Our first stop you probably can guess, was Chick-Fil-A in Bangor for breakfast and play break for Wesley boy. Our second stop was in Houlton to top the tank off before crossing the border. Gas was $2.549 a gallon in Houlton, and averaged about $1.282 a litre in Canada. At 3.78 litre's per gallon, that's about $4.80 a gallon Canadian. Basically is $20 more to fill the tank in US dollars.
When we got to Houlton we had driven 203 miles and we both felt like, hey we made it! Truth be told we still have 355 miles to go!
Canadian customs was a breeze, we stopped at the New Brunswick Welcome Center for the clean bathrooms and playground for Wesley to stretch his legs. We had stopped here in July and Wesley remember getting a flag so he wanted to go in and get another one first thing before anything else.
We stopped in Woodstock, New Brunswick to exchange US Dollars for Canadian Dollars and pick up a few road supplies at Sobey's, and for Kate to grab a Tim Horton's drink, she maintains they are better in Canada. Then we hit the road not stopping again for 270 km in Moncton, NB at a Harvey's, a Canadian fast food chain that opened in 1959.
They have a cool set up, you place your order and then when the burger comes out they put the toppings on it in front of you like at subway. However the burgers were nothing special at all. The onion rings were tremendous though.
We stopped in Stewiacke, Nova Scotia for fuel at a little tourist trap called Mastodon Ridge. In 1991 just a short drive away Mastodon remains were unearthed, so in 1995 this replica statue was erected. Stewiacke is also a 45th Parallel marker, which Kate and I are big fans of.
When we got into Halifax we stopped at a grocery store that we found called Mike's No Frills. It was super basic inside and everything was quite expensive. Kate accidentally stole a dollar from a woman when she took her cart. You have to put a loony in a slot on the cart to unlock it and have to lock it back in place to get your loony back. We picked up a few things, english muffins, eggs, & sausage for breakfast.
We got to our Airbnb and for your first experience it was a great one! We parked in the homeowners driveway and had our own entrance on the side. The room had a queen bed, couch, kitchen area, bathroom, and stand up shower with an awesome rain fall shower head. The room also had a TV with Netflix which was great for Wesley.
I grabbed us a pizza that night at Alexandra's Pizza. It was decent enough, they use sandwich pepperoni and put it under the cheese.
In total we drove 558 miles or 898 kilometers. Because a kilometer is .62 miles the numbers roll off quickly and doesn't make the drive feel as long.
Saturday morning after a delicious breakfast we headed into Halifax to the waterfront to check out the Seaport, they have free parking on Saturday mornings. The Seaport is a large complex but the main part we checked out was the Farmers Market. If only we had one like this close to home we would frequent there all the time. There were restaurants that we would have liked to check out but didn't have the opportunity.
There is a large boardwalk off the Seaport and we didn't have time fully explore the two miles, but wouldn't mind going back some day to check it out. Georges Island is just off the Seaport and on it is Georges Island Lighthouse. Built in 1919 it is the third tower to be constructed on the island.
We did stop at a playground on the way as Wesley requested because the boy loves his playgrounds.
Our next stop was the whole reason this vacation was planned in the first place, Oak Island. Kate and I love the show and last January I discovered that they did tours of the island and tickets were limited and sold fast. The day they went on sale the system crashed repeatedly and finally we were able to get though and purchase two tickets on the semi-private tour for Saturday September 8th.
When we arrived at the causeway that lead to the island it was very exciting as was driving over it to the island. We checked out the Interpretive center before the tour started and on display they had the lead cross and the ruby broach that Gary found last season.
Our tour guide was Charles Barkhouse, a local historian who is on the show and he's been giving tours on the island long before there was a show. When buying tickets we chose Saturday because Charles does the tours that day and it is repeatedly written that chances of meeting any cast members are slim. We saw a lot of sights that we'd seen on television; the war room, the monuments, the bottom stone on Nolan's cross, the beach, the swamp, the money pit, 10 X, Smith's cove and more.
