Road tripping- Canada? Cape Cod?

[leebee]

I just had to cancel our Disney vacation due to impending surgery. We still have some time free, though, and are considering a driving vacation for 4-5 days, May 17-22 (yup, next week). We are in Bangor, ME. I'm torn between a "destination" trip, where we'd stay in one place for several nights and see the area, or a driving trip, where we'd stay in several different locations along a route.

We have passports, so New Brunswick or PEI are not out of the question, and I'd also thought of Vermont or Cape Cod. I don't know anything about any of these areas, so if you have any suggestions of what to do, I'd love to hear them.
Destinations ruled OUT: Boston/area as it's graduation weekend for many of the Boston schools and IF I can find hotels they cost an arm and a leg;
Quebec as DD says it's a lot of walking and wonderfulness, but I'm about to have a knee replacement so a LOT of walking and hills is probably not the best idea for me (although I'd still consider it...).

 

[snowwite]

I just had to cancel our Disney vacation due to impending surgery. We still have some time free, though, and are considering a driving vacation for 4-5 days, May 17-22 (yup, next week). We are in Bangor, ME. I'm torn between a "destination" trip, where we'd stay in one place for several nights and see the area, or a driving trip, where we'd stay in several different locations along a route.

We have passports, so New Brunswick or PEI are not out of the question, and I'd also thought of Vermont or Cape Cod. I don't know anything about any of these areas, so if you have any suggestions of what to do, I'd love to hear them.
Destinations ruled OUT: Boston/area as it's graduation weekend for many of the Boston schools and IF I can find hotels they cost an arm and a leg;
Quebec as DD says it's a lot of walking and wonderfulness, but I'm about to have a knee replacement so a LOT of walking and hills is probably not the best idea for me (although I'd still consider it...).

We like both but I prefer NB. We are going to spend our anniversary there in July. We also really loved the Cabot trail and Acadia in NS. It is a beautiful drive and plenty of places to stop for the view. There are big red Adirondack chairs at most view points. In between we stopped at villages, shops, ice cream, farm stands, etc The highland folk museum was great. Some walking but at your own pace.
We will be staying in Chamcook right on the water. We usually rent through Airbnb or VRBO. There are some gorgeous homes. We will have a view of Ministers island. St Andrews is the closest town and has lovely restaurants, shops, boat tours and Kingsbrae garden which you can do at your owe pace. There is a fort, lighthouse and tea room as well. We just love it. The Algonquin hotel there is on my bucket list. There is a new B and B there too.
We did day trips to Sheddic to see the largest lobster, another stop at the largest axe etc. we looked online at Roadside attractions and did the cheesiest ones.
When we did NS we stopped overnight in Monkton at the Best western right off the highway. There is a TD bank there so I withdrew $200 in Canadian money at the bank with no fees.
The dollar is worth more so it costs a lot less than MA!
From there we went to Hopewell Rocks. They have a cart to take you from tje main building to the rocks but to go down to the ocean floor you have to do couple steep flights of stairs. I was a fantastic sight even if you cannot hobble all the way down.
We drive up from Sabattus and stop at Dysarts for a meal then head up through Calais.
We also really loved going up through Lubec and stopping along the way at Blueberry world and the Lumberjack show before heading over to Campobello for the day. We went to theRoosevelt camp. It is pretty much how it was back when he summered there.
There is a lighthouse with the English flag on it.

 

[leebee]

We drive up from Sabattus and stop at Dysarts for a meal then head up through Calais.
We also really loved going up through Lubec and stopping along the way at Blueberry world and the Lumberjack show before heading over to Campobello for the day. We went to theRoosevelt camp. It is pretty much how it was back when he summered there.
There is a lighthouse with the English flag on it.

We eat at Dysarts about once a month!

 

[livih99]

My family goes to the cape every summer, but I will say May is a bit early in the season so some seasonal things (restaurants, ice cream places, mini golf, etc.) might not be open yet. Most of what we do on the cape is spending time on the beach, so I'd check the weather for next week to see if it would be an okay beach week. Also, I'm sure you know this since you're from ME, but the water will likely be too cold to get in this early in the year. As far as places to stay, you can rent a house or condo from places like Martha Murray or you could go the Airbnb/Verbo route. You could also get a hotel room, but at least when we go it's cheaper to just rent something for a week (most are Saturday to Saturday rentals)

 

[snowwite]

We eat at Dysarts about once a month!

I am already looking forward to a slice of strawberry pie!

