Edit: Full resolution photo set on Flickr: Flickr Set Camera used: Nikon D40 w/ 18-55mm kit lens and cheapie Hoya circular polarizer
There is a special kind of crazy woman necessary to say "YES!" to a 2700 mile road trip north, at the onset of November's chill, over the course of a mere 3 days. Life has worked out for me to be lucky enough to have found that woman, and ahead is a recounting of how we celebrated our anniversary this past weekend.
The initial planning of this road trip started roughly a month ago. We looked at Google Maps, and just eyeballed the area around our neck of the woods, running down our options. -West? Too flat, and we'd just been in western PA/Ohio a couple weekends prior. -Southwest? I didn't want to mirror any portions of the BABE Rally, which I've run two years in a row, and Kate will be running with me this coming June. -South? We could have made it to Key West and back in less miles and less time than the trip we chose. But frankly - too flat, too boring, too familiar.
That opened up the areas to the north of us - and frankly, perhaps funny names of locations had something to do with our decision. And so, it was planned (if my passport came through in time - I applied less than a month before the trip) - we were going to Meat Cove, Nova Scotia and back.
Thursday night's goal was to just rock out a lot of the familiar-to-us highway stretches this side of Maine - get them over with ASAP and give us a good jumping off point for the following morning.
I left work at exactly 5pm, heading out of Hanover, PA (A) as quickly as traffic allowed. Construction on 222 made for slow going, and I didn't make it to Kate's house until 8:15. We still had 5+ hours of driving ahead of us before we made it to our hotel in Andover, MA, just shy of the New Hampshire border - so after a quick 10-minute dinner of burritos and coffee (dinner of champions), off we went.
Pre-departure...a relatively clean Fit (that wouldn't last long).
We had some free junior frosty coupons, and got some fries to dip (don't knock it til you've tried it)...though we weren't aware of just how tiny the junior frosty really is. Huge fries, huge drink, tiiiiiiny little frosty!
This picture pretty much sums up Thursday night's drive. Lots of highway, just rocking out to get to Andover. We listened to Tracy Morgan's autobiography, "I Am The New Black", which helped pass the time.
We arrived at the hotel at exactly 2am. A continental breakfast the next morning ending at 9am would insure that we'd get up and on the road by a reasonable time...but for now, what sleep we could get was welcome.
Out of bed at 7:30am to get ready, eat breakfast (note: bagel content), and get on the road. I'm glad we got an early start - the weather was stunning, and leaving early left some time for a scenic detour later on that day.
I didn't expect as much color left in the trees at this point...but quite a bit of color was still there, as evidenced by this tree outside our hotel. Sunny, warm-ish with blue skies - we lucked out on weather (for now).
Wasn't long before we'd passed into New Hampshire, and quickly on into Maine.
(This is the bridge crossing into Maine)
A quick Panera lunch in the Augusta area, then back on the road again.
There are certainly lots of signs warning of moose crossing in Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia (the yellow sign you can barely make out in this picture)...but I think they're just for tourists to take pictures of. Nary a moose was seen on this trip....a source of bitter disappointment to both of us. Snow on the ground by this point (which came and went as we drove), and long expanses of open highway and beautiful skies.
We had branched off onto 9 East at this point, deciding to detour down to Lubec, Maine - the easternmost town in the United States.
Kate made a phone call from the still-functional phone booth at a very non-functional Cloud 9 Motel, while I walked around back to check out what else there was around the buildings.
We kept missing great places to pull off and take pictures of the landscape, but caught this one, about halfway between B and C on the map.
Gassing up at the little general store along route 9 in Wesley, Maine. A thoroughly delicious blueberry soda was procured and dispatched in short order.
Down through the town of Machias, Maine...along the water again.
And so we rolled into Lubec....and while we knew it was windy out, the sheer steadiness and force of the wind at Lubec was amazing! Parked on the boat ramp with the nose downhill, I could open the door on the Fit as far as it would go, which has a pretty firm detent holding it in place - and it would immediately slam shut from the force of the wind when I let go. It felt pretty bitterly cold with the air whipping past us, but as the sun fell low in the sky, the views were well worth the detour. The lighthouse in these pictures is in Canada.
After crossing over into Canada to look back at Lubec across the water - the boat ramp we were just parked on is just to the right of the lighthouse in the background in this first picture.
The bridge we had just come across to enter Canadian territory:
And Lubec from across the water:
Lots of VW owners would die for this patina.
And a random Peugeot 505 Turbo on the same road that dead-ended at the beach:
Parked at the end of that road:
Down to the beach to watch the sun set. Another lighthouse in the distance over my right shoulder (left in the picture).
This far north, the sun was low in the sky before 4pm, and had mostly set by 4:30. In the darkness, we doubled back to head north and cross into Canada at St. Stephen, NB. There was no crossing to the mainland from Lubec, as the ferries don't run this late in the season (the bridge was just to Campobello Island). We crossed into Canada in near-darkness, and continued east....stopping near Saint John for an obligatory meal at Tim Horton's fine dining establishment.
