Whale watching on Brier Island and Balancing Rock

Rain?  Did I hear rain as I awakened?  Yes, but we are told that sunny skies are forecast for later.  So after a wonderful breakfast at our B&B, joined by a couple from Alberta and a couple from Scotland, we headed out with an optimistic attitude toward Brier Island.  It's a journey in itself to get to Brier Island as it's a long peninsula of land and requires 2 short ferry rides to get to.  A couple of pics of the ferry rides:

We saw some evidence of the amazing tide fluctuations of the bay of funds

As well as some signs of the lobstering done extensively here

And of course a lighthouse

But then we saw what we came for - whales!  They first spotted a momma humpback with her calf and we spent much time viewing them.

Later we saw 3 more whales, but I wasn't lucky enough to get shots of them as we didn't see them for as long a period.  I also got MANY shots of backs of heads, empty water, sky.... the boat she was a rollin' and I was lucky to get any shots at all!  Of course we took the obligatory selfie:

The weather and the whale watch was a really wonderful time.  But someone forgot to wear sunscreen....

After the whale watch we stopped at Balancing Rock to do the trail there.  It's not a long trail (2.5 km), but at the end has a 235 step staircase that was a challenge!  Of course we got to the bottom and there was a lady there with a cane!!!  Take that you relatively able adults who think you have accomplished something!  The rock formation is a basalt sea stack millions of years in the making.

We ended our night with a late dinner (much appreciated since the only food since breakfast was a cookie given to us on the boat) at Ye Olde Towne Pub in Annapolis Royal - close to our B&B.  It tasted mighty good I gotta tell ya!

Ferry to Nova Scotia

We awakened to another gorgeous day - what luck!  A great day for our ferry ride to Digby, Nova Scotia.  We made our way to the ferry terminal, were directed to our spot in the queue to get on the ferry and got our boarding passes.  Right on time, our ship comes in!

We loaded and enjoyed the transit, having a lovely ham and cheese sandwich for lunch enroute :)

Soon we started seeing the shore of Digby, Nova Scotia.  There was a small lighthouse on the shore.

We also saw tugboats all in a row....

We found our way to our lovely B&B - A Seafaring Maiden - and were greeted by Bill and Mary Ann, the proprietors.  After settling in we ventured off to dinner where we had fettuccini with pesto and lobster... YUMMMM.  And for dessert, Bill had a mini chocolate mousse and I had an iced coffee drink.

And to close my entry for today - my first Nova Scotia sunset.

We made it to Canada!

After a nice breakfast we hit the road.  Our first task was to figure out how to change our GPS in our car to allow us to navigate to Canada.  Surprisingly, we did it with little effort!  We were led thru downtown Bangor which was a lovely town and once out of Bangor... we were on miles and miles of road with nothing but beauty around us!  I mean MILES between anything on the road.   We arrived at the Calais border crossing and were thru the check in about 20 minutes - all of the wait being for the cars in front of us.  Just a few basic questions, passport check, and we were on our way.

Bill had made the change to our car settings while we waited in order to take us (drag us really) into the metric world, showing our MPH in KPH.   It was odd to see the speedometer look like this:

We stopped right away at the Canadian Royal Bank and got some Canadian currency from the ATM ($200 and a $3 charge on the RBC end).  Then on thru some gorgeous countryside, following the Bay of Fundy, to Saint John.  Our hotel (Holiday Inn Express) is only 10 minutes from where the ferry leaves to take us to Digby, Nova Scotia tomorrow.  The view from our hotel room is awesome!

Time is an hour ahead of what we were in the US, so it was past time for lunch.  There is a pub actually IN the garage under the hotel (The Pub Down Under) that I had read was good, so we just went there.  It WAS good - but it also WAS a pub which was fine with us but perhaps not with other folks who want something a bit more polished.

Later we located the home that our daughter-in-law lived in when she and her family lived here.  It was right across from a beautiful river that she said she used to ice skate on after school when it would freeze over.

We ended our evening with a dinner of appetizers at a bar up the street.  The staff was dealing with an emergency - a leak in a pipe in the kitchen - as we were being served.  They jokingly told us they were creating a flood for us!  And so closes our first day in Canada.

