June 28, 2023
We had breakfast, then boarded the bus for the return trip to Portland. The bus took us right back to the hotel where we had left our car. One of our fellow Road Scholar folks, Joyce, was heading to Concord to visit a friend. So we drove her there, since it was all of 5-10 miles off our regular route home. And, it was nice to be able to chat some more.
Arrived home, unpacked, did some wash, and went out for dinner, since our refrigerator was empty.
Great trip.
No photos today.
June 27, 2023
We went on a full day bus tour of Acadia National Park, on Mt. Desert Island. There is a big loop road that goes along the rocky shoreline and up through the middle of the island. There are a lot of overlooks along the way, but we only stopped at one along the coast -- Thunder Hole. When Peter & I were here a few years ago, we stopped at most of them, so I was a little disappointed. On the other hand, Thunder Hole was quite spectacular.
Our first stop was at the Wild Gardens of Acadia & Nature Center. Nice walk through gardens showing the different ecosystems in Acadia.
Next stop was Thunder Hole. This has steep stairs down to the shore, along side of a steep, deep, narrow gorge. So the waves come crashing into the gorge, making a lot of noise, and huge splashes. The whole shoreline was beautiful, chunky rocks that water delightfully splashed up on. There was a nice pathway along the shore that we got to walk and enjoy the view. Unfortunately, it was a bit foggy/overcast, so that limited the distance viewing.
Next stop was at Jordan Pond and trailhead. This is an inland lake and the park loop road goes along one side of it. One of the trails connects to the Carriage Roads. John D Rockefeller Jr had these gravel roads built in the early 1900's. They were built to preserve the environment and take advantage of scenic views. They are closed to motorized vehicles. Today, multiple-user groups use these roads - hikers, bicyclists, and horse-drawn carriages. We had a nice walk along one of them.
Our final stop was up at the top of Cadillac Mountain. 1530 feet tall, and a great overlook (that I remember from when Peter & I were here before). However, today it was COMPLETELY fogged in. We couldn't see a thing. Oh well -- you win some, you lose some.
Dinner at the hotel celebrated our last night together. They all had Maine Lobster.
Photos:
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| Wild Gardens of Acadia |
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| Thunder Hole, Loop Road, Acadia Natl Pk |
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| Pathway along the shore, Loop Rd |
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| Jordan Pond |
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| Jordan Pond |
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| Carriage Road |
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| Top of Mt Cadillac-taken in 2015, when I still had dark hair, but you can see the amazing view |
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| Lobster dinner |
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| Joyce & John, post lobster dinner |
June 26, 2023
We started the morning with a guided bus tour of St. Johns, learning about its very interesting history. St Johns is the only city located on the Bay of Fundy. On the other side, the St John River meets the Kennebecasis River. So lots of water. The Irving family (Irving gas stations) owns a big, paper mill there. The river was critical in transporting timber up/down the St John river. It became the biggest employer in the area. There are definitely issues with "depositing hazardous substances" into the environment. Their website, however, touts that due to their "long-term strategy to reduce, reuse and recycle, the Pulp & Paper Division is ahead of the environmental targets".
We went to the Fallsview Park, which overlooks the St Johns River as it flows into the Bay of Fundy. At this point, the tides from the Bay force the flow of water to reverse against the prevailing current when the tide is high. The "Falls" are created by a series of underwater ledges, thus the name The Reversing Falls.
We crossed the border back into the US at Calais, Maine. Then drove on to Bar Harbor. We had the afternoon and evening off, and our Inn was right on the water- the Mt Dessert Narrows. We had a 4th floor room with a balcony with rocking chairs overlooking the ocean. It was a bit foggy and overcast, so the sea and the horizon blended together. A lot of Road Scholar folks went into touristy Bar Harbor to explore, but we had been there before, so chose to "take the time off" I had a nice walk along the grounds of the inn, along the water. We decided to just eat dinner in the bar/lounge of the Inn. When we walked in, we discovered that a lot of other Road Scholar folks had come back from town and had decided to do the same thing. So, we had a nice, chatty dinner.
Photos:
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| St Johns, NB bus tour |
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| St Johns harbor |
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| Irving Pulp & Paper mill |
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| Reversing Falls - where the water flow reverses direction |
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| Inn overlooking Mt Desert Narrows, in Bar Harbor |
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| Walking the grounds around the Inn |
June 25, 2023
We drove to the north-western shore of NS, to where the Minas Basin flows into the Bay of Fundy. We stopped at the Grand-Pre National Historic Site to learn about the fate of the Acadians, made famous by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem "Evangeline". Acadians are primarily descendants of early French settlers to the region, from late 1600's to mid-1700s. By mid 1700s they had transformed the area into a fertile agricultural land, and Grand-Pre became the most populous and prosperous settlement in Acadie. They worked closely with the Mi'kmaq First Nation people. However, from 1755 to 1762, thousands of Acadians were forcibly removed from Grand-Pre (by the English) to other areas. A very sad tale indeed. This museum and walking trails gives tribute to them.
