Rainwater Rambling

Day 18: Bautista and Lind

August 23, 2012 richardt

PEI2012

One of the things I checked when we first talked about going out east and coming back through the States was the New Hampshire Fisher Cats home schedule. They are the Double A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. They were starting a home stand just as we would be arriving in town. I ordered the tickets on-line back in July, just happy that we would see the stadium and the game. Here I am holding my ticket in front of the box office.

Part of the stadium opens at 5:00 pm, the seats and concessions didn’t open until 5:30 pm, so we had a 20 minute wait. The stadium is in downtown Manchester and sits on the Merrimack River, but unfortunately there is no view of the river from the stadium.

Our seats were second row behind the Fisher Cats dugout. The cost of each ticket was $12.00. Note the hotel in the background, just like in Toronto you could rent a room at the Hilton Garden Inn hotel and watch the game from your room.

As I went in search of a beer, I took a photo of the girls sitting in our seats above the dugout.

The girls looking forward to the game.

Earlier in the week I read that Jose Bautista would be doing a rehab stint in Dunedin, I mentioned to the girls that it was too bad they didn’t send him to the double A team, we could have seen him play. Well on Wednesday night, there were reports on the internet that both Jose Bautista and Adam Lind would be playing in Manchester on Thursday night. It was almost to good to be true. Once we got to the ballpark we waited for the players to come out and sure enough out trots Bautista and Lind. Here he is doing some pre-game stretches.

Lind was wearing number 14 and Bautista had on number 24.

Adam Lind looking like he is in a good mood. He played for the Fisher Casts in 2006 and was the Eastern League MVP. Notice he is wearing his Blue Jays pants with the double blue stripe.

We still couldn’t get over that Jose Bautista was playing. He led off the game for the Fisher Cats.

For the first inning there was a “bat dog”, after each player was up “Ollie” the dog would run out and pick up the bat and bring it back to the dugout.

Claudia and Angela eventually moved down a row to sit directly behind the dugout.

Notice Jose is wearing his Toronto Blue Jays batting helmet.

Half way through the game I went for some clam chowder from the Chowdah House.

Here is the starting line-ups for the game. The Rock Cats are the Double A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.

We were trailing 4-0 early on, but in the fourth inning, with one run in and the bases loaded, Jose came up to bat.

The next six photos show Jose swinging and then watching his shot go off of the hotel. His grand slam put the Fisher Cats up 5-4.

In the fifth inning with the game tied 5-5, the Fisher Cats went back to back to back with solo home runs. Here is Brad Glenn crossing the plate.

Followed by Ryan Goins.

And finally Ryan Schimpf.

Jose looking for the camera.

Adam Lind walking back after one of his 3 strikeouts.

The catcher was coming back to the dugout after a third out strikeout, I waved to him for the ball, as he got close he tossed it up to me. I think it was my Fisher Cat ball cap that I had just purchased that helped. Here is Claudia with the ball.

Here is the catcher Brian Jeroloman who tossed me the ball.

Bautista didn’t have much action in right field for most of the game.

In the eighth inning, Bautista went deep again to make the score 9-6.

The announced crowd was 5,385.

After the game there was a fireworks show.

It was quite good, better than I had expected.

The final box score for the game. It was a great game and we all enjoyed ourselves.

Day 18: Old Orchard Beach

August 23, 2012 richardt

PEI2012

beach driving maps video

Day 18 was a short driving day from Freeport, Maine to Manchester, New Hampshire. It allowed us to stop at one more beach for this vacation. We headed for Old Orchard Beach near Scarborough, ME. We got there around 9:30 am and it was already filling up.

Still lots of real estate to choose from.

We chose the strip of beach that is right in the heart of town near the pier.

There is an amusement park on the beach.

Claudia getting use to the water.

The girls jumping the waves.

A guy looking for treasures.

Digging around on the beach.

Back in the water.

The girls catching a wave.

Claudia could catch the odd wave that she could ride pretty far.

The sand around us was filling up.

It was packed when we left.

It is a pretty hopping town, probably jammed on the weekends.

Our driving route for Day 18. $3.75 in tolls on the Maine Turnpike.

Off to the ballpark to watch the New Hampshire Fisher Cats take on the New Britain Rock Cats.

Day 17: Maine and the Big Boot

August 22, 2012 richardt

PEI2012

big things driving maine maps new brunswick

With only a few days remaining on the PEI2012 road trip, we were finishing up in the Maritimes and heading to the US. Before we hit the road this morning we visited Magnetic Hill. The entire area has changed from 36 years ago when I went there as a kid.

The place is like an attraction park.

Nearby is the Magnetic Hill Concert Site, they were setting up for the Bruce Springsteen concert being held there this Sunday with Tom Cochrane and Red Ryder. There were still tickets available, as well as hotel rooms.

