Boston Light

Our good friends, Rick and Kate, invited us to go along with them and our friends, Pat and Bob, to take a tour of Little Brewster Island in Boston Harbor.  The exciting thing about Little Brewster Island is the "Boston Light" lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse in the country at 300 years old.

It was a hot, sunny, beautiful day.  Our trip started with a ride on the ferry out to the island.

Bob and Pat are ready to go!

The scenery was magnificent.  Lots and lots of people were out enjoying the Harbor.

There are many islands in Boston Harbor.  George's Island is the most well-known because of the old fort on the island that you can go and explore.

Leaving the city of Boston behind.

Our first view of   Boston Light on Little Brewster

We met the Lighthouse Keeper, Sally.  She is the 70th lighthouse keeper and the first woman.  

She lives there full-time in her keeper's house.

The highlight of the trip was climbing the lighthouse.  Alex gave us some instructions before we ascended.

There were 74 stairs and two ladders for us to get to the top.

When you get to the gear room, you have to climb the first ladder.   Then the guide has to close the hatch and we had to move around to the other side to allow the rest of the people to come up.  It was very tight quarters.

One more ladder to get up into the very top where the lens is located.

The view was spectacular!

And the lens made for some very artsy-fartsy photos.

 Going back down was a bit easier!

Outside, they had a big bell they were letting all the "children" hit with a mallet.

Bob

And Tag 

We found a shady spot for our picnic lunch

Bob on the hunt for the perfect photo

They had a Labyrinth on the ground made out of rope.

There were beautiful views all around

Boston Light

Kate gets a picture of the lighthouse...the City of Boston is in the background.

I was happy that there was a small area where you could go down and climb on the rocks.  Margeurite is a volunteer with the "Friends of Boston Light" and was enjoying discussing all the interesting things we found.

Rick found the best view.

Hubby and I with Boston Light behind us.

Too soon it was time to head back.  Rick and Kate stood at the bow of the boat and enjoyed the cool breeze and the shade.

It was a gorgeous day, perfect weather, interesting sights, and great friends!

Last Days of Vacation

When we left Halifax, our original plan was to spend two nights in St. John, New Brunswick on the way home.   Hubby said, "What are we going to do in St. John?"    And despite the fact that I had planned every other part of our vacation, I really didn't know.

So Hubby said, "How about if we go back to St. Andrew and spend the last two nights at the Algonquin?"  That seemed like a fine idea to me!  So went back to St. Andrew.

One of the other reasons we went back is because they have an Aquarium there and we didn't have enough time the first time we stopped there to visit it. 

It's their brand new "10 million dollar" Aquarium, and it was nice.  But I had to laugh because nothing beats the Aquarium in Boston!  In fact the young lady I spoke with at the Aquarium says she hears that all the time!

Even though the place was small, we got  the most out of it.

We watched them feed the Seahorses.  They come and eat at a trough like regular horses!

Then we watched a young man feed a tank of fish.  He had to get up on a ladder....the top of the tank was open....and as he threw handfuls of fish food in, the fish went crazy!

And finally we watched them feed the seals.   There was a school group there, so it was fun to listen to them talk about the seals and listen to the questions the kids were asking.

Our second visit to St. Andrews was just as nice as the first.

More bike-riding, more walking on the beach, more rock-collecting, more eating and drinking, more swimming in the pool and enjoying the hot tub!

Our beautiful trip to Nova Scotia is over, but the memories will be in our hearts forever!

Peggy's Cove

Right outside of Halifax is Peggy's Cove - a very iconic little fishing village with a beautiful lighthouse.  This day was my favorite of the trip. It was a very brisk, sunny day and perfect for being near the ocean.

You drive through the little village and the lighthouse is a the end of the single road.

There were huge rocks all around the lighthouse.

You could climb all over the rocks, but there were paths in between for the less fool-hardy.

In the little village there were all kinds of shops.  One of them told the story of being the first and only house in the cove.  Others had been made into small stores with jewelry and crafts and locally made art. There was a fishergirl standing on the side of the road selling smoked salmon.  She gave samples and it was out of this world delicious!

There were many great photo opportunities

One of the residents of Peggy's Cove, William E. deGarthe, was an artist.  He had a big stone wall on his property and decided to make it into a mural depicting the life of the fisherman of his village.

This one might become a framed picture on my wall.

or this one.....or both!

Our friend Christine told us about the gingerbread at the S'ouwester....the only restaurant in the cove, and we had to give it a try!

We spent quite a bit of time trying to time the camera shot at just the right time to get the waves hitting the rocks.