Lunch was at a the Church Brewing Company. I don't usually talk much about the meals and restaurants we visited, but this one was quite special. It was in an old church, so the setting was quite impressive. Food was good too.
Next was a guided tour of Port Royal Museum, in Granville Ferry, NS, along the western coast, along the Annapolis Basin. This is the site of the Habitation at Port-Royal, which was established by France in 1605, and was the nation's first permanent settlement in North America. This reconstruction provides a living history experience, from kitchen and forge to Artisan's quarters and trading room. A guide showed us around. The inhabitants traded regularly with the Mi'kmaq peoples.
Finally, we boarded the ferry to cross over to St. John's, NB. This was a 2 hour ferry crossing, with dinner on board. Concession food from a ferry - yuck. The crossing was smooth, but very foggy.
We checked into our hotel, which actually had a washer and dryer next to the swimming pool. So I did a load of wash - 2 weeks is a lot of clothes to pack into one suitcase. Also, had my monthly sibling/cousin call, which was great.
Photos:
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| Grand-Pre Historic Site-Acadian history |
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| Grand-Pre gardens |
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| Grand-Pre |
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| Church Brewing Company restaurant |
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| Port Royal Museum |
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| Ferry from NS to St. Johns, NB |
June 24, 2023
This morning's tour to Peggy's Cove, on the rocky coast of Nova Scotia was FANTASTIC! On a huge, rocky promontory, it has a beautiful lighthouse, light wind, huge waves hitting the rocks, and lots of amazing rocks to climb onto and overlook the ocean. They even had a Scottish man playing the bagpipes. We had time to explore, climb, and just hang out and enjoy the area. It was great. Just my kind of place.
The afternoon was spent back in Halifax. We had a guided tour around the city. We stopped at the
Fairview lawn Cemetery, where the graves of those lost on the Titanic are buried. This was closest to where the Titanic was shipwrecked, so they are all buried in one area. Many of the dead were identified, but not all.
Our next stop was at the Citadel. This time we got a tour of the inside of the fort, and a lecture on its history. Then on to the Botanical Gardens, where we had some free time to stroll around them. The weather was very pleasant, and since Peter & I had already done this, we just sort of hung out for a bit.
Our last stop was at the Pier 21 Immigration Museum. Halifax was an ocean liner terminal and the gateway to Canada for immigrants. It was the "immigration shed" from 1928 to 1971. The museum explores what the immigration experience was like, from the ships full of immigrants, to the customs in Halifax, to the trains to their final destination. We had a very good and knowledgeable speaker, giving us the tour.
Dinner and the evening was on our own, so we walked the boardwalk along the harbor, again, this time with John, Joyce and Freddie, some of our co-Road Scholars. There were lots of people, and lots more boats on the water than we have seen in all of Canada.
Photos:
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| Peggy's Cove lighthouse |
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| Peggy's Cove |
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| Peggy's Cove-fun rocks to climb |
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| Peggy's Cove - BIG rocks |
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| Peggy's Cove |
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| Scottish Bagpipe player at Peggy's Cove |
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| The Citadel - entry |
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| The Citadel |
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| Inside the Citadel |
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| The Citadel |
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| Halifax Harbor Boardwalk |
June 23, 2023
We spent a very interesting morning exploring the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. He came to Baddeck in 1885, then return a year later to establish a vacation home for his family right on the shores of Bras d'Or Lake. He is well known for his invention of the telephone, but he also worked on many different inventions, in marine engineering, medicine, aeronautics and space-frame construction. The museum had many of these inventions --planes, boats etc. I could have spent a lot more time exploring there.
We then boarded the bus and drove into Halifax, NS. Once we settled into our hotel, we were on our own for dinner and the evening. This is a big city. Our hotel was in the historic district, a few blocks from the Halifax Harbourwalk, a very long walk along the harbor, with shops, restaurants, marina, outdoor concerts, and parks.
The harbor is all downhill, so all of the streets into the downtown area are all UPHILL. Peter and I walked up to the Halifax Citidel National Historic Site at the top of the hill, which gave us a great view of the town and harbor. Then we walked a few blocks over to the Halifax Public Gardens, which reminded me a lot of the Boston Public Gardens, but a little smaller. We then walked DOWNHILL to the Harbourwalk, and met up with Jack & Janet, two other Road Scholar folks. We stopped at a very busy harbor-side brewery, for a few good beers and long chats. We did notice that almost all of the people there were young, very few with grey hair. What does that say about Halifax? Then on to dinner at the Wooden Monkey -- I actually was able to get vegetable curried rice with tofu. Almost felt like home.
Photos:
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| Alexander Graham Bell Museum, Baddeck, Cape Breton |
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| Bras d'Or Lake, Baddeck |
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| Great sign for restrooms along the route |
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| Halifax Grand Parade park |
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| Street uphill to the Citadel, Halifax |
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| Halifax Public Gardens |
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| Halifax Harbourwalk |
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| Museum ship in the marina |
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| Harbourwalk |
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| Pedestrian street, Halifax |
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| Statue to all sailors |
