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Posted on July 14, 2005 in Capon Bridge, WV, USA

Report: 5172 miles (8144km) of New England 
(USA) & Eastern Canada to Labrador: this trip 
covered areas to the east and north  of 
Winchester, Virginia (Washington, DC) to 
Buffalo, New York. (Note also that for some 
reason New Foundland is pronounced as if New 
Finland in English.)

Let me mention at the outset that New England 
is one of the most expensive regions of the USA 
to travel, and Canada is even  more expensive, 
some things (cigarettes are $7+ per pack, 
gasoline about $3.60 per gallon) matching the 
prices even in  Norway.  In USA, the 
southeastern states like Georgia, the Carolinas, 
Mississippi, Alabama, northern Florida, in the 
West,  states like New Mexico are the cheapest.  
Although there are increasing numbers of hostels 
in all parts, getting to them is  still difficult in the 
States and Canada, in part due to the distances 
involved, but also because public transportation 
in  USA is often behind of even places like 
Zambia. A RENTAL CAR IS THE ONLY WAY 
TO GO, if you are going to cover large areas. If  
you have to stay at motels, Knights Inn, Scottish 
Inn, and Motel 6 (there was only one Motel 6 on 
this trip) are among the  most economical chains 
across USA.  Also there is generally heavy traffic 
in American north east and driving is often no 
fun.   The landscape of Eastern USA, of which 
the lush-green forests, valleys, rivers and lakes of 
the Appalachian mountain range,  that reaches 
from the Carolinas and Tennessee all the way to 
Eastern Canada, is one major feature is very 
pretty, but it gets  redundant after a while.  This 
also applies to the coastal areas which are really 
intricate in Florida, North Carolina,  
Chesapeake, and New England.  You have to 
pick particular destinations, like the colorful 
Shenandoah Valley in late fall, New  York city, 
Miami Beach, etc., and then the debate is if 
getting there by driving is worth the cost, time, 
and the effort.  If  you are already familiar with 
this landscape, you might as well consider the 
western parts of the USA and Canada, for there  
is not much new or different in New England or 
Eastern Canada, except special places like 
Labrador.

   NOTE: Missing rode signs in cities of USA & 
Canada, a common problem,  Some idiot in 
Boston decided that the sign for  Route-2 should 
be placed NOT at the intersection where you 
must decide to turn right or left or go straight, 
BUT after you  ARE already on the right stretch. 
Indeed, there were no signs at all at dozens of 
intersections; I was finally guided out by  
following someone who was going in that 
direction; getting out still took 30 minutes.  In 
Canada the situation is even worse.  In US cities, 
at least signs to large Interstate roadways are 
clearly marked; in Canada (Montreal and 
Ottawa the worst, but  all bad) there are no signs 
at all in the cities that such is the way to Route 
such and such say to Toronto.  You find your  
way by asking at each street corner, if you can.  
Never mind the welcome and information 
centers, I consider this perhaps the  MOST 
visitor-unfriendly feature of a city or location if 
you are driving.

Although I have traveled in these parts on 
previous trips, I also relied on clues of what to 
see by my friend and occasional  travel 
companion Tom.  Here is his list:

 a) Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut.  (My 
Comment: the one in Baltimore, Maryland was 
sufficient for me.)

 b) Largest casino in the US, Foxwoods, 
Southeastern Connecticut.  (Comment: after Las 
Vegas and Sun City in South Africa, I  did not 
see a need for a special trip to here just to see a 
casino.)

 c) Provincetown, Mass, at the tip of Cape Cod, 
largest gay town outside San Francisco, very 
colorful.  (The problem is this  is a long drive, 
which I already did on a previous occasion, on 
tree-lined Route 6 with nothing else to see, 
UNLESS you exit  to one of the many coastal 
villages along the way.  Therefore, I did not 
consider this destination worth the effort.)

d) If you are looking for an undiscovered 
treasure of a glacial pond on Cape Cod, find 
Duck Pond near South Wellfleet. It is  barely 
changed since I first found it years ago.  Still the 
cleanest water in Massachusetts. (Comment 
above applies!)

 e) Prettiest college town in New England, 
Williamstown, Mass, NW corner of Mass.  
(Perhaps, but again not worth the effort,  except 
that Route 2 West from Boston to there is also 
the Mohawk Trail with glorious views (65 miles 
at one point) of the  mountains as you reach 
west.  So it is up to you.)

 f) Science museum across river in Vermont from 
Hanover, New Hampshire. (Well, this again is up 
to you.  I passed thru  Hanover, skipping the 
museum, but on my way to the destinations in (g) 
and (h) below.

 g) Nice big lake in New Hampshire, 
Winnepeasaukee, take steamship ride around 
lake, the Mount Washington.  (I did, see  below!)

