2019 Nova Scotia + Hurricane Dorian

NOVA SCOTIA 2019

Our trip began on Tuesday, September 3; we left the cottage almost on time (10 a.m.) to meet Birgit for lunch. Our original plan had been to have lunch on The Terrasse at the Chateau Laurier but it was a touch too chilly for that. I spent a fair bit of time trying to find just the perfect spot for the 3 of us, and we ended up at La Strada in the Glebe - John’s old stomping grounds.

That's our table in the middle, by the window!

We were the first in the restaurant and it was a lovely time. Our server was good- bringing Birgit a tasting glass of wine when she wasn’t sure if the red was light enough. Our table was by the window overlooking the corner so we were doing a lot of people watching as they came and went. Lots of strange tattoos and some interesting hair colours. Of course we were not being judgemental at all!

After dropping Birgit at home we drove to Lisa’s (where we were going to leave the car). Lisa drove us - in our car - to the train station. The train ride was quite pleasant. We had pre-booked seats (they all are now. So much more efficient) and the seats were quite comfortable. The train arrived on time; we scoped out where we were to be for our next train trip on Wednesday and then walked to the Chateau Champlain.  Interesting that we hadn't been to Montreal in decades and this was our second trip in 6 months.  I learned on my research that the architect made the windows to reflect those of Windsor Station (just across the street); the hotel was built by CP in 1967 for Expo 67 and of course Windsor Station was also a CP station - the one that John came into from Beaconsfield 5 days a week!  But the building is often irreverently referred to as the 'cheese grator'!

We decided to have a light dinner in the bar of the hotel which was just perfect.

As we were checking out the Metro station below the hotel for options to get to Vieux Montreal the next morning, the attendant came up to me as I was trying to figure out the ticket kiosk. She explained the fares and we purchased two single tickets (because we were going to walk back at the end of the day).

Wednesday, Sept. 4

After checking our luggage in the hotel for the day, we took the Metro to Champs de Mars. It was a trifle confusing coming out of the station, but we took the tunnel passage under the street, but when we emerged we were in a full-blown rain storm. We were absolutely soaked from our waists down. Wrong day to wear denim but good for my Crocs sandals!!!  In the map I've circled where we came out and into the rain storm.  Our eventual goal was the Chapel Bonsecours, circled to the left of the Marche.

We zipped into Chateau Ramezay to ask for directions for a breakfast place - I was ready to settle for Starbucks - and we were so close to Place Jacques Cartier. So we headed over but not everyplace seemed open. But the one we found was perfect and it’s in a hotel I want to stay in next time - William Gray! The food was excellent and by the time we finished our breakfast our pants were sort of dry and the rain had stopped.

We walked down to the eastern edge of Old Montreal and toured The Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel and learned all about Marguerite de Bourgeoys. She was quite a woman and definitely an early feminist. We saw the 50 miniature dioramas explaining her life (the story behind their creation was almost as interesting), learned about her school for girls and women, the story behind her true portrait (and a story to rival that of the Mona Lisa). Then we climbed the stairs to the tower, stopping along the way to see the view of the harbour and the remnants of Expo 67.

You have to give the Catholic church credit for marketing their churches.  The audio guide was excellent (and so much better than running our phone batteries down for the other option!) But this image is from the website - it's part of a 360 image.  The circled parts are: two hanging ships (because it's known as the Sailors' chapel) and the crypt of Marguerite.  

Then down, down again to the crypt which was a recent discovery (relatively speaking) but nearby was (but hidden from view) the archaeologists’ work beneath the chapel itself (limited to small tour groups). But the audio tour was exceptionally well done and we had the place to ourselves. I think I interpreted a British woman’s remarks as disdain because the church ‘only’ went back to 1771!

We spent more than two hours there and when we came out we decided to sit on a patio in Place Jacques Cartier having a sangria! Or two. It was very pleasant. The wind was gusting and one gust blew over the patio umbrella right across our table - I grabbed it to soften its blow before it hit the women beside us. The fellow selling artwork in the square came over to right the umbrella and carried on a wonderful conversation with us in French - about which I could understand nothing but it had to do with the wind for sure!

After a lazy hour or so, we took in the World Press photo exhibit. What a brutish species we are. Trump was the subject, main or secondary, of several photos.

We headed back to the hotel along Rue St Paul, collected our luggage from the hotel (and tried to find a washroom in the lobby but no such luck! They must have such a walk-through crowd that washrooms are by room key only).

