Canadian Reflections

Even though the weather was less than optimal, the trip was great. For those who don't ride, it's probably hard to understand sitting on a bike for 10 days, and I'll admit there are times when our butts get sore, our backs are aching, it's uncomfortably warm or cold or it's wet. But there is also nothing like it. Leaning a bike into a turn on a perfectly paved road, being part of the environment instead of an observer. Flowers, dyeing leaves, back yard Bar-B-Ques, farms and the sea air all permeate the senses, yes, even your sense of smell is a big part of riding.  And then there is the exhilaration of acceleration, twisting the throttle, passing a car in seconds, flying down the straightaways.  While it may be inconvenient at times, there is no better way to travel.

All of the Canadians we encountered were all very nice, and very talkative, and boy, were some of them talkative! All wanting to know where we've been and where we're going, and all with great and not so great suggestions.

One of the  things that stood out to us, was that most of the homes we saw were very modest and well kept, Very few large pretentious homes and very few with piles of junk all about. And all seemed to have perfectly manicured lawns. It got to be a joke with us checking out how many folks would be out mowing their lawns at all hours of the day.



The other very noticeable thing was the coastline, while very similar to Maine's coast, the Canadian coast was far more accessible. In Maine the coast has all been bought up by the one percent, and immediately along with their multi-million dollar homes comes the fence and the "No Trespassing" signs. So, driving along the coast in Maine, and probably elsewhere in the U.S.,only gives you glimpses of the actual coastline dotted between the mansions. To the contrary from what we saw in the Canadian Maritimes, the roads hug and coastline and make it quite accessible. The homes that are on the water are mostly the same modest homes you see anywhere, and by the looks of the lobster traps and boats in the yards belong to fishermen. We really enjoyed these rides and scenery along these coastline roads.

The food during the trip was pretty similar to rural Maine. Lots of chowder, fish and fried food. Poutine seems to be a favorite everywhere. Poutine, for those who have never had it, is French Fries and cheese curds smothered in gravy. It has evolved into lots of creative alternatives with meats, vegetables and what ever else you can imagine. We even saw Lobster Poutine!
Craft beers are starting to appear, but certainly not to the extent that they are in the states. Wine selections are somewhat limited as well. Luckily the exchange rate is 25% in our favor, because food and fuel are on the expensive side.

For you New Englanders who have never been up to visit our neighbors to the North, take the time to go. It's not very far and well worth the trip, whether by bike, car or RV. Before the Fourth of July or after Labor Day seem to be the best times, eh!

Heading Home...

Nice, but cool weather greats us as well as some home made muffins from our host. We stroll downtown to the Farmer's Market. Lots of local crafts and food and music. We get a fruit smoothie and some local honey. DeeDee buys some sea glass jewelry and we find some local smoked salmon on sale, so we get 3 packages.

We pack up the bike for the final time and head for the border. The U.S. customs agent is about as pleasant as a prison guard, so I skip the jokes. He asks us if we are bring anything back into the country, DeeDee doesn't say a word as I calmly say 'No Sir", I'm not letting that bastard take my honey and smoked salmon!. He lets us go and we head through Calais down rote 9 to the Maine Turnpike.


We pass the group of riders from Quebec on their Spyders. As we reach Brewer Maine, we are getting hungry and stop at a little place called the "Eagle's Nest", the parking lot is full even though from the outside the place looks tiny. Once inside we find that the place is tiny! We sit on two round diner stools from the 50's and order lunch, DeeDee has a chicken cheese steak and I get a fish sandwich. Jusyt about then we see a sign that say they have the best Lobster roll around, for $18.No big deal until I see one, there must be a pound of lobster meat piles high with lots of fries... If we had only known..

Just past Bangor we hit the Maine Turnpike. I can't help but notice the trees, 9 days ago they were mostly green, now tones of yellow, orange, brown and red abound.  Autumn is here.

We get off the turnpike not any too soon at Grey and take pleasant back roads home.  We've gained an hour getting back to the Eastern Time Zone, but it's still 4:30 when we roll into the driveway. I unload the KTM as DeeDee checks her plants, a few look parched, so she gets to watering. we settle in and finish a half a bottle of wine...

Number Nine..

Breakfast is awesome at the Bay View Inn, light and fluffy blueberry pancakes, eggs, bacon, home made muffins....The ferry terminal is only 10 minutes away so we plan on leaving the Inn at 9:45. We leave on time and  cruise along several sides street admiring the architecture. The weather is partly cloudy and looks to be possibly raining over in Saint John.

