The last day

As promised, breakfast was served by candlelight, and what a lovely feast it was, with fresh coffee, homemade blueberry pancakes and a fresh fruit salad with orange yoghurt.   This was all served on  110-year-old china and as soon as I was informed of this it was all I could do to raise my coffee cup with confidence.   What?  Is there no Tupperware?  Melmac?

As evocative as this lovely old home was, it reminded me of a Holly Hobbie pattern that somehow exploded and implanted itself into every floral wallpaper, lace curtain and delicate piece of china.  Like a cacophony of chinz.  Although a very interesting experience, I was glad to hit the road, especially since sleep was elusive on my bed high up in the eaves.  It was comfortable enough but the mattress had been wrapped in something (I did not want to think about what or why) and I felt like I was sleeping on a giant diaper all night.

We had another gorgeous day to cross the Confederation Bridge and enjoyed the two hour trip back to Halifax, stopping for a leisurely wander around a very laid-back town called (of all things), Victoria By the Sea.  Four blocks square contained the entire town and it was lovely step back in time, reminiscent of little prairie towns in the 1960s -- peaceful, sleepy,  and the perfect antithesis to highway travel.

PEI SPUDS!

We are now back in Halifax in a nice inn about 10 miles from the Halifax airport.  Tomorrow is an early one, as I need to be at the airport by 0630.   From there to Edmonton, where I will cool my heels for about 3 hours, and then at long last - Comox sometime in the mid-afternoon.   Hard to believe that I'll be home so soon as I sit here on the other side of Canada, but therein lies the beauty of travel and all the adventures within.

All about the lobster

Look at these two beauties:  Beamer (the Bibee) and Emily-Anne (the Biber)

And this lovely crustacean:

who sacrificed his life for the glory of garlic butter and a splendiferous sunset over Charlottetown harbour.

What a beautiful and historic city this is, easy to find your way around and full of interesting shops and again - friendly Maritimers.   We've checked into this amazing B&B, circa 1860, and our room is at the very, very top of the house.  We have to ascend two very long winding staircases and through spooky old hallways to get to our suite, and after walking more than 17 km around Charlottetown today those stairs were even steeper than usual.   It's gorgeous though, and tomorrow at precisely 8 a.m. we will be served breakfast by candlelight (probably by either Mr. Jeckle or Mr. Hyde).

We took the ferry over, a calm and windless trip and so warm we were able to sit up on the top deck through the entire trip.  Turns out the ferry dock is a good hour away from Charlottetown, so we got a good look at the pastoral scenery and red earth of PEI along the way.  Lots of potato fields!

On our stroll home from dinner this evening we followed the boardwalk along the ocean and in the gathering dark, as we approached our B&B  on our quiet residential street, we noted a tall fox standing quietly to the side, just watching us.   It was almost eerie as we were able to get fairly close, although the pictures are too blurry to post as it was nearly dark.  Either our spirit animal has tracked us down or foxes are a common sight around here, but in any case, it was amazing to get so close to one.

We have a few more hours to explore PEI tomorrow before taking the Confederation Bridge back to Halifax, dodging briefly into New Brunswick on the way through - which officially makes this a three province holiday - wu hoo!

Oh yes we did!

Ta DA!  Here it is - Lonely Planet's respectful nod to Dartmouth, created by the Two if by Sea cafe, a humble little spot directly across the street from the local soup kitchen, where a long line was already forming.   The ambiguity did not escape me but I bought it anyway and carried it all the way back to Halifax in its greasy little paper bag.  Yes, it was worth it, every last buttery crumb and melty bit of chocolate, worth the long walks ahead and the scolding that I have to give that girl in the mirror with icing sugar dusting her chin.

The ferry ride to Dartmouth is actually an extension of their bus transit system, it runs every 15 minutes from downtown Halifax and is a really pleasant and inexpensive cruise that affords nice views of the Halifax skyline.   If you're only staying in Dartmouth for 90 minutes (believe me, that's plenty of time) then the trip back is free and at $2.50 round trip, it's a steal.  So what if the croissant was nearly double that!   

