Newport
As soon as summer begins, my family drives to our summer mansion settled right on the cliffs of Newport…Alright, that’s not true. But that’s how it was (and still is) for the wealthiest families in America.
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Boston
Our first stop was Boston, Massachusetts. It was my first time in the state of Massachusetts making me excited to experience a new place and add another state to my list of states I’ve visited in the US.
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Before I begin my travel diary on Halifax, I wanted to announce that I will be moving my blog to a self-hosts website. If you’re only just now discovering my blog, this won’t be relevant to you. However, I wanted to share this news with my loyal readers who I appreciate so much and would love to take with me on this new journey. My blog url will no longer be aylaboswell.wordpress.com but aylaboswell.com. Once everything is up and running smoothly, I will be posting again on Thursday nights. I hope you all check in on me as I continue my journey. I’m not positive if my followers will transfer over to the self-host website but I will still be going on my Reader and checking my emails to see all your latests travel adventures. 🙂
Our next port stop in Nova Scotia was Halifax. It’s a city with incredible stories to tell, more pubs than you can count and driving distance from plenty of breathtaking ocean scenery.
For our time in Halifax, we decided to do a shore excursion with our cruise to Peggy’s Cove and a Hop On, Hop Off bus. I enjoy taking Hop on, Hop off buses in new cities because they’re so convenient. It’s probably a lot cheaper to buy an all-day bus pass or walk everywhere, but that can take so much time and planning. With a Hop on, Hop off bus, we have one map, that shows us all the main points in the city, and a bus that will conveniently pick us up and drop us off at all of them. It’s also fully guided, which you don’t get on city buses.
The drive to Peggy’s Cove (approx. 1 hour) was beautiful and so was the destination. It’s such a picturesque light house with the bright white and red paint and the deep blue water surrounding it. If it wasn’t so windy, it would be a great sight to paint in person.
Besides the light house, Peggy’s Cove had adorable restaurants and stores. If you love ocean themed decorations, you’ll really enjoy shopping in some of these stores.
Unfortunately, I didn’t try any lobster in Halifax. We did get to see a living one as they had someone come out of the restaurant and tell us about lobsters right by the lighthouse. That was pretty neat. They were allowing us to hold the lobster too, but it wasn’t as friendly looking as I thought it would be so I passed on that.
After Peggy’s Cove, we went back to Halifax where we got on the Hop on, Hop off bus right in front of the port. If you’re interested, the stops, and most of the highlights of Halifax, are HERE. We got off at all the stops except the Citadel and Casino. Mostly because those things didn’t personally interest us.
Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
I loved visiting Halifax more than I thought I would and this museum was one of the main reasons why. I had no idea Halifax was at all connected to Titanic before hand! Titanic has been my favorite film since I was seven. I remember going to Las Vegas many years ago and being so excited to go to the Titanic exhibit there. You can imagine my excitement when I found out Halifax has a Titanic exhibit as well. Inside the museum, I learned that Halifax was the nearest major port to the sinking. New York was expecting a damaged Titanic and its survivors to come to Halifax after first getting news of the accident. Unfortunately, the Titanic was gone. New York took all the survivors, while the dead would come to Halifax.
The Maritime Museum is located right on the waterfront so it’s easy to find even without a tour or bus transportation. The museum is known for having the largest collection of wooden Titanic artifacts in the world.
Despite my love of the film and obsession with the history of the Titanic, I would still say the Maritime Museum is a must when visiting Halifax even if you’re not interested in the Titanic. There’s a lot to learn and beautiful replicas & artifacts not just from the Titanic inside the museum.
For more pictures from Halifax and the museum, watch my Canada stories highlighted on my Instagram.
Public Gardens Park
The Halifax Public Gardens Park is a Victorian style park that was established in the 1860’s. We probably spent over an hour at the Public Gardens taking pictures and walking around. The flowers were so beautiful when we went in September.
Fairview Cemetery
Fairview Cemetery is located in the North End of Halifax and will require bus or taxi transportation if you’re coming from Downtown. We had a guide waiting for us when we got off the Hop on, Hop off bus. I would highly recommend a guided tour through the cemetery if you don’t do your own research. She had a lot of interesting facts to tell us and made the tour fun instead of depressing. (Cemeteries can be kinda depressing.)
It’s a tourist stop because it’s know as the final resting place to over 100 victims of the sinking Titanic, the 1917 Explosion in Halifax Harbour and a number of famous Canadians.
