We had
another long hard travel day today. Another downside to this Caravan Tour is
that we seem to have 4 hours of bus riding for every 2 hours of sightseeing. Is
that necessary? Honestly, I just don’t know. It isn’t something I even thought
about researching to see if we could do better on our own because we had been
so pleased with our past Caravan Tours to Copper Canyon and the Canadian
Rockies. Anyway.
Breakfast and
bags out were at 6:30am. Bus was a little later than our scheduled 7:30am
departure. Breakfast was a disappointment. I had the plain pancakes (as opposed
to blueberry, which had blueberry syrup on them, and not blueberries in them anyway). The menu
said they came with maple syrup, but they did NOT. They came with a little
plastic tub of pancake syrup, which had no contents labeling, but it was clearly
not maple syrup. Boo!
We drove off
of Cape Breton Island and returned to mainland Nova Scotia by the Canso
Causeway again. We pulled in to the Visitor's Center again at Port Hastings, but it was closed so we drove on. We arrived in Antigonish and pulled off the highway at St. Francis XavierUniversity where we parked at Canadian McDonald’s for our comfort stop. There
was a Tim Hortons next door on one side and a Needs Convenience Store on the
other side and a Subway across the street. The problem was that the McDonald’s
restrooms were closed by a construction project and they had a couple of
port-a-potties outside. Clay and Judy got in line there and Mom & I walked
to Needs (mainly because we had not seen Tim’s through the trees, but Clay said
almost everyone from the bus was lined up in there, so just as well) and they
did not have a public toilet either. We went back to McDonald’s parking lot and
used the port-a-potty. It turned out there was a separate unisex port-a-potty
right beside the bus that we hadn’t seen before because we weren’t looking for
port-a-potty!
We stopped at
Truro at the Glooscap Mi’kmaq Heritage Center. We started unloading the bus at about 10 of
noon. Marty asked us to not stop at the restrooms or gift shop but to go
through to the center where we would have a demonstration and then free time. A
man and a woman spoke to us about the history of the Mi’kmaq and then sang a
song. When they stopped we had 10 minutes to wander their displays, use the
toilets and visit the gift shop. So, you had to choose because you couldn’t do all
3. It turns out that this stop is described in our Caravan Tours' day-by-day itinerary with equal billing to Peggy's Cove. Not quite. I am glad I hadn't read about it previously so I didn't have to be really disappointed.
We drove on
to Peggy’s Cove and arrived at about 1pm as scheduled. It turns out that Marty
had made a reservation for us by the lighthouse at The Sou’wester Restaurant. When the bus
parked she got on the mike and asked everyone once again to follow her and not
stop at the gift shop or restrooms until after they had taken a seat and placed
their order. What order? She had not said a word about lunch until the moment
we started unloading the bus. We were to be back on the bus at 3pm.
Clay and I
grabbed our backpacks with snack foods in them and our water bottles because we
weren’t sure we’d be eating lunch in The Sou’wester. We caught up with Marty in
the parking lot and she assured us it was good food and affordable and
something for everyone. We went in and found seats and picked up menus. Lunches
ran about $16 for fish or sandwiches or hamburgers. I only saw 3 things that
were not seafood and I didn’t really want a $16 hamburger or chicken fingers. I
walked out followed by Clay then by Mom and finally by Judy.
Much later, after we had eaten our snacks, we
found a hot dog and sausages cart for $5 and $6 and picnic tables below the
rocks of the lighthouse and that would have been perfect. But, we found them
too late. What would have been perfect is if Marty had told us about our lunch
options before we got there. Like before we stopped at Needs and Subway this
morning and people could have bought what they wanted and picnicked. It was a gorgeous sunny day with long views
and she had the group spend an hour of our time here at a crowded, noisy, and in
my opinion, overpriced restaurant with no views. Crazy.
Information is power and
evidently withholding it keeps Marty in control of her group. But, that doesn’t
best serve us who are paying for the trip. Anyway. We all shared a bench facing
the water next to the rocks and the lighthouse. We all had our fill of the
snacks we had brought along and drank all the water. Mom & Judy would have
brought their water bottles had they realized what was happening.
Then we
walked around to view little Peggy’s Cove and found the hot dogs and picnic
tables too late. We spent some time wandering around the lighthouse out on the
rocks. Judy stayed there by the bus, but Mom and Clay and I walked back around
Peggy’s Cove to view the rock carved by DeGarthe and went over to the Visitor’s
Center. I picked up some literature there and we used the restrooms. There was
a beautiful little inlet off the back of the building surrounded by a boulder-strewn landscape. It was quite lovely and we wished we had more time there but
it was time to start back to the bus.
We shortly
got to Halifax where we spent about an hour taking a driving orientation tour
with Barrie on the bus. She had him drive us to the top of the Citadel because
she had planned to take a group photo there, but we had heard that there were
something like 5 cruise ships in port here. We saw Crystal and Celebrity. Peggy’s
Cove was certainly mobbed with cruise ship tours. We got caught up in bus 15 at
the Visitor’s Center out there! Anyway, the parking lot at the top was packed
with buses already as well as people and it turned into just a quick photo stop for
anyone who wanted to hop out and get a picture over Halifax from the hilltop.
You really couldn’t see anything but the entrance of the Citadel without paying
to enter it. It is the British fort answer to the French fortress at
Louisbourg.
