Nova Scotia...

My Nova Scotia Home (lyrics)
There's a place I'll always cherish, 'neath the blue Atlantic sky
Where the shores down in Cape Breton bid the golden sun to rise
And the fragrance of the apple blossoms sprays the dew-kissed lawns
Back in dear old Nova Scotia, a place where I was born.

The Scotian and the Ocean Limited, and the Maritime Express
Their mighty engines throbbing, make their way towards the west
And the sturdy fishin' schooners, sways so laz'ly to and fro'
Nova Scotia is my sanctuary, and I love her so.

For across the great Dominion, I have traveled far and wide
Where the shores out in Vancouver, kiss the blue Pacific tide
I have crossed the snow-capped Rockies,
saw the wheat fields' golden blaze
Headed back to Nova Scotia, where contented cattle graze.

Where the pretty robin red breast, seeks its' loved ones in the trees
And the French di'lect in old Quebec, keeps callin' out to me
It seems to say, be on your way, there's a welcome at the door
Where the kinfolks are a-waiting on that gay Atlantic shore.

Down through beautiful New Brunswick and across the P.E.I.
To the rock-bound coasts of Newfoundland, I'll love them till I die
But if God came here on Earth with us and asked if he could rest
I'd take him to my Nova Scotia home, the place that I love best
-----------------

 

Paul and I recently made a 10-day trip to Nova Scotia (Cape Breton Island and Northumberland Shore) and it was a wonderful adventure.  (Nova Scotia is one of the four Atlantic Provinces of eastern Canada.)

 

 

We started our trip with a weekend in Truro for the Dutch Mason Blues Festival and then headed out for Cape Breton Island.

 



 

We enjoyed many of the sights and sounds of the area: Five Island Park, Rita's Tearoom, Sydney, Fortress Louisburg, Lighthouse Point at Louisburg, Cabot Trail, Glenora Inn & Distillery, Inverness, Mabou, sunsets and coastal drives.

 



 

  

Driving the Cabot Trail

 

Inverness Beach

 

Amazing sunsets

 

My next few blog posts will share some of our memories while in Nova Scotia.




 

 

 

 

Peaceful Evening on Beresford Beach

An Evening Sky

While I was busy in the kitchen cooking our dinner, Paul went outside to take these photos of the evening sky over Surfside Beach. Why is it we never tire of watching sunrises and sunsets?

Paul also saw a couple of guys with their boards in the surf.

But not for long.


I think they may have agreed with us that it was rather cool to be playing in the water today.

A Quiet Day...

After spending a couple of days unpacking, sorting/cleaning, buying groceries and needed supplies, Paul and I decided to have a "down day" yesterday. That meant no chores!

We spent the late morning sitting out on our balcony in the sun (with our jackets on) enjoying our coffee, listening to the ocean and reading.

In the afternoon we treated ourselves to a long walk on the beach, enjoying the warmth of the sun and looking for seashells. We only found a few shells but that's okay as we have lots of time to look. This little shore bird among the seagulls was very cute.

I had planned to cook dinner for us but Paul suggested that since it was a "down day" I shouldn't have to cook and more importantly he shouldn't have to clean up - which is the way we work in our kitchen. I agreed, so we went to one of our favourite restaurants from last year, The Gulf Stream. This restaurant is located on the waterway and most evenings you can enjoy an awesome sunset while having dinner, which we did last night.



The remainder of my evening was spent reading my book, while Paul watched a very slow moving Clint Eastwood western on TV.

Our Journey Continues

After enjoying a very pleasant New Year's Eve dinner with my Mom at her Seniors Residence, The Wedgewood, in Brockville and later drinks with my sister and brother-in-law, Paul and I were busy packing our suitcase again. On 1 January 2010 we were on the road to continue our journey to South Carolina.

It was lightly snowing when we left Brockville in the morning and we also experienced a little lake effect snow near Syracuse, New York but overall the driving on our first day was good.


The skies were grey for most of the day but as we drove into Chambersburg, Pennsylvania the sun appeared through the clouds and we had a nice sunset. After six hours of driving, we were happy to check into a motel, enjoy a hot meal and a good sleep.



We were back on the road at 8 a.m. the next morning and it was grey, cold and windy, but no snow. Our drive through Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina was uneventful and we happily arrived in Surfside Beach about 6 p.m. After checking into our condo and unloading our car, we were happy to relax over a hot meal.

I always like to have a first impression photo and of course it was of the ocean. This is the view from our balcony the first morning in Surfside Beach.



Although the weather has been rather cool here in the United States, there is no snow and we awake with the sun shining on the ocean, so we are happy. We enjoyed having lunch on our balcony already.

The sunsets over the ocean have been wonderful.

We have taken a couple of walks on the beach and enjoyed looking for shells, but we haven't found any seaglass - yet.

Paul and I are looking forward to our time here....

Time with Family

My sister & brother-in-law, Roseanne and Neil, came for a visit in September.



On our first evening we enjoyed a traditional Newfoundland scoff, a meal of cod cheek and cod tongues, fried in fat back. What a great meal....

It didn't take us long to go beachcombing. Although it was a windy day, we took a walk on Beresford Beach to enjoy a beautiful day.

My sister was very happy with the treasures she found on our beach.

We also did a little exploring at Petit Rocher. I saw this heron near the wharf area.

We did a little more beach walking looking for seaglass. Paul and my sister were very fortunate to both find pieces of blue seaglass which is rare - one in 500 so the experts say.

Another of our afternoons was spend enjoying this lovely area of the Nepisiguit River which is a great salmon fishing area in Northern New Brunswick. As children my sister and I spent many summer vacations camping with our parents on the salmon rivers in Newfoundland as our Dad was a sport fisherman. This area brought back a lot of happy memories for us of our childhood and of our Dad.

We decided to take a picnic with us that day so we got to enjoy Paul's awesome egg sandwiches which he so kindly made for us. Neil spent most of his afternoon sitting on a large rock overlooking a salmon pool. He said he could see salmon but I never did see one.

We also enjoyed a nice afternoon walk at Atlas Park in Pointe-Verte. The fall colours and the smell of the trees were wonderful. We climbed the tower to see the view out over the Bay of Chaleur towards the Gaspe Peninsula.

The white birch trees on the trail were a reminder of growing up in Grand Falls, Newfoundland. Our hometown has many white birches.

Ever wonder what retirement might be like? It's like a second childhood - AWESOME!

Paul and I have been to the Grande-Anse area about eight times this summer and on our last trip we discovered this wonderful beach canteen area there near the wharf. It was the neatest place with wood sculptures of an octopus, whale, etc. Of course being beach lovers, we enjoyed a short walk. We will definitely go back there.

We also enjoyed a couple of trips to the Stonehaven area and what a interesting beach, you can walk forever. On our first trip Neil wanted to visit the wharf so we spent some time walking the beach looking for mermaid tears (seaglass) and found quite a few, along with a piece of brass. That was Neil's treasure.

Our second trip to the Stonehaven area was a much longer day. We took another picnic lunch of Paul's great egg sandwiches which we enjoyed after a long day of beachcombing. We then treated ourselves to a campfire after borrowing matches from a local area resident walking the beach.

Here is another example of a busy day of retirement. It can't get much better than this.....

Our great day at Stonehaven of beachcombing, picnicking and a campfire was topped off with this wonderful sunset.

The last day of my sister's visit we made a trip to the Farmer's Market to get pumpkins to decorate our house. I love the fall with all its great colour.