The Maritimes - Day 1 - Take Two

7/2/16, “Take Two”

John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York (JFK)

Alright, let’s try this again.  It is 8 AM, and I am sipping on a drink that tastes like Christmas morning, coffee with a shot of rum and some cinnamon powder.  I am not much one for morning drinking, but, when it’s free, and your flight was cancelled the night before, might as well.  I was so excited 12 hours ago.  I had everything planned out, and the trip was going to be perfect.  Now, it is Saturday morning, and I have not yet left New York.  It will be another 12 hours, at least, before I have retrieved my car at Halifax.  If I’m lucky, I’ll get to Halifax in time to take a picture in front of the Province House and have a nice big piece of fresh Nova Scotia salmon.

I do not expect to find any flag pins when I get there.  Those will have to wait until tomorrow.  I have it planned out, how I can still do everything except Miguasha, but I will simply have one fewer day to enjoy the beauty of the Maritimes.  That is what is most disappointing.  The sites I want to see, those have been rearranged, but the relaxing time I had hoped to have driving the coasts of the Maritimes, that is gone.  There will be other trips.

This time next year, I will have what I am calling my NFL (Newfoundland and Labrador) trip, which promises to be even more beautiful and relaxing, but, this trip to the Maritimes, while not ruined, will not be the same.  Everything was looking so promising when I went to Greece, and it promised to be such an epic Summer of Travel, but, instead, my trips have been fraught with disappointment.  The trip to Britain was hampered by a string of disappointments, but, in November, I will make up for it and more.  My friend from the trip will be flying in for the premiere of the new Harry Potter movie, and the next weekend, I will be flying to London to begin a trip that promises to be one of my most epic yet, a trip that I can only call, for reasons that will later become obvious, “Because It’s There: The Experience”.  This trip, I should receive a travel voucher, which I can use to plan a future trip to Toronto and Miguasha, basically a free weekend in Canada to make up for it.

Things have a way of working themselves out, even if they don’t happen the way you expect them to work out.  According to my mother, my grandfather was fond of telling her, “Things either work out the way you want, or for the best.”  To me, that sounded like some empty words of comfort he would provide his teenage daughter.  However, I have learned, there are truth to those words.  This trip hasn’t worked out the way I wanted it to work out, but, it certainly looks like it’ll work out.  London absolutely didn’t work out the way I wanted it to work out, but, if “Because It’s There” is as epic as planned, it will have worked out for the best.

After I closed last night, I finished my personal entry and my cigar before I went to sleep.  An hour later, I was woken up by phone.  “Delta Airlines” it read.  In my half-asleep state, I figured that that was my alarm clock, telling me it was time to get up for my Delta flight.  I swiped the phone, only then realizing it was a phone call.  I picked it up, and it was my callback from Delta about rearranging my flight, since I had requested that while I was waiting on line.  They had said on the phone it would be over two hours.  This was four hours later.  They transferred me through, to wait for the next available agent.  I lied back down, with my phone resting on my ear, and almost fell back asleep.  Half an hour later, the next agent was available.  There was nothing they could do, but they told me the kind of compensation I could expect, so that was a boon.

I then got about three hours of sleep before waking up and calling the car service.  They told me that, since I was in Manhattan, to take a yellow taxi, and they would reimburse the taxi in exchange for the voucher.  That sounded really sketchy.  I rested for another hour, since there was no traffic at this hour, then I changed right back into my same shirt and suit from last night (new socks), and went outside to hail a taxi.  Oh, did I mention that my sleep machine stopped working?  This trip will leave me short on sleep, which will be even more draining without my sleep machine.

I rested my eyes en route to the airport and, after some confusion, found the guy who handed the driver a wad of cash in exchange for my voucher.  Very sketchy.  I asked the driver if he would take me to Terminal 2, since this transaction occurred at Terminal 4, and I gave him the rest of my American cash as a tip.  I got my boarding pass, cleared security, and headed to the Sky Club.

I was actually a little hungry, for once, so I treated myself to a multigrain bagel with vegetable cream cheese and some black coffee.  At 8 AM, the bar opened, so I got a shot of rum in my coffee cup, to which I added some cinnamon.  I then went back to my seat, where I proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close, as we will be boarding shortly, and I need to get to my gate.

Logan International Airport, Massachusetts (BOS)

I am well fed, the temperature is perfect outside, I am enjoying a nice cigar, and I am fully caught up with all the news of the day.  Under normal circumstances, this would be a perfectly nice state of affairs for a Saturday afternoon.  However, there is nothing normal about this Saturday afternoon.  Instead of driving between the provincial capitals of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, I am stuck at Logan for another three hours before I fly to Halifax.  Instead of that wonderful meal schedule I had described last night, all of my food since lunch yesterday has been at various Delta Sky Clubs.  Instead of getting my flag pins today, I will arrive at Halifax after all the souvenir shops have closed.  Instead of this being a rather epic extended weekend trip, I will only have two full days, and my success will be entirely measured by whether or not I’m able to obtain five souvenirs: flag pins in Halifax and Charlottetown and souvenirs at the World Heritage Sites of Joggins Fossil Cliffs, Grand Pré, and Old Town Lunenburg.

I have had to reconfigure the trip with the aim of meeting those minimum goals, and it sucks.  It sucks big time.  It could be worse, though.  It could be a lot worse.  There is no financial damage to this outcome.  In fact, I will likely profit from this outcome.  No bodily harm has come to me.  It is bad, but it could be worse, and I am ready for take two.

