The McCabe Family Nova Scotia Road Trip 2017

Here are some photos that didn't make the initial cut for the daily posts chronicling our travels. At lunch in Halifax Seen on a building facade in Montreal Old Quebec In red chair in Fundy National Park On the bridge between Calais and St. Stephen Clare with puffin in Bar Harbor On the way to the top of Cadillac Mountain

Our Nova Scotia road trip came to its glorious end when we arrived home on Friday, June 16, close to midnight, after a very long drive of more than 700 miles from Bar Harbor, Maine, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All of us took turns driving home (a shout out to Conor who did some great driving in the Worcester, Massachusetts, area). We made two stops, one for breakfast at Phil & Jeanne's in Vassalboro, Maine, and one for dinner at the Pompton Queen Diner in Pompton Plains, New Jersey. Though, by the sheer numbers alone, not as impressive as our Grand Canyon road trip in 2013 or our Yellowstone road trip in 2016, the Nova Scotia road trip was nevertheless a grand success by all accounts. We traveled a total of 3,787.4 miles, through four Canadian provinces - Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia - and five states - New York, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Our longest driving day was the last, and our shortest drivin...

At about 8:30 PM, after being on the road for almost 13 straight hours, we stopped at the  Pompton Queen Diner , in Pompton Plains, New Jersey, for our last "official" road trip dinner. The food was excellent. I had the delicious chicken pot pie and, of course, a piece of lemon meringue pie for dessert. We all left full and contented, but eager to be on our way home.

We left Bar Harbor early this morning for home, but we stopped first to visit my brother Phil and his wife Jeanne for a home cooked breakfast to set us on our way home. We also got a chance to tour Phil and Jeanne's new home which replaced their home which was destroyed last year in a terrible fire. It was a great visit, and we thank Phil and Jeanne for their gracious and warm hospitality. We were sad that time did not permit a detour to visit to Phil's Camp in East Winthrop, Maine (where we have stayed the last consecutive 15 years). 

After our late afternoon meal, Suzanne drove Conor, Clare, and me to the trail head for the North Ridge Trail to the summit of Cadillac Mountain, which,  at 1,530 feet, is the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard and the first place to view sunrise in the United States from October 7 through March 6.  Cadillac Mountain was named after the French explorer and adventurer, Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, in 1918. Prior to that, it was known as Green Mountain. Over the next one and half hours, Clare, Conor and I hiked the 2.2 miles of trail to the top of Cadillac Mountain, while Suzanne drove the park loop road and then met us at the top. After we got to the top, we all waited for the sunset which arrived at 8:19 PM. For sure, it was a glorious sight to behold. At the bottom At the top! A glorious sunset

When we finished our morning hike, we headed back to our hotel, the Harborside Hotel , for some hot tub soaking, pool time, and general relaxing. After we were all thoroughly refreshed, we jumped in the car again for the short trip back to Acadia and Jordan Pond House , which has been serving popovers and tea since the 1890's when Nellie McIntire began the tradition. The original Jordan Pond House burned down in 1979 and the current building was completed in 1982. Since then, tea and popovers on the lawn has been an uninterrupted summer tradition. As in past years here (we've been coming to Acadia National Park off and on for at least the last 10 years), we enjoyed a late afternoon meal of seafood chowder, salads, cheese board, and of course warm popovers, with lots of butter and jam. Enjoying an early dinner at the Jordan Pond House Looking out toward Jordan Pond Chairs are now green, not red! And Jordan Pond House in the background An overview of the Jor...

We started our day with a full breakfast at Cafe This Way , and then departed for Acadia National Park for some moderate hiking. The park is America's first national park on the East Coast, established in 1916, and consists of 47,000 acres on Maine's Mount Desert Island. Its landscape is marked by woodland, rocky beaches, and glacier-scoured granite peaks such as Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the United States’ East Coast. It is an amazing and wonderful place, and definitely worth a visit. I dropped Suzanne off at Sand Beach for a less strenuous hike, and then drove the car to the trail head for the Gorham Mountain trail, a 1.8 mile out and back trail to the summit of - yes, you guessed it - Gorham Mountain. At the bottom of the Gorham Mountain trail, Conor continued to the car to meet Clare and Suzanne, and I continued on the Otter Cove trail and Otter Cove where I was picked up on the Park Loop Drive. Conor and Clare checking out the route of the Gorham M...

