Off to Halifax - Keels go to Canada day 16

 We packed up and headed to Nova Scotia today! We contacted our friends and family to find out how everyone made out with the hurricane and got news that everyone was safe. We even got pictures of our torn down fence!
When driving to Nova Scotia we took the Confederation Bridge, so on our way out and to Nova Scotia we were going to take the ferry. By the way, if you go to PEI from New Brunswick via the bridge it doesn't cost anything, but to leave PEI via the bridge it costs almost $50 (CAD). The Ferry to Nova Scotia cost around $60 (CAD), and makes the trip much quicker and a fun adventure! 
On the way out we stopped in Charlottetown for lunch at The Prince Edward Island Restaurant.

Sarah and Abby got their own table, they were so grown up.

 

 Chloe was in love with the chowder!

 I enjoyed fish and chips.

 Paul once again had poutine

 PR decided to be all American and have a cheeseburger.

 Good restaurant, if you are in the area check it out.

 The ferry was Abby's favorite thing. She was excited back in NYC to get on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty but this one was bigger, longer ride, and less crowded!

 

 

 

 

 Not pictured but a super cool thing we saw while on the ferry was a seal swimming by!

 

Our stop for the night would be Halifax! I guess we didn't realize when we planned our trip that we would be stopping in all the Capitals of the Canadian Provinces we visited this trip. PEI - Charlottetown, Nova Scotia - Halifax, and we would end up stopping in Fredericton New Brunswick on the way back to the US.
What I unfortunately did not get a picture of is Paul trying to go to the visitors center. It was slightly confusing as to where to go, he thought he saw the place to turn in, unfortunately it was just a very wide sidewalk, not a driveway. To top it off, the visitors center was closed. It is funnier now than it was at the time. 

 We asked at the hotel for a suggestion for a good restaurant to take the Family and they suggested a place called Jims, which ended up being good. The kids enjoyed that almost every restaurant gives free dessert with a kids meal, they said we needed more places like that down here.

 Now this was the best part about this Holiday Inn. Indoor swimming pool with slide. No one but us there enjoying it.

 Sarah and PR took right to it, it took Abigail a little longer to go in the dark tunnel but once she did that was it. We closed the pool with our sliding.

 

 Chloe loved swimming and thought she was just as big as the rest of the kids, although she didn't climb up the slide and go down. Mom and dad enjoyed the Jacuzzi, mom even had a cup of coffee while relaxing! The laundry facilities were great here too, only took once through the dryer for all the clothes to get dry, WOOHOO! Another positive thing, the laundry room was right by the pool so I could easily switch from washer to dryer and get back in the Jacuzzi.

Bay of Fundy, Hopewell Rocks and Anne Shirley - Keels go to Canada day 14

We headed out to the Bay of Fundy National Park today. We were told by friends this was something we didn't want to miss.

 One of the things we learned first in Canada is that everything is in English and French.

 

 We picked a good year to go to Canada. You see, they are celebrating Canada's 150 years and offering free passes to Canada's national parks to everyone. So we picked up our pass and found out they have a similar program to the US National Parks Junior Ranger Program. They have Park Xplorers, so we picked up the kids a booklet and got started!

 

  Gorgeous views once again.

 We headed out on a trail to go down to the beach area. Abigail said she did not want to go down this trail again, too many edges. She willingly held my hand on this trail, something she never does. Miss independent does not want to be held back my momma most of this time so I enjoyed her actually wanting to hold my hand. 

 Daddy held Chloe on this trail.

When we got down to the beach area the tide was too high to walk out, the bottom of these stairs was underwater by about a foot, add to that the waves and the 6 of us couldn't go out. We turned around and walked around trying to find another way down. No luck so we returned about 10 minutes later and found that it was now low enough we could go out when the waves pulled out and actually walk on the sand. We were amazed at how fast the tide moves here.

 

 We LOVED the rocks here. If I would have let them, and they could carry them, the kids would have walked out with a bag full.

 

 

 

 

 Our next stop was Hopewell Rocks. This was a super cool place and we have an interesting story to go with it. When we got there it was after closing time. This was our one and only chance to see this place we had heard about with a tide change of over 32ft. A place where at low tide you walk by rocks larger than you with seaweed on them, amazing rocks weathered by the ocean and it was closed. Closed. We noticed that there were plenty of cars parked outside the parking lot, the people had to be somewhere. We parked and spoke to some people we saw walking back and they said you could still walk on through. So, we decided to give it a shot. I was a little more hesitant to trespass in a foreign country than the rest of our group but since I was outvoted we walked. We walked through the locked and empty parking lot. Around the chained entrance gate where you pay to get in. Then down the trail to the ocean floor.

 We stopped for a scenic picture on the way down the trail.

 From the top of the stairs we saw that we did hit it at low tide so we would be able to walk around down there.

 The kids loved walking under rocks and in little tunnels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We figured, since we are already in a park that is closed we might as well walk on the shuttle bus road. Bunch of rebels. Ok we didn't actually do anything illegal. Check it out for yourself at their website, you can visit after hours but it is at your own risk.

 

 One last picture of us proving we were there after the gates where closed.

 After this adventure we were headed to Cavendish Prince Edward Island for the next two nights!

 But first, McDonalds. They don't have Chick Fil A's here. Bummer.

  We got to see yet another sign we had never seen before.

We finally arrived at our destination. A bit later than we expected and thankfully the people were really nice about us checking in after hours. We found this place just with an internet search and chose to stay here based on its  reviews online. We were pleased! Clean and a great price since they didn't charge extra for it being 6 people staying. All others charged almost $10 per person per night for over 4 people. I was worried since it was the most reasonably priced place and within walking distance to Green Gables - my whole reason for going. If you plan to go there check them out, here is their website.