Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
First the hotels - Prince George - Delta Prince George - Digby Pines Resort
Prince George - nice hotel, centrally located, buffet breakfast but you can also order from the menu, we didn't have dinner in the restaurant
Delta Prince George- nice hotel, centrally located, buffet breakfast but you can also order from the menu, did not have dinner at the restaurant
Digby Pines Resort - Old hotel, with a golf course, beautiful swimming pool and spa, probably the best breakfast buffet but you can also order from the menu, 45 minutes from town which I would not have minded walking but it rained the 2 days we were there, had an included dinner in the restaurant.
Day 1 - I arrived a day early, had a direct flight from Orlando (a treat for me) and after having the luggage in the room, took a walk to the waterfront, very easy going down but a workout on the calf's getting back, walked around the waterfront, visited the Historic Properties with buildings dating back to the Napoleonic Wars of 1812, now they house stores and restaurants and pretty soon they will be converted to condominiums and business buildings. I went by the Dockyard Clock fabricated in England in 176 is the last remaining feature of the Halifax Naval Courtyard, stopped at The Bicycle Thief for dinner, delicious oysters and lobster roll.
On the way back to the hotel I saw the Town's Clock a/k/a The Citadel Clock Tower.
There was a heat advisory in Halifax that day because the temperature was 83 degrees 😂
Day 2 - After breakfast I took a walk around town to St. Paul's Church & City Hall then I visited the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia with a beautiful exhibit of Maud Lewis paintings including the actual small house where she lived with her husband Edward, in which every wall, kitchen items etc. were decorated with her paintings. I walked back to the waterfront and took the Halifax Ferry to Darmouth, walked a bit around the waterfront and town and returned to Halifax for our welcome dinner.
The welcome dinner took place at Pier 21 Canadian Immigration Museum, after a tour of the museum we had dinner salad, salmon and strawberry mousse
Day 3 - We drove to Peggy's Cove, beautiful lighthouse and rock formations then drove to Lunenburg that is an Urban UNESCO World Heritage Site, had lunch at the Old First Factory (haddock and veggies) nice buffet, then had a walking tour of the town's beautiful houses drove back to Halifax and I walked to Los Toros on the waterfront for tapas.
Day 4 - We had a bus tour of Halifax, went by the site of the Explosion of 1917 caused by 2 ships colliding and one of them carrying over 9 thousand tons of munitions. Then we had a walking tour of the Halifax Public Gardens, very beautiful. After returning to the hotel I walked with a couple of other ladies to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Canada's oldest and largest Maritime Museum.
In the evening we had a private tour of the Citadel and had dinner there. Most people had the filet mignon which they said was excellent, I do not eat red meat so my only choice was chicken which was very good.
Day 5 - We took the ferry to Prince Edward Island then drove to Windows on the Water restaurant for lunch which we had previously chosen, I had the linguini and shrimp which was very good. Took a walk around the river after lunch and then we drove to the Delta Prince George hotel, I went for walk around town saw various churches in particular St. Dunstan's Basilica very beautiful, I could see her spires from my hotel window kept walking around town and stopped at Piatto's for a slice of pizza.
Day 6 - After breakfast I walked with 2 other ladies in a different side of town that took us to a long walk on the waterfront, we ad wanted to visit Beaconsfield Historic House but it was closed for renovations.
In the afternoon we drove to the beach, very beautiful, water not too cold, only put our feet in. Then we had a demonstration by an Oyster Distributor on how the harvest the oysters, very interesting, then we visited Green Gables with a replica of the house described in the book Anne of Green Gables.
For dinner we went to New Glasgow Lobster Supper for a dinner of soup, lots of mussels and a whole lobster (small) and delicious either blueberry pie or lemon merengue pie (more merengue than pie).
Day 7 - Drove over the Confederation Bridge to Nova Scotia, long day on the bus except a stop for lunch at Inn on the Lake (nice buffet)
and a visit to Port Royal a National Historic Site on the bank of the Annapolis Basin which was the center of activity for the New French colony fur traders until it was destroyed by the British, from there we went to the Digby Pines Resort on the lake, beautiful views, very old hotel, we had an included dinner at the hotel that night, I had salad, salmon and can't remember dessert, didn't right down.
