We left North Alabama in September for a long drive to Prince Edward Island. After stopping in Virginia for a three day visit with my sister, we headed to Portland, Maine with a rest stop at the United States Military Academy. After one night in Portland, we stopped again in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. The drive from Moncton to PEI took a couple of hours giving us most of the day to explore the Southern coast of PEI over to Charlottetown before heading north to our Bed & Breakfast in Cavendish for the night. The next morning after breakfast, we went to the "Anne of Green Gables" park and had a wonderful time. The rest of the day was used exploring the western side of the Island up to the North Cape. Although PEI is not a really large island it takes time to get anywhere because the maximum speed limit is 80 Kmh (50 mph). Once we finished supper and were back to our hotel, my wife rested while I went out to the beach to look at the stars. Since Cavendish is a small town and there is no land mass for 80 miles out into the Bay of St. Lawrence, there is very little artificial light to hinder star gazing. To continue, see below images.
After breakfast the next morning, we left the island on the giant ferry to Nova Scotia. The ferry swallowed up 18 wheelers, tour buses, RVs and passenger cars. The workers knew how to board everything tightly as there was less than 6 inches between our bumper and the car in front of us. After landing, we traveled on to Sydney, Cape Breton Island and stayed there for two nights with a visit to the Fortress of Louisbourg (recommended) and then on the Cabot Trail (highly recommended) to Cheticamp on the western side of Cape Breton Island. Imagine the best views in the Smokies and add the ocean to get an idea of how beautiful this part of Canada is. We stayed in Cheticamp for two nights and explored the western shore with its rocky coast and cobblestone beaches. Reluctantly we left this part of Canada and headed toward Bar Harbor, Maine with a one night stopover in Saint John, New Brunswick.
Bar Harbor is a very nice harbor town with close proximity to Acadia National Park. It definitely is a tourist (meaning expensive) town and it usually is overrun by passengers from large cruise ships which come in every day. The secret to enjoying the town is leave the downtown area from about 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. This was our second visit to Bar Harbor. Our favorite place to eat breakfast is Jordan's on Cottage Street for blueberry pancakes and Stewman's any other part of the day. Everyone should drive at least once around the Park Loop Road and enjoy the views from the pulloffs. If you only have time for a short walk in Acadia, be sure to take Ocean Path for as far as you like from Sand Beach. There are many good overlooks and places to explore the shoreline. Be careful, because while Ocean Path is very easy walking, the overlooks and paths leading from it to the ocean are close to steep drop offs. All rock surfaces can be slick from the ocean tides and waves. Keep kids under careful watch. Look in town or on-line for information concerning tides as they run from 13 to 15 feet from high to low twice a day on all the island. If you have more time on the island, hike on many great trails, go to the top of Cadillac Mountain, or visit places like Bass Harbor, Northeast Harbor, Asticou Gardens, or Thuya Gardens.
From Bar Harbor, we drove to Camden for an afternoon. Camden is one of the prettiest places in Maine. It has a beautiful, busy harbor with schooners - we sailed on the Surprise - and other boats entering and leaving. It is well worth the expense of sitting outdoors at one of the shore restaurants to watch all the activity. You can also go to Mount Battie to view the town from a high vantage point. We then went for a few days to Portland which is a good launching point for exploration further down the coast to see Kennebunkport, Old Orchard Beach, Point Neddick, York Beach or plenty of other places. You can pretty well make it to the southern border of Maine and be back to Portland by supper. If you had rather stay in the Portland area, the Portland Head Light is great for sunrise and the downtown wharf or local museums are interesting for the rest of the day.
After leaving Portland, our next stop was Bethel, Maine which is about two hours north. We had planned this trip very early in the year and were expecting the fall color to be at peak in the first week of October but it was not to be. August and September was dryer and warmer than normal which meant the fall color did not peak as expected. We planned on staying in Bethel for a week exploring and though the color did not meet expectations, the lodging at Mill Hill Inn did. The owner, Woody, was full of information which he freely gave so that we had plenty of things to do each day. After delicious popovers for breakfast, we would stay in the cozy lobby of the inn or go out to several locations (Mount Washington, 13 Mile Woods, Rangley Lake, Bretton Woods, Grafton Notch State Park and others) which are relatively close and are enjoyable drives. One of the highlights for the week was the Fryeburg Fair. This agricultural fair is held each year during the 1st week of October. There are every kind of farm animal present from rabbits, lamas, pigs, sheep, goats to cows over 6 feet tall and horses weighing 2,500 pounds. We went to the Fair twice and still did not see all of it.
Our next stop was Burlington, Vermont located on Lake Champlain. Burlington is a beautiful location and centrally located with easy day drives to the Northeast Kingdom, Lake Willoughby, Bristol, the Green Mountains and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream factory. One day we went to Montreal for lunch and then to Lake Placid, NY for sunset. There are ferries north and south of town crossing Lake Champlain every few minutes. Burlington in itself is a nice town with the campus of the University of Vermont. Church Street Marketplace is an interesting place to go after sunset with a mix of museums, retail, restaurants, and outdoor activities.
By now we were missing the grandkids and were in get home quickly mode but still a long way to go and things that were too good to miss. We left Burlington and headed to Cooperstown, NY for the Baseball Hall of Fame. We just did not have enough time at the Hall of Fame. There were many historical items and so much information to pack in a short visit. The bread pudding at the Doubleday Cafe was absolutely the best ever and the Cooperstown fall color was stunning. We stayed one night in Cooperstown and on to Syracuse, NY for hot dogs at Heid's of Liverpool, a rest stop in the Finger Lake region around Geneva, and then to Niagara Falls for one night. To get the best views of the falls, go to the Canadian side as the American side does not give you a total view of the falls. After Niagara Falls the withdrawal symptoms from the grandkids was in full mode and we were tired after five weeks away from home. With one stop in Medina, Ohio, our next stop was home and our own bed which felt just right.