We headed down to the Metro again with our luggage (having forgotten about the stairs - should have gone outside). I was walking on the left hand side of the stairs, almost at the bottom when this young, really well-dressed woman started up the same side; I kept thinking that she was going to move but no, not until our fingers almost touched did she seem to waken; I said in my best sarcastic voice, “So sorry” and she said, “No problem “, possibly I should have been on the other side but I wasn’t. Funny - I distinctly remember her fingernails and how good they looked.

John had a similar experience he’ll have to add.

Our walk through the underground for the Metro was not a great experience. We were dragging our suitcases in the midst of rush hour! People were not happy to be behind us.

Although after a recent excursion in the TTC subway system, there didn't seem to be any particular protocol for being on one side or the other (although we should have stood over to the right on the wider escalator).

The business lounge for the train service was full when we got to the train station, but just as we were approaching, Frederic was setting up the kiosk outside the lounge doors for The Ocean (our train). We were the first in line; he told us that we had the best (and last) cabin on the train - in the club or dome car at the end of the train.  And it was a great cabin - meant for 3 berths, so we had the two lower ones, forming an L. There were two comfy chairs that folded down under a berth. The toilet room was the smallest I remember but the window was huge; when we looked into the ‘regular’ cabins, it was definitely claustrophobic! And dark.

In the photo above, I've circled the control for pulling down the berth that ran under the window; the other sofa (?) on the left of the photo converted to a berth.  Above the window berth was the third berth should it have been needed.

As we were entering our cabin, another couple went into their cabin 3 doors down (only 4 cabins in the car and one was taken by Annette, our steward), the woman asked “Where’s our bed?” I guess she was a newbie train traveller!

Our reservation for dinner was at 7 p.m. so as soon as the train started we headed down the 12 cars to get to the dining lounge. It was a long difficult walk as the train rocked from side to side. John just barely could pass and many travellers complained that they would be black and blue by the end of the trip for the rocking back and forth as we walked. I think the passage ways were narrower than I remember - possibly to give more room to the cabins? Our car and the one next to it, which had cabins, single cabins, and sleeper bunks, were the oldest on the train.

I have learned recently that the cars beyond our car (and the other older car) were purchased at a bargain price from the UK, where they had been intended for use in the Channel Tunnel (and not sure why they didn't work out); the cars were narrower than the Canadian ones, but had better connections between cars.  The writer of the caption for the photo below compares the cars to those of Amtrak, but the comment is the same.  And we did talk with people as we stood grouped at either end of the car waiting for others to come through - it was like a one-way bridge!  And I did snag my sleeve on one of the door handles as I bounced along the corridor.  

Dinner, with wine, was good. I have no recollection of what we had; there were 3 choices (none for dessert - it was Mille Feuilles).

Late in the evening we went up to the Dome - it was deserted by this time (we’d also sat in the back of the car watching the tracks go by!). It was soothing with the rocking of the train, and watching the lights of lower Quebec go by. I hung in there until we got to Quebec City (really Ste Foy) and was fascinated to see the train back up out of the station, across the St. Lawrence (really, really wide); we backed up quite a way until we got to the siding allowing us to move forward again. One of the train engineers was sitting at the back of the car looking out the doors of the train - I guess when a passenger train goes backwards, someone has to be there to make sure everything is clear!

I slept fitfully and the next day I asked Annette to leave the bed made up and I took two naps there; by leaving the door open we could see both sides of the train. It was wonderful not having to do anything. We read, talked, napped.  Some parts of the trip were really rather boring - probably up to Miramichi - nothing but the railroad through the trees; so straight and yet the train travelled very slowly; maybe there was a freight in front of us.  The season really picks up in the fall with the trees being the show!

Breakfast was a bit of a pain - first come, first served and it was a while waiting but sort of pleasant listening to others talk. Lunch was a disaster - we didn’t eat until the 3:30 sitting and that turned into 4:30. Because the train was now 2 hours late (having to sit on sidings waiting for freights to pass) they ordered in St. Hubert chicken when we stopped in Monction. Staff were distributing the dinners to individual cabins as we were trying to get to the dining car. We ordered fish and chips - why that would work in a facility that reheated food is beyond me and why I ordered it is another question.

Annette left two chicken dinners for us in our cabin and we gave them to a fellow near our Halifax hotel who was sort of begging on the street - good-looking guy selling some type of artwork. We explained what the dinners were and was he interested and he sure was, so we left them with him.

