Potheads Everywhere!

Along the beautiful Cabot Trail

We didn't make it to the National Acadian Day celebration in Cheticamp last night.  We did get to watch the parade and it was a blast.  Small town parades are always fun.  Given the choice between something like the Tournament of Roses or Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade or a small town parade I'll take the small town parade.  I love the smiles on both the participants and the spectators as they wave at each other like they haven't seen each other in years.  The reality is that they had probably ran into each other at the store, barber shop, beauty parlor or post office earlier in the day.  There's also great pride in the floats that took at least 15-30 minutes to assemble.  Cheticamp's parade had a little bit of it all.  Musicians, dancers, costumes, trucks with streamers, residents of the local retirement home on a bus and more.  My favorite line of the night came from a friendly local we were talking to at the restaurant.  It was getting near time for the parade to start and the excitement was building.  Suddenly the local EMS and Fire Department were called into action for what we assumed to be a real emergency.  With sirens blaring and lights flashing they blew by us in the opposite direction of the parade route.  The lady turned to us and smiled and said "well I guess the parade is going to be delayed a little while".  You can't have a small town parade without a fire truck, police or EMS. 
The parade made it's way slowly down the main street of the village as if no one was in a hurry to get to the finish at the village market square.  Once it was over it took a good 45 minutes for the traffic to clear.  Now that's a big time parade in a small Acadian fishing village on the Cabot Trail!
As we made our way out of Cheticamp this morning we continued along the Cabot Trail heading for our next destination which is the town of Ingonish.  We made a quick stop to check out the village of Pleasant Bay.  As we pulled in we noticed that a whale watching boat was leaving at 10:00 AM.  It was 9:52 at that time so heck, why not join in the fun.  We were soon on our way into the bumpy waters of the Gulf of St. Laurence in search of whales.  We were told that there were several types of whales that inhabited these dark, chilly waters at this time of year.  The most common type are Pilot Whales which are actually members of the dolphin family.  The adults are around 15-20 feet in length and they are very social, traveling in pods.  We learned that they are also called "Potheads" because of the shape of their head which does resemble a large pot.

Before long we had these very social and curious "Potheads" all around the boat.  The pods seemed to have about 10-15 whales per pod.  There were plenty of babies swimming along with adults closely supervising them.  We've seen humpbacks and orca's but this was our first pothead encounter.  What made it unique was the number and how close they would come to the boat.  I wonder if they ever get the munchies..................I hear that happens with potheads!
http://www.whaleandsealcruise.com/

How could you not love a small town parade?

I'm not exactly sure what the one costume is...........Beth thinks it's a sea creature............I think it's the French version of the grim reaper!

I think they lost their rider somewhere along the route

Pilot Whales (Potheads)-Pleasant Bay



Whale Watcher Extraordinaire!

Happy National Acadian Day!

Surveying my Kingdom along the Acadian Trail!

Little did we know that when we planned this journey we'd be in an Acadian village on National Acadian Day, but here we are!  We're in Cheticamp which is described as a "traditional Acadian fishing village located on the Cabot Trail".  The village has about 3,000 permanent residents.  I'm not sure how many of them are of Acadian descent but the majority of street signs and advertisements are in French.
https://www.cheticamp.ca/en/
National Acadian day is on August 15 every year and is a day set aside in Canada to celebrate the French culture and their influence in Canada.  I think the amount of recognition the day gets depends on where you are in the country. There may not be much recognition in places like Vancouver but it's a big deal here.  There is a parade down the main street followed by a festival in the village market this evening.  We enjoy these local celebrations so I'm pretty sure we'll at least stop by for a few minutes.  It's fun to see how much pride communities have in their history and culture.  I think this will be a good one.
While in Chetticamp we've enjoyed a couple of  hikes in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.  Yesterday we did the Skyline Trail.  This was a fairly flat 4 mile out and back trail.  The turnaround point was at the end of a boardwalk overlooking the Gulf of St Lawrence.  There was a brisk breeze coming off the water that made it pleasant even though it was one of the warmer days we've had since we arrived in Canada.  We went to a local restaurant last night that featured "authentic Acadian music".  Not being an expert on Acadian music I can't vouch for the authenticity of the music. It was three guys playing guitars and singing (sometimes in both English and French).  At times it had a Cajun feel so I was convinced it was authentic.  They were fun to listen to and it would have been nice if the food would have come close to matching their talent.
http://www.novascotia.com/see-do/trails/skyline-trail-cape-breton-highlands-national-park/6176
Today's hike was a little more ambitious.  It was the Acadian Trail (appropriate for the day) and it was also in the national park.  This trail was a little over 5 miles in length with an elevation gain of around 1100 feet before reaching the overlook at the top.  We were rewarded for our efforts with another great view for our picnic lunch.  As an added bonus there were wild blueberries growing all along the trail near the top.  We could have quickly picked a pint, quart or gallon but instead opted to just occasionally reach down and pluck a few.  Now that's about as fresh as you can get!
http://www.your-nova-scotia-holiday.com/acadian-trail.html

