Halifax Bound for Two Nights

 

We are up early and packed up the car.  I made a reservation at a lovely restaurant for brunch today.  All local food and it did not disappoint.  It is called The Flying Apron in Summerville.  Check out these amazing eggs Benedict. 

Here is our routing today.  

We booked two nights accommodation in Halifax at the Lord Nelson Hotel and Suites.  It is located right across from the Halifax Gardens and they had a great rate for Nova Scotians.

I did upgrade to a Garden Suite that had a separate living area and a view of the Gardens across the street.

It was a lovely room and we so enjoyed the air conditioning.  Again we are going through a heat wave at the moment.

Right away I notice two things.  There is only one remote, but each room has a tv.  Also the internet WiFi signal is almost non existent.  Kind of reminds me of the old days on cruise ships (or at least not any I have been on in a while).

I call down to the front desk to report both issues.  They promise to resolve both right away and to call the IT guy.

The remote appeared soon, but the internet signal was horrible.  You can see in the picture below the door to the suite.  I had to stand at the door just to get one or two bars.  Sitting on the couch or in the bedroom I had no signal.  I could see that the router was in the hallway about 40 feet away, but there were a few doors and an alcove in between that I am sure was causing issues.  

We walked down to the waterfront and enjoyed a lovely meal and a stroll.

We went out for dinner and when we came back the signal was still nothing.  I will deal with it in the morning.

The next morning I notice that there is a sign on the desk for the guests from the manager.  It states if you have any issues please email her or call her and then her details.  So I phoned and left a message.

We then went out for the day.  We did some shopping, some touring around and then again because of the heat we were wiped out.  Back in the room around 3 pm and still no signal.  By now I am frustrated.  I emailed the manager and no response.

At 5 pm I called back down to the front desk and stated my ongoing issue.  Of course they had no record of it.  I asked for a WiFi booster to be installed.  The IT guy appeared (who was also the guy that checked us in)  He agreed the WiFi signal is poor and installed a booster at the desk.  

I am disappointed that the hotel did not deal with the issue on my first two requests.  This style room obviously needs a booster and the fact that they promote this room for business trips where you can work from the room is sad.  

The hotel overall was lovely, the rooms were very clean, the location was great and staff wonderful.  Would I stay here again? Maybe, but probably just in a regular room.  

We had a great time in Halifax.  We have a lot of friends and family here in the city but this trip we decided to just focus on us. There will be other trips to the city.

I know there are tons of great things to do in Halifax.  We have cruised here four times. We have stayed here numerous times and played tourist.  Make sure to search the blogs for our previous stays here and what you could do if you only had a night here.

On the Tuesday morning we were up at a crazy hour!  Like 4 am!  We both were awake and decided well we may as well head home.  We actually were missing home.  In the car by 5 and home by 9:30 and that included a stop for breakfast.

We had a great staycation in Nova Scotia.  We really really really like the Valley and plan to go back.  For now we are going to focus on the house, the garden and preserving all the food that the garden is putting out.

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Saturday August 8 - Bay of Fundy

After a yummy breakfast with a nice coffee we are ready to take on the day.

It is another HOT day.  We are into a long hot stretch.  I think it has been like two weeks with no real rain and in the 30s every day.  It is even hotter down here in the valley.

It is great having the hot weather, but whenever we are wandering outside it does zap the energy levels.

We head East to Windsor and visit Fort Edward.  A small but important fort, or what remains of the fort.  We walk around and learn more about this fort.  

It was a fort set up by the English in this strategic spot to protect possible attacks from the Acadians to the newly acquired Halifax.  It was also an area where some of the Acadians were taken to and then departed from to places around the world.

I also learned that this was a spot where the first Jewish battalion came and was trained.  From that first group the first premier of Israeli came from.

We tried to visit a museum here but because of Covid they are limited to how many can enter and a family had just entered.  We took a seat outside on a bench.  But after 15 minutes we gave up.  Just too hot to sit outside and wait.

We park downtown and check out some of the stores.  A few are open, but most close around 1 pm on Saturdays.  Small town vibe.

After an iced coffee we set off to the Bay of Fundy Interpretive Center.  The Bay of Fundy has the biggest tides in the world.  This site offers an excellent vantage point to actually see the tide rushing in. 

