Bar Harbor, Boston, then Home

On Friday, we cruised into Bar Harbor, Maine.  Bar Harbor was a favorite summer home 

of many of America's wealthiest families at the turn of the 20th century.  We spent some time at 

St. Saviour's Church, with it's Tiffany stained glass windows. 

The village of Bar Harbor is well maintained, but has more trinket shops than real shops.  Papa and I had fresh lobster rolls at a local restaurant for lunch.   There are thousands of lobster traps sitting in the water, with fishermen checking them regularly.  Bar Harbor was colorful with fall leaves.

We cruised all night and arrived in Boston on Saturday morning, disembarked the ship, and went to the airport.  We had a long day of travel, and arrived back in Tucson by 7 p.m.  We had a wonderful three week trip to Alaska, Banff and Lake Louise, and the St. Lawrence River cruise from Montreal.

Nova Scotia

We disembarked in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Thursday of this week.  There is a small island with a lighthouse right in the bay.  There are big ships, barges, all kinds of seagoing vessels coming and going from Halifax.  We walked along the Seaport boardwalk to find the car rental agency. 

We got right to it, and began our drive southeast.  First we came to Mahone Bay, considered one of the prettiest villages in Nova Scotia.  Mahone Bay is also home to a Scarecrow Festival and the whole town was decked out with scarecrows. 

We drove to Lunenberg, another small coastal village, with the whole town listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Unlike many other such villages, Lunenberg is a real working town, with boat building and boat repair a major business, and a Loonies and Toonies Dollar Store.  Papa loved Lunenberg and would like us to come back.

We drove up and down along the coast until we came to Peggy's Cove, with it's iconic lighthouse, the most photographed lighthouse in Canada.  It sits on a rocky promontory, that looked like an anthill covered with tourists.  Still the village of Peggy's Cove was very picturesque.

This day was our favorite of this cruise so far.  Nova Scotia is quite beautiful, clean, freshly painted, quaint with great attention to detail. 

Cape Breton Island

We picked up a rental car in Sydney, Novia Scotia, then made a big circle drive around the Bras d'Or Lakes of Cape Breton Island.  The hills of Cape Breton were higher than we expected and the views were bigger!  We stopped in Baddeck, which was the summer home of Thomas Edison.  We walked around town and along the waterfront.  We drove on, taking a ferry at Little Narrows.  The leaves are turning, so the hills of Cape Breton are covered in shades of green, yellow, red, and orange. 

Prince Edward Island

Since the girls were very young, I've associated Prince Edward Island with the book and movie, Anne of Green Gables.  We spent today on Prince Edward Island, and the people here associate their home province with Anne too!  We went to the home of Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables.  It is actually a replica, built by the government of Canada as a National Park site.  Canada gets it that Anne is a big deal all over the world!  "Anne's house" is pristine, with a big barn and other outbuildings nearby.  It is very close to what I remember from the movies.

We rented a car in Charlottetown and took a circle drive around the middle of the island.  There are countless coves, bridges, and beach overlooks.  We visited two different sections of National Seashore, where the foxes have become tame.  They are looking for food and approach cars.  We stopped at an old lighthouse.  We drove through villages with lobster traps stacked high and their doors shuttered.  We were visiting after their busy season.  It was pumpkin season and we saw fields of pumpkins for sale. 

Before going back to the ship, we stopped in Charlottetown for ice cream at COWS.  COWS is an ice cream manufacturing company based in Charlottetown, with eleven retail outlets throughout Canada.  We had a wonderful day on Prince Edward Island!