After I closed at the Sky Club in Kennedy, I headed to my gate for a flight that would have less than 40 minutes of air time.  The flight was over almost as soon as it began, and I proceeded straight to the Sky Club as soon as we landed at Logan.  I started off with a coffee and a club soda, but it was almost time for lunch.  They had all sorts of interesting selections, including different crunchies for the soup.  I got a bowl of crunchies, followed by a bowl of soup with more of the crunchies, followed by a cookie and cappuccino for dessert.  Meanwhile, I watched CNN and got caught up on various news sites.

Then, I went outside for a cigar, and I found a nice bench, where I sat down.  The weather was perfect.  I lit up an Aroma de Cuba and got caught up on even more news sites.  When there was nothing left to read, I proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so that I can, I guess, work on future trip planning.

Halifax, Nova Scotia

At long last, I can write that dateline.  It should have been something like 22 hours ago that I wrote it, but, I’m here now, and that’s what matters.  Charlottetown will be my next dateline.  There will be no Moncton dateline, though.  I am here, at last, and I am smoking a Winston Churchill Churchill cigar on the waterfront.  Surely dear old Winnie was here at some point.  I am cold, but it is a good cold.  It is nighttime in Atlantic Canada.  The cold is expected.  The vista and the ambience of live music from the distance is wonderful.  I am, at last, relaxed.  I will be going to sleep pretty much as soon as I complete this entry, so that I can tackle the day tomorrow.

After I closed at Logan, I finished my cigar and tried to figure out how to rework my remaining Canada trips.  I could combine Toronto and Miguasha into one trip, but it would be very challenging.  If the wilderness National Park on the Manitoba-Ontario border gets inscribed this year, that would necessitate its own trip, and I looked into options for that as well.  After my cigar, I went inside, through security, and back to the Sky Club, where I got a coffee and a cheesecake square.  It’s the wind, not the cold, that’s the real bother.  When the wind is still, it’s good, when it’s blowing, that’s when I’m getting cold.  The ice cream probably didn’t help either.  I only packed two outfits: shorts or my suit.  I have no casual longs.

I went to my gate, only to learn that the WestJet BOS-YHZ flight had been delayed due to a maintenance issue.  We wound up being able to make up all the time in the air, but I was worried that I would not be able to get to the city in time to find someplace open for dinner so that I could get my salmon.  My fears were misplaced, as there was a waterfront restaurant opened until 10 PM, and another one inland opened until 11 PM.  We made up some time in the air, and we got the YHZ at 7:30 PM after a very short flight in a prop plane.

I got sent for my secondary interview.  The officer asked all the usual questions and then stamped my passport, also stamping my customs declaration with “IMM” in big, red, block letters.  Was it really going to be that quick?  No, of course not.  After I passed baggage claim, I was told to report for a baggage screening.  That’s where they really grilled me, again, with all the usual questions.  Two officers for an hour, as they searched my luggage and and questioned over and again my itinerary and my unusual travel style, everything from my suit (I pointed to the rips and tears and told them it was just really comfortable, not something that would be useful for a business interview) to my detailed printed itineraries (I told them that’s how I do everything).

Eventually, they exchanged a look that was a mix of shock and disappointment and said to each other, “He’s clean” or “He’s got nothing” or something like that, and then they let me go.

The female officer went to finalize some paperwork, and now the male officer was my new best friend.  We talked about the various World Heritage Sites I had seen around the world, and we were both surprised to learn that the US premiered movies at 7 PM on Thursday, while Canada would always wait until Friday to show them.  The female officer came back with my passport and told me I could go.  I wasted no time in heading to Hertz.  I told them that my reservation had been for 12:30 AM that morning, and they were relieved that I had finally shown up.  My rental agreement package was ready, and I had to upgrade to a Buick, since that was the only one with a GPS, other than a minivan.

It was about half an hour to my hotel, so I put my luggage in the trunk and was on my way.  I soon came to the bridge, only to realize that I didn’t have any cash on me for the toll, none at all.  With all the commotion at the airport, I had forgotten to stop at an ATM.  There was a gas station across from the bridge, and it had an ATM.  Liking how strong the USD was against the CAD, I withdrew the maxium amount.  The smallest bill the machine gave me was much more than the toll, but there was an operator at the booth who broke the change, even though I still had to put the coin in the collection basket (is that right term) myself.  Before long, I was at my hotel.  I checked in and headed straight to my room, changing into my casual clothes and grabbing a couple of cigars before heading to the waterfront for dinner.

I went to a seafood place called Salty’s, and I asked the waitress about my local options.  Most of the fish was actually from Newfoundland not Nova, but there were two dishes from Nova, an appetizer and a main course, their eponymous smoked salmon with all the fixings and a seared scallops dish.  I paired it with a local red beer, much like I did my first night in New Brunswick.  With my first bite of Nova, eaten ceremonial, of course, with chopsticks, I announced, “Nova,” claiming my eighth Canadian province.  (They only have ten of them.)

The meal was delicious, and I had a great view of the waterfront from where I was sitting outside.  I tipped generously and then headed to walk around the waterfront.  I lit up a Partagas, now formally being able to give myself credit for this province, and announced, “Eight down, two to go,” correcting myself to “eleven down” if I counted the three territories, too.  I walked around the waterfront with my cigar, enjoying the live music that was playing, and soon found an ice cream shop that was apparently of some renown.

I walked to the Legislature, checking for where I’d get my flag pin in the morning.  I headed back to the ice cream shop and got the smallest size of what they called “Messie Bessie.”  I finished my cigar as I walked around, eating the ice cream after I ditched the cigar.  I then went back to the hotel to get my laptop and my Churchill.

I headed back to the waterfront, walking down the plaza with the live music for the fourth time now, and found a nice place to sit with a good view, where I sat down, lit up my Churchill, and proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so that I can head back to my hotel and hopefully publish the entry outside off the hotel’s Wi-Fi, before I go to sleep.  Big day tomorrow, two provincial legislative buildings and a World Heritage Site.