Anne and I were unable to join in the fun with Hoist and the gang as we headed out for a quick weekend trip up the Atlantic Coast.
On Friday, we loaded the bike and headed north, via interstate from MA through NH, past Portland (The ferry to Nova Scotia does not start until Jun 1 so that was not an option) and into Bangor ME. There we hopped on Route 9 heading east to Calais, ME which borders Canada at St. Stephen. Hey Steve (Mugnam) note that this town is your namesake and has a Chocolate Museum. But we did not stop here for the night as originally planned...with good weather and more sunlight still available, we kept moving along Canada Route 1 and into St. John. We swung by the closed Harley Dealer but no matter, we already had a shirt from the last time we were here by Cruise Ship with our parent's. We stayed at the Hilton where we had a great waterfront room. After unpacking we headed out to sample the local beer at several places...ironically, the best was a mexican restaurant Mexicali Rosa's. The worst was an Irish Pub, O'leary's where I guess if you are not local, you are not overly welcomed. Elwoods was good but they had a Refer disaster and only had one beer on Tap as all the kegs spoiled. But Rickard's Beer was good.
Saturday morning, we hit the road by 0730 continuing east on Rt. 1 to the trans-Canada Hwy and then on to the Confederation Bridge which crosses from New Brunswick into Prince Edward Island. Sadly, this is where our digital camera Sh!t the Bed. There we rode to the Harley Dealer only to find that it moved. We got directions and found the new location for the requisite shirt. We then cruised around the beautiful island, up the eastern shore and then back to the Confederation Bridge, buying a throwaway camera, and then crossing back into New Brunswick. From there, we cruised south into Nova Scotia and then down to Halifax where we planned to stay the night. We had a really nice room at the Marriott on the waterfront. We unloaded the bike and made our way to the Oldest Brewery in North America, Alexander Keith's, only fitting since just a few weeks ago we were at the Oldest Brewery in America, Yeungling. We took the entertaining tour and then started our pub crawl back to the hotel. At one point we passed what must be the hot spot to come and show off your scoot...ours was bug covered and tucked away for the night so I could not show it off...not that I would! We really liked the halifax waterfront and would definately return. Sorry nsrider for never arranging a meet but we will be back and will make sure to say hi!
Sunday morning, we again hit the road by 0730 and backtracked north the way we came. We swung by the closed Harley Dealer in Halifax and in Moncton which again was no issue since I already had a shirt from each. from Moncton we continued west back through St. John and towards the US Border. We crossed the border around noon and then instead of Route 9, we took Coastal Rt. 1 south. The first stop was in Eastport, ME. A seaside town where I think they claim tio be the easternmost point of the US. We had lunch here and then continued south on Rt. 1 through a bunh of coastal towns including Rockland. Later in the afternoon we arrived at the Acadia National Park where we took a leisurly (anti-HOIST) cruise around the loop road and then up Cadillac Mt. We then headed down the mountain and into Bar Harbor. We pulled into a Quality Inn that had some bikes parked. It was decent but more importantly, the sky was just starting to drop a few hits of rain. We unpacked the bike again and headed down to the waterfront once again sampling beer along the way. We made it back to the hotel as the rain started.
The next morning, the rain ended before we left at 0800 once again staying on Rt. 1. We took Rt. 1 south through Bath, Freeport and Portland where we stopped for lunch again on the waterfront. Portland's waterfornt is pretty good and we would definately return. From there we continued south on Rt. 1 into Kittery where we crossed into New Hampshire. We then caught the interstate and made our way home. 1771 miles in four days.
Next time we will spend at least a week and add in a trip to Newfoundland...there is a Harley Dealer we need to visit!
Pictures to follow once I get them developed (I miss my digital camera!)
/Bill
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Topic: Canadian Maritimes (Read 4758 times)