Nova Scotia’s Ambassador

The Bluenose

Nova Scotia’s Beautiful Schooner

Seats are sold out for cruises this season, BUT We just had to have a tour!

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Here are a few pics from the summer of 2016 as she’s out and about. A few of the pics are mine ***but most are favourites other wonderful Nova Scotia photographers  have captured. I just had to share…

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The GREAT Canadian TASTE Adventure—-East Coast to West Coast

I am such a foodie! We enjoyed some amazing meals this vacation, some of which were cooked by family. But this post is about some foods that were special as we travel across Canada or that are just known for certain areas and that we have enjoyed before or enjoy on a regular basis. Canada has so many delishes dishes! FROM East Coast to West Coast, here are some top picks!

Donairs

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Lobster

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Fish & Chips ( HADDOCK)

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Montreal bagels

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Poutine

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Smoked Meat

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Crepes

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Beaver Tails

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Canadian Maple Cookies

Butter Tarts

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Fresh Fruit in season

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Blueberries 

Cherries

Saskatoon Berry Pie

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IMG_1239Nanaimo Bars

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Game meats such as Bison & Elk

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BC Wild Salmon

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Fish & Chips (COD)

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Yum! All these pictures in one post are making my mouth water. What are your favourite Canadian foods?

Today is the last day of July …summer is half over. Where did the time go? I guess when you’re traveling days run together and you don’t even know which day of the week it is. Tomorrow David is back to work, it’s the first of August, Natal Day, here in Nova Scotia, and the start of EVERYTHING “Back to School” Wait…didn’t the kids just get out of school. Ahh…

ACROSS CANADA DAY: 21 July 30~ HOME ❤

We are home!!! 3 weeks of travel and adventure!! What an absolutely fantastic vacation! BUT, boy are we pooped!!! We packed so much in three weeks that it’s time to be home for a few days rest before David goes back to work. Well, after the laundry is done, car is washed and cleaned and groceries bought and we get Abby girl from my parents. AND put our pool back up for the hot days here… And maybe relax a little bit …lol

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Today is our youngest son’s Birthday. James is 24 today BUT great thing for us, he is camping this weekend with friends so we will celebrate him on Monday. It gives us a couple days to get rested!

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Ahhh….I can’t believe the beautiful provinces we have in our country. I feel very blessed to be a Canadian.

It’s nice to travel…BUT it’s good to be home.

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ACROSS CANADA DAY: 20 July 29~ …the looonnnnggg way HOME

Today we will drive home. Fredericton, New Brunswick to Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. Not really that far.

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BUT Leave it to me to extend this trip as long as I can.

Anna: “Hon, you know what we should do?”

David: “What?”

Anna: “We should take just a little extra time and pop down to one of our favourite spots”

David: ” Really?”

Anna: “Ya, we haven’t been there yet this summer and it would be such a nice ending to our Across Canada Adventure ”

lol, Haha…Guess where we went?

Can you tell from this picture?

How about this one?

IMG_6469 IMG_6470 IMG_6468Yes, we went to Peggy’s Cove. We stopped there for a really quick lunch.  First time there this season and we ( I) thought it was a great way to finish our Across Canada Adventure ❤

ACROSS CANADA DAY: 18 July 27~ Montreal Bagels

I was craving authentic Montreal bagels! Today was supposed to be the the little diversion in our Across Canada Trip. Today we left Stoufville  for home and were gonna dip down to the USA. Just for a change of scenery.  We have done the drive from the Toronto area to Bridgewater via Canada so many times, we have also gone through the USA where gas is usually cheaper BUT, the more I got thinking about it the more I realized to make this a truly Canadian Road Trip,  that we needed to continue through Canada. And besides…I was craving Montreal Bagels. St-viateur bagels to be exact. They are the best! And then smoked meat and poutine….ya we just had to go to Montreal!

Traffic was busy on the 401, lots of construction and actually lots of construction right in Old Port Montreal. We stopped by St. Viateur Street to the original flag ship store of St. Viateur bagels. They are open 24/7 and there’s usually a lineup for fresh out of the oven bagels.