 

[China Expat]

Timely question! We are flying into Toronto and then heading to Niagra Falls on the Canada side. We will then road trip to Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec, Cappobello Island, and then several stops on and around Nova Scotia, including driving the Cabot Trail back to Halifax. Our RT flights from LAX were pretty good at $800 each, but car rental for the trip ranged from $3000-$5000 for the two weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CdnCarrie]

Timely question! We are flying into Toronto and then heading to Niagra Falls on the Canada side. We will then road trip to Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec, Cappobello Island, and then several stops on and around Nova Scotia, including driving the Cabot Trail back to Halifax. Our RT flights from LAX were pretty good at $800 each, but car rental for the trip ranged from $3000-$5000 for the two weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it a one way rental ? Those are always pricey.
We drove on loop back to Ontario and it was a third the price.

 

[White Cat]

We like both but I prefer NB. We are going to spend our anniversary there in July. We also really loved the Cabot trail and Acadia in NS. It is a beautiful drive and plenty of places to stop for the view. There are big red Adirondack chairs at most view points. In between we stopped at villages, shops, ice cream, farm stands, etc The highland folk museum was great. Some walking but at your own pace.
We will be staying in Chamcook right on the water. We usually rent through Airbnb or VRBO. There are some gorgeous homes. We will have a view of Ministers island. St Andrews is the closest town and has lovely restaurants, shops, boat tours and Kingsbrae garden which you can do at your owe pace. There is a fort, lighthouse and tea room as well. We just love it. The Algonquin hotel there is on my bucket list. There is a new B and B there too.
We did day trips to Sheddic to see the largest lobster, another stop at the largest axe etc. we looked online at Roadside attractions and did the cheesiest ones.
When we did NS we stopped overnight in Monkton at the Best western right off the highway. There is a TD bank there so I withdrew $200 in Canadian money at the bank with no fees.
The dollar is worth more so it costs a lot less than MA!
From there we went to Hopewell Rocks. They have a cart to take you from tje main building to the rocks but to go down to the ocean floor you have to do couple steep flights of stairs. I was a fantastic sight even if you cannot hobble all the way down.
We drive up from Sabattus and stop at Dysarts for a meal then head up through Calais.
We also really loved going up through Lubec and stopping along the way at Blueberry world and the Lumberjack show before heading over to Campobello for the day. We went to theRoosevelt camp. It is pretty much how it was back when he summered there.
There is a lighthouse with the English flag on it.

Just as a funny aside ( to me), we crossed into the US at Lubec. And you know how small that crossing is. The US border agent went over us quite aggressively. She got very verbal with us and held us up a good while. We have been detained several times ( no fun). I thought she was going to drag us in. But it was late and I don’t thing they had enough people.

 

[snowwite]

Just as a funny aside ( to me), we crossed into the US at Lubec. And you know how small that crossing is. The US border agent went over us quite aggressively. She got very verbal with us and held us up a good while. We have been detained several times ( no fun). I thought she was going to drag us in. But it was late and I don’t thing they had enough people.

We got treated like criminals when we came home from Quebec one time.
I said we drove to the hotel. It had graffiti on it so I did not feel like we were in a safe area and we could not find another one with vacancy so we left.
This too young to shave chip on his shoulder border guard goes that’s a fantastic story. I laughed and my husband says no he’s saying you are lying. I was stunned. He asked whose car and I said mine. He asked for our driving license and passport. My husband had just got a green card at the time so it was still stamped inside his passport as well. But he never requested the card. We had to go inside while they searched the vehicle.
inside an older officer said so you don’t have a greencard? Hubby took it out and said yes but he did not ask me for it. They gave us suggestions for a place to stay then talked hockey.
Was your gal young? I swear the new ones are scared and go overboard with scrutiny.

 

[snowwite]

Timely question! We are flying into Toronto and then heading to Niagra Falls on the Canada side. We will then road trip to Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec, Cappobello Island, and then several stops on and around Nova Scotia, including driving the Cabot Trail back to Halifax. Our RT flights from LAX were pretty good at $800 each, but car rental for the trip ranged from $3000-$5000 for the two weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You could buy a car for 5k! That’s absurd. We loved the falls from the Canadian side! We drove from there with my mother in law to this cute Amish town. I think it was called St Jacob but I’m not 100 certain. We ate at Skylon tower which revolves and includes access to the viewing level. Elements on the falls was also good. The Flying saucer restaurant does not have a falls view but it was great breakfast and it looks like a space ship landed in a parking lot. You have a lot of driving planned. One thing I will say is there are not enough rest areas or gas stations so if you see one you may want to stop.

 

[40ariel]

I really like Campobello Island (Roosevelt Campbello International Park) and Saint Andrews (Minister's Island). As well, the McAdam Train Station is a National Historic Site. McAdam is about an hour drive from Saint Andrews.

 

[China Expat]

You could buy a car for 5k! That’s absurd. We loved the falls from the Canadian side! We drove from there with my mother in law to this cute Amish town. I think it was called St Jacob but I’m not 100 certain. We ate at Skylon tower which revolves and includes access to the viewing level. Elements on the falls was also good. The Flying saucer restaurant does not have a falls view but it was great breakfast and it looks like a space ship landed in a parking lot. You have a lot of driving planned. One thing I will say is there are not enough rest areas or gas stations so if you see one you may want to stop.

