Maritime holiday creates many memories

After thousands of miles, hundreds of smiles, and endless tourist attractions, my best Maritime memory from my recent visit there is seeing my family sandwiched on the sofa of our Baddeck cottage reading poetry before we left the next morning for our return to Halifax and home.

Mike always travels with a book of favourites and he opened with Mary Oliver’s How It Begins from Dog Songs.

He passed the book to Ainsley Rose and she read about meeting a wolf with yellow eyes.

My other granddaughter, Charlotte Jane, picked up with a reading about writers and how they always carry a notebook.

Then son-in-law Steve told about his love of Edgar Allan Poe and remembered a high school essay he wrote about the Raven.

He commented on the many references to Poe in popular music.

Just days before, we had been at the Hopewell Rocks. There is a park shuttle, so I rode to sit with the waves as they came in. We arrived early before the tour buses, so had a lovely time at the view area, watching for the famous tides.

We drove over the Sawmill Creek Covered Bridge, but got out of the car to walk Hartley’s bridge, where a huge bug bit me hard and I required antihistamines when we returned to the motel later.

We travel with a small pharmacy, so with sprays and ointments the huge red lump had disappeared the next morning.

We had lunch with Vancouver tourists at the Cinnamon Soul — the best lobster rolls ever. I rested all afternoon while my family went back to see the 36-foot high tides return to the Bay of Fundy, which enjoys the world’s highest tides.

We drove to Alma for dinner and more sightseeing at the wharf, where lobster boats were coming into dock.

We have photos of my granddaughters holding a fresh catch.

The next day, we departed the Hopewell Motel and drove to the Confederation Bridge crossing Northumberland Strait to Prince Edward Island. That bridge seemed very long. I was glad to get to Charlottetown after a one-hour drive.

We checked into the Rodd Charlottetown and had lunch at the hotel. We walked the harbour tour. Our guide described the history of the area and we learned about the initial agreements regarding Confederation in 1864.

Now, I know about Upper and Lower Canada and “Conception” and how in 1867 Canada was created and July 1 was celebrated.

We drove north and west the next morning to Cavendish and the Home of Anne of Green Gables. My guys love the 1905 Lucy Maud Montgomery classic so we took lots of pictures in costumes and seated in the welcoming buggy.

We drank raspberry cordials and visited the McNeil family home in Parks Canada.

The drive to the Ferry Landing at Woods Island, P.E.I., was lovely. Here is how Mike described the landscape. “The island is very green with spectacular red earth. The countryside has many farms with dairy cows and fields of potatoes. From the highway, the area looked cared for and prosperous.”

Pictou and the Hector’s Ship Museum was another highlight. We actually were able to descend into the hull of this tiny craft that carried early Scottish settlers from Lochbroom.

The Hector was an old ship in poor condition, but weathered the 11-week crossing in 1773 with 189 souls on board.

Steve was sad as we learned about the conditions on board but Erin was inspired at the enduring strength of the early Scots.

At Pictou, we shopped for Graumann knives as a reader had suggested. Erin found the Swiss Army knife she had wanted. The only souvenirs I acquired were tiny boxes of Lighthouse Tea from Peggy’s Cove.

We had chowder for lunch at the Nook and Cranny.

Back on the Trans Canada Highway to the Canso Causeway, we crossed to Cape Breton Island. In Baddeck (across from the small island), we all shared a cottage at the Bay Croft Broadwater Inn.

Baddeck has a population of 769 people and features 600 rooms to let.

We had a picnic supper in front of our first campfire.

We missed the Ceilidh in the nearby tiny church hall and I still haven’t bought quilts or hooked rugs from the Dancing Moose Cafe and Gift Shop, but the visit proved a wealth of information about Baddeck and Alexander Graham Bell.

The Alexander Graham Bell museum is a National Historic site designated in 1952 with a view of Bras d’Or lake. It is filled with full scale replicas and touchable personal artifacts.

I can now speak from experience regarding the famous Cabot Trail. Mike and I hired Frank MacLeod to drive us to the Highlands National Park, to the South Shore and the Northern tip of the trail. I actually put my foot on the Middlehead Trail and walked through a path of remarkably beautiful trees.

We drove through endless, winding miles to Ingonish and Little River Village to see more of what could be scenes from the film, The Shipping News.

The Keltic Lodge is definitely worth a walk-through. We got out of the car for snacks at Neil’s Harbour.

We left Baddeck for the return to Halifax. We had to stop at freshwater Ainslie Lake for a leftovers picnic on the beautiful beach. I am starting to lose my grip on geography about now.

We drove back through Truro and on to the Quality Inn near the airport.

We returned home via Edmonton while Erin and her family travelled on to meet friends in Newfoundland.

Our prayers for iceberg sightings have been confirmed by the photos she sent upon our return.

In a nutshell, the Maritimes were a peak experience for this old girl. As for “staycations,” never again.

Jeanette Dunagan has lived in Kelowna for more than 40 years. Email her at jd2399@telus.net.