 h) Drive up Mount Washington in NH. I never 
have, but thousands of bumper stickers say they 
have. It is the highest mountain  east of the 
Mississippi.  (I did this, see below!)

 i) Buy a bottle of wine at the tiny Sow's Ear 
Winery in Brookeville, Maine, near Deer Isle. 
Tell the owner, Tom sent you.   (I skipped this as 
I am not a wine or beer drinker!)

 j) In Maine, do not miss Deer Isle, south of 
Ellsworth, with the most picturesque harbor I 
am aware of, Stonington. The  second most 
picturesque harbor is Rockport. You could 
spend a month following the Maine coastline and 
never be bored (my  comment: except for the 
traffic). I have spent a lot of time there. The 
downside is its getting to be peak season. You 
and  your mother can climb Mt. Desert near Bar 
Harbor.  (Came to Bar Harbor only to take the 
ferry to Nova Scotia; see (k) below.)

 k) Car ferry from/to Bar Harbor Maine to Nova 
Scotia. (Did this: $232 for 3-hour Cat ferry for 
car + 2 adults.)

 l) The Cabot Trail around Cape Breton in Nova 
Scotia is not to be missed, and you are aware of 
the new bridge to Prince  Edward Island.  (I 
crossed the entire Nova Scotia and Cape Breton 
(at the eastern end of Nova Scotia) passing near 
Cabot  Trail, on other very scenic roads.)

 m) See tide come in Moncton New Brunswick.  
(I watched the tide come in New Foundland.)

 n) On return visit the Corning Glass Museum 
near Rochester, New York on Interstate 90.  (I 
skipped this, having seen several  other glass 
factories.)


1. New England.  Is the oldest region of the USA 
and generally dominated by lush green 
landscape of mountains and hills,  lakes and 
rivers, valleys and meadows, sounds and bays, 
neat cities and towns, and well-kept tidy homes.  
The region includes  (from New York, east and 
north): Connecticut, Rhode Island, 
Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and 
Maine (most eastern  and northern). Yes, there 
are many wholesome towns like Mystic 
(Connecticut), Hyannis Port and Cape Cod 
(peninsula) in  Massachusetts, and islands like 
Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, BUT getting 
to them is often no fun due to congested coastal  
roads, missing or badly-placed directions, long 
lines to ferries, etc.  So I will recommend only the 
places that (to me) are  worth the effort, and only 
in the spring, summer, and fall, and preferably 
NOT on crowded weekends.

  NOTE: Ferries operate all over from coastal 
ports in New England, for example from Mystic, 
Connecticut to Long Island, New  York, from 
New Bedford (west of Buzzard's Bay) and 
Woods Hole (east of Buzzard's Bay) in 
Massachusetts south and southeast to  Martha's 
Vineyard and Nantucket Islands, etc.  I did not 
take any of these due to very long lines of cars.

  a) NEWPORT, Rhode Island (south of 
Providence, RI, east of Connecticut and south 
and west of Massachusetts) is not only a  
charming resort town in a beautiful geographic 
setting (at the end of the NARRAGANSETT Bay 
in the Rhode Island SOUND), it is  also the 
location in which very rich Americans built their 
very elaborate and expensive European-style 
mansions in the late  19th and early 20th 
centuries.  I have photos and post card of several 
of them on the web page; I urge you see them.  
The  Breaker is the most elaborate of them all.  
Tours to all these start at 10am, to the Breaker 
at 9am.  They should be seen.   After the tour, 
take the gorgeous 30-min drive along the coast, 
circling Newport.  You might be able to find a 
hotel room in  town for $139 for 2 (summer 
rate), but expect to pay more.

   b) MOHAWK Trail along Route 2W (from 
Boston), going to the college town 
(Williamstown, Mass) Tom recommended.  
Boston is  one of the oldest and finest cities in 
USA and should be worth the effort of getting 
there.  Getting out of Boston on Route  2W was a 
2-hour ordeal due to missing road signs at 
intersections.  (I took this road not so much to 
see the college town but  because it is in the 
direction of Lake Winnipesaukee and Mt. 
Washington that Tom also listed.)

   c) Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire.  If 
you want a quaint location in New England, 
perhaps to celebrate a second  honeymoon, this 
could be the location for you.  Do this from the 
town of Meredith, where the Meredith group has 
several  expensive ($140 to $225 per night) hotels 
along the lake.  They also arrange several 2-hour 
boat cruises on the lake, the  first one at 11am 
($16 per person).

   c) Mount Washington, New Hampshire.  The 
mountain is north of the Winnipesaukee Lake.  
At first, it feels as if you are  passing the really 
high peaks while following a series of tertiary 
roads, until you come to the entry to the 
driveway to the  6,000+ ft Mt. Washington.  Even 
then, you are still not sure.  You pay $25 to start 
the 8-mile climb in your own car (there  are also 
shuttle buses to the top and a small train), the 
steepest road I have climbed in a car (except 
short sand dunes in  Arabia), all in 1st gear (as 
also coming down).  The climb is very scenic and 
partially on a gravel road.  There are hiking  
opportunities all along the climb.  When you are 
finally at the top and park your car, you see 
steps climbing even higher  (about 15 meters) to 
the Welcome Center on top.  The view you see 
depends on the weather, which was cloudy and 
wet when I did  it, but still worth the effort due 
to very scenic eco system all around.