Halifax is
evidently a very important Atlantic coast port. Marty says it is the 2nd
deepest natural harbour with Sydney being the deepest natural harbour. People
who live in Halifax are called Haligonians. Seriously. This is true. I am not
making it up.
In other
news, we learned that we have put 1286 miles on the coach. And all without ever
washing the windows. Amazing. Really.
Barrie
continued the waterfront Halifax bus tour and dropped us off in front of the
Marriott Harborfront about 4:30pm. We all said goodbye to Barrie and took our
keycards and various vouchers and made our ways to our rooms. The Marriott met
our expectations and Mom said it exceeded hers. There are still no
refrigerators in the rooms, but they have a fitness center and all the other
amenities. The building feels structurally strong and not flimsy like the North
Winds or Laurie’s Inn. Gisele’s was okay and in between the feel of those 2 and
the Marriott. The main thing is the number of people available at the hotel
offering to help or offer suggestions or directions. They did drop the ball
though when Clay and I had not gotten our suitcases within an hour of arrival.
I went out looking for them or someone to talk to and found our bags at the
intersection of the north and south towers just abandoned on a luggage cart. I
stood there with them for about 3-5 minutes before a bellman came walking down
the south tower corridor toward them. He asked if he could help me and I
pointed to the bags. He took them off the cart and headed toward the north
tower with me in tow. He apologized and said they had gotten all the bags
delivered in about one hour and that wasn’t bad considering they were
shorthanded at the moment. I said nothing. I guess it didn’t count that the
last 2 bags delivered took over an hour. Who knows how long they had been
sitting where I found them or how much longer they would have if I hadn’t gone
and found them? After we got the bags, we got online with Clay’s tablet to
check out menus and pick a dinner place.
We are in room 341 and Mom & Judy are next door. We have a view across Water Street of the Pedway. We asked someone across the hall what their view was and they said it was of a fence and a hole. Someone in this hotel must have harbor views because the building is sitting right on the harbourfront! But, clearly not anyone in our part of the north tower.
Bluenose II
was about 2 blocks away and Marty highly recommended it. As we walked out of
the hotel, all the employees that asked to help us that we told we knew where
we were headed also said it was a very good choice. So, we didn’t even look at
Salty’s menu next door. We asked a couple of people about BeaverTails since we
wanted to go there for dessert and they thought it would be closed. We did not
see times on the website. The 1st man we asked took us to a 2nd
man and asked him to find out. He couldn’t find hours online either and he
offered to call and find out. They were in fact closed and said they don’t post
hours because they open weather dependent, whatever that means. The guy here at
the Marriott thought it meant whenever they felt like it. He told us to walk
down the boardwalk past the ferry terminal to find their kiosk. He told them he
had Marriott customers wanting to come down and they said they expected to be
open at 11am tomorrow. We will shoot for lunch there tomorrow then.
The Bluenose
II was good. It was close by and only a short walk in the nice but cooling
weather. It was less expensive than the lunch prices today and the portions
were huge. I had moussaka with rice and a Greek salad with about $6 of feta on
it. Clay and Mom and Judy all had fish and chips. We also ordered a poutine for
the table, since it seemed no one but me remembered the last one we had. Also
since we had it in a little Chinese restaurant before no one was sure it was
authentic. It was as authentic as the one we had tonight I am sure. But the one
tonight was cheesier (no curds, but shreds) and the potatoes were better.
The sisters
that we shared time and dinner with in Charlottetown asked if they could tag
along with us tomorrow after the guided morning tour. So, breakfast begins
tomorrow at the Marriott at 6:30am. Marty said to allow time because it is a
sit down and order breakfast. We have 2 vouchers for it with our key cards. We
plan to meet Mom & Judy at 7am for breakfast. We meet Marty in the lobby at
9am to lead us on a morning walking tour along the historic waterfront to the
included visit of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. (Spoiler: Halifax, Nova
Scotia is the final resting place of many of the Titanic’s victims. So,
completing the Titanic cycle for us. The actual cemetery is not walking
distance so we will miss that. We touched the recovered hull piece of Titanic
earlier in Raleigh at a museum exhibit, then to Belfast and Titanic Experience
where it was built, to here where many victims rest.) We have the afternoon
free. But since we have no idea when or where exactly Marty will turn us loose
we have not made any plans. Clay thought he wanted to do the Alexander Keith’s
brewery tour, but after reading descriptions and reviews online he thinks not. He would
still like to see if he can visit the gift shop. I read they have a tavern or
pub next door so he can certainly go in there. The sisters were willing to do
the tour too. One of them balked when I said we planned to have BeaverTails
for lunch. She said she wasn’t eating beavertails! Her sister asked her what
she was thinking and she said I don’t know these people or what they eat. We
cracked up, I guess she forgot what a picky eater I am. Anyway, once her sister
and I explained it was a pastry, she was all in. Judy looked very interested at
the Victorian Public Gardens and we all thought if it were a nice day that
would be a nice place to stroll, but weren’t sure about timing. It looks
like it will be about a half-mile from the museum of the morning to the
garden. It will be a straight uphill walk though! So, now Clay and I think if we skip the brewery tour that it will be
the best thing to do if the weather is a repeat of today. We’ll see. More
later.
Photos
Photos
