Yes, sir; yes, sir: Three bags full

I was up-front about this from the start: In April, when I first suggested a trip to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in May, I told Ken I was feeling the need for a good yarn-shop crawl in those provinces. He's an accommodating guy who supports my interests 100%, so it was no surprise to me that he was determined to make sure this trip was everything I'd hoped it would be. And it was.

Our first stop on our way to NS and PEI was at Briggs and Little's outlet in Harvey, New Brunswick. I'd been there before but that didn't stop my pulse from racing out of control as we pulled into the parking lot. I was so excited to be back that I forgot to take any pictures while there.

Their bins of mill "rejects" are to die for: every single glorious skein of beautiful woolen yarn for a mere $2. (I've bought these "reject" yarns before and know they're perfectly fine yarns that can't be sold for full price because their dye lot is a smidge off from the norm.) I dove into the bins and surfaced with approximately 25 skeins of yarn for sweaters, yarn for mittens, yarn for hats,....

Then I closed-in on their yarns on the display shelves. I selected yarn for a sweater, several yarns for socks, yarn for scarves...

At one point I was feeling a bit "closed in" with Ken breathing down my neck. I always find it hard to relax and shop with a man in tow. The store clerk apparently sensed this, because she suddenly said to Ken, "Would you like to take a look at our mill while your wife shops?" He agreed, she ushered him into the adjoining mill, and I thanked her for her insight when she returned.

The thing is, though, that Ken himself returned not two minutes later, saying there "wasn't that much to see in the mill."

I forged on regardless, piling skeins of yarns onto the counter, eventually whipping out my credit card, and joyfully ushering two huge bags of yarns to our car.

This took place on a Friday; the Yarn-cation was off to a perfect start.

We arrived in Halifax, NS, on Saturday. It was raining and chilly, so we grabbed a late lunch/early dinner, did a little sightseeing on foot, and settled into our hotel room across the harbour in Dartmouth.

The next day, Sunday, we would drive to Peggy's Cove and Lunenburg. I'd googled yarn shops in NS before our trip, of course, and knew there was one in Mahone Bay, near Lunenburg. A check of the shop's website, however, said it was open "Sundays after Victoria Day." This was the Sunday immediately before Victoria Day, so I was disappointed that there would be no yarn shop visiting that day.

As we drove through Mahone Bay, though, I still looked for the shop, thinking that being able to spot it, at least, would be a thrill in itself, even if I couldn't go inside.

We came upon a large yard sale as we drove through town and decided to check it out. As we walked from our car to the yard sale, I spotted "Have a Yarn,"....with an "Open" sign positioned just outside the door. I couldn't believe it. Come to find out, their website's notice of being open Sunday's "after Victoria Day" should have said, "Open Sundays beginning Victoria Day Weekend."

I didn't spend as much time as I'd have liked at Have a Yarn, because our destination was Lunenburg, but I did scan the three rooms well-stocked with luscious yarns, bought another skein of Briggs & Little sock yarn, snapped some pictures, chatted with the friendly shop owner, admired the cute felted baby booties on the counter, and joined Ken at the yard sale.

When we returned to Halifax later that afternoon, we stopped at "The Loop," but I found that yarn shop to be rather exclusive in its yarns and rather scant in its inventory.

My next big yarn shop thrill came in Baadeck, NS, on Cape Breton Island. Again, I'd read about Baadeck Yarns on the internet and knew I wouldn't be disappointed.

We arrived in Baadeck in the afternoon and hadn't had lunch yet, so we made a beeline first thing to The Yellow Cello. While there, I asked our waitress for directions to Baadeck Yarns. (I love the fact that this yarn shop has "baa" in its title. Very fitting for a place selling wool yarns.)

It was now time to find a hotel, but Ken said, as we left the Yellow Cello, "I bet you want to go to the yarn shop first, don't you?"

He was right, of course.

It's a wonderful shop at the back of the owner's home, and it's stocked generously with yarns, patterns, sample knits,...everything a knitter could want. Ken settled into an easy chair and I browsed and chatted with the shop owner. I was aware we really needed to find our lodging, so I tried not to dally too much. I left the shop with yarn and a pattern for felted baby booties (pictures in my header), yarn and a pattern for a shawl, a pattern for a hat, some fancy jeweled knitting markers, and a promise to return to the shop one more time before we left Baadeck. My word was good, because I did go back to Baadeck Yarns the next day to buy a gift for my knitter friend, Lynn.

Three days later we were on Prince Edward Island. This meant a must-stop at MacAusland's Woolen Mill. I'd read about this place, too, on the internet and wanted to check out their yarns at very reasonable prices.

Ken checked out the mill's working machinery while I dashed upstairs to their yarn shop. The inventory wasn't extensive, but it was interesting and offered some worsted weight yarns in colors I hadn't found at Briggs & Little.

The stop at MacAusland's was my last stop on my Yarn-cation. I came home happy and contented with three large bags full of wool yarns and a little collection of in-car knitting that I'd done during our ten-day trip. A great yarn-cation for sure.