We sat up in the dome approaching Halifax and that was fun, seeing the many lakes that were in the area, and running along behind houses.

The train got in about 7:50 - two hours late; with no luggage to pick up (although we almost checked our bags until we learned that we wouldn’t see them during the trip!) we moved through the station quickly.

We walked quickly to our hotel (a 15 minute walk) - Prince George - and regrouped in the bar for a light meal. Then it was lights out. At this point - Thursday evening - no one seemed overly concerned about the approaching hurricane.  We sat in the corner beyond the bar and with the curtains open it was very pleasant.

Friday, September 6, 2019

Friday morning was a gorgeous morning - sunshine, the promise of warmth later on. After breakfast in the hotel, we dragged our luggage back to the train station. We could have stayed closer to the station but I was avoiding chain hotels and the Prince George was really quite lovely and suited our purposes well.

We walked through the Rogers square - when we were in Halifax last (2013???) it was just a huge hole in the ground. Now it is this huge complex with a pedestrian street down the middle. The night before the nearby streets were filled with young people sitting in the patios. The noise from one of them went on into the wee hours of the morning.

Our rental car (supposed to be a Malibu) is a Jeep Grand Cherokee which is probably a little big for our purposes but given the weather we drove through Saturday morning probably a good bet.  How's that for a good photo of our car and a typical Maritime lighthouse (south of Digby, so we are looking out on the Bay of Fundy there).

Getting out of the city was, as usual, interesting but eventually we made it to our first stop - a geocache on top of a place called Courthouse Hill - there used to be a courthouse up on this hill, from which you could see 5 Nova Scotia counties. Not sure why it would be built atop a hill, but it was a good scenic view.

Those yellow containers are for blueberries - off to the right, unseen, was a tractor that I think was harvesting the blueberries.  I knew Maine was famous for blueberries but had not known much about Nova Scotia.  This was another example of using geocaching to help us find little-known but fascinating places.

Then down through Kennetcook, site of the last wooden bridge in Nova Scotia, and on out to Burntcoat Head on the Bay of Fundy's Minas Basin. The tide was out so we were able to walk on the sea floor; we got our shoes covered in red mud, and learned some more about the tides and the erosion. That's an island in front of us; it used to be connected to the main land; there was a lighthouse on there until it fell into the water (and before that happened it was accessed by a ladder).  The green patches were particularly slippery.

The attendant told everyone that the site was closing by 6 that day for the weekend because of the storm - our first inkling that things were truly going to get serious.

From there we dipsy-doodled along the coast checking out the mudflats and various sites of interest along the way.  The area is also a source of gypsum so behind the trees were large quarries.  The tide was gradually coming in, but as we crossed the rivers it was mainly just red mud.

The causeway over the Avon River in Windsor is a source of environmental concern - having choked off the river on the inland side.  But if they do open it up and build a highway over the river that will cause issues because in the 50+ years, the ecology has changed!

We wanted to see the fossil museum at Blue Beach but he was closed for the summer; we did walk down to the beach and picked through some of the pieces of shale looking for fossils. John did find some interesting rocks to share with Florence. It was a somewhat treacherous walk the last few feet down to the beach and of course our walking sticks were back in the car.

Walking sticks would have been an asset; the beach was all shale rock and although John found interesting rocks, there were no fossils in them!

Our hotel was the Evangeline Inn and Motel, near Grand Pre. It was late afternoon when we checked in, so before heading out for more sightseeing, we had lunch in the cafe connected to the Inn. We had seafood chowder - a milk base but piled high with lobster and shrimp. Since they are renowned for their pies we did have dessert. The Inn was the childhood home of Sir Robert Borden, a Prime Minister around WW1.

So here are the explanations for the map above; kind of looks like a quilt, doesn't it!  
#1 - the Evangeline Inn & Motel (so noted because of Sir Robert Borden)
#2 - the Visitor Centre
#3 - the entrance to the road leading to the beach on Long Island (no longer an island).  This is where we watched the tide coming in rapidly
#4 - Boot Island - was not always an island; the water separating it from the main land is called The Guzzle; the island too used to be farmed but is now a bird sanctuary
#5 - Where we watched the birds do their thing (see below)
#6 - the known spot where many Acadians were loaded onto ships and expelled from Acadia to many points around the world
#7 - the Lookoff - overlooking Grand Pre and all the farms and dykes; actually a drumlin many km long.