We arrive at the dock  and are directed to the front of the motorcycle line with two folks on Harleys. Another group of riders show up on Spyders and Gold Wings with trailers. The are from Quebec on a long camping trip, heading down into New England, then over through the Adirondacks. Bike camping would be fun, but we have no room for camping gear, and hot showers at day's end are pretty nice. We board the ferry and tie down the bike. As i secure it with an additional tie down, the attendant tells me in 25 years he's never had a bike fall over. He says, they only fall over when there are people on them!

A large tractor trailer pulls in along side. The driver tells me he is bringing a truck load of Maine lobster up to Moncton. That's strange, you guys have lobster up here? He tells me that the season is more closely regulated in Canada and is closed for three months, so lobsters are imported from Maine where the season is open all year. Now we know why it was $35 for a lobster dinner! The ferry is obviously quite large and has a nice mezzanine inside and a spacious out side deck with plenty of seating. We grab a table on the upper deck and play some cards to wile away the two hour trip. Our lunch consists of half of DeeDee's left over dinner, chips and our usual half bottle of wine. We disembark in Saint John and easily get onto the hi-way that leads to our destination of Saint Andrews.



The clouds are threatening and occasionally spit out light showers, the temperature is going down as well. We stop under an overpass and add layers, no rain suits yet. Saint Andrews by the Sea is one of New Brunswick's oldest settlements, established in 1783 by British Loyalists. This history is still evident by the street names, most of which are named for the children of King George III and his wife Charlotte. The main street has the usual selection of gift shops and restaurants along with some unique art galleries. It's a tourist destination, but again, not too tacky. We find a nice room in a home overlooking the Bay of Fundy with its unusual tides and as usual for us we just beat the rain. Our host recommends the Rossmont Inn for dinner, he tells us we should make reservations. Two problems with the Rossmont Inn for us is that it is about a mile outside of town, and neither of us feels like getting on the bike again just to go to dinner. The other problem is that he tells us it will be about $70 per person without alcohol!!  We opt to walk downtown and see what we can find.

We stop at a little pub for a beer, they do have a few on tap. And as has been the case for most of the trip, when I ask about IPA"s, they alwasy recommend Kieth's IPA, a Canadian brew. I made the mistake of having one on our second day, and Kieth's IPA is as much an IPA as Bud Light is a lager. So by now I no longer hold my tongue and just respond with "Kieth's is not an IPA, thank you!"
After a beer we head down to another restaurant with a little fancier bar, thy also advertise craft beers but are out of everything except Kieth's IPA and Shock Top. I have a Shock Top and DeeDee has wine and we have an order of mussles, which are quite good. We check out the menu, but a little too fancy for us tonight, so we mosey on down the road.

We end up a little fish restaurant overlooking the bay, that we cannot see. The place is packed and the food is great, DeeDee has a smoked salmon sandwich and I have New Bruswick Crab cakes.
Back at our room we have a glass of wine and watch in amazement as the tide has now come in almost 200 feet from where is was earlier,   pretty neat

Eight is not enough...

Day 8
Breakfast is excellent, we have fresh fruit and yogurt, delicious homemade scones and a vegetable and cheese frittata. Deborah asks us of our plan for the day and gives us several suggestions, including some of her favorite places.

We head north a bit out of the way to the small fishing village of Blue Rocks. It's a very picturesque spot, so we stop and take picturesque pictures!

Next we head south on the shore roads and stop at a few white sandy beaches. The weather is good, but not exactly beach weather. We continue along heading towards Kejimkujik Seaside Provincial Park. The entrance to the park is not signed very well. After several wrong turns we finally fine the dirt road into the park. When we arrive at the parking area, we find that we will need to walk over 2 km to get to the seashore...  We can't leave the bike unattended for that long, and don't really have the time to change our clothing and hike that far. I guess we should have made that a bit clearer to Deb, as most of her suggestions involve walking quite a ways, but that's ok, it's all good.


 So back we go heading northwest across Nova Scotia to Digby. The road is pleasant weaving through foothills and deep green forests. We stop at a little roadside stand for some pretty good fried clams, and of course, finish off a half a bottle of wine.

Digby is where we will board the ferry tomorrow for Saint John. The town itself is fairly small with a few hotels and Inns. DeeDee has booked us a room at the Bayview Inn. This Inn is very nice and our king sized bed over looks the harbor with its large fleet of colorful fishing vessels.

