Goodbye Nova Scotia

9/22/2009

We were up early once again packing and preparing the house for our departure. This morning there was a heavy fog which kept us from seeing the bay. This was the first time we experienced fog which the locals told us was quite common this time of year. We said goodbye to our home the past five days and set off for Cape Sable. We found a beach area that we walked, but once again the heavy fog limited our view. We might have missed a turn along the way (we can blame that on Jill) but, we were a bit disappointed in Cape Sable. We saw a very depressed area that was not very attractive. We left and continued to Yarmouth and the Yarmouth lighthouse. Again, we were met with heavy fog which we were told is present the majority of the time. We can only imagine what the views would be like on a clear day. We took in the history of the lighthouse and met a tour bus of folks from Pennsylvania. One man we talked with grew up in Toledo and had a relative who was the editor of the Toledo Blade. Small world! We returned to Yarmouth and had lunch at Rudder’s. Once again, we had a fabulous lunch. We will have a difficult time not eating seafood each time once we return back home. The ferry boat ride back to Bar Harbor was once again enjoyable. We continue to marvel at the boat skills of the captain who expertly maneuvered the boat. We got though customs and then checked back in at the White Columns B&B. We walked downtown and had dinnner at an outdoor restaurant that was recommended to us by John’s friend Doc.  It was very pleasant and the food once again was delicious.

We leave in the morning for Bangor Maine and our afternoon flight back to Ohio.  It was a great trip.  We have learned that Nova Scotia and Maine are rugged beautiful locations.  We all would like to return once again and be able to spend more time in this beautiful part of the country.

Visiting Shelburne

09/21/2010

Today was a bit of a slower pace for us. At lease for Schick standards! We traveled a short distance to the town of Shelburne. This quaint harbor town was the first site on the Eastern seaboard for the construction of sailing ships. Many large sailboats were constructed during the peak days of this harbor town. The town is also known of the birthplace of the dory boat. There is a charming wharf area which was being transformed into a movie set. We learned that Hollywood was filming the movie Moby Dick here with shooting to begin in two weeks. Workers were busy constructing the fronts of buildings for the movie shoot. We had lunch on the wharf at the Sea Dog restaurant which had an outdoor eating area overlooking the bay. The restaurant also had Wi-Fi which allowed us to check the internet. Our meals were good and the sunny pleasant weather added to this experience. We left the town and traveled up the bay to Sandy Point where there is a lighthouse. During low tide you can walk the 50 yards out into the bay to the lighthouse. We were not able to do this as the tide was not yet low enough. We left the Shelburne area and returned to the house.


Once back at the house, we gathered up shovels and buckets and went clam digging in the bay outside the house. It took a bit of experimenting to learn the art of clam digging. Joan was most successful of all finding seven clams. John found several and Ellen found one. I explored the tidal pools and the outlining rocks while the digging was underway.

We will be cooking four one pound lobsters for dinner this evening. Not sure who is going to eat the clams!

We leave in the morning for Yarmouth and the afternoon ferry back to Bar Harbor. We can’t believe our time here is over. This is a beautiful country with wonderful, friendly, and rugged people. We hope to one day be able to return.


Here is a slideshow of pictures from today:



More later . . . .

Chasing the Tidal Bore

09/20/2009

We spent the night at The Palliser Motel in Truro, NS. Truro is located at the far Eastern end of the Bay of Fundy. The Salmon River runs past the hotel and drains into the Bay. We learned from the hotel and restaurant staff that the location of the hotel is an ideal spot to watch the tidal bore. The tidal bore at this location is very strong and pushes a wall of water from the Bay of Fundy into the river. We were told that in the summer time the parking lot and adjoining roadway are packed with cars as people come from all around to watch the tidal bore here. After breakfast, we got into the car and drove along the South shore of the Bay of Fundy stopping at Maitland and Burntcoat. We were able to see effect of low tide at these locations of the Bay. We spent a lot of time exploring at Burntcoat Head Park. This is the location of the world’s highest recorded tides. We were able to walk on the floor of the Bay examining rocks and plant life. We could begin to get an idea of how high the tides were going to be as we had to climb down into the Bay floor. It was hard to imagine at that point the effect of the soon to be coming high tide. We then drove back to the Palliser Motel for lunch. Around 1:50 p.m. we saw the wall of water about two feet high begin to quickly rush up the river. It quickly passed our location, but the rush of water past us continued. We left Truro and retraced our route from earlier in the day back to Maitland and Burntcoat. The streams and rivers in these areas which were void of water earlier in the day were now overflowing. Areas at Burntcoat Head Park where we have explored which were ¼ to ½ mile from the shoreline were now under close to 60 feet of water. This is the area where we were walking earlier in the day. The sight of this change from low to high tide and the dramatic rise and fall in the depth of the water was amazing to view and experience.
We left the Bay of Fundy with a much greater appreciation of nature and this daily ebb and flow of the waters of this area. We returned to our house after a long drive. We were glad to be back home. Tomorrow we have plans to explore the area near the house and then sadly prepare for our return trip back home.

