Blake and Deb Far Away

The last stop on our tour of eastern Canada was Halifax, the provincial capital of Nova Scotia known for its maritime history. It was the closest port to the Titanic when it sank and so played a key role in recovering bodies, many of which are buried in Halifax. (The survivors went to New York). The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic had an interesting exhibit on the tragedy. Less than six years after the sinking of the Titanic was the so-called Halifax Explosion when a munitions ship collided with another vessel in Halifax Harbour, resulting in the largest human-made explosion before Hiroshima. Thankfully, nothing sank or exploded during our visit. Mural in Dartmouth, the location of our Airbnb and just a short ferry ride from Halifax center Ivy wall in Halifax Theodore Tugboat is a popular character from a Canadian children's television series. Something to do with a rum distillery, I believe. Photo of the aftermath of the Halifax Ex...

Prince Edward Island (PEI) is the smallest of Canada’s provinces – about the size of Delaware – and has only about 150,000 residents. There weren’t any spectacular sites that drew us here, it was more the promise of a gentle, bucolic, landscape dotted with tidy farm houses and with long, red sand beaches on the northern shores – many of them a part of Prince Edward Island National Park – plus the charming provincial capital Charlottetown. We arrived on the island by ferry from Nova Scotia and left by bridge to New Brunswick after a very pleasant five days. Red sand beaches in Prince Edward Island National Park at North Rustico North Rustico Harbour Light Saucer-sized mushrooms along a forest trail Low budget beach-side cottage engulfing an old trailer. Giant dunes backing the beach in Prince Edward Island National Park Victorian buildings in Charlottetown St. Dunstan's Basilica Cathedral Interior o...

Our visit to Cape Breton Island on the eastern end of Nova Scotia was a bit of a washout. The rain we knew was coming decided to come a day earlier than expected so our scenic drive along the famous Cabot Trail wasn’t so scenic. Vistas of the rugged shoreline were enshrouded in fog, the early fall colors were muted, and we had to skip our hike on the Skyline Trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park. We did manage a couple of short forest hikes in between rain showers (mostly), but overall our 298 km (185 mi) loop was a disappointment. The day before our drive we stopped in the Cape Breton town of Baddeck at the not-at-all-disappointing Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site (Bell had a summer home in Baddeck). It was interesting to learn that the inventor of the telephone also applied his innovative mind to a wide variety of other projects including hydrofoils, aircraft, alternatives to fossil fuels, and teaching methods for the deaf. He was also a philanthropist and a kind...