Happy Birthday Susie Nell!!

Susie's brother held her at the beginning of her life and she held him at the end of his. . . Her big brother  Bill (William J) and Susan sometime in late 1952 or early 1953.

 

We've gone electric

Aside from the outrageous cost involved, buying a car is no big deal. But for us buying an electric car is a big deal, one that will certainly change how we travel.

Ever since we could drive it has been the gasoline-powered engine that has driven us where we wanted to go and gas stations were frequently a place of refuge from the weather if not a place of comfort knowing that having found one you would not run out of gas or a bathroom.

Electricity has changed all that. 

We now fuel our car regularly right from our garage -- and while the local power company has given us a generous incentive to go electric it remains to be seen whether we will indeed save money in the long run. 

We are faced with a genuinely challenging paradigm shift in our traveling lifestyle: planning and researching is now mandatory for the simplest of trips if you want to go long distance. . . But that also makes it rather exciting. And knowing that we are not emitting more garbage into the air is a good feeling, a fleeting one perhaps, but right now good nonetheless.

You can find out more about our ongoing experience with the VW ID.4 right here. Or click on the link in the right sidebar.

Nova Scotia to Maine

Cold and rainy (again) this Monday morning. We met up with Richard and Pauline in the hotel restaurant and said our good-byes; they had an airport shuttle to catch and we had many more miles to go on our way home to Michigan. We'll miss Pauline's quick wit and gentle sense of humor and Richard's canny ability to put the world in its proper context. Good friends are hard to come by these days and good traveling companions even more so. 

We were on the road by a little before 10am heading north to Moncton, New Brunswick where we switched to Rte 1 west to Saint John and on to the US border at Calais, Maine. The 4-lane roads were excellent and traffic was light -- indeed there were times we were the only car on the road -- but the persistent rain along with several quick stops slowed us by perhaps a half hour or so. 

Once across the border the road dropped to 2 lanes but we still sped along to Bangor, arriving at our hotel about 4pm (local time, 5pm Nova Scotia time). Susie texted her sister Joyce and we planned to meet for dinner at Mason's Brewery just across the Penobscot River in Brewer, ME. (We had probably come very near to the place on our way into greater Bangor.)

Susie and I arrived a bit early and grabbed a table, Joyce and Avery arriving a few minutes later. The meal was very good -- starters of crispy cauliflower and crunchy Brussel sprouts followed by a round of sandwiches and a salad for Susie. The conversation was warm and afterwards we drove to their house to pick up a few items we left there a week ago. It's hard to imagine it has only been a week and we have seen so many new and wonderful things; but then travel should be that way, don't you think?

Tomorrow will take us along very familiar territory: south on I-95 to I-495 to I-290 and to I-90 and the Mass Pike, ending in Albany for the night. Then it will be a long day's drive straight through to Grand Rapids.

The long way home

After some 2,300 miles we began our long return back to Michigan. Sunday morning was cold with a promise of rain (a promised not kept fortunately). After breakfast and tidying up we packed the car; fortunately Pauline had taken a photo of our success in packing the cargo space when we left Halifax so we spent little time fussing with the bags. 

But before leaving Baddeck, we had one final stop to make: the Alexander Graham Bell national historic site. 

While his home and family cemetery is located north of town and is not accessible to the public -- the family still owns it -- the exhibition halls showing his work in helping the deaf to speak as well as his work in early aviation among numerous other inventions, made this a most illuminating and worthwhile stop.

Once we left Baddeck we returned to the 105 and drove south to the Canso Causeway and off Cape Breton Island onto Rte 104 in the direction of Truro. 

It wasn't long before we found ourselves back in Antigonish, where we stopped for lunch at Justamere, right off the highway (and I had a scrumptious fish burger). An hour later we were back on the highway and soon afterwards switched to the 102 south to Halifax arriving at the Halifax airport about 4:30pm. 

