The Maritimes - Maine to Halifax, Nova Scotia

A-Ellsworth, ME; B-St. John, NB; C-Capewell Hope, NB; D-Truro, NS;
E-Annapolis Royal, NS; F-Halifax, NS

Quoddy lighthouse - easternmost point in the USA

August 13, Friday, and we started off on our Maritime adventure. We left the park shortly after the 8am driver’s meeting. We had a beautiful day to drive along highway 1 north toward Canada. On the way we parked, unhooked the car from the RV, and drove to the Quoddy lighthouse. It is the eastern most point in the United States.

FDR's summer cottage on Campobello Island

We then drove to Campobello Island where FDR spent many vacations from the time he was a small boy. .He loved the island for its peacefulness and nature trails. He and Canadian President King worked closely during WWII and in 1964 the island was established as a Provincial Park (Canadian) to commemorate President Roosevelt and to serve as a symbol of friendship between Canada and the USA – it is called Roosevelt Campobello International Park. We enjoyed walking through the restored 34-room summer home and seeing all the pictures of Roosevelt and his family through the years of vacations there. The island is in Canada, but you get there from the USA; so we had to go through customs both going and coming.

We then continued on our way, crossed the border into Canada for good where we had excellent highway for the next 90 or so miles to St. John, New Brunswick where we spent the night. There was crazy construction at our exit to the campground – detours and no road signs– but we finally made it to our destination.

The next day was beautiful and we had a group bus tour around Saint John. We were first taken to Reversing Falls – The Saint John River flows into the Bay of Fundy as the tide goes down. Then the Bay of Fundy flows into the Saint John River as the tide rises. They have experienced tides as high as 52 feet. The current is so swift during tide changes that there is only a 20 minute window between tides (slack tide) when boats can safely navigate the falls area. We were able to witness the outgoing tide, slack tide and the rising tide – such an interesting phenomenon.

View from Reversing Falls restaurant

We were also treated to lunch at the Reversing Falls Restaurant and visited the Carlton Martello Tower.  This is a round stone tower built to protect Canada during the war of 1812 – it was built in a round shape because cannon balls tended to glance off the round shape instead of crashing through the walls. Only thing was, the war was over in 1814 and the tower wasn’t done until 1815. We also visited several historic buildings, and Market Square – a block long covered market.

Flowerpot Rocks at low tide

The next day we were off early on our trip to Hopewell Cape, also on the Bay of Fundy. Here the tides are also extremely high and low. We were able to visit at 11AM and hike to the beach when the tide was WAY out and the Flowerpot Rocks were high in the air. We returned again at high tide about 5PM and the difference was just amazing. At low tide many people were walking in the mud – we didn’t think it was important to do that. When we returned at high tide, we enjoyed watching the kayakers playing among the rocks at high tide, even kayaking through Lover’s Arch at high tide. The water in the Bay of Fundy is VERY muddy and at low tide the mud flats cover much of the area.

Flowerpot rocks at high tide

Monday we drove 143 miles to Truro in Nova Scotia. Our only stop that day was to the Nova Scotia Visitor’s Center. We had the option of going to the Ann Murray Museum and a Coal Miner Museum in Springhill, but we decided we needed a bit of unwinding time, so skipped both of them. Instead we got set up at the RV park and went to Walmart to get some supplies.

Tuesday we were off at 8:30 on the road to Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. We stopped at a Wild Animal Park where we walked along cages of Red Deer, Cougar, Buffalo, Bear, Deer, several bird and duck species etc. 

The next stop was at Grand Pre National Park. This was our introduction to the Acadian people – French Catholics who settled in what is now Nova Scotia. They lived peacefully off the land and sea, but the British and French each wanted them to pledge allegiance to them. The Acadians wouldn’t agree to that and eventually most were dispossessed and sent to England, the eastern USA, and other countries. We saw an excellent video about the history, enjoyed walking around the beautiful grounds, and visited the reconstructed church.

By late afternoon we finally pulled into our campground (Dunromin). There were no plans for the evening, so the four of us drove the 20 miles to Digby – known for their outstanding scallops. We sat on the deck of the Shoreline Restaurant and had wonderful garlic-buttered scallops. And we also had to try the desserts – two of our group had carrot cake. When they brought the cake out we all about fainted. Each piece was HUGE – Yummy, we brought much of the cake home – also bought their fish chowder-to-go for dinner the next night.

Wayne, an Acadian, discusses 1700s lifestyle of his people

We stayed in Annapolis Royal the next day and were bused to several points of interest. We visited Port Royal – an Acadian community from the 1700s. Next we spent some time at Fort Anne. At both these places we had talks on the Acadian history.