My son said the same thing...buy a clunker Top Gear style and then sell it! I found a small SUV for $1000.

 

[Sweettears]

I’ll second the PP about the cape. Wonderful place to visit but pushing the season a bit early. Even in June you can get some chilly weather. On the other hand there won’t be much in the way of crowds and if you don’t care about the beach you could find plenty to do. A day trip to Nantucket is always a good time.

 

[LuvOrlando]

So many choices.
Day 1: I'd drive down to Gloucester / Rockport Artist Colony / Manchester by the Sea to see the Main Street type visitor areas and stay in or near one of those towns.
Day 2: From there I'd take the short drive into Boston, park somewhere and visit the Boston Common to see the Swan Boats plus the Make Way for Ducklings statues to see how they are dressed, maybe check out the Freedom Trail. Then I'd head to the library next to the parks which is positively gorgeous. We did the Duck Tours once and that was outstanding fun. I agree finding lodging might be tough so...
Cape Cod is roughly an hour or so South from the city so you could head there for the night, although you could also shave some time off the drive and check out one of the towns along the water on your way down to the Cape. I like the funky vibe of Plymouth myself but there are probably lots of beachy places to B & B along the way.
Day 3: The Cape is nice this time of year and while the water is too cold to swim a visitor could probably grab a ferry and check out Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard. While it is true not everything is open we are never disappointed, people live here year round so there are many nice places.

On your way home North maybe visit different towns and reverse the whole trip making your way to Salem and other towns, there are so many pretty places in Massachusetts.

 

[kanne323]

The Cape, NB, and PEI are some of my favorite places. I actually love the Cape in the off season... I guess the week before Memorial Day would probably be more shoulder season?

There are some great suggestions for NB in this thread already. If you do go to Saint Andrews, spend a little bit of time in nearby St. Stephen. It has been a while since I've been there, but they do have a chocolate museum.

A few years ago, we did a trip to PEI for a family reunion and then explored a little bit on the way back. We were already up in northern Aroostook Co., so we used the Houlton crossing, stopped in... maybe Shediac for a bit, then drove on to PEI, spent four days there, and then made a few stops on the way back. We timed our stop in Moncton for the tidal bore, but I think the favorite stop was Cap-Jourimain. It's just off the NB side of the bridge (and has a spectacular view of the bridge from the beach and a tower.) There are walking trails outside, and a really nice visitor's center/museum. This was truly a hidden gem find for us- we had no idea we would enjoy it so much. Of course, PEI as a whole was my favorite, though. Because of the multi-day reunion, we did not get to explore the whole island, but based ourselves in Charlottetown in an Airbnb close enough to walk to so much, and then from there did a day trip driving up to the Anne of Green Gables Museum, then Rustico, Souris, and Basin Head Provincial Park. It's also worth visiting Skmaqn- Port-la-Joye- Fort Amherst in Rocky Point- across from Charlottetown. There's a very small visitor's center, but gorgeous views outside and it's an important historical site.

Of course, I was there in August, so I can't speak for May as far as anything that may be open seasonally. We didn't do anything that would be seasonal except for enjoying the beach at Basin Head (supposedly a singing sands beach... it was far too noisy due to the crowds to hear the sand squeak!)

Cape Cod is impacted seasonally, but quite a bit is usually opening up before the end of May/right around the end of May. My favorite time to go is the fall (cranberry season!) but the spring is lovely. There is plenty to do that doesn't involve the beach (though springtime walks on the beach are great.) My family does a lot of cycling on the Cape (Rail Trail and Canal), but I would assume that's out for you right now. But there are interesting sites throughout the Cape- Sandwich Glass Museum, Cape Cod Canal (easy flat- for the most part- walking, or sit and watch the boats go by), explore the shops in Chatham and watch the seals at the pier, go wine tasting at Truro Vineyards or beer tasting at Cape Cod Beer... I'm not a fan of staying in Hyannis, but I will say doing the Cape Cod Chips factory once and the JFK Museum once are interesting. The National Seashore beaches are incredible to see no matter the time of year (I love the view at Marconi n the off season, when there's no one on the beach.) I think the National Seashore is free before Memorial Day. The Brewster tidal flats are fun to explore, though that can be a bit of walking.

I live in a southern ME beach town, and things are rapidly opening up here so I would guess that quite a bit down the Cape is opening up, as well. I honestly don't know which one I'd pick if I had a choice between the Maritimes or the Cape for a few days... I love them both!

 

[leebee]

I live in a southern ME beach town, and things are rapidly opening up here so I would guess that quite a bit down the Cape is opening up, as well. I honestly don't know which one I'd pick if I had a choice between the Maritimes or the Cape for a few days... I love them both!

