Another lap around Nova Scotia
 

Prologue
After I got back from the Trans-Lab and Nova Scotia last September my long suffering better half Donna told me that she has always wanted to see Nova Scotia and that I had been informed of that many times. You guys know what that means:D - Time to plan a trip to Nova Scotia. This will be Donna’s first multi-day trip on a moto. The plan evolves. To save her from the rigors of a long slog up I-95 I will ride ahead with all the gear packed and she will fly the next day and we will meet in Bangor ME. I will be carrying all her stuff (except what she will be riding in) on the bike so when she gets off the plane we will be ready to roll.
The Baroness ready to go


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Starting out.


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I leave Annapolis at 5AM and the temperature is already 80 degrees. It could be a long day! The ride is pretty uneventful as I head north. Is there a worse slab for a motorcycle than the New Jersey Turnpike? If there is I want to avoid it. To skip NYC I trade the turnpike for the Garden State Parkway and the Tappan Zee Bridge. I take 84 through Connecticut and 90 into Mass. Things are going great till I get on 495 near Boston. Things come to a virtual standstill. My feet are on the ground as much as they were at the last gas stop. Zumo has a detour feature and I decide to see what that will do. Looks good as I movel quickly on the back roads and then all stop again. Construction and an accident create another back up. I get back onto 95 and crawl along through New Hampshire and into Maine until the first toll booth on the Maine TP. 2 ½ hours to go 86 miles. Yuck. And I notice that my EZPass does not appear to be registering at the toll plazas. That should prove to be interesting when the bills arrive. But eventually I get to the motel in Bangor.


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The adventure begins tomorrow when Donna arrives and we head for St John NB and the ferry to Nova Scotia.

Nice Marty. :lurk

How fabluous! We did 4 of the 11 Byways coastal routes (Evangeline Tour, Lighthouse, Marine Byway, cabot) on NS last year and had a blast. Actually, the best lighthouse (Baccaro Point Lighthouse) I have EVER seen was a little south of Cape Negro.
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It even had a working fog horn, and it was soon remote and errie that day. Infact, if you do follow the Southern tip up the atlanic side, you will see some other fab lighthouses. The tourist trap one (Peggys cove), is worth a 10-min photo stop and that's about all.

I hope you are planning to spend a day in Lunenburg and Mahonoe Bay? Shelburne had a quaint little historic area with some very nice museums. They were even working on making this Dory boat and let us sink a few nails..

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Here the RR if you need other ideas..

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=610031

Very cool and by giving her a fly/ride, her experience will hopefully lead to many more!
Congrats on having her want to share with you.
:thumb

Bob

Following
 

I'm in. Baroness eh? Nice name for the red girl :evil

One of my favorite places to ride.Light traffic beautiful scenery friendly people and some of the best scallops I ever had,enjoy!

Looks good! Heading there myself this week.. looking for great riding roads :thumb

:lurk

:lurk

Day 1 Bangor to St John
 

The first order of business was to find the Bangor Airport. Not really that hard to do as Bangor is not that big.
Bangor International Airport terminal

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USAIR gets there on time.

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(True Story!) Donna asking the security guy if he had seen someone on a red motorcycle in the area as I was standing there taking the picture.

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We get on the road and head east on Rte 9. This is a good road for riding – some hills with passing lanes to get by the18 wheelers and RVs, some curves, and a decent road surface. Donna’s hello was prefaced by a demand for food so we stopped at this place about 30 miles down the road.

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Very cozy and VERY friendly staff

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Food porn

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The burgers are excellent – recommended<o:p></o:p>
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Then we were off to find Canada - that’s not hard either. Stay on 9 to Rte 1, then right to Calais (not the one in France) and then turn left at the sign to the International Bridge. The border crossing was so uneventful that I did not have time to get the camera out. I did stop right after the border to take this shot of a memorial that has grown to remember WWI, WWII, and Korea.

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Then it was on to Canada 1 to Saint John. 1 is turning into a super slab when there is no construction in progress. The hard part is remembering that 110KPH is top speed.<o:p></o:p>
I managed to lose the directions to the B&B where we had reservations so we wandered around Saint John till we found someone who knew where Douglas Street was. (don’t ask about GPS – all my Canada maps have disappeared and I didn’t check that before I left Maryland).

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Where we are staying

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Views like this earn points toward 4 week solo adventures.<o:p></o:p>
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Local story - at the restaurant a local comes in and the hostess asks if it has cooled off yet. He says no. And I am wearing long sleeves for the first time in months. It's all relative.

Tomorrow it’s the ferry to Nova Scotia and South to Yarmouth.<o:p></o:p>

Oh yeh, this is going to be good...:lurk

Lakota,
Bet you had fun uploading those maps last night. :rofl

Marty, I'm following. :lol3

Enjoy the ride! Let's plan to get together for breakfast when we all get back and swap stories. :D

good start!
 

:lurk

Day 2 St John to Yarmouth
 

The plan was to take the ferry to Digby, NS and then ride south to Yarmouth. The problem with a ferry is that whole day is driven by the ferry schedule. The ferry left at noon and they want you there an hour+ early so morning options are limited. After the B&B breakfast of eggs benedict we loaded up and headed over to Reversible Falls. They are no really reversible and seeing it happen is not an event but a process. The force of the tide in Bay of Fundy is so strong that when the tide comes in it forces the river to flow backwards and the rapids change direction. To see it happen you would have to get there just before slack water and see the results as the tide changes. Too long to do and really not worth the effort. Anyway a few pictures from the overlook. A neat place with jet boat rides through the rapids.


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Then up the hill to Fort Howe monument, built during the American Revolution to defend St John from the revolutionaries. St John is one of the place Loyalists went after the War.


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Another view of our B&B, this time from the Ft Howe monument

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Then it was off to the ferry terminal to wait.





Terminal Building


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Motorcycles waiting to load


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The Princess of Arcadia coming in from DIgby

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Bikes on the vehicle deck


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A few shots from the boat


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Downtown St John


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It is about a three hour ride across the Bay to Digby. After two hours the destination is discernable.


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Finally one can see the terminal.


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Eventually we get off the boat and head to Annapolis Royal. Being residents of Annapolis MD for the last 30 years it seemed a mandatory stop.


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Annapolis Royal is important because it was the first permanent European settlement in Canada and because it is one of the few towns of its size without a Tim Hortons

A shout out to my friend JaxObsessed from the SMIBs and Maryland Tag-o-rama.


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After Annapolis Royal a fast run down 101 to Yarmouth. No traffic at all. Felt the road belonged to me.


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Tonight’s stop

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Food Porn
Cream of Mushroom Soup


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Chicken coconut curry


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Seafood medley


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This is from the motel’s dining room. Stay or eat here if you are in the area.

Tomorrow along the coast to somewhere north of Halifax.