We crossed the border around 11:00 am, and had about a 20 minute wait. Here is Angela posing with a barrel. Read the sign, it says “For your Good Health Barrel Picking is Prohibited”.

We stopped in Bangor, Maine for gas and drove by Stephen King’s house.

Our stop for the evening is Freeport, Maine. The two bellhops taking our bags to the room.

Freeport is the home of L.L. Bean, the main downtown is like a L.L. Bean Campus. There is the flagship store, a bike & boat store, hunting & fishing store and a home store. We only went into the flagship store and we were getting lost. Outside the store is a big “Bean” boot.

Inside there are animals and other displays.

They have a fish tank near the front with trout in the tank. There is an observation bubble for little kids.

And not so little kids.

Here is Claudia and Angela getting stepped on by the boot.

Gillian and Susan watching us stage the photo.

Once again we had a great day of weather.

For dinner we headed down to the marina in South Freeport.

It was time for lobster again, so I googled “lobster dinner in Freeport” and the Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster came back as one of the Top 10 Lobster Shacks in Maine from TravelandLeisure.com.

To order lobster follow the signs on the ground.

Order at the window on the right, pick it up at the window on the left.

But first decide on what to have. Susan and I went for the Lobster Delight, a 1 lb lobster, a corn on the cob and 12 steamed clams for $22.95. The girls had fried shrimp and scallop baskets. They don’t serve alcohol, but if you wanted, you can bring your own bottle of wine or beer.

Here is the lobster delight. It was delicious.

A couple of more photos of the marina.

Our drive took us from Moncton, NB to Freeport, ME, it took about 7.5 hours with stops.

Freeport, Maine.

Day 16: Don’t Mess With Tides

August 21, 2012 richardt

PEI2012

tides video

At Cape Enrage we saw the importance of reading and heeding the times on the signs. At the top of the stairs going down to the beach, it clearly tells you to avoid being trapped you should be back at the stairs by 1:45 pm.

The girls and I went down at about 1:40 pm but we weren’t straying far from the stairs. They go down 30m to the ocean floor. In this photo you can still see a bunch of people almost in the centre of the photo at the bottom.

In the photo below you can see a guy with a red shirt coming back towards the stairs. Where he is is the narrowest part and where the tide will hit the cliff first.

The video below shows some people trying to avoid getting wet, two people get over and then the guy stops to help the other couple. At the 19 second point you see two kids and a mother come running into the frame. The boy slips on the wet rocks and if the guy didn’t have his arm, he would be in the water. In the end the mother gets two soakers as she gets across.

Day 16: Fundy Coastal Drive

August 21, 2012 richardt

PEI2012

new brunswick tides video

Today we were doing the Fundy Coastal Drive, with stops at Hopewell Rocks, Alma, Cape Enrage and finally Hopewell Rocks again. Angela where are we going today?

Low tide was at 9:32 am this morning, so we were able to walk on the ocean floor. The people closest to the bottom of the photo are the girls.

Looking over the mudflats.

Going early meant less people around.

Gillian taking a picture of Angela.

An older couple asked me to take a photo of her and her husband, afterwards she offered to take one of us, so here we are at Hopewell Rocks.

The flowerpots are just like I remembered them as a kid.

They have most of the caves roped off for safety.

The mud is smooth and sticky, just ask the girls.

Not knowing that they had hoses at the top to wash off your feet, the girls were trying to clean their feet on the seas sacs.

Under the piles of seas acs are rocks.

Note Angela’s muddy feet.

Washing off the mud. We would have to come back in a few hours to view the Hopewell Rocks at high tide.

From Hopewell Rocks we headed to the town of Alma. The tide was out and it gave a good example of the vertical tides as well. I was looking forward to seeing these.

The Salmon River.

We had lunch at the Harbourview Restaurant, when we came out we took a walk back to the wharf and the tide was starting to come back in. We didn’t have time to stay long enough to see the tide come right up.

From the Village of Alma we drove to Cape Enrage to see one of the oldest lighthouses in New Brunswick. This one was built in 1870, it replaced the original built in 1840.

Claudia put a loonie in to take in the view.

You could walk down to the beach, but there wasn’t much time as the tide was coming in.

The inukshuk Gillian built.

Skipping stones at Barn Marsh Island beach.

Gillian sitting atop the shingle bar beach.

We got back to Hopewell Rocks for the peak of high tide at 3:22 pm. The tide was 44 feet today, it was rising at a rate of 12″ every 7 minutes.

Low Tide…

High tide…

The girls taking a break.

The girls at the bottom of the stairs, note the closed sign strung across behind them.

We thought we saw Uncle Danny at the Hopewell Rocks listening to one of the guides.

This one is Diamond Rock.

