Family Travel

The Harbor Hopper (Duck) amphibous vehicle was great fun; it is a great way to get a sensce of the city and the harbor. Big Jer suggested I try to drive one as he did in boston, but subject did not come up. These Ducks are from the Viet Nam area, bigger that the WWII variety.
The maritime museum was very interesting with exhibits on pirates who frequented these waters, on the explosion which flattened Halifax in 1917 and the TItanic. The explosion on December 6, 1917 was from a French munitions ship in the harbor. We visited two of the cemeteries where Titanic disaster (February 13-15, 1912) are buried. At Fairview Cemetery, we saw the grave of jack Dawson. Yes he was a real person, but not the guy depicted in the movie. The grass in front of his headstone is all worn away. Later, we walked along the waterfront which is really nice and enjoyed an ice cream cone.

After Eggs Benedict in hollandaise sauce at our bed and breakfast in Lunenburg, we continued along the South Shore viewing the pretty shoreline of Mahone Bay. We stopped at a memorial for Swiss Air flight 111 which crashed nere in in 1998. Then, we visited Peggy's Cove, part fishing village and artist colony, part tourist attraction. Photos of this striking village have appeared in many travel magazines. After reaching Halifax we checked in at the Radission Hotel then dined at Five Fisherman, known for its seafood, malt whiskey and complimentry salad bar with mussels. Jim had blackened haddock and Mary had slow-cooked halibut in lobster oil. Everything was good. We walked around the harbor and signed up for one of those amphibian Duck tours. Here, they call them Harbor Hoppers. We'll be taking one in the morning.
We notice that restaurants ask if you have any allergies when you order. Not sure why.

We took the Cat ferry from Bar Harbor, Maine to Yarmouth, Novia Scotia. A quick 2-1/2 hour trip, but hard on Mary's stomach. For most of the trip, she stood on the aft deck with one of those little paper bags in her hand. Fortunalely no mishaps, but it took a while for her to recover once on shore.
Then, we took a delightful drive along Nova Scotia's South Shore. Stopping in Shelburne and Liverpool to see those pretty villages on the water, we tied up at a bed and breakfast, Kaulbach House, http://kaulbachhouse.com/ffn/index.html, in Lunenberg. The area was originally settled by Germans so, after walking around town and boarding the well-known Schooner, Blue Nose II, we dined at the nearby Old Black Forest restuarant - recommended by the inn keeper. Mary have Bavarian pork schnitzel while Jim had Octoberfest sausage. Both good, topped off by apple strudel.
After breakfast, we will he heading to Halifax, a larger town, where we will spend a couple of days.

Well, we have settled on Thurston's as the best lobster pound to have fresh lobster just harvested from the sea. Jim had a hard-shell two-pounder while Mary's soft-shell specimen weighed in at 1.2 lb. Thurton's is one of those "rough-it" places right on its pier, but is much nicer than Beale's where we were the other night.
Before that we took a delightful 2-hour nature cruise in Blue Hill Bay on Mt. Desert Island. We saw plently of seals, cormorants and even some bald eagles and a porpoise. Other birds too. We even stopped to check the captian's lobster trap which had captured two cfrabs and three lobsters.
And, we had an enjoyable picnic along the water before the cruise.
The weather was beautiful thorughout the day.
Tomorrow, its the Cat, the ferry to Canada.

We drove a circle loop around the park, mainly along the shore. Some beautiful views, even though it was overcast for much of the day. Striking formations of granite. Some lobster boats checking their traps; they've got a lot of tourists to feed. We had popovers and high tea at on the lawn Jordan's Pond, the way they used to do it years ago. By then, mid-afternoon, it had brightened up considerably, very sunny. The lawn afforded a beautiful view of 'Bubbles," twin dome-shaped mountains carved by the glacier eons ago.
Then, back to Bar Harbor, a town of just 2,000 people. It's a very pleasant place, nice to walk around. Not overdone and not too crowded. We were were told it become a ghost town in the winter when all of the tourists and seasonal workers are gone.