Baddeck NS – Halifax NS
Thu Sep 7, 2023
(~259 miles)

Travel day! Today we’re leaving our homey loft above the quiet town of Baddeck to strike out for the big city of Halifax, on the southern coast of mainland Nova Scotia.

We were up around 06:30, with the last of the delicious cinnamon rolls consumed for breakfast while perusing the weather outlook for the day. It wasn’t looking great – today would be a wet ride, no two ways about it. The remnants of Idalia were stalled out to sea and would give us likely rain to ride through for most of the day. The good news was that it looked like we’d be getting a break from the wet stuff by evening, as the system continued to push north and east toward Newfoundland.

We used up our remaining lunch supplies to make sandwiches to go, and tidied up the AirBnB as per the instructions left by our host. The province seems to have very specific guidelines for the separation of recycling waste, with 3-4 different bins all for certain combinations of plastics, metal, paper, etc. While getting that sorted, we got packed up and lugged gear out to the bike. It was a comfortable 68F, had rained overnight with a light continuing drizzle. We took our time this morning to try to find a small break in the weather for departure.

Finally rolling by 09:15, the air remained thick and heavy with unrealized precipitation, but there was no choice. We encountered off-and-on rain with lots of mist and low-lying clouds on the somewhat crowded ride southwest on Highway 105. Logging trucks and big RVs slowed things down on the main road heading south today.

There wasn’t much to see until we reached the Canso Causeway to head back off-island. Another (maybe the same?) freighter was docked across the water, and we spotted the diminutive Balache Point Lighthouse this time on our way through.

The Marine Drive is another scenic coastal byway promoted by the provincial tourism board, that runs from the Canso Strait here all the way down to Halifax. In the interest of time, the NER route skips the initial portion of this drive out on Cape Canso. Due to the weather and our late start, we were totally OK with that.

We backtracked on Highway 104 for 20-30 miles to Antigonish, then turned south onto NS 7, new territory for us again. The riding down through the interior was nice – smooth riding with some fast curves and not much traffic. However, there wasn’t much to see either.

About halfway down to the coast, we pulled in at the wayside Lochiel Lake Provincial Park for a comfort and snack stop. This little picnic area is a simple oasis along a ribbon of road with not much else to offer. It consists of some nice lawn areas, with picnic table pavilions (Canada!) on the overgrown shore of a lovely secluded lake.

Almost as soon as the kickstand was down, rain started sprinkling down again. All we could do is grimace, since we knew ahead of time what we were in for today. The first table we tried to sit at was covered in water and offered no protection from the gusting droplets. As we stood around looking at the lake and deciding what to do, the only other park visitor – looked like a workman on lunch break – gave up his covered table out of the wind near the restroom, so we scooted over to nab it.

After a good half hour stop with a snack, we headed back out into the off-and-on showers that began to pop up as we made progress towards the coast. From the radar app, it looked like we only had to deal with a few more bands on the tail end of the weather system. We would still likely be in the clear by the end of the day. But for now, we set our jaws and ventured on, reaching the coast at Liscomb around 12:30. Despite the rain, we were treated to some lovely views through the mist of the pretty bays and inlets along here.

We began to catch teasing glimpses of slivers of blue sky, in between the heavy banks of rain clouds that still rolled around over our heads.

We continued west, hugging the shoreline, curving and swaying along the small harbors, some of which had signs of more population as destination stops, like Sheet Harbour where we stopped in at an Irving station to fuel up. We pulled into a small wayside at Spry Bay Provincial Park to use the outhouse and picnic tables (Canada!). We’d thought to maybe take advantage of a break in the weather and the picnic table here for lunch. No sooner had we unwrapped our sandwiches than the sprinkles began yet again. Hrrrumph!

Several miles further down the coast, after passing Lake Charlotte with nary a glace of the actual lake, we came upon a little community with the quaint moniker of Oyster Ponds. Blue sky AND picnic tables were spotted. HOLD THE PHONE. Banged a uey and pulled in to shut down the bike at the most peaceful little spot by the water you could want.

Sheltered from the ocean breezes, with sunshine poking through, and no rain actively falling on our heads, we ate lunch watching nothing happen all around us. Oh there was one bit of excitement when we spotted some sort of weaselly creature swimming around some nearby reeds, but never got a good look at it.

After eating, we took a stroll across the earthen dam that separated the two shallow ponds, following a short nature trail along the back edge of the property, around one pond, and thence back along the road to the motorcycle. It felt good to be off the bike and out of the rain for the first time since leaving Baddeck this morning. Great stop for us.

Under continuingly drier skies, we proceeded down route 7 from Oyster Ponds, and things began to get busier entering Musquodoboit Harbour, with commercial properties starting to line the roadway, more vehicles and activity. We flipped around at a Shell station to grab a few pics outside a local railway museum.

Shortly thereafter we passed an intersection where Highway 107 begins it’s run to nearby Halifax. However, the NER route kept us on the smaller roads for a while longer, sticking with route 7 a couple more miles before turning left onto a peninsula for a final loop down along the coast through Three Fathoms Harbour.

Route 207 is scenic and curvy, and the roads and sky were finally dry, so we enjoyed it best as traffic allowed until hitting a construction zone with one-way traffic towards the end of the loop, which delayed us for several minutes.

We emerged from the rural seaside life back onto the primary trunk road and the increasingly urban landscape of the outer Halifax area. Continuing on 7 where 107 turned north, we beelined directly toward the heart of the provincial capital city.

Crossing the Argus MacDonald Bridge over the harbor into downtown was a crowded affair, and we were surprised by the manned toll booths present there, which are likely the cause of all the backup. I hadn’t been prepared to pay a toll and we held of traffic for a few minutes as I dug around in my pockets to pull out cash to pay the nice lady. I guess EZ Pass hasn’t made it’s way this far north yet!

