We had planned to leave for Nova Scotia after lunch. Knowing that it would be a long drive day we decided to hit a local skate park so that Olivia could work out some energy before the drive. While at the park we met a nice retired couple travelling in a brand new 2021 class B Thor RV and we had a nice chat with them. They were from Toronto and were vacationing around for a bit. They mentioned that Nova Scotia required a Covid application to enter as well. I hopped online, submitted our application with our ID and proof of vaccination and got approved instantly. Not sure why the PEI application takes a week to process but their loss.
To our delight the park had pretty good free Wi-Fi as well. Since we had good Wi-Fi we decided to buy a video editing software package online and download it at the park. That threw all of our plans off and we ended up spending the entire day at the park downloading and installing the new video editing software. Instead of driving to Nova Scotia we just drove back to the Casino for the night.
The next morning we started our drive to Nova Scotia. After a quick stop at Costco for gas and some groceries, we were on the road. A bit over an hour down the road we hit the Nova Scotia Covid inspection station. We showed our approval emails and proof of vaccination and we were waved through no problems. I was thinking of going to Halifax first but we stopped by a tourist information office and they recommended we go to the Cabot Trail first. The Fundy Discovery tourist information office had a really nice children’s playground and a viewing area for the tidal bore that goes up the river there. The timing was not right to see the tidal bore but Olivia had a really good time at the playground.
Refreshed we got as far as Whycocomagh before it started to get dark and we had dinner at a local restaurant named Charlene’s Bayside Restaurant. This was a small, family run place with less than 10 tables total. They had a ribeye special so I ordered that while Holly got the fish and chips with salad instead of chips. We also got a bowl of seafood chowder to share and finally Olivia, who hates seafood, ordered a boring hamburger. We also found out that Covid restrictions were tighter in Nova Scotia than in New Brunswick with masks required indoors.
My steak was just OK but Holly’s fried fish was great, two generous pieces of flaky haddock, lightly battered and freshly fried to a perfect light golden brown. The seafood chowder was also delicious, chock full of shrimp, clams, crab, haddock, halibut and scallops topped off with a whole lobster claw, no potatoes or other fillings. It sure beat a regular clam chowder.
After dinner we found a very nice parking spot for the night right on the water of lake Bras d’Or.