We were then taken to lunch at a German bakery and restaurant. Following lunch we were given a tour of the Historic Gardens – a Victorian garden, heather garden, rose garden, and other beautiful plantings.

To complete our day we visited the tidal energy plant. This area experiences the extreme tides we witnessed in the Bay of Fundy (30-50 ft tides). The tide at the energy plant rises – gates close to hold that water in a huge basin. Once the tide water drops 40 feet below the dam, gates are opened  so the water in the pool spills through the generators producing energy. By using the tide, they can generate power 6 hours twice a day (after each high tide) – very interesting.

Lunenburg harbor

The next day we were off again and on our way to Peggy’s Cove on the North side of Nova Scotia. We took a side trip to Lunenburg – a quaint fishing village. Only problem was where do we park the RV? We drove through the really narrow streets of town twice before happening upon the Visitor Center and a park with adequate parking. We drove the car to the waterfront and enjoyed lunch as we looked over the harbor – we are getting our fill of seafood, and it is fresh and delicious. G and I had fish wraps, and Diann and Rich had two buckets of mussels. We then enjoyed going through a Maritime museum that included a lot of information about the schooners used for fishing a couple of hundred years ago.

Peggy's Cove and our campground

Because of our problems finding parking there and the very narrow (no shoulder) roads on much of our drive we didn’t pull into the park until almost 6PM, but it was worth the drive. We were parked at the shore of a beautiful cove and the sun was shining. This is the location of the Swiss Air flight 111 crash in 1998.

The next day (Friday, August 20) we were taken on a day-long bus tour to many interesting locations in and around Halifax. Our first stop was near the RV park – Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse. Peggy’s Cove and the lighthouse are the most photographed places in Nova Scotia.

Citadel regiment standing at attention

Then it was on to the Citadel in downtown Halifax. This is a huge fort where we had a 45 minute guided walk ending at the noon cannon firing. We enjoyed watching the fully uniformed regiments in formation.

We had a nice lunch at the Citadel Hotel before being driven to the Halifax Wharf where we had two hours to shop and enjoy the waterfront. We walked the length of the wharf where at the end we found a Cow’s ice cream outlet – in Canada, Cow’s ice cream is comparable to USA’s Ben & Jerry’s. We had to try it and it was delicious.

Fairview Cemetery - grave stones of Titanic deaths

Our final stop was at Fairview Cemetery where the people who died during the sinking of the Titanic were buried. The company that owned the Titanic bought a large area of the cemetery and put headstones there for each body – over 300 bodies were buried there. Since at the time they didn’t know the identities of these bodies, the stones were marked with the date the Titanic went down and the number of each body (numbered in order of recovery). Since that time many of those have been identified and their names put on the headstones. We learned that each body was carefully catalogued and any effects numbered so that relatives could try to identify their family members.

Niagara Falls, NY to Ellsworth, ME

A-Niagara, NY; B-Hammond, NY; C-Ellenburg Depot, NY; D-Gorham, NH; E-Ellsworth, ME

Some beautiful properties along our way

We continued our drive to Maine. We drove on state roads – almost no Interstates. So we saw many interesting small towns, lots of local graveyards that are very different from those in the west. We are still seeing corn fields and have followed the St. Lawrence waterway for about 40 miles.

So many small town cemeteries

We had an interesting trip to a campground in Hammond, NY – the last 1.6miles were on a narrow, bumpy, and hilly gravel road. There were trees close to the road in spots and we were very glad to get to our RV sites. Going out the next morning, we gals drove the cars out to be sure no traffic was on the road – there were almost no places to pass. We were very glad to be back on the state roadway.

Greenhouse orchid at Montreal Botanical Gardens

The next night we thought we were in great shape – the campground was right off the state highway. Well…..when we arrived for the next two nights, we learned that there had been over 5” of rain in a short period earlier in the week that had flooded their water supply, so the water was not drinkable. Not only that – we had no phone coverage and no Internet. Oh well, we did survive in spite of it. 

Bonsai shrub over 55 years old

We spent the next day driving to Montreal, Quebec to the Botanical Gardens. It was an overcast and cool day with some rain, but the gardens were quite spectacular. There were greenhouses containing orchids, begonias, tropical plants, desert plants, etc. The outside gardens were beautiful – Japanese Garden, Chinese Garden, Alpine Garden, First Nation Garden, Sensation Garden, vegetable garden, spice garden – we enjoyed them a lot. We were very happy our GPS knew how to get there and back!! We did however have a 45 minute delay at the border – never did figure out what took so long; when we finally got to the booth we were on our way in about a minute. I guess old folks just don’t appear dangerous.

