O'Canda continued

Part 1 here

 
 After our lovely day in Sydney N.S., we left Novia Scotia and woke the next morning docking at the port in Charlottetown, Prince Edwards Island.  This was our one port of call where we rented a car as the place I most wanted to see was across the island from Charlottetown.  While the kids and I had breakfast Dr. Daddy most gallantly figured out the bus system and went to the airport to get the car. Soon we were off to the Anne of Green Gables Museum otherwise known as Silver Bush, L.M. Montgomery's aunt and uncle's home and the inspiration for Green Gables in the Anne book series.  The weather was perfect and so the drive across the island was breathtaking and probably a good chance of pace for the kids who had toured three towns in the previous three days.  When we were on PEI for our honeymoon 16 years ago it had been winter, so it was also fun for us parents to see the island in a different time of year.  The museum is lovely and strikes a nice balance between details from Montgomery's life and references from the Anne and Pat books; and I enjoyed so much going through with Lisbeth who had at my request recently read Anne of Green Gables (in return I read the first of the Wings of Fire books).
    Afterwards we headed to Cavendish beach where walking the bluffs trail might have been a better 'Anne' experience, playing in the water was the better family choice.  We then stopped a Tim Horton to pick up some lunch before heading back to the ship; by complete coincidence the cemetery where L.M. Montgomery was buried was across the street!!  Back in Charlottetown we just enough time to drive past our Honeymoon hotel to show the kids before Charlie dropped us off at the port and went to return the car.

The next day was our one day at sea which was a great chance for the kids to swim and do crafts at the Kids Club and the grown-ups take advantage of the some of the ships presentation ~ or in my case; read.

   Quebec wins the award for the most beautiful views while docking.  An old city built on a hill touring involved a lot of walking but gorgeous views and for the going up portion we took advantage of a fun elevator called the Funicular.   Also of note were the beautiful old churches, entertaining street performers, and the delicious crepes we had for lunch.  We walked and wandered our way down back to the ship and found a fun vendor rolling up yummy maple candy on a stick.  All of the kids warmed my heart so much by doing their best to speak French to the waiters and sales clerks.

Quebec

Samuel Champlain

  Finally it was time to pack up and disembark in Montreal.  Luckily we were able to store our bags at the port which made it much early to explore a bit before we could pick up our rental cars for the trip back to Maine by way of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  Top memories include a historical Farmer's Market located in the city's original town square ~ though the animals were for petting not for sale; another beautiful Church, and Lisbeth found a friendly Corgi to pet.

  All in all it was a wonderful vacation and one that I'm sure we will be referring back to for quite awhile. Thank you for reading along!

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!