The Big Adventure Continues in Nova Scotia: Piloting the Brady E. Himmelman and Visiting Lunenberg Academy and the Bluenose II

Chance and me visit Lunenburg Academy. If I lived in Nova Scotia I could go to school here.

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

This is Lunenburg Academy.  Auntie Margaret went to school here.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. He's so newborn he doesn't have a tail.  He doesn't have any teeth, so he can't chew food. Chance just drinks chocolate owls' milk from his bottle.  I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? We lost some of our pictures but Grandpa James found them.We're in Lunenberg today. That's a town in Nova Scotia. It's very pretty here. Look!  Here's Chance and me with Uncle Reid and the Bluenose II!

It's a really big schooner. It has three masts. The Bluenose II goes all over the world to visit and say "Hello" for Canada. Grandpa James says it's an ambassador for our country. The first Bluenose is the dime, you know. It's on a stamp, too. See?

The Bluenose is out of the water 'cuz it's getting fixed. That's a good thing. When it's all fixed it can sail to Windsor and visit us! I love sailing, don't you? I could be a sailor. I could be a captain.

The Brady E. Himmelman is a car ferry that crosses the LeHave River.

Look! We're riding on the Brady E. Himmelman. It's a ferry. Captain Paul is in charge. He says the boat carries 14 cars at a time and it crosses the river four times an hour! That's a lot! I look for pirate ships but I don't see any. Captain Paul tells me to watch for sea lions. The river is full of sea lions this summer. That's 'cuz they found yummy food to eat. Sea lions eat a lot of food, you know.

Chance and me get to ride with Captain Paul.

 I could be captain of a ship. I'd have to go to a special school to learn that job. Captain Paul did. Know what?  I go to school. I go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre on Sandwich Street. That's in Windsor. Don't forget, Windsor is in O Canada.

I'm helping Captain Paul to bring the ship to shore.  Chance thinks he's helping but he's not. He's too newborn to know what to do.

 Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over and play with us! We can ride on the Brady E. Himmelman and visit Captain Paul! Okay! Over and out!"

Uncle Reid and Chance and me are busy with this cannon. It's our job to look for pirate ships and stand on guard for thee.

The Big Adventure Backtracks to Nova Scotia

We visited the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia. Can you see us? I'm waving at you.

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

Peggys Cove is a pretty place. Lots of people catch fish for a living. I could be a fisherman when I grow up.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. He's so newborn he doesn't have a tail. Chance doesn't even have teeth! He drinks chocolate owls' milk out of a bottle. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Chance and me row a dory to shore. We didn't find any pirates or terrorists on the sea and that's good.

Guess what? Some of our pictures got lost but we found them! Now we can show you what we did in Farewell Nova Scotia.  When we got off the train in Halifax we visited Uncle Reid and Auntie Margaret. We went to Peggy's Cove. That's a village on St. Margaret's Bay, you know. It's a very pretty place but we didn't see Peggy. Maybe she wasn't home.

Chance gets stuck in a lobster trap.

Oh, no! Look at Chance! He's stuck! He tried to climb into a lobster trap. I said, "My son! Come out of there this instant! You're not a lobster!" Chance made little squeaky noises 'cuz he was stuck. I had to help him get out! Bear cubs don't belong in lobster traps. Honestly, Chance is a handful!

We helped Uncle Reid cut wood. Wood comes from trees and trees grow in the forest. When I was a wee little cub I used to think that wood came from Home Hardware. That's a store.

Now, I'm five. I go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. I learn lots of stuff like a tree really does grow in the forests. When it's all grown up it gets cut up into wood and then it goes to Home Hardware so people can buy it. I'm not sure how it gets there. Maybe the wood rides on the bus.

Wood is good for heating the house in the wintertime, you know. Wood keeps the house toasty warm when there's snow and it's cold outside. I could be a woodsman. That's a coureur des bois in French. It's a very good job, you know. I could chop down trees. I'd holler, "Timber!" so no one got hurt. Look! We chopped a lot of wood!

Chance thinks he's helping me but he's not. He climbed right up on the chopping block. The axe is very sharp. Chance could get hurt. Uncle Reid had to take him off the block. I might accidentally cut him in two. Grandpa James says if that happened, Chance would be my half brother. That would be awful!

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can go over to Uncle Reid and Auntie Margaret's house and they can play with us! Okay! Over and out!"

Charles and Chance's Big Adventure: TeaMac Manor in Stellarton, Nova Scotia

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? We're in Stellarton with our buddies Don and Jane.  They have an important job. They have bed and breakfast. That's a place to stay when you can't be home. They make everyone feel right at home. That's a big job. Don and Jane are very good at their job. Grandpa James says they are the hosts. Oh! The house has a name. It's called TeaMac Manor. I could have a bed and breakfast when I grow up, you know. I could be a good host. I would name my house, too. I would name it Smarties Castle. I would build the whole house out of Smarties. I l-o-v-e Smarties, don't you?

We came to Stellarton to see our buddy Charlie get baptized. She's so newborn she just sleeps and eats. When she's bigger we can play with her.

Grandpa James says that Stellarton is in Nova Scotia. I know where that is. It's in O Canada. Know what? O Canada is a very big place. I think it's bigger than everything!

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

We gotta get ready to go on the boat. We're going to Prince Edward Island today.  This is our boat. It's the Holiday Island. It's really big! It's so big that cars and trucks and transports can ride, too

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can visit Don and Jane! We can ride on the ferry to Prince Edward Island! Okay! Over and out!"

Have Suitcase Will Travel

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy,  James. He is old and forgetful. Sometimes he forgets where he put his teeth!   I have to look after him. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing.

Know what? We climb in the suitcase and eat licorice. I tell Chance stories about when I went to like Cub Camp in Quebec. I tell him stories about places we wanna go, like Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. They're far away. I tell him about Florida and Oregon. Florida and Oregon are in the Knighted States. Chance can't eat licorice. He doesn't have any teeth. I let him suck on a licorice stick. He likes pineapple licorice the best. It's fun to go on trips, even if it is just a make-believe trip in a suitcase on the living room floor.


Oh! Did you hear that?  James is hollering, "Where's my handsome bear cubs? Where are the Sons of Windsor? Where are you my Princes of Ontario?" That's us! Charles and Chance! We're gonna run find James so he can kiss our noses and tickle our ears and make us laugh right out loud. It's time for our nap. Chance is already asleep and I'm getting sleepy. Okay. We gotta go nap. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Travel. Bon voyage!"