In the darkness, we made progress as quickly as we could, but the weather conspired to limit us to 70mph or so across the rest of NB and Nova Scotia. Intermittent snow and steady heavy winds, plus the oft-warned-about potential for moose crossings made speeding seem a bit reckless. We literally saw none of New Brunswick, despite driving the entire way across its southern edge - both the trip out and the trip back across NB were in darkness. The weather made the drive a little bit of the white-knuckled variety, but we made it to the hotel in Antigonish, NS around 11:30pm local time.
Directly across the street, Mother Webb's steakhouse....we were too late to sample their offerings.
Interesting room layout...but a nice, clean motel. The most expensive of the three nights by about 50%, but we didn't exactly spend big money on lodging on this trip - the gas purchased along the trip, even for a fuel-sipping Fit, cost more than the three nights' hotel stays.
Day 2 - Antigonish, NS to Meat Cove, NS - then back to the US
On the road by 7am EST (8am local time) was our goal, and we stuck to it. We grabbed coffee at the little market across the street, and headed east.
Our motel, Saturday morning:
We pushed east through more heavy wind and occasional rain/mist. Though these pictures are blurry, the force of the wind whipping up the waves against the causeway to Cape Breton Island was substantial.
There was evidence of a sun existing above the cold blanket of clouds...
And finally, around Baddeck (B on the map), the cloud cover broke.
Breakfast sounded like a fantastic idea at this point. We asked at a local shop in Baddeck (not exactly a booming metropolis) where we could find breakfast...and it sounded like at this point in the season there was only one place in town. Now we can legitimately say we've bean there (groan, but the bagel content makes up for it).
Back on the road, we proceeded another 10 miles or so to the beginning of the Cabot Trail, where the beauty continued.
We stopped at a local pottery shop, where Kate bought a gift and we talked with the proprietor, who gave us some pointers on where else to stop along the way if we had time. We were greeted by a ferocious beast outside the front door, but were able to sneak past unscathed.
I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE.
Much construction slowed things down for several miles.
Potential summer vacation home?
And all of a sudden, we were back out along the Atlantic.
The peaks we had seen in the distance earlier started to loom closer.
Muddy pull-off necessitated e-brake turns and reverse donuts
Came from the right, going up the mountain to the left.
And so we climbed....
And climbed a bit more...
And at this point the snow began to get a little more pervasive. Looking out across the snow-covered trees felt like being in Narnia or something of the sort...other-wordly.
And as quickly as we were into the hills, we were back down into Ingonish.
We ran into a couple from Quebec who offered to take our picture:
Naturally, I returned the favor
We kept on heading north. Our next stop was Dingwall, a small fishing village on a dead-end road. The beach we encountered was absolutely stunningly beautiful...but don't take my word for it! [/levarburton]
We backtracked out of Dingwall, and continued on towards our meaty destination, but stopped in St. Margaret's Village/Bay St. Lawrence right before taking the last stretch of unpaved road towards Meat Cove. The wind, waves, and spray were powering over the end of the pier...my thoughts of pulling up to the end of the pier were quickly erased as we watched the water crash over the concrete.
And so we ran back to the warm interior of the Fit, and continued on to Meat Cove, which the cartoon "Get Fuzzy" proclaimed is "nice, but not as meaty as they had imagined". We had similar findings...not even a whiff of meaty scent to be sniffed. The road into Meat Cove was about 5 miles of moon craters (except of course for the portions I got in the photos...just trust me), but we made it up and back without the catastrophic blowout I anticipated with every bang.
BREAKIN' THE LAW, BREAKIN' THE LAW!
I originally thought this was Newfoundland off in the distance, but looking back at the map afterwards, there's a 1-mile-wide island of a much more realistically-visible distance from the northern tip of Nova Scotia.
Heading back out:
And now, back down the western side of the Cabot Trail, climbing once again into the snow-covered mountains.
Perhaps they dodged a moose? We did stop and check it out to make sure that nobody was in the vehicle.
Off in the distance, you can see the road winding southward along the coast.
Out of the National Park and into Cheticamp, NS - we stopped to refuel....*us*, not the car. The All Aboard restaurant proved the perfect place to stop. Coffee for me, then a healthy dose of poutine, fish and chips, and homemade chicken alfredo split between us insured that neither of us would be hungry for quite a while.
A moving snapshot out the window will never do a sunset justice.
And so, as daylight departed, we were still over two hours from Antigonish, where we had spent the previous night, and our goal was to make it back to the states - another 6 hours beyond that. We pushed on - back across Nova Scotia, into and again across New Brunswick. This time, favorable weather allowed a cruising speed of 130kph - roughly 80mph. Somehow, this, paired with a headwind, resulted in by far the worst tank of gas I've put through the Fit so far...a less-than-stellar 27.8mpg. I blame Canada.
With a few stops for fuel, the miles flew by, and we made Calais, Maine at exactly 11pm EST - 16 hours after we had left the motel that morning. In my caffeinated state, I decided to push on towards Bangor while Kate dozed in the passenger seat. Little did I know that getting a hotel room in Bangor on a late weekend night is a losing proposition, so once we made Bangor, we continued down 95, watching for motels at each exit. It was in Palmyra, about 20 miles past Bangor, that we stumbled upon Lovley's Motel - and so we slept.