So these pictures are how it looked when we arrived at the center. 

Make sure to check the tide schedule for the appropriate time to visit.

When we arrive you can see the sand bar, and the pylons, and the sides of the banks.  See picture above.

You can see the water rushing in and within a few minutes the sand bar is covered.

Then you see the pylon filling up with water around it.

Soon the whole river is covered and the sides of the bank are rising.  CRAZY.

We pull out our lawn chairs and enjoy the view with some cheese and crackers and fresh strawberries.  Damn life is good.  A small snack to tie us over.

We drive back to Wolfville and search out a place to eat.  

We end up at a Japanese/Chinese/Thai restaurant.  It was okay.  Certainly have had better but it hit the spot.

Back at the airbnb we open up a bottle of wine and relax outside watching the last few golfers on the 9th hole.  We discuss our plans tomorrow and when to head out.

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Luckett Vinyards

My sister in law had mentioned this place recently and so I added to my google map for a place I want to go to while down here.

It is close to Wolfville, but in the country.  The Valley view from the vineyard takes your breath away.

They are all set up for Covid and the gentleman that greets us is very friendly and immediately says Bowne Party of two?  We are lead to a table right on the edge of the vineyard.  Ahh .... 

Our server comes over and introduces us.  She is very helpful with advice on the wines.  She even says that if we try the wine and don't care for it we can switch it for something else.  

Now for those of you who don't know Pete Luckett originally came from Britain and settled in New Brunswick.  He started a fruit/veggie stand in the local market that really took off.  He opened other stands.  They became very well known.

He then started appearing on the local morning shows/news shows.  He would always end his segment with Too da loo.  

He sold his stores to Sobeys and moved out to this region.   He opened this vineyard about ten years ago.  

The Bistro offers special fresh cuisine.  

We start with a bowl of the carrot curry soup for me, and Bernie gets the Caesar salad.  Mine is great, Bernie found the Caesar over dressed but very tasty.

For my entree I had some chicken with a cherry onion chutney - to die for and Bernie had a steak with peppercorn butter which he raved about.

We are stuffed, we actually can't finish our entire meals and no room for dessert.

It was a lovely meal and I look forward to coming back some time. 

Exploring the History of Grand Pre

Finally I got a good sleep!  I wake at 8:30!  I did wake up around 4 am and grabbed some water (a bit too much wine last night) and then was concerned that I would not be able to get back to sleep, but I did easily.

We made a nice breakfast - oh I so love staying in Airbnb with a kitchen. 

Our goal today is to visit the National Historic site of Grand Pre.  It is not that far away and it is open.  Some of the displays that require touching, or watching a movie are not being offered but it is still an amazing site.

If you don't know about Grand Pre and the Acadians read more and I bet you will realize that in fact you do know a bit about them.

Acadians were French settlers from the western part of central France.  They first migrated to the area known as Acadie in the early 1630s.  The children of these settlers became known as Acadians.  Today, several million people can proudly say they are descendants from this original group.

They lived here, built homesteads, farmed the land quite nicely until the start of the Seven Year War.  in 1755, the local British authorities made the decision to remove Acadians from their homes in the area known as Acadie.  Why were they forced out you may ask?  The Acadians were neutral, they did not want to take sides with the French or the English.  Although the British were skeptic.  The Acadians were mainly Catholic and they spoke French.  This was a real threat to the British who had just taken hold of the area of what is known as Nova Scotia.

The Acadians were rounded up and the men were told they had to pledge allegiance to the British and promise to fight on their behalf.  They refused.  They wanted to remain neutral.

They were forced out and off their land.  Many left and went throughout New Brunswick, Cape Breton, New England area, even some to South America.  But many were deported that first year to British colonies to the south; to Massachusetts and as far south as Georgia.  Some were exiled to England even France in the following years.  For many, the deportation would cause years of unrest.  Families were separated and communities destroyed by the British.  Eventually, the survivors made new homes and lives by either returning to the Maritimes or settling in the former French colonies of Louisiana and Quebec.  

So that is why you have Creole in Louisiana, the French from that area came for this area of Nova Scotia!

