Hello again!

It is STILL RAINING!! And it's in the 40s at night, 50s or 60s in the daytime. The locals tell me that this year is very unusual. Business folk are missing tourists. It's usually very busy by this time of year they say. I've stuck to indoor venues, but have several to see on the way back. Also missed Campbello and Grand Manon on the way up.

Mahone Bay is on the south coast of Nova Scotia. It is a very pretty tourist town. Had my first Canadian fish chowder at the Salt Spray Cafe. Found a very nice quilt shop, loaded with well-done local pieces.

Lunenburg, a UN World Heritage Site, was next. It's a quaint restored town, meant for tourists. Their Fishing Museum is very informative...especially about boat building. The city government even runs a campground down town! Then it was on to Halifax. Much time was spent just resting up. All the driving caught up with me.

In Halifax,the Nova Scotia Museum runs one of 47 sites: the Immigration Museum. This was fascinating. It's right on the pier where immigrants first landed. The exhibits stress the vital role of Aid Societies and other volunteers in helping folks get settled. Also visited the Dartmouth History Museum and the Black Cultural Center. Drove out to Peggy's Cove one afternoon and spent time with a local artist learning about growing up there.

But resting up, did lots of crocheting. Even made a doll with some clothes. One yarn shop had cotton yarn, just right for the task.

This past week has been a very slow drive along the southeastern coast. It is a lovely ride along the ocean, which was occasionally visible (lol). I was hoping to see whales, but none yet. The area clearly is not for tourists. Small fishing villages of ten to forty houses and a church dot the coastline. Once in a while you find a convenience store, but no gas pumps or motels. I found some great campsites right on the ocean though. Hung out with two couples from Ottawa who were waiting for a ferry with me. We visited the Goldboro Interpretive site and shared some tea. Also saw the Fisherman's Life museum.

Sturbrooke Village was just right. It is actually part of the existing town that has been blocked off and restored. It's another site of the Museum of Nova Scotia. Demonstrations of candlemaking, butter making, weaving, soapmaking, making hooked rugs, and other rugged life skills were good. It made me appreciate even more how talented women were then and how hard they worked. It is very much like Williamsburg, but not as big or commercialized. The homemade food at the restaurant is great---molasses cake, apple cake---yummmmm!

WiFi has not been available very much. I'm in Port Hawkesbury now, just over a bridge to Cape Breton. Because of the rain and cold, I'm going to hang out for a few days and see how the weather looks before taking the ferry to Newfoundland. And I read about record heat in the U.S. What is up?!!

No more books on CD available, so found some sale music items and have been listening to them: Janis Joplin, Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash. Hope to find some good Celtic stuff and sea chanteys soon. Furiously reading travel brochures and a locally produced book on Peggy's Cove.