Digby is known at the "Scallop Capital of the World" so our quest for the evening is scallops. There are a half dozen or so seafood restaurants along the water, we settle on the "Shore Line Restaurant" a casual looking spot with outdoor seating overlooking the bay. I have a local ale on tap and DeeDee has a glass of wine and orders the bacon wrapped maple glazed scallops and I order the sauteed scallops. All is good, we relax with another drink and then walk down along the harbor. We pass an ice cream shop and try and convince ourselves that we shouldn't, especially since we have had no real exercise in a week, but our cravings win out.

And on the seventh day...

We awake to sunny skies and running water.  DeeDee is happy. The motel is attached to a small restaurant where we head for breakfast. Ralph, the owner greets us and apologizes for the water problem. It seems his well has run dry for the first time in 25 years. He blames it on the construction of a development  near by, so until he digs a new well, he has to have water trucked in, and the truck never showed up yesterday. We have a good breakfast and he offers us a generous discount on our room.

The sun is warming things up nicely and we look forward to crisp, clear skies for a change. A nice short drive down the coast brings us through Halifax, Getting into Halifax is a toll bridge, we somehow get in the exact change lane without exact change... luckily there is an attendant close by, pretty much calls us dumb, but lets us bypass the gate. We've been told that Halifax is quite a nice city and we almost opt for staying a night, but instead head down the "Lighthouse Route". The scenery is excellent and the roads are fun. 

As we near "Peggy's Cove" the landscape changes quite dramatically, very similar to Acadia. Lots of barren rocks, small fresh water ponds and not many trees. We take the turn to Peggy's Cove and are immediately greeted with lots of traffic, people and tour buses... ugh. But I guess that's what happens to such a place when it's this close to two cities (Yarmouth and Halifax). We backtrack to a small picturesque pond with no one about and stop for a lunch of granola bars, cheese and a half bottle of wine. the day is perfect and lunch couldn't be any better.

Soon as we pass by Peggy's Cove and  the traffic disappears and the road again winds pleasantly along the coast. We detour onto a few small side roads and are rewarded with more nice views. Eventually we end up in the town of Lunenburg, a Port town originally founded by the British.



Lunenberg is a  UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its narrow streets and unique architecture. It is also the home port of Nova Scotia’s sailing ambassador, the Bluenose II. The graceful ship is a replica of the original fishing boat that found fame as a racing schooner. The town is definitely a tourist town, but without the tackiness of so many other places. We check into a small 2 room B&B, The "Linc". Deborah, the owner greets us and shows us our room and where I can park the bike. We enjoy a glass of wine on our private deck overlooking the harbor a few blocks away.

After unpacking we walk down town. There are quite a few restaurants and a few pubs. One of the more touristy looking places on the water has a "Happy Hour" special of a dozen oysters and a draft beer, it ends at 6:00, it's 6:15... If we had only known. Deborah has told us that a place called "The Grand Banker" has the best food. When we find it, there is a pretty long line of folks waiting for tables, but there are two seats at the bar, so we sneak in.


They have some good beers on tap, including an IPA and an IPA Stout We order up some drinks. The beer is good. The menu looks great, so we get a couple of appetizers. DeeDee orders the Crab, spinach and artichoke dip and I order a plate of mussels. Both are excellent, and filling, this may end up being dinner... after a few more drinks...

After dinner we stroll the narrow streets, admiring the grand architecture of the houses on the narrow streets,  get an ice cream and head back to the Inn. One more glass of wine on our deck and off to bed.

Day 6... Same old, same old, weather, that is

Party cloudy skies and cooler temperatures greet us as we head down for breakfast. The continental Breakfast here at Hillcrest Hall is excellent, warm hard boiled eggs, home made muffins and scone, fresh juice, fruit and yogurt, and good coffee. We joined by two couples from Nova Scotia, we exchange pleasantries, and after hearing my last name, one of the women asks if I have relatives in Nova Scotia, which I do, although I'm not sure where they are. She is sure I look like some Kellys that she knows. We chat for a while and then one of the men carefully brings up the U.S. election. I let himn know where I stand and they breathe a sigh of relief and question us as to how in the world can someone like Trump really be running for the Presidency??  I reply, that I don't have a clue other than there are a lot of stupid, ignorant racist people still in the U.S. They tell us that apparently, the Nova Scotia government is making a contingency plan for an influx of American immigrants should Trump win!  Pretty funny, well at least we have our permanent resident papers for Mexico!!

