Patricia Nagle
Sept 8, 2022
It's a Drive Alright
A few weeks ago, my sister and I packed up the car and drove eighteen-hours to Nova Scotia to visit our friends.
Day 1: Travel To
The drive started off good. We didn’t hit our first obstacle until about 9pm when we decided that we wanted to stay the night in Grand Falls, New Brunswick. The hotel our friends recommended was full. So were the nine hotels along our route, so we were forced to drive straight through. I normally do all the driving, but because I was tired, we switched in Perth-Andover with five hours left to go. My sister finished the drive and we made it to River John, Nova Scotia at 6:30am ADT. Piece of advice, book the hotel in advance.
Day 2 & 3: Pictou, River John and New Glasgow
The first couple days we were there, we didn’t feel like driving much so we stayed in the area. We first went to Pictou, grabbed some ice cream at Thomson’s Dairy Bar, a local ice cream place, and sat at the waterfront to watch the boats in the Pictou Harbour. We then drove to Cape John to go for a swim in the Atlantic Ocean. This place was beautiful. You could even see Prince Edward Island way in the distance.
Day 4: Prince Edward Island (PEI)
This was my favourite day of the trip! To get to PEI, we decided to take the ferry across from Caribou, Nova Scotia. One can also take the Confederation Bridge in Cape Journimain, New Brunswick.
Once in PEI, our first stop was the Anne of Green Gables site in Cavendish where we toured the house, saw an exhibit on the life of L.M. Montgomery, and walked through the forest that inspired her stories.
View of Fort Louisbourg from King’s Bastion. August 25, 2022 by Patti Nagle
Our next stop was Sandspit Amusement Park. Here we enjoyed carnival games, a round of mini-golf and some rides. It was raining, but decided to make the best of it. We then made our way the Confederation Bridge to take some photos. Our final stop was in Charlottetown where we visited Cows Creamery, an ice cream manufacturer that originated out of PEI. This place was full of cow-themed merchandise and some tasty ice cream! After our bellies were full, we caught the ferry back to Nova Scotia.
Day 5: Truro
On our fifth day we drove to Truro to see the Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition. Here we saw the Ox Pull, a new event for all of us. We also visited the Farm Equipment Museum where I spent most of my time because of my background in museums. It was full of fun activities and interesting artifacts. All created by volunteers.
Day 6: Cape Breton
There was a lot to do in Cape Breton, but we were only able to do a few things because it was a four-hour drive from River John. It was a beautiful drive up, full of causeways, bridges, cliffs and large bodies of water.
Our first stop was in Fort Louisbourg. For those interested in history, I highly recommend this place. There are many historical interpreters dressed in clothing from the 1700s that walk through the fort to answer any question you have. The most exciting part was the canon demonstration at noon.
Patti Nagle in front of Confederation Bridge at Marine Rail Park in Borden-Carleton, PEI.
Next, we journeyed to Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site in Baddeck. Here I learned about some of his inventions and personal life.
Finally, a trip to Nova Scotia wouldn’t be complete without sea glass hunting, a common activity in Nova Scotia. We did this at Inverness Beach where we found a bunch of clear, brown, and green sea glass. These are the most common ones, but you can also find blue.
Day 7: Tatamagouche & Malagash
On our last day, we decided to travel to a local brewery in Tatamagouche and enjoy some samples of beer. Then we drove to Malagash and tasted the cider of Malagash Cidery.
As our final outing, we ate dinner at Big Al’s, a restaurant in Tatamagouche that had live music by a local band. The food there was tasty!
Day 8: Travelling Back
We woke up early, enjoyed a hearty breakfast made by our friends, and set off for home. This time we planned to drive straight through and made it back around 1:30am EDT.