Quick Takes #281: Canada, O'Canada

1. In a bit of a departure from our usual August vacation, thanks to the generosity of my MIL we as an extended family have recently returned from a Canadian Maritime cruise.  Which in summary was wonderfully exhausting and hopefully have left us with many, many memories to reflect back on over the years.
2. It all began very familiarly with driving to Maine which actually went fairly smoothly with minimal traffic for a summer Friday; the next morning we quickly repacked and headed down to meet up with the rest of the family and head to the port. Boarding the ship involved the excited nervousness of having never done this before and being unsure of how independent the kids would need to be with holding their own passports and answering security questions.  In the end it all went very smoothly and we found our room which was very nice and well set-up for four people (Elisabeth was staying with her TCBFF in Gma's room).
3. Bar Harbor was our first port of call and our first experience with the process of getting off & on the boat made more interesting by having to take a tender (small boat) to the port as the Zaandam had anchored off-shore.  Bar Harbor is a lovely old seaport town where we found tasty sandwiches and a wonderful park to eat them.  After while some of the party went shopping the rest of us followed a walking trail along the coastline. Beautiful rocky coast, with evergreens right down to the shore line and lovely old homes.  Other highlights were the cannons the kids could climb on and the ducks by the tender dock.
4. Halifax allowed for a wonderful and unusual welcome; as we walked down to breakfast we heard a bagpiper welcoming us to Nova Scotia otherwise known as New Scotland.  On our walking tour we saw the Government House, a beautiful old church, the Citadel overlooking the city, and the Public Garden.  After a lot of walking luck smiled on us and we found a playground for the kids to blow off some energy and the grown-ups to sit a spell. Then back to the boat to prepare for our first fancy dinner on the ship.
5. Sydney was our stop in Cape Breton Island (also a part of Nova Scotia); and we were again greeting by a bagpiper.  After all the walking of the day before I decided to hang back with the kids and we explored the shoreline while the rest of the group headed into town to shop and sightsee.  During our wandering we found a fun ice cream spot that we returned to later in the afternoon while others enjoyed an American Taste Kitchen demonstration.
6. And so as to not cram too much into one post I will leave the overview here with one lovely hint ~ our next port of call allowed me to visit the house that was the inspiration for Green Gables!!
7. Photos: 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Please head over to Kelly's for more 7QT's!