Early nineties. We are still living in the little house on E 20th. Still in the first decade of our relationship. People starting to ask when we are getting married. What about kids. We are not sure we want either of those. But they seem like popular options, so we wonder what we are missing?
Craig involved in Big Brothers. We go to a few national conferences. Montreal, Saskatoon. Now St. John’s Newfoundland. We fly here and have a few days in St. John’s before the conference. After, we rent a car and drive along the Avalon peninsula, across the north coast, through Twillingate, the famed ice berg viewing town, to Gros Morne National Park, where we hike in the fog and rain and sleep in a leaky tent in a deserted campground. End up in a mouldy motel in a tiny town.
We cross to Nova Scotia, on a long ferry whose engine stalls half way across. I take way too much Gravol and spend many hours on the floor. Halifax is interesting enough. The food is pretty banal. Lots of fried fish and fries. Chips, in the local lingo. Cod’n’chips. The Tim Horton’s muffins and soups are suddenly exotic and sought after.
We see Peggy’s Cove and Lunenburg. Spend a day at Louisbourg, the 18th century French fortress on the coast. Take a ferry to PEI, where we see Summerside, Charlottetown, Green Gables and a red beach. Even though it is cold and raining, we are not allowed to have campfires. The tent still leaks. We find a bed & breakfast in a mid-century modern split-level in the suburbs. The host is retired navy. The hostess, his wife. Grown kids. A nice place.
We take a shorter ferry back to Newfoundland. Overnight near the airport. Fly home from St. Johns.
The trip underwhelmed us. Partly b/c of the weather. Partly b/c of the ordinariness of everything. The bland food is definitely a drawback. We realize how spoiled we are in BC and especially in Vancouver. Travel standards shift upward when one lives in an idyllic, beautiful foodie & outdoor mecca like the west coast. We are learning that as we travel. Doesn’t stop us from continuing to seek global experiences.
