Wow is all I can say! The leaves are definitely peak this weekend.
ENJOY your long weekend!!! 🍁🍂
Category: Vacation
I’m Smiling!
World Smile Day Falls on the 1st Friday of October.
Today I am full of smiles. You see next week my sweetie has a week vacation BUT what I didn’t know was that he starts that vacation TODAY! Yes, he’s home today having coffee this morning with me while we both do our morning catch up on the computer and then…
a trip to the market for some Fall decor.
A delicious lunch…chicken apple soup with a hint of curry and biscuits, we picked up at the market
and maybe…a little adventure today.
It’s such a gorgeous day for the long weekend and start of our vacay.
David even got out on the bike…
And Abby was all smiles because she went in the car to spend the day with Nana & Papa
A perfect day!!! 😀 Keep Smiling!
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
Lobster
Fish & Chips ( HADDOCK)
Montreal bagels
Poutine
Smoked Meat
Crepes
Beaver Tails
Canadian Maple Cookies
Butter Tarts
Fresh Fruit in season
Blueberries
Cherries
Saskatoon Berry Pie
Nanaimo Bars
Game meats such as Bison & Elk
BC Wild Salmon
Fish & Chips (COD)
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
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!
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.
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: 12 July 21~ Sea to Sky in Squamish
Squamish is a community in BC, located at the north end of Howe Sound on the Sea to Sky Highway. It had its beginning during the construction of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway in the 1910’s. It was the first southern terminus of that railway now CN.
It is THE “Outdoor Adventure” place in the area. We left Van city this morning and headed to Squamish. The road to Squamish is amazing as it winds through the mountains.
The Stawamus Chief on Canada’s West Coast is a world-renowned rock-climbing destination known for its beautiful multi-pitch routes and unrivalled crack-climbing pitches. But many visiting outdoor enthusiasts are unaware that the iconic granite monolith also carries the scars of a legendary battle. The region’s Squamish people tell of the mythical hero Xwech’taal vanquishing the double-headed sea serpent Sinulhkay before uniting the Squamish Nation.
The Stawamus Chief — pronounced stah-WAH’-muss, but known simply as “The Chief” attracts thousands of visitors every year, both for its premiere rock-climbing offerings but also for accessible hiking trails that climax in rewarding ridge-top vistas.
The mountain towers 700 metres over the head of a picturesque, inundated fjord, about 50 kilometres northwest of Vancouver. Looking down from the first of its three rounded granite summits, the slithering Squamish River can be seen reaching the salty waters of Howe Sound, which ripple between shades of teal and aquamarine under a shifting, cloud-covered sky. The initial peak is accessible about 1.5 kilometres from and 540 metres above the trail’s starting point, while the two remaining summits are located slightly higher and farther along. It’s all straight up climbing on all trails.
The panorama offers a view across the core of the Squamish Nation’s territory.
Today’s mission should you choose to accept it….to Conquer “THE CHIEF” To start our day, we took the Sea to Sky Gondola just to get a view of what we were looking at for a climb. We were able to look down on the Chief Peaks from a viewing platform a short hike away at the Gondola Summit. We had fun on the Suspension bridge and a snack before heading back down.
Later this afternoon when it was cooler we were ready to climb the Chief! We chose Peak 1 because it supposedly has the most amazing view of the 3.
We stopped by Shannon Falls and connected on the Sea to Sky trail then connected to the Stawamus Chief Trail. And from there it was straight up!!
It was a hardish climb…well for me with short legs, David was fine…
And after we were all finished and had a refreshing shower, we enjoyed a lovely dinner beside the Squamish River at the Watershed Restaurant.
ACROSS CANADA DAY: 11 July 20~ Vancouver Day 2…CHOICES
1st thing…Sleep in!!! I’m tired. All this sightseeing is hard work lol. Haha after all we are staying a couple of nights in the Granville Street district, the entertainment district in the heart of downtown which means no one is really up to early.
CHOICES!! Life is all about Choices, what to do?
We are just a short walk from the ferry terminal that goes to Granville Island so we thought it would be fun to check out the famous market. In the early 1900s, Granville Island was home to factories, plants and sawmills. Technically a sandspit and not really island, the neighbourhood sits just south of the downtown peninsula, right under the Granville Bridge. The Granville Island Public Market acts as a hub of activity, but it’s also one of the city’s most important cultural districts with theatres, artisan workshops and craft studios.
Yaletown was once the Western terminus for the Canadian Pacific Railway, but the area’s more recent reinvention dates back to 1986 when the waterfront along the north of False Creek was host to many of the venues when Vancouver hosted the World’s Fair. Since then that land, along with the warehouse district adjoining it have been transformed into one of the city’s chicest neighbourhoods, filled with residential loft spaces, sidewalk cafes, cool restaurants, unique shopping, and leafy parks. Sitting along the south side of the downtown Vancouver peninsula
Chinatown of course I wanted to go to China town! Established back in the 1890s, Vancouver’s Chinatown has been humming busily for more than a century with vivid colours, exotic cuisine and a vibrant culture. Vancouver’s Chinese population originally made the journey to work in local mines and build the Trans-Canada railway. Rich in history and architecture, this area east of downtown boasts North America’s third-largest Chinatown after New York and San Francisco. Although we learned that especially these days the greater Chinese population live in Richmond. Authentic Chinese for lunch today!!
A really cool thing about Vancouver is that usually there is a movie or series being filmed. It just so happened that they were filming The Flash today. So cool!
Well…Van city…it’s been wonderful!
Just An East Coast Girl 