I can't wait to watch the new season so we can learn about the changes that we saw. Charles wouldn't talk about them, but he didn't acknowledge "Clearly there is something going on here, but lets not spoil the a-ha moment."
We had the last tour of the day, they are slated for two hours but after 2.5 hours we were finished up and started the 3/4 mile walk back to the parking area. When we got out there I noticed everyone was gathered in a group and couldn't figure out why, and then I noticed Rick Lagina and Gary Drayton was standing there talking with everyone!
We waited patiently and then had out moment to talk to Rick and Gary and we had our picture made with them. Kate didn't want to, she said she felt weird, but I introduced her to Rick and he shook her hand and pulled her into the photo. They were both wicked nice and Rick just seemed so genuine.
All in all the tour was amazing we heard stories that we hadn't heard on the show before, seeing the sights, meeting Charles, Rick, and Gary. It was completely worth it!
We drove back to Halifax and went downtown to get dinner at Smoke's Poutinerie. It was good, not the best poutine that I'd ever had, but very good. I had to parallel park on the busy side streets and I pulled off the greatest parallel parking jobs I had ever done, Katie was impressed. We got Wesley some McDonald's on the way back to the room.
Sunday morning after breakfast and cleaning up we hit the road for our 327 km / 203 miles drive to Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. The drive was uneventful but familiar to an extent as we backtracked on roads we had driven on Friday. Right when we got back into New Brunswick we turned off towards PEI stopping for gas before we got to the bridge.
The Confederation Bridge is impressive! Built from October 1993 - May 1997 it links PEI to the mainland spanning the Northumberland Strait 12.9 km / 8 miles in length. When you get out to the center of the bridge you see nothing but the sea to the left and to the right as far as you can see. We were fortunate that it was a clear day both days we drove on it.
The town of Borden-Carleton greets you when get on the island. We stopped for the restroom and they had a big playground for Wesley to use while I went to take pictures of the bridge. The Marine Rail Park provided a great place to park and photograph the bridge. It is also where Port Borden Back Range Lighthouse is located.
Rejoining Kate and Wesley we discovered that basically everything at the gateway village was closed for the season. Where as Columbus Day in the US is typically the end of the tourist season, here on PEI it's Labour Day, which had been the Monday prior to our arrival.
We found that Tastee-Dawgs was open never one to pass up a hot dog joint we decided to try it out. It was nice enough outside that we ate on the deck. We ended up chatting with the owners and they were very nice. Actually everyone that we chatted with on this trip was wicked nice.
Prince Edward Island is beautiful and everywhere that we drove was so picturesque and scenic. Repeatedly during our time here we comment on the view. One thing we noticed is that there were no run down buildings, all the farms seemed to be operational and clean.
We got to Cavendish and found that practically everything was closed, not Ripley's though so we check it out. I love Ripley's and this is my sixth odditorium and Kate's second. They have a huge Optimus Prime transformer out front! Wesley thought it was pretty cool too.
We tried to go to a grocery store, in fact it was called a Tourist Trap and the prices definitely were. We decided against buying anything. We went for a drive looking for another one and couldn't find one what we did find though was the North Rustico Harbor and the North Rustico Lighthouse.
We parked and got out and walked around. The tide was out so Wesley and I walked on the red sands while Kate went a got herself a coffee. I took some pictures of the lighthouse as well. Driving back towards Cavendish we took the Rue du Gulf Shore Parkway back stopping at scenic Orby Head to see the unbelievable Cliffs of Cavendish.
The cottage was wicked nice! Very old fashioned and rustic, but very well maintained. We got placed right next to the playground which Wesley loved. I really like the big storm windows in the kitchen and bathroom. Kate really like it too, said I pick out a good place. When we checked into the cottage we got directions to one about half an hour away in Summerside.
It was a very nice drive to Summerside and back for supplies. It's funny that you can literally drive from one side of the island to the other in half an hour. We had a nice evening at the cottage with Wesley playing on the playground.
