Travel Forum / Destinations / USA and Canada / September 2005

In Kingston, a good place to stay is "A Stone's Throw" B&B, very
conveniently located to the attractions, in a nice part of Kingston.
Very pleasant place to stay! For restaurants in Kingston, I can
recommend "Le Chien Noir" bistro, very good food.

An area near Kingston that's worth a visit is Prince Edward County. Some
good wineries, pretty scenery, etc.

I was recently in Nova Scotia. If you get there, I can highly recommend
the Charlotte Lane restaurant in Shelburne and the Two Chefs restaurant
(East Indian food, very good!) in Bridgewater. My favorite towns were
Annapolis Royal and Peggy's Cove (Peggy's Cove is indeed a major tourist
trap, but I enjoyed the visit even so.)

(No interest in any of the afore-mentioned businesses, etc, except as a
very satisfied customer...)

Larry Van Wormer

Well lets see, driving through Quebec was not a pleasure
years ago and unfortunately, I don't know if it has improved.  My family
needed instructions and were unable to get any of the francophones to speak
english to us.

Once in the Maritimes the sites that I recall are:
- Bay of Fundy
- Magnetic Hill

While in Ontario - a cruise among the thousand islands
leaving from Kingston is nice.  I have never stopped to
see the mansion in the middle of the cruise however.

If you are in too old architecture their is a beautiful old
school built in the 1800's between Brockville and
Prescott right along the St. Lawrence.

You may actually want to get off the 401 and travel a portion on I believe
Hwy #2... It runs along the banks
of the St. Lawrence.

Hope that helps.

Hi David,

I just wrote and then lost a post of more than a 1000 words based on my
knowledge and considerable envy of your upcoming excursion. When this
happens the wind leaves one's sails but I may get my energy back and
post again in more detail for now, a precis of what I said all of which
was about east of Quebec.

Take the south shore and stay off Route 20 east of Quebec and you'll
see many a quaint Quebec village. La Pocatiere is the most advanced in
arts and cafes etc. but farther along the St, Lawrence if you go what I
call the Matapedia route to the Maritimes, you come upon Bic a place
where legend says, the great Manitou finished making the world and,
because he had a lot of beauty left over, dumped it all there. You can
go either south or east at Riviere du Loup, both are pretty
spectacular, and then come back the other way. I haven't a great deal
to say about new Brunswick, cause I know it less well. PEI and Nova
Scotia are my old turf and the highlights are -

PEI - don't miss the village of Victoria where you can get lobster that
is in season, pretty Montague and steamed mussels at the Sea Treat in
Charlottetown. Staying at the Inns on Great George in Ch'town is a nice
"urban" option. Take the very long new bridge going to PEI but head for
NS by ferry from Wood islands. Then you'll need 3 days for Cape Breton,
1 for Halifax and 2 to travel around the South Shore of NS whose
highlights other than Peggy's Cove, Shelburne and Bridgewater, include
world heritage site, Lunenburg (home of the original Bluenose
schooner). Two other villages presenting quite a contrats are Prospect
(a spur off the road to Peggy's Cove) a very unspoiled outport with
very little service, and Chester where huge summer homes and the very
to Tancook Island are. If you like sauerkraut, Tancook is an epicenter!

Out on Digby Neck in southwesternmost NS are whale watching. En route
past Dartmouth you'll go through the "world's longest village" Metaghan
in the midst of one of NS's Acadian heartlands (the others are
Cheticamp and Isle madame in Cape Breton).

Let me loop back to Cape Breton - when you cross the causeway there,
take route 19 for a less beaten path and some nice old fashioned
villages, on to the Margaree valley and around the Cabot Trail. Coming
back from Cape Breton to halifax, choose the eastern shore, route 7
which includes Sherbrooke (which reminds me - get a Stan Rogers tape or
CD, preferably "Fogarty's Cove" to accompany you throughout NS.

When leaving western NS, you can see the world's highest tides at Truro
and amble out through Parrsboro and up to Springhill of Mining disaster
and Anne Murray fame.

I'll add more later.

IMHO, if you are going to Nova scotia, try not to miss Cabot Trail in Cape
Breton island.  It is one of the most beautiful drives in Canada

Last thoughts before you depart...

- There are great Farmers markets in both Charlottetown and Halifax on
Saturday mornings. Charlottetown's is smaller more homey and features
an old pal of mine, Kim Dormaar serving up great smoked salmon on
bagels. Say "hi" from Norman Dale if you happen to get there. Halifax's
is in a rambling space within an old brewery on Lower Water Street.
- And speaking of smoked salmon, along the eastern Shore Route 7 east
of Halifax, at a small place called Tangier is Krauch's smoked salmon,
very fine stuff indeed featured many years ago by Craig Claibourne in
the NY Times.