Cheticamp Beach

The top of the Skyline Trail-Gulf of St Lawrence in the background (along with some guys head)



Skyline Trail Boardwalk

Skyline Trail Board Walk-There are more people in the background of this picture than we saw on the entire hike on the Acadian Trail

Guess who is in the chair?  The Canadian National Park Service has placed red chairs like this at scenic locations in many of the parks.  Unfortunately on the Acadian Trail they only put one chair and she beat me to it!

Mountain stream along the Acadian Trail

  

Sorry folks, we've got to close the library for a while. There's a house on fire across village!

Baddeck Harbor on the Bras d' Or Lake

We've left PEI and made our way to Nova Scotia.  We drove about 40 minutes from Charlottetown to the Wood Island Ferry Terminal.  The ferry ride was a smooth 75 minutes across the Northumberland Strait to Caribou, Nova Scotia. Then we had about two more hours to our destination of Baddeck.  This village of less than 1000 people is located on the eastern end of Nova Scotia in the Cape Breton Island region.  It's the gateway to the Cabot Trail which is a 185 mile loop drive around the north end of the island.  The drive follows the coast line, inland valley's and passes through the Cape Breton Highland National Park.
https://www.cbisland.com
http://visitbaddeck.com
We stayed at another Bed & Breakfast.  This one was the Baddeck Heritage House.  Like the Old Parsonage where we stayed in Kennebunkport it also had four rooms.  It was just a couple of minutes walk from there to downtown Baddeck.  Given Baddeck's size it was just a couple of more minutes walk and we were out of the village.  Although fairly small, Baddeck has made it's mark in Canadian history in a couple of ways.  First, Alexander Graham Bell and his wife Mabel had a summer home in Baddeck.  There is a museum there that is operated by the National Park Service that really makes you appreciate folks like him.  I'm not sure if it's a blessing or curse to have a brain like his that seemed to never shut down...........I guess I'll never know.
http://www.novascotia.com/see-do/attractions/alexander-graham-bell-national-historic-site/1562
The second notable event that occurred in Baddeck was that it was the home of the countries first flight.  The plane looked very similar to the Wright Brothers plane.  It was called the Silver Dart and the flight was in February of 1909.  The lake that the village sits on was frozen and served as runway for both the takeoff and landing some 700 yards away.
As we walked around the waterfront we noticed what was truly a multipurpose building.  It was a two story building.  The bottom floor was the Baddeck Fire Department and the top floor was the public library.  It made me wonder, do they have to close the library if there's a fire?  Maybe my brain is working more than I thought!

Fire Station Downstairs, Library Upstairs!

Baddeck Heritage House Bed & Breakfast



PEI, Oh My!