It was only 16:00 as we arrived in the city, so before heading for our accommodations, we picked our way north several city blocks through rush hour traffic to the Halifax Explosion Memorial Bell Tower in Fort Needham Park. It was on our list of quick, free things to see in Halifax, but not within walking distance of our lodgings. We parked in a small lot by a well-tended community garden, and walked up the rest of the hill into the park via paved footpath.

Before researching this trip, I’d never heard of of this particular 1917 disaster, the result of two ships carrying a LOT of explosive materials colliding in Halifax Harbour. The resulting explosion caused a tidal wave, widespread fires, and claimed the lives of some 2000 souls, a number that truly shocked me. The photos we saw at the park and later online are as devastating to behold as those of the September 11 aftermath in 2001, with several blocks of city just completely obliterated.

The triangular 10-bell monument is reminiscent of a ship’s sail, flying high above the surrounding city neighborhoods. The landscaping and views are lovely and the park seems to be enjoyed by the local residents we saw passing through.

Once we’d strolled the fairly small memorial area and looked at all the plaques and exhibits of some of the devastation wreckage, we made our way back down to the bike. Now that we had fair weather skies, the temperature had risen and we were feeling hot and ready to get out of our gear.

After winding down the park driveway into a little neighborhood on a tree-lined avenue, I pulled over to double-check our route through the city to our AirBnB. We’d passed some road construction on the way over here and I wanted to just avoid it altogether as the larger streets seemed to be pretty jammed up and we wanted to keep moving for the breeze. One of the homeowners was puttering in his yard and offered a few friendly words of greeting. Guess even the city folk are friendly up this way!

Back through the crowded streets we navigated until we turned onto another shaded residential street near the Halifax North Common. This time, we had a ground floor apartment in a triple-decker house, again with off-street parking included. We gained access to our evening’s lodging and lugged our stuff into the compact, but very clean and modern little studio.

Cost-wise, we weren’t saving a lot over some of the cheaper downtown hotel options, unless you count the parking fee, which isn’t included for any of the hotels. Still, the place was VERY small and we had a tough time finding space to put things for the duration of our stay. Probably would be a good place for a single person to stay comfortably for a night or two.

After shedding our riding gear and getting a quick shower, next on the agenda was flowers! Char’s must-do was to see the city’s public gardens which we’d combine with a walk by the Citadel historic site. It was about a mile walk or so to the gardens, under beautiful evening skies, which felt great after being in the saddle and rain all day.

The commons, the gardens, and the Citadel site create a huge area of green space in the middle of Halifax, right next to downtown, so our stroll was literally “a walk in the park”! Haligonians were enjoying the nice weather and the city’s open spaces in droves. It felt weird being back in a city, but oddly familiar, as much of the colonial architecture and organic street layout reminded us quite a bit of Boston, though cleaner and less busy.

The Public Gardens themselves were absolutely a gem – stunning in their Victorian orderliness and luxuriant greenery. Flowers of all size, shape, and color were carefully cultivated and arranged around patterns of footpaths and fountains on some 18 acres of walled grounds. We looked at lots and lots and lots of flowers, and took pictures of most of them! I’ll show a few here but include more in the photo gallery link at the end of this post.

An hour felt about right, having covered just about the entire garden, more or less. Google helped us find the right way to cross the nearest intersection to a tall grassy hill that rose up close to, and nearly as high as, the downtown skyscrapers. Atop this height sits the Halifax Citadel Historic Site, originally the location of a wooden British fort built in 1749 to protect the fledging settlement, named for the Earl of Halifax. Three more forts would eventually be built on towering Citadel Hill, with the final concrete and stone star-shaped structure being erected in the 1820s in an effort by the Brits to create lasting protection against those upstart Yank colonists from down south.

We’d arrived after closing time and they charge admission to go inside the fort itself anyway, so we contented ourselves with an easy-paced hike up the steep driveway to enjoy the views of the city and harbor bridges. There was a lone cyclist having a grand old time, riding speedy time-trial laps around the curvy road that completely encircles the fort, there being little tourist traffic here in the fading evening. He was really cranking it! We looked at several interpretive signs while walking around the impressive outer walls and moat before heading back down the hill in the direction of our AirBnB.

As we are only staying a single night in Halifax, we were not about to spend time grocery shopping. From earlier online research for restaurants close-by, I’d come across a uniquely Halifax food item called a donair. Similar to a gyro with shaved beef instead of lamb, wrapped in a pita, the key ingredient appears to be a sweet garlic sauce. So…a meat sandwich? Sign me up. We detoured to the “world famous” Tony’s Pizza & Donair, on a corner opposite the Common at Robie and Guard streets.

Not a large place, just your typical neighborhood pizza joint with a few tables by the windows, likely doing most of their business for take-out. While it was pretty warm outside still, it was downright sweaty inside this place! The high temperatures from the ovens were being mitigated only by a few large fans – no air conditioning here it would seem. Char ordered a falafel bowl while I ordered a large donair, both to-go. We added a side of poutine as well, because Canada.

We waited out on the cooler street, finding some steps nearby to sit on and watch the light traffic and pedestrians go by. A half-hour later, our food was ready and we walked the couple blocks back to our lodgings, to awkwardly enjoy our food in the tiny space while watching a movie. We both enjoyed the meal. I love gyros so the donair was a solid sandwich choice although I didn’t find it particularly flavorful or unique. Still, it was interesting and unexpected to learn about and try a new regional dish.

We didn’t last much longer after dinner. A full day’s riding in the rain can be pretty tiring, added to the few miles we covered on our evening stroll. It seemed we’d be enjoying clear weather again tomorrow for our continued exploration of this beautiful province as we finally began to turn towards home.

More photos of today’s ride.