We pack up and head south towards the Eastern Shore. As we near the bridge to the mainland the weather deteriorates, more clouds, drizzle and fog. Once on the mainland we hit the shore road, The Eastern shore seems pretty sparsely populated and certainly not a main tourist route, which is getting obvious by the lack of Inns, hotels and restaurants. Our destination is a small town called Sheet Harbour, the largest town before Halifax. We stop for lunch at another cable ferry and continue down the coast past numerous quaint fishing village and  beautiful coastline. There is very little traffic on this wonderful road.

We reach Sheet Harbour just as the rain begins, the only viable place in to to stay is the Fairwinds Motel. We check in to find that you can't drink the water. It's interesting to note, that in most of our travels through Baja, the water is potable nearly everywhere, and now this is the third place in Canada where it is not... Water is certainly becoming an issue everywhere..  Lots of dry wells here and back home, as Nestle (aka Poland Springs) sucks the water out of the aquifer for billions in profits (they are currently taking 600,000 gallons per day out of just Fryeburg!) Much thanks to that going to our dingbat, trump supporting, pea brained governor  paul lepage (his name doesn't deserve to be capitalized) Anyway click here to read more.

We walk down the sreet to a nice little restaurant, The Henley House Pub, they advertise craft beers, but as has been the case, the offerings are slim. I have an ok stout and we get to watch football. Since we've been seeing signs for oysters the entire trip, I order up a half dozen for $15!, and DeeDee orders a plate of homemade potato chips. The oysters and chips arrive, the chips are really good, the oysters are, without a doubt, the smallest oysters I have ever seen, so taking away the shells, they were probably $250 a lb.  The rest of the dinner was good. There's a letup in the rain as we head back to our room to watch the Patriots game. When we arrive back to the room, there is no water at all. Grin and bear it. It's a Sunday night game, so up here in Nova Scotia, the game doesn't start until 9:30, DeeDee makes it to halftime, I manage to watch the whole game, luckily they won. I fall asleep to the gurgling of water pipes.

Day 5, The Cabot Trail

The continental breakfast at the Auberge was just that, cereal, yogurt, muffins, fruit and toast, but at least the skies were clear, albeit a bit cool. Off we go along the coast. The scenery is exceptional, blue skies, rolling hills, rocky coast and crashing waves. The road weaves along the coast and then heads inland before returning to the sea at Pleasant Bay. From Pleasant Bay the road once again turns east into the mountains to Cape North where we take a side trip to Bay St Lawrence.

There is very little traffic and the riding enjoyable with temperatures in the upper 60's. We stop at a local farmers market in search of some fresh cheese, but none is to be had. Another side trip brings us on a very scenic drive out to White Point, then to Nell's Harbour back on the main route and down to Ingonish.

 Ingonish is the major tourist destination on the Cabot Trail, with several Inns restaurants and the famous Keltic Lodge. There are several nice beaches, fresh water and salt water fishing, hiking and a well known golf course. So needless to say, it's crowded and expensive in Ingonish, so we pass on by. The road is still great as we cruise along the Atlantic. In a short while DeeDee is getting hungry so we stop at the "Bean Barn Cafe". Their sign reads "Everything Made Fresh". DeeDee, being a fan of Italian subs, orders an Italian Panini and I order their "Famous Sea Food Chowder"  The panini is two small pieces of toasted bread with pepperoni slices, tomato sauce and a little melted cheese, my cup of chowder is mostly potato and flour...  $23. We've had a few good meals, but mostly disappointed so far.

Just past Indian Brook the road divides with the Cabot Trail heading inland and the lessor road staying along the coast to the Englishtown Ferry. We opt for the ferry, as most of the traffic seems to be staying on the main road. The ferry terminal is a small shack with no one in attendance, a sign gives us all the information we need. The ferry runs every 30 minutes, we can see it docked on the far side waiting for vehicles. We are the only ones there so we park the bike, pull out half a block of cheese, a few granola bars and half a bottle of wine and enjoy the peace, quiet and view. A small motor home pulls up, looks at us, looks at the ferry and turns around and leaves... No adventure in their blood.

