2nd half of July Motorcycle Trip to Nova Scotia

Finally... Nova Scotia!

Day 7-12 Prince Edward Island to Nova Scotia to New Brunswick to Maine

Day 7: 198 miles Prince Edward Island to Baddick, Nova Scotia

 Took the big ferry to Nova Scotia today. Landed in picturesque Pictou. After visiting the information office, booking our hotel for the night and getting info and maps we took off for Baddick, NS. It was a beautiful, sunny, warm (85º) day. We enjoyed our ride to the nice town of Baddick. After a good dinner at our resort's restaurant, we strolled around the town and harbor area.

Looks like were headed into a spaceship instead of a ferry

They always want the motorcycles squeezed in on the side

View from out the window of our restaurant

I can never get enough mussels!

Nice little lighthouse as seen from the Baddick wharf

This is what kids do after dinner in Baddick. No hovering parents, just a simple safe place to live and play.  Seeing this young man fishing from the dock by himself reminded us of our childhood growing up in the U.P. of Michigan. 

Having a chat with two of Baddeck's  famous residents, Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell

Such a nice way of saying what they wanted to say

Day 8: 212 miles Baddick, NS to Cheticamp, NS

 Another great day of riding. This was probably the most beautiful day of the whole trip! We rode the famous Cabot Trail on Cape Breton on the north shore. It's famous for its scenery, neat harbor towns, coves, cliffs, Atlantic Ocean views, curvy roads, steep climbs and fast descents. In other words... it's a motorcyclists dream ride! And it was one of the highlights of our trip. We loved it all. We stopped for the night in Cheticamp just as the rain began. We did our laundry, ate a delicious dinner of scallops and listened to local musicians play Scottish and Irish tunes. It rained all night.

Can't recall the number of bridges we crossed in Nova Scotia.... too numerous to remember!

Nice views at every turn in the road

Stopping to take a break and to take a few pictures on the Cabot Trail.

My view above Bob's helmet

Check out the website for interesting tidbits about The Cabot Trail

Happy motorcyclists

Nice!

Heaps of fishing around here

Lobster traps sitting idle

Wish we had time to go around The Cabot Trail twice... so much to see

Endless beaches and coastal scenery

Day 9: 286 miles Cheticamp, NS to Dartmouth, NS

We left Cheticamp in the rain and rode in the rain for the first 3 hours. We had rough roads at times. Our destination for the night was Dartmouth, a town close to the big city of Halifax. 

Day 10: 68 miles Dartmouth, NS to Mahone Bay, NS

Today was our shortest day of the entire trip. We had good roads, nice vistas and excellent weather. Our goal was Lunenberg, NS, a quaint harbor town. We wanted to see the Tall Ships that had arrived the day before and were scheduled to leave the next morning. They were cruising around Nova Scotia for 2 weeks. We spent several hours walking around the town and boarding/viewing the tall ships. There were several from the U.S. One ship in particular caught my attention. It was crewed by women and the young girls onboard spent their time at sea learning sailing skills along with lifeskills. We had a delicious lobster sandwich for lunch. Since Lunenburg was very crowded and very touristy, we decided to drive 10 min. down the road to quiet and quaint Mahone Bay. We found a lovely B&B and enjoyed a seafood platter dinner outside on the upper level porch of the local pub. It overlooked the gorgeous bay.

Welcome!

"Oh Canada"

Seeing all the tall ships was fun

Makes you anxious to start steering

See the monument below

It was sad to read all the names of the sailors who have died working at sea

Can't imagine climbing up those ropes

Made me dizzy looking up

 To be a sailor: serious rope skills are necessary 

Taking a break from driving the motorcycle

Wharf area of Lunenberg

Lots to do and see and sample in Lunenberg...

Local art

Local folks

Local brew

Local lobster sandwich!

Local colors

Not a local!

Carved in a tree in Mahone Bay

Store in Mahone Bay

Lovely homes in Mahone Bay

Mahone Bay houses have character and color

Painted on the side of an ice cream store

Our favorite beer with Mahone Bay in background

Lovely Mahone Baby

More of Mahone Bay

After dinner treat!

Day 11: 168 miles Mahone Bay, NS to Smith's Cove near Digby, NS

It had rained all night. We drove away from Mahone Bay in light rain and it continued to rain most of the day until just outside of Digby, our destination for the night. We stayed in a really nice B&B nearby at Smith's Cove. We walked around Digby to see what we could see of the town and the Bay of Fundy's famous tides. They have floating docks here... I hope the pictures give you some sense of this amazing tide... the world's highest. Since we didn't have the time to sit and watch the 6 hour tidal fluctuations, we saw the floating docks and the low water from the boardwalk of the town. Since Digby is the scallop capital of Nova Scotia, we shared scallops and a 2 pound lobster for dinner! Yum, yum.

B&B

Beemer and B&B

Fishing boats in Digby Harbor (notice tide)

To read about The Bay of Fundy's tides, go to www.bayoffundytourism.com/tides

More Digby Harbor

Floating docks are necessary due to the fluctuating tides

More floating docks

Lobster boat coming into the harbor

2 pounds of lobster for dinner! Yum, yum

Day 12: 288 miles Digby, NS to St. John, New Brunswick to Bangor, Maine

Our early morning ferry left in the fog. There were many motorcyclists and we chatted with several of them. The fog lifted and calm waters took us across to New Brunswick. It was a very enjoyable ferry ride. The day turned out to be nice. We drove down the coast to St. Andrews, NB with the idea of staying there, but it was very crowded and too touristy for us. We continued on to the American border and rode to Bangor, Maine. For our final day of feasting on fresh seafood, we had twin whole lobsters. It was rich and delicious and a nice finale to eating fresh mussels, scallops, clams and lobster for the past several days. 

Waiting to get on the ferry to return to New Brunswick

The fog started to lift as we left the harbor

Goodbye Nova Scotia!

Homeward Bound: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Ontario and Michigan

Day 13: 293 miles 

Day 14: 456 miles

Day 15: 450 miles

Day 16: 138 miles

We took US 2 westerly after Bangor, Maine. We drove through small towns at a slow pace because of narrow roads, rural traffic and low speed limits. We stayed in Burlington, Vermont on Day 13. Day 14 was a long tough day on the bike. The morning ride through the islands of Lake Champlain was great. After that, we had warm weather, lots of traffic, and just riding to get from pt. A to pt. B. We made it back to North Bay, Ontario late in the day in a rain storm. Day 15 was no picnic either. We did 450 miles with wind, rain, road construction and more trucks on the road. Once we got back to the Soo, we decided to keep on going as the weather changed for the better and we actually had a nice drive to Marquette, Michigan with the beautiful views of Lake Superior keeping us company. Day 16 was our last day on the road. We spent part of the morning in Marquette at our alma mater, Northern Michigan University. We visited the NMU bookstore. Heading north, we stopped in Houghton at our favorite restaurant before our final destination--- Eagle Harbor. It was almost 85º when we arrived back at the cottage. All in all, we had a great trip. Our Nova Scotia escapade was all we thought it would be. We now have only one Canadian province left to visit---- Labrador/NewfoundLand. Someday! ~!(:  )

Cheers,

Mary and Bob

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