2. Bar Harbor, Maine to Nova Scotia and Cape 
Breton, Canada.  The fast ferry connects Bar 
Harbor to YARMOUTH, Nova Scotia in  about 3 
hours (for $232 for the car and 2 adults).  (I 
included all ferry schedules on my web pages.) 
The ferry station is on  your left next to the 
Holiday Inn and across from another neat hotel.  
On the USA side this is a scenic location with the  
ACADIA Nat. Park and MOUNT DESERT 
ISLAND nearby.  You should spend at least 2 
days here to visit these places.  Once in  
Yarmouth, it is a good 4-hour ride east to 
Halifax on Route 103--longer along very scenic 
coastal route 3 which you should do  at least in 
part to get a feel for the coastline.  Another 2 
hours will bring you to the causeway connecting 
Nova Scotia to  the even-more-scenic Cape 
Breton Island on the eastern end.  From there it 
is about 2 hours to the port of SYDNEY for the  
6-hour regular ferry to PORT aux BASQUE in 
New Foundland.  Hotels in these parts are 
expensive as they cater mostly  well-to-do 
Canadians and retired Americans.  (I did not see 
a single backpacker on this trip, though I did 
encounter in  various parts about half-a-dozen 
bikers with tents.)

3. Nova Scotia. Upon arrival in Yarmouth at the 
western end of Nova Scotia, try the coastal Route 
3 (instead of the faster  Interstate 103 that also 
goes near the coast) from south to appreciate the 
coastal landscape.  Do this at least in part as  
even the quaintness of the coast becomes 
redundant after a while.  Halifax is about 4 
hours of drive to the east; the entire  distance 
from Yarmouth to Sydney (ferry to New 
Foundland) at the eastern end of Cape Breton 
takes 8 to 10 hours of driving,  much longer if 
you want to examine all coastlines. From Halifax 
Interstate 102 continues north to Truro where it 
connects to  Interstate 104 going east to Cape 
Breton over Canso causeway.  A short way north 
from Truro (on 104), you will also see  signs for 
the ferry to Prince Edward Island.  The ferry 
leaves from Pictou.  Or from Canso causeway 
you continue on  Interstate 105 all the way to 
Sydney at the eastern end of Cape Breton, where 
ferries leave for Port aux Basques on New  
Foundland.  In Cape Breton, be sure to drive, at 
least partly, the very scenic Cabot Trail.  You 
will see signs to it off the  Interstate.

4. New Foundland. The slow ferry between 
Sydney, Cape Breton and Channel-Port aux 
Basques on New Foundland takes 6 hours, for  
$129 including the car and 2 adults.  There are 
several crossings per day in high season.  For 
night crossings you can also  rent a cabin.  The 
ships have a dining room and all amenities. I did 
not have reservations for any of the ferries; I got 
on  all "next" one on arrival.  Check out Hotel 
Port aux Basques if you arrive late; there is even 
a closer one.  Ask someone on  board for choices.  
I also got in to all the hotels without reservation.  
They are in the $80-130 range.

Port aux Basques is at the southwestern tip of 
New Foundland.  As in Nova Scotia and Cape 
Breton you can spend months  checking out 
every cove along the coastline.  I normally check 
out enough to get a feel for the local landscape 
(say the  coast, then the mountains, etc.) and 
continue to see the larger picture.  (Your 
personality does have something to say about  
how you travel.)

Since I wanted to see Labrador, I got on 
Interstate 1 going north on the western side of 
the island.  The entire distance  from Port aux 
Basques to St Barbe (ferry to Labrador) is about 
360 miles.  Route 1 continues about 2/5 of that 
distance thru  the town of Corner Brook to the 
smaller town Deer Lake, where it joins Route 
430 (Viking Trail) going north, so named 
because  the road continue all the way to the first 
Viking settlement on North America.  About 30 
minutes north of Deer Lake you begin  to cross 
the very scenic Gros Morne National Park.  
(There are several park entrances along the 
road.)  North of the park,  Rt. 430 follows the 
coast to St Barbe, about an hour before the 
Viking settlement.  You should get off at some of 
the towns  and fishing villages to appreciate their 
quaintness, for example Rocky Harbor in Gros 
Morne Park, Cow Head further north,  Port au 
Choix, Duck Cove, etc. going north.