Tonight we are staying on Rue Saint Paul, the oldest street in the city with cobblestone streets, although I think some of the construction is to take the old cobblestone out. We are in a quaint designer boutique hotel in the heart of old town Montreal.


So out we went for a little adventure…smoked meat sandwich from a food truck at the port and then authentic poutine with real cheese curds from the famous Montreal Poutine restaurant.


I enjoy these kind of places so much especially at night…

Goodnight from our little boutique hotel in Montreal ❤

ACROSS CANADA DAY: 16 July 25~ East Coast to West Coast

We are on the West Coast of our beautiful country! From Halifax to Victoria! We made it!!! Our country is truly amazing!!

We had fun exploring Victoria, BC’s beautiful capital city yesterday and today. Huge multi million dollar yachts, sea planes that fly you wherever you want to go, harbour taxis to the inner harbour and outer harbour, interesting float homes, historic buildings, 5 star hotels, magnificent castles, and Canada’s oldest China town and Oldest lighthouse on the West Coast …we saw it all. Victoria, BC’s Capital is a charming city.

Pictures will come soon. Internet at the Airport hotel is bad, they are having technical difficulties and since we are up again at 3 am for an early morning flight…I’ll say Goodbye British Columbia and goodnight!

 

ACROSS CANADA DAY: 15 July 24~ The Pacific Rim

Driving from Tofino to Victoria is like driving on the Cabot Trail and on the old road from Bridgewater to Peggy’s Cove…well kinda , ok not really but there are so many twists and turns and rug hugging narrow turns. For this girl…it makes me sick, literally. I was so happy to get off the worse stretch from Tofino to Port Alberni. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous and breath taking if you’re not feeling like you want to be sick. lol


We got through that and then stopped in Duncan, The City of Totems. ( That is where my friend Michelle lives) We had a picnic lunch in the park and snapped a few pics and then headed to the Shawinigan Lake area to see the Kinsol Trestle.


The Kinsol Trestle is a wooden railway trestle also known as the Koksilah River Trestle that crosses the Koksilah River.


Completed in 1920, its dimensions measure  144 ft high and 617 ft long, making it the largest wooden trestle in the Commonwealth of Nations, and one of the highest railway trestles in the world. It was very cool to see.

We arrived in Victoria and met my friend Michelle and her husband Peter for drinks, it was so nice to see them. Then we spent the rest of the evening seeing Victoria at Night!

ACROSS CANADA DAY: 14 July 23~ Surfer’s Town Tofino, BC

Ever since James was here, I wanted to go! What an amazing place. Beaches and mountains, hiking, fishing, whale watching…you name it, Tofino’s got it! A few people mentioned why do you want to go to Tofino? You don’t surf… BUT the vibe here is so unique. It is a fun little place to chill for a couple days. Time kinda stands still here…and as we are nearing the end of our adventure we needed a laid back, slow day with no agenda but just to enjoy the sun and surf and beach!


ACROSS CANADA DAY: 13 July 22~ Nanaimo Bar in Nanaimo, BC

Today I had one thing on my mind, haha. Well no, a lot more than one BUT today I knew we would be going through Nanaimo, BC and for the longest time, I have had on my bucket list to eat a delicious Nanaimo square in Nanaimo, BC!!! It can’t be too hard to find a great coffee shop that serves Nanaimo squares.

The other thing in this area that is so very cool are the humongous trees!!!!

The very early morning drive from Squamish to the “other Ferry route” ( Horseshoe Bay was sold out) the Ferry to the Island, the drive from Victoria up to Nanaimo to McMillan Park to Tofino was fabulous. Did I mention the goats on the roof? What a wonderful day, a highlight for sure!

Oh and dinner tonight at the Shelter…does it get any better?

pS Pictures to be posted later! Tofino is a surf town and Internet at our hotel is bad…so I’m just taking a couple days break and Chillin’ rather than be frustrated. After all isn’t that what you do here…

Here are some pics!