The hotel is 45 mts walk from town which is ok with me except that it rained both days we were there.
Day 8 - Today was very, very cold and it was the day we went whale watching which was exciting except for the cold and the rain, we were lucky and saw some whales, had a box lunch on the boat it was pretty good, sandwiches, chips, cookies. When back at the hotel the rain kept us from walking to town so a group of us sat in the lounge, had a cocktail and for ready for our Farewell Dinner at the hotel, we had appetizers, wine, drinks, salad, scallops which unfortunately were a bit tough, I think it's difficult to make scallops for a large group of people and them not being overcooked of course by sitting there before being served, delicious cheesecake with blueberry sauce.
Day 9 - On the drive back to Halifax we visited the Grand-Pre National Historic Park Site of the of a settlement of Acadians and the British deportation of the Acadians that happened during the French and Indian War after which they dropped most of us at Halifax airport for our return flight home.
When I upload the pictures I will post some.
Comments
Great review Gladys.
The Halifax explosion of 1917 created a large disaster in the city. Ships came up from Boston to help care for the wounded and dying. As a thank you to the people of Boston each year the province of Nova Scotia sends a Christmas tree which is displayed on the Boston Common. The premier of Nova Scotia comes to the tree lighting ceremony along with a number of musical groups. This is usually in the first few days of December.
Over 100 years later it is still going strong!
Kathy M Rob our TD mentioned that the most beautiful Christmas Tree goes to Boston every year. Over 2,000 people died in that explosion.
Did you have Rob White? We had him a long time ago for one of our Canada tour, I think this one. He is so funny. Back then, he handed out candy every day too. He had some great stores.
I wish I could remember which toir it was where Tauck took us for lobster rolls at a new place and they were dreadful. The TD was full of apologies to us all. I had not had many lobster rolls in the US back then, so it took me ages before I could understand what the big deal was about them
British it was Rob White, he's a riot, never laughed so much with a TD, he had handouts every day, candy, cookies and lots of props to go with the stories, very knowledgeable and attentive, he had cards made out with our names for seat assignment and they were decorated and he would add a new sticker every day for every place we visited, the day of whale watching he had a small whale sticker. it also showed how many tours we had taken.
We had Rob White on our Canadian Rockies and Glacier tour. He was excellent. He's from Newfoundland. He also told us that the Canadian government requires tours that are primarily in Canada to have a Canadian tour director.
Did he wear his chef's hat on the bus when he was setting up dinner reservations?
If I recall correctly, he worked at the Jasper Lodge before working for Tauck. As a result he knew everyone there.
Yes and yes. I’d love to encounter him again. I’ve noticed over the years when I see photos of him that he has put on the Tauck tour director pounds…and I’ve put on the Tauck tourist pounds. 😞
Kathy he does wear a chef's hat and apron when taking dinner reservations, for the lobster dinner his chef's hat and apron had a big lobster printed on them.
British he's not heavy at all must have lost weight since you last saw pictures of him, I'll post a picture when I upload them.
Then why haven’t I lost weight 😂😂😂😂
British I was lucky this time and one gained 2 pounds but I still think that's a lot in a week with all the walking I did.
Some pictures (I finally uploaded)
Lighthouse in George"s Island
Halifax waterfront
Town Clock
Lighthouse at Peggy's Cove
Halifax Publix Gardens
With Rob White TD
Brackely Beach in Prince Edward Island
St. Dunstan's Basilica in PEI
Whale watching
Sail boats coming in PEI
It’s too bad that they do not include a “Ceileigh” which is an event where musicians, dancers and other entertainers show up impromptu.. Great fun, I was so taken by it that I was almost inclined to prefix my last name with Mc.It’s a very PEI and Nova Scotia thing.
RGM2 that was not included, but we had a lot of other fun moments.