That evening the four of us ensconced ourselves into easy chairs in the lobby and sipped wine chatting away the time until we walked across the hall for dinner (which was quite good).

backside of the entrance to the exhibition halls

beginning of the exhibition

comfortable couches were everywhere 

my lovely fish burger

Fortress Louisbourg on a rainy day

The rain began last evening while we were at dinner and continued on and off through much of the night. It was predicted to be our constant friend throughout today Sunday with the addition of a temperature. And add to the precipitation the temperature fell some 30 degrees (F) since yesterday!

Not to be deterred by such nuisances, after a leisurely breakfast we packed ourselves into the car and headed off to Fortress Louisbourg, on the far eastern shore of Cape Breton. 

The drive took us across another (free) car ferry at Little Narrows and through the Ekasoni First Nation  Mi'kmaq community located along the East Bay of Bras d'Or Lake. 

The rain continued as we made our way back in the vicinity of Sydney where we turned southeast on Rte 22 to Louisbourg and the 18th fortress, one of Canada's National Historic Site.

As we drove along the singular main street of the modern town of Louisbourg the four of us were struck by how utterly deserted it seemed -- businesses closed or indeed out of business. . . But on the far side of town we came across a bustling cafe, the North Star, and pulled into the parking lot for lunch.

Once inside we could smell the food and hear the banter of guests, some of them locals apparently. The food was very good and it turned out to be just the respite we needed from the rain, the cold, and the roadway.

It turned out this cafe was a "training" ground so to speak for their very large restaurant which was located directly behind the cafe and close to their lovely hotel overlooking the bay. We asked one of the owners what he did during the winer -- they were just getting ready to open their entire operation for this season -- and he replied that he goes to Grand Cayman and then home to Glasgow!

ferry at Little Narrows

From the North Star it was a 5-minute drive to the fortress. Located on a large spit of open land, this is one of Canada's premier historic sites. The reproduction 18th century fortified village provides a glimpse into the life of what life was like during the wars between France and England. 

Unfortunately, many of the interpretive parts of the village were closed (shoulder season don't you know), there were no signs describing the buildings anywhere and no maps were provided -- in fact we were instructed to use our phones to take a picture of the one map at the information center!  But they were still happy to take our money to wander the grounds anyway. 

Plus it was damn cold and the wind coming in off the Atlantic would bite right through you jacket.

While we were quite disappointed in the village, the King's Bastion or central fortress itself was impressive. Although the original structure and walls are long gone or at best in ruins, the reproduction was amazing. Here we came across several interpretive guides located in key parts of the structure who provided insight into 18th century life inside the fortress. The military chapel as well as the barracks and governor's apartments were fascinating.

entrance to the King's Bastion

interpretive guide inside the military chapel

interior grounds of the bastion

Richard just happy to be here!

view of the grounds from the bastion walls

Leaving the fortress we pushed homeward having achieved our goal for the day. 

That evening we decided to have supper at McCurdy's in the nearby Silver Dart Inn. 

(Silver Dart was the name of Alexander Graham Bell's airplane and J.A.D. McCurdy was the principal designer and pilot who flew the craft right off the frozen lake at Baddeck in 1909. A fascinating story, you can read more here.) 

The food was very good and creative we thought and the view of the bay lovely even in the rain. 

The service, as has so often been the case on Cape Breton, was superb. 

Our server, Emma, grew up in Baddeck and went to large one-building school right across the street overlooking the water. (She was one of 22 in her graduating class two years ago.) She is in her second year at St. Xavier University in Antigonish and was amazed when she heard we had stopped for lunch at the Tall and Small on our way north -- according to her it is the most popular coffee shop in town. 

Tomorrow we begin our long return home, stopping first just north of Halifax near the airport where we will say goodbye to Richard and Pauline on Monday (they continue their trip to the far west of Canada). Susie and I will then drive to Bangor Monday night and on to Albany Tuesday night and finally home on Wednesday.