OH! CANADA!!

Our campground in St. Martin

Look at that beautiful site!

The Bay of Fundy at low tide right outside our camp site....at high tide the water is well past where you see the left edge of the photo.  All the shore is not sand, but these wonderful colorful rocks.  You cannot want to pick them up and keep them!  I have a jar full, they are so beautiful.  We just sat on this beach and soaked up such beauty it is impossible to put into words.

Far on the horizon is Nova Scotia

More beautiful Bay of Fundy

Serendipity brought us to a magical place call Saint Martins, New Brunswick, Canada.  We were camping in Bar Harbor and into the campground pulled another Casita.  Well, we are always happy to see another camper like ours as they are few and far between...so we immediately chat and find we are kindred spirits!  Karen and Bill are native New Englanders who now live in Florida, but travel all over in their Casita.  They were staying in Bar Harbor on their way to the Maritimes and a Vintage/Fiberglass rally in New Brunswick.  Well, we had already been planning a visit to Fundy NP which is a bit north of where they rally was being held, so we called the campground and found they could find a spot for us and we decided to spend a bit of time there before the rally began.  We had no idea what to expect....took a chance and figured we hoped it would work out.  Boy, did it work out.  First off, we got to the campground and got the most beautiful view of the Bay of Fundy, then we met some lovely, friendly folks who got there early too for the rally. Chris and Bruce such nice people.  Then, we began to truly take in the beauty of our surroundings, we were thrilled.  The weather was perfect, we relaxed, took walks on the beach, found a Walmart in nearby St. John (but enjoyed grocery shopping in Sobey's much better).  We relaxed and waited for the rally to begin.  Thursday brought our new friends Bill and Karen along with lots of other campers for the rally.  Over 25 amazing vintage trailers and also some very cool cars.  Every single person was so warm and friendly, we were totally welcomed and made to feel right at home.  I cannot say enough about these wonderful people, just like the scenery, we soaked it up and loved every minute of it!

New friend

Low tide...Bay of Fundy

I am standing in front of the covered bridge

They use those wonderful rocks from the beach in all manner of masonery, isn't this beautiful?

Below is the Orange Order Meeting Hall

The village grocer

Paul is sitting next to Harvey, who is a retired Mounty!  RCMP, he was charming!!!

Now we are off to Prince Edward Island!

Tally-ho,

Cathy and Paul

One word for Bar Harbor...GO!!!

The drive from Boston to Bar Harbor, Maine was very easy.  Took us a little more than 4 hours and most was a lot less traffic than we had from NC all the way up the coast thru the big city areas of DC, NYC and Boston....we enjoyed our drive and the weather was wonderful!  We stayed at Hadley's Point Campground.

Our camp site was out in the middle of a field with absolutely no shade, ever.  We were surrounded by large rvs...not the best campsite, but the campground was clean and friendly and in a good location, so we were ok with the sun...in fact, most of the time it was very pleasant!  Shuttle busses run all  over the area and you can get just about anywhere you want to go on them and they are free!  Our first day was spent visiting the Acadia visitor's center and taking the Loop bus all the way around the park!   

We took the bus into Bar Harbor, here is a shot of Paul on the street by the town square.  Bar Harbor is a perfectly lovely coastal town full of touristy shops and eateries.

I found the Bar Harbor Tea company!  Can you believe I bought some tea? 

I also found this amazing place for our lunch!  Paul said, "This place looks like Murder She Wrote"  and it does.  We couldn't have asked for better weather and oh my, the food was excellent.

Ships in the harbor and cute little tug boat.  There was also a huge cruise ship docked.

Paul ordered shrimp cocktail and crab roll

I ordered the lobster bisque and the "taste of New England"

I loved the packaging at the Bar Harbor Tea Company.  I bought the Down East Breakfast Blend and the Golden Yunan.  Have already had the Yunan and it was excellent.  I look forward to tasting the Down East!