Our first sightseeing stop was the visitor centre for Grand Pre but we got there just as they closed and they too were going to be closed for the weekend because of the upcoming storm. But there was lots to see in the area outdoors, so we drove through the farmlands created originally by the Acadians and their dykes. At one point we stood for a while watching the tide come in - we were on the Minas Basin, part of the Bay of Fundy and it was quite amazing to see how quickly the water came in. Further along Long Island we watched in awe as a flock of shorebirds rested on the stone beach and then flew off all together. A bird watcher who was there told us it was either a peregrine falcon or a Merlin that had frightened them. After much flying around in formation and short touchdowns, they eventually settled back in, right where they’d been.

It's quite something to see a whole flock of birds move as one. (Click on the link to see a short video)

We decided to go into Wolfville to pick up dinner and eat back in our room. The grocery store was a smallish IGA and there was a long line of people waiting to pay. Initially I thought it was because they were stocking up on supplies for the approaching storm but it appeared they were not. They really had more snacks etc. for the Friday night. Given the aftermath of no power for up to a week, perhaps they should have been stocking up!

I on the other hand, went to the bank to withdraw money in preparation for the potential of having no power and then to Shoppers to buy 3 magazines in case my tablet ran out of power and I had nothing to read!

After reading the weather forecast we decided to forego the ‘free’ breakfast in the on-site cafe, starting at 8 a.m. the next morning and drive as quickly as possible to Digby. We ate a light dinner in our room, read the news, and got to bed earlier than usual.

 

Grand Pre was to the right of Kentville; Digby off on the left blue circle.

Saturday, September 7 - the Hurricane strikes

(Although it was probably a high-end tropical storm by the time it got to us).  Also KC's birthday!

Although I heard no rain during the night, when we woke around 6 or so, it was evident that the beautiful sunny weather was gone; it had started raining but as yet it was not terrible.

We were on the road shortly after 7 and drove straight through to Digby on the main highway, foregoing the sidetrips I had planned (a return trip is in order).

Our only misstep was not filling up on gas as we entered Digby although it was only just now that John told me that when he said he had half a tank of gas, it meant he had about 500 km available; however, it would have been wiser to have fueled up then. But since the wind and rain were increasing in strength it seemed more important to get to our destination. Hindsight is wonderful.

We arrived at the Digby Pines Golf resort before 9 a.m. and although there were rooms made up, Linda suggested we wait until Room 203 with a bay window was done. We went downstairs to the dining room and had a wonderful breakfast. About 9:30 Linda called to say our room was ready! She gave us a candle - just in case - and we settled in. Everything just kept getting windier and more violent. The wind was blowing water from a downspout onto our bathroom window and it made it sound even worse.  And then there was the flag flapping above us!  Nevertheless, we both managed to have a nap!

That flag flew straight out all day!

  

There was a wedding party preparing for the ceremony at 4 p.m.; someone suggested the couple name their first child 'Dorian' or 'Dorie'!  While we were at lunch - a limited menu had been put in place because the hotel was not sure how long before the power went out - the power did go out; almost as soon as the lights went out, we could hear the sound of the generator. And the generator was right below our hotel room!

We could see people walking outside so we put on our rain gear and went outside. The wind was something else and the rain eventually drove us in. My coat at the bottom was sodden - took two days to dry!

But the hotel supplied food - very good food at a limited buffet - and although we had no hot water, and the pressure in the taps was low, we did have flushing toilets. So we read our paper magazines while we had light and then switched to tablets and e-readers when it was dark.

Sunday morning in our naïveté we went out for a drive. Little did we realize that everything would be closed, that we had lost cellular connections, and that trees were lying all over the roads. In fact my first text to the girls was that things didn’t seem too bad and very quickly after that we were driving under downed trees and detouring because trees had pulled power lines over the road. It was the number of power lines down that helped us realize that this was not going to be a quick fix.  I think because there was little visible damage around the hotel we did not suspect how bad it was in the rest of the province.

When we had to take a detour because of a tree right across the road with downed wires, we were frustrated because our GPS could tell us where we were but not how to get anywhere - because there was no cellular service!  It took a while to figure that out!

On our drive into Annapolis Royal - to see the historic gardens (!) -  we were puzzled by the long lines on either side of the road. I thought maybe a funeral or large social but no, it was a line-up for fuel at one of the only gas stations able to operate, undoubtedly with a generator. 

By the time we got to the next site (the tidal basin generating station - which you would think would be open) we were realizing that it would be impossible to find anything open. It was kind of eerie to drive through towns and see the fast food places empty/closed.  But many people were out in their gardens raking up the leaves and fallen branches.  In all our driving we saw only one house with a tree fallen on it, but there were many such cases.  