In a bit the ferry departs from the other side pulling itself along an under water cable. Apparently there are a fair number of these older cable ferries still running throughout the Maritimes. Two cars unload and we drive up the old rusted ramp, pay our $6 fare as two folks from New York drive up and  join us. "Keep the bike upright' the attendant tells us with a smile, and off we go. In ten minutes we are unloading and on the road again.

The drive now becomes just a drive, the road is fairly straight, the scenery benign. As we enter Nyanza, DeeDeec spots a small sign for a brewery with a tasting room, we turn around to check it out.  Big Spruce Brewing is a small building with a neat little outdoor seating area. Out front is a food truck with awesome looking food... if we had only known.  Inside the brewery they offer 4 oz glasses of any of their six current brews. We try the Wit Lemon Ginger, the Shame on You Boxing Rock IPA, the Stark Craving Mad IPA and Tim's Dirty IPA. They are all really good. A local musician is setting up to play, boy could I get comfortable.. if we had only known...

Just past Nyanza the road widens, we turn off the hi-way and head west on a nice road that brings us to Mabou and then down to Port Hood. The only glitch is that my Blair Witch GPS tries to send us down a rail road bed and a bicycle trail!

We stop at a grocery and liquor store for wine and cheese and check into our room at the Hillcrest Hall Inn. Fresh baked cookies await our arrival.

The sun is shining and the Inn faces west, it should be a fine evening to watch the sunset.  We unpack and shower, open the wine and cheese, sit on the porch and play some cards. The sunset is as advertised...

We decide to save a few bucks and get some food at the little food truck and bring it back. This food truck doesn't quite have the selection of the one at the brewery, but it will do. Burger and fries, fish and chips... and wine.   A few more homemade cookies and off to bed.

Day 4, The Red Shoe

The weather forecast is dismal, not horrible, but certainly not great. This will be our forth day of clouds, fog and rain. Our initial thought was to head up and do the Cabot Trail Counter Clockwise and stay in Pleasant Bay or Cheticamp.  We start packing and head out to breakfast, we opt to skip the hotel restaurant, although it looks good, but pricey. DeeDee recalls seeing a little waffle shop on our walk, so we head in that direction. 'The Waffle Bus Stop' is a small place tucked in on a back street with a small sign. Inside they offer good coffee, smoothies and waffle sandwiches. We question the girl about the waffle sandwiches and she asks us if this is our first time there, we respond and she gets the owner. He is friendly and obviously very proud of his waffles, he tells us these are not your average waffles made with batter, but traditional Belgian waffles made with yeast. We order a waffle sandwich with eggs, bacon, spinach, cheese, and we get a green smoothie. It'a all excellent, and
apparently popular with lots of college girls, not that I noticed...  While we eat, we discuss the days plan and decide on a shorter route, heading up directly to Cheticamp and then doing the remainder of the Cabot Trail clockwise tomorrow, as the weather looks to be better. Back in the room DeeDee researches lodging, which is in short supply along the Cabot Trail. In Cheticamp she finds a four room Inn with space available and books it for the evening. We pack up and head out in the fog and drizzle.
Shortly, we reach the bridge at Port Hastings that brings us onto the Island of Cape Bretton. Since accommodations seem to be somewhat scarce on the island we decide to check out what's in Port Hastings and Port Hawkesbury for the following night. The two towns are on the water, although not very scenic, but there seems to be plenty of motels about, so we figure if we can't find an alternative we can end up here. We wander up the western coastline of the Island. The fog has lifted and no real rain yet. The road is pleasant with nice views. We pass a few B&B's along the way and stop for a bit in Port Hood. Port Hood is off the main road and a quiet little town, apparently there was a large mining operation here back at the turn of the century. There's a small motel, a restaurant, a B&B on the water and a grand old Victorian Inn. This might be a good place to stop on our return. We check out the B&B, the rooms are all occupied but they have three nice cabins on the water and a restaurant. It is run by a German couple, and although very nice, quite expensive. Dinner was limited to a five course meal for $50 a person!  So we pass and move on to check out the big Victorian, named the Hillcrest Hall Country Inn. The manager is very nice and she shows us a great room overlooking the water. The room is large with a king bed and the price is reasonable. So we book it for the following night. She tells us about the little restaurant up the street and a little food truck. There is also a whiskey distillery and a brew pub about 30 minutes up the road. So back on the bike on our way to Cheticamp.

