian and I were in conflict the whole trip about the temperature in the room. I tend to like it on the cool side; he complained that it was too cold. I will admit that I had the temperature set very cool on some occasions, but on the other hand he had lots of blankets to keep himself warm with. It turns out however that he's not good about staying under them. So while he's complaining that he's freezing to death at night, in point of fact it's because he kicks all of his blankets off! I have a picture that proves this point! I will not publish it however!
Friday, August 2, 2013
The next morning we tried to eat the Continental breakfast at the Motel Lévis, but there really wasn't much worth eating. I was very disappointed. I had had visions of hot, fresh croissants dripping in butter. But alas! NON! I insisted that we stop at McDonald's so that I could have a decent breakfast before we hit the road. And we did.
We drove straight through to Woodstock using the 407 Toll highway to get us through Toronto at rush hour with a minimum of delay. That road costs a lot to use, but it sure is worth the time to me, and it was to Brian as well. We got home by 7 PM and were happy to be there!
Brian left the next morning for Minnesota. He was anxious to get home, and I can understand that. As he points out, a good trip is one where you're happy to go and happy to come home! I think we had a good trip.
And for the record, I was out of Canada from July 23, 2013 to July 26, 2013, total of three days!