According to google maps it's six hours (353 miles) from Ellsworth, Maine to Cavendish, Prince Edward Island (PEI).  We made this drive Wednesday and I'm proud to say it took us closer to nine hours to complete it.  The pride comes from not staying on the direct route but taking in a few of the many sights along the way.  It was a few more miles and a few more hours but it's as much about the journey as it is the destination.
Our first and biggest diversion along the way came after we crossed over into Canada.  We stopped for a picnic at Fundy National Park.  The Bay of Fundy lies between the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. It is famous for having the worlds greatest variances between high tide and low tide.  Now to some folks that may initially sound about as exciting as watching paint dry, however it really is a sight to see.  160 billion tons of water move in and out of the bay twice a day everyday. At one particular spot (Burntcoat Head) the range between high tide and low tide averages close to 50 feet.  At low tide you can walk out and explore the ocean floor in places that will be well underwater at high tide.  Unfortunately right now high tide is occurring in the early afternoon which is when we were there.  So there was no exploring for us, but we did get some magnificent views along with a very nice peanut butter sandwich as the main entrée for our picnic!
http://pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/nb/fundy
We then took the Confederation Bridge across from New Brunswick to PEI.  The bridge is 8 miles long and if you're into obscure trivial facts it is the worlds longest bridge over ice covered water.  Obviously in August the water isn't frozen but I would imagine it would still be a bit on the nippy side if you chose to dive in.  The toll for crossing the bridge is close to $40 US.  We were ready to pay but happy to learn that they only charge cars as they leave the island.  When we go to leave we'll be leaving by ferry.   
http://www.confederationbridge.com/about/confederation-bridge.html
Our first two nights on PEI were spent in Cavendish which is a coastal town on the eastern (Atlantic Ocean) side of the island.  PEI is about 2200 square miles in size and with a little imagination it looks kind of like a handlebar moustache.  It's fairly flat, with huge fields of potatoes, corn and various grains inland, and amazing beaches along much of it's shoreline.  The population of the entire island is around 150,000 people.  At this time of year the number of folks on the island is much greater than that although it still doesn't feel crowded. 
We stayed at a small property that had both hotel type rooms and cottages.  It was named the Kindred Spirits Inn which to me sounded like a yoga retreat type of place.  I quickly learned the story behind the name and thankfully it had nothing to do with yoga.  Cavendish is the home of L.M. Montgomery who wrote the book Anne of Green Gables.  In the fictional book Anne and her best friend described their relationship as "kindred spirits".  I've never read the book so I'm no expert on the subject but it sounds reasonable to me.  It was a very comfortable place to stay and the famous house with the green gables that served as inspiration for the character and the book was just a short distance away.
The beach at Cavendish is in one of the Canadian National Parks.  The beach had two very unique features.  First the shoreline is sandstone so it is constantly eroding at a fairly high rate (3 feet per year).  This makes for some very dramatic cliffs, outcroppings and even "holes in the rock".  Second and even more unique is that the sandstone is red so the sand along the beaches has a red color to it.
One cool thing about the National Parks, they are celebrating the 150th birthday of Canada all year long and in honor have made admission free for the entire year.
Like the coast of  Maine, seafood is king up here.  Our favorite restaurant in Canada so far has been The Blue Mussel Cafe.  The restaurant is located in the very small fishing village of North Rustico which is only about 8 miles from Cavendish.  The mussel's as well as the lobster, scallops and fish seemed so fresh they were probably still swimming earlier in the day.   If you go there make sure you save some room for dessert.  The Salted Carmel Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich was pretty darn good.
http://bluemusselcafe.com/
We decided that PEI not only stood for Prince Edward Island but also for "Practically Every Inch".  While we haven't covered quite every inch we have covered our fair share of the island.  Not ones to miss out on any oddball attraction we even went in the bottle houses.  There were three "houses" on the compound that some fella built out of bottles.  He had built a chapel and a "main house".  Being a good Canadian he also had built a "tavern".  Each one of the houses had close to 10,000 bottles that were used for the walls, ceilings and interiors.
http://www.bottlehouses.com/
We also enjoyed a small but very interesting museum on the history of the Acadian people of this region.  The Acadian's were French people who settled this area back in the 1700's.  It was very similar to the Cajun settlers down in New Orleans.  As with most of the stories from back in the 1700's, the British had to get involved.  They laid claim to this land and drove most of the Acadians out, however a few hearty souls remained.  Later on more of them returned to reclaim their land.  They have worked very hard to maintain their heritage here and seem to be doing a nice job.  There are now 6 established French speaking schools on the island and their culture is taught and celebrated island wide.
http://museeacadien.org/an/
After Cavendish we made our way to our second destination on PEI, Charlottetown.  This happens to be the largest city on the island (38,000).  Even though the drive here was only around 35 miles we turned it into an all day affair with side trips to other beaches in the Prince Edward Island National Park.  There was Brackley Beach, Dalvey Beach, and our favorite, Greenwich Beach with it's large sand dunes.  We also went to a great lighthouse which was located on Panmure Island.
Charlottetown was hopping along the waterfront Friday night with folks enjoying a beautiful summer evening on the town.  There was live music playing everywhere.  It just had a "vibe" that we both really liked. 
Saturday morning we were able to enjoy a nice walk along the Charlottetown boardwalk that combined some of our favorite things, a flat trail, waterfront with great views and plenty of benches.
The weather people accurately predicted rain for the afternoon which gave us a few hours of rest time, which is the best time.  We were also able to get tickets to see Anne of Green Gables that evening.  It has played in Charlottetown every summer for 53 years making it the worlds longest running seasonal play (you can stump your friends with that bit of knowledge).  The play was actually very good and thankfully now I won't have to read the book.  Two days ago I knew nothing about the story, now I'm an expert!
 http://www.discovercharlottetown.com/
http://www.charlottetownfestival.com/en/show/2-Anne-of-Green-Gables-The-Musical
Next up.  It's on to Nova Scotia and the Cabot Trail!