Monday morning after a delicious breakfast that Katie made us we headed to Charlottetown parking at the Confederation Court Mall and walking around the block. We wanted to go to the museum but it was under construction so we couldn't. We stopped a nice used book store and picked up a couple Little Golden Books for Wesley.
We found this fun store called Freak Lunchbox that is full of neat candy that to them is not locally available but for the most part is commonplace for us in the States. The had a lot of cool retro carnival banner style paintings all around the store. Also they had an exclusive official Garbage Pail Kid art of Anne of Green Goobers that Kate bought Jonny a t-shirt of. I picked up some stocking stuffers for the kids myself.
We headed over to Cow's Creamery for a tour of the cheese and ice cream factories. Cow's Creamery founded in 1983 in Cavendish, now based out of Charlottetown, started as an ice cream manufacturer and expanded into cheese and butter production. They also launched a successful line of t-shirts that are all made on site here. This is a large complex that features many other establishments on the grounds including out lunch spot.
We went for lunch at the Moo Moo Grilled Cheesery before having ice cream. It was excellent! The cheese is made on the same grounds, the bacon is smoked locally, the chips are locally produced Spud Island Chips, and the bread is baked locally. You can't get more homegrown. Kate and I both went next door and picked out a beer for later at the Prince Edward Island Brewing Company.
Before finally checking out the ice cream we walked through the Anne of Green Gables Chocolates were I got the kids some chocolate loonie and twonies coins for their stockings and Kate and I got something for ourselves and Wesley.
Wesley didn't want an ice cream, he wanted a squishy ice cream cone that cost like $13 but whatever makes him happy. Kate and I both got chip chip hooray, which is vanilla ice cream with sea salted English toffee, and cows chocolate covered chip pieces. TREMENDOUS!
We took a different route back to the Cottage and I can't say enough just how gorgeous this island is. Wesley and I dropped Kate off for some alone time at the cottage while Wesley and I went to the Toy Factory in New Glasgow. This place specializes in making wooden toys and for $6 kids can make their own wooden vehicle.
Wesley picked out a vehicle shape, and they helped him as he put on the axles and glued the wheels on. They then sanded it down and she burnt Wesley's name on the side and a license plate of PEI 2018. It's so cool and well worth every penny. We checked out the magic fairy trail and the yard ornaments before leaving.
Later that evening we tried to go watch the sunset but the cloud coverage prevented it. However the lighting was outstanding for some selfie action.
The next morning we got on the road after Katie made us breakfast. We had 770 km / 479 mile drive ahead of us. It cost $47.50 to take the Confederation Bridge back to the mainland. We stopped in Moncton to fuel up and check out a mystery spot called Magnetic Hill.
The hill is located in the confines of a complex that also houses a zoo, water park, and winery. A covered bridge takes you into the park. Normally you have to pay $6 but as no one was there to accept our money we didn't have to pay and in total we did it three times. You drive down the road, pull up to a marked spot and put your vehicle in neutral. The van then just started rolling backwards up the road and it picked up speed as it went. It was so cool and freaky! We filmed it three times, once in the van, second time Kate filmed out from outside, and then once more from inside. So cool!!! There are other mystery spots around the world like this and I want to check them out if possible.
It was a nice ride back across New Brunswick, we stopped once more for bathroom and a drink. Then stopped in Woodstock to get some more Covered Bridge Chips and grab some lunch at the A&W where I got a frosty mug of Diet Root Beer, it was great!
We ended up driving over to the Hartland Visitors Center which is next to the World's Longest Covered Bridge. When we visited with the kids in July we saw an art print that we liked that they had about traveling Atlantic Canada. We both liked it a lot and since we didn't see it on this trip we decided to go and pick it up.
We crossed back into Maine and stopped in Houlton to get fuel then made the long drive to Bangor for late lunch at Chic-Fil-A then rolled on home. In total we drove over 1700 miles / 2735 km.
Wesley was awesome the whole time too, yeah we make it a point to find him playgrounds to play on but it's the least we can do. This was a tremendous trip across Atlantic Canada, we both like it so much that next September I'm thinking we should explore Ontario.
Thanks for reading!