My sister and her kids, and brother and his kids, all live in York. My mom and younger siblings lived there for decades, and DH and I are headed down for the first week of August. KILLS me to pay for a cottage; selling my mom's place might be the worst decision we ever made.

On your way home North maybe visit different towns and reverse the whole trip making your way to Salem and other towns, there are so many pretty places in Massachusetts.

I grew up just north of Boston, and lived in Salem for a few years! You are right, there are wonderful places in Boston and on the North Shore!

I lived in the Boston area for 26 years, but have never been to the Cape! I think we might head that way. First day will be mostly driving, second day we'll go to the Plantation (not what they call it anymore, but I've always wanted to go there) and stay in Plymouth that night, too. Then? Start driving around, see where the road takes us, find some local wineries/breweries, grab hotels as we need them. I wouldn't DARE do that in the summer, but I think we'll be ok next weekend. I'm still tempted by NB, though. We have lived in the Bangor area for 20 years and haven't ventured into NB yet. DH ran the Cabot Trail Relay about 10 years ago, but that wasn't a sightseeing tour, hahaha! I have to make a plan soon, though; we are talking about leaving on Thursday!

 

[White Cat]

You could buy a car for 5k! That’s absurd. We loved the falls from the Canadian side! We drove from there with my mother in law to this cute Amish town. I think it was called St Jacob but I’m not 100 certain. We ate at Skylon tower which revolves and includes access to the viewing level. Elements on the falls was also good. The Flying saucer restaurant does not have a falls view but it was great breakfast and it looks like a space ship landed in a parking lot. You have a lot of driving planned. One thing I will say is there are not enough rest areas or gas stations so if you see one you may want to stop.

St Jacobs is very nice. I have a place very close by and go often into StJacobs. It’s Mennonite. Great Mennonite bakery there.

 

[snowwite]

St Jacobs is very nice. I have a place very close by and go often into StJacobs. It’s Mennonite. Great Mennonite bakery there.

Oh I see. I just assumed Amish but that makes sense. We really liked it and took some baked goods and pickles with us!

 

[White Cat]

We got treated like criminals when we came home from Quebec one time.
I said we drove to the hotel. It had graffiti on it so I did not feel like we were in a safe area and we could not find another one with vacancy so we left.
This too young to shave chip on his shoulder border guard goes that’s a fantastic story. I laughed and my husband says no he’s saying you are lying. I was stunned. He asked whose car and I said mine. He asked for our driving license and passport. My husband had just got a green card at the time so it was still stamped inside his passport as well. But he never requested the card. We had to go inside while they searched the vehicle.
inside an older officer said so you don’t have a greencard? Hubby took it out and said yes but he did not ask me for it. They gave us suggestions for a place to stay then talked hockey.
Was your gal young? I swear the new ones are scared and go overboard with scrutiny.

She was actually older than normal.
If your husband has a US green cars that’s what they want to see. They won’t care about his passport. When I fly into Canada I use my Canadian green card in the passport scanners.

 

[snowwite]

My sister and her kids, and brother and his kids, all live in York. My mom and younger siblings lived there for decades, and DH and I are headed down for the first week of August. KILLS me to pay for a cottage; selling my mom's place might be the worst decision we ever made.

I grew up just north of Boston, and lived in Salem for a few years! You are right, there are wonderful places in Boston and on the North Shore!

I lived in the Boston area for 26 years, but have never been to the Cape! I think we might head that way. First day will be mostly driving, second day we'll go to the Plantation (not what they call it anymore, but I've always wanted to go there) and stay in Plymouth that night, too. Then? Start driving around, see where the road takes us, find some local wineries/breweries, grab hotels as we need them. I wouldn't DARE do that in the summer, but I think we'll be ok next weekend. I'm still tempted by NB, though. We have lived in the Bangor area for 20 years and haven't ventured into NB yet. DH ran the Cabot Trail Relay about 10 years ago, but that wasn't a sightseeing tour, hahaha! I have to make a plan soon, though; we are talking about leaving on Thursday!

Whichever you choose will be fun. I was born in Boston and lived in and around it my entire life. But except for going to Edaville railroad and the King Richards Faire we really never went to the cape. We liked it but the traffic was just gross. I’d go back off season. We have rented Cape Cod River view cottage from Nancy on air b and b several times. It’s lovely and clean. it’s on the tidal river. She stocks the kitchen with K cups and tea for Keureg, spices and essentials are in a cupboard. There is a grocery about a mile away as well as several restaurants including s cute breakfast place less than half a mile away. There is a beach and several antique and gift shops nearby as well. Sir Crickets in Orleans is the best fish and chips we have had outside the UK and my husband grew up in Scotland and loves their batter. There is parking with picnic tables by the windmill directly across the street.