We come to the little brew pub, The Red Shoe Pub and stop for a beer. The Red Shoe is owned by the Rankin family, The Rankin Family is a Canadian musical family group from Mabou, Nova Scotia. The group has won many Canadian music awards,and the pub is a hot spot for local musicians. Unfortunately there wasn't any live music while we were there.

The pub was cozy and the menu looked good, we could have gotten pretty comfy and I could have easily had several more pints!  But we have some miles to go and one beer is enough when you have to drive the motorcycle. I tried to talk DeeDee into driving, but that didn't go over too well. 



We arrive at our B&B in Cheticamp as the fog and drizzle roll back in. The "Auberge de Pecheurs" is run by a very nice french woman who takes us to our room is on the second floor, it is the cleanest room I have ever seen. Our room overlooks the bay lined with colorful fishing boats and crab boats. There are a few restaurants and a pizza place. Our host send us up the road to a small fish shack called the "All Aboard" where she says the food is good and there is live music. She tells us the place will be busy and calls for us to make a reservation. We walk 15 minutes prepared for rain that never came, and she was right the place is full, but we have a table. We order a bottle of wine, DeeDee orders a pound of Snow Crab Legs and I order pan fried haddock. We enjoy the food while a young girl plays her fiddle in the corner. One thing we are finding out is that food and drink up here can be quite expensive, a lobster dinner runs between $35-$45, DeeDee's crab was $29! Beers run about $5-7. Luckily the exchange rate gives us about at 25% discount.

After dinner we take a stroll along the water and end up at The Gabriel Restaurant and Bar. The place is huge, the bar is apparently quite busy during the summer with a large stage and dance floor and tons of sports memorabilia on the walls, mostly hockey, even some Boston Bruins signed posters and shirts. At the bar are a few crusty locals speaking some very strange mix of French, English and Gaelic. There were pretty buzzed and having a good time.  
We finish our night cap and head back to the Auberge hoping for better weather in the morning.

Day 3, how to you pronounce Antigonish?

We awake to the sounds of construction on a new pier not far from our room. It's interesting to watch as the workmen move the equipment down as the water recedes, with the 10-15 meter tides, they can work below the waterline for several hours until the tide rises. WE go down to the hotel lobby for our complimentary breakfast, which consists of Frosted Flakes, Raisin Bran, a loaf of white bread, a toaster and some juice. Pretty lame, these guys get a "thumbs down" on Trip Advisor.

We head out in the usual fog and drizzle taking the back roads up the coast, the views are really nice, we assume, because visibility is still about 100 meters...  oh well. At times the road heads inland and the fogs lifts, the country side is scenic, the road is fun as it twists and winds through the gentle hills.
Back on the coast we pass by "Hopewell Rocks", There's a fee to get in and we would have to walk and leave the bike. That's one problem travelling on the motorcycle, it's difficult to do things that involve leaving the bike for any length of time. But we are ok with that, the parking lot is full of cars and tour buses and we can do without the crowds. Maybe someday when we're too old to ride, we'll get a motor home and do the senior RV circuit.

We make our way to Moncton, there is a large contingent of military vessels in the harbor and a half dozen large military helicopters flying overhead, not sure why, but kind of neat to see. We take the hi-way east for a bit crossing from New Brunswick into Nova Scotia. Exiting the hi-way as soon as we can we find a nice route through farm country, the clouds have lifted, but we still get an occasional light shower. The roads are perfect for the motorcycle, weaving through valleys, following streams and rolling hills, very little traffic.

After we pass through New Glasgow we take the Sunrise Trail up towards Cape George Point. The road is nice and weaves in and out along the coast. We pass through the town of Malignant Cove, odd name for a town, and we opt not to stay there!
We had hope to find a B&B, motel or Inn along the Sunrise Trail, but it is very sparsely populated, and not much exists, so we head to the town of Antigonish.

Antigonish is a large town, and a college town. The St. Francis Xavier Colleg campus is fairly large and quite beautiful, and from what I van gather, has about a 3:1 ratio of women to men! We check out what we can find for accommodations, which are few and settle for The Maritime Inn, a hotel near the town center. Ready for a beer while we unpack, I head down to the hotel bar, the beer selection is pretty lame, as has been the case since we entered Canada. Somehow they haven't gotten into craft beers, and even a bottle of any kind of IPA is hard to come by. So I settle foe a bottle of Heineken for $7.50!!  Ouch

After a shower and a glass of wine, oh yeah, wine, that's another story. In New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, you can only purchase beer, wine and alcohol from the state run stores. So we've been picking up at least one bottle of wine for the evening anytime we pass a liquor store, and as you can guess it's expensive.  So anyway, we have a glass of wine and take a stroll downtown. We see a sign for the "Townhouse Pub", featuring craft beers!!  It's a nice little Irish style pub, and, they have good beer on tap!!  We enjoy a few beers, DeeDee has some wine and we check out the menu, pretty typical bar menu. We decide to walk about and find the liquor store. The weather is pleasant, on the warm side and lots of college kids about, mostly girls in summer attire... I get punched a few times. If anyone has a son going to college next year, I highly recommend St Francis Xavier!

