Hurricane Lee and Lockeport NS

We left Halifax after lunch and started our journey to Lockeport Nova Scotia to visit with my brother Brad and his partner Andrea. The four of us had plans to travel around Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island but first, we had to wait out hurricane Lee, a CAT 5 that was working its way North. Brad and Andrea bought a place in Lockeport, Nova Scotia before it became a fad. They rented it out for the first few years before deciding to move there full-time. They also bought a second home in Quebec City right in the heart of Old Town, it is a gorgeous old walk-up apartment. They packed all their belongings and moved them from BC to Quebec City and Lockeport. Brad and I drove their most valuable items across Canada on a Duncan Brothers road trip a couple of years ago. That was super fun. 

This was Nikki’s first time seeing their place in Lockeport, it is beautiful and so is Lockeport. Lockeport is a fishing village connected to the mainland by a short two-lane road. They have a huge beach that is a short walk from their house.

Enough about Lockeport, we had to do some quick hurricane prep as Lee was approaching fast. It did not look like a direct hit but we were expecting some big winds and possible storm surge. This was our first hurricane as they never hit Vancouver, but not our last as you will find out in a future blog. It was kind of freaky listening to the wind howl and the rain was so intense.

The day before the hurricane hit

The day after the hurricane!

I have to say we were happy that our first hurricane encounter happened when we had a full house around us rather than our boat. We were inland a bit and there were no big trees around us but it was still hard to relax. We managed to get a walk around town before the storm and then again after so we were able to see the damage. There were a few homes that had damage and a couple of trees uprooted but all in all Lockeport fared very well.

We did delay our next road trip by a few days just to let the road crews clean up a bit. We also decided to not head to the southern tip as it was hit a little harder than where we were. Instead, we headed North a bit then crossed over the center of Nova Scotia to the West coast from there we worked our way to PEI. Our first stop was a day trip to see how the roads were. We went to Summerville which is an amazing beach with a beautiful resort and restaurant that is renowned for their fish and chips. Which was delicious! It is one of Andrea’s favorite spots. We had lunch and then walked the beach and to our surprise there were people out surfing. They normally have surfing in this area but some of the swell was a bit bigger after the storm. So cool. 

We waited until September 19th to set out on our journey. The first town we stopped in was Annapolis Royal. This is a quaint town with a lot of history on the Bay of Fundy. The community was settled in 1605 by the French and was known as Port Royal before 1710, is recognized as having one of the longest histories in North America, preceding the settlements at Plymouth, Jamestown, and Quebec. For nearly 150 years, it served as the capital of Acadia and subsequently Nova Scotia until the establishment of Halifax in 1749.

The settlement of Port Royal passed several times between France, Scotland, England and Great Britain until it was finally ceded to Great Britain in 1713. Due to its location on the boundary between the colonial powers of France and Great Britain, it encountered a grand total of thirteen assaults, surpassing all other locations in North America. in 1994 it was named a National Historic Site of Canada as well as being part of the Important Colonies!

Current-day Annapolis Royale is well known for having a wide selection of artisan shops and restaurants. We did a quick tour of the town, and bought some chocolate, before stopping at The Annapolis Brewery for a quick bite and taster of beer. - lucky for Nikki they also served cider from the East Coast Cider Company. Their slogan 'Let the Good Tides Roll" is perfect for being located on the Bay of Fundy which has the largest tides on earth. Our Airbnb was just a short drive from town and it was right on the water overlooking the Bay of Fundy. It was a nice first day traveling with Brad and Andrea. 

In the morning Nikki, Zorro, and I headed over to Scots Bay, a huge tidal beach at the end of the bay. Unfortunately, the drive was a little fogged in but once we got to the beach it was a very nice walk around the shore.

For lunch, we did a tour of Luckett Vineyard. Great food and an absolutely beautiful property and they had this cool working London phone booth in the middle of the vines which you could call anywhere in the world for free. Nikki took the opportunity to call her sister, Sheila in Bella Coola BC.

Back to the AirBnB for the night to get some rest as the next day we are heading to the Confederation Bridge and PEI. 

Join us on our journey around PEI.