John was conscious of the fact that we should have fueled up earlier (we still had 250+ km of fuel) so we were careful of what we drove to see (but we were doing a great job of recharging our devices!)

We drove out to Port Royal (Habitation) where Champlain had created the Order of Good Cheer to keep spirits buoyed during the long winter and had made a small fort. It too was closed although we could walk all around the place. But signage indicated they were expecting to open at 11 a.m. that day - but no such luck. We ate a small lunch of items we had bought in Wolfville on Friday sitting in the sun in the parking lot. It was amazing to think that the day before had been so dismal and now there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

We forewent a trip out to the Balancing Rock - too far to travel when gas availability was iffy, and too far to go from a time perspective, so we went to Point Prim lighthouse instead, not far from the Resort.  At the beginning of our travels this day, we drove out to see the St. John/Digby ferry terminal; the ferry had just departed Digby so we were optimistic that things were not too bad!

Back at the resort we learned that Yarmouth had power (a destination point the next day) so we were hopeful of finding gas. We made reservations for dinner (dinner was between 5:30 and 7:30 because after that there would be no natural light by which to see easily!) and then went walking around the property on a well-maintained trail. It was a good hike but I was amazed at how many leaves were littering the ground - like an early fall but with green leaves instead. I wondered if the leaves had been blown off because it was close to fall and they had a tenuous hold on the tree. It was like a leafy carpet along most of the trail.

Our room is circled; we took the path down to a lookoff on the waterfront, overlooking the Annapolis Basin.

Desserts for both buffets were excellent. The kitchen did a tremendous job of feeding us good food. But we did miss out on the signature dish of Coquilles St Jacques (with Digby scallops); ironically there had been an article in the Saturday Halifax paper about the resort and the article raved about the food, especially the scallops. Another time!

After breakfast the next morning we left for the other side of the province. Linda at the desk assured me that they had the best management who fed them and put them up during the storm.

Our trip - again in perfect sunshine - took us through small villages (all without power but relatively little storm damage that we could see) and out to long,long beaches by now directly on the Bay of Fundy.  While on one of those beaches, we got a phone call from Marc at The Lighthouse Motel telling us that they had no power or running water.  I did call the BW in Bridgewater and fortunately it was full because we would have missed out on a great little place.

We stopped at one gas station - he had power but no gas but thought that an Irving down the road would have gas. Sure enough, we joined the line-up and although I thought they would limit us to a certain amount, we had the tank filled. $80+ but we were good for 979+ km! Many if not most of the cars/trucks in the line-up were filling jerry-cans with gas - which later I realized was for their generators!  It was all very orderly; no one was jumping the queue. Once we were fueled up, we felt much more at ease.

This part of the province was true Acadian country; we heard French frequently.  

This is Sandford; notice the small drawbridge, second only to the one in Bermuda in small size.  It was built for the fishers so they didn't have to go out to the main road from the harbour.

In Yarmouth we drove into town, checked out ‘The Cat’ - the huge catamaran that is supposed to run between Bar Harbor and Yarmouth but hasn’t all summer because of US Customs.  Then we drove out to Cape Forchu on the tip of a peninsula. It was a great little stop and also visited by Champlain.

It's a lovely sleek ship, on lease from the US, built in Hawaii.

Here's John actually using our walking sticks at Cape Forchu.  There were lots of people here but in retrospect, if the power was out, why not go for a drive.  All the schools in the province were closed for two days.

Since we were now looking at the clock and realizing we had a ways to go yet, we decided that we would come back to Yarmouth another time, so we found an Atlantic Superstore and bought sandwiches to eat on the road.  We did drive around some peninsulas jutting out into the Atlantic but the roads were a trifling disappointing - they weren't as close to the sea as we were hoping for.  And I miscalculated and we drove past Shelburne, featured in The Book of Negroes and Washington Black.  

We found The Lighthouse Motel without any trouble and lo, the power had come on just minutes before our arrival.  Because of cancellations, Marc showed us three available rooms.  We chose the one in the middle of the boathouse, right down by the water.  The units had been flooded during the storm on Saturday, but because it was a tidal surge, the water didn't stay long.  The bathroom door was warped and didn't close properly and there a light fixture on the floor that gave John a shock when he touched it (still had water in it) but other than that it was a lovely room with a small kitchenette.  

