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.