Say Yes to Wine Fest

In theory, a nice way to end a vacation - arrive home after a long drive from the east coast, and then head straight to a wine festival. Hard to fault the theory.

Things started off well, entry includes the usual free wine glass for the purpose of sampling. We had some great wood-fired pizza and started taking samples. We met up with some friends, including birthday girl Bridget. A local band played in the background, joined for their big finale by Serena Ryder and a few members of Big Sugar. Later, Ms. Ryder was slated to take the stage as the sun set over the shared river between two nations.

Then the wind picked up. The skies to the west turned all at once dark, punctuated by vivid daggers of static electricity. People started seeking shelter under several large tents. Jane and I were already separated in search of food and drink....what ensued was about fifteen minutes of absolute chaos as a crazy wall of weather visibly crossed the river and literally stormed the Fort.

Two schools of thought, clearly - Jane headed first away from the water, then towards the on-site paramedic station, and finally hid out in the Domino's Pizza a block inland. Mike, on the other hand, walked up and down the bank, looking for Jane and casually finishing his glass of wine. People were in a panic, tree limbs were raining down, vendor booths were blowing away, and some clever folks put moats and forts to good use which had not seen real action in two centuries.

Things worked out, as they usually do, and we eventually met up at the car, though utterly soaked. Once the crowds dispersed, amidst power outages and fallen trees, we picked our way carefully out of Amherstburg and enjoyed a spectacular light show all the way home.

Fort Malden on the Detroit River - those moats came in handy!

Cheers!

Some viniferous vendors hawk their wares

Wine and pizza overlooking an aqueous border

Fun in Fundy

The next morning, we carried on up the I-95 all the way to Houlton, Maine, and crossed into New Brunswick at Woodstock. Highway 2 saw us through Fredericton and onto Moncton to visit friends, and the Hopewell Rocks in the Bay of Fundy at low tide.

Two days later, we left Moncton and followed Highway 1 southwest along the shore, through Saint John in a fog and on to Black's Harbour, where we would catch the ferry to Grand Manan Island. Some of the finest camping we've known awaited, involving our third visit to Hole in the Wall campground perched atop a cliff overlooking the Bay of Fundy.

Our days on the island featured foggy mornings and sunny afternoons, and just the right combination of camp cooking and local seafood.....washed down with some east coast microbrews. We also walked the ocean floor (again) and crossed on foot over to Ross Island at low tide. Several days of reading, relaxing and wistful sea-gazing ensued.

Rather than take the "easy" way home - an early morning ferry back to the mainland and then the long highway - we opted for the expanded island tour. Once back on the mainland, we detoured down the next arm to L'Etete, where we caught increasingly smaller and sketchier ferries, first to Deer Island, and then Campobello Island, before finally crossing the international bridge into Lubec, Maine. The last one was a floating barge being pushed by a separate tug boat, with water washing over the side....no dock, they just drive it up on the beach and drop a gate. It was like storming Normandy. Just sayin'.

Despite the choice of scenic route, we made decent time, and were aided by the change back to Eastern Standard Time. At the end of a long day, we opted for a hotel just west of Albany, New York. Our final travel day home began early and involved a straight run across I-90 to Buffalo/Fort Erie, where we crossed back into Canada. The scenic route once again won out, rather than ending vacation with a run through Hamilton and down the 401, we instead followed Highway 3 along the Erie shore and all the way to Wheatley.

Arrived home at 4pm, quickly showered, changed, and hugged the cats before heading off at 5pm to the Shores of Erie International Wine Festival......

Beware!

Hopewell Rocks at low tide

Great food and great beer!

Swallowtail Light as we sail into North Head, Grand Manan

Cliff Site 17 at Hole in the Wall

Fog...

Il n'y a pas de fog!

The walk to Ross Island at low tide

Lobster Roll at Fundy House for lunch....

...and hearty camp stew for dinner over an open fire

Plaid to the Bone with a look that kilt

The view says it all

Ferries from mainland to and from Deer Island

Ferry from Deer Island to Campobello

The Captain wired in, we had water comin' in....

Fort Erie and Home Sweet Home

Around Beantown

Spent the better part of a day exploring Boston after we disembarked from the cruise. We opted for the hop-on/hop-off bus tour as the best way to see the sights in orderly fashion, without the chaos of trying to drive in a busy city, find and pay for parking, and so on.

This included a "duck splash" in the harbour, in an amphibious bus....great way to see the waterfront up close and personal, and guided by a hilarious duo of elderly gentlemen. As luck would have it, we saw the historic USS Constitution under sail for the last time before three years of drydock and repair.

Boston also has many lovely parks, gardens and historical sites, as well as the highly walkable Beacon Hill area. Our exploration also took us across the river to Cambridge, and through the sprawling expanse of the Harvard and M.I.T. campus areas. I feel vaguely more intelligent for the experience.

As evening approached, we rode the trolley back to the Black Falcon cruise terminal, and guided the Juke out through the highway tunnels that run under the city core, heading north. We stopped for the evening in Portland, Maine, within striking distance of the Canadian border to New Brunswick.

Duck Splash in Boston Harbour

Fire Boat keeps others at bay

USS Constitution

A piece of Harvard

Harvard Square

Passing a sister bus

Fenway Park - home of the Red Sox

Downtown

The bench from "Good Will Hunting" - in tribute to Robin Williams

Boston Public Gardens

Great local pub in Beacon Hill

Not one person shouted "Mike!" when we walked in....

Boston Common

State House

Bermuda

We had two days in Bermuda, rather than the three scheduled days....though in retrospect, pretty sure the Captain made the right call in departing early to get ahead of the converging track with Hurricane Cristobal. It's not that it even hit Bermuda that hard, it's where it would have hit the ship in open water if we had stayed until we were supposed to stay.

We were lucky - in spite of rain and wind, both of our shore excursions went ahead as planned. We did a glass-bottom boat tour of coral reefs and a sunken ship, as well as a fabulous guided tour of the historic town of St. George, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Others had some or all of their chosen excursions cancelled due to weather.

We also explored the Royal Naval Dockyard area on our own, grabbed a few local souvenirs, and found the Frog and Onion pub for some local brews. Overall, very clean and friendly, with a degree of affluence and British manners that sets it apart from the islands we've visited in the Caribbean. Bermuda is also set apart geographically, consisting of over a hundred islands in the middle of nowhere out in the Atlantic, with the largest twelve connected by bridges and causeways, and constituting the far corner of the famed Bermuda Triangle.

Welcome to Royal Naval Dockyard

Moongate to Bermuda

Boat tour to coral reefs and sunken ship

Through the looking glass

The bow of the "Vixen"

The Dawn alongside the wharf

View north from atop the lighthouse

St. David's lighthouse

Burial tombs

Unfinished cathedral

Tobacco Bay

Fort St. Catherine

Local fish chowder....with rum and hot sauce!

St. Peter's church - 403 years of continuous operation

Old St. George