Halifax harbour

It's a pretty little spot, Dartmouth, with a nice park on the harbour, a tiny business sector and a lot of hills.  You could smell alyssum everywhere!  Today the temperature has zoomed up to the mid 20s and after sweating our way up and down several of those hills we were only too happy to reboard the ferry and head back to Hali and our sunny patio deck, with a quick stop at the grog shop for some cold Schooner beer first.  Shoes off and toes in the sun, this is the life.

Tomorrow we will pack up and leave this beautiful little house and make our way to PEI via ferry.   Kind of funny - it is free to travel to PEI no matter how you get there - ferry or the Confederation Bridge.   You are only charged when it is time to leave.   Now that's good marketing! We are booked into a gothic-looking heritage B&B in Charlottetown which will be quite the change from our comfy cottage (see the POD below).    Apparently breakfast is served by candlelight.   What do you bet it will be chocolate croissants.... gack.

Peggy's Cove and Lunenberg

Beautiful Peggy's Cove pretty much charmed our socks off.  We had lucky timing, arriving well ahead of the tourist buses and as a result, enjoyed a leisurely stroll through the tiny shops leading up to the lighthouse.   The sun appeared as if by magic, warming the lighthouse and adding sapphire hues to the Atlantic.  The history here is palpable and evident in the faces of third and fourth generation locals, all friendly and inviting.  We stuck to the lighthouse route and pulled over frequently for photo ops.

We picnic'd close to Mahone Bay and made our way to colorful Lunenburg.  Time stopped as we wandered the streets, spoke to the locals and then finally stopped for an ice-cold Schooner beer and a bowl of chowder so full of cod, haddock and scallops that there was little room for anything else.

Eight hours of exploring and driving through this beautiful area seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.  Now we're too tired to bother with dinner - it's nearly 8 pm EST and so our wine is going to be accompanied by what's left of the leftover chicken and some really great chocolate chip cookies.  I LOVE being on vacation!

Tomorrow?   Pretty sure we're off to Dartmouth.  The Lonely Planet has given us advice too serious to ignore:  Chocolate croissants at Two if By Sea, probaby the best in Canada.  Pretty much a no-brainer where our first stop will be.  Stay tuned.

Our first Haligonian: Nova, the Harris hawk

In stark contrast to Saturday's clusterfark, Sunday's trip across Canada could not have been smoother.   We flew fast, landed early and Beamer met me outside the airport door with the engine gunned and tank full.  And off we flew in the soft, warm rain to our amazing little cottage on Swaine Street, which was brimming over with goodies, burples and bubbles, thanks to Beamer's wine & food tour on Saturday.   Diplomat that she is, she bought a bottle of wine from each winery before picking up a barbecue chicken and some fruit and voila - all food groups being satisfied, we were set for our 4 days in Halifax.

I can't say enough about this beautiful little cottage.  Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, everything newly renovated and so inviting and charming.  The owner left us supplied with everything from ketsup to cheddar cheese and there are thoughtful touches everywhere - candles and incense near the huge sunken bathtub and soft throws, quilts and chaise lounges in both bedrooms.  There is a tiny fenced backyard with plenty of deck space for sitting and enjoying a cold one, the ever-important WiFI and high quality hardwood throughout.  All this and so much more for $89/night, about one-third of what I would happily pay for a place of this calibre. 

Our first night did not end until 1:30 am which sounds shocking until you realize that's only 9:30 PST and that's really only an hour past my usual bedtime.  This philosophy backfires when you factor in our 7:30 awakening, which really is 3:30 a.m. my time.  Anyway, one can play the jetlag game or not, I choose not, it was time to get up and have fun and that's exactly what we did.