Back to the room, another glass of wine and out we go for dinner. We settle on The Brownstone Cafe, a cute place on the main street with outdoor seating. The outdoor tables are all occupied so we are seated at a nice little table indoors. The food is great as is the service.
We never asked, so we still never quite figured how to pronounce Antigonish..

Day Two, Always An Adventure

After our fantastic breakfast, we bid adieu to David and pack up the bike, it's kind of like a jig saw puzzle the first few days getting everything in the right place, and making sure the rain gear is handy

It's cloudy and some light drizzle as we head out, remnants of Hurricane Hermine. We ride for an hour or so through Saint John and then take back roads towards the coast,  The views are amazing, at least that is what we are told, the fog is thick, with visibility about 100 meters. (we're not in the U.S. any more, the only country on the planet not using the metric system!) we continue along the coast to the town of St Martins. We stop at a roadside stand for their specialty, a lobster roll and an order of hand cut fries, $23 !!  and it was the smallest lobster roll I have ever seen! Past the town along the coast we come to the Red Rocks, a series of large caves along the Bay of Fundy, very pretty, but the multiple tour buses and tourist traps kind of spoil the beauty.

The GPS says we can continue through the park on smaller roads towards our destination, Alma. a few miles down the road we come to a booth with a ranger collecting admission fees for the scenic route. I ask if the road goes through to Alma, nope, is the answer. I ask about alternative routs, she say we have to go back to the main road and up to Sussex. so we turn around. The GPS says there is another route around, it's about this time that I'm starting to wonder about my Garmin...  Off we go on yet another wild goose chase only to turn around again.  Back to the main road. About 10 kilometers up the road, there is a good road heading towards our destination, and this one is on the map, the GPS agrees. about 15 clicks (clicks to the savvy world traveller are kilometers) up the road the tarmac turns to dirt, no big deal. Another 10 clicks and Mr. GPS sends us up a smaller dirt road, that turns into a woods road that turns into an ATV trail...  I am now convinced, my GPS is possessed! about 10 more clicks ard luckily we meet up with 3 fellows on ATV's. We flag them down and ask 'Where the hell are we?" and " How do we get to Alma?"  The first fellow says, no problem, a few clicks ahead you'll come to a paved road, go right, but then his mate disagrees, and says no it's 7 or 8 clicks, and the road's not paved, but go for a ways to a lodge, then take a dirt road for about 10 or so clicks to the hi-way, Then rider # three says, Alma?, you'd better turn around and go back to Sussex...

Well, after about another 10 minute round table discussion, we decide to forge ahead, the trail is rough, rocky, a couple of mud holes, but we manage without any difficulties and keep the bike upright. We find the lodge, Adair's Lodge, kind of in the middle of nowhere, They cater to snowmobilers, hunters, dirt bikers and ATV'ers. This weekend they are hosting an Adventure Bike Rally. We stop and chat a bit, would have been a cool place to stay. Reminded me of Mike's Sky Ranch in norther Baja.  We get some good directions and in a hour or so we are in Alma. But along the way, which is a good dirt road, MR GPS keeps trying to send us off on cow paths, snowmobile trails, ATV trails, and now I am convinced, it is possessed! I check the settings, fastest time, check, avoid dirt roads, checked...hmmmm

We arrive at Alma, check into the hotel room. It is ok, a bit over priced, and you can't drink the water. Not quite what was shown on the internet! As we check in the girl tries to get us to make reservations in their restaurant, because she says they get real busy...  A little suspicious, I decline. Next door is "Tipsy Tails Bar and Grill", looks encouraging, I stop by to check the menu, it's pretty typical, lots of fried food.... and they close at 7:00, and there really was no bar.   The choices are getting slim so we opt for a little seaside shanty call the "Lobster Shop"  Picnic tables, BYOB, pretty much a fish market. We had awesome mussels, and incredible snow crab, an soft shell clams, ( we call them steamers in New England)



Back to our room, a glass of wine, watch the incredible tide,  nearly 10 meters, as the fog comes in..
hit the hay and try to remember not to drink the water...

