This trip was special for me as I have never been to Nova Scotia and wanted to see this special place where Ruth grew up and I had heard so much about it.
We also joined the Canadian Tire Roadside Assistance plan, which about paid for itself in the Choice hotel chain special rates. Or Crappy Tire as most Canadians call it. No one will give it a second thought if you forget and call it "Crappy Tire" as I did when making a reservation with choice hotels.
John ordered his favorite, ribs and chicken and I ordered his second favorite, a hot chicken sandwich. He said it wasn't as good as he remembered, but I thought the food was good. The sauce wasn't the same, and the roll was just a grilled hamburg bun.
I thought it was cool with all the pea's on top of the sandwich, but I'm not a pea lover and they got to be a little too much. You get your choice of cole slaw, creamy or vinegar. The creamy was very good. 
We are starting to see a lot of French speaking people as we are getting closer to the Quebec border. 
I purchased some of their aged Lankaaster cheese and Lankaaster Onion. The Lankaaster was named after the Dutch word kaas meaning cheese and a tribute to the town of Lancaster where Glengarry is located. It is a gouda cheese, but not like any I have ever tasted. If thats what an aged gouda tastes like, then I love it. I'm a cheddar lover, and to me it was like a good buttery cheddar. 
Checked into the Hawkesbury Best Western L'Heritage at 3:44 pm. We booked this hotel because it was still in Ontario, without us having to venture into French speaking only land, and it had a restaurant and lounge so we wouldn't have to drive any more. Well just our luck the restaurant was closed. 
It was a 2 room King Suite and I liked the idea that the bathroom had a door to each room. We didn't want to drive to a restaurant and decided to just relax and fill up on all the snacks I brought along. We were disappointed that the hotel failed to tell us the restaurant was closed and they still advertise this on their website and brochures.
I had booked all our rooms in advance with all having a same day cancellation policy in case our plans changed. We are also smokers and there are very few hotel chains that cater to smokers. We were glad to get a smoking room, but it was in the worst location in the hotel, near an entrance and stairwell that was noisy all night. Paper thin walls and the breakfast buffet was pretty pathetic. There were 25 cars in the parking lot that night, so you think they would have had enough stuff. I went for a second cup of coffee and there was none left. 
I had the $6.99 breakfast which consisted of scrambled eggs,bacon, ham and sausage, (which was the best ham and sausage I have had in a long time) home fries, pancakes, toast, and all kinds of fresh fruit. The plate was loaded and I couldn't even come close to finishing it. John had the blueberry waffles and the waitress asked if he wanted cream for on it. It's an english cream and I wished he would have at least tried it, cause it sounded different. His plate was overun with blueberries and he had maple syrup on the side. He couldn't finish his either.
We didn't sit outside because we didn't want to be bothered with the bugs. That is a window behind me in the photo, but unfortunatly the doors were open and there was quite a few flies inside. Needless to say, it was good food at a great price.
Filled the car up with gas and were on our way at 10:38. We kind of doddled so we wouldn't go through Montreal at rush hour, but we were not so fortunate.
Then we had to cross the St. Lawrence seaway to get accross to the eastern side of Quebec, and that would be through a tunnel to La Fontaine. We had heard on the news the night before that there was a freighter that went aground and they were trying to contain a spillage and the seaway was closed. The tunnel was scary, only because it looked like it was falling apart and had chunks of concrete falling off the sides. We were finally out of the traffic at 12:24, almost two hours later for a stretch that should have normally taken 15 minutes.
Once on the other side of the St. Lawrence the terrain took a whole different look. Strange looking mountains in the middle of nowhere. Actually the further north we got, Maine was not too far away. 
The photo below is a view of Quebec City on the western side of the St. Lawrence taken from the eastern side.
We saw this license plate from the Northwest Territories, which is shaped liked a polar bear. They were far from home!
Further north the St. Lawrence really opens up. It was beautiful! (below photo)
Crossed over the border into New Brunswick. Our cell phones automatically jumped ahead one hour for the atlantic time. Arrived at the Quality Inn in Edmundston, NB at 5:30 pm which was now 6:30 with the time difference.
The restaurant, Victoria Steakhouse was excellent. The best steak we ever had. We had an Angus Old Montreal Filet and could subsitute a caesar salad for the vegetables, which we both did. John opted for fries and I had the baked potato. As I was finally in a Maritime province, I had to finally try some seafood and ordered some fried scallops with my meal and they too were great. We were offered ployes insted of bread but took the bread since we didn't know what ployes were. We were told they were some kind of crepe like thing. Two drinks each and our bill came to $64. which is really good considering the prices we usually pay in the Toronto area.
Again since the province of New Brunswick borders on Quebec, there was a lot of French influence, but at least they have to speak English to you. And again they were noisy in the restaurant and in the hallways in the morning.