The Red Sand Beach of Cavendish

An amazing sunset at Cavendish Beach

There were three foxes hanging out on the side of the road at Cavendish Beach both nights at sunset

The Green Gables House that was the inspiration for the character "Anne"

Along the North Rustico Beach Boardwalk 

Muscling up to some mussels at the Blue Mussel Cafe

The Blue Mussel Café-North Rustico Beach

Inside the bottle house

The Tavern building at the bottle house

North Rustico



One of the overcrowded beaches we stopped at on the way from Cavendish to Charlottetown

Charlottetown Boardwalk

Amazing Lobster Rolls from The Chip Shack in Charlottetown

The Chip Shack-Charlottetown



Downtown Charlottetown

Hiking Acadia National Park

It can be both a bad thing and a good thing when the weather guys are right with their forecast.  Today was one of those days.  Morning rain was predicted (a bad thing) and it did rain.  Clearing skies were in the forecast for around noon (a good thing) and low and behold it happened!  While waiting out the showers we made a quick trip to the L.L. Bean outlet which just happened to be less than a mile from the hotel.  It's a great store to roam around in for a while.  I ended up buying a pretty spiffy looking windbreaker/rain jacket which you'll see me modeling in some of the pictures below.
The main store is located in Freeport, Maine and from everything I understand, it is quite a place.  We may have a chance to stop there in a couple of weeks when we're wrapping up this adventure.  We won't have to worry about it being open.  It's open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/1000001705?page=store-flagship
On the way to the park we stopped off and walked around Bar Harbor a little bit more.  It's a very cool little town, right on the coast and pretty much surrounded by the national park.  I've always heard it's "location, location, location", Bar Harbor has the location!
We did two trails in the park.  First up was the Ocean Path Trail.  This was an out and back four mile trail which as the name implies was right along the coast.  One of the sites along the trail was the Thunder Hole.  If the tide is right and the seas are a little rough the hole in the rock formation is supposed to make a thundering sound as water rushes in to the narrow opening and forces the air out.  We weren't there under the ideal conditions so instead of sounding like thunder it sounded more like a low bellowing fart.  You know the kind, the one someone lets slip out during church at the most inopportune moment.  Oh well, it was a great walk with amazing overlooks the entire way.
 http://www.acadiamagic.com/ocean_path.html
After relaxing for a while at Sand Beach where the water temperature was listed as 57 degrees we were off for the second hike.  This one was the Jordon Pond Path.  This trail was a little shorter (3.4 miles) but a little more difficult.  The first half was flat and easy.  The second have was over rocks and on a boardwalk that was never more than 2-3 boards wide.  Again, great views the whole time.  If you ever walk this trail you have a decision to make right off the bat.  From the parking lot trailhead if you go left you get the hard stuff over first.  Go right and you start easy and finish with the challenging part.  Either way it's a great walk in a great park.
http://www.mainetrailfinder.com/trails/trail/acadia-national-park-jordan-pond-path
We finished the day with a picnic at the same spot where we had our lunch picnic yesterday.  The interesting thing was that although it was the same location the view was totally different.  Yesterday the tide was in while today it was low tide.  The difference was dramatic as we sat looking at rocks 3-4 feet high that were completely covered by water the day before.
Tomorrow it's off to Canada!  It's a six hour drive to our next destination which is in New Glasgow on Prince Edward Island.  We've got a few stops planned along the way and I'm sure there will be more as we make our way.  Getting there is a big part of the adventure!

