To Cape Breton and Baddeck

 After checking out we walked our bags across the street to the parking lot and loaded up for the trip north, stopping briefly at the nearby Citadel before leaving the city.

From Halifax we retraced our route across the MacDonald Bridge through the streets of Dartmouth and on in the direction of the airport our goal being Antigonish where we would stop for lunch. From the greater Halifax area we took the 103 until Truro where we switched to the 105, also known as the Trans-Canadian Highway. 

Once we reached Antigonish (no connection apparently with the Sophocles' heroine) we made our way past St. Francis Xavier University into downtown and found our lunch stop, The Tall and Small. The shop was packed with young people bustling about and the sandwiches of fresh ingredients and home-baked breads were scrumptious.

Leaving Antigonish we returned to the 105 and before long crossed the Canso Causeway onto Cape Breton Island at Port Hastings. we quickly made our way up to our final stop for the next three days: Baddeck.

Due to my occasional bout of incompetence it took me several minutes to figure out how to get into the house. But once in we dropped our bags and walked to the (only) grocery store for essentials. Once back home we then drove to the nearby NSLC (Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation) store and stocked up on wines.

After groceries were put away and we were unpacked the wine was opened and the four of us sat out on the deck enjoying the view of the water in the distance. 

A little over 330kms in about 5 hours and we were on Cape Breton at long last.

That evening we walked down to the waterfront for dinner at the Freight Shed. recommended by our host Sherry we sat outside waiting for a table inside which, thank the gods, was not long in coming since the cold wind was a bit unpleasant although the view was lovely. Three of us had the seafood chowder while Richard went for beetroot salad.

our home for the next three days

the Freight Shed

view from our (first) table

up Chebucto (the main) Street. . .

. . . and down

Nova Scotia's southern shore

After breakfast at the hotel -- free of charge since the air conditioning is still on the fritz -- we walked to the car and headed off to Peggy's Cove. We had been getting mixed signals about whether the roads farther west from Peggy's Cove were closed due to wildfires but once at the Cove we confirmed with the tourist information folks that indeed they were open! So from Peggy's Cove it was on to Lunenberg via Mahone Bay with a stop for lunch in Hubbards.

Once outside of Halifax we wended our way to Rte 333 and meandered past one small village after another, most of them perched on or close to the water. We soon found Peggy's Cove and pulled into the spacious parking area overlooking the ocean. (You can find information about the origin of the name more details about this gorgeous bit of rock and its old fishing village right here.)

When we arrived the sun was bright in a clear blue sky but the wind was rather fierce as we strolled across the village to the lighthouse and back.

Once can see right off why this place is so famous among artists and photographers -- it just begs to be painted or photographed. 

looking farther southwest down the coast

Richard just happy to be here!

looking back to the observation deck from the lighthouse

From Peggy's Cove we returned to our shoreline meandering back west-southwest until we reached the tiny village of Hubbards where we stopped for a delicious lunch at the funky Trellis Cafe. 

Back on the road we made our way through Mahone Bay, a wonderful place worthy of a serious stop, but we pushed on to Lunenberg, where we found parking right down on the waterfront near the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.

Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993 it is also a National Historic Site of Canada. (Want more?)

The town sits on a series of ridges overlooking the harbor which reminded Richard of San Francisco and indeed the streets, while short, were steep. One of the things we wanted to see was St. John's Anglican Church. Along the way we walked past the Royal Canadian Legion Hall which sported a block of the Berlin Wall on the corner. 

The original church burned down in 2001 and was rebuilt soon after. Unfortunately it was closed the day we visited but we thought a beautiful structure well worth a tour.

St. John's

From the church we walked back a couple of blocks to the memorial park, with plagues and plinths commemorating the Norwegians who trained here during World War Two as well as the local men who died in World Wars One and Two.

Just opposite and up the street from the memorial park is the Central United Church. We wouldn't have given more than passing notice except a man had just opened the door and invited us in if we'd like. So we did. 

Once inside we discovered a huge, cavernous space with a ceiling of carved wood and matching buttresses and what seemed like a veritable sea of pews. 

John, the organist and choir director as it turned out was there to get ready for choir rehearsal later that day and had let us inside kindly chatted with us about the church. He proved to be a literal font of information about the churches in the area as well as local history and we all thoroughly enjoyed the conversation.

the church on the left

the Fishermen's Memorial

view of the town from the waterfront

the Bluenose II

Before leaving town we sat outside by the museum and enjoyed a drink, which also gave us the opportunity to watch a pair of women practice for the upcoming Dory races.

We returned to Halifax via the limited access Rte 103 and were back in the hotel by about 6:30pm. Richard and Pauline took a quick swim and by 7:15 we were back out, this time walking up toward Argyle Street and our supper venue for the evening the Five Fishermen.

On the way we stopped off at Lot Six for drinks. 

After a delicious meal of seafood all round (Arctic Char for Susie and Richard, shrimp and mussels with linguine for Pauline and Halibut for me) we walked back to the hotel and headed off for a well-earned night's rest.

Tomorrow we check out and drive north to Cape Breton Island and Baddeck!

strolling down Argyle Street

To Halifax and old friends

It was a gorgeous morning when we left our hotel in Yarmouth. I had originally planned to take the southern (coastal) route 103 up to Halifax since it promised to be the most scenic. But portions of it were closed due to wildfires so we ended up on Rte 101, which proved to be a lovely drive: letting us occasionally see the Bay of Fundy, passing Digby (reportedly the scallop capital of the world) and through the Annapolis Valley area and Berwick (the latter apple capital of Canada). 

The highway was usually two-lane but limited access and frequent passing lanes for most of the journey; the surface in good shape and traffic light. 

After a little over 300kms and about 3-and-a-half hours were were struggling our way through the traffic chaos of the greater Halifax area. That said we soon found our hotel and checked in, unloaded our bags and settled in until time to drive to the airport and pick up our friends Richard and Pauline who were flying in from London.

Back out into Halifax traffic we wended our way through Dartmouth (on the other side of the harbor) in search of the airport - which, as it turned out, was about 30kms outside of the city. We arrived at the airport with about 45 minutes to spare before they landed so we parked and made our way to the international arrivals gate where we discovered their plane had just landed!

 Although we were now familiar with getting into the city traffic was in fact worse on our return. There is really only one way across the harbor from Dartmouth into downtown Halifax, the MacDonald Bridge, which is a toll bridge and their toll system is probably 50 years old. And the bridge itself is only three lanes so we found ourselves coming out of the half dozen tolls lanes squeezed into one lane. . . 

But once across we quickly found our way back to the hotel, dropped Richard and Pauline off to check in while I parked the car.

That evening we strolled a bit of the waterfront before ending up at Salty's for dinner.

the Historic Properties part of the waterfront