Travel can be a wonderful and surprising event. Even places
that you used to know from years past can become different. My friend, Lorraine, and I recently returned
from a road trip to Nova Scotia. It turned out to be a great trip with several
highlights. The highlights included places, events and people.
You know you are in Nova Scotia when you see and hear this.
The Piper at the Nova Scotia Welcome
Centre
Places
Have you ever eaten breakfast on Wedgewood china? That was
the case in Pictou, Nova Scotia at the Scotsman Inn, a bread and breakfast
accommodation. The place was run by, you guessed it, a Scotsman and his wife.
In some ways, it was almost like a museum with some of its exhibits and wall
hangings. An excellent and healthy breakfast was served each morning on the
Wedgwood and other fine china.
The Scotsman Inn Dining Room set for
breakfast
One of the wonderful things about this and some other places
was the existence of a veranda where people could and did get together in
evenings and talk. You get to meet your fellow guests and find out about them.
The second B&B we stayed in was in Lunenburg, a most
interesting town. Lunenburg is a World Heritage Site and is very picturesque.
The B&B was called the Rose and Thistle.
The owner, appropriately, was Rose and her husband George (‘Thistle?’).
This was an old house that had three suites and, of course, a big veranda. The veranda wrapped around two sides of the
house and was another place for guests to meet and talk. The dining room was a
bit more modest than the Scotsman, but we still ate on china.
The other places we stayed at, the Courtyard Marriott in
Halifax and the Old Orchard Inn in Wolfville were just big hotels, comfortable
and full of amenities, but not much character.
The exception was the Algonquin Hotel and Resort in St. Andrews, New
Brunswick. This has always been a favourite of mine. An old railway resort hotel, it has kept up
the luxury of those types of hotels in Canada. It is now under the management
of a major chain who have done a great job of refurbishing the hotel without
compromising its character. The hotel also has a large veranda where people sit
out and meet each other.
Veranda at the Algonquin Hotel
Events
The Nova Scotia Tattoo is still as great as it was when it
started in 1967 as a centennial celebration. Lots of great bands, both brass
and bagpipes and drums. The bands came
from all over Canada and from Europe and were universally good. There were also
gymnastic displays and the Navy Gun Run. This latter event has been going on
for many years. We were sitting in the front row so got the full effect of the
bangs when the guns were fired (with blanks of course).
We also attended the Pictou Lobster Carnival, an annual
event that celebrates the end of the local lobster fishing season. We ate lots
of lobster that weekend.
People
The really wonderful part of this trip was meeting other
people, almost always on the verandas I’ve mentioned earlier. We met people
from many places. Many of them were from Canada, different provinces including
Quebec and B.C. But we also met people from different countries including the
US, England and even Argentina. Everyone was very friendly and willing to talk
about themselves and exchange experiences. A gentleman from England kept me
late one evening questioning me about Canada and particularly the US. He could not understand why the US, the
richest country in the world, did not have universal health care. I had to explain
about the power of rich lobby groups that had such influence in government
policy. Other discussions were equally inciteful on different topics. We were
never lonely on a veranda.
Irritants
Of course, not everything was perfect.
There were some spots on major highways that were so rough
that I sometimes had concerns about my car’s suspension. Quebec, are you listening?
Some drivers can be very annoying. I have problems with drivers that slow down at
curves in the road or when they pull out to pass other vehicles such as
transport trucks. I am convinced that speed doesn’t kill, speed differential
does. I thought of that when a car passed my doing about 150 to 160 km/hour.
The rest of the traffic was doing 115 – 120. I also have a problem with drivers
that tailgate in hopes, no doubt, that you will speed up to their speed. I
would like to make a bumper sticker that says, “It’s not my job to stay ahead
of you, it’s your job to stay behind me.”
Slow service by wait staff can be tedious, particularly at
upscale places.
Toilet paper that is so thin you can read through it now
seems so popular, too popular.
Plaudits
In Nova Scotia we took a number of secondary highways. In
almost all cases these roads were very well kept and smooth. It made travelling
on them a real pleasure.
There are many interesting places in Canada for travel and
vacations. Congratulations to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick for hosting us for
a great vacation.
I apologize to my friends in Nova Scotia for not contacting
or visiting them. We were on a fairly tight schedule.
