I don’t want to bore everyone with my trip details and my pictures, but I wanted to share some of my visit to see my daughter, her partner and Sherman!

I had a full car, with all the rest of their stuff to take out to their new house. It was a 21 hour drive that I broke up into 3 days. Fortunately, I had some great audiobooks to listen to while I drove. I live in Southern Ontario, so drove through Quebec, New Brunswick and then arrived in Nova Scotia. The scenery was beautiful on the drive out. I did have on glitch with my GPS losing it’s maps, so when about an hour out of my way on Day 2, but otherwise, it was a nice drive. The first two images were driving along the St. Lawrence River in Quebec and the final is arriving at their place.

I did some sight seeing while I was there. I took the ferry across the harbour to visit Halifax and do all the touristy stuff on the two days that Jessica had to work. I tried to visit the museums on Monday, but they were all closed, so I had to go back a second day. I went to the Titanic and Iceburg exhibit, Maritime Museum, Pier 21 Immigration Museum and the Art Gallery where Maud Lewis’ actual house is on display. At the maritime museum there is a display with images, fragments, maps etc about the Halifax Explosion that was fascinating. If you want to read about this tragic event, I recommend The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism

The weather went from warm and in the 60s to windy in the 40s during the 9 days I was there. I spent a lot of time outside taking in the area. To get to Downtown, I had to take a ferry across the harbour. The harbourfront was amazing to look at. On the waterfront in Halifax, there are actually steps that go down and disappear into the water, It was a bit too cold for me. I visited the “Old Burying Grounds” one day and the gates were padlocked. I walked around the outside until I found a service entrance open. I snuck in and wandered around, praying they didn’t lock up that gate while I was inside. The crypts are above ground and some are made of wood, so I am shocked they haven’t rotted. I then visited the Public Gardens. I’m sure it is beautiful at other times during the year, but only the delphinium garden was still in bloom. My last stop that day was the Halifax Library. It was designed to look like a stack of books. It is five stories, and full of areas to read or do other activities. It even has a rooftop garden. On the wall when you come in there are 5000 paintings, each the size of a library card, It was so interesting. As I wandered around and headed back down to the ferry terminal, I was amazed by several murals painted on the sides of buildings.

On the weekend when Jess and Brian were both off, we went on the Harbour Hopper tour. It is an amphibious vehicle that goes on the streets and is also a boat. We went all around and I saw more of the city and the harbour. We had lunch, went to another museum and just sat on chairs and contemplated the day. The second day we went to a local market, where I bought some souvenirs and Christmas gifts and walked on the boardwalk around a small cove. The tide was out and you could actually walk around, but I stayed out of the mud.

When the kids were working, I took a day to drive down to Peggy’s Cove to see the lighthouse and walk around. It was so windy, I thought I was going to blow away. The scenery was beautiful. I then drove through Mahone Bay and down to Lunenburg where the Bluenose was built. Of course the museum was closed and the Bluenose was in dry dock for the season, but one again, the scenery blew me away. I also walked by the Canadian Legion, where they have a piece of the Berlin Wall outside. Finally, I went to visit a friend who lives just outside Lunenburg. I haven’t seen her in five years, so we had a wonderful visit.

I also had a lot of family time. One of my cousins lived in Halifax where she married and had 2 children. She has passed, but I met up with her husband and daughter and we had dinner and a wonderful visit. Because Jess and Brian can’t come home for Christmas this year, we decorated the tree, wrapped gifts, made cookies and watch Christmas movies. I had lots of snuggle time with Sherman and we went out to eat, several times.

Sadly, my trip came to an end and I had to head home. The landscape looked very different on my way home as the temperature was now below freezing. The trees were covered in ice and there was snow on the ground. It was actually quite beautiful. Once again, I kept myself alert by listening to several thrillers. The trip was a bit longer on the way home due to the weather. My last morning on the road, I woke to 3 inches of snow on my car. That was fun cleaning it off with no snow brush, no hat, no mittens and only a raincoat, but I managed. Although I hated to say goodbye, I loved finally sleeping in my own bed.

Home and already missing them. I hope you enjoyed my trip, and that I didn’t bore you with all my pictures. Nova Scotia is such a beautiful area and if my grandkids didn’t live here, I would consider moving out there. I will be heading back out in the spring for another visit, but I think I will fly next time.

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