Modeling that spiffy new jacket along the Ocean Path

Along the Ocean Path

The Ocean Path-Great views around every turn

The Jordon Pond Trail

The Jordon Pond Trail

A nut and a knotty tree!

Jordon Pond

McLobster Roll?

Our second morning in Kennebunkport we were up early and decided to get our walk in before breakfast.  Heading out the front door we quickly realized we weren't in Florida anymore.  It was 57 degrees and boy was it refreshing!  We covered around four miles, mostly on Ocean Avenue with the harbor on one side and amazing homes on the other.  It was a really good one!
When we got back to the Old Parsonage we could smell Chris's (the owner) breakfast cooking.  It turned out to be every bit as good as it smelled.  Fresh cooked breads, a soufflé, bacon, sausage and a huge bowl of fresh berries.  There was even a "fresh out of the oven" blueberry breakfast pie.  We're going to miss the Old Parsonage!
The drive from Kennebunkport to Ellsworth (where we are staying while visiting Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park) was an easy three hours.  Shortly into the drive I realized it was Monday morning and I had an "epiphany moment" that I have frequently, and proclaimed out loud that I sure don't miss working! 
We made the short drive over to Acadia and noticed along the way a number of really interesting looking lobster shacks which up here are called lobster pounds.  The term "lobster pound" dates back to the 1800's.  It refers to a storage method for live lobster that provides continuous fresh ocean water while they are being kept before their final journey to that big pot of boiling water.  We're going to have to check one of them out sometime before we leave this area.  I'd much rather get my lobster at one of these authentic places than at the local McDonalds that advertises lobster rolls for $8.99.  I'm 100% certain it wouldn't beat the one we had in Kennebunkport.
It was my first time visiting Acadia and Bar Harbor but I had an experienced tour guide with me.  Beth had been there previously on one of her infamous "Old Lady Trips" with her mom, Debbie and Cindy.  She has so many great memories of the adventures that they had both here and abroad over the years.  I enjoy hearing about them and am so thankful they had the opportunity to do them.
It's now Tuesday morning and we'll be going back to the park and Bar Harbor today to explore it in a little more depth.  I think we've got about 10 miles of trails mapped out and who knows maybe a lobster  as a reward for our efforts..............just not a McLobster Roll! 

From the top of Cadillac Mountain-Acadia National Park 

Two more pictures from Kennebunkport-This was at sunset from the Chowder House Pier

From the Chowder House Pier- The sun was setting in the west behind us and the full moon was rising from the east.  Great reflection off the water!

Cadillac Mountain-1530 feet above sea level 

Sand Beach-Acadia National Park

We finished the day listening to the Bar Harbor Town Band in the Village Green City Park

      

We've been quietly "de-virginized"!

