Today was "Adieu" to Pubnico and all of the people we have met. We wonder if we know more of the community here than at home! Mel's friends and family were so warm and welcoming as were our hosts Sue and Mike at Yesteryears B&B! Forgot to mention yesterday that we also met Mel's cousin Melvin,a seiner who scored 350,000 tons of herring last year, and his wife Doreen. Pubnico is quiet and peaceful but maybe a little isolated and insular. Anyway we had a last breakfast at Sue and Mike's and met a couple who work for the Park Service and figured they'd be on furlough so took the opportunity to travel! Before leaving, Sue asked us to let her know if something exciting was happening because she'd like to join us!
Today we were aiming to drive the Lighthouse Route along the South Shore of Nova Scotia and get a little beyond Halifax by evening. Our first stop was in Shelburne for coffee and a walk along historic Dock Street. This seaport is nicely restored and the waterfront is charming. 10,000 Loyalists from the US came here during and after the American Revolution so there is quite a New England heritage here. We continued along Sandy Point Rd. to the Sandy Point lighthouse near the mouth of the bay.
Driving along the coast was breathtaking....so many villages, so many rivers and bays, so much undeveloped land. At one point we surprised a beautiful red fox who stared at us before running back into the forest. We next wanted to find LeHave because we had heard raves about the LeHave bakery. After a couple of u-turns (LeHave is not in our GPS!), we found it! Very quaint and great baked goods and sandwiches for lunch. There was also a local artisan coop where we did some shopping! After lunch we went by cable ferry across the LeHave River...crossing time 7 minutes!
Once on the other side, we continued along the coastal route to Lunenberg, a seaport whose town was on a steep hill leading down to the water. We met a guy on the dock who was readying for a voyage south on his 38 foot sail boat. He figured he'd be going through the Cape Cod Canal by the Sunday. Our favorite stop was Mahone Bay...a lovely town surrounding the Bay. The cute downtown was preparing for "Scarecrow Weekend" so all of the businesses and many private homes had decorated scarecrows in costumes. Quite creative! And some very lovely homes!
Our last stop was Halifax, the provincial capital. We went directly to the waterfront and walked along the boardwalk. Saw a tall ship, a cute tug, a corvette navy ship, a 60 foot science experience sail boat from Toronto, a huge cruise ship and lots more. In general, we decided that Halifax had the "feel" of Portland OR: neighborhoods, bikes, lots of young people, coffee shops. We left Halifax about 7pm to drive to Truro which would put us an hour closer to Cape Breton tomorrow. We found a Comfort Inn, got 2 rooms, had dinner in a local Italian restaurant. This area, unlike most of rural Nova Scotia that we've already seen, is strip mall after strip mall just off the highway! Interesting contrast! A long day tomorrow so we retired on the early side.
No comments:
Post a Comment