Massachusetts

Our drive was uneventful and we arrived in Pembroke, Mass at the home of our friend Peggy about 3 pm.  We had a wonderful evening and reconnecting over great food and wine.

Peggy had told us that she had wild turkeys that would cruise the area behind her home.  After a delicious breakfast, Bill and I sat down to watch a few minutes of TV to get an update on hurricane Irma and saw the turkeys out back!  At home we have deer in the yard, so it was fun to see the turkeys!

We started our day with a lovely breakfast prepared by chef Peggy.  Then off to visit Plimouth Plantation.  Yes, this is how they spell it (spell check tried to change that on me!)  It's a lovely and informative recreation of times in Plimouth when the pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians who lived in this area.

A demonstration of cooking methods

Beautiful headdresses being made.

A demonstration of fabric processes.  This loom made me think of my aunt El's loom.

A view of many of the buildings.

The gardens.

Self explanatory.  This guy was really making some noise!

Peggy and Bill.

The sarcophagus honoring the pilgrims who died in the first year, erected on the site where their bones reside. 

A statue honoring Chief Massasoit who made a 50 year peace pact with the pilgrims.  The Indians shared knowledge which helped the pilgrims adapt to their new environment. 

Plymouth Rock.  If I had just been there to view it I would have been unimpressed.  But Department of Conservation and Recreation folks were there giving a talk that really made you appreciate the importance of this piece of granite. 

A view of the harbor from Plymouth Rock

A monument was put up by DAR to honor the women who were on the voyage of the Mayflower.

The back of the monument listing the known names of the women

View of the harbor and Plymouth Rock from the hill above

The town of Plymouth is readying for a big celebration of the 400th anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower in 2020.  The recreation of the ship has been moved to Mystic, Conn. to undergo renovations and there is work going on all over the city to ready for this big event.

Then we had a lovely lunch and went to visit a couple of beautiful beaches.  While walking on one beach, Peggy said something about having found sea glass.  I looked down at that moment and found my very first piece of sea glass!!

That evening we attended a jazz and blues performance by Paul Speidel.  It was very informative as well as entertaining!  We returned home and looked at Peggy's album from her trip to hike in New Brunswick.   Of course we had a glass of wine....

We said goodbye to our dear friend and headed on to Bangor, Maine.  We had to pass thru Boston, which Bill was dreading but it wasn't bad at all!  We saw another cool bridge:

And some cool views of the Boston skyline.

As we entered New Hampshire we began to see signs of the leaves beginning to change.  We also saw signs we were getting closer to Canada - the welcome to New Hampshire sign had both English and French welcomes.  And then there was this:

We saw several of these signs but no moose yet... 

Tomorrow - on the Canada!

New York

A slightly overcast morning and we hit the road about 10.  Bill had mapped out an alternate route to the hotel in White Plains so that we could avoid going thru NYC (and I could avoid the Sunday school words as my Mom used to call them that were bound to occur doing that kind of driving).  We entertain ourselves on the road this way:

As we approached New York City we crossed the Tappan Zee Bridge, which is undergoing major construction to build a new bridge and I LOVE a beautiful bridge.  These shots are of the new bridge going up next to the old.  

After successfully navigating to our hotel we put up our feet and relaxed before our much anticipated gathering with Bill's cousin Connie whom he hasn't seen in over 30 years.  Her town of Harrison is lovely and we enjoyed snacks on her patio before heading to dinner at Piero's, a very nice Italian restaurant owned by Connie's son-in-law and his brother.  After our wonderful meal, time for a few pics.

A nightcap in the hotel bar rounded out a fine evening with family.

On the road!

We got away under beautiful sunny skies and drove as far as Carlisle, PA today.  Bill had mapped out a course that took us down some nice back roads so we didn't hit I81 for quite some time.  We pulled into our hotel parking lot at 4:30 to find NOT ONE CAR in the parking lot.  Uh oh... but we were quickly checked in and given a nice room.  She told me she had put us in a quiet location but that since only 6 other rooms were booked that night the whole place should be quiet!

Carlisle has some lovely homes in the district we drove thru getting off I81, but I do believe everything rolled up it's sidewalks for Labor Day!  We walked to a nearby restaurant - closed.  Drove down the road and place after place closed.  We finally found an Applebees that was open and shut the door on day one of our trip.