Lovley's Motel ended up being a dated, but clean and comfortable motel, complete with griffins to watch over us while we slept. It felt like staying at grandma's house...except with wifi!
Interesting way to make a desk...
I'm pretty sure this corner of the room is pulled straight out of my parents' house....circa 1985.
Southward, ho! We were on the road early again, and somehow we'd managed to pick the one day where Maine decided to be 60 degrees and sunny in November. A stop at the Portland Head Light and then lunch in Portland seemed in order.
Kate w/ Bailey, the vicious watchdog of the Lighthouse Museum.
Peeking through a wall of Battery Blair, which previously housed a 12-inch diameter cannon with a range of 8 miles that guarded the coast.
Other assorted shots from around the grounds...
I PITY THE FOOL WHO EATS THESE BERRIES!
On our way in to Portland Harbor for lunch, I was caught in the gravitational field of a Jeep 4.0L! This wasn't just any 4.0L....but the elusive 4.0L High Output VR6! A quick stop in at Papa Johns to say hi/bye to Adam (VegasJetta) while we were in the area.
A couple of Vortex nerds at their finest.
Moving on to downtown, we walked Commercial Street, where Perry gave us his well-practiced sales pitch, which ultimately got us to buy a freshly brewed iced tea and possibly the best hot dog I've ever had.
Walking down one of the many wharfs, I saw this pair of vintage Volvos...with the P1800 riding on...Grand Cherokee wheels? Same bolt pattern?
Subarus abound in Portland (and Maine in general).
Perry's was really just an appetizer for our real lunch at Portland Lobster Company. Sitting on a 60-degree sunny waterfront deck w/ lobster roll, clam chowder, and a beer...
Goodbye, Portland....it's been fun!
So home we headed from Maine. It was hard to believe we'd been at the wind-whipped northern tip of Nova Scotia less than 24 hours prior. I do believe we're OK with taking the next few months off of epic road trips....which is good, since the wedding is in January, and we still have plenty to do. All told, the odometer turned 2,735 miles from start to finish of the trip.
Absolutely awesome post. I love road trips for the sake of road trips. You have visited the places that are next in our adventures. Just stunningly beautiful. Random question, where is your headrest?
Oh how I miss the East Coast Road trip threads are my favourite without a doubt
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I recognozed almost everything in those pictures from the NB/ME border to Cape Breton. I`m in Halifax Nice trip!
Oh, and those moose signs are much more than show. There are even fences along the highway to keep them off the road. They are hard to see at night since theyre very dark colored, theyre dumb, and theyre tall and very top heavy. If you hit one with a car, usually the front area will take out its legs, and then thousands of pounds of moose will collapse on the front two seats of the passenger cabin. It causes a ton of deaths. Enough that they have put up those signs and fences. Scary stuff.
I've lived pretty much my whole life in Portland, and sir, you captured it well. Perry's is great and the Lobster Co. (while being on the expensive side) is a fantastic place.
Ha, that's funny - I missed that question last night. Good eye....it's one of my only complaints about the car - the headrest is angled too sharply forward, and is nonadjustable. I've found a seating position that makes it OK most of the time, but I'll still take it out and throw it in the back seat every so often to give my neck more range of motion.
Markasaurus!, I thought about you and SteveMKIIDub while I was passing through NB...I passed a Kia Rio on the highway in the Fredericton area, and thought it would have been hilarious if it was Steve
Quote, originally posted by Jon Felton, NASA Autocross Coordinator »
Speaking of media, did anyone get any pics? Especially of the white Honda Accord CrossTour in heat 1. As we always say, nearly anything can be autocrossed. ;-)
Awesome. We did a quick weekend up in Portsmouth and Portland back in August, when it was still hot. Definitely need to get up to New Brunswick, though.
"Everyone knows that the Car Lounge Car of the Year is the E36 M3, the answer to all transportation problems. Need to haul a family of 8 - M3! Tow a boat trailer - M3! Have only $15k to spend and want a Japanese car - M3!" -- Tom
Great pics and excellent post! Just drove up to New Hampshire and back last week, and saw a bunch of those Moose signs, but alas, also no moose. Foxes and other woodland creatures, but the only moose were statues.
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
3 days to get to meat cove? man, i prefer the 1 night trip, and then staying there for like 35 minutes.
I think you have Meat Cove confused with Meat Cave. Honest mistake.
Quote, originally posted by Jon Felton, NASA Autocross Coordinator »
Speaking of media, did anyone get any pics? Especially of the white Honda Accord CrossTour in heat 1. As we always say, nearly anything can be autocrossed. ;-)
youre drive brings me back, i made that trip a few years ago. my mom got married in cape breton and actually lives there now. i made the drive from cape breton back to CT in about 16 hours when it was all said and done.
i havent seen a moose there either, despite many many trips.
Fernando Alonso/Ferrari in 2010 - 'This one is for you, Flavio! '
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