Mountain Musings

Canada Part 4 ~ Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I Loved About Our Canada Trip

1. I absolutely loved flying! This picture of the clouds from the window seat on our plane was one of the first things on our trip that I thought was amazing.

 

2. Attending the Indian River Festival Concert at Historic St. Mary's Church in Kensington was something interesting and different to do. The concert was presented by Viva Voce, a vocal ensemble dedicated to classical repertoire. The first half of the concert was sung in French (we couldn't understand a thing!), but the songs after intermission were sung in English. The second half was much more enjoyable. Here's the church below:

 3. One morning we toured The Citadel in downtown Halifax. It was the only day of our trip that it rained a bit, and the weather seemed quite appropriate to the surroundings.

I'd never heard of this historic place before...but if we go to quilt shops on vacation, then it only stands to reason that we go to historic places, too. Actually, it was quite interesting.

 Tom liked seeing and hearing the bagpipers, and I enjoyed the piping hot Chicken & Barley soup and homemade bread.   

4. Just about everywhere we went we saw Canadian flags flying. The familiar white background and red maple leaves were everywhere we traveled. I loved seeing the Canadians' patriotism.

5. A full day of experiencing firsthand Anne of Green Gables. First, at Avonlea Village. There were many beautiful flower gardens to admire as we walked the streets, a chocolate factory where we watched candy and chocolate-coated potato chips being made, and a Wee-gospel singer in the village church to hear.

6. We enjoyed watching characters in various parts of the Village act out many scenes from the Anne of Green Gables' books. Left to right on stage below: Marilla, neighbor Mrs. Rachel Lynde, Anne Shirley, and Matthew in the rocking chair.

7. Next, that afternoon we toured the original site that inspired L. M. Montgomery to write the Anne of Green Gables' books.

8. To finish up our whole day devoted to Anne, that evening we attended Anne of Green Gables ~ The Musical at the Confederation Centre of the Arts. It was WONDERFUL!!! The actress who played Anne Shirley was outstanding and perfect for the role!

9. The parade celebrating Old Home Week just happened to take place during the time we were there. The floats, bagpipers, clowns, horses, Mounties, and giant balloon characters were great. I love a parade!

10. Seeing moose signs like this one in New Brunswick was exciting although we never saw a real moose! But the signs certainly kept my eyes glued to the road with my camera ready just in case! 

This was as close to a moose as I got. I thought I should take advantage of the opportunity while I could!

11. Ditto for not seeing a whale...we scheduled a whale tour; it was cancelled because of fog; we rescheduled, it was cancelled for the operators' family emergency; and then we changed plans so we could take a different whale-watching tour boat on the last day we were there.

The ride waaaay out in the ocean in hopes of spotting a whale was really nice, but no whale tail to be seen. Here I am below ready to get on the boat.

12. Bay of Fundy ~ Hopewell Rocks ~ World's Highest Tides are here!  We stood right down there on the ocean floor at low tide. It was amazing to think that in just a few hours everywhere we walked would be underwater!

13. The most fun thing of all was being with my sweetie and celebrating 30 years together!

I hope you've enjoyed these past days of posts and pictures of our trip to Canada. Now, when will I get around to scrapbooking these 1700+ pictures?!

~Deb

Also in this series:

Canada Part 1 ~ Meeting Island Sparrow in Real Life!

Canada Part 2 ~ Bloomin' Tuesday, Halifax Public Gardens

Canada Part 3 ~Work in Progress Wednesday ~ Mahone Bay

Canada Part 3 ~ Work in Progress Wednesday ~ Mahone Bay

One of my favorite days of our trip was the morning we drove to Mahone Bay, a beautiful, quaint, little maritime town about an hour from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The day was quite foggy as we started out. However, the beautiful trees along the way drew our attention--there were so many of them! Canada seemed full of dense forests of balsam firs. We found out that the area we were traveling through was known as the Christmas Tree Capital of the World. I could definitely believe it!

By lunchtime the fog had dissipated, and it was a beautifully sunny day. As you can see from the picture below, Mahone Bay is very quiet and scenic. I loved strolling through the town.

Here's a scene below that I could just sit and look at all afternoon...that is, if the cutesy shops weren't loudly calling my name.

Our excursion to this area was planned mainly because there's both a yarn shop and a quilt shop located here. And you know...quilters and knitters look for those "gotta go to that shop" sites when planning a vacation, right?

Below: Have a Yarn shop on Main Street in Mahone Bay.

This shop sold some colorful Linie 14 Cedro ribbon yarn that came home with me. You can also see on the counter a sample of a scarf made from the yarn to entice customers to purchase a skein--it worked!

Here's my work in progress so far. I've posted the pattern below.

The handcrafted birch needles were purchased in the shop also. They're size 9 mm Canadian which is size 13 in US sizes and were made by River John Needle Company. They've been finished with a fine wax coating, and I've enjoyed working with them.

On to the quilt shop...which was very colorful and inviting...but it was exactly that--a quilt shop with quilts for sale but no fabric for sale. I was disappointed, but Tom was probably thinking that it worked out just fine that way!

Later that same day we toured Peggy's Cove, which boasts a classic white and red lighthouse, took in another "quilt" shop in Tantallon, went on a dinner cruise that evening around Halifax Harbor, and fell into bed exhausted that night!

I hope you've enjoyed this brief tour of Mahone Bay. Oooh, what a fun day it was!

~Deb

Also in this series:

Canada Part 1 ~ Meeting Island Sparrow in Real Life!

Canada Part 2 ~ Bloomin' Tuesday, Halifax Public Gardens