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Destination Spotlight: Nova Scotia
Recently OSHD employees Jen and Todd Jerdee completed a motorcycle trip to Nova Scotia, this is their report.
By: Jen Jerdee
Our two week journey began with no real plan, except to reach the much talked about Cabot Trail, which lies in the upper peninsula of Nova Scotia. Everything else between home, there and back was bonus and off the hip.
Our journey began with some showers in the morning, then turning to some pretty rough rain in the afternoon thanks to our “friend” Hurricane Danny. Our destination this day was Lincoln, ME. Two days later we headed for Amherst, NS, making this our destination for the night. Next we headed towards Cape Breton Island passing through New Glasgow, Antigonish, and Port Hawkesbury (via Hwy 104). Destination for the night Sydney, figuring we’d get a fresh start in the morning and complete Cabot Trail in one sitting, so to speak.
Cabot Trail had some beautiful mountain roads chock full of fun twisties and beautiful views. There were plenty of look-out points for photo opportunities, though watch out some of them are a little dicey to get in and out of. Speaking of photo’s there is a check in point at the beginning of the trail. If you plan on stopping along the trail for hikes or photo’s there is a fee to do so. We actually took this trip end of August beginning September, which is the tail end of their tourist season, so most of the little quaint shops and restaurants were closed. Up side to that, less traffic… June and July are their peak season for travelers. Some of those mountain roads did get a bit chilly and windy this time of year also, so pack accordingly.
Upon completing the Trail and grabbing some lunch we headed along the coast to Halifax, via Hwy 7. We found the local Harley-Davidson® Dealer on the GPS and stopped for rest. After some shopping we headed to grab lunch, check the weather and decide which direction we’d head next. Well, while enjoying lunch, the weather outside our window showed us rain. Tropical Storm Bill was creeping up on us quick. We quickly wrapped up lunch, donned our rain gear and decided to head north towards Prince Edward Island (aka PEI).
Yes this meant we would miss out on the Yarmouth & Acadian Shores, but there’s always next time. Though if you do get the chance to go everyone we talked to asked if we made it to Peggy’s Cove. Not sure what’s there but it must be good if everyone talks about it, right?
Needless to say we got soaked; Bill did not let up one bit. Bringing us to once again spend the night in Amherst, this put us in good distance off PEI. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to stuff our boots with whatever newspaper we could get to dry them out as much as possible for the next day’s leg.
With a good night’s rest and semi dry boots we headed to PEI, via the 9 mile bridge known as the Confederation Bridge. It was pretty amazing. We found a Holiday Inn Express in Charlottetown to spend the night and shed our gear. Once we were a bit lighter we headed out for a ride of the lower eastern part of the island. Taking the coastal route, passing through Wood Islands, Murray Harbor and Montague back towards Charlottetown. We found a nice spot in Wood Lands for photos, Wood Islands Provincial Park. It housed a park and a couple of lighthouses.
After arriving back in Charlottetown we checked out the local dealer, Red Rock Harley-Davidson®. They were really a great group of people and took care of some of the service needs and gear needs we required. Next we headed down to explore downtown. Charlottetown is the major metro of the PEI. We found a great little joint called Brit's Fish & Chips Restaurant; they had some of the best fish & chips I’ve had in a long time. We ended up deciding to spend another night in town; literally we switched to the Quality Inn right in downtown. There were some neat little shops to include Anne of Green Gables (Do you know the story? If not you’ll have to find out) which sold amazing chocolates to include chocolate covered potato chips. Don’t knock it till you try them, quite interesting. In our travels around town, we came across the Olde Dublin Pub and decided to make it our choice for dinner. It proved to be great, with it’s great service and food and it’s live entertainment of Irish, Scottish and Local Maritime favorites being played by a local twosome from town. We were there for hours. On the walk back to the hotel we shared in a light show being played on one of the town buildings depicting how PEI came to be.
There was still so much to see on PEI, but we decided to move on. Though this is definitely a destination we plan on going back to in the future.
The next day we continued our journey to start making our way back towards home. We traveled through New Brunswick traveling through Miramichi, Bathurst, and continuing back into Maine through Caribou and ending our travels in Maine for a few days to see family.
Here are a couple of sites you may want to check out for information.
www.motorcycletourguidens.com
www.ridenovascotia.com
www.sailcarferry.com (if you don’t have the time for driving up into NS you can catch a ferry at different points in Maine)
www.gentleisland.com (info. On PEI)
www.novascotia.com
Some Pics of the trip:
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