Beautiful little Prince Edward Island

We hadn't visited Prince Edward Island in several years. I think the last time we went there was around 1998. We used to go to PEI, as the natives call it, frequently with our three-man tent and, later, our tent camper in tow.

Somehow we switched allegiances, I guess, and Nova Scotia became our favorite of the Maritimes. On this trip we visited both provinces, and I came away feeling that my heart is now with PEI again.

We took the ferry from Nova Scotia over to PEI, a 75-minute ride. It was a beautiful, warm-and-sunny day, which tricked us into thinking the weather had finally turned for the better. Wrong.

Nonetheless, the PEI countryside was as sweeping and beautiful as ever. The rich farmland is ideal for growing potatoes, PEI's principal crop.

This spring, however, the weather in the Maritimes has been as miserable as the weather in all the Northeast, with a lot of rain, so as of the end of May, farmers still hadn't been able to plant their potatoes. I hope they've been able to get the seedlings into the ground since our visit.

The northern coast of the island is our favorite area, dotted with little villages nestled into valleys and beautiful, red beaches. The ocean water is warmer there than it is here in Maine, because PEI gets the benefit of the Gulf Stream currents.

The Anne of Green Gables House is located in Cavendish. We didn't visit it on this trip because we've been there before.

For some reason I didn't read any of the Anne series as a child. I guess I was too hung up on Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden.

So on one of our visits to PEI in the mid-70's, I purchased several in the Anne series and read them all while on the island.

We spent one day in Charlottetown but didn't seem to find much going on. The tourist season doesn't get into full swing until early July, I'd guess, and the weather has surely deterred tourists this year.

When it was time to get back to the mainland and head home to Maine, we took the Confederation Bridge over to New Brunswick.

The building of this $1 billion bridge was quite controversial in the early 1980's. You can imagine how folks feared it would ruin the culture of their here to fore-accessible-only-by-ferry province. Eventually the bridge did get built, and it opened in 1997. It was quite a thrill to drive across the bridge the first time.

The bridge, 8 miles long and the longest bridge in the world over ice-covered water, is a masterpiece of engineering.

I talked with a clerk in a PEI sweater shop, asking her if she felt the bridge had dramatically changed PEI. She said no, it hadn't. She went on to say what a pleasure it is to be able to get to the mainland any time one wants to now, rather than waiting for a ferry, perhaps missing it, and having to kill time until the next ferry came along.

She surprised me then by saying each fall she and three friends rent a van and come to North Conway, NH, to shop in the outlets. I shop in North Conway, too, but I can't imagine being willing to drive for 12-14 hours for the experience!

We traveled across the bridge in mid-morning, spent that night in Bangor, Maine, then drove the rest of the way home the next morning.

It was a good trip all 'round, and it was fun to be in that area of North America again. Now I'm looking forward to going back. We're thinking some September, when the leaves are beginning to turn, would be a good time to go.

Cape Breton

The island of Cape Breton, on the northeast tip of Nova Scotia, is our favorite part of the province.

I've often thought that those who go to Nova Scotia but limit themselves to the Yarmouth-Halifax region don't really see the true beauty of the place.

Cape Breton is about a 4-5 hour drive from Halifax. We set out for the Cape early in the morning and, after taking the Canso Causeway onto the island and driving another hour, arrived at our destination, Baadeck, around mid-afternoon.

Baadeck is a small village on the Bras d'Or Lakes. It's where Alexander Graham Bell and his family spent their summers, so of course there's an excellent Bell Museum located here.

We spent two nights in Baadeck. All the while we were there we debated whether to drive the Cabot Trail, surely one of the most scenic drives anywhere, or give in to defeat and head on to Prince Edward Island. The weather just wasn't cooperating: clouds, misty rain, chilly temps. We'd already driven this trail three or four times over the years, so I said if we didn't drive it this time, that would be OK with me. Ken agreed.

Then the morning of the perhaps-drive arrived, clouds and all, and Ken said, "Let's do it. Maybe we'll get some clearing along the route."

I was glad he suggested that, because it turned out to be a beautiful drive. The clouds did lift, and the coastline showed us its stunning beauty. We also spotted some patches of snow when we reached the summit of the island; this was a surprise since it was late May and the maximum elevation was perhaps 500 metres.

This (below) is my favorite view along the Cabot Trail. I'd waited for this view ever since arriving in Nova Scotia several days earlier. Once you see this area of the province, you understand how Nova Scotia which means "New Scotland," got its name.

By the way, the east coast of Cape Breton is heavily Gaelic, and to this day you still see place signs in both English and Gaelic. (Be sure to click on the link here to see a beautiful video of the Gaelic culture of Nova Scotia.)

The west coast of the island, though, is heavily French, so Gaelic gives way to French on the road signs.

The drive along the entire Cabot Trail, with occasions stops for photos and a stop for lunch, takes five hours.

We ended up back in Baadeck and headed immediately to the mainland again. We would catch the ferry to Prince Edward Island early the next mornining.