Our first "official" stop today was Roosevelt Campobello International Park . The park is administered by a commission created under an international treaty signed by Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson and U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson on January 22, 1964. From 1883, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was one year old, until he was stricken by polio in 1921, he spent most of his summers on the rugged and beautiful Campobello Island on Passamaquoddy Bay. Although his growing political responsibilities and health problems eventually limited his visits to Campobello, his love of the island and his long associations with its people left a lasting impression. After he became President, FDR returned to his summer home for three brief visits: in 1933, 1936, and 1939. Eleanor Roosevelt returned with the children and two of her friends in the summer of 1925 and again in 1933, 1935 and 1936. Now known as the FDR summer home, the “cottage” was built in 1897 for Mrs. ...

At 11:20 AM EST, we crossed the USA-Canada border at St. Stephen, New Brunswick-Calais, Maine, and made a beeline for Campobello Island, site of the Roosevelt Campobello International Park. But, as often happens on road trips, we encountered a historic site which we just had to visit, in this case, the Saint Croix International Historic Site . The site commemorates Saint Croix Island, where, in 1604, a French expedition, led by Pierre Dugua, first attempted to colonize the territory they called l'Acadie and the location of one of the earliest European settlements in North America. In 1984, the island was designated an international historic site in recognition of the “historic significance to both the United States and Canada.” We stopped, but the visitor center was closed, so we snapped a few photos and headed on our way.

Before arriving at our hotel in Quispamsis, New Brunswick, we stopped for dinner at JJ's Diner in Sussex, New Brunswick. We were not disappointed, and I was very happy to see homemade pie on the menu. Of course, I had a piece of the blueberry pie topped with whipped cream.

After a picnic lunch at The Hopewell Rocks, we headed to Fundy National Park . This national park is located in New Brunswick on Canada’s Atlantic Coast. In addition to seeing the world’s highest tides in the Bay of Fundy, the park offers hiking trails through Acadian forest, leading to thundering waterfalls, freshwater lakes, and scenic river valleys. All of us hiked the Dickson Falls trail together, and then only Conor and I hiked the Caribou Plain trail. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Fundy National Park, and I would certainly recommend a longer visit than ours. At the start of the Dickson Falls trail At the Dickson Falls On the Caribou Plain trail At the end of the Caribou Plain trail

We left Halifax early so that we would have enough time to walk the ocean floor at The Hopewell Rocks , which is located along the coast of the Bay of Fundy, home to the world’s highest tides. We got there with more than enough time to walk on the ocean floor (you are allowed to walk 3.5 hours before and after low tide), but we didn't have enough time to stay to see high tide. These photographs tell the story.

We checked into our hotel (the Chateau Bedford, the same place where we stayed on Saturday night), took a brief rest, and then grabbed dinner at Jim's Family Restaurant, a diner-type establishment nearby. I hadn't had any pie for quite a while, so I was very pleased when I saw that they served homemade coconut cream pie for dessert. Our waitress recommended the pie. So, needless to say, after a delicious dinner of grilled pork chops, salad, vegetables, and apple sauce, I had a piece of pie which was very good.

After our picnic lunch, we hit the road again and started our journey home. We switched hotels to the Chateau Bedford near Halifax to give ourselves a jumpstart for tomorrow's trip to the Bay of Fundy, the Hopewell Rocks, and the highest tides in the world. On our way to the hotel, we took a brief detour to the Grand-Pré National Historic Site , a sorrowful site which commemorates the Expulsion of the Acadian peoples in the second half of the 18th century and pays tribute to Acadian culture of the 17th and 18th centuries.The Expulsion occurred during the French and Indian War and was part of the British military campaign against New France. The site is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Acadian removal was made famous by the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem Evangeline . In front of the Memorial Church Statue of Evangeline Bust of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Chart showing the Expulsion In the Parks Canada red chair again!

After leaving Bridgewater, we headed back to Kejimkujik National Park for some daytime fun canoeing on the Mersey River. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and we even saw a painted turtle during our time on the river. After about an hour or so in our canoes, we called it quits and enjoyed a picnic lunch at Merrymakedge Beach. And of course, I insisted on taking the obligatory photograph of Conor and Clare in the red chairs when we arrived at the park. Merrymakedge Beach