Canada - July 2010 (Part 1)

J and I just don't like the heat of summer. We often discuss the fact that we want to live in the mountains or a lot further north (like Canada). While we don't actually plan to move, we did enjoy a trip to Canada to escape the heat of July in the Midwest. This was another "Marriott Sponsored" vacation for us. J's intense travel schedule has few rewards but we definitely take advantage of the miles and points. This time around Marriott bought us a 7-day cruise through NE Canada with a few extra days in Boston and Montreal.

The cruise left from Boston and headed to St. John, New Brunswick for our first port. St. John was a beautiful, quaint town that was very appreciative of their US tourists. All the women from the ship got a rose and the men got a pin when they got off. It happened to be the 4th of July when we ported there and they had some festivities for us, which included complimentary cake and a pretty crazy gospel acapela band that definitely stuck in our heads for the remainder of the trip. We spent the first part of the day exploring the town, but unfortunately most of the shops were closed on Sunday. They had a central market where we explored some unusual local food. The locals frequently snack on dried seaweed and we were offered complimentary samples. We immediately drank our entire bottle of water to try to get the taste out of our mouths! We ended the day back in the downtown area where we enjoyed the gospel band over a few of the local beers.

Market:

Gospel music, seafood, and beer:

The next stop was Halifax, Nova Scotia. For a city of only 100,000 people, there was a very urban feel and many trendy shops and restaurants. We spent most of the afternoon at the Citadel - an old fort that was used during wartime that is now open as a museum to tourists. The Citadel is located at the top of a hill that offers the best views of downtown and the harbor.

After Halifax, we headed to Sydney, Nova Scotia. At this stop, we embarked on our only excursion offered by our cruise ship to the Bird Islands. Our tour guide was a local father and son run business called the "Puffin Express". They were very knowledgeable about the birds in the area. Many of these birds are drawn to the islands to feed off of the bait used in the lobster traps. This time of year we were able to see thousands of birds, many including Puffins, Razorbills, Galemuts, and many varieties of Gulls. Our guides have been very concerned in recent years due to the overfishing in the area. This has caused the lobster season to end sooner that normal and the birds have to start searching for food farther away from their nests. This leaves their next unprotected and brings Bald Eagles to the area. We were fortunate enough to see approximately 35 Bald Eagles on the trip, which was a great experience for us, but very concerning fo the future of our guide's business.