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MERRY TIMES
On a warm Sunday at lunchtime
Our children unfolded a great surprise
Hey Mom, Dad, have a seat, our children said
You are off to the Maritimes, so please relax.
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You must be joking we insisted
No we aren’t – they retorted
As they handed us an itinerary
That by all means indeed was out of the ordinary.
As details began to unfold about the whirlwind tour
Stream of tears in my wife’s eyes began to pour;
A gift from us - they said - everything found;
In total disbelief I stood speechless anchored to the ground.
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Get ready to leave on a vacation next Saturday – the eldest said
While with a video-cam the youngest to record our reactions was prepared
Surely at the time it had not sunk into me
And I might not have shown a surprised rapture -
The truth is I felt very old and afraid
To go out in such a great adventure.
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Surely but slowly – the surprise began to take hold
When we noticed two slips of paper
That appeared like tickets of VIA RAIL
Tucked in a folder – and we at once knew
We were off to Halifax Montreal
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That’s not all – one of them said – as she continued
With what seemed like the beginning of a fairy tale
A car will await you where you end your rail trail
Take a tour of the city and see the famous citadel
Where times stands still and silently stands guard the sentinel.
Don’t forget she said to take your favourite CDs including Chris Rea
As the rental car will have a CD player.
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Far above the grey rocks as the eye can scan
The lone gleaming white light-house
At Peggy’s cove stands mighty and tall
Not far from where stands as a memory to lives lost at sea
A dedication on granite to reminisce silently.
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Two days hence you will drive on
From Nova Scotia
On the “Acadia ”
To St. John
From the port town of Digby
Into New Brunswick
In St. John
Stan & Nancy
Will await you as evening falls
In their beautiful home not far
From the beautiful harbour
As you roll out of the ferry.
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Then there’s the fascinating phenomenon of Reversing Falls
As you dine at the restaurant by the bridge and hear
Nature’s baffling tidal tale, a sight of unsurpassed beauty,
And later you will walk leisurely around the historic city.
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Then onwards to the City of Moncton
Through the coastal town of Alma
Roll backwards in your car on the mind-boggling slope
And mysteriously amazing phenomenon of the Magnetic Hill;
At the Hopewell Rocks you will walk on the ocean floor where amazing tides
Have you spellbound with an unfathomed and astounding thrill.
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Drive over the longest bridge in the world
A spectacular engineering marvel, a work of art,
A wonder of the modern world -
Driving over it will seem like an eternity
Till you step into Prince Edward Island
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The sea gulls soaring high
Above in the sky
Seem to greet you
In this wonderful land
where time stands still
with people around, happy and merry.
Dabble in the splendour ofCharlottetown
where time stands still
with people around, happy and merry.
Dabble in the splendour of
A land of great mariner’s tales
Timeless stories and fables
Of Anne of Green Gables
And of Lucy Maud Montgomery.
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Bed and breakfast by the sea
Two great and kind people – Anna and Frankie
Greet and welcome you in their home at Souris .
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Next day over breakfast you will briefly hear
The gentle and modest words
Of the island’s last lighthouse keeper
About happiness without wealth, always full of cheer.
There in a souvenir shop we bought a CD
With songs of the Island so enchantingly touching
I haven’t stopped playing them endlessly.
Drive through glorious landscape of pine and conifers
To the enchanting Woodlands Wharf
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Then across to Cape Breton
To the idyllic and serene setting
Of St. Ann
Where you will meet courteous
And friendly Ron and Mary.
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Brought back out the good driver in me
And with my wife’s expert navigation
Through picturesque green hills, valleys, glens and dales
Land of beautiful lighthouses aplenty.
We made it finally through what seemed like an eternity.
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Through picture postcard towns of Baddeck and Ingonish
With their panoramic scenery to behold and relish;
Along the way when to a few we did about our escapade relate
And by their warmth and hospitality we were touched
Of what we saw and of the great times we had;
It’s true “what marvelous children we must have” one said
To grant - a gift of a holiday of a lifetime
That we for a long time to come will surely ponder -
“You must be good parents too after all” said another.
Bringing to a close we were back in Halifax
Our flight we reluctantly boarded
And back to Toronto
With an experience of the Maritimes
And “Merry Times” that we indeed have had
Grateful to our children with memories
In our hearts and minds deeply etched.
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To our hosts in the Maritimes this verse I dedicate;
God-willing to revisit will not hesitate.
Moments to treasure - a spirit of adventure
In me revived and rekindled
Bringing back out of the closet again
The good old amateur photographer.
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Tony Fernandes
The Maritime provinces are also known as 'the Maritimes' or the 'Canadian Maritimes'. It is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada.
The Maritimes front the Atlantic Ocean and its various sub-basins such as the Gulf of Maine and Gulf of St. Lawrence. The region is located northeast of New England, southeast of Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula, and southwest of the island of Newfoundland.
VIA Rail - Toronto to Halifax via Montreal,
Shediac, Moncton,
Holiday Inn Select, Hallifax
Halifax City Tour
Citadel
Titanic Cemetery
Sightseeing drive to Peggy's Cove
Bay Ferries
Drive to Digby
Digby to St. John by Ferry
Carleton House, St. John
Reversing Falls
Coastal Drive to Moncton
via Sussex,
Hampton (Fredericton)
Downtown B & B, Moncton
Magnetic Hill,
Hopewell Rocks
Drive over Confederation Bridge to PEI
Anne of Green Gables
Madame Tussaud
B & B by the Sea, PEI
Northumberland Feries,
Taigh Mairi, Cape Breton,
Cabot Trail
Alexander Graham BEll Museum
Fiddlin Whale Tours
Drive to Halifax Airport along coastal road
via Truro
Board Flight to Toronto
Arrive back in Toronto
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