We began with a long wander around the Halifax harbour, and the first thing we saw was this charming fellow walking down a misty pier with a huge falcon on his arm.  We both thought we were hallucinating but it turns out that this man is hired by the city to keep the pier and areas free from seagulls and their rude bathroom habits.  Not good for the tourists.  So a few times per day he has only to go to the end of the pier and let Nova stretch her wings, and vamoose, not a seagull in sight.   Pretty amazing.  Here's Nova - and she is even more fiercely beautiful than she looks:

It  is easy to spend a day wandering the harbour and exploring the shops and museums.  We boarded the last Corvette in Canada - the HMCS Sackville and oh, how I thought of my dad as we looked at the cramped spaces and tried to imagine how on earth all those men could survive what they did, not only the war, but the wild Atlantic storms.   Not surprisingly, what caught our interest was the canteen, still stocked with some of the original items that would have been sold to the seamen.   Like these chocolate bars, and although you might recognize some of the brand names, you would not believe the size of them.  The were HUGE.   Five and ten cents went a long way in those days.

Ever the flirt, Beams made a new friend as we left the ship.  I think she was trying to talk this sailor out of his rum ration but who knows.

Shopping was a bit touristy but fun anyway and we managed to score a couple of great finds.  Then we had a leisurely wander through a very old cemetery from the 1700s followed by the stunning Halifax public gardens, an oasis pretty much in the middle of busy downtown Halifax.

We grabbed some tasty fish 'n chips and fishcakes at a cute little pub called "Your Father's Moustache" and realized that between the miles and the humidity and yes, the jet lag, we had just about had it for this day.  So now we're setting the sun in the shank of the afternoon and Googling up the maps for tomorrow's adventure - a picnic at Peggy's Cove.  In the meantime we are completely hooked on FM 852, Community Seaside FM.   Apparently the music is chosen by a bunch of old mariners with a heavy dose of country thrown in and you can hear anything from the Rankins to sea chanties, jigs and reels, plus several tunes that I haven't heard since I was 10 years old.  Somehow it all fits perfectly in this sweet cottage where you can sing your heart out, should you choose.   (I can hear Rick's sigh of relief from all the way across Canada that he's not here right now!)   Ohhhh, here comes Rita McNeill doing a beautiful Cape Breton ballad!   Crank up the volume, Beamer!

On my way to... nowhere

Saturday, 0800 hours

Due to a whatzit on the plane being "loose", an entire maintenance crew is being flow in from Vancouver with a roll of duct tape and some chewing gum.   Although the crew reassured us that they all knew how to fix it, they weren't allowed to due to union rules and even the helpful offer of a passenger (mechanic) was turned down.  Apparently there are no men in Comox with a hammer or a screwdriver or knowledge of whatzits.  And so, the flight at 0600 is optimistically rebooked for somewhere around 10.  Which means Halifax connector to Calgary will be be flying without the body in seat 17A.

WJ's rebooking had me cooling my heels in Calgary, then Toronto before winding my way to Halifax around 1 a.m.  That didn't just ruin my day of travel, it would also ruin sleep for both of us tonight and make the long-anticipated wine & food tour starting early on Sunday kind of a wash-out.

After exploring a few other dead-ends it became apparent that the most merciful thing to do is to try again tomorrow, same time, same place and hopefully on a different aircraft.  Sacrificing my first day of holidays is not how I planned this but I guess you have to deal with curveballs as best you can, even if I'm a lousy catcher.

Right now I should be in Calgary throwing up a stetson in pre-celebration.  Instead I'm sitting morosely staring out the window, mad as hell.  Sorry Beamer, I hope by the time you read this we'll be together and hoisting a cool one rather than my current state of crying in my beer.   Stoopit, stoopit airlines.

Merry Times in the Maritimes

We're off to Halifax on Saturday, my buddy Beamer and me, to celebrate our mutual arrival into our sixth decade.  The last commemoration was thirty years ago at the Bombay Bicycle Club in Vancouver, an event that has faded somewhat since those tender years, and it's time to travel again.  If you do the math, our next one will be sometime in the year 2045 and may have a slight change in venue.  Until then though we are off on a wonderful adventure, our first time to the Maritimes, staying in Halifax and PEI for a total of a week.  Cyclops the Canon is freshly cleaned and ready to capture the sights and sounds and hopefully, the beginnings of the fall colors.  Wine tours, Peggy's Cove and plenty of lobster are all on the wish list and I'll be blogging along as we go, so stay tuned!