Here is a slideshow of pictures from today:



More later . . .

Exploring Nova Scotia – Day 3

09/19/2009

We left the house around 8:45 this morning with day trip plans to travel North visiting Southshore cities on the ocean. We started this morning by visiting the Crescent Beach area. The travel guides state that you can drive your car onto the beach. We had trouble finding the area described in the guides. Once found, the high tide and threatening rain made it impossible to try driving on the beach. We could see why this is such a popular area of Nova Scotia. We continued our drive along the coast to La Have. Here we were treated to wonderful baked goods at the La Have Bakery. We purchased sticky buns, a bowl of soup and loaves of french and cheese bread along with coffee. This was a very good mid-morning treat. We made our way down the street to the ferry crossing. We crossed the La Have river on the ferry and continued down the road to Lunenburg. Here we found a quaint harbor town with several streets of shops and a bustling wharf area. We visited many of the shops and then watched the tour sail boat Bluenose II launch with passengers preparing for a windy ride. We then traveled up the coast to Mahone Bay where we ate lunch at the Mug and Anchor. Like all our meals to date, it was excellent. Seafood does not get any better than when it is caught in the waters that you can see. We then traveled around the bay towards Peggy’s Cove. We stopped at the memorial to the victims of the Swiss Air plane disaster. This memorial is positioned in line with the site of the crash and the neighboring harbor town that assisted with the recovery of the airplane wreckage. We left the memorial for a short drive to Peggy’s Cove. This harbor was built around the fishing industry years ago. The lighthouse located there is on an outcrop of large rocks. This photographic setting made for good pictures as well as fun climbing the rocks. We then drove North passing through Halifax on our way to Truro. We will be spending the night here with plans to watch the tidal bore tomorrow. The rising tide pushes into the Bay of Fundy and the rivers that flow into the bay. The tide water’s collide with the river water running in the opposite direction which results in the creation of waves large enough to surf or to ride over in zodiac boats. The Bay of Fundy experiences extreme differences in high and low tides. We are looking forward to seeing this phenomenon tomorrow.

Here is a slideshow of pictures from today:



More later . . .

Exploring Nova Scotia – Day 2

09/18/2009

We got an early start this morning by leaving the house around 9:30 a.m. on our exploration of Nova Scotia. We drove out to a nearby point and walked along the shoreline to get a view of the house from the Oceanside. The tide was in and the area available to us for walking was narrow and rocky. We decided to return to this area later in the day at low tide. We next drove through the tiny towns of Rockland and Little Harbour on the South Shore stopping at Louis Head. We walked this sandy beach taking pictures and taking in the scenery. We continued North on Route 103 to Kejimkujik National Park. We hiked about two miles on a beautiful trail which took us to an area called Harbour Rocks. Here we watched one group of seals play in the water and another slumber on rocks. After taking many pictures and soaking in the wonderful views, we got back on the trail and returned to the car. The entire hike was about two hours. We got a recommendation from the park ranger for lunch at a place called the Quarterdeck on Summerville Beach. We drove North once again on Route 103 and found the restaurant / villa. The restaurant was right on the beach overlooking the ocean. We had a delicious lunch of lobster omelets, lobster sandwich, and a shrimp, lobster, scallops salad. It was wonderful as was the view from the restaurant. We stayed long enough to tap into their internet service before starting our drive back to the house. We visited once again the area we have previously hiked earlier in the day. This time it was low tide. We were able to walk on the now available sandbar over to the island that is partially owned by the same man (a friend of John’s) who owns the house where we are staying. It was funny to be walking in the area that several hours earlier was under water. We took a lot of pictures and then returned to the car for our short drive to the house. We were all quite tired from the hiking and will be sleeping well this evening.

Here are some pictures from today:


More later . . .

Hello Maine !

The Schick's have arrived in Maine! John, Joan, Ellen and I arrived in Bangor Maine around 11:30 a.m. this morning. We got our rental and drove to Bar Harbor where we spent the afternoon window shopping. We had claim chowder, lobster rolls and nachos for lunch.

We are staying this evening at White Columns Inn http://www.anneswhitecolumns.com/ This B&B was once a church. We are all happy with our choice of accommodations.

Our adventure continues tomorrow when we take the 8:00 a.m. ferry to Nova Scotia. We are looking forward to our ferry ride on The Cat http://www.catferry.com/ Not sure how long it will take to get to Lockeport, NS where we will be staying. The GPS unit proved helpful today and will certainly help tomorrow (hopefully it contains road information for Canada).

Here is a slideshow of pictures from today:



More later . .