Ux VTX
07-12-2005, 06:05 PM
Ok, here's my ride report for Nova Scotia last week.
Headed up Saturday morning to Bar Harbor, stayed at the Sunrise Motel in Trenton... cheap but not the nicest place. Had a good ride up, took routes 202 and 4 from the Berwick area almost to Augusta, after that we did 95 over to 3.
Sunday morning we boarded the Cat Ferry, that thing really moves! Had great weather on the ferry ride, some called it a little 'bumpy' and more than a few people were walking around like zombies with barf bags. Got off the boat in Yarmouth and headed right for Halifax. Tons of very large porcupines in the road (dead), must be the state animal down south! Nice roads, not too hilly in the south, not a lot of views or turns either on the highway.
Took the road out to Blandford, south of Peggy's Cove. This was our first exposure to twisties and beautiful ocean views, highly recommend that loop. From there we followed the coast up to Peggy's Cove and that area was very beautiful too, more ocean, more twisties! Peggy's Cove gives meaning to the word quaint... lots of little cottages from decades past, looks like a story book. From there we did some spirited riding up the coast to Halifax and stayed at St. Mary's University. This is a good budget place to stay, had to carry the bags down some long hallways and up elevators to get to the suite though. Shared bathrooms for every suite. You can walk to "downtown" from there (8 blocks or so) and there are some good bars and restaurants. We had appetizers and drinks at "My Father's Moustache" (or something like that). This is where we learned of Poutine (french fries drowned in gravy... yum... and deep fried pepperoni... yum yum... don't miss the moustard souce on them!).
In the morning we beat feet towards Cape Breton, highway. Once across the Canso Causeway onto Cape Breton we decided to hug the west shore up to Mabou, beautiful scenery and roads! Stopped at the Red Shoe in Mabou to eat, it is owned by "The Rankin Family" a famous singing family up there. Very good food, sat in a comfy chair for a short while afterwards and listened to a young fiddle player accompanied by a pianist. Recommend this stop!
From there we cut through the foothills to Baddeck where we stayed at the Bras D'Or Lakes Campground in one of the little cabins. Very nice, on the edge of the Lake, one room with a queen and a bunk set, a bathroom with shower. Also a fire pit outside. We stayed there 2 nights and had a fire each night. Recommend this place also but you have to bring your own sheets, towels and blankets which is kinda tough to get on the bike, especially since I was 2-up.
Tuesday we did the Cabot Trail, it was WARM and SUNNY and incredible. This trail is better than you can even imagine. Wore off much of my acorn nuts dragging pegs here, though it doesn't sound like we did it at quite the speeds of the NERds earlier in the week! THe dirt road out to Meat Cove is worth it! This is really "Lands End" and absolutely breathtaking! The Cabot trail took us most of a day and was nothing but sweeping turns, BLUE ocean and gorgeous mountains. I could go on and on...
Stayed second night at Cabin and left in the morning for New Waterford area to see the setting of a book a couple of us had read, nice area but most would probably skip it I guess. From there we headed to Louisburg hoping to get a quick look at the fortress but this is more of a time consumer than we could afford so the trip was kinda wasted. Time would have been better spent getting to our destination which was Pictou.
As we crossed the causeway and (sadly) left Cape Breton behind it started to rain, we suited up under the cover of an Irving gas station. Off to Pictou where we stayed in the Braeside Inn, very nice place with a great restaurant within. It was the lobster festival there but we were on a timeline so didn't get to enjoy... had brunch and hit the road for Annapolis Royal.
We rode to Truro via highway and then jumped off on the Glooscap Trail, this was very scenic. Lots of views of the Bay of Fundy and farm land. Great riding. Highest tides in the world here (Minas Basin) though it's not something you really "see". As we were heading down the coast on a beautiful coastal farm road I encountered Lucy. Lucy was a young dog who was a little too fast for her own good, we hit and killed her. We stayed rubber side down thankfully but it was a sad thing. Only damage we incurred was it knocked a hole in my radiator overflow, I had a few very tense moments thinking about the logistics of an overheating bike in no-mans land but it was only the overflow so we rode on with no problems.
Stayed the night in Annapolis Royal, pretty little town! One of the nicer towns we saw and one of the oldest up there. Stayed at the Dragon Fly Inn B&B, great place, great people. Owned by a nice couple and if you ask nicely over breakfast you can get your palms read! While in Annapolis definately do the "Graveyard tour" if it is on that night. A guy dressed like an undertaker takes candle-lantern-bearing groups of people through the cemetary with the oldest English gravestone in Canada. Very entertaining. BRING BUG SPRAY!
Once again the morning was all about getting to the next place... the Cat Ferry terminal in Yarmouth. We made it there with 1 minute to spare (they want you 1 hour early, we were 1 hour early almost exactly). Did a bit of the coastal route to get there, very pretty area.
Ferry ride back to Maine was foggy but flatter.
Our original plans had us riding New Brunswick home so we had reservations in Winter Harbor, about 45 minutes north or Bar Harbor. Very nice town, part of Acadia National Forest. We stayed at the Mainstay Cabins there and they were awesome! Right on the river with an overlooking deck. Very nicely maintained with laundry in the cabin, which was good since we were recycling clothes at this point!