Maine to Canada...

It's been a year and a half since our Mexico to Maine jaunt, and we have been more than ready for another motorcycle trip. We live about 100 miles from the Canadian border and have talked about heading up to the Canadian Maritime Provinces for a number of years, but have never quite got it together for one reason or another.  Finding the time in our busy retired social schedule wasn't all that easy! Somehow we found a eight day window after Labor Day and started planning and packing. Preferring not to stay on any set schedule we figured to take the ferry from Portland, Maine up to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, since the ferry lands at 7:30 PM, we'd get a room reservation for that night and  the next day we would head off and up along the scenic south shore. Eventually making our way up to Cape Bretton Island and the famous Cabot Trail. We'll be hopefully finding accommodations where ever we end up each afternoon.  From there travel over to Prince Edward Island and down through New Brunswick, along the Bay of Fundy to Calais, Maine and then back home.

Our planned departure is Tuesday, It's Saturday and the Bay Line Ferry posted that they would be cancelling the Monday trip to Yarmouth due to high winds and seas from hurricane Hermine, The Tuesday ferry is still scheduled to run, as of Monday evening. The ferry leaves Portland at 2:00 PM, so we plan to leave home around 11:30.


Tuesday morning is overcast, with drizzle and a few showers, no big deal, an hour's ride and we are on the ferry.   yeah, like I said, 'so much for plans'  at about 8:30 AM we get an e-mail, an e-mail mind you, not even a phone call! from the Bay Lines Ferry Terminal, telling us the ferry is cancelled for today...   Back to square one...

The Hell with it, pack up, we'll drive up to Calais, Maine, and wing it.

The rain has stopped for the moment, we finish packing, opt not to don our rain gear and hit the road. We still have a few stops to make in town and eventually get rolling about 11:00. An hour into the ride I get a warning light telling me my front tire pressure is low, great... Somehow I checked everything on the bike except the tires. The tires are brand new, but I had a problem with the rear tire loosing air just a week earlier. The tubeless tire had not sealed properly. My motorcycle riding partner amigo Paul was able to figure out the problem and get it fixed. Now I'm thinking I have the same issue with the front tire. We pull over, the pressure is down, but not real low. I get my little compressor out and bring it up. We'll have to keep and eye on it. Luckily my KTM has tire pressure sensors that I can check easily while we are riding.  another 50 miles and everything looks good.
We encounter a bit a drizzle, a few quick showers, but nothing yet that requires rain gear. After a few boring hours on the Maine Turnpike we exit in Bangor and head up route 9 to Calais. At Calais, we cross into Sint Stephen, Canada, eh. It's 4:30 our time, but we realize that New Brunswick is on Atlantic time, so we loose an hour. 5 hours in the saddle, time to find a room for the night. The GPS tells us of a few motels and two B&B's close by. We stop at the Blair House B&B and find the owner out back stacking firewood, (a reminder of what we don't have to do anymore!). He has one room left, only problem two twin beds, We ask about other places in the area, the other Inn is full, he tells us, as is the 'nice' motel, the other motel has rooms, but "you may want to look at a room before you commit!" he says with a dry British accent.  We opt for the twin beds. The Inn is a beautiful old Victorian home built by a young widow of a sea captain back in 1860.
The town of area that is the town of Saint Stephen lies on the St. Croix river and was home to the native Passamaquoddy. In 1600's they were unceremoniously removed from their land by  the French explorer Samuel de Champlain. The town is known for it's Chocolate Festival and has a Chocolate Museum. Other than that, it doesn't appear to be a major tourist destination. Restaurants are in short supply, so we were left eating pizza and salad at the Pizza Delight...no seafood in sight.
David, our host came over from England in 1975 and met his with Judy. Judy is an local art teacher and David runs the Inn. David served us a superb breakfast of fresh fruit, blueberry pancakes, eggs, bacon and homemade bread.

We decide, since accommodations might be trickier than we thought, to try and book something on-line for Wednesday night before we hit the road. The small town of Alma, on the Bay of Fundy, looks like a reasonable destination. We book a room at the Parkview Village Inn, overlooking the water, looks nice on the internet.