5. Labrador.  The 2-hour ferry from St Barbe on 
New Foundland arrives at Blanc Sablon, 
Quebec, that is just a few 100 meters  from the 
border to Labrador.  At the exit, you turn right 
for Labrador, left to Blanc Sablon.  Hotel 
Northern Lights Inn is  about 1km in Labrador 
direction.  The road is paved for about an hour 
to Red Bay.  You should ride it to get a feel for 
the  villages and landscape.  After Red Bay the 
road (gravel) continues to Cartwright, Labrador.  
From there you can take a 5-hour  ferry to 
Moose Bay.  From there a 240km gravel road 
leads to Churchill Falls, another 240 km on 
gravel roads to Labrador  City.  You can 
continue further 600km or so into Quebec on 
gravel roads and eventually reach civilization.

6. Return Trip thru PEI and New Brunswick.  
On return, we (with Mother) duplicated the 
same path all the way to Glasgow, Nova  Scotia, 
where we took the ferry from Pictou to Prince 
Edward Island.  The 6-hour return ferry from 
New Foundland to Cape  Breton left at 4:30 but 
arrived in Sydney at 1am--9 hours later--due to 
some other ferry being on the dock.  So 
apparently  such delays do happen.  We spent 
the night in Sydney and then continued to 
Glasgow the next day, where a ferry to PEI was  
seemingly just waiting for us.  The crossing takes 
about an hour.  This is my 2nd visit to PEI, 
having already seen Green  Gables, etc.  There is 
nothing noteworthy on PEI and so we took the 
12.9 Confederation Bridge to New Brunswick 
and drove as  far as Fredericton to spend the 
night.  I should add that ferries (or the bridge) to 
PEI is free, BUT you pay $C55 to get  out.  Also 
note that mile for mile, New Brunswick is 
prettier than Quebec, where St. John's River 
accompanied us most of the  way to Quebec.


7. Quebec and St. Lawrence River.  The last time 
I was in this area (1993), I had driven along the 
northern edge of St.  Lawrence river, away from 
Quebec City.  That road is gorgeous. This time 
we drove along the southern shores, and alas, I 
was  disappointed.  Except for a view spot or 
two, here the road just drags thru local traffic 
and countryside, often a mile of  fields to the 
water.  However, Quebec city made up for this 
with its quaintness and charm.  It is one of the 
most attractive  cities in North America, but alas 
too cold most of the time and too far from the 
beaten track.  Montreal was OK, seemingly  all 
city streets in dire need of resurfacing.  After 
browsing the city by car for about 2 hours, we 
continued to Ottawa.


8. Ottawa (Ontario) to Toronto and Niagara 
Falls.  The entry to Ottawa is thru a very 
attractive promenade that resembles the  drive 
along the Potomac from the National Airport to 
Washington, DC, here along the Ottawa River.  
And the city has some  impressive large old-
fashioned buildings.  However, we did not feel a 
pulse in the city, and nothing like the charm of 
Quebec  City.  Getting out of Ottawa was very 
difficult, as if now that we were here, the city did 
not want us to leave until we  spent all our 
Dollars.  We saw no signs to Toronto or to any of 
the major roads leading to there.  So, as in 
Boston on Rt. 2,  we found someone going in our 
direction and followed him.  It took us an hour to 
get out of the city.  I should add that,  unlike 
New Brunswick, the roads we rode in Quebec 
and in these parts seemed in need of repair.

After visiting friends in Toronto, we continued to 
Niagara Falls, on the way visiting also the 
charming town of Niagara on  the Lake.  It was 
crowded with tourist, but still animated and 
lively.  As to Niagara Falls, what can I say about 
this wonder  of the world, by flow the most 
powerful and voluminous in the world--Angel 
Falls in Venezuela the tallest, Iguazu in  
Argentina/Brazil the most falls spread over 
widest range, both of which are also documented 
on my pages.  Actually we felt  good about 
entering the USA again and by early afternoon 
the next day we were home.


9. Travel Plans. Once I have posted these photos, 
I will figure out where in the world next.  I will 
have about 35 days to  travel, too short for the 
Amazon and other places on the same trip, too 
short also for Central Asia, but enough for 
Western  Mediterranean or the Balkans.  I'll see 
which.  Then I get back and take mother cross-
country to California, visiting the  Rocky 
Mountain and Great Sand Dunes National Parks 
in Colorado, the canyons of Utah, and Canadian 
Rockies in Alberta and  British Columbia, which 
will be my 3rd trip to those parts but new for 
Mother.  We will enter USA via Vancouver and 
continue  nearly 1,500 miles south to California.

Sirman