My wife and I decided to travel to Maine and Nova Scotia early in 2020, so we researched it and booked everything for an October trip. The plan was to fly to Boston and visit my wife’s son and his girlfriend for a couple of days. They would travel with us to Bar Harbor; Maine and we would separate there.
After spending the night in Bar Harbor, we would board the ferry and travel to Yarmouth where we would spend a couple of nights. From there we would go to Halifax and spend a few nights there, driving to places of interest while there. We would then reverse the trip and go home.
There were several problems with our plan. First, the ferry wasn’t running at the time because the docks were under construction. We anticipated they would be finished on time but there was no guarantee. If they weren’t finished on time, we would have to drive around the long way which would force us to change our accommodations.
The second problem was the ferry was very expensive. I don’t remember the cost, but I wondered if it was worth the time saved. We considered renting a car in Boston then driving the long way and flying home from Halifax but that was impossible because you can’t rent a car in the United States and return it in Canada.
The third problem and one you probably anticipated was Covid. At first, we thought it would blow over and wouldn’t be a problem in October. Boy, were we wrong. Canada closed it’s borders and our vacation was over before it began.
We were inspired to go on the trip after watching the television series Haven. I mentioned to my wife how beautiful those small fishing villages were. I also had many ancestors from Nova Scotia dating back to the 1700s which was a contributing factor.
In 2024 we tried to plan another trip but realized that seeing Maine and Nova Scotia on the same trip was too difficult given our limited amount of time so we chose to visit Massachusetts and Maine. We traveled with my stepson and his fiancé and stayed at a couple of Airbnbs. It was a good trip, but Maine did not have the beautiful coastal villages that I was expecting.
This year we chose to fly to Halifax and visit only Nova Scotia. We left from Tampa on a Saturday evening. My wife booked us in first class, or business class, or whatever it’s called now. I don’t know how expensive that was, and I don’t want to know, but it was nice to not be squished between two people with nowhere to rest my arms.
We had a six-hour layover in Toronto during the middle of the night which was not fun. Navigating the airport was confusing and there were few comfortable places to sit. Sleeping was out of the question. Airports should have small bunk beds like on a submarine. They could rent them out for twenty dollars an hour. I would have gladly paid that and more to get some sleep.
It was a very long and uncomfortable night at the airport Sunday morning. Our plane took off from Toronto at 6:44 a.m. and landed at 9:36 a.m. I was so tired but also could not sleep on the plane. It was the first time I went all night without sleeping since I don’t know when.
We rented a car at the airport, an Audi, but we couldn’t connect my wife’s phone to the car to use Apple Car Play or my phone using Android Auto because it needed a cord, which seemed antiquated for a new Audi. It would connect via Bluetooth to make a call but that was it. We didn’t have a cord with a USB-C connector on both sides, so we had to stop at a gas station on the way to Mahone Bay and buy an overpriced one for $25. Even then I couldn’t hook up my wife’s iPhone, but my Android phone worked, so we were able to use the map software from my phone. That lasted about five minutes before it stopped working. The cord was defective and worked on and off, mostly off.
We arrived at our Airbnb well after noon. It was a small one-bedroom apartment in the back of a building that has a storefront. There was a large deck that overlooked the bay. We could see the famous three churches from our deck.
We went out for an early dinner and found a nearby restaurant called The Naked Oyster. I got a salad and fish and chips. Rose ordered an Italian dish. We both enjoyed everything and soon learned that Mahone Bay didn’t have a bad restaurant, unless we missed one.