The next day we took the bus again and went to Jordan Pond House for lunch.  We sat outside on the tea lawn (below)

 It was a very sunny day but cool in the shade.  We sat at a table like those below.

We had warm popovers with fresh butter and strawberry jam.

I had a cup of lobster stew which was beyond delish...Paul had seafood chowder and we had blueberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream for desert.

Then we tried to walk it all off around the pond! 

What a beautiful place.

We did not get to see Woody, it was just too far, but, our stay in Maine was perfect.  We want to come back for sure.  I have more to post, but we are leaving tomorrow for two weeks in Canada and I have been told that internet is very expensive and so....might not be hearing from us for a little while.  Not to worry, we will be off exploring the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia's Cape New Bretton, and Prince Edward Island....then we will head back to the USA.

Tally-ho,

Cathy

Boston---revisited

We are staying at the Hanscom AFB FamCamp at the end of the flight line....we see jets, single engine, props and helicopters taking off all day long, very busy and noisy....but the location is great and the price is very good, so we get used to it.  We are in a shady spot, with full hook ups for just $18 a day!  We decide to stay here for a bit longer as we hope to meet up with grandson Woody while we are in Maine. 

We were stationed here 25 years ago and have not been back but once in all that time, so the changes are big, but what remains the same is just as big!

Above is a photo of Scott Circle as it looks today....years ago it was ugly rectangle brick stairwells housing 3 families in each stairwell....we hated it, but we were glad to have it as housing "off-base" in the area was extremely expensive.  This housing is just beautiful

Here's Paul standing outside of Orchard House, the home of the Alcott's.  I had visited  years ago, but Paul had not, so we took the tour, which was, again, very good.  Louisa wrote Little Women while living in this house.  She  finished the book in three months!!!  I loved reading the book as a young person, and have re-read it as an adult finding it to be a true classic in every sense of the word.  Please read Little Women, if you haven't, or re-read it, you won't be sorry.

We attended Sunday services at historic Park Street Church.  We were there on a very hot morning and the airconditioning system in the church had completely failed, it was quite warm, but not totally unbearable....I did find myself drifting off abit and I am sure it was because I was warm.....

The church sits right across from Boston Common and down the hill from the capitol building(below)

We decided to visit the Kennedy Library since we had not done that when we lived here.  The building, grounds and location were quite impressive.  The first thing you do is view a 15 min. movie with JFK speaking about himself, his life, his family and it was very very good. 

After the movie you leave the theatre and enter the museum where you can walk at your own pace and view displays.  It was ok, but not that impressive.  There was a large exhibit on Jackie and that was very interesting including some of her clothing and then photos and videos of when she wore the item.  Also Jackie talking about her life in the White House, again, very interesting.  At the end was a bank of old black and white tv monitors with Walter Cronkite announcing the President died.  What an awful moment that was....so emotional.  That was the end of the museum.

When you exited the museum exhibits you entered this amazing area and all along the windows are quotes from Profiles in Courage, his Pulitzer PrizeWinning book.  They were all such good quotes.

Below is my favorite quote and so appropriate for today as well.

Outside the Museum, the view of Boston and the harbor is beautiful.  We spent quite a bit of time just watching, the water was very clear and clean.  That is JFK's sailboat.
Well....while we were in the Boston area we also......

Saw a very tall Red Coat officer who was very informative

This guy was 6'7" and made me look like a Hobbit!

  

We visited the North Bridge...site of the famous "Smallwood Tea Party" where certain "patriots" took a tumble in their canoe and ended up hanging onto said canoe for dear life, while their loving children paddled off in the opposite direction totally embarrassed.....

We took a drive on the Mass Pike to Old Sturbridge Village and spent half a day walking around.

 We had ice cream

We re-visited the Freedom trail on 2A between Lexington and Concord.  We also went into Lexington, much has changed there, they even have a Panera Bread!

We took tons of photos, but I won't wear you out with all we saw, just know, it was a wonderful re-visit and we had a great time.  We left Hanscom headed north to Maine, Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park!!!

Tally-ho,

Cathy