Our next adventure is underway!  If it was cooler weather we were seeking (it was), we've found it!  I just checked and the current temperature on Anna Maria Island is 90 with a "feels like" temperature of 104.  The current temperature here in Kennebunkport, Maine is 74 with a "feels like" temperature of .............70!  What a pleasant relief!
Our flight yesterday was to Manchester, New Hampshire.  Manchester is a nice, easy airport to navigate.  We made a couple of stops on the hour and a half drive to our destination of Kennebunkport.  First it was lunchtime and thanks to a little research of the "Cheap Eats" on Trip Advisor we ended up at the Red Arrow Diner in downtown Manchester.  This small diner has about 5-6 tables and a counter that seats another 10-12 people.  It has been around since 1922, has been voted one of the top 10 diners in America and has been featured on Diners, Drive In's and Dives.  With so few seats and such popularity there was a little wait but it wasn't bad and it was certainly worth it.  Beth opted for breakfast which is served 24 hours a day while I had a rueben.  Everything was tasty and certainly lived up to our expectations.  The Red Arrow Diner is also where we were "de-virginized".  Every time a new customer eats there the servers ring a bell, announces where the customer is from and the rest of the patrons give a hearty cheer.  The first timer is then considered "de-virginized" and gets a sticker to prove it.  Being the quiet and shy people that we are we opted not to let on to our friendly server that we were Red Arrow Diner virgins.
http://www.redarrowdiner.com
We also stopped for an hour or so in the town of Portsmouth which is located on the New Hampshire side of the New Hampshire/Maine state line.  The downtown was bustling with the numerous stores, restaurants and coffee shops doing a hearty business.  Not being shoppers and still having full bellies we enjoyed some of the quieter areas leading to and along their waterfront.  Very similar to Chicago, these folks endure long, cold winters and they really appreciate their summer days and nights.
http://www.portsmouthnh.com/visitor-info
Here in Kennebunk port we're staying at a four room Bed & Breakfast called The Old Parsonage.  I learned from Chris the owner that it was actually the parsonage for the Baptist church from the 1800's through 1982.  The church sold the house to Chris's parents who ran it for a number of years before selling it to him.  We haven't stayed at a lot of B&B's over the years but when we have we've always had good experiences.  This one has been exceptional.  A comfortable bed and a great breakfast.  We also met a very nice couple and a family at breakfast this morning that we enjoyed visiting with over breakfast.  They didn't know each other, but they were both from the Boston area and were in town for the same wedding.  The family shared with us a really nice place they had discovered called Cape Pier Chowder House.  Nothing fancy at all, just great seafood served outdoors on picnic tables overlooking the water.  We enjoyed the food and the setting so much at lunch that we went back there for supper.  Eating at the same place twice in a day isn't something we'd normally do but why mess with a good thing? 
http://oldparsonageguesthouse.com
https://www.capeporpoiselobster.com/cape-pier-restaurant
If you're a fan of US presidential trivia you've certainly heard of Kennebunkport.  It's where the Bush family compound is located.  The main house is a cozy little nine bedroom home that sits directly on the Atlantic Ocean on a piece of land called "Walkers Point".  There's a nice view of the house from across a small inlet.  It's pretty easy to recognize the house.  It's the only one around that's flying a Texas flag along with the US and Maine state flag.  I'm not sure if either 41 or 43 are there right now.  The house is well guarded by folks who probably don't care for inquiring minds so I didn't bother asking.
Tomorrow we'll be heading a few hours further north to the 47,000 acre Acadia National Park.  Who knows, maybe we'll run back by the Pier Chowder House for a quick bite to eat before heading out!

Great welcome sign!

Where we were quietly "de-virginized"!

Waterfront garden in Portsmouth

Another waterfront garden in Portsmouth

The Pier Chowder House!

Hey Kandice, look we're at another beach.  This is Gooch's Beach in Kennebunk which is across the river from Kennebunkport.

The Old Parsonage Guest House

Taken from The Pier Chowder House at sunset