We checked out of the Quality Inn in Edmondston, NB at 10:10 am after having a delicious breakfast via room service. Excellent food again. The hotel was on Canada Road, which in French is Chemin Canada. Now I know what Chemin means on all those signs in Quebec. We returned to the Trans Canada Highway, which was Routes 40, 20 & 185 through Quebec. From our home to Quebec it is Hwy 401.
The whole stretch almost to Nova Scotia was like this, mostly forests, rivers, lakes and moose fences. It was a beautiful stretch but got boring after awhile. Lots of hills and mountains for miles and miles. We noticed the fences along the highway had openings every so often with part of the fence built out to funnel the moose back into the woods through a one way gate. I wouldn't want to drive this highway at night. The big rigs (or transports as they call them in Canada) from this area all had huge bumpers on the front to avoid damage from hitting a moose. Click Here to see what the fences look like, it will be the 3rd photo from the top.
I plotted the whole trip with Google maps, and did a fine job, I must say! Except for one little screw up. For some strange reason my directions when we were approaching Fredericton, told me to leave Hwy. 2 for a bypass and would cross over the Princess Margaret Bridge. I though oh perfect, avoid the traffic congestion of the big city, but instead the bridge was closed and we got detoured right through center city. No big deal, at least I got to see the Capital of New Brunswick and the drive along the St. John river was just so beautiful this screw up turned out to be a good thing. Then back on the Trans Canada Highway again and more trees and mountains. Just glad that the only screw up wasn't in Montreal:-)
I was so busy watching the maps, I didn't take any more photos along this route. The above photo is Amherst, Nova Scotia. WooHoo finally in Nova Scotia. It was a beautiful town with wooden statues all over. If I ever come back I want to explore this town. The drive along the Sunrise Trail Hwy. 6 was very scenic, some of the roads had a redish tint and some had a greenish tint to them. We stopped at Foodland Mikes in Tatamagouche to get groceries for the 3 days we would be at the cottage, and then to the LC. If you ever watched Trailer Park Boys you will know what the LC is. Its short for NSLC, Nova Scotia Liquor Control. 
We had the 6th cottage from the right, the green one of course, #66 Port Marker at Sunrise Oceanfront Marina Cottages.
It was low tide when we arrived.
The cottage was beautiful, just like the photos on their website.
Even had a fireplace, which I'm sure would be wonderful in the Autumn.
The kitchen even had a dishwasher, and there was a reverse osmosis faucet for drinking water. 
This was our room.
The bathroom had a Jacuzzi tub, but the water was smelly and not much water pressure, and a small hot water tank, so no jacuzzis for us.
This was the spare room with two twin beds. Johns brother Chris from British Columbia arrived that night, just in time for steaks on the BBQ, and this was his room.
Ceiling fans in all the rooms was all we needed to keep cool. Even on the hot days, the ocean breeze was nice and the fans did their job.
Life is good!!!
I can't even remember what time we arrived, as I was finally there and didn't bother writing things down for the next three days. But I think it was a seven hour drive for us and would have been less if not for the Fredericton detour.
Pictou is on the Northumberland Strait close to where you can take the ferry across to Prince Edward Island. We were under the impression that the memorial was going to take place at Sunrise Cottages, where we had booked our cottage, otherwise we might have chosen to stay here as it was so beautiful.
Meeting Johns Aunt Geraldine was something I can't explain. She looked so much like Johns Mother Ruth and even had the same mannerisms. Even though John hadn't seen her in years, and I never met her, we both knew immediately who she was. It was so nice to finally get to meet her!
Meeting new cousins Aaron and his then fiancee and now beautiful wife Marta. (below)
John and I, below.
Views (above and below) from inside the Pictou Lodge.
Marions daughter Caroline, center below.
Sister Geraldine, grandaughter Megan and daughter Jane.
Son, Pastor Jim Kennedy officiated the service with daughters Jane and Carolyn also speaking.A buffet lunch was then served. Below an article of one of Marions many accomplishments. 
Although born and raised in Nova Scotia, Marion spent the better part of her life with her husband and family in Barrie, Ontario operating the Kennedy Strawberry Farm, before moving back to their beloved Nova Scotia. As a tribute to their times at the Strawberry farm, Strawberry shortcake was a perfect choice for the dessert.
We then proceeded to Bell Gift cemetery in New Annan, which was back closer to Tatamagouche for a few brief words and burial of Marions ashes combined with her late husbands ashes. 
Only a portion of the ashes were buried here at the cemetery so it could give future generations a place to pay their respects.
Then we drove to the family homestead on Kennedy Hill Road for burial of the remainder of their ashes. This whole area was just beautiful.
The Kennedy homestead! I could imagine living here. Its so peaceful and secluded!