August 9 we were off again traveling out of New York, across Vermont, and across New Hampshire. We traveled the state roads and saw more lovely old towns, fields of corn, rivers.  We reached our destination for the night - Gorham, NH and The White Mountains – the tallest peak in the area, Mt. Washington. We had a rain storm that night, but sunshine the next morning.

Diann, Rich, Ellen, Gordon at top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia Natl Park

The next day we drove to Bangor, ME where we decided to get new tires on the front of the RV. They would probably have been OK on our 2500 mi trip into the Maritimes, but with one tire cupping, Gordie didn’t want to take a chance. We will both rest easier knowing the tires are all OK. We were happy to find a tire shop with tires that would fit and they were able to install them in about an hour – we were very lucky!! Less than an hour later we were in Trenton, ME (just a few miles from Bar Harbor and Acadia Nat’l Park).

Bar Harbor boat basin

August 11 we spent the day touring Acadia Nat’l Park – it was a lovely sunny day. We drove to Cadillac Mountain – the highest peak on the east coast at just over 1500 ft. There was a lot of traffic – seems all the families are out for their last taste of summer before school starts. So we didn’t see everything we wanted to, but it a beautiful island surrounded by water. We ended our afternoon in Bar Harbor strolling down Main Street, checking out the shops; then walked along the beach path to enjoy the harbor and sail boats in Frenchman Bay.

That night we met with our fellow 'Tracks to Adventure' tour members for a Maine Lobster boil- yummy. Today we have another get-together for a rendezvous to prepare us for the first day of our 33-day Maritime trip. This will be a tour with 25 RVs (trailers, motorhomes, 5^th wheels, conversion vans – even a pickup-camper) traveling together through the Maritimes of Canada. Our Internet will be less reliable there, but I will try to get the blog out when I can.  Later..................

From Wisconson to New York state

A: DeForest, WI;  B: Shipshewana, IN;  C: Loudonville, OH; D: Loudonville, OH

Saw this along the road - fun

July 27 we again hit the road on the way to Shipshewana, IN. This was kind of a stressful day as we tried to skirt Chicago and also stay off the toll roads. Well!!!! We found that the ‘burbs’ of Chicago go south for a loooong way. So we spent lots of our day in stop-n-go traffic. UGH. And of course, there were many, many corn fields all along the way.

Amish horse and buggy

We finally cleared the area and made it to Shipshewana, IN where we spent two nights. This is a lovely Amish community where you see the horse-drawn carriages on the roads. We learned that the Amish houses can be located by their lack of electricity and lack of cars in the driveways. We missed the large market that is held every Tuesday and Wednesday – I guess that is really the time to visit.

The next morning we headed to Nappanee, IN where we toured the Newmar RV factory. Newmar sells pre-ordered RVs only. 
Their production has decreased considerably with the downturn in the economy. In the sewing shop there used to be 20 folks doing the upholstery. The day we were there only 3 were working. And the company only runs one shift 5 days per week. They are currently putting out 17 RVs per week.

We spent the next couple of hours in Amish Acres – a small Amish village that had a restaurant, gift shop, etc.

In the afternoon in Shipshewana Diann and I visited the shops and enjoying the pleasant atmosphere of the area while the fellas spent some time at the Hudson car museum.

On July 31 we took off in a drizzle and headed to Loudonville, Ohio, another area of Amish population. We had made reservations at Wally World RV Park (since it was Saturday) and found ourselves along a slow flowing river with hundreds of folks floating along in tubes, kayaks, canoes, rafts, etc – they were practically shore to shore!!! I’ve never seen so many folks in a river at one time – and the funny thing was that the water was so shallow, even the young kids could stand in the middle of the river and have water barely above their knees. The campground was really hopping until late into the evening – lots of family groups.

We had planned to stay only one day, but Sunday the Amish do not open stores or have sales stands open. We drove around the area – Millersville/Berlin/Charm – did find a lovely Bavarian looking cheese factory (Guggisberg Cheese CO.) where we purchased Baby Swiss cheese. We changed our plans and stayed a second day – spent it back in the Amish/Mennonite areas east of Loudonville. We went to the Behalt Center where we had an excellent explanation of the history of the Amish/Mennonite/Heuterite people. We were taken into a large round room that contained a huge mural going the entire way around depicting the history of the beginnings of these cultures in Germany, Switzerland, and other countries; then their eventual settling in this country.

The Amish have church services in barns.

