Back Over the Border

Well, by July 15th, the new Mr. & Mrs. CameraCouple were off traveling back to Canada again! Only this time, there were two new rings on our fingers. 

We decided to honeymoon in Nova Scotia. I have always wanted to go to Nova Scotia... Mostly because I love Maine, and Nova Scotia looked like it was Maine on steroids. We left early on the 15th. We reserved a beautiful ocean-view campsite on Graves Island Provincial Park. The total trip was about 9 hours (not including a quick ice cream stop!) however this time we had a pleasant boarder crossing experience. Must have been the newlywed glow...

When we got to our campsite, it was better than imagined. Breathtaking would be a good word to describe it. The ocean was all around us, with the deepest blue and green colors. We parked the trailer and took a lovely stroll around the island before deciding to check out downtown Chester, NS - which was close by - and get some fabulous dinner at a local pub. Oh, and of course beer...

With satisfied bellies, we decided to get some exercise and check out what was around town. It was a quiet, beautiful summer night. The moon was full and cast a lot of light over the water and town. We walked around and found an ocean pool (a pool that was roped off but actually the ocean) before heading to the car, deciding we would definitely come back tomorrow morning.

The next morning, we roamed the downtown again. We had coffee at an adorable local shop. There were all sorts of tourists milling about, admiring the local shops. We enjoyed our coffee and headed to find a grocery store to stock up on beer and food. In Nova Scotia, they have beer separate from grocery stores, so we had to make two stops. I found a really cool Corona beer tote bag that was my fun memento purchase of the trip.
Afterward, we headed back to the trailer to get some boat time in! When in Nova Scotia, one does not simply miss out on taking advantage of swimming in the Atlantic. We said hi to a sleepy Luna Bear, loaded up our new cooler sail bag (thanks Auntie Joanie & Uncle Marc), and headed out on the water. There was nothing but sun in the sky, so we rowed out to an island we saw in the distance. It looked like the perfect place to swim and have some lunch. We waded around on the beach and explored the island. It looked like we weren't the only guests there. There was a very neat looking shelter set up that someone had clearly been living out of. As the sun started to go down we decided to head back into shore, getting a very good arm workout fighting the tide on the way back in. 

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Mid week we took on some travels to other towns that ended with some disappointment. We had been given a fun guide book, filled with all the latest, greatest places to go to visit. We had decided, being the craft beer lovers that we are, a brewery would be fun. It claimed it was doggo friendly! We loaded up the cameras and headed out! 40 minutes later we were being kicked out of a very cute looking brewery because they just had passed a rule to ban dogs due to health code violations. We hung our tails between our legs and, with no service or detailed map, decided to venture onward. We knew we were near the Bay of Fundy, so we decided to roam around and try to catch a glimpse of the bay's incredible tidal changes. On our way to the bay, we found a very cool brewery, so we decided to stop. Luna couldn't come inside, and unfortunately, it was raining, so we couldn't sit outside. Cameron and I ran inside and had a quick beer together and then kept moving to our next spot! We ended up in a cute town that had an adorable pub called "Paddy's Irish BrewPub & Rosie's Restaurant". The name and the shamrocks seemed like it was meant to be, so in we went! The food was fantastic, and the beer was a delight. We enjoyed some comfort food away from the rain and then continued on our way to watch the tidal change of the Bay. We drove a little ways on some very fun back roads before finding a spot that had a view of the bay. The only problem is, since it is a Bay, there is no set spot to watch the bay empty and refill. So we roamed the streets until we saw muddy areas that appeared like they should have had some water in them. We made it to the top of the hill. Beyond the fog and rain, we could see that the bay had emptied and there was no water, just boats in the mud. It was a very impressive and an incredible sight to see. To think that an entire Bay empties and refills twice a day is pretty amazing! Officially, the Bay of Fundy has the largest tidal changes in the world!

Sadly we only had one day left of our wonderful honeymoon. We decided to do something we had been wanting to do but hadn't got around to Paddle Board! Well, in case you are wondering, we still haven't got to do it. We attempted to wake up early that morning and head into Chester to try and rent paddle boards. We saw a rental shack and figured it would be fun to try our last day! When we got to the shack, there was no one in sight. There was a phone number, so Cameron tried calling. A man answered and said he wasn't in the area; we should try his wife. Well, he must have meant his other wife because the woman we called said she wasn't even in Nova Scotia! So it looked like there would be no paddle boarding for us this trip. We decided to make use of our awesome canoe and headed back to the campground to take the boat out again. We spent the day on the water and exploring the islands around the campground before heading back in to get ready to go to Peggy's Cove!  

Peggy's Cove

That's right! Bonus blog. 

Waaaaay back when we were picking which campsite we wanted to go to, I suggested somewhere around Peggy's Cove. I had been there once before for a fruit tree conference... In February. You might say that the conditions weren't ideal. I think it was -10 degrees and foggy on the day we went. I could tell there was something pretty beyond the frostbitten eyelids and dense fog, but I just didn't know what.

Now that we were going to Nova Scotia in the summer, I wanted to try again. This time, the weather was much more cooperative. It was warm, sunny, had the perfect amount of clouds in the sky. We got to the cove in the late afternoon. There's a small family restaurant with a gift shop there, so we had some dinner and shopping before the main event.

Peggy's Cove is known for incredible sunsets. The lighthouse sits on the western shore of the cove, so it's easy to get amazing pictures of the sun going down with the lighthouse in the foreground. After dinner, we grabbed LunaBear from the truck and made our way out onto the rocks, along with all the other picture-takers. We claimed our spot and set up the camera. The poor guy right behind us was trying to get a time lapse, but theses kids kept running in front of his camera. Luckily, that didn't happen to us.

I'd say these were some of the best pictures we've ever captured! There's nothing like the ocean, a lighthouse, a cute dog, and a newlywed couple in front of an amazing sunset. What a perfect end to the perfect trip. After this, it was back down South and back to reality... until the next adventure!