We drove into Bridgewater to find a liquor store (they had just reopened too) and then headed down to the main street in town, along the LaHave River to have dinner at a pub that Marc had recommended.  John spent pre-dinner time crafting an email for Cindy to possibly use to make her case about her lunch duty snafu; after he finished he was able to enjoy his lobster roll!

The next morning we had breakfast at The LaHave Bakery just down the road.  I think they too were running on generators as it was cash only in all of the little shops in this repurposed fish processing plant.  There was a real sense of history in this place; there were many locals there because of the lack of power (and much talk about people leaving their generators running all the time!)  The company had owned several schooners which fished on the western banks, came back to this building to cure and salt their catch, then took the fish down to Turks and Caicos, returning with rum!

Our next stop was Fort Point; I think Champlain had been here too.  It was the capital of New  France for a year or so.  But it was closed now and even the signage had been removed.

On to Crescent Beach, on which you could drive!  It was a huge beach and rather deserted when we were there.  A road ran along behind the beach - it was rather like a causeway - out to the outer LaHave islands.  So we drove out there and checked out a couple of little harbours.  

Not far from here we stopped to take in the view (and watch someone with a big fire on the other side of the inlet).  A woman drove up and asked us if it was a controlled fire and since it was dying down and there was someone there she relaxed; she was from Maine; had been coming here for decades (to her camp).  We shared information about the hydro trucks we'd seen (at the point they were moving into the outer areas, actually getting into the forest to reconect lines).  She asked us where in New Brunswick we were from and that's when we did a double take and realized that our SUV had NB plates on it; we'd been driving for four days, had memorized the licence plate but never taken in the fact that NB had front and rear plates with red lettering and NS had only rear plates with blue lettering.  

This not being lobster season (it's from December to June) lobster traps were piled up everywhere.  

Our friend from Maine recommended a beach called Cherry Hill, little known to tourists, and a piping plover protected area.  So off we went and we laughed in delight at watching the little plovers race their little legs as they looked for food.  They moved so fast their legs were a blur.  It wasn't exactly a deserted place but they did seem to be locals.

We drove back into town to pick up a pasta dinner to eat in our Boathouse room, and then we had a small happy hour outside overlooking the LaHave River, and then a two hour pontoon boat tour with Captain Jim and a couple from Britain.  Jim was an ex-RCMP officer, somewhat full of himself in a good way, with a horrendous story of him trying to find a safe haven for his pontoon boat on Saturday in the midst of the storm.  John asked Andrew and Sheila about Brexit (they groaned when he asked) but it was interesting hearing their views.  

The derelict ships were interesting but hardly unique to Bridgewater; apparently there are about 600 abandoned ships across Canada and they just don't seem to be going anywhere.  One of the ships is a former naval vessel, and it was a former Japanese ship.  

After a lovely dinner in the Boathouse, we packed up our things and prepared to leave in the morning.  

The next day was a little cloudy but not bad; we took the cable ferry over to East LaHave and explored some of the communities over there.

Some of the places were really out of the way and they'd be in clusters with high-end homes/cottages/camps.  

We were looking for Gaff Point Trail at the end of one of these points; there was signage indicating that Google Maps was all wrong; don't take this road etc.  But we did find the beach but the trail was closed because of extensive damage from the Hurricane.  

Note the houses in the background.  The wind had come up quite a bit.

It was now time to head into Lunenburg for lunch; we ate at The Salty Sailor, recommended by Marc at the motel.  It overlooked the harbour and The Bluenose.  

A quick drive back to Halifax and the rental car place at the VIA Rail station, catching the shuttle two hours ahead of schedule out to the airport.  The hotel out there was one we'd stayed in before; huge renovations going on in the lobby which was a little distracting.

Thursday morning we checked in for our flight (absolutely no one around - fastest check-in ever!); at the gate I gave up my carry-on bag (so got it onto the plane as checked for nothing - John already had a checked bag so we had to go to the baggage area anyway); flight home was uneventful although I thought our landing was interesting - almost as if we came in on one side before leveling out.

Lisa met us at the airport in our car, we had lunch with her and Patrick, then toured the Museum of History before heading over to Birgit's.  We upped our game and had dinner at the NAC; dinner was good if expensive and getting into the restaurant from the underground parking has not improved.  A lovely young man serving at a function walked with us to the restaurant, to show us the way!

After overnighting with Birgit (and John on her new pull-out sofa) we left for the cottage to do the final tidy up.

A well done vacation with great stories and places to see next time!