We have just arrived home. A good time to do a little reflection on this first escape from the pandemic. From my perspective, there were three themes to this first foray afield. First of these was “proof of Vaccination”, second “the weather”, and third “food and drink”. The third being my personal favourite. 🙂
The weather aspect started the moment we headed out on the road. It rained intermittently from the time we left home until we got to the other side of Kingston. Interestingly, when we drove past Montreal the outside temperature was 16°C. When we got to Quebec City it was 30°C. The cold front was working its way eastward but hadn’t got as far as we had.
We were happy to discover that the request for proofs of vaccination and photo ID began the moment we arrived in Quebec. We were asked for them as we checked into the hotel and again over the next couple of days at every restaurant and bar we walked into. This continued throughout the Maritimes to varying degrees.
Although we did do some cooking of our own at the cottage, we made sure that we hit lots of restaurants in all the provinces we visited to sample the local fare… especially the seafood. And we ended up making pitstops at several microbreweries and one winery as well.
Here we go! Some final photos from our trip, start to finish, that really didn’t fit in anywhere else. Bonus! There is a musical conclusion to it all. 🙂
I am hoping that I have solved the non-resizing photo problem that appeared in the first sets of pictures. I THINK the issue was having a caption embedded in the photo. I am providing the captions first for this set to see if that fixes the problem.
NOPE! THAT DIDN’T WORK! Back to the drawing board.
The photos in this post, and others in this series, are best enjoyed on a desktop/laptop or in horizontal view on your iPad. There is an issue looking at them on cellphones which I am trying to get resolved.
We did get to use our proof of vaccinations several times on this trip. Knowing that we would probably need them, we all dug ours out or downloaded copies. Deciding that it would be a good idea to protect them, we went to Staples and got them laminated -which they were very happy to do at relatively little expense. I “smushed” up mine here to prevent this image from being copied and used to create counterfeit proofs.The rain was irritating but not so vigourous that it made driving uncomfortable. Here we are being forced off the 401 near Port Hope because of a problem on the highway. This was only a minor detour and didn’t cost us too much time.After we unloaded the car at the hotel, we headed out to have a quick drink to reinvigorate ourselves after the long drive. We were happy that we were immediately asked for proof of vaccination and photo ID when we stepped into a restaurant. They were meticulous in scrutinizing both documents. As we sat there having a drink, we were feeling a little peckish so we decided to order a charcuterie board. This is what it looked like halfway through. 🙂 I didn’t think I would use this picture because it isn’t all that appealing, but it was absolutely delicious. What turned out to be a pitstop for a quick drink turned into a couple of drinks and ongoing ordering of tasty treats. The charcuterie board was followed by French onion soup and finally by crème brûlée.You have probably already seen my other photos from Quebec City and are aware that it was incredibly windy the first night we arrived. The next morning it was still unbelievably windy as you can see how dramatically everyone’s hair is blowing here… except mine of course. 🙂Here we are arriving at the New Brunswick border. Just after this point all traffic was stopped at a truck weigh-station for vaccination screening. We had to pre-register on-line with both New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, indicating that we would be visiting. We did this before we left home, and they sent us email notifications that we had been processed and accepted. The guys doing the border check weren’t interested in our proof of vaccination or our confirming emails. They just asked if we were all double-vaxed, and when we said yes, they sent us on our way.This was fun! Crossing on the ferry from Saint John to Digby, we could still track our location in Google maps.I showed you this view from the Digby Pines Hotel in a previous collection of photos, but I really wanted you to see it without all the furniture in the way. We will definitely stay here again and make sure we have a room in the hotel and not a cottage.From our stop at the Port Royal settlement. It was good to see that they mentioned Mathieu De Costa. He was one of several translators of African descent that were used in the Americas by European travellers.An interesting storage solution on the Fundy Shore.Most pictures you will see of Halls Harbour are shot from that bridge in the distance looking out to the Bay of Fundy. I thought you might enjoy seeing this photo I shot on the third level patio looking the other way. A little bit more unique than the standard shots.After the little bit of unsettled weather at the beginning of this trip, it constantly improved throughout until we had many days in a row at the cottage of warm temperatures and sunny skies. Thought I would offer up a little proof of that fact. 🙂The cottage we rented had several prints by the Nova Scotia artist Shelagh Duffett. We thought we would try and track down some of her artwork for ourselves only to discover that she died last year. However, we were able to pick up a couple of prints of her delightful work.I know I have already posted a shot from this angle at the cottage but this one has the emu in it so I couldn’t resist sharing it.Our first day at the cottage. It was a little chilly so we put on jackets to sit on the dock to enjoy the beautiful sunny day. It wasn’t as cold as you might think. I am wearing gloves because I am a big baby and don’t like having cold hands… especially if I’m holding a cold beer.Everybody is happy! If you look really closely, to the right of the grey building in the distance you can see the patio umbrellas of a local restaurant we visited a few times.Here is that restaurant, the Seaside Shanty. It was an absolute delight; low key, great location and great seafood.On the patio. What better place to have a bite.Old school shrimp cocktail.It’s started to rain a bit while we were eating. Not enough to drive us inside but the net result was this beautiful double rainbow.Several tasting flights were enjoyed at various breweries on our travels.Yes, we made it to Peggy’s Cove. The classic lighthouse shot.For me, this is what Peggy’s Cove is really all about. It remains a place for people to live and for folks to ply their trade… mostly fishing.Like most places we visited, there was a serious shopping opportunity at Peggy’s Cove.Our gracious host left fishing rods for our use and enjoyment. I only made a few ceremonial casts, but the “favourite cousin“ did pull in a Mackerel.On our way home. The view from our room at the Levesque Hotel in Rivière-du-Loup. Looking across the Saint Lawrence River to the Charlevoix area.A final toast to our first pandemic road trip. CheersA special thank you to the “travel companions” who were not only wonderful travel companions, but they were also the ones to suggest that we make this trip. Thanks guys, we had a fantastic time.And finally, we end our trip to Nova Scotia with a musical tribute. The Canadian Celtic punk band the Real McKenzies… who I have had the pleasure of seeing live… performing the only song we should be playing at this point “Farewell to Nova Scotia”. 🙂
Thanks to all of you for coming along with us on this little outing. Hopefully, this little bit of vicarious travel will hold you over until you can get back out on the road yourselves. Travel safe.
Nova Scotia really is a wonderful place to visit. You should check it out.
BONUS PHOTO – One late breaking photo addition to this post. I bought this folk-art beauty in Chester at the Chez Glass Lass store and have them ship it to me. It arrived yesterday.
