Home Stretch

 Leaving the bustling metropolis of Linwood, Nova Scotia marked the final stretch of our 2024 road trip. After a delicious pancake breakfast (with Vermont maple syrup of course) we headed west and let Annabel know that there would be a surprise in the evening. She asked a ton of questions about it, but we didn’t tell her what it might be.

Our first stop was in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia (because Old Glasgow was wicked dumb?) where we attended the Museum of Industry. Despite the name sounding like a snooze-fest, it was a very engaging museum and had some perfect elements for Annabel including a giant train that she could play in and a crane that she could maneuver. We particularly enjoyed an interpreter that gave us a demonstration of a steam engine from 1838 and another that operated on a dry dock in Sydney, NS from 1866-1995 when the boiler finally broke. Also - it appears that coal mining in the region was a terribly dangerous undertaking, and therefore required many undertakers.

After a picnic lunch at the museum, we continued west to Fundy National Park where we unveiled the surprise for Annabel. We had reserved an otentik for the evening (a cabin like perma-tent) so we would be glamping for the night. She loved playing on the beds and in the loft. We had dinner overlooking the bay and spent the rest of the night playing UNO in the otentik. It turned out to be a good night to have a solid cover over our heads because we awoke to rain and no appearance of it letting up. It meant that we wouldn’t get to explore much of the park on this trip, but we’ve had fabulous weather for most of this trip, so who am I to complain?

Since the weather was iffy, it was a driving day for us. We arrived back in the USA and continued through Bangor, Maine where we followed the interstate to Freeport. It was our longest driving day of the trip by far and Annabel was great! We had lunch at Tim Horton’s in St. John, New Brunswick and we let Annabel choose her dinner that evening. She had a hankering for spaghetti and meatballs so we ate at the Olive Garden in Augusta, Maine. We camped that evening at Winslow Park (the same campground as our first night on this trip).

The next day - we continued to follow the interstate (which seemed to be the safest route due to all the recent flooding in the northeast) and made a quick stop in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for some licks at Annabelle’s Ice Cream. We were the first patrons of the day and Annabel was excited to see her name on the sign.

Our last stop was at the Montshire Museum in Norwich, Vermont where we all got a stretch break from the car and Annabel happily played with bubbles for seventy five percent of our visit. The museum’s exhibits were a perfect match for Annabel’s age and she even got to pet a turtle!

The rest of the trip was a familiar venture on interstate 89 as we settled back into Vermont’s mountainous topography - a landscape that seems to hug you on return. We had our first extended road trip since the COVID pandemic and we had gained an awesome new road trip buddy - GO ANNABEL! 

**Also a shout out to the 2010 Prius with 198,000 miles that is STILL hauling us around on adventures after all these years**

Cape Breton III

 Upon our departure from the North Sydney KOA, we left the beaches and mountains and headed for the inland area of Cape Breton. We first headed south to the bucolic town of Iona where perched on a hill, overlooking Bras D’Or Lake sits the Highland Village Museum. It was one of the best living history museums that we had ever attended and it told the story of the Scottish immigrants evicted from their homes during the highland clearances and settlement in Cape Breton. The interpreters were knowledgeable and Annabel asked great questions of them. One interpreter even sat and sang Gaelic work songs with us while working a wool blanket.

After tearing Lisa away from Iona, we took the world’s shortest ferry to return to the town of Baddeck where we grabbed supper at the Bell Buoy Bistro and then attended the Ceilidh at St. Michael’s Parish Hall. We tapped our toe to the fiddle/piano duet of Dawn Beaton and Jason Roach, but Annabel was dancing around the room until she hit her limit and fell asleep on Mom’s lap.

The next morning we took a circuitous route to the town of Judique for their lunchtime Ceilidh which featured two excellent high school musicians. Annabel was dancing up a storm again, which was dangerous with the food being served. We managed to sneak in some bites of fish and chips between tunes.

