Acadian Coast

Thurston Campground, Upper Clyde River, Nova Scotia

We had quite the leisure morning since our ferry from St. John's New Brunswick to Digby, Nova Scotia didn't leave until noon. It was quite the swanky ferry too! Complete with wifi, movies, lounges and a Starbuck's cafe. What I liked best is that it was more of a floating museum with all kinds of interesting exhibits about Nova Scotia. There was a concierge on board who had more knowledge of Nova Scotia than I thought was humanly possible to retain. She loaded us up with maps, books, information on all the coves and nooks and crannies of Nova Scotia.

We crossed the Bay of Fundy which is famous for their incredible tides. It has the highest tide in the world, reaching over 50 feet! Every 6.5 hours or so the tide shifts.
Try navigating those waters! Also about 4 different species of whales live in this area. In fact, if you sign up for a whale tour you are guaranteed a whale sighting. As one person told us, "they love to show off, you will definitely see them."

By the time we disembarked in Digby it was close to 3 pm. We decided to drive route 3 which is the slowpoke drive down the Acadian coast through all the "towns." In reality the towns on the map were just groupings of houses clustered together near the sea. This area is beautifully stark and the houses in this area all have the same utilitarian hard scrabble look. Many homes were also proudly flying the Acadian flag.
There are no or very, very few shops, restaurants or services along this stretch.

Once we reached Yarmouth, the terrain definitely changed. Now, instead of a relatively straight coastline with the road hugging the sea, there were tons of long craggy inlets, much like the coast of Maine. We choose one finger to go down and it seemed very remote. The city of Yarmouth was pretty small, seeming like just a couple of blocks long. Again, it had a fishing, utilitarian look, nothing of the quaint look about it.

I planned on us staying at The Islands Provincial Park near Shelbourne. In reading some of the literature that the ferry concierge gave us I noticed that it didn't open until June 13th. oops. Time to try and find a campground after 7 pm. We have no cell and no internet, just the maps and literature to rely on. Reminds me of the days when we first started roadtripping. I located a private campground on the Upper Clyde River, "where the river meets the sea." Ned and I got kind of a kick out of this since every mile or so has a river that meets the sea. We pulled into the campground and as expected it's pretty much a dirt parking lot next to the river. It has showers, a flush toilet and good enough to call home for the night.

We were starving and the owner, Tanya, recommended a restaurant called "Anchors Away" that was just a few kilometers down the road. It also happens to be their opening night. Okay, we'll bite. (p.s. they have wifi which is allowing me to quickly write this blog and post it before heading back to the campsite). The restaurant is so local and very Acadian authentic. Our waitress, who is a delightful Acadian woman, was so patient with us explaining some of the local dishes. Ned had the Rappie pie with molasses, butter and brown bed and I had haddock fish cakes with chow-chow.
The rappie pie is basically a potato starch (grated potatoes that have the liquid squeezed out), layered with chicken then baked for 2.5 hours. Ned said it tasted like chicken pot pie, I thought it just tasted like potatoes. My fish cakes tasted like potato pancakes, (not a big fan) but I loved the chow-chow, which is pickled onion relish.
Everyone in this restaurant are locals and they are all greeted by name as they enter.
Some of the locals asked me where we were from, they said with my tan I didn't look like I was from around here. Haha. The folks here are just so friendly. One couple just invited us to come by their house and see the boat they were building, with their grandsons. "We're just ten minutes down the road." I've included a picture of Ned with our Acadian waitress, Nancy. Adorable.

The Magic of Acadia

New River Beach Provincial Park, New Brunswick, Canada

The last time we visited Acadia National Park was in the fall of 2009. We've always said it was our favorite park and five year later I still agree. What makes this park so cool are the 45 miles of carriage roads. So many National Parks aren't incredibly welcoming to bike riders and this park caters to them. The carriage roads were built by the wealthy elite of New York at the turn of the last century. As they "summered" on this island, the carriage roads were for their viewing pleasure. Every bend has a view of the ocean or is situated next to a pond. The roads meander up and down hills, over bridges, along waterfalls and through the woods. It's simply breathtaking.

We got an early start this morning, partly wanting to take advantage of the break in the weather and partly due to the journey we had planned into Canada. For the next several hours we rode or just stopped to take photos and soak in the early morning quiet and beauty. We ended up riding a good 12 miles. The entire time we never saw one other bike rider.

It's hard to put into words the complete beauty and peace one experiences riding these carriage roads. It's completely quiet, the woods filled with heavy duff and the mist hanging over the ponds. I'm sure optimal conditions would have been to experience this ride in warmer weather and clear blue skies, but it was incredibly surreal to ride in the fog. At one point we came upon a young buck, his antlers just starting to sprout, munching his way through breakfast. Love, love, love this park. I hope we don't wait 5 years to come visit again.

After this work-out we were in desperate need of showers. Fortunately, there is a pay shower station not too far from the park. Just as we entered the building the heavens opened up and boy did it pour! All day long...We couldn't believe our luck in hitting that small window to ride.

We continued to head northeast until we finally came upon the town of Lubec, also known as the most Eastern place in the continental U.S. (So far, Ned and I have visited the most Southern - Key West, the most Western - Fort Stevens, and now the most Eastern. I should look up which one is the most Northern!) The reason for traveling thru Lubec was to reach Campobello, an island off the coast which is part of New Brunswick, Canada.

This was Franklin D. Roosevelt's beloved summer "cottage" where he vacationed as a child and where he took his own family, until he became President. If you've ever seen any movies about FDR, swimming, sailing, etc. most likely it was at Campobello. What I found interesting is that despite this being probably his most sentimental place to stay, he only visited 3 times during the 12 years he was president. Most likely because of his disability due to polio. In 1962 a bridge was finally built connecting the island to the mainland. Before then it was quite an ordeal to get here! "They took a day train from NY to Boston, then boarded an overnight sleeper from Boston to Ayers Junction, ME. The next morning, they, their servants and the luggage (some 40 trunks) took a 15 mile ride on a 1-car train to Eastport, where a boat waited for them for the final leg of their trip to the island."

Today Campobello is a joint International Park between Canada and the U.S. It's jointly staffed and equally funded by both countries. We were able to tour the "cottage": all 14 bedrooms, kitchen, laundry, dining room, game room, porch, etc. My favorite room was the dining room off the porch. In the picture posted below look at that huge megaphone on the left side. It's about 4 feet tall, made of parchment paper so it only weighs 2 lbs., and is therefore light enough for Eleanor to call in the kids for dinner. Ha!

We had to go through a border crossing station to get to Campobello, then cross back into the U.S. We drove due north for another hour, then had to cross again at St. Stephens to get into mainland Canada. While driving up to St. Stephens we passed a marker along the road which indicated that we were crossing the 45th parallel, which is exactly half way between the Equator and the North Pole. (Pretty cool since we were at the Equator a month ago).

We are in a nicely wooded beach campground not too far from St. John. I understand it has a great beach and boardwalk, but between the steady rain and time change it's too dark and wet to really explore. Okay, I'm going to cop to ignorance here. I had no idea that there was an Atlantic time zone in our continent. I assumed all the Maritime Provinces were in the Eastern time zone. It was bizarre to go to Campobello, lose an hour of time, cross over the bridge back into the US and gain it back, drive for an hour, cross the bridge into Canada and lose it again. So, we are now officially 4 hours ahead of California. We no longer have any cell connection so we'll be relying on finding wi-fi when we can. Could take us a bit longer to post updates for the next several weeks. Stay tuned...(The last two photos I couldn't resist. Lobsters and more lobsters!)