The Amish fellow who gave us the history lesson and answered lots of questions directed us to another little town, Kidron, where he told us there was a store where the Amish shop – Lehman’s Hardware. It is huge and sooooo interesting. They sell many varieties of wood burning stoves, many gas lanterns and more, more, more – really a fun store in which to spend a couple of hours.

From there we visited an Amish furniture store where quality is first class – beautiful things. And we ended our day with a trip to an Amish restaurant – the dinner was wonderful, but the dessert – oh my – perfection.

Rainbow bridge connects Canada and USA

Then it was off to our next adventure – Niagara Falls State Park. This time we didn’t worry about avoiding toll roads – took I-90 all the way to the city of Niagara Falls. The first day we ‘did’ the American side. We bought the USA tour package – trolley, Maid of the Mist, Cave of the Wind, Discovery Center, IMAX show, and aquarium. It was very hot and very humid. I have to admit that I am a bit weary of the humidity – it’s so draining. But at least our weather has been clear for our sightseeing adventures. I never realized that ‘Niagara Falls’ is actually three different falls – American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls close to each other; they are separated from Horsetail Falls by Goat Island. 

The Maid of the Mist was an exciting 15 minute trip on a boat into the mist at the bottom of Horseshoe Falls (throw-away raincoat included). The Cave of the Wind trip involved wearing another rain slicker and sandals to walk in and be sprayed by the water of American Falls. We spent most of the day at the park; then came back at night to see the Niagara River lighted by floodlights and a large fireworks display put on by the Canadian side.

Ellen & Gordon with Niagara Falls in background

The next day we drove to the Canadian side which is completely different. The landscaping is beautiful with sculptured flowerbeds and lawns. There is a large shopping area, a tall space needle type structure with a restaurant at the top, and many large hotels. It is much easier to see the falls from the Canadian side. And on the Canadian side of Horseshoe Falls we were able to take a walk behind the falls. We went down an elevator and walked along a concrete tunnel, then looked out a portal that was actually behind the falls looking out – the thundering of the water was amazing. We feel that we really enjoyed the full Niagara Falls experience. It was again hot and humid, but we did enjoy the day.

Traveling from South Dakota through Minnesota

July 23 we head into Minnesota. My goodness – we are seeing corn field after corn field. There seem to be many soy bean fields as well. The countryside is lovely – the corn really does go on seemingly forever. We arrive at Mystic Lake Casino RV Park in Prior Lake, MN. That afternoon the four of us head to the casino for the dinner buffet (we were hoping for seafood, but no….).

The next day we drove the less than 20 miles to Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. It is huge – 3 full floors with a partial 4^th floor that is the theaters. We walked and walked and walked around all three levels. In the center is a large amusement park with rides of all kinds. There is also a Lego display area. It took us about three hours to accomplish our trips around and do a bit of shopping along the way.

July 25 we were on the move again – this time heading south to Albert Lea, MN. We find ourselves in an RV park next to a corn field.  From the RV and on the road, I figured the corn was 4 or 5 feet tall. Well, from ground level it is clear that it is closer to 7 feet high. Most of the corn in this area is seed corn we are told. Since we have some afternoon left, we drive the 14 miles to Austin, MN to visit the SPAM Museum – it was a very entertaining tour. We didn’t realize how many foods Hormel makes!

Crossing the Mississippi River

The next day we drove the 40 miles to the Winnebago Factory to go on their factory tour. Our traveling companions have an Itasca, made by Winnebago. The tour lasted 2 hours and from there we drove back to Albert Lea to pick up our RVs and took off for DeForest, WI – just a few miles from Madison. It was a long afternoon and we enjoyed crossing the massive Mississippi River. We’d missed seeing the Missouri River during that rainstorm earlier in the trip. It continues to be very humid (about 75%) with temps in the upper 80s.

The next day we drove to Taliesen – the 1st home of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright. He used this house to experiment with his architectural ideas, so he was always building and tearing down to try something new. He was a very interesting fellow.

Then just 6 miles down the road we visited ‘House on the Rock’ – I don’t even know how to describe the place. When he was a young man, Alex Jordan visited the area of Wisconsin called Spring Green. He saw a huge rock overlooking the countryside and paid the owner of the property $20 so he could picnic there. Over the next years he managed to purchase the property with the rock and eventually land around it. He built his house there (incorporating the rock into the house) and began collecting things – it seems like he collected hundreds of items. 

