Eastern Canada

We are on the last cruise ship of the season to visit the North East and some of the shops in this small town are already boarded up for winter. There is a beautiful Cathedral here, St. Dunstan’s Basilica, and other than that, the claim to fame is that this is where Anne of Green Gables lived. Lots of Anne dolls, Anne chocolates, Anne this and that are for sale. There seems to be a larger than normal assortment of bars and restaurants.
It was a clear day in Charlottetown, but windy. Everywhere has been windy, but Saturday was dry, no rain or snow. A very pleasant change! We think that the locals snicker at us when we comment on the cold. “Oh, winter hasn’t started yet.”
We noticed signs for sale that said “No white dogs”. These are like street signs that one can buy saying things like, “Harley parking only”, etc. John finally asked what the signs meant. The shopkeeper asked “Have you seen our dirt?” The dirt here is a deep red and it is everywhere. The joke is that a white dog wouldn’t be white for long. One wonders how many of those signs tourists buy. It’s a bit difficult to explain. Really, it’s a bad joke.

Today’s port visit to Sydney, Nova Scotia, is a short one, from 7am until 2pm, but the town is small and, being a Sunday, mostly closed up. There were two arts and crafts fairs, so we were able to find our usual Christmas tree ornament. The wind was brutal, as usual, and we were surprised by a sudden snowstorm. We went into the terminal building in daylight, and came out the other side into darkness and snow/sleet.
We have a long cruise tonight to Halifax and, hopefully, the seas will be calmer than they were last night. The ship was rocking and rolling, which Colleen enjoyed while John needed to crawl to the bathroom! Tonight will be our first night in the open ocean. We have been in protected inland waters until now. Small ship, open ocean, queasy John! John used acupressure bands last night and now has seasick pills, so survival is assured.