Day 15: Halifax and Giant Lobster

August 20, 2012 richardt

PEI2012

big things driving maps new brunswick nova scotia

Day 15 and we were headed to Halifax before ending the day in Moncton. We parked at the ferry terminal in Dartmouth and took the passenger ferry across the harbour. It was cloudy and overcast, but no rain. A view of the Angus MacDonald bridge.

Claudia and Gillian on the ferry. The ferry is part of the Metro Halifax Transit system.

Pulling into Halifax.

We walked the Historic Properties.

They are saving the building facades on this building, so all that is standing is the walls while they work around it.

There has been some discussion in the news about how much the federal government has spent on the War of 1812 anniversary hype. Especially in light of all the recent cuts at Parks Canada.

The skies were still a little gloomy.

Angela and a buddy.

Gillian and her friend.

We did the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. In honour of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titantic, there were extra Titanic focused exhibits. Most notably was how the Cable Ships of Halifax helped in the body recovery in the days afterwards.

A pair of shoes from one of the young victims. Most items were burned to avoid people trying to scavenge souvenirs, but the one police officer couldn’t bear to throw these in the fire, so he kept them in his desk drawer until he retired and then it got passed down through the family, eventually ending up at the museum.

There was a Swan on board the RMS Titanic who did not survive.

An interesting piece, Ideal the board game company released a game called The Sinking of the Titanic, you had to move around the board picking up survivors. After some outcry, the board game was removed from store shelves, and re-released as Abandon Ship. You can still pick up the original on eBay for $10.00 + shipping.

Angela getting attacked by an octopus.

Part of the admission fee allowed you to go on the CSS Acadia that is docked.

Thomas the tugboat out in the harbour.

The CSS Acadia bell.

The girls steering the ship.

You could climb up and down the decks.

Angela relaxing on board the Titanic.

He she is in the grand foyer.

Taking the MacDonald bridge up to the 102 and Moncton.

We headed to Shediac for dinner, not lobster dinner, but we would see the world’s largest lobster.

The girls with the lobster fisherman.

Claudia helping Angela and Gillian escape from the giant claw.

Some of the tourist shops at the lobster.

Lobsterheads.

Day 14: Lighthouse Route

August 19, 2012 richardt

PEI2012

driving nova scotia

This morning we headed out thinking it may be the first day that we have to contend with the rain. Our first stop was Lunenburg and it was raining off and on along highway 103 all the way there. We pulled into town and found a parking spot and almost as soon as we got out of the car the skies parted and the sun appeared. The houses in Lunenburg are very colourful.

We started off down on the piers.

Looking out into the harbour.

Looking back towards town.

We went back up to the car to ditch our jackets.

The Bluenose II was in dry dock and not in the water.

Even the boats are colourful.

One of the ships in port.

Buildings on King Street.

The Lunenburg Academy, built in 1895 for a cost of $30,000. I remember this place as the place where I first had sauerkraut on a hot dog. In 1976 (?) we came to Lunenburg to visit Auntie Patricia and we came here for some event and had lunch.

We took the scenic drive along highway 3 from Lunenburg to Peggys Cove, in Bayswater there is a memorial for the 1998 SwissAir crash.

On the Bayswater Beach.

Again we went through patches of rain on our drive, but when we got to Peggys Cove the sun was out.

Angela on the rocks.

When we got there the sun was out and it was clear.

We had a bite to eat and when we came out the fog had rolled in.

Even though there were lots of people around, if you waited long enough you could get a shot to make it look like you were the only ones there.

Claudia holding up the lighthouse.

Angela holding it up like a salt shaker.

The girls and I.

The girls fooling around for Gillian’s photo.

The lighthouse is in pretty bad shape. I read an article recently, that there is a group that would like to paint it, but they cannot get approval from the Government to do it. There is still some question as to the future of the lighthouse.

Through a lobster trap.

Peggys Cove has a lot of colour to it as well.

The same shot as the picture near the beginning.

We found a pirate cutout.

There are lots of floats hanging and laying around.

Day 13: So Long PEI, Hello Tidal Bore

August 18, 2012 richardt

PEI2012

buildings driving maps nova scotia pei tides video

It was finally time to say so long to our cottage on PEI. The girls and I were up early and down on the beach at 6:30 am to beach comb one last time. After we had the car packed we gathered for our new blog photo (see left).

Some photos of the cottage, the kitchen.

The living room. There was no air conditioning, but with all the windows open and the breezes coming through, it wasn’t necessary. The fans gave the extra relief when needed.

The stairway up to the bedrooms, there was one bedroom on the main floor and two upstairs.

Another view of the kitchen.

From the kitchen looking into the living room and front hallway.

Looking down from the stairs to the back deck.

We have extra business cards if anyone is looking for a place to vacation. Special thanks to Rob, who works at the City with Susan, for the recommendation.