One of several unique pots

He expanded his home on the rock to include all these collections. The tour is a 3 mile trip through (1) the house, gardens, and Alex Jordan Center; (2) Streets of Yesterday, a tribute to the sea, Music of Yesterday, aviation area, and a huge brightly lighted carousel; (3) An organ collection, doll collection and doll carousel, and the Circus Room. By the time we were finished, we were exhausted. It was a bit frustrating that we couldn’t get good photos because everything (especially the house) was very dimly lit. But it was amazing.

One of the many huge musical displays

The next day we visited the capitol of Wisconsin in Madison, the Monona Convention Center (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) on the bank of Lake Monona, and the Olbrich Botanical Gardens – there was a butterfly exhibit going on that we especially enjoyed. We also visited a nearby Cheese outlet – I mean, we ARE in cheese country. There are wonderful farms, many with small dairies all over the area. This is a beautiful and peaceful area of our country.

From the butterfly exhibit

From the Thai exhibit at the botanical garden. The gold is actual gold leaf - just beautiful.

Rapid City to Mitchell, South Dakota

July 18 we drove to Rapid City S.D. where we met friends Diann and Rich Coy. They will travel with us the next 3+ months.

On a very pleasant July 19 we drove the 45 minutes to Deadwood where we walked up and down the main street. They claim they have 84 casinos, but most have just a few slot machines. The town’s claim to fame includes the likes of Calamity Jane and Wild Bill, etc. – lots of interesting bits of history.

The next day we left the RV park early and headed for Mt. Rushmore. The viewing is free, but you must pay $10 to park your car. Once you are parked and walk toward the monument, you become aware of the many improvements made there. 

As we walked toward the monument, we walked along the Avenue of Flags where all 50 states have plaques on granite pillars (one on each of 4 sides of each pillar). The date they joined the union is on the plaque. And at the top of each pillar the 4 flags are flying. It’s really neat. 

There is a nice museum and the workshop of the monument designer where you can see how the monument was designed and created – quite nice. You could spend several hours if you wanted to learn all the history.

Once we were done at the monument, we drove the wildlife highway through Custer State Park – along the route we saw buffalo, elk, pronghorns, prairie dogs, and burros; and much lovely scenery.

From there we continued to the Crazy Horse monument. I imagine many of you have either seen it or heard of it. It is still a long way from being done. We didn’t care to pay the $27 to drive into the monument, but we were able to take good pictures from outside the entrance and that was enough for us.

July 21 we headed east again – our goal was to see Wall Drug and Badlands Nat’l Park on our way to Mitchell, SD. We drove the RVs to the large Wall Drug parking lot and unhooked Rich’s car which we took on the loop drive through the Badlands. It was much more massive than we expected – very beautiful rock formations at the east end of the park; grasslands toward the west end.

We returned to Wall Drug and strolled through many of the 28 stores and 540-seat restaurant. You can get coffee for 5 cents – free if you are a US Veteran. But most of the 72,000 sq. ft. store is drug stores and other specialty shops. It was interesting and we can check it off our list!

Then the fun began – we had about 220 miles to drive to reach our RV park in Mitchell, SD. The first 1.5 hours were not a problem. But we were hearing about a thunderstorm to the north. Unfortunately we ended up in the storm and drove 120 miles in driving rain and wind whistling across the RVs. It was really nasty. As we drove Gordie noticed that water was bubbling along his window well. Oh my goodness – all the window wells on the driver’s side of the RV were full of water. I got dish towels and cleaned up, then stuffed the towels into the tracks. I ended up using every kitchen towel I had over the next 5 hours (they would get completely soaked) as we continued through constant rain and wind – and I mean constant, there was NEVER a letup. We finally did get to Mitchell, but it was still pouring rain. The next day as we visited with the RV park managers, they told us that their swimming pool overflows with more than 4” of rain and it overflowed that night.

Fortunately the next day (though super humid and warm) was relatively nice. We headed out to visit the Corn Palace. What an interesting place – the only corn palace in the world. The town first built the corn palace to draw attention to Mitchell in hopes of it becoming the South Dakota state capitol. Even though that bid was unsuccessful, they have made the most of this unique place. Inside is a basketball court and large auditorium. 

Outside the front and side walls are covered with corn artistically attached to the wood walls. An artist designs the pictures and each year the corn is replaced at harvest time (usually mid-August) with a new set of designs. They even have special fields where they grow the specialty colored corn to use for the pictures. During August they have name entertainment every weekend to celebrate the corn harvest.

Closeup of corn in the design

 And last but not least for this blog - the Meade's first hokey photo - it's a must occasionally !!!!!

And we head onward to Mystic Lake Casino RV Park in Prior Lake, MN where we will drive to investigate Mall of America!!

More next time...................