The site is very informative.  The grounds are stunning and the replica church that was built to commemorate the area is very moving.  The original church is where the men were gathered and actually forced to stay until they plead allegiance to the Monarch.  

We spent about two hours here and then travelled to Horton's Landing.  This area is where the Acadians were sent out into boats to far away lands.  Very serene.

Driving back into Wolfville we stop at the Grand Pre winery where we had supper yesterday.  We wanted to come back and try some of the wines.  Boy we are glad we did.  They offered a lovely wine tasting.  But since we spent more that $100 on wines we got the tastings for free.  

We are a little hungry so we head downtown Wolfville to a little restaurant that we had heard good things about.  The Naked Crepe was lovely.  But it was busy!  And with Covid and the restrictions it was a little slow and patience was needed.  We both had two savory crepes and it was huge and I couldn't finish the whole thing.

Since we enjoyed a lovely pear/kiwi cider from a local brewery called Annapolis Cider Company at this restaurant.  The brewery has a shop a few doors down.  I am greeted by a lovely lady who informs me they don't have any of the cider that I had at the restaurant but they have a nice strawberry mint cider.  Oh that sounds nice too.  Okay I will take two, then she recommends a hoppy pear cider.  Well why not!  

When we get back to the apartment we lug the wine up to the place.  Okay we have almost two full cases of wine - but still room for more in those cases.  We love wine and love that it is from Nova Scotia and it is so good.

Tonight we are dining Pete Luckette's Winery.  I will write more about it later.

Checkout then Touring Around the Bay

Another night of poor sleeping.  I was awake early. Like 5 am.  

Bernie woke around 8 and we enjoyed our coffee, then breakfast.

We showered and started packing up.  Sorry to say goodbye, but also excited to move on.  Would definitely stay here again. 

Not much happening in Harbourville

We were on the road by 1030.  I really wanted to hug the coastline.  First stop was Harbourview, then Hall's Harbour.  Check out the tides! Again the biggest tides are found here.

Twice a day the tides rush in and the harbour fills with water and these boats rise to the top of the wharf, then the tides go out and they sit on the bottom of the bay.

We stop for gas and a sandwich and head out to Blomindon Lookout.  We pull out our chairs and enjoy our lunch.  It is extremely hot, around 32!  

Back on the road we head north to Scot's Harbour.  An area settled by many nationalities.   Most of the French were forced out and replaced by British.

The views are breathless.  We stop at a beach and check out the pathway that moves with the tide.  In fact where we park there are warnings that during high tides the parking lot could be under water. 

Can you see the blue lobster body on the left.  Something attacked it and ate it.  It was huge!

We walk along the beach and I venture into the water.  It is extremely warm.  Bernie spots a lobster claw, it is huge!  Then the body is nearby, and the other claw.  Something attacked it.

 

We stop at a local cemetery and check out the gravestones.  Right beside us is a horse with her colt.  So beautiful.

Time to make our way to the airbnb.  

This one is actually on a golf course.  Bernie loves golf and we knew we wanted a place that was quiet.  

They greet us and we check in.  Here is the link to the Airbnb we stayed at.  Check out the view.

Remember if you haven't registered with Airbnb do it now by clicking on this link.  You will save on your next booking.

I am desperately in need of a nap.

I sleep for an hour and feel refreshed after it and a shower.

Bernie has arranged for a dinner at Le Caveau at the Grand Pre Winery.  Sorry I did not take any pictures at the restaurant as I was wanting to just enjoy the experience.

I am so excited.  A bottle of their wine is the start.  I have a Caesars salad and Bernie has some muscles.  For my entree I have local scallops with mushroom risotto.  Bernie has smoked trout, again local.  Amazing!

For dessert we share a coconut cream tart and some dessert wine from the winery.

Oh how I miss these amazing meals.  Sure we have good food, but fine meals, not so much.  It is  a nice treat.

We return to the Airbnb and take a seat on the deck watching the 9th hole.  We enjoy a bottle of wine and chat.  The sky sings.  Check out the sky.  Bernie is watching the highlights from the Canucks hockey game.

We are both tired.  Tomorrow is another day, and we look forward to exploring the area more.