Paying our way off the island, it cost $44.25/car in order to leave, it is free to cross onto the island.

We drove through Amherst, Nova Scotia, looking for a Subway. Amherst has a lot of old building, this is the First Baptist Church.

The old Bank of Montreal building. It was built in 1904.

The old Amherst Post Office building built between 1884-86.

After picking up up subs we headed to the Maccan Tidal Wetlands Park to have lunch.

The park is an excellent spot to watch the incoming tidal bore. I read about it on the internet and how there was a gentleman who lived nearby that came down everyday to see it, and give a little info to tourists. Sure enough he was there today, pulling out pictures of what we should expect and answering any questions.

Here is the tidal bore in action, it is travelling at a good rate of speed, and it is loud and it sloshes on the river banks.

Some video of the tidal bore.

It only takes a couple of minutes to pass by. I had seen one a few years ago on the Shubenacadie River a little further south. There were 5 other tourists there to see the tidal bore.

Once the bore passes it takes about one and half hours for the river to fill in to it’s max, it changes with the size of the tide and the moon phases.

The gentleman is Gordon Boss, who posts the times and the type of tidal bore.

Here is a before and after photo of the river upstream. Before the Tidal Bore.

After the Tidal Bore.

That is Gordon Boss in the blue coat.

It was onto our destination for the next couple of days, we are staying in Dartmouth, across from Halifax.

Our route today. It was 351 km and it took us 6 hours with our stops.

After dinner tonight we headed out to Cole Harbour, NS, which is about a 10 minute drive from our hotel. They have a “Home of Sidney Crosby” sign as you enter the town. One of Gillian’s friends is a big Crosby fan, so I thought Gillian could say she has been to Crosby’s hometown. In the background is a closed Zellers store that will be converted to a Wal-Mart.

Afterwards we picked up some hot fudge sundaes from McDonald’s and brought them back to the hotel to enjoy.

Day 12: Green Gables and More Lobster

August 17, 2012 richardt

PEI2012

pei

Today we headed up to Cavendish and the Anne of Green Gables National Historic Site. The original forecast for Friday was periods of rain, but in the morning it had changed to mix of sun and cloud with a 60% chance of showers. The girls and I headed down to the water this morning, but the tide was already up.

The girls not quite awake.

Slowing the shutter speed down to get the smooth water.

Susan enjoying her coffee on the balcony.

Before heading to Green Gables, it was picture time in front of the cottage.

Susan and I.

Passed this Red & White store along the way.

The girls in front of Green Gables at the Green Gables Heritage Centre.

The rear of Green Gables.

Lovers Lane.

Posing in the buggy.

The Balsam Hollow walking path.

The McNeil farm where Lucy Maud Montgomery grew up.

The girls at the well.

The original house is gone, all that remains is the cellar.

The Green Gables Post Office, this house was brought from Rocky Point and is said to resemble the house Lucy M Montgomery grew up in.

After Green Gables it was on to New London to visit the Village Pottery store.

From New London it was down to Victoria-by-the-Sea to the fish store to buy some fresh lobster.

We bought some 1-1/4 lb lobsters and brought them back to the cottage to cook them up. Claudia picking out her lobster.

Gillian and the lobster.

Angela holding her lobster.

We had to use two pots, the larger pot could hold two at a time.

Here are the Tanabe’s waiting to dig into their lobster. It was messy but delicious.

After dinner it was back down to the beach to comb for some more sea glass. Claudia picked a giant mushroom from the field, must be from all the rain we got last night. It rained 39mm, but most of it was overnight.

Our final sunset on PEI.

We’re going to miss the red cliffs and sand.

;

We had to make our way back to our stairs as the tide was coming in.

We made it back. We have packed tonight so that we can go down in the morning as low tide is at 6:00 am.

We have had a great time at the Good Cottages this week and can’t believe the week is up tomorrow. We head to Halifax tomorrow for a couple of days.

Day 11: Relaxing Day

August 16, 2012 richardt

PEI2012

pei

Today was another relaxing day. We didn’t venture very far from the cottage. We headed out to Rocky Point and the Blockhouse Point Lighthouse. The lighthouse is the second oldest on the island. It was built in 1851 and automated in 1962.

The girls on the cliff.

In case you were wondering if I was really on this trip.

The lighthouse has not changed since it was built.

We found a way down to the beach as the tide was going out.

Looking over towards Charlottetown Harbour. You can see the two spires of St. Dunstan’s Basilica.

Claudia found a cool shell, unfortunately it was occupied.

We were looking for sea glass, but all we found were large pieces that needed more time in the rocks and water.

The cottage is located near Canoe Cove which has a one-room schoolhouse that was built in 1850. It was used until 1962 and is now used as a community centre.