In September my wife Betsy drove to Nova Scotia via Quebec and New Brunswick, in order to see friends and research the settings of future novels in the ABC Files series. Along the way we stopped in Montreal and also in Riviere du Loup, which was a nice surprise. The waterfront where the ferry docks is very pleasant, and a forested park inland has trails where orchards and grist mills once stood. We ate the best meal of the trip at a local hotel, with views of the sunset across the mighty St. Lawrence. I asked the waitress if the chef was local, but she admitted that they had stagiaires from France.
Most of New Brunswick seemed to be forests punctuated by the occasional pulp and paper mill, but Fredericton was interesting. I walked along both sides of the St John River while Betsy (surprise!) visited a museum. The trails were full of people on this warm Sunday afternoon.
We spent the night in Amherst, NS, which was an unexceptional town that happened to be located in the right place along our route. The next day we visited Truro, which has a lot more to offer, including a park with exotic trees and waterfalls. We also witnessed a tidal wave that was about two feet high come up the Minas Basin at a good clip.
In Halifax, our room was on the twelfth floor, and we had good views of the park next to the citadel, the downtown, and Dartmouth across the harbour. We took the ferry to Dartmouth and walked around a park dedicated to world peace and a pretty downtown of multicoloured houses. The waterfront in Halifax is also full of nice old buildings. I walked through Dalhousie University’s campus on the way back to the hotel.
After two days in Halifax, we drove down the South Shore to the pretty little town of Chester, where my friend Mike lives in a secluded cove. We traded reminiscences of past exploits and tales about old colleagues, while Betsy and Veronique, Mike’s partner, became friends. I went for walks along an old rail bed which makes a magnificent trail through the pine trees. The strong winds that they experience blow them down easily because they grow on soil full of granite boulders. Mike pointed out one whose roots had encircled a rock that was easily three feet in diameter.
The next day we explored this lovely area by car, walking around Lunenburg and taking a ferry across the LaHave River to reach the LaHave Bakery on the other side. The bakery, which serves lunch, attracted a lot of tourists on this beautiful mid-September weekday, some coming to see the fall colours. Next to the bakery is a bookstore, whose owner agreed to take books in my detective series set in Nova Scotia, The ABC Files, on consignment.
We then drove to Yarmouth to take the ferry across to Bar Harbor, Maine. On arrival at our hotel, we learned that sailings the past two days had been cancelled because of high winds. We were concerned that we might not be able to get on the next day, despite our reservation. Fortunately there was room for everyone, and the crossing on the Cat was a nice experience. The hour and forty minutes waiting to see a US customs agent, not so much.
Of the long drive across New England and New York there is nothing much to say, except that it reminded me how much nicer Canada is!