We found a campsite just off the island of Cape Breton, but headed back to Port Hawkesbury for their Tuesday night Ceilidh which featured a large group of musicians (John and Bill Petterin, Rachel Davis, Darren McMullen and Jason Roach) playing toe-tapping Scottish music. Annabel repeated her freestyle highland dance and managed to stay up for the end of the show.

We are spending the night in Linwood, Nova Scotia and planning to start heading west. Tomorrow should be a Fun-d(a)y. 

Cape Breton II

 After leaving Chetícamp, we dried off in the car as we followed the southern route of the Cabot Trail. We meandered through sparsely populated territory with filtered views of the mountains through the low hanging clouds. Eventually we made our way to the town of Baddeck where we visited the Alexander Graham Bell museum which is filled with not only telephones but equipment and languages invented for teaching and communicating with the deaf and airplanes and speedboats. By modern standards, Alexander Graham Bell would be considered a bit of a kook. Annabel enjoyed finding hidden sheep and completing the scavenger hunt.

We grabbed lunch at the Three Doors Down Diner in Baddeck before making the long road north to Ingonish. We decided to skip the Friday night music in favor of a quiet evening at our campsite by the sea. Instead, we whiled away the evening on a beach where Warren Brook terminates into the Atlantic Ocean. Annabel braved the cool water to swim while Mom and Dad played fiddle music on the beach. We found the campground playground by following the river trail but it was a bit of a disappointment after the massive series of structures at our previous campground.

After chocolate chip pancakes and bacon meat sticks the next morning, we were itching for a hike. We were in luck since our campground was situated across the road from Lake Warren - a beautiful glacial lake with a perimeter path. Annabel walked the entire four mile trail and other than a pair of dropped sunglasses (which were safely retrieved!) the hike went off without a hitch.

Lunch was back at our campsite before we spent the rest of the evening at the same beach we had lounged on the previous day. We all made friends with a local family and Annabel had a great swimming buddy in the afternoon. It was a quiet and relaxing day with almost no driving which was a nice contrast to most of the days of this trip so far. 

It was a bit of a rowdy campground night but we awoke early the next morning anyway and headed to Louisbourg Fortress National Historic Site. The site is a living history museum that recreates the fort as is appeared in 1744. We had lunch with the commoners (where you only get a spoon) and enjoyed talking to the many interpreters around the fort. Annabel enjoyed booing the “voleur” at the public humiliation!

We find ourselves in North Sydney for the evening at the nicest KOA that we’ve ever stayed at…although that isn’t a high bar to clear.

Cape Breton I

 We blasted through the remainder of Nova Scotia the next morning with one refuel stop before finally crossing the bridge to Cape Breton Island. We then decided to follow the coastal route rather than the main drag through the center of the island. This gave us an excellent spot for lunch overlooking the Northumberland Strait with the eastern tip of Prince Edward Island in the distance. After we had satisfied ourselves with the view and our meal, we kept heading north with a quick stop in Judique for the last ten minutes of a Ceilidh. 

After the long road north to Chetícamp, we set up our tent and whiled away the rest of the evening at the campground. Annabel was excited to see that there was a massive playground just a few sites away from us - and that is where we spent the majority of the evening.

The next morning, we awoke late and had savory oatmeal with sardines for breakfast (don’t knock it til you try it…) and we headed into the park to explore. Our first stop was the Skyline Trail (which is probably the required activity here) and Annabel did a great job hiking to the boardwalk view. It is amazing to see the sharp contrast of the mountains that go straight into the sea. 

We had a picnic lunch at MacIntosh Brook before heading to the fishing village of Dingwall which will likely be our northernmost point on this trip. Beyond the great name, it gives an interesting view of the mountains and bays on the north side of Cape Breton Island. 

In the evening we enjoyed Acadian food (Meat Pie!) and music in the village of Chetícamp. Annabel was making friends in the Place de Pecheur where we enjoyed the outdoor concert. We spent a rainy night in the tent and will hopefully have a chance to dry out at some point today as we meander to the other side of the park for the weekend.