Many of the victims weren’t identified until years later and some are still buried without a name on their gravestone. The stories of some of people buried here and in the Baron de Hirsch Jewish Cemetery are in the Maritime Museum.
After a tiring day exploring another place in Nova Scotia, we got back on the bus to go board the cruise. There’s so much breathtaking coastline we didn’t get to experience in Nova Scotia since we weren’t their very long. But that’s the price you pay when going on a cruise. However, I’m very happy with the places we did have time to visit and the convenience of cruising to a new place everyday.
-Ayla ♥
Sydney, Nova Scotia
For our stop in Sydney, we decided to do the Fortress of Louisbourg shore excursion with our cruise line. The journey started by getting on a bus and having an introduction to Sydney as we made our way through the historic north end and back in time to 1744 at the Fortress of Louisbourg.
Charlottetown
Charlottetown, the birth place of Canada, is the capital of Prince Edward Island. It’s difficult for me to think of a word other than quiet to describe it. I’ve been to tropical islands and rugged islands. P.E.I. felt like a nearly uninhabited small town island. Driving through Charlottetown we saw tiny villages, harbors, rolling farmlands, and stunning seascapes. It felt like I’d been transported a hundred years into the past.
Quebec City
Visiting French Canada had been a dream of mine for some time. The architecture and vibes of small Parisian neighborhoods is what I was most excited for and Quebec City did not disappoint.
The flight to Quebec was one of the easiest flights I had in a while. We took a red eye to Montreal and from Montreal we had a short flight to Quebec City. I usually get anxiety on planes but this time I was okay. Learning my anxiety triggers definitely helped. I need to sleep the night before, eat (which I sometimes don’t do before an international flight because of nerves and time), and avoid caffeine. The flight wasn’t full either so I didn’t feel claustrophobic and was able to lay down. I didn’t sleep much on the plane, so when we got to the hotel I took off my layers of warm clothes and fell asleep for a few hours.
The hotel we stayed in was the Hôtel Marie-Rollet. I found it on Orbitz the month before for a decent price. The photos made it look like a French apartment which I really liked. It was also located in the center of the city near some of the most famous spots. Location is always important when I am looking for a hotel. I like to be able to walk everywhere in a city.
As soon as we stepped out of our hotel there was a view of City Hall Park. At night, we got to witness a light show they had using the fountains. It was like a mini World of Color. If you are unfamiliar, World of Color is a nighttime light show put on by Disney’s Adventure Park.
Our hotel was lovely, but I couldn’t not mention the world-famous hotel in Quebec. The Fairmont Le Château Frontenac is a beautiful old hotel that could be spotted from miles away. In 2018, the hotel celebrated its 125th anniversary.
The hotel had a cool haunted feeling when we saw it. Probably due to the overcast skies and pointy architecture.
I didn’t get the chance to splurge on afternoon tea at the Chateau Frontenac, but I did get to try the famous Canadian poutine at a nearby restaurant. I’ve been to Canada twice without trying poutine. I wasn’t going to not try it a third time.
I ordered La Classique and my mom ordered La Braisée. I would recommend La Braisée only because it’s more unique in taste.
While walking around the port, we came across a market. Markets are always nice to explore because it gives you a chance to practice a foreign language and see the local fresh cuisine. Also, the souvenirs inside markets are usually handmade or unique finds.
If you’ve read some of my other posts, you probably know my favorite thing to do in a new city is simply walk around. I have fond memories of discovering the unexpected beauty behind every turn. Quebec City has a lot of streets and neighborhoods that are perfect for this and not too far from each other. Still make sure to bring a map with you incase you get too lost or want to have the names of what you are photographing.
Quartier Petit-Champlain
Once a small village in 1600’s, Quartier Petit-Champlain is now cobblestone streets where mainly tourists go to shop and dine. You’ll see beautifully restored houses that are now galleries, boutiques and bistros. It’s probably my favorite area of Quebec City.
Place-Royale
Other great streets to walk down in Quebec City are Rue Saint-Jean, Rue Saint-Joseph and Rue Saint-Louis.
On the very last day of our trip to Quebec, we walked through Battlefield Park towards our cruise. The park was MUCH larger than I was expecting. It was a nice place to stroll, but if running/hiking/biking is a hobby of yours, I would definitely recommend going to this park for a little exercise.
-Ayla♥