Took 95 home in the rain with some great memories!
Did anybody read this far??? :-O
Headed up Saturday morning to Bar Harbor, stayed at the Sunrise Motel in Trenton... cheap but not the nicest place. Had a good ride up, took routes 202 and 4 from the Berwick area almost to Augusta, after that we did 95 over to 3.
Sunday morning we boarded the Cat Ferry, that thing really moves! Had great weather on the ferry ride, some called it a little 'bumpy' and more than a few people were walking around like zombies with barf bags. Got off the boat in Yarmouth and headed right for Halifax. Tons of very large porcupines in the road (dead), must be the state animal down south! Nice roads, not too hilly in the south, not a lot of views or turns either on the highway.
Took the road out to Blandford, south of Peggy's Cove. This was our first exposure to twisties and beautiful ocean views, highly recommend that loop. From there we followed the coast up to Peggy's Cove and that area was very beautiful too, more ocean, more twisties! Peggy's Cove gives meaning to the word quaint... lots of little cottages from decades past, looks like a story book. From there we did some spirited riding up the coast to Halifax and stayed at St. Mary's University. This is a good budget place to stay, had to carry the bags down some long hallways and up elevators to get to the suite though. Shared bathrooms for every suite. You can walk to "downtown" from there (8 blocks or so) and there are some good bars and restaurants. We had appetizers and drinks at "My Father's Moustache" (or something like that). This is where we learned of Poutine (french fries drowned in gravy... yum... and deep fried pepperoni... yum yum... don't miss the moustard souce on them!).
In the morning we beat feet towards Cape Breton, highway. Once across the Canso Causeway onto Cape Breton we decided to hug the west shore up to Mabou, beautiful scenery and roads! Stopped at the Red Shoe in Mabou to eat, it is owned by "The Rankin Family" a famous singing family up there. Very good food, sat in a comfy chair for a short while afterwards and listened to a young fiddle player accompanied by a pianist. Recommend this stop!
From there we cut through the foothills to Baddeck where we stayed at the Bras D'Or Lakes Campground in one of the little cabins. Very nice, on the edge of the Lake, one room with a queen and a bunk set, a bathroom with shower. Also a fire pit outside. We stayed there 2 nights and had a fire each night. Recommend this place also but you have to bring your own sheets, towels and blankets which is kinda tough to get on the bike, especially since I was 2-up.
Tuesday we did the Cabot Trail, it was WARM and SUNNY and incredible. This trail is better than you can even imagine. Wore off much of my acorn nuts dragging pegs here, though it doesn't sound like we did it at quite the speeds of the NERds earlier in the week! THe dirt road out to Meat Cove is worth it! This is really "Lands End" and absolutely breathtaking! The Cabot trail took us most of a day and was nothing but sweeping turns, BLUE ocean and gorgeous mountains. I could go on and on...
Stayed second night at Cabin and left in the morning for New Waterford area to see the setting of a book a couple of us had read, nice area but most would probably skip it I guess. From there we headed to Louisburg hoping to get a quick look at the fortress but this is more of a time consumer than we could afford so the trip was kinda wasted. Time would have been better spent getting to our destination which was Pictou.
As we crossed the causeway and (sadly) left Cape Breton behind it started to rain, we suited up under the cover of an Irving gas station. Off to Pictou where we stayed in the Braeside Inn, very nice place with a great restaurant within. It was the lobster festival there but we were on a timeline so didn't get to enjoy... had brunch and hit the road for Annapolis Royal.
We rode to Truro via highway and then jumped off on the Glooscap Trail, this was very scenic. Lots of views of the Bay of Fundy and farm land. Great riding. Highest tides in the world here (Minas Basin) though it's not something you really "see". As we were heading down the coast on a beautiful coastal farm road I encountered Lucy. Lucy was a young dog who was a little too fast for her own good, we hit and killed her. We stayed rubber side down thankfully but it was a sad thing. Only damage we incurred was it knocked a hole in my radiator overflow, I had a few very tense moments thinking about the logistics of an overheating bike in no-mans land but it was only the overflow so we rode on with no problems.
Stayed the night in Annapolis Royal, pretty little town! One of the nicer towns we saw and one of the oldest up there. Stayed at the Dragon Fly Inn B&B, great place, great people. Owned by a nice couple and if you ask nicely over breakfast you can get your palms read! While in Annapolis definately do the "Graveyard tour" if it is on that night. A guy dressed like an undertaker takes candle-lantern-bearing groups of people through the cemetary with the oldest English gravestone in Canada. Very entertaining. BRING BUG SPRAY!
Once again the morning was all about getting to the next place... the Cat Ferry terminal in Yarmouth. We made it there with 1 minute to spare (they want you 1 hour early, we were 1 hour early almost exactly). Did a bit of the coastal route to get there, very pretty area.
Ferry ride back to Maine was foggy but flatter.
Our original plans had us riding New Brunswick home so we had reservations in Winter Harbor, about 45 minutes north or Bar Harbor. Very nice town, part of Acadia National Forest. We stayed at the Mainstay Cabins there and they were awesome! Right on the river with an overlooking deck. Very nicely maintained with laundry in the cabin, which was good since we were recycling clothes at this point!
Took 95 home in the rain with some great memories!
Did anybody read this far??? :-O