Maine & New Brunswick

 We’ve hit the 2024 road trip season and we are heading in the general direction of the Canadian Maritimes. With lawns mowed and a flock of chickens tended to, we completed the monumental task of pulling past our mailbox and heading on a grand adventure. We are still in the 2010 Toyota Prius, but now packed for three with a carseat in the back

We buzzed through Vermont and New Hampshire to first visit our friends Brian and Emily in Yarmouth, Maine where we got to meet their daughter: Elle. Annabel quickly realized that they shared a fondness for all things Anna and Elsa (from Frozen) so we vowed to come back in the morning for another playdate. In the meantime, we needed a place to camp for the night - so on a tip from Brian we headed to Winslow Park and Campground in Freeport, which certainly did not disappoint. The park had it all, beautiful oceanfront sites and a giant playground for Annabel. We explored the shoreline looking for shells and Annabel wanted to find a crab. We didn’t find any skittering around but we found a crab claw that we hung onto.

After a solid night sleep for the three of us (GO ANNABEL!), we headed back to “Camp Deerwester” for a morning of kiddie pools, splash pads and more Anna and Elsa time. We bid farewell to Brian and Elle and grabbed some lunch in Freeport before heading down east (which translates to north in any other part of the country). We struck out for camping around Acadia but found nice accommodations at Cobscook State Park in extreme eastern coastal Maine. The campsite was lovely but the mosquitos were vicious so we ate our dinner quickly and escaped to the safe haven of the tent for another great night of sleep (GO ANNABEL AGAIN!).

In a show of solid timing, we put away the tent just before the rain started the next morning. We had our breakfast in the misty morning fog and grabbed showers before crossing into Canada. Since the weather was less than desirable, we headed to the Huntsman Aquarium in St. Andrew’s By the Sea, New Brunswick. We enjoyed watching the seals, and learned quite a bit about whales and ocean conservation. Annabel could have spent the rest of the day at the starfish and crab touch tanks, although she was concerned about getting pinched by a crab. We also learned that lobsters pee out of their face.  We had lunch at “Herring’s” in downtown St. Andrew’s By the Sea and continued heading east on route one.

We are in Amherst, Nova Scotia for the evening and will be Cape Breton bound tomorrow!

Trek through Québec

It has been years since our last road-trip due to the pandemic and the fact that we had a child in April 2020 (welcome Annabel!), so we dipped our toe in for a quick jaunt into Québec for a tour de animaux. With freshly minted passports in hand we crossed the border and headed to Tim Hortons as our main destination. 

After lunch, we spent the afternoon at the Granby Zoo. It was Annabel's first in person view of megafauna and she was enraptured. The zoo was larger and more encompassing than expected but we did not take advantage of the attached waterpark (why does everything have a waterpark now? they'll be putting them in grocery stores soon!)

In true road-trip fashion, we didn't plan for our overnight accommodations, so we turned the car towards Montréal and after picking up provisions, we found a lovely site in Rougemont. After dinner, we spent the night floating in the pool (with hair tied up) and snoozed in the tent with Annabel playing tent-pong for the night.

Annabel announced that she was awake at 5:00, so we had plenty of time to eat breakfast and pack before heading west to Montréal. We planned to see more animals at the Biodome and despite some tricksy parking signage, we managed to be one of the first groups in. Walking through the different biospheres made us glad that we dressed in layers and Annabel seemed most interested in the underwater creatures (particularly otters and penguins). By the time we headed out, the Biodome was starting to get quite busy with summer camps. We bid Montréal adieu and crossed the Jaques Cartier bridge towards home.

I managed to sneak in one more stop for Tim Horton's doughnuts and we made our obligatory stop at the Fritz-Kaiser fromagerie for Annabel's premier visit. She was not disappointed and managed to stay awake for the long drive down the Alburg tongue and through